14 *** A^ Sunday 1 September 2019 The Sunday Telegraph
GARDENING
Fine vines: the joy
of growing your
own rare tomatoes
T
omatoes make
nerds of many gar-
deners. Just the
mention of names
like ‘Japanese Black
Trifele’ and ‘Gar-
dener’s Delight’
will quicken the
pulse. And yet, while the range of
varieties we can grow is superior in
every way to those in the super-
market, it is a mere sliver of the
10,000-plus varieties in existence – a
hidden heritage of little-grown
flavours, textures and colours.
Next Saturday, Knightshayes – a
National Trust-owned country house
near Tiverton, Devon, and home of
one of my favourite kitchen gardens- hosts its Tomato Day. A celebration
of everything tomato, with the op-
portunity to see and taste dozens of
varieties, there will be tours, seed
swaps and demonstrations.
The day is about more than this,
Odd shapes, exciting
flavours, new colours
- why heritage toms
are worth saving.
By Mark Diacono NATIONAL TRUST/LIZ ABDEY
favourite of all. Anyone can develop a
delicious collection that does well
where they live.
“It’s a great feeling to reintroduce a
tomato that captures people’s imagina-
tion. ‘Ildi’, a yellow grape, is one of my
favourite ‘saved’ tomatoes, with huge
trusses of delicious cherry tomatoes. It
was only available through seed saving
groups, yet it developed a following,
became registered and now seed is
easy to find. One day we hope to find
‘Dedham’s Favourite’, one grown here
in the late Victorian era when the
kitchen garden won many prizes.”
Of course, Tomato Day will include
advice on growing tomatoes. Todd
says: “The way we do it is pretty
straightforward but each step is cru-
cial. We sow indoor tomatoes in early
March on a heated mat, pricking them
out into 9cm pots when large enough,
before moving them into an unheated
but frost-free greenhouse. We then
plant them into 35-litre pots in the
polytunnels in early May.”
Care is regimented: as it grows, each
plant is wound around a thin rope hung
from the ceiling for support. As trusses
form, a handful of organic fertiliser
pellets is applied monthly; plants are
watered at the same time every morn-
ing, directly at the root zone, to help
prevent blossom end rot, greenback
and split skins.
The tunnel is kept as dry as possible,
as low humidity discourages late blight.
Side shoots are pinched out weekly,
first thing in the morning to allow the
small wounds to heal before dampness
descends in the evening. Lower leaves
are removed once the fruit trusses at
that height are well formed, maximis-
ing light and air.
Another way to be part of this gently
subversive reclaiming of rare varieties
is to save your own seed. For those who
can’t make the demonstration on Ter-
rific Tomato Day, see the guide below.TOMATO
RELISH
Gardener Sam
Brown snips
sideshoots from
‘Atkins’ Stuffing’,
main, and
extracts seeds
from ‘Rainbow’,
bottom. A few
of the 150
varieties grown
at Knightshayes,
left; wavy-
edged ‘Charlie
Chaplin’ is
sliced, belowthough. Beverley Todd, the kitchen
garden supervisor, explains: “Although
we are unusual in growing 150 varieties
of tomato, this is just the tip of the ice-
berg: many varieties are under threat
simply from not being grown. So we
grow heritage varieties to showcase
their qualities, and in the hope that we
might help save some. If no one grows
them, they’re gone for good.”
A variety can become endangered for
a number of reasons: we gardeners like
familiar varieties, major seed suppliers
dominate, and for seed to be sold for
food production it has to be registered
as such, a prohibitive cost for small
suppliers. The result is that we grow
from an ever-shrinking range. But, by
growing heritage varieties, gardenershelp to maintain the genetic
diversity of tomatoes: the
wider that is, the broader the
range of flavours, textures,
colours, sizes and degrees of
resistance to disease and
adaptability to different conditions.
The best way to be part of this is to
join the Heritage Seed Library (garden
organic.org.uk/hsl) and get involved
with a seed swap group; by exchanging
seed of endangered varieties of vegeta-
bles, you keep them alive.
Growing heritage varieties isn’t just
about trying to save them. Todd says:
“We are also trying to create a wide
range of tomatoes that work well for us
here, in the warm, wet Devon climate.
“The best become regulars for us,
and it is usually flavour that convinces
people. ‘White Beauty’, for instance, is
one of the least attractive tomatoes
you’ll ever see: grey-white and
squished like a doughnut peach, but
the pineapple flavour is incredible, myYou’ll need: a
sharp knife,
teaspoon,
chopping board,
jam jars, sieve,
sticky labels,
marker pen,
small pieces of
muslin and
elastic bands.
Avoid potato-
leaved and
beefsteak types
with big flowers
and a long green
stigma in a
central cone;
these can be
cross-pollinated
by insects and
won’t come true.As first trusses
ripen, choose a
fruit that is the
best example of
its variety. Let it
mature on the
vine until very
ripe. Cut your
ripe fruit across
the middle
horizontally to
expose the seed
chambers.
Scrape out the
seeds and jelly
into a labelled
and dated jam
jar. Add a small
amount of water,
stir and cover the
top of the jarwith muslin and
secure with an
elastic band.
Leave in a
warm place for
three to five
days, check
when the water
starts frothing
and fermenting a
little. This
process breaks
down the jelly
coating on seeds,
making them
easier to dry and
encourages
germination in
the spring.
Rinse well in a
sieve, rubbingthrough the
remaining fruit
pulp. Scoop the
seeds on to a
plate with a
spoon and leave
in a warm place
out of direct
sunlight to dry.
Package into
labelled packets
and keep in a
cool, dark place
until spring.
Share seeds
with friends.Knightshayes
Terrific Tomato
Day, Sept 7, free
entry, 11am-2pm.HOW TO SAVE TOMATO SEED FOR NEXT YEAR... AND FOREVER
STRANGE FRUIT
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