Work hard today, for a better tomato

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Sunday morning at a bookshop?  It seems like an age ago, in fact it was the Queens Birthday last year.  The town was quiet as all souls are searching the wine regions for the spirits of the party.  A book launch was the order of the day.  (It beat cleaning nine years of cafe off the walls of Derailleur).  With a prod from my wife to get out of bed and fire up the coffee machine and a casual comment that there was a talk going on in town about tomatoes.  I’m in I say.

Karen Sutherland was promoting the book, Tomato, she co-authored and self published with Penny Woodward and Janice Sutton.  Karen was talking at Booktique in Wangaratta.  I arrived 3 minutes late and she was already in full flight. Talking about the need to talk about soils.  No really she wanted to talk about soils but there were other things to talk about first.  Like Heirloom refers to vegetables and Heritage refers to fruit trees, and F1 hybrids - you can’t grow those from saved seed.

We got the lowdown on Indeterminants and Determinants and Dwarf varieties.  220 varieties in the book to be precise.  Now I can’t give too much away but there are a few Dwarf varieties that have been crossed with heirloom plants to create plants for modern conditions.  Think wicking beds, straw bales, pots, bags and small gardens - those small spaces or for people with reduced physicality.

We heard about tomato varieties for hot weather, for cool, for shade and full sun.  Varieties with strong skins and pest resistance and those that just look good.

Now soil is where it all happens.  Are you prepared for the work or are you going to buy in your nutrients?  Hard work never killed any grower so let's get to it.
  • Clear your area and make a weed tea or compost.
  • Clay? Then spread some gypsum
  • 25mm well-rotted cow manure then 50 mm of good compost
  • A hand full or two of pelletized chicken manure per plant hole @ one plant per square meter
  • Dig it in two shovels deep (I know I have lost you now - OK do what you can)
  • A sprinkle of blood and bone
  • Mulch with Lucerne, alfalfa or pea straw.
  • Give them a liquid feed during flowering.
It’s pretty simple when Karen put it like this.  But I know that our beds have benefited from some of this and I’ll try more this summer with the hope of a bumper tomato saucing crop and jars and jars of passata for the year ahead.

The Farmers Markets often have a share table so if you have a passion for a particular tomato variety then share it there.  Or create some extra punnets each year to give as gifts.  A bag of potting mix and tomato all sorts punnet could bring the green thumb or competitive streak out in your neighbours or friends.  And it could build connections with them on a whole new level.  Our neighbour Kevin likes to beat us to the first ripe tomato of the year.  Thanks Kevin for your inspiration!

Really it’s also the connections and stories that come with the plants and the seeds that interest me.  I was given tomatoes from Melissa and Donovan Jacka.  The seeds were given to them from a local lady who had carried the seeds from Italy when she was fifteen and coming to Australia as a bride.  Melissa gave these tomatoes to me with rules.  “I only give them to you once” she said.  Learn to propagate them and grow them as you are not getting more.  It has motivated me to learn seed saving.  Fermenting seeds to remove the outer gel layer and to dry them twice - on a plate then on paper towel.

Last year I practiced the steps and read the book.  But I think the investment in an encyclopaedia of growing tomatoes in Australia will surely help.  Now is the perfect time to read the book, prepare your soils, banana tea and save some seeds in readiness for the coming tomato season.

Thanks Karen for an amazing resource and Michelle from Booktique for organising the talk.  Here’s to a better Tomato!

“Work hard today, for a better tomato!” - Quote from Karen Sutherland

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