#marmande

After sucessfully growing Cherry Tomatoes this past couple of years, I've become more ambitious this year and decided to grow bigger tomatoes! Not any bigger tomatoes either, but Marmande Tomatoes, these big, tasty, juicy Beefsteak heritage tomatoes, proudly displayed on many a Provençal market stall!

I sowed my Marmande tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) seedlings, a generous sprinkle over a mixture of good potting soil and a handful of compost in a flat-ish but wide enough pot on the 18th April. I covered the seeds with a light sprinkle of the same mixture, watered, dusted with grated coal to prevent damping off and took the pot upstairs, to the Nursery, just under the window with plenty of light, warmth and regular waterings.

A few days later, they were already sprouting. Quickly, the seedlings started growing proper leaves after their dicot cotyledon. As they grew, I thinned them, pinching off the weaker seedlings so the others had more room to expand.

On the 7th May, I potted two or three seedlings in small pots, filled with garden soil, potting soil and a handful of compost. Watered well and took them back up to the Nursery.

I continued tending to them, much like I did the Garden Cherry Tomatoes, until they started growing proper leaves, and sturdier stalks and reached about 12 centimetres/4.75 inches. I potted these in large pots in the garden filled with a mixture of garden soil, potting soil and a handful of compost a month later.

In late July, the seedlings had grown nicely and started blooming. I used sturdy branches I had cut from the apple and pear trees in the Wintrer to stake them, as they would be heftier once the tomatoes started growing.

And once the flowers were pollinated, it did not take long before tiny tomatoes indeed started growing!

And then, they just kept growing!

And began ripening!

Until I harvested my first Marmande Tomato on! And it was as fragrant and juicy and tasty as a gardener humbly wishes! Simply delicious.

I harvested three more today, and a couple are still ripening on the vine. They might have gotten a bit bigger, but there was plenty of rain by the end of the Summer! And now I know I shall sow them a little earlier next year.

438,900 €

274m² / 2949ft²

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