Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

Yep – it’s getting cooler – it means that tomatoes - from now on – will slow down. Seeing bumblebees will also slow down and disappear it might be a good idea to harvest your own tomato seeds for next year’s crop. Note: Do not expect any miracles from the seeds found in F1 Hybrid varieties! They are unlikely to come “True to type”. In fact: it will be surprising how different the off-spring can be! F1 Hybrids are cross-pollinated plants with two very different “parents”. F1-s are bred to get an incredible vigour and superior yield. If you like certain F1 Hybrids: just purchase them and you’ll know what you’re going to get next year. The so-called “Open-Pollinated” varieties are the ones that will give you a good chance of getting your favourites (such as Tigerella, Black Krim, Thessaloniki and all the “heirlooms”).  This year I got some really nice tomatoes from a birding mate in Te Anau: It’s called Gardeners Delight. Open-Pollinated, juicy and sweet and the size of a rather large cherry tomato This be