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.
No comments:
Post a Comment