D.T. Brown – A nice, sensible catalogue. Easy to read, plenty of colour photos of veg, fruit and some flowers. It’s not going to take you on a wild, exotic trip to tomato realms new; it’s a catalogue where the pages of the tomato section – remain for the most part – resolutely red. But when the country is in (I was going to say Melt Down, if only…) Freeze Up… then at the moment I’m all for dependable and reassuring.
The company roots go back over 100 years, originally near Blackpool ( and if ever there’s a resort which gets on with whatever it wants to be regardless of actual weather, B’pool is it) and now based in Suffolk. You can order online, by post, by phone. Postage for seeds is free.
31 varieties of Tomato Seed – divided into 4 sections. Indoor, Outdoor, Indoor/Outdoor, and Best of British Bred.
Indoor: Banemi F1/Big Red F1/ Shirley F1/ Malinowy Henryka F1.
Outdoor: Marmande/ Roma VF/ Shady Lady F1/ Tigerella F1.
Indoor/Outdoor: Aisla Craig/ Alicante/ Bejbino/ Cherry Falls/ Chocolate Cherry/ Country Taste F1/ Favorita F1/ Ferline F1/ Gardener’s Delight/ Golden Sunrise/ Ildi/ Moneymaker/ Sakura F1/ San Marzano/ Sweet Million F1/ Tumbling Tom Red/ Sungold F1/ Sun Grape F1/ Tumbler F1/Vanessa F1
Best of British Bred: Mega Bite/ Tumbling Tiger ( both for the Patio) . Tumbling Tiger looks interesting. It’s described as plum sized and shaped. The colouring as ‘red striped with green’ which I can’t quite visualize. And as suitable for larger patio pots or hanging baskets. I am thinking a domestically diminutive Tigerella ?
Also avalible:
5 varieties as plants : Big Red F1/ Ferline F1/ Bejbino F1/Zip F1/ Tumbler F1 ( Despatched from late April)
and
3 varieties as grafted plants: Shirley/ Super Steak F1/ Piccolo ( Despatched from mid May)
And an interesting note at the beginning of the catalogue refers to Koralik. Which I seem to remember was much talked about last year in relation to blight resistance. This is what it says ” Thanks to everyone who replied with their trial results on Koralik. There were lots of postive mentions but, on balance, we have decided not to list the variety as many of you reported problems on germination, too small fruit size and no special flavour…”
So whilst at the moment it’s all “earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone” I’m enjoying looking through the seed catalogues with their promise of warmth . With airports shut and frozen, far better an escape than a travel brochure !
