GROW YOUR OWN TOMATOES!

The students in the Year 11 Pathways science class have grown plants from seed and now have 15cm plants for sale. The varieties were chosen from the King’s Seed Catalogue and include both normal and cocktail tomatoes. Phot0graphs of all varieties can be viewed on the King’s Seed website https://www.kingsseeds.co.nz/results.html?q=tomatoes. Plants can be purchased each afternoon next week at the end of school from the Pathways Garden at the Brodie Street Carpark entrance. Plants are $3 each or 4 for $10. Eftpos is available at the school office.

Larger Tomatoes:

Tigerella Originally from England, this highly productive variety bears huge crops of 5cm diameter small round reddish orange fruits that have very well defined yellow orange stripes on the outside and a rich and tangy flavour. Indeterminate. Matures 65 days from transplant.

Green Zebra Juicy, rich, tangy and tart with a touch of spicy sweetness is how this green striped beauty gets described at Seed Savers Exchange. The fruit is ripe at the 75-100g size just as the green fruit starts getting a yellow blush accentuating the darker green stripes. An ideal size for slicing into wedges for salads. Serving them in a combo with red, yellow, orange and pink varieties is a real eye catcher. Indeterminate. Matures 75 days from transplant.

Chef’s Choice – Orange AAS Winner 2014. Highly rated bright tangerine almost neon coloured tomato with firm flesh and a rich tomato taste - a must have in your garden. Derived from the heirloom Amana Orange, this beauty has 250g beefsteak type fruit that are easy to slice and resistant to cracking. Highly productive and disease resistant over a long season. Matures 75 days from transplant. Big Rainbow This classic large yellow Beefsteak type Tomato, to 900g and more, is shot through with streaks of red and orange, much more than just merely striped giving a beautiful marbled appearance when sliced. Near the top in the Tomato taste test. Indeterminate. Matures 85 days from transplant.

Cocktail/Cherry Tomatoes:

Indigo Rose This striking tomato is one of the darkest tomatoes bred so far. Beautiful eye-catching fruit are firm with good flavour. The 30-50g cocktail sized round fruit are green when unripe, purple red when ripe and develop a dark purple pigment when exposed to direct sunlight. Fruit are borne in clusters of 6-8 on vigorous vines with a healthy resistance to fungal disease and blight. Indeterminate. Matures 75 days from transplant.

Gold Nugget An early, prolific golden with a well-balanced and delicious flavour. With a deep yellow colour, round to slightly oval, a majority of the early fruits are seedless. Healthy, compact plants with concentrated early sets. Determinate. Matures 60 days from transplant.

Black Cherry Striped A unique striped skin version of the ever popular black cherry tomato. The 2cm fruit have a sweet rich complex taste and are borne in huge clusters on the tall plants. Make a great mixed punnet with other cherry tomatoes at Farmers' Markets. Disease resistant plants. Indeterminate. Matures 65 days from transplant. Baxters Early Bush Very early tasty red cherry tomato able to set fruit under adverse temperatures and resistant to splitting. Quick to grow and very productive, the fruit are sweet and firm with a good shelf life. The plants are very compact requiring minimal staking making them ideal tub or border plants. Determinate. Matures 85 days from transplant.

Artisan Blush A unique striped skin version of the ever popular black cherry tomato. The 2cm fruit have a sweet rich complex taste and are borne in huge clusters on the tall plants. Make a great mixed punnet with other cherry tomatoes at Farmers' Markets. Disease resistant plants. Indeterminate. Matures 65 days from transplant.

Bi-colour Cherry A great tasting bicolour cherry tomato. The 20-30g fruit are red and yellow in colour, range from 3 to 5cm in diameter and have the wonderful flavour of Big Rainbow - sweet and juicy! The plants are vigorous and fruit are borne on good sized clusters. Indeterminate. Matures 85 days from transplant.