Today’s Harvest (August 2022)

The family have been here for the past week so it’s been difficult to know exactly how things are going. We had a heavy thunderstorm which broke the hot dry weather and, hopefully, will mean that some of the beans and courgettes will set and grow. It doesn’t affect the tomatoes because I have been…… Continue reading Today’s Harvest (August 2022)

Planting out Tomatoes – 2022

So, the plants have got to the stage where they’re large enough to plant out. I grow my tomatoes in a couple of small greenhouses (since my polytunnel failed last year) in “Morissons Flower Buckets (MFBs)”. (For those of you who don’t know about them, Morissons is a UK supermarket and one of the things…… Continue reading Planting out Tomatoes – 2022

Tomato – Big League (F1)

Red Beefsteak F1 Hybrid Tomato on Determinate plants. Description Another of the free seeds which might be tried in 2022. Large fruit (around 1 lb) on determinate plants makes this variety suitable for container growing, so we will grow it outdoors, rather than in the greenhouse. It looks as though it will need a lot…… Continue reading Tomato – Big League (F1)

Tomato – Summerlast

A red cherry on compact Determinate plants Description We don’t grow F1 hybrids in general but free seeds are always an exception to the rule. So this compact Determinate cultivar will get tried in 2022 (outside of course). It looks to be similar to Tiny Tim and Red Robin so it will have to be…… Continue reading Tomato – Summerlast

Tomato – ACE 55

A large , red, round tomato on Determinate Plants Description Whilst this seems to be a relatively common cultivar, we are growing it for the first time in 2022. It is described as a large, fleshy heritage variety developed at the University of California in the 1950’s with resistance to many common pests and diseases.…… Continue reading Tomato – ACE 55

First Tomato of the year set

Micro Tom Tomato I was just looking in the polytunnel to make sure that the slug hadn’t been having another go at everything when I noticed we’ve got the first tomato set. Its Micro Tom, not one we’ve grown before which I decided we would grow to boost the number of small cherry tomatoes that…… Continue reading First Tomato of the year set

Tomato Angelle

A red Cherry open pollinated tomato on Indeterminate plants Description From the 2018 Seed Swap saved from a supermarket purchase. Now, I don’t entirely agree with doing this, partly because commercial tomatoes are usually F1 hybrids (the commercial growers need consistency which heritage and open pollinated varieties don’t necessarily give) and I’ve also found that…… Continue reading Tomato Angelle

Tomato Balconi Red

Red Cherry heritage tomato on compact determinate plants. Description Acquired through the 2018 seed swap, this cultivar is common on the web. Its a short (12 inch) determinate cherry tomato, similar to Tiny Tim, Micro Tom, Red Robin and others. Our comparison in 2019 showed that this cultivar was a worthwhile competitor to Red Robin…… Continue reading Tomato Balconi Red

Tomato Giallo d’Iverno

A red Cherry open pollinated tomato on Indeterminate plants Description From the 2018 Seed Swap, we weren’t sure what this was going to be as we couldn’t find it described anywhere on the web (the nearest was Grappoli D’Inervo which is a grape shaped cultivar – it was in my database but without an associated…… Continue reading Tomato Giallo d’Iverno

Tomato Zhefen Short

Medium sized red heritage tomato on determinate plants. Description Zhefen Short is said to be a “tasty 3-inch slightly oval pink tomato that grows on 3ft – 4ft plants. Good juice, sweet/acid balance and great taste. Excellent for a short season or patio tomato”. We tried it in 2012 but unfortunately the seedlings were eaten…… Continue reading Tomato Zhefen Short