Following on with my ‘do something small’ each day approach to getting back on track, yesterday after work, I quickly filled up a few more six cells for my tomatoes. While hubby got a start on the lunches this morning, I sowed my main tomato seeds. This afternoon when I got home, I sowed my cherry tomatoes. After a slow start, we are now on track with the seeds. The garden – well I am not too concerned at the moment as there is still a month or so to go before we contemplate putting anything in the garden.

Over the years, I have deleloped a few favourites that I love to grow in the garden. Primarily, onions, garlic, shallots, and tomatoes. However, we have never been able to agree on our favourite tomatoes so everyone generally grows/or at least, selects their own. Like our potato growing bucket competitions, we have also been known to have tomato growing competitions….the family did learn quickly not to leave mum to feeding plants as a few tomato plants did not receive the same attention (dad’s).

Over the weekend, Connor sowed Indigo Fireball (which is actually my youngest’s favourite); his all time favourite – Moonglow; and Indigo Rose which he purely grew this time due to the colour variation. Indigo Fire Ball and Moonglow are also midsized tomatoes which are perfect for salads…that is….if they make it inside. Both my boys are frequent snackers whilst in the garden.

Now the problem lies with the fact that I have possibly over 30 variants of seeds. Inevitably this means we can’t grow all of them. Our selection process though is pretty easy. We have the ‘one slice fits on toast tomatoes’. Hubby always requests Black Krim, and I may have got in trouble this morning when I discovered there were none left in the packet. Compromising, we sowed Black from Tula and Black Giant. Personally, I love my Bohemia, with the first tomatoes often tipping the scales at 800+gms. I also love growing White Beauty as the taste is so full. That essentially leaves only room for a few more varieties in the main tomato garden, and few extras popped here and there. This year we have decided on Creole, Copia, Mortgage Lifter, Barracker’s Favourite; and Climbing Tri-P-L Crop.

We then have to have the cherry tomatoes for the lunch boxes. My favourites there are a yellow pear; and Matts Wild Cherry Tomato. Matt’s Wild Cherry tomato is a prolific tomato based on the original wild tomato plants, acquired by a friend of Doctor Matt Liebman. Liebman grew this cultivar, and, eventually released it under his own name. Along with Matt’s Wild Cherry tomatoes, I also put in an orange pear, black cherry, zebra and a mid sized yellow. These will be grown in our buckets.

We grow a lot of tomatoes as we preserve lots (relish; soups; pasta sauces; purees and pastes). The pasta sauces in particular, is something that I rely on to make life easier when things are crazy during winter. Usually during summer, I pop them in the oven, blitz and then freeze. In winter when I need a quick dinner, I throw over some pasta, and I can have a health(ish) dinner in minutes. We put chilli in some, and use it for nachos etc as well.