Tomatoes.

For as long as I can remember we’ve grown tomatoes. My father planted them directly into the ground and would sink an empty flower pot next to each one. When he watered them, it went into the pot and gently drained down to the roots. Often there would be a stag beetle which had fallen in. I’m sure he rescued them, but I wouldn’t hang around to watch! We have grown them in every garden we’ve worked, even on the balcony in Milan and on the patio in Lexington. This garden has them shared between the greenhouse and pots on the sunny outside . I always hope that they will fruit gradually, with a few ready each week, or day. How is it that they all ripen at once? So many people have too many to eat and are giving them away or asking what to do with the surplus. Honestly, I freeze our extras to use in casseroles and bolognaise sauce during the winter. My favourites are the big ones – more flesh and thinner skins. Some of the little ones can be quite tough and unpalatable so best cooked in a traybake with sausages or chicken pieces. Roasting them and then pureeing to make sauce works too, but the skins can make it a bit grainy. But yellow, orange, purple or red, I can’t get enough 😉