We all know that home-grown vegetables provide us with more vitamins, minerals and nutrients than supermarket equivalents - so 'growing your own' is a big step towards a healthier lifestyle, as well as helping to cut the cost of your grocery bills!

I have just downsized and moved to an appartment with a communal garden, so I don't have any of the heavy work to do any more. But I still have a lovely patio where I can grow my tomatoes. There's no excuse not to grow your own. You don't need a large garden or an allotment, just a few pots - or maybe other interesting containers! - so my patio will suffice as space is limited. Go on - give it a go this summer and you'll have tasty crops in just a few weeks with minimal effort!

Two Golden Rules for Growing Delicious Tomatoes

Well if you sowed your tomato seed last month as I recommended in my last post, you should now have lovely little tomato plants ready to plants out in the greenhouse. (Not in the open yet as there is still a danger of frosts - wait till the end of May in UK.)

This year I am growing three varieties, Shirley, Marmande and Gardeners Delight. The Gardeners Delight are intended for planting outside a little later, as they are very hardy and unless we have a rainy summer again, should do well.

I have just come across a very useful little booklet with all you need to know about How To Grow Fabulous Tomatoes. It is a Comprehensive And Beautifully Illustrated Book, written by a World Renowned Authority Who Advises The Industry. Available as an ebook or hard copy. How to Grow Juicy Tasty Tomatoes!


My Two Golden Rules for Growing Delicious tomatoes

1. Sunlight.
But it's the FRUIT that needs the sun-light, not the leaves.
Yes, the leaves need sun-light too, but only in the early stages of the plant. Most people make a critical mistake when the plant reaches maturity, they let the leaves hog all the energy instead of the fruit. This is why tomatoes taste sour, why the plant doesn't produce as many tomatoes as it can.

You need to know how to groom tomato leaves and leaf branches, and you need to know how to do it properly, or you could do more harm than good.
Another little book Joyful Tomatoes! written by a Polish Gardener deals with how to groom your tomato leaves.

2. Air Flow
The other reason why removing tomato leaves is critical is because of air-flow. When you have a big leafy bush of a tomato plant, the leaves restrict the vital flow of fresh air to the fruit. This isn't good for the tomatoes.

To form incredible tomatoes, what the plant needs most of all is water and air.
It needs water to create the tomatoes, and air to help it breathe!
Just as you breathe heavily when you're running or doing something difficult, the plant needs to breathe more when it's in the process of making fruit. It makes sense, even though it's easy to overlook.

Click Here! for Inside Secrets To Doubling, Even Trebling Tomato Yield.

How to Grow Juicy Tasty Tomatoes!

Tasty Tomatoes - Now is the Time to Sow Your Seeds

There's nothing tastier than a sunkissed tomato straight from the vine. Cherry tomatoes can be eaten like sweets, just pop one in your mouth still warm from the sun and relish the flavour that bursts out when you bite. The large beef tomatoes are best eaten sliced with slivers of garlic and drizzled with olive oil.


To indulge yourself in these divine but nutritious treats, you must sow your seeds now in plugs or seed trays in a greenhouse or on a windowsill. Watch out for frosts unless your greenhouse is heated - there is nothing more disappointing than to go out one morning and find all your tiny seedlings limp and lifeless. If your greenhouse is not heated you can cover them up each night with a strip of fleece - but don't forget to do it - frosts can still come until the end of May, even in the south. My husband laughs at me as I go outside every night to put my babies to bed.



As soon as two true leave have formed prick them out into individual 3 inch pots and when they are about 6 in high you can plant them out into containers or growbags. Give each one a strong support and tie it in regularly. Pinch out the side shoots as they form and once you can see the first tiny tomato form, feed them with a seaweed fertiliser once a week. Strip off the lower leaves as they wilt, to help the sun get at the fruit to help it ripen.



There are numerous varieties of tomato to grow nowadays. This year I am growing Shirley for even sized round tomatoes that are disease resistant, Marmande for the big delicious beef tomato and the ever faithful Gardener's Delight which can be planted straight into the garden if all your containers are full.


Don't forget all the lovely Lycopene that you will get from eating tomatoes. Lycopene acts the same say as Statins, helping to reduce cholesterol. Also Vitamin E and C. See my earlier posts to find out about the health giving properties of tomatoes.

Please leave comments - let me know how your garden grows.

Tomatoes- The Superfood in your Salad

Tomatoes contain high levels of beta-carotene, an antioxidant that supports the immune system and helps maintain healthy skin; they are packed with antioxidant flavonoids and vitamin E, both of which are essential for heart health, and are a good source of potassium; one tomato contains half the recommended daily dose of vitamin C; they contain no saturated fatty acids and are low in salt, starch and sugars, high in dietary fibre and have a low glycaemic index.

But best of all they are exceptionally high in lycopene which mops up free radicals to keep cancer at bay. Lycopene can prevent prostate and breast cancer and has a similar effect to the cholesterol lowering drugs, statins.

I got all this information from a new book by Ron Levin called "The Red Bodyguard"

Tomatoes can help prevent:

• Age-related Macular Degeneration. Tomatoes are rich in the antioxidant lutein which is believed to protect the retina from free radical damage.
• Prostate Cancer - Tomato sauce made by cooking tomatoes in olive oil appears to be more effective than raw tomatoes to reduce, slow or prevent prostate cancer.
• Heart Disease - Free radicals prevent soluble fats in the blood from building up in the arteries restricting blood flow and starving the heart of oxygen causing heart attacks or strokes.
• Male Infertility - Excess production of free radicals in the semen reduces sperm count. A daily dose of lycopene can normalise this situation.

'The Red Bodyguard: The amazing health-promoting properties of the tomato' by Ron Levin is available from Amazon for £4.79

The Red Bodyguard: The Amazing Health-promoting Properties of the Tomato

Time for Winter Digging

Greenfingers Winter Sale Solar lights and water features; garden furniture; garden tools.


Well, I have been trying to think of something different to cheer us all up. It has been such a terrible year for outdoor organic tomato plants with so much rain. Many of mine suffered from blight. Even those in the greenhouse did not do as well as usual because of lack of sunshine.

Time to get digging! This is the best time generally for digging bare soil. Autumn rain will have softened the earth, making it ready for frosts to break down clods in heavy ground through the winter, and to get in and kill bugs and bacteria. So we have a lot of hard work in store to keep us fit!

Never mind - soon be a new year and we can start thinking about tomato plants all over again and which varieties to choose. Meanwhile - here are a few ideas for Christmas presents for your gardening friends (or leave a list somewhere for Santa to find!) Christmas Gardening Gifts

Tomato Trivia - 6 Things you May Not Know About Tomatoes

1. The Latin name is Lycopersicon esculentum.



2. Tomatoes are fruits not vegetables.



3. They originate from Central and South America.



4. They were introduced to Europe by Spanish conquistadors during the early 16th century.



5. They were originally called love apples.



6. They are extremely rich in lycopene which helps you ward off the risk of cancer. But they are also high in potassium which can be dangerous for certain health problems such as renal or kidney trouble

The Autumn Garden

October sees rustic leaves and berries begin to dominate borders, so fill them with blooms such as aster and heather to add dashes of fresh colour. There's still plenty of pruning and planting to do to get ready for Spring and it's important to bring tender plants inside before they are damaged by the first frosts.

Preparing the greenhouse for winter is vital so wash off any shade paint, clear out any old crops, check over heaters and consider insulating as well.

For further advice read 'The Gardening Month - October' guide.

If you would like some ideas for Christmas Gifts for your gardening friends (or to mention casually what you would like for yourself!) take a look at the Greenfingers catalogue.

Jobs for July

If this was a normal July you would expect your garden to be looking its best. To keep it looking good, then now is the time to deadhead your flowers; Roses, delphiniums, peonies, and pinks, will all benefit from having brown flower heads removed, and with luck this will encourage them to produce a second bloom. Well I don’t know about you, but my first blooms went all soggy and brown so here’s hoping for a second chance.

At least we can try and capture some of this rain – Water Butts

July is also the ideal time to spend relaxing and enjoying your garden. Ha ha! Well, if it ever stops raining try to make the most of it. Garden Chairs

In the greenhouse be generous with the watering of tomatoes, courgettes, and cucumbers. Keep the liquid feed flowing generously too. Outdoors they still need feeding (although you could cut out the watering for a little while!).

Pick beans regularly to keep them cropping, and make sure they are never short of water.

Make sure fruit trees against walls are also never short of water while the fruits are still swelling.

Prune blackcurrants as you pick, taking out a number of the older stems altogether, to be stripped of fruit over your knee.

Sow more salads to produce a succession throughout the summer.