I counted 11 entries. 9 were Cedrico and 2 Alicante. I think I have got the photos in the right order of first, second, third and I think fourth prize. But for sure they were all Cedricococo!

Left behind in the cloud of dust – are ‘Sunrise’ and ‘Cream Banana’.

There weren’t any entries in this class last year so good to see a couple this year. The Brandywine were especially attractive.

Staging cherry tomatoes is clearly an art as well. The sand makes them look a little like rouged-up ostrich eggs, the kitchen towel is a little too… ‘kitcheny?’, the tack to hold them in place – works well from a securing point of view – but not so sure I like the look, sort of fabergé egg without the fab – and then there are the plates – where it would seem an inquisitive finger has given them a curious poke – and the tomato equivalent of Come By is now needed to herd them back into formation.

I always like to take note of the outcome of the annual Noblesse oblige in the Melon duel. A duel because there are only ever two – one from the Duke of Devonshire, one from the Duke of Marlborough. And whilst the actual fruit, could easily be bought and perhaps bettered from any supermarket – there is something delicious about this rough-skinned slice of history being played out year after year. But this year there was – gasp – only one melon, and it was smaller than in previous years. I hope this is hiccup and not revolution.

On the tomato benches – no such unsettling sights. Although from studying the look-a-likey plates in the medium class – I am sure if the Stepford Wives had a Stepford husband he must have been called Cedrico!

But I thought we’d start with the Small Fruited Class. 1st prize: Apero. 2nd prize: Sungold. 3rd prize: Harlequin. And all lovely looking fruit and well deserving winners.

Full marks to Dometica and Japanese Black Trifele for just getting on with it!

P.S the missing Suncherry got accidently knocked off its stalk in the name of art!

Looking out at the garden it’s as if it just doesn’t know what to do with all the water that’s descended – it’s dankly hanging around, filling the air, making everything ten shades darker than its normal tone, and with a heavy sky pressing down from above, it’s akin to a Summer Pudding – where you line the bowl with bread, tumble fruit into it, weight it down with a plate down and let it all soak in. The fences look so sodden you could wring them out.

The only bright spots are some of the ripening tomatoes with Dometica the leading light. So I thought I cut into one – and take a taste. In normal growing conditions I think this would like Balconi – a very productive variety.

Summary – it’s a sensible tomato, straightforward shape, feels good and heavy in the hand – and a tribute to its pleasant taste (on a day that wasn’t evoking the joy of a raw slice of anything)  is that I’d nearly eaten it all before stopping to get a snap. But then I can always be trusted to find the locular lining!

I also don’t like how the stalks of the plants tend to topple in one direction causing the plant to sit badly in the pot or how it looks and handles more like a cabbage or Brussel Sprout than a tomato plant.

But… I do like the fact that they are highly productive and low in maintenance. No sideshoot pinching, no tie-ing in, no removing lower leaves. Just pop in a pot and let them get on with popping out tomatoes.

I didn’t grow the red last year, only the yellow – and I think the yellow has a glow and brightness that’s missing in the red. But still – I am photographing them and writing them up to draw attention to them – as a good, no frills, straightforward, friend of the high on gluttony, low on tending time tomato lover!

With Firebell, I can’t recall why I choose it as a varitey, but I would now say, without having put it through any kind of taste test, I really like its shape  and it would earn its place on that merit.

So I’d name this trio – Tomatoes to raise a smile.