Today started wet so was not a day for working on the soil - so I potted on my tomato seedlings. I would like to say when I planted the seeds but I can't remember - I suppose it was about 4 - 5 weeks ago. We have a lean-to greenhouse on the south facing garage wall and with a very little overnight heat, early crops germinate very well.

I am growing two confirmed favorites and one new variety. I have often grown outdoor tomatoes but after last years fiasco with cool wet weather and tomato blight, all the action will be in the greenhouse this year.

Caspian Pink is a beef type that we have grown for the past few years. It matures early which is a good attribute in the English climate but is otherwise a tricky customer!  When the plants are around 12" tall, the growing point tends to produce a single very large flower and the upward growth of the plant stops - which you will realise is a problem when aliming for a plant 5 feet high. If you remove this flower and let a side-shoot grow away, you soon get back on track and the plant will yield very large (16 oz plus) tomatoes with a tender pink/red skin. This fruit is delicious for cooking or eating sliced with mozzarrella. I have not been able to find out why this apical bud problem arises - the seed supplier suggests that it may be too much temperature variation in the greenhouse.

My next variety is Sungold which we have been growing for the third year. This golden cherry tomato crops in profusion and produces tomatoes with a good balance of flavour, sweetness and acidity. You can hardly stop the plants growing - with care we can still be picking some fruit late in October and November. I would not be without this variety.

My third variety is a new one called Costoluto Fiorentino, an Italian variety (no surpirse there!!) that I have sourced from Sarah Raven. This is a full-sized tomato which she reports to grown well in the UK, have  good flavour and is 'easier to grown than other large-fruited varieties'. I am hoping it might replace the tricky Caspian Pink! The plants certainly look very attractive and sturdy at this stage.

Whilst potting tomatoes and dreaming of ripe fruit for lunch I was reminded to sow some basil - so thats in the greenhouse too and I await germination. Out-of-doors, the potatoes that Paul sowed two weeks ago have come up, so we are on frost patrol now. We were looking around Rosemary Verey's potager at Barnsley House one day many years ago when the lady herself came into the garden. She looked at the frosted tips on the potato leaves and asked us if we thought they would recover! She knew as well as we - that a potato plant does not like frost.

Here's to more April sunshine and showers!

Susy