If you don’t have a greenhouse or polytunnel it doesn’t mean you can’t grow tomatoes. Even if you do, why not grow some outside on your plot so you can have copious amounts to preserve and make into sauces to freeze. Having bottled tomatoes or sauces for the winter months may be prudent should tomatoes be in short supply again next winter. Although it is possible to grow tomatoes outside, if you live in more northerly areas you may struggle and might need to grow them under cover. See our section on page 35 with some tips.
VARIETIES TO GROW
When buying tomato seeds check that the varieties you fancy are suitable for growing outdoors. Some are better than others. Blight disease can also be a problem on outdoor-grown tomatoes in late summer and this may devastate the crop. Look out for blight-resistant varieties such as ‘Mountain Magic’ or ‘Crimson Crush’, which are cordon types. Cordons are grown as a single stem against a support and you remove the sideshoots regularly. A great compact and bushy patio variety to grow in a pot on your patio that is blight resistant is called ‘Summerlast’. A cherry tomato type with good blight resistance is ‘Crimson Cocktail F1’. For something larger and meatier look out for ‘Crimson Blush’, a blight-resistant beefsteak type. If you like a plum-type tomato then a blight-resistant one is ‘Crimson Plum’. You can of course try others that don’t necessarily have good blight resistance. Popular ones include ‘Gardener’s Delight’, ‘Sungold’, ‘Tumbling Tom Red’ for a hanging basket, and so many more. See facing page for some varieties more suited to northerly regions.
HOW TO GROW
Esta historia es de la edición April 2023 de Kitchen Garden.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición April 2023 de Kitchen Garden.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
EASY DOES IT!
As the growing season gathers pace there's one thing often in short supply: time! Ever feel like you're chasing your tail? Benedict Vanheems offers some tips to save valuable time and effort
A NEW Kitchen garden!
It's time for sowing and planting in the new garden and while Martin is busy with that, Jill is making a tasty asparagus soup
OUR PLOTTER OF THE MONTH
Kitchen Garden readers rose to the challenge when we asked for pictures of their plots to appear in the magazine this year. It's time to meet another of our talented competition winners
MANAGING WEEDS, NATURALLY
Weeds are never far away but you can keep them at bay without recourse to weedkillers
Meet the apple doctor
KG editor Steve Ott chats to Glyn Smith, head gardener for the National Trust's Erddig estate in Wrexham, about his career and love of the garden he has tended for 38 years
A CORNUCOPIA OF COURGETTES
It's time to sow a first batch of tender crops such as courgettes for picking through the summer months. KG editor Steve Ott has some tips for a super harvest
FLAVOURSOME FRUIT CURRANTS
you If I want to plant some soft fruit that is easy to grow and will give you plenty of flavour, how about trying currants?
TRY AMARANTH! The dual-purpose veg
Garden Organic's research manager Anton Rosenfeld extols the virtues of amaranth and how to grow it
A SPACE APART
Instagrammer James Martin shares his love of gardening and how much it has helped him and his family both mentally and physically under very difficult circumstances
HITTING THE SWEET SPOT
Welcome to the wonderful world of sweetcorn as Rob Smith takes a look at both old and newer varieties, with some growing advice too
