IN THE GARDEN

Cherry, plum, vine, ox-heart or beefsteak? Windowsill, balcony, allotment or greenhouse? Jojo considers the tomato in all its variety

Everything about growing tomatoes is satisfying (except blight). The flavour is incentive enough, not to mention the cheerful sight of glossy fruits. The leaves have texture as well as scent, a unique, felty aroma redolent of summer. To avoid kilos of green tomatoes, grow some early, cold-tolerant cultivars and some fail-safe favourites (‘Gardener’s Delight’, ‘Alicante’ or ‘Shirley’) that crop heavily alongside more esoteric choices. On allotments, ask seasoned plot holders what thrives locally. Your growing space may be limited, but as long as you have light you can grow a tomato. If you have a balcony, consider growing taller (vine) fruits up a string suspended from a hook. If you have only a windowsill, opt for dwarf or bush tomatoes. Tall terracotta pots work well for this (most DIY centres sell them). Choose some cultivars to eat in salads and some for sauces. There’s still time to sow seeds (mid-April is the cut-off point), but if you can’t act immediately order plug plants (most large seed companies offer these). Here are some cultivars you might consider: ‘Grushovka’ (Early Pink), which costs £2.91 for 18 seeds from The Real Seed Company (realseeds.co.uk), is a quick-growing tomato that is especially suited to cooler climates. The egg-shaped, shocking-pink fruits are good for vivid salads or lurid gazpachos. ‘Chadwick Cherry’ also from The Real Seed Company is a tasty, heavycropping, medium-sized cherry tomato. Pretty enough for the potager or windowsill, it also has good disease resistance. £2.18 for 18 seeds. ‘Tumbler’ F1 Hybrid from Tuckers (tuckers-countrystores.com) is an early, compact, red cherry, ideal for a hanging basket or to cascade over the sides of a pot. It produces around 2kg of very sweet tomatoes per plant. For a colourful effect, why not grow it with ‘Tumbling Tom Yellow’ also from Tuckers? Both cost £2.40 for ten seeds. ‘Green Zebra’ from Chiltern Seeds (chilternseeds.co.uk) combines beauty and flavour with its striped chartreuse and lime-green fruit that has a tangy flavour. A similar tomato, but red-fruited with yellow stripes, is the early, heavy-cropping ‘Tigerella’ also from Chiltern Seeds. Both are best grown under glass and cost £1.95 a packet. ‘Country Taste’ F1 Hybrid from Tuckers is a beefsteak tomato with large, glossy, dark-red fruits that are sweet and delicious. It ripens earlier than other large tomatoes, and can be grown outdoors or in, but will ripen quicker under glass. It costs £2.40 for ten seeds. ‘Costoluto Fiorentino’ from The Real Seed Company is a ribbed beauty, delicious cooked or raw. Its tall, vigorous vines produce heavy yields over a long period. Hope for a hot summer. £2.17 for 25 seeds.