Summer time in Australian back yards means home grown tomatoes. In my smallish suburban block in bayside Melbourne, I grow tomatoes in the ground and in pots to make the most of the limited space and access to the northern aspect to the sun. As I have sandy soil, the nutrient and water loving tomatoes quickly become dehydrated and nutrient depleted.

I have three varieties of tomatoes growing:

Anna Russian, an elongated Roma-style variety that is particularly nutrient hungry and prone to ‘blossom rot’ (Calcium deficiency) despite my best efforts to supplement with organic manures and tomato feed.

Black Cherry tomatoes – a gorgeous black truss tomato that loves to be sun-ripened and does grow well in pots.

And finally, my father’s favourite variety, ‘Grosse Lisse‘ a huge one stop shop vine that spreads to around 1.5 metre and generates a large well formed and disease resistant tomato, often cropping and ripening all at once mid-season.

The image below shows you this bountiful juicy tomato. A perfect addition for summer salads, pizza toppings or as a side to the Seeded Cracker you can find in the recipe section.

Finally, I can recommend Penny Woodward’s excellent reference book ‘Tomatoes’ for excellent gardening advice on how to save and propagate tomato seeds (start in August) , seedlings to plants (November to December), maintenance (December to March) and harvesting (January to March).

Note – for Northern hemisphere readers just add six months to match your summer time harvesting in July to September.