I’m really pleased to be able to introduce the second in our series of TomatoLover interviews. Last week we met Pete who is a very experienced home grower and today I’m talking to Jim who lives in the Pennines of South Yorkshire and who has been successfully growing his own tomatoes on and off for about twenty years.
Jim,thank you for making time for tomatolover.com. We love talking to people who know their tomatoes! Your inspiration and expertise are ‘rich compost’ for us seedlings.
TL: Where do you grow your tomatoes?
Jim: In the Greenhouse.
TL: What do you grow your tomatoes in?
Jim: In pots, of the largest terracotta size (big!). I think bags are rubbish, having insufficient compost to achieve the size of plants that give a worthwhile crop.
TL: Which are your favourite varieties to grow?
Jim: Sun baby, which is one of the best golden tomatoes (high yields of thin-skinned yellow cherry size fruits).
Tumbling Tom Red (cascading highly productive type that will grow well in hanging baskets; sweet flavoured cherry size).
Gardeners Delight (small sweet fruit produced all season).
Roma (heavy cropping, tasty and sweet; great for cooking and sauces).
I prefer cherry tomatoes because the greenhouse is quite small and I can train the plants up and along the length of the roof.
TL: Are there any types that you have grown that were disappointing?
Jim: Not really, though as I have said, the larger varieties tend to be unsuited to my circumstances.
TL: Do you grow your tomatoes from seed?
Jim: I’m going to try this for the first time this year, having just bought a heated propagator for the window sill. I usually buy from a great little local nursery which offers a huge range of types. I can buy in very small numbers, as I have only about five tomato plants in the greenhouse to leave room for chilli plants.
TL: Is this your own seed or do you buy seeds?
Jim: I got some seeds this year as freebies with the ‘Gardeners’ World mag!
TL: How many tomatoes do you usually get from those five plants?
Jim: Loads all summer long.
TL: What’s your favourite way to enjoy your tomatoes once you have picked them?
Jim: Easily the best way is to stand in the greenhouse and eat them from the plant!!!
Love making a rich sauce from them to go with king prawns cooked in cast iron skillets.
TL: What are the mistakes a beginner is most likely to make?
Jim: I really came to grief with the grow bags, because I could never get the watering and feeding right in them.
I also learned to strip the leaves from the base of the plant. At first, I used to have lots of jungle and not many fruits – it was too dark!!!
I didn’t use to pollinate them either, which led to poor yields; now Ibrush with a small artist’s brush as soon as the flowers open.
TL: What would be your top 3 tips for a beginner who wants to enjoy the experience of growing their own?
Jim: Grow just two or three plants of different types
Use big terracotta pots
Buy plants from a nursery, not B&Q or similar!
Bonus tip: get a water butt, fill it and hang an old pillowcase filled with sheep shit (sorry, manure – easy to get where we live!) in the water. Top up as you use it. Apply to plants regularly: ten fresh water measures to one sheep soup mix. That is ace feed, but make sure that the butt has a lid!
TL: What tomato activities have you been doing in the past few weeks?
Jim: Clearing out the greenhouse for fumigation; I buy a candle tin type and this sort out the disease spores from the previous year. This year, I am sowing seeds in my propagator – big experiment!!
Many thanks to Jim for sharing his knowledge and experience and his recipes! Lunch of rich tomato sauce and king prawns sounds delicious. Perhaps I’ll pass on the sheep soup though!
Photos from found_drama and Sp3ccylad
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