15:06 - 21 September 2010
Nothing surpasses the flavour of home grown tomatoes, and with hundreds of different varieties available to grow from seed, you can indulge a desire to grow just about any type you fancy and most gardeners do just that. Gardeners that grow tomatoes should now have a bit of a glut and be looking for ways to use up the surplus. In recent years tomato blight has completely decimated the efforts of many amateur gardeners just as the fruit was hanging off the plants by the kilo. As a result many gardeners have given up growing outdoor tomatoes and concentrated on greenhouse varieties that can be grown under glass or polytunnel protection. Those that were more daring and planted surplus outside, or have chosen to grow blight resistant types are now reaping the fruits of their labour. A quick look around local allotment plots will reveal plants dripping in rich, ripe fruits that are so sweet even the wasps have taken an interest.
Tomatoes can be eaten raw or cooked and are a wonderful addition to most meals. They don’t freeze particularly well, although frozen tomatoes are ideal for cooking, instead many gardeners and cooks prefer to bottle, chutney and sauce surplus tomatoes for winter use.
Roast tomatoes
When you’ve run out of bottles and jars and still have pounds of tomatoes to preserve, then cut them in half, remove the woody core and any blemishes. Place them cut side down into a large baking dish. Cut the skins into a grid like pattern and grind some black pepper over the top, then drizzle olive oil generously over each tomato. Place low down in the oven when you are next baking and allow the dish to stay in the oven as it cools down. Keep an eye on the tomatoes; they need a few hours of a warm oven to reduce down to a thick, oily tomato paste, which can then be frozen, in ice cube trays or small amounts in the freezer. It’s ideal for winter soups, stews and pasta dishes, recreating the taste of summer in the middle of winter.
Green tomatoes
Green tomatoes can be harvested and then ripened indoors or even in the greenhouse, keep them frost free. They will even ripen in the dark. You can speed up the ripening process by mixing a few ripe tomatoes with the green ones or by placing ripening bananas nearby. Don’t forget that green tomatoes can be used in a variety of recipes, but most will go on and ripen if you have space to keep them.
Choosing Seed
All the new seed stock will be in the garden centres and online now. Most gardeners have a favourite tomato variety that they grow each year, but it is always a good idea to grow a few different types so that if you have a problem with one of them, another may not be affected. You never know, you might even end up growing something that you like even more than your normal tomato variety.
Saving Seed
If you’ve grown a particularly tasty variety this year or you have a heritage tomato that you want to keep growing, then save some seed. Unless you have an F1 variety, which won’t come true from seed, most other tomatoes will be pretty true to the parent. Simply take one tomato from a healthy, vigorous plant and cut open to remove the seed. Place the seed into a small bowl with some tepid water and leave to ferment for 3-4 days. This breaks down the jelly coat that surrounds each seed. Tip the liquid out and separate the seeds onto a piece of kitchen towel. Spread them out and they will stick to the towel as they dry. You can write the variety name on the kitchen towel and store the seeds in a cool dry place in envelopes. When you are ready to sow next spring you can either cut carefully around each seed using scissors or you can sow them on the paper, which will rot down into the compost. It’s a great way of sharing good varieties with friends and for labelling and storing surplus seeds. Cut the towel into sections and take the seeds to a seed swap early next year to share your favourite varieties with other gardeners.
