It's pretty hard to beat a homegrown tomato, eaten sun warm from the plant. The weather can make it tricky growing tomatoes outside, but it was a good summer for ripening tomatoes at the byre.

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We grew all of the tomato varieties in containers and pots, they need a lot of nourishment to flourish, so they were all grown in rich fertile soil and I fed them regularly with homemade comfrey or bokashi liquid. The most successful were the cherry tomatoes 'Gardeners Delight' that gave us an abundance of sweet tasting tomatoes. If you can only grow in a small outside area I would recommend this variety.

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We grew two green zebra which produce a distinctive striped fruit. Two plants produced about 20 fruits.

We also grew four beefsteak tomato plants 'Brandy Wine'. The tomatoes were very heavy and they needed a lot of support. We sliced and dried many of these for winter use.

 

Tomato, olive & red onion salad

2 red onions

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons linseed oil

2 tablespoons chopped oregano

black pepper

12 cherry tomatoes

16 pitted black olives

sea salt flakes

 

Peel and finely slice the red onion. Sprinkle over a handful of chopped oregano, grind over some pepper. Pour over the vinegar and oil and toss well. Leave to steep, covered for 2 hours.

Combine onions, tomatoes and olives, sprinkle over a few salt flakes and its ready to eat.

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