Spring Fever

I have been gardening for a long time – nearly 50 years. My interested started when my father had to dig up the lawn and plant vegetables during the war. I always dreamed of having my own garden with lots of vegetables and a few chickens scratching away. I was lucky enough to achieve my dream once I was married, but with 4 babies to look after there was not much time to enjoy it. Once the children were at school I needed to go out to work to help pay the mortgage, so still no time for the garden. Now they have all left home and I am retired, but at times feeling my age. I am fortunate to be healthy and refuse to accept there is a pain in my hip this morning!

There is a very good article about tomatoes in the Daily Mail today by Chris Beardshaw. (Page 99 – I don’t know if you can find it online). I will copy a bit of it below.

“For best results, start glasshouse crops now. Tomatoes sold in supermarkets are grown with an emphasis on uniformity, pest and disease resistance and suitability for mechanical picking. The result is a far less flavoursome product than one that is home-grown.
The bulk of supermarket tomatoes originate from abroad and are harvested before the crop is ripe to facilitate shipping. These unripe tomatoes are then exposed to ethylene gas to promote ripening. Although this attempts to mimic the natural ripening process on the vine, the result is a less sweet, starchier fruit with drier flesh.”

He goes on to suggest several different varieties you could choose. Last year I grew a selection of one beefsteak variety, one red and one yellow cherry variety, and one average size tomato. I also grew 2 plants of Sweet Million and they really did have almost a million fruits and were very easy to grow and they went on fruiting for months. But I found them far too small with rather tough skins. The branches of fruit were so heavy they had to have extra support. Have any of you tried Sweet Million? I will not be growing them again.

Well, the sun has come out and I have Spring Fever. I must go out and start to prepare the greenhouse for the seeds which I am just itching to get planted.

Tomato Dombito F1

This has always been my favourite beefsteak tomato. Good flavour, nice shape and easy to grow. It is a little early to plant seeds yet unless you have heat in your greenhouse. Without heat once your seedlings appear you will need to cover them with fleece every night right through till the end of April when all risk of frost has passed. Nothing is more depressing than going out in the morning to find a lot of limp frost bitten little seedlings. They never recover and you have to start all over again.

I have cut and pasted below instructions for planting Dombito tomato, although these instructions are suitable for almost any greenhouse variety of tomato.

• Description: Cordon (Indeterminate). An extremely popular beefsteak variety producing high quality, semi greenback free fruits averaging 250-270g with a distinctive and delicious flavour. The plants are early to mature, compact in habit with resistance to Tobacco Mosaic Virus, Cladosporium and Fusarium. Suitable for a heated or cold greenhouse.
• Sowing Instructions: Sow in late winter for heated greenhouse cultivation or early spring for the cold greenhouse. Sow 6mm (¼in) deep in a good compost. Germination usually takes 6-14 days at 24C (75F).
• Growing Instructions: Transplant the seedlings when large enough to handle into 7.5cm (3in) pots and grow on in good light and cooler conditions. When 15-23cm (6-9in) tall plant out 45cm (18in) apart in a prepared greenhouse border soil, growbag, 23cm (9in) pots or ring culture.
• Aftercare Instructions: Remove side shoots as they appear and pinch out the growing point when 5-7 trusses have been formed. Feed regularly once the first truss has set.

Tomato - The Love Apple

Tomatoes were originally known as "Love Apples". Probably because tomatoes from North Africa were known in Italy as pomo dei Mori, "apples of the Moors." That was transliterated to the French pomme d'amour . . . "love apple."


The tomato plant was not grown in England until the 1590s. It was believed to be poisonous (tomato leaves and stems contain poisonous glycoalkaloids, but the fruit is safe). However, by the mid-1700s, tomatoes were widely eaten in Britain and North America.


Cultivated tomatoes vary in size from cherry tomatoes, about the same 1–2 cm size as the wild tomato, up to beefsteak tomatoes 10 cm or more in diameter. It is a good idea to grow a selection of varities. My favourites are

• Gardener's Delight, a fairly large cherry tomato which is safe to grow outdoors in England;
• Dombito, a beefsteak variety, and
• Mirabelle, a bright yellow cherry tomato, very sweet - pick and eat them like candy.

Tomatoes for Health

Lycopene is known to protect against breast cancer and research has also shown that men eating around eight tomatoes a day have a much lower incidence of prostate cancer, which is now as common in men as breast cancer is in women. Tomatoes are, furthermore, rich in the protective antioxidant betacarotene, which the body turns into life-prolonging vitamin A, and they have vitamins C and E, essential for a healthy heart, circulation and immune system. The low levels of sodium and high levels of potassium in tomatoes means that they aid in the prevention of high blood pressure and fluid retention.

Tomatoes are part of the 'Mediterranean Diet' and play a vital role in the way this healthy style of eating helps the population of southern Europe to lead longer and healthier lives. In South America they believe that tomatoes are an aphrodisiac and, while there's no scientific proof to support this belief, they do contain substantial amounts of vitamin E, which is important for fertility, so it must be worth a try. Fortunately, we're now much more adventurous in the way we combine aromatic herbs with tomatoes - another tip from our Mediterranean neighbours. And the herbs aren't just there for taste alone. The traditional addition of fresh basil leaves to raw tomatoes creates a simple salad which not only tastes good and smells good, but also makes you feel good, since the essential oils in basil act as powerful mood enhancers.

So come on everyone – eat more tomatoes and stay healthy. You may have to buy supermarket tomatoes at this time of year – but try your nearest Farmers’ Market. We have a Farmers' market once a month in Steyning and a stall there sells delicious tomatoes all year round. They come from the Isle of Wight so must be grown under glass – nevertheless they are better than the supermarket variety flown in from sunnier climes.

My favourite tomato dish is a sliced beefsteak tomato, layered with slices of goat’s cheese, a twist of pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Scrumptious.

Plant friends and enemies

As with most fruits and vegetables, planting tomatoes closely packed together will attract more pests and disease. The best way to plant tomatoes is to intersperse them with other kinds of plants..
By planting carrots between tomato plants, both will benefit and there will be fewer pests.
Other tomato friends are parsley and marigolds (tagetes). Whiteflies and other aphids do not like marigolds. I have found French marigolds are best for this especially in the greenhouse - they look attractive too.

Other plant friends are:

• Brassicas like Rhubarb; Thyme; Camomile
• Beans like Savory
• Roses love Garlic
• Fruit trees benefit from Nasturtiums

Plant enemies:

• Tomatoes do not like Fennel
• Cabbage, Sage and Basil do not like Rue
• Peas do not like Garlic
• Potatos do not like Rosemary, Mint and Camomile

For more information on this subject Click Here!

Understanding your soil

All plants enjoy substantial amounts of organic matter – manure or compost in the soil. Organic matter holds nutrients in the soil so that they are not lost through leaching. It increases the amount of water your soil can hold as well as microbial activity in the soil, encouraging earthworms and creating a wonderful healthy soil system that produces nice sweet tomatoes.

Compost in the soil takes time to break down and release its nutrients– often up to 2 – 3 months. This means that if you want to use compost alone, it should be dug into the soil at least a month before you wish to plant your tomatoes.

It often helps to add a bit of fertiliser (even if you have used compost) at 5cm (2 inches) below and 5cm (2 inches) to the side of where you plant your seedling. If you put fertiliser directly in contact with the roots you will burn them and your tomato seedling may die or its growth be retarded.
Grow Juicy Tasty Tomatoes!

One is nearer to God in a garden than anywhere else on earth.

This is the epitaph my mother wanted on her grave. She grew roses. I prefer to grow vegetables - especially tomatos. But tomatos bought from a supermarket taste of nothing at all and why is it that even the tomatos I grow for myself do not have the flavour they used to. Is it in the soil? These modern grow-bags do not have any life in them. Gone are the days when one could go outside and collect the manure from the passing milkman's horse to spread on the garden!
So I have started this blog in the hope that others will share their tips for growing flavourful tomatos.

Terrific Tasty Tomatoes

Tomatoes are a must for any vegetable garden. They are versatile, delicious, colorful, and a pleasure to share with friends and neighbors. Best of all, biting into your very own fresh-picked tomatoes creates immediate taste bud ecstasy. Tomatoes are easy to grow, both in your garden and in containers. And if you’re only familiar with Romas, Beefsteak, and your typical round reds, you’ll be delighted to know that there are around 4,000 different kinds of tomatoes out there! Have you ever sampled a Cherokee Purple, a White Wonder, a Yellow Pear tomato, or a Green Zebra?

Home Grown Tomatoes

Home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes
What would life be like without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can't buy
That's true love and home grown tomatoes.”
John Denver, 'Home Grown Tomatoes' (from a song written by Guy Clark)

The World of Organic Tomato Gardening

Welcome to the home of organic tomato gardening. How to grow the tastiest organic tomatos both outdoors and in the greenhouse. Which varieties of tomatos are best. Tips on plant friends and plant enemies to make organic tomato gardening easier.