To Grow tomatoes

Do you remember what you often used to say about the bland tomatoes you bought from the supermarket? Was it something like, 'These tomatoes are tasteless,' or 'Why don't tomatoes taste like they used to, years ago, these tomatoes are horrible,' or maybe, 'Why can't someone grow tomatoes with a good taste.'

I know I used to say all of those things. There didn't seem to be a sweet, luscious tomato on the shelves. They were pale, hard and tasteless. Of course, you can buy organically grown or on the vine tomatoes, but they cost a fortune. But, you can grow tomatoes easily!

Well, I discovered the secret of growing luscious tasting, brilliant red, gorgeous tomatoes a few years ago. A friend of mine gave me some tomatoes that he'd grown himself. They were absolutely gorgeous. They were bright red, plump, full of juice and they tasted like the tomatoes of years ago.

I congratulated him on growing these beautiful tomatoes and asked him where I could get some seed from. He laughed and said, 'You've already got the seed.' 'No, I said, 'I don't have any, I'd like to buy some.' He cut open a tomato and pointed at the seeds inside it. 'There they are.'

I must have looked confused. 'Look,' he said. He scraped the seeds out of the tomato and spread them on a piece of kitchen paper. 'Those are the seeds I use. All you have to do is dry them on kitchen paper and plant them.'

So I did, and the results were so encouraging that I started collecting seed from the tomatoes that I enjoyed eating. I told my friends and relatives about it and soon they were all collecting seed and planting them in their gardens, in pots, in seed trays, in plastic boxes and in cut down plastic milk bottles. Now we swap seedlings with each other and grow a lot of different types from tiny ones to beef tomatoes. They've never tasted better.

So when you find a tomato that you really like, save the seeds from it and spread them out on kitchen paper. Let them dry out in the sun, then put them in an envelope, or cover them and leave them on a shelf in the shed until next year. Plant the seeds in rows in little trays of compost or earth, or put a few in pots. You can leave the paper on them as it will dissolve when you water them. When they grow into seedlings, transplant them into bigger pots or put them in the garden, facing the sun. Keep the soil moist and occasionally give them some tomato feed. A bottle of Doff Tomato Feed is fairly cheap and lasts for years.

I've been very happy since I learned how to grow tomatoes from seed, and I know you will be as well.