I haven’t been quite as scientific as I’d set out to be with my tomato growing this year. However, out of the selection of tomatoes I did grow, two varieties have really shone out both in texture and in flavour.
‘Sweet Aperitif’ (the small red fruits above) from Thomson and Morgan have been growing abundantly in long trusses in my greenhouse and the sweetness of taste is divine. I’ve also grown ‘Gardeners Delight’ in my greenhouse (and outdoors) as a sort of baseline, and although they’re reasonably sweet and perfectly acceptable to eat, they don’t come anywhere near the delicious taste sensation of ‘Sweet Aperitif’.
I have managed to grow ‘Golden Crown’ (from Sea Spring seeds) both indoors and out and they have a wonderfully tangy taste along with a lovely amount of sweetness and a firm texture. Strangely, the ‘Golden Crown’ tomatoes grown in my greenhouse have a mushier texture than those grown in the garden and aren’t quite as sweet, and this goes for the ‘Gardeners Delight’ too and the majority of the tomatoes I’ve grown in my greenhouse. Not quite sure why this would be. I did use a new sort of compost (made from sheep’s wool) to plant them in this year and am wondering if this could have been overly water retentive for these divas, although I did use the same compost outside. More questions than answers here.
What I do know is that I shall be growing both of these tomatoes again as both are early fruiting, delicious to eat and wonderfully gorgeous to look at, and you can’t get better than that in my (tomato growing) book.
Out of my shed 
My tomatoes finished up a couple of weeks ago so I’m loving this photo. Enjoy. 🙂
Hi Judy, I am hugely enjoying being in the greenhouse and popping into the front garden to try out the different varieties I’m growing. Such a treat to have dinner on your doorstep!
Had the same effect with indoor/outdoor Rosadas -out are more robust and better balanced but crucially a week/fortnight later and probably have a slightly harder time of it! Perhaps the struggle for them is worth it for us.
J
Hi Jonathan, as VP noted below, swings and roundabouts re indoors/ outdoors growing, but great to have the opportunity to try both and will continue experiments with different varieties next year. How did your Rosadas taste and would you grow them again?
Everlasting favourite -4th year-everyone who tastes them says they have never experienced anything like them – oldies weep with nostalgia for 50’s flavour.
Were Amish Paste your recommendation -wonderful for all cooked dishes and agreeable for salads.
Thanks
J
Hi Jonathan, ‘Everlasting’ sounds tasty and definitely worth trying next year. Can you buy seeds in the uk? Didn’t recommend Amish Paste, but can see that Real Seeds thoroughly recommend this too, so another to try out next year….
I went to an interesting tomato trials day at Thompson and Morgan and ‘Sweet Aperitif’ did very well there, so it’s on my list to grow next year.
They’re also conducting all kinds of fertiliser trials and it was interesting to see how the various fertilisers affected the sweetness of the tomatoes being grown indoors. I’m researching this and other factors which affect flavour at the moment and James Wong has some interesting observations on the subject in his ‘Grow for Flavour’ opus e.g. growing under glass can have an impact, so that may be something you’re seeing in your results.
But then indoor grown are less prone to blight (not so much of a risk where you are I know) and tend to crop earlier. It’s all swings and roundabouts isn’t it?
Hi VP, so glad I did manage to grow a couple of varieties both indoors and out to see the differences and will be very interested to hear about your research into fertiliser trials etc.
Have to admit that blight so far (fingers crossed) hasn’t been an issue, but greenhouse growing will also hopefully prolong the season too. Still mild nights at the moment, but I think I’ll have plenty of green tomatoes for chutney from my outdoor tomatoes.
When I visited the tomato heaven, Chateau de la Bourdaisiere in the Loire, a couple of years ago, I do remember the gardener eschewing growing tomatoes indoors for the effect it had on flavour. Ah, the luxury of such lovely warm weather!
Looking forward to more experiments next year!
It’s always good to hear about successes with different varieties of tomato. I haven’t heard of either of these that you’ve grown and have stuck to the more usual maskotka, petomach, sungold, etc, this year. I see from the T&M website that they claim 500+ tomatoes per plant for the Sweet Aperitif tomato – did you find this to be true?
Hi Caro, I don’t know about 500+ as I’ve been steadily nibbling away at the fruits every time I wander anywhere near the greenhouse, but the plant has been prolific, as well as delicious, so most definitely a desirable variety to grow.
Don’t know Maskota or Petomach-how were these this year?
I have grown all my tomatoes indoor this year, and am not that impressed with the result. We have had the driest and hottest summer for 12 years here in Switzerland, and maybe they just get too hot. When I finally took some panels out of the side of the hot house, they did perk up, but it has been disappointing this year. My favourites were Blush, they are incredibly pretty and taste well, plus the small Lemon Drops which just taste fantastic. Sweet Aperitif is on my to-try list after reading about them on Klaus Laitenberger’s webpage.
Hi Helle, interesting to hear about hotter growing conditions than in the uk. I have a friend who grows tomatoes on a Greek island and they have to build shaded areas so that the tomatoes are protected from the sun.
‘Blush’ tomatoes look gorgeous. Have had a quick look at a few suppliers and not sure if it’s available here though.
Hope you have a better year for tomatoes next summer. V.best Naomi
I find my outdoor ones taste better too – but later. My favourite variety is San Marzano, which is a plum tomato. Yours look lovely.
Hi Jackie, I must say that I’m a sucker for good looks with my veg and these two tomatoes certainly are visually rather attractive as well as being absolutely delicious. Just wondering where I can squeeze in more tomatoes outdoors for next year as they’ve been a joy to graze on as I wander into the house.
San Marzano has been on my list to try out for ages, but it always get missed as I go for new cherry types or exciting looking (although not always exciting tasting) new ‘black’ varieties. Maybe next year….
Oh excellent, two new tomatoes to try! I grew from plug plants this year, all in the greenhouse, and was pretty lax about watering etc as I was distracted by work. Even so, can thoroughly recommend “Supersweet” as a very deep red and shiny cherry tomato that grows on really long trusses, and “Blizzard” as a prolific and very tasty medium size red tomato. On the spongy front, my beefsteak toms have been very spongy, and rather tastless too. No idea if that is my watering regimen (haphazard) the compost (council green compost) or the variety (‘Black Krim’).
Hi Janet, my Black Krim was very spongy too, not as I remembered when previously grown outdoors, although probably more prolific in the greenhouse. Might have a sweet tomato challenge next year with ‘Supersweet’, ‘Sweet Aperitif’ and ‘Sungold’….
Dear Naomi, I always enjoy reading about other peoples tomato crops. I am still picking my Sungold and gardeners delight – they go particulalrly well with marmite on toast for breakfast. Eventhough the Black Krim have not been bountiful in their cropping in my greenhouse, I think they are my no 1 . I really had thought about a visit to the great dixter plant fair – it sounds fantastic, but did not quite make it this year. kindest regards Sally
Hi Sally, Nearly didn’t make it to the plant fair this year, but so pleased I went. Sungold definitely on the list for next year, along with Sweet Aperitif and Golden Crown. Gardeners delight I’m afraid has been bumped off my list for now….
Well you’ve sold ‘Sweet Aperitif’ to me: I’ll be throwing the gardeners delight out and given your suggestion a try next year. Thanks Richard
Hi Richard-don’t think you’ll regret it!
Hi, Thank you for sharing this post! Will definitely try this idea since everyone here loves tomatoes! 🙂
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