Tomato Black From Tula - Ferme de Sainte Marthe seeds

The Black From Tula Tomato is a mid-season variety that produces beautiful reddish-brown fruits weighing between 80 and 100 g. Their flesh is dense, juicy, and contains few seeds. Its flavor is sweet. Sow in March - April 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. We are still amazed by the variety of this Solanaceae. The term 'tomate' comes from the Incas' Tomatl and refers to both the plant and the fruit it produces. There are fruits of all colours, except perhaps for blue, in all shapes and sizes. Ancient varieties are plants with indeterminate growth and can live for two years. More recent varieties have what is called determinate growth and stop growing at the bush stage, so there is no need to stake or trellis them.

The tomato is one of the many foods that came to us from the New World, along with beans, corn, squash, potatoes, and chili peppers. It took a while for it to reach our taste buds. For a long time, it was cultivated for its aesthetic and medicinal qualities. It was thought to be toxic because of its resemblance to the Mandrake fruit, another Solanaceae. It only became a regular part of our tables in the early 20th century.

The tomato plant is a perennial herbaceous plant in tropical climates, but it is grown as an annual in our latitudes. It becomes lignified over time and produces small, insignificant yellow flowers grouped in cymes that will turn into fruits.

It must be admitted that its fruit is very attractive and adds a pleasant colour to the vegetable garden. It also has many nutritional benefits. Low in calories like most vegetables, rich in water, it contains a particularly interesting molecule: lycopene, a powerful antioxidant. And the longer the tomato is cooked, the more lycopene becomes available. It is also rich in vitamin C, provitamin A, and trace elements.

Today, its taste and nutritional qualities are well established. For gardeners, tomatoes are an essential vegetable of the summer. They just need to consider how they want to use them to guide them among all the existing varieties. Is it for salads, sauces, consumption on the spot, cooked, etc.? They will also consider when they want to harvest them. The answer will of course depend on the average summer sunshine in the region where their garden is located. Rest assured, the choice is vast, and there is a tomato for every situation! And even if tomatoes require a lot of sunshine and heat, they don't necessarily need a lot of space. That's why you shouldn't hesitate to grow them in containers on your balcony, where you can prioritize varieties with small fruits. Be careful, immature fruits, stems, and leaves contain solanine and should not be consumed.

Harvest: depending on the variety, it can take 50 to 100 days between the transplanting date and the harvest. There is no foolproof trick to determine in advance when a tomato has reached full ripeness. The fruit should be picked when, at a minimum, it is completely coloured as announced and when its texture, while remaining firm, shows a slight softening. For better storage, be sure to pick the fruit with its calyx.

Storage: tomatoes do not keep as long when they have a high water content. They will keep well for a few days in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator or spread out in the open air. To keep them longer, consider culinary methods such as tomato confits, sun-dried tomatoes, sauces, frozen fruits, preserves, jams, or juices. We love to confit them because it's simple and so delicious: cut your tomatoes in half and collect their juice. Place your half tomatoes face up on the rack of your oven. Season with salt, pepper, and sugar, then bake at a very low temperature for at least an hour. Remove your tomatoes and consume immediately, or store them in a glass jar and cover with olive oil.

Gardener's tip: it is recommended to grow several varieties of tomatoes each year to minimize the risk of complete crop loss due to climatic conditions or specific diseases. To counteract the phenomenon of 'blossom end rot' - not a disease but a calcium deficiency - spray a comfrey maceration rich in calcium on your plants. When transplanting, do not hesitate to bury the stem up to the first leaves. This will stimulate the root system, ensuring a bountiful fruit harvest. Winning garden associations are often the same on the plate. It's a good mnemonic to remember that tomatoes and basil go well together.