We’ve just come back from a cold few days in Northumberland and the tomatoes I sowed just before we went are beginning to germinate so I’ll be starting the annual trips into the greenhouse so that they get maximum sunlight whilst keeping warm overnight.
As ever, I have sown far more than I’ll be able to grow in the limited space. Trying to grow a range of colours and sizes and maintain the freshness of the seeds that I’ve collected over the years and, at the same time, trying to grow new varieties bought, or ones that I’ve been given. I always grow more tomatoes than we can eat (or give away to family) during the season so a lot go into the freezer either chopped or as sauce. Last year I grew too many cherry tomatoes so the frozen tomatoes were not the best, too much skin and not enough flesh. So this year (I hope) my choice includes fewer cherry tomatoes and more standard sized.
Anyway the full list that I sowed is:
Ace 55, Ailsa Craig, Alicante, Baby Pink Plum (F1), Balconi Red, Big League (F1), Black Cherry, Black Icicle, Black Krim, Brown Berry, Darby Striped, Demidov, Gardener’s Delight, Garden Pearl, Harbinger, Japanese Black Trifele, Mortgage Lifter, Oleron Yellow, Pink Bulgarian, Rainbow Cherry, Red Zebra, Rubylicious, Saint Pierre, Sandpoint, Shirley (F1), Sub Arctic Plenty, Summer Cider, Summer Frolic, Summerlast (F1), Tsungshigo Chinese
As you’ll see, only a few of these are new and not already included on the website so I’ll keep track of these and give my opinions as ever.
Finally, you may notice on the website pages that the number of sources has reduced. When Thomson & Morgan bought Suttons & Dobies back in 2020, I continued to link through to them as separate suppliers. However, I no longer think this is worth the effort so from now on I will just link to Thomson & Morgan which (in some cases) might mean that there isn’t a source for a particular cultivar (either seeds or plants) but I don’t really see why T&M can’t admit that they own the brands. I have noticed that the collective group of T&M, Van Meuwen, Dobies and Suttons seem to have reduced the choice of seeds, concentrating on F1 Hybrids and the commonly available cultivars which I think is a pity.
Anyway, I hope you all have a good season, comments welcomed.