SWEET TOMATOES FOR ME

The 2017 seed catalogues have just arrived and it's time to decide which fruit and vegetable seeds to purchase for my allotment. Which tomatoes shall I grow this year? There are plenty to select from but I prefer sweet tomatoes and often the smaller varieties are far sweeter than the bigger fruits. Whichever I choose, they never seem to be as sweet  as those I remember from my childhood.

According to recent research, tomatoes have dramatically lost their flavour in the last 50 years. But scientists are working are bringing the fruit back to their former glory days, through careful breeding techniques. In recent years we have seemed to focus on fruit created at twice the size of the older varieties, which as I have said. makes them less sweet. I commonly grow Alisa Craig, an old variety that were more popular 80 years ago and they are much nicer than the more modern varieties. The draw back, as I know from experience, the Alisa Craig vines produces only ten fruits at a time, compared to 20 on other vines and for farmers this is not financially viable. However, it seems that scientists will use the chemicals that Alisa Craig contains to create better tasting modern tomatoes and bring back the sweet taste of 50 years ago.

Remember - don't store your tomatoes in the fridge, that will kill any sweetness that exists!