First, some facts. Tomatoes are good food. They contain vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium and iron. They are packed with phytochemicals. What are phytochemicals? A very simple explanation is that our bodies can make use of them to help fight disease, including heart disease, cancers and viruses.
Did you know that tomatoes are perennial plants? It's only in cooler climates, like ours, that we stop them growing. This ensures that what little fruit we do get will ripen during our short growing season. Tomatoes originated in South America and come from the same family as potatoes. You can graft a tomato plant onto a potato plant and harvest a crop from both. I was shown how to do this at school. It was confusing, as I'd also learnt that a tomato is a fruit and
yet a potato is a vegetable. Or perhaps not. Potato seed comes from a fruit that looks very much like a tomato. Luckily it doesn't matter. You work it out if you like, but I'm getting bored with it.
I get a bit over excited about growing them. No plant is safe from me when I come to visit. Friends and family are afraid, or even offended, when I pounce upon their carefully nurtured tomatoes and start tearing them to bits, muttering savagely about "side shoots" or "overfeeding". I'm sure it's all being exaggerated. I'm a lovely person really.
My tomato obsession began in 1987. I got a job, looking after 500 cucumber and 1,000 tomato plants, on a small commercial nursery, and for four, happy years I grew my crops in troughs of running water, (hydroponics, for those with technical minds amongst you) which had nutrients added to it to feed the plants. These vines grew to over 50 feet long, and needed constant letting down to ground level and re-training up to overhead wires. Every year I grew replacements from seed, and the whole cycle started again.
Since then I've grown tomatoes in several different ways. I began with the no-money-at-all method. This involved getting the plants for my Birthday. (If you're absolutely desperate you can save and dry seed from someone's left- over salad). They were planted into ordinary garden soil in old orange boxes, lined with black bin-bags. The greengrocers used to give these away for nothing. A quick slap of white emulsion made them look like smart planters. (Keep telling yourself this. You may end up believing yourself. This is good.) Placed against a sunny wall and with no feed, except washing up water twice a day, the fruit tasted marvellous. The variety was called "moneymaker." I can't bring myself to inflict this abuse on my plants nowadays, but I still wonder if they were as good as I remember.
Since then I've grown tomatoes in polythene lean-to shelters, mixed in with my flowers, big pots, bottomless pots, window boxes and grow-bags. The only failures have been in the grow-bags. They didn't hold water long enough to stop them drying out while I was at work all day. The following year I solved the problem by up-ending two litre drink bottles of water in the bags, but it was such a chore that I never use grow-bags now.
Now I'm very lucky to have a plastic greenhouse, and the tomatoes seem to love it. I plant directly into the soil and have had no disease problems so far (5 years). I interplant with French marigolds and Basil. I grow Dill on either side of the door. This combination seems to attract the right insects, so no pest problems yet. I dig a lot of compost in during winter and mulch with worm compost when I plant. I feed comfrey liquid and seaweed liquid in an automatic watering system, run from a water butt. (Oh! See how posh she is now!) This makes growing them so simple that I won't change anything unless problems do appear.
I still grow "Moneymaker" every year. I like "Gardeners Delight" and striped "Tigrella" too. Outside I grow "Roma", plum tomatoes for freezing and cooking as they have that Italian flavour that goes so well in soups and sauces. Next year I want to try "sungold" as I keep hearing about the flavour being extra good.
Those of you who recognise these names will have realised that I embrace change rather slowly, but I've promised myself that I will try something more modern next year. Maybe I'll be impressed, maybe not. Whatever happens, I could never give up growing tomatoes. Some one will probably plant one on my grave.
Aha! Another vegetable review. Tomatoes are really easy to grow. I grow them every year. x
Mel27 17.12.2005 20:53
I used to grow tomatoes on my window sill. I spent 10p on a tomato plant and got about 2lbs of tomatoes out of it..
LegendaryMrDude 11.12.2005 11:44
Tomatoes are probably the most rewarding crop plant to grow in the home - so visible, slightly mediterranean and a good volume - 3 - 4 plants is normally enough for us for most of the summer! A great review. Sam.
Advantages: Wonderful smell, taste and goes perfectly with tomatoes for a divine salad sensation! Disadvantages: It's an annual that likes a but of sun. And I live in The Dark North!!!
phoenixgreen 26.05.2007 (25.05.2007)
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