Tomato

I only plant heirloom varieties of tomatoes, organic if possible. This year I'm planting:
* Watermouth - an organic meaty salad tomato from Koanga
* Roma - organic for saucing from Kings Seeds
* San Marzano - also an organic variety from Kings Seeds, good for eating or paste/puree)
* Green Zebra - organic preservation pack from Koanga. Just because it's stripey (I also wanted Tigerella so I had both green and red but everyone seemed to be out of stock when I did my ordering – will have to check again)
* Russian Red – one from Koanga that I also planted last year and were a tasty all-purpose tomato.

Tomatoes all need to be started indoors, taking up to 14 days to germinate, then transplanted outside once the seedlings look sturdy. The Watermouth can be transplanted when soil temperatures reach 15°, which is a little ahead of the others which prefer 20° or more (I should really buy a thermometer). They will all need staking (last year I grew a cherry variety that supposedly didn't, but that got a little chaotic), and need to be around 50cm apart. The second I see the first fruit starting to turn the nets will be flung over to keep the birds off – I was so proud last year when my very first tomato ever starting turning, and for the next couple of days it got redder and redder and I got prouder and prouder and then mere hours before the designated harvest moment it ended up as bird food. I nearly cried.

Good companion plants for tomatoes are basil, chives and parsley (I should have all these dotted about), also onion and asparagus. Broccoli, cabbage and potatoes should stay away.

Watermouth is a wait and see.

Roma is determinate, 70 days, and 100cm high – I guess it's more efficient to plant, harvest and sauce all at once, although I may well do a backup sowing too!

San Marzano is indeterminate 80 days and 200cm high

Green Zebra is indeterminate 75 days and 200cm high (according to Kings, and I imagine the Koanga version should be much the same)

Russian Red is determinate and took around 80 days last year (I mucked around and didn't transplant them until the beginning of November). These definitely did better if you can save them from the birds until they are red, rather than picking early and leaving to ripen. They got around 100cm high.

San Marzano and Green Zebra are both taller, so the Green Zebra can go along the back fence and the San Marzano in the bed opposite near the lemonade tree. The Roma can go in front of the Green Zebra, and if it works out right I could whip out those plants once harvested and have time to put a second batch in – and both these varieties should be ready slightly before the others, all things being equal. The Watermouth and the Russian Red can go in the opposite bed curving past the lemon tree round into the "sticky-out bit". None of these areas were planted at all last year, but had compost dug in in autumn and the "sticky-out bit" also had phacelia, now dug in, over winter.

I'm aiming for 3 plants of the Green Zebra and the Roma, and 2 each of the San Marzano, Watermouth and Russian Red, and the seeds were sown this morning.