Tomato Cookie F1 mixed seedlings

The Cookie F1 Tomato Mix - Striped Cherry Tomato is an original hybrid variety, producing clusters of pointed cherry tomatoes weighing 35 to 40g, with a dark green striped red colour. It is an early, productive and disease-resistant variety. Very tasty, these tomatoes can be used in salads or as an appetiser. The Tomato is a plant that is grown as an annual, requiring heat and rich soil. The plants of the Cookie F1 Tomato are planted from April to June, after the last frost, for a harvest from July to September.

The Tomato is native to South America and Central America. Several varieties were already cultivated by the Incas long before the arrival of the Conquistadors. The term "Tomato" comes from the Inca Tomatl and refers to both the plant and the fruit that comes from it. It is one of the many foods that came to us from the New World, along with beans, corn, squash, potatoes, and chili peppers. The Tomato took much longer to reach our taste buds. For good reason: for a long time, it was cultivated for its aesthetic and medicinal qualities, but it was considered toxic due to its resemblance to the fruit of the Mandrake, another Solanaceae. It only became a regular part of our diets from the beginning of the 20th century.

The Tomato is a perennial herbaceous plant in tropical climates, but it is grown as an annual in our latitudes. It becomes woody over time and produces small insignificant yellow flowers gathered in cymes that will turn into fruits. Tomatoes can be grown in open ground but can also be grown in containers on a balcony, with a preference for varieties with a compact growth habit.

It is a fruit vegetable that has many nutritional benefits. Low in calories like most vegetables, rich in water, it contains a very interesting molecule: lycopene, a powerful antioxidant. It is also rich in vitamin C, provitamin A, and trace elements.

In terms of cooking, tomatoes can be eaten raw or cooked in many ways: in salads or as an appetiser, grilled, stuffed, marinated, confit, in ratatouille, as a sauce etc. They come in all colours, shapes, and sizes. Take advantage of this and grow several varieties in your garden to vary the pleasures!

Harvesting: Harvest periods vary depending on the earliness: early varieties are harvested from 55 to 70 days after planting, mid-season varieties from 70 to 85 days, and late varieties beyond 85 days. Harvesting is done when the tomato has reached its final colour and when its texture, while remaining firm, shows a slight softening. For better preservation, make sure to pick the fruit with its peduncle. Be careful, immature fruits, stems, and leaves contain solanine and should not be consumed.

Storage: The optimal storage temperature for tomatoes is between 10 and 15°C (50 and 59°F). Refrigeration is possible but alters the taste qualities of the fruits. For longer storage, tomatoes can be confit, dried, frozen, canned, or cooked into jam. To confit them, cut your tomatoes in half and collect the juice. Place your half tomatoes face up on the baking sheet of your oven. Season with salt, pepper, sugar, and bake at a very low temperature for at least one hour. Remove your tomatoes, store them in a glass jar, and top with olive oil.

Gardener's tip: To limit watering, we recommend mulching the soil with thin successive layers of grass clippings, if possible mixed with dead leaves. This protection, which keeps the soil moist, also limits weeding.