Sowing the first tomato seeds in February/March is an exciting moment for most UK allotment owners and kitchen gardeners. It heralds the start of a new season and fills us with hope and anticipation for the year ahead. So (pun intended), depending on where you live in the UK, tomatoes are probably at the forefront of your mind, well they are in mine!
This year I am trying a new selection of tomato seeds plus two favourites from last year. I’ve listed them all below including those from 2021 that I will not be growing again.
I’ve included photos of the tomatoes where I have them as well as descriptions and taste notes.
Let me know if this is useful or if you’re growing any of these tomato seeds too.
Pink Berkeley Tie Dye
Saved seed from 2021
I enjoyed growing Pink Berkely Tie Dye last year, although the only thing to be aware of is that they can go over-ripe very quickly. Other than that, they have good flavour, wonderful colouring and are perfect for slicing into sourdough bread sandwiches with salt, pepper, gratings of hard Italian cheese and a drizzle of olive oil. Absolutely delicious!
I saved my own seeds last year, so we shall see how they perform.
Seeds from Nicky’s Nursery.
Honeycomb F1
NEW SEEDS / GREW IN 2021
My all-time favourite tomato last year, producing a constant supply of sweet golden yellow cherry tomatoes. Perfect for children, as pizza toppings, in salads, and whenever I fancied a fresh juicy snack in the polytunnel. These were a taste revelation to me and way better than anything you can buy in a supermarket.
Seeds from Suttons.
Sungold F1
NEW SEEDS / FIRST TIME
Well, I think everyone has heard of, if not grown Sungold before, except me that is! Last year I grew Honeycomb, which was an all-around hit here in our house, so I bought some Sungold seeds to see how they compare. A very sweet, golden yellow tomato with good yields and snack-ability, just a shame they’re F1.
Seeds from JustSeed.
Cherry Brandywine
NEW SEEDS / FIRST TIME
I can’t remember what drew me to this tomato because on the face of it, it’s a cherry tomato with bright pink skin. It doesn’t sound like much does it? However, according to the Tomato Revolution website, the taste is complex and one of their stand out stars of 2021. With huge trusses, being early to set fruit and with good flavour, I have high hopes. We’ll see.
Seeds from Tomato Revolution.
Purple Heart Throb
NEW SEEDS / FIRST TIME
Apparently, these are very prolific dwarf plants and according to Tomato Revolution, the flavour profile is intense, complex and exceptional. One of the best tomatoes they have ever tasted and in their top ten – I have high hopes for these this year.
Seeds from Tomato Revolution.
Lucid Gem
NEW SEEDS / FIRST TIME
This is a beefsteak tomato which is thin-skinned, sweet and with few seeds. They change colour from yellow to orange and develop dark anthocyanin shoulders as they mature and ripen. I’ve seen them cut in half too and they look stunning, so I’m really looking forward to growing these in 2022.
Seeds from Tomato Revolution.
Brad’s Atomic Grape
NEW SEEDS / FIRST TIME
I first heard about these on Tony C Smith’s YouTube channel (about 2 minutes in). They’re a large grape to plum-sized tomato with a pointy tip and wonderful colouring. If you leave them on the vine until they ripen (colours change to oranges and red) and are soft to the touch, they develop great flavour and a delicate sweetness.
Seeds from Tomato Revolution.
Tomatoes I’m not growing in 2022
Rapunzel
GREW IN 2021
Very long trusses with masses of small tomatoes but I wasn’t that impressed with the size variability or the taste. Sweet enough if left on the vine to ripen but took ages.
Seeds from Simply Seeds.
Golden Sweet
GREW IN 2021
Thick-skinned, firm, rich yellow grape shaped tomato. They produced plenty of fruit and were sweet enough when allowed to ripen fully, however, none of us really enjoyed the texture.
Seeds from Simply Seeds.
Shimmer
GREW IN 2021
I should probably give these another go but as space is at a premium this year, I’m leaving them out. They are almond-shaped fruits with a pointy end and exquisite colouring. They do have a good flavour with a sweet finish if left to ripen fully on the vine.
Seeds from Nicky’s Nursery.
Sugar Gloss
GREW IN 2021
Masses of red cherry tomatoes from branching trusses made these a useful tomato that promised a great deal. According to the Simply Seed website, they have a ‘Brix’ rating of 12% which is higher than Sungold! Mine were nowhere near as sweet as the Honeycomb so they don’t make it back this year.
Seeds from Simply Seeds.
Crimson Blush F1
(BLIGHT RESISTANT)
GREW IN 2021 & 2020
These are some of our favourites, producing quite large pinky-red beefsteak tomatoes with very few seeds and a good sweet flavour. They are blight resistant which encouraged me to back into growing tomatoes and because of this, they will always be on my possibles list. Sadly, not this year though as I want to try other varieties instead.
Seeds from Suttons.
