Cheryl grows over 60 tomato varieties

January 17, 2022

Each year, Cheryl’s backyard becomes a mass of tomato plants, and each one is lovingly nurtured by this passionate tomato connoisseur. “I love tomatoes,” says Cheryl with a grin. “And the more you love something, the more you want to grow … although I have reached my limit of only 50 varieties a year.”

Yes, that number is right — 50 varieties of tomatoes, each year, although this year that has crept up to 60!

Cheryl germinates her tomato seed in a poly-tunnel on her property, a gift from her husband to help her grow the fruits she loves.

Germinating seed on a heated bed in early August, Cheryl selects the two strongest seedlings which are nurtured and eventually planted out into the garden when the conditions are right.

To prepare for planting, Cheryl sows a green manure crop in winter. This is dug into the soil and horse manure, compost and dynamic lifter is applied.

In spring, tomatoes are planted out when frosts have passed, usually around the end of October and early November. Cold tolerant varieties, like ‘Stupice’, are planted out in early October, with warmer varieties planted last, around Melbourne Cup Day.

At planting, Cheryl encases each tomato plant in a wire frame (see illustration above) which allows for easy harvest, improves air flow and minimises the likelihood of disease. At this time, a thick blanket of lucerne mulch is also applied, and the lowest leaves are removed to prevent wetting the foliage when watering.

Plants are netted when fruit starts to develop in summer, to protect her precious tommies from birds.

Each year, Cheryl saves the seed from her best plants and earliest fruits, to improve her own gardens disease resistance, especially to powdery mildew.

THE DIGGERS CLUB’S 24TH ANNUAL TOMATO TASTE TEST

This year, 12 tomatoes were included in our end-of-summer taste test.

There were some old favourites and some new selections ... like ‘Barry’s Crazy Cherry’ which rated #2 in this year’s taste test and ‘Pink Bumblebee’ which was the outright winner. ‘Tommy Toe’ was rated #3 and is still the standard by which we judge all other tomatoes.

We also carefully selected our ‘Tommy Toe’ seed this year to ensure you get the true-to-type variety loved by generations of tomato growers.

The tomato that scored #4 in the taste test was a sport from the Diggers garden and is currently being trialled for consistency. Hopefully this is one we can share with Members in 2019!

What was Cheryl’s favourite? ‘Barry’s Crazy Cherry’ and she said “it’s like drinking a sweet Moscato”.

The two supermarket varieties rated the poorest, along with another “long-lasting” variety that was generally referred to as “bland” by almost all taste test participants.

This summer, we have another great tomato line-up, and a few previously unlisted heirlooms to trial and test before we add them to our extensive heirloom list.

A TROPICAL NOTE FROM ARNO KING - SUMMER TOMATOES IN WARMER CLIMATES

Arno King shares his advice for growing summer tomatoes in areas with humid summers.

Tomatoes originate in the mild, mid-altitude climates of the Andes of South America, and hence prefer a climate that is neither too hot nor cold. Cherry and currant tomatoes are native to the warmer lowlands.

This explains why cherry and current tomatoes grow so vigorously in central and northerly latitudes of Australia and why tomatoes can be subject to disease over the warm, wet summer months.

Traditionally tomatoes are sown in June or July in the subtropics and pulled out by November to avoid problems with disease. Some of the European varieties, which need less heat, particularly the ‘Russian tomatoes’, grow and fruit well if planted in a warm location in autumn.

Queensland fruitfly is certainly an issue over the summer months on most tomatoes, however cherry and currant tomatoes tend not to be affected due to their thick skins. Luckily there are a range of tomatoes that have been developed for warm, wet summer conditions in the tropics and subtropics. Many of these plants are cherry/tomato hybrids and also have fruit with thicker skins. Some of the popular summer tomatoes include ‘Money Maker’, ‘Scorpio’, ‘Tropic’, ‘Thai Egg’ and ‘Tommy Toe’. ‘Thai Egg’ is particularly famous as the fruit does not split during very wet conditions.

Last year ‘Tommy Toe’ (#3 in this year’s Diggers taste test) was outstanding in my garden, producing quantities of delicious fruit during a record-breaking hot and dry summer, with many days over 40 degrees. It has gone to the top of my list of summer performers.