Try sowing now
I grew a wider selection of cherry, salad and beefsteak tomatoes from April sowings, making a note of their picking season, taste and form.
CHERRY
‘Gardener’s Delight’
Long daily picking season
A reliable, classic, old variety bred for a cool climate with a guaranteed heavy crop. Manage watering to avoid splitting of thin fruit skins. Like many tomatoes, later pickings are the sweetest.
Harvest 25 Jul-10 Oct
Taste test
Not the sweetest tasting, but masses of fast-ripening fruit can be picked every day.
‘Sunchocola’ F1 Good-looking, sweet fruits
Large, delicious, cherry fruits with a dark blush on strong clustered trusses. Like hybrid parent ‘Sungold’, but with a thicker skin, so there’s less of a sweet ‘pop’ as they explode in your mouth.
Harvest 31 Jul-3 Oct
Taste test
The taste is great, and it looks good on the plate. New to me, but I’ll grow this again.
‘Limoncito’ F1 Cheerful yellow non-splitters
This plant produces pretty, pale yellow plum-shaped fruits with robust, thick skins in heavy trusses. Side shoots were prolific, but easy to spot and snap out on the weekly tidy up.
Harvest 28 Jul-30 Sep
Taste test
These sweet fruits were rarely split or damaged and brightened up the picking bowl.
‘Rapunzel’ F1 Best of the cherries
Rapunzel by name and nature with long, uniform trusses of red fruit. My longest had 36 fruits on it, but they didn’t all ripen at once – I had to brace myself to pick the ripe ones and ruin the pretty effect.
Harvest 31 Jul-28 Sep
Taste test
Very sweet fruit and easy to train as a cordon with a strong upright habit. I’ll be growing this variety again.
‘Red Pear’ Sweet but dense flesh
This variety is easy to cordon train. It grew with long gaps between the tiers of light foliage and carried small teardrop- or pear-shaped fruit on neat trusses.
Harvest 18 Aug-16 Oct
Taste test
The fruits are attractive, and the flesh was very sweet, but also dense. It didn’t stand out for me.
These sweet ‘Limoncito’ fruits rarely split and brightened up the picking bowl
SALAD ‘Shirley’ F1 Reliable, but needs protection
This old, heavy-cropping variety is neat and reliable and has been grown commercially under glass for years. When protected, it produces uniform red fruit on strong plants.
Harvest 15 Aug-10 Oct
Taste test
Like ‘Alicante’, I grow this to boost my harvest of fruit for canning and freezing. Tasty in salads, too.
BEEFSTEAK ‘Gourmandia’ F1 Tasty and fleshy, but grow early
Plants are easy to cordon train with very few side shoots. The large, red, fleshy fruits have a distinctive point at the base although the skin near the calyx scarred a little.
Harvest 10 Aug-16 Oct
Taste test
Plenty of tasty, firm-fleshed fruit that was easy to slice and stuff. I’ll grow this one again, but will sow earlier than April.
‘Buffalosun’ F1 Best of the beefsteaks
Strong-growing plants support whopping, orange to pale orange, flattened fruits that are a bit corky around the calyx, but provide plenty of flesh once they are trimmed.
Harvest 14 Aug-12 Oct
Taste test
In terms of taste and impact on the plate, these were a huge favourite for me and those I shared them with.
‘Big Daddy’ F1 Tastes great and stores well
Plants are leafy so need scrutiny to stop side shoots, but they produce plenty of big, slightly ribbed, bright red tomatoes that appear healthy and strong.
Harvest 10 Aug-16 Oct
Taste test
I’ve grown this before – it’s reliable, tastes great and stays fresh in the kitchen for several days.
‘Costoluto Fiorentino’ Ideal for slicing
The plants can be unruly with lots of foliage and an occasional double leader at the top. Ribbed, slightly flattened fruit is especially pretty, although size can vary on the plant.
Harvest 15 Aug-20 Oct
Taste test
Not a heavy cropper, but its sweet, firm-fleshed fruit looks beautiful when sliced.
Have plenty of tomato recipes and ideas for preserves in mind, ready for peak picking season