WINTER 2009

GROWING FOR HEALTH 

| HOME  | OTHER ARTICLES | MORE GROWING FOR HEALTH ARTICLES |

Cultivation

Raising Plants & Planting Out: If you would like to raise your own tomato plants, then seeds should be sown shallowly in individual pots of compost at the end of March. Moisten the compost with water after sowing, then place the pots in a warm place to germinate e.g. on a sunny windowsill, in the airing cupboard (but place the pots on a windowsill after germination), or in a greenhouse. Sturdy, well-rooted, young tomato plants, (either home grown or bought in) should be planted out when there is no longer any danger from late frosts, which is usually sometime from early to mid June.

Feeding: Tomatoes do well in a fertile soil, so add a couple of handfuls of home-produced veganic compost to each planting hole, then mulch around the plants with further compost at intervals throughout the growing season. It's also a good idea to add a sprinkling of seaweed meal to the growing area. Tomatoes will also benefit from a liquid-based foliar plant feed made from comfrey and nettle leaves.
This year, I also under planted with trefoil,  a green manure and my cherry-sized tomatoes were bigger than usual.

Staking: Tie each plant to a bamboo stake for support at the time of planting, then add further ties at intervals as the plants grow taller.

Position: Outdoor-grown tomatoes need a warm, sheltered and sunny position in order to thrive and tomatoes are perhaps best grown in a greenhouse in more northern areas.  Some of the smaller bush varieties (e.g. Tumbling Tom, Tiny Tim, Totem F1, Red Robin e.t.c.) are suitable for growing in containers/grow bags/hanging baskets, which could be positioned on a sunny patio, windowsill, or on a balcony.

After Care & Diseases: Each tomato plant should produce around three to four trusses of tomatoes, with the tomatoes ripening sometime from July onwards according to the variety. Tomatoes are usually described as indeterminate (vine) or determinate (bush) varieties. Indeterminate varieties need slightly more attention as the growing point needs to be pinched out after 3-4 trusses have formed and side shoots need removing regularly. Wilt, blight and mildew are the commonest afflictions of tomatoes.  If blight is a frequent problem for you, then try out one of the more blight resistant varieties such as Ferline F1. This is a large 'beefsteak' tomato (am I allowed to use such a term in a vegan publication!). However, the year I grew it most of my crop was nevertheless still affected by blight. In my experience the early-maturing bush variety Red Alert seems to be completely unaffected by blight. There is also a new tomato called Legend (TOLE) mentioned in the 2009 Organic Gardening Catalogue. This is a bush variety, which can be grown in containers outside and is also more resistant to blight.

Which Variety? You may think of tomatoes as being medium or cherry-sized, round, red fruits because most shop-bought tomatoes usually do look like this. But in fact tomatoes come in many different sizes, shapes and colours.  There are yellow, cream, purple, almost black, red, green, pink and orange/tangerine coloured tomatoes. You'll find not only round, but elongated and pear or heart-shaped varieties and even some that resemble peppers such as the variety Andine Cornue. And as to size tomatoes can vary right the way through from currant sized to extra large. Perhaps the most difficult thing about growing tomatoes is actually deciding which ones to grow. The older, reliable varieties such as Moneymaker, Alicante, Outdoor Girl, Ailsa Craig and Gardener's Delight are all well worth considering, but why not experiment with some of the heirloom or more unusual varieties too?    

I am currently trialing Red Robin, a miniature tomato, sold by The Organic Gardening Catalogue. As we enter in to November, I now have three healthy-looking Red Robin plants growing in 10 L pots indoors. These were started off in my airing cupboard and transplanted into the large pots in October.  According to the Organic Gardening Catalogue this miniature variety is supposed to be able to set fruit in low light conditions and will grow indoors even in the winter.  My house is like a fridge in winter, so we shall see!  However, it would certainly be useful to produce a supply of tomatoes for Christmas, as shop-bought tomatoes seem to suddenly shoot up in price at this time of year.

Suggested Uses: This versatile fruit is usually used as a vegetable in savoury dishes:

• Slices of raw tomato can simply be added to salad bowls, or used in sandwiches. 
• Tomatoes are great juiced, either alone, or mixed with other juiced vegetables such as carrots, spinach or celery.
  
• Why not add a handful of cherry tomatoes to your lunch box to munch on when you're feeling peckish? 
• Include some halved, grilled tomatoes in a cooked vegan breakfast, perhaps serving them with whole meal toast, baked beans and grilled mushrooms for a healthy low-fat start to the day.  
• Tomatoes often feature in Mediterranean cuisine and are an essential component of most pasta sauces.  
• Chopped up tomatoes can be added to soups, risotto, curries and casserole dishes.  
• If you suddenly find yourself swamped with a glut of home-grown tomatoes, then why not bottle them, turn them into tomato puree, or simply wash, chop and freeze them in clean jam jars for later use in cooked dishes.  
• Any unripe green tomatoes could be used to make your own tomato chutney. However, if you keep green tomatoes in a warm place indoors most will eventually ripen and can then either be eaten raw or used in cooked dishes.
• Slices or halved tomatoes can also be spread out on trays and either dried in a low oven or in a home-made drier.  (A plan for Kath Clement's home-made dehydrator is available from VON.  E-mail  Peter White at: advice@veganorganic.net, if you would like a copy.)
  

Health Benefits:Tomatoes contain the powerful antioxidant lycopene, which may help to prevent prostate cancer and could offer some protection against UV rays. There is also some evidence to suggest that a high intake of tomatoes reduce the risk of stomach and lung cancer.  For optimum nutrition most  fruit and vegetables are best eaten raw, but processing tomatoes by heating them actually seems to increase their health benefits by concentrating the tomatoes and causing more of the lycopene to be released as the cell walls break down.  

'Scientists have developed purple tomatoes, which they hope may be able to keep cancer at bay'.  (BBC NEWS: 26th October 2008)
In 2008, scientists at the John Innes Centre developed a purple tomato by incorporating two genes that induce the production of anthocyanins in the snapdragon flower. These GM tomatoes contain high concentrations of the pigment anthocyanin (a flavonoid), which is thought to have anti-cancer properties. A study comparing mice that ate these tomatoes with mice fed on normal red tomatoes indicated that those fed on the purple tomatoes lived significantly longer. (All the mice in this study had been bred to be susceptible to cancer.) The development of this new anthocyanin-rich purple tomato was mentioned on Radio Four in October 2008 and some cancer organisations expressed great interest.

However, anthocyanins are found in naturally high levels in many types of berries including blackberries, black currants cranberries, raspberries, bilberries and blueberries. Other good sources include blood oranges, eggplant and red cabbage. In fact, black soybeans have the highest level of anthocyanins ever recorded, containing 2,000mg/100g!   So, if you want to boost your anthocyanin intake, yet avoid GM, then you could simply eat more of these anthocyanin-rich berries and vegetables instead. You could also try growing your own non-GM purple tomatoes. For example The Organic Gardening Catalogue offers a non GM tomato called Purple Calabash, Thompson & Morgan sells seed for an indeterminate variety called Black Cherry and you could also look out for seeds of the 'beefsteak', heirloom variety, Cherokee Purple.  However, I do not know what level of anthocyanins these non-GM varieties contain.

Like lycopene, anthocyanins act as powerful antioxidants and also appear to have a light-attenuating role, possibly providing some protection from light damage.

Nutrition:  Tomatoes are low in calories and have a high water content. They contain significant amounts of dietary fibre, iron, magnesium, folate, B vitamins (niacin, thiamine and riboflavin) and vitamin C (13mg/100g).  They are a rich source of the carotenoid lycopene (2570 mcg/100g) and also contain high levels of flavonoids. 

Seed Suppliers: Your local supplier is worth checking out first. However, if you cannot obtain the variety you require locally, then the following mail order suppliers offer a good selection of tomato seeds:  

• Thompson & Morgan - Tel: 01473 695225.
  
• The Organic Gardening Catalogue  - Tel: 0845 1301304.
• Tamar Organics - Tel: 01579 371098.
• Suffolk Herbs - Tel: 01376 572456.