Emilia le Roux

Co-author of the cookbook A Farm in my Heart

Roma is my favourite tomato – the oldfashioned real thing and not the hybrid type. I use them for preserves and to make tomato and pasta sauces. Another favourite is the oxheart tomato (above) a meaty tomato that tastes delicious fresh.

Some time ago I discovered a company called Livingseeds that supplies heirloom seeds, and ever since then I’ve made sure to buy a new variety or two every season. This year I’m excited about the Turkish monastery tomato because I think it will do well in our climate. It originally comes from a Turkish monstery, so I guess it is an extremely blessed seed!

I have also bought Black Cephus, just because it has such a wonderful story: this tomato was discovered outside a worker’s house on a farm in KwaZulu-Natal, where one Cephus, a Zimbabwean, had lived with his wife. They’d left behind this magnificent purple-black tomato as a gift to the earth. And I’ve always wanted to grow a black tomato.

I think Black Beauty (below) is the best type of eggplant: it does well in the Cape, offers a great yield and grows well in a small garden.