EXTENDING THE SEASON WITH TOMATOES

Martin Fish shares his love of tomatoes and enthuses about the amazing range of flavours you can get if you grow your own

- Martin Fish

Growing tomatoes holds so many memories for me because they were one of the first crops I grew as a child, in a small homemade greenhouse. Even now, more than 50 years later, when I walk into a greenhouse of tomatoes and breathe in that distinctive aroma, I'm instantly taken back.

As far as I'm concerned, home-grown tomatoes are without doubt much tastier than shop-bought fruits, simply because when you grow your own, you can allow the fruits to ripen and develop their full flavour before picking. Growing your own also means you can choose from hundreds of varieties, all of which are different in flavour, shape and colour.

If you have a heated greenhouse, you can extend the cropping season and be picking fresh, tasty tomatoes from July through until November.

SOWING

In their native South America, tomatoes grow as perennial plants, but in the UK they are treated as frost-tender annuals that are grown from seed each spring. To germinate, the seeds need warmth and both seedlings and growing plants need frost protection at all times.

For an early crop in a heated greenhouse, seeds can be sown in January and February, but where they will be grown outside or in a cold greenhouse, wait until March or April to sow.