~ BUSH TOMATO Seed ~

Vine tomatoes are on another page. For an explanation of the differences between bush & vine plant types, and choosing tomatoes for outdoors growing, click here.

Here we have special tomatoes chosen for home growers - varieties that germinate well in cold conditions, start to set fruit early, and yet are still very productive over a long period, with a really good 'tomato' flavour.

= normal sowing & harvest time = also possible depending on conditions

SUPER-EARLY BUSH TOMATOES:

We have found some very quick-growing varieties, some from Russia. In our trials these had flowered before our others had grown their third leaf! Not only does this help get a better crop in a short summer, but you have more chance of them fruiting before blight strikes. We have listed these in approximate order of ripening.

As always, the earlier varieties have a slightly smaller yield. Grow more than one to cover a longer season.

Latah (Super-early Salad type)

This is the one for your earliest crop. It might just be the best early tomato ever. It’s a super-early variety that tolerates short or cool summers, covered in 1 inch spherical red fruit on a sprawling bush. 

Latah is our most popular bush tomato, and it really is remarkable. The leaves are very far-spaced on the stem - the plants look a bit odd – and this lets in more light to reach the fruit so they ripen even earlier. The fruit are mostly roundish but some are a bit ribbed, with the occasional odd shape too.

The plants are quite untidy. To be honest, you can't really train them or support them in any way – but if you let them get on with it they really will make ripe tasty tomatoes earlier than you thought possible. Fantastic flavour, balanced acid and sweetness, this is just great raw, & nice cooked too.

Absurdly early red tomato. Untidy sprawling bush.

CORRECTION: We originally thought this was from Russia, but several people have written to correct us. Bonnie Gomez wrote: "The Latah Tomato was developed in Latah County at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho in the United States. We have a short growing season (just over 4 months of the year) in Northern Idaho and have unpredictable springs (i.e. frost and snow) and that's why "absurdly early" plants seem like a good idea! Thank you! "

Grushovka (Early Pink)

An old favourite, back by popular demand. This is a really good producer of big pink tomatoes - halfway between a plum and an ox-heart type - with an excellent flavour.

The plants grow to around 3 or 4 foot tall and are easy to manage, they just keep on producing huge numbers of fruit all summer. We have bags and bags of tomatoes off these every time we grow them.

The heart-shaped fruit are shocking pink and have a good balance of sweet and acid. Like a giant plum tomato - good for sauces, but also very pretty in salads, or for making a lurid pink gazpacho soup.

Very prolific, medium sized pointy pink fruit, very tasty .

18 seed, organic £

Urbikany (Early salad type)

A great success from our trials of early Siberian tomatoes, this one has a high yield of 2-inch, perfectly round red fruit. Large seed get the plants off to a vigorous start.

They fruit much earlier than normal tomatoes, and you get a good crop for your salads throughout the summer. The large sprawling bushes only grow about 3' tall, but definitely need several stakes or strings to support the weight of all the tomatoes. We use this as a salad tomato; its juicy with a good balance of sugar and acid.

Tall Bush, juicy and sweet, very early, with very heavy crops over a long period.

20 seed , organic £

House Tomato NEW!

An amazing heirloom variety bred in Russia, then brought to Canada in the 1890s. This dwarf tomato plant has been bred for growing in pots on a windowsill - it makes a short and sturdy bush about 1ft tall that is heavily laden with round red cherry tomatoes.

It actually does better in a pot than in the ground, as it is so short and stocky. Back in circulation thanks to the work of Jenn Stotland and Annapolis Seeds (who specialise in northern-adapted varieties), and now being produced by us on our farm in Wales.

unique early mini pot tomato, delicious.

approx 20 seed, organic £

Aurora (Early sauce type)

This variety comes originally from Siberia, so as well as fruiting very early, it also germinates well at low temperatures.

It make just loads of round red tomatoes with thick flesh, & is particularly good for cooking down into a rich sauce - everyone here takes home the tomatoes after deseeding them and freezes them for use overwinter.

The medium-large bushes don't sprawl too much but do need a little bit of support - perhaps a 3ft cane to tie it to. Good juicy fruit, with an excellent flavour.

22 seed, organic £

Saving Tomato Seed:

Here you can see the seed and juice squeezed into a jar & let ferment for 3 days (no more, no less!)

Good seeds sink and bad ones float. (And, yes, it is supposed to be mouldy & smelly)

Water is added and poured off, several times over, to clean them, the seed is rinsed in a sieve and put on a plate to dry.

Detailed seed-saving instructions are included with your seeds, so you can do this yourself. And of course this is only possible because these are all real, non-hybrid varieties.