One of the most common questions up for debate when it comes to tomatoes is; what is it? Is it a fruit or is it a vegetable. Well, although they are eaten as a vegetable – they are in fact fruit. There are many varieties and in recent years there has been a clear revival of the so-called “old” tomatoes. Red, orange, yellow, black, green, beef heart, cherry, grape; you have a lot of choices and flavours for your garden.

PLANT

Although they prefer warm climates, tomatoes can be grown anywhere, favouring sunny locations.

Sowing will take place in March but before planting, it is important to clean the soil, adding compost and manure to ensure a good soil quality.

Depending on the region, you can plant the crops between the end of April and the beginning of May. The deeper you plant them, the more they will be protected from the weather.

It is essential to add stakes to your plants. Stakes provide support for the plant growth, whilst helping to keep them from ground level where they are more accessible to pests and disease.

CARE

Tomatoes are among the easiest fruits and vegetables to grow.

Water regularly; however, be careful to water only the base, because if you wet the tomatoes or the leaves, you risk developing certain diseases, such as mildew.

As the plants grow, remove the dead leaves so that the fruits ripen with more sunlight visibility. This will also prevent the development of diseases.

HARVEST

Even if you can find them all year long in the stores, you will have to wait until the end of May or beginning of June to harvest your little ones. And sometimes even a little later if the sun was scarce during the cultivation.

Cherry tomatoes can be harvested as late as November.