A passion for tomatoes, from angelles to red zebras, drives farmer Paul Howlett's quest for perfection
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I was born on the Isle of Wight, and have been growing tomatoes here for the past 26 years. It's a fantastic environment for this kind of fruit. We're closely surrounded by the sea, and because of that it's just that bit warmer than the mainland, and being so far south we have one of the highest sunshine levels in the UK – I think these things really enhance the flavour.
We only produce speciality varieties of tomatoes that are full of flavour, such as baby plum, angelle, piccolo and beefsteak, not the high yielding kinds. The farm grows about 40 different types of tomato plant every year, but as we work so closely with seed producers we can be trialling up to 200 at a time – we even have our own taste panel to make sure we are constantly producing the best fruit we can. Our baby plum are great for snacking, and I can just sit there and eat a tub of Angelle tomatoes like they are sweets! As for larger fruit, beef tomatoes, when they've had growing conditions like ours, can be really special – not like the flavourless, woolly things you find in a lot of supermarkets.
We have our own secret fertiliser recipe, and I like to grow the tomatoes in coir – a compost made from coconut husks – and although it take a bit more hands-on management day-to-day, it does mean that we can compost all our waste for the organic plants, which make up about a third of our crop.. As everything, from the supporting sticks and ties to the coir, is biodegradable, all the waste at the end of each growing season is mashed into compost and used to enrich the soil that our organic tomatoes are grown in. – that's totallyunique in the industry.
The nursery started as a co-operative of local growers. There have been lots of changes since then – it's now part of the Wight Salad Group, and now we have sister company called The Tomato Stall. It might not be a family business any more, but we still run it like it is.
We've got 26 hectares over five growing sites in the Arreton Valley, and we produce about 8m kilos a year from around 1m plants. Each week we have to prune and tend to the crop; there's no harvest machinery for tomato plants so everything is done by hand, which means it's very labour-intensive. At the peak of the harvest we have more than 200 people working for us.
Most of our fresh tomatoes are sold on the mainland, and since 2007 we've been making The Tomato Stall products, too. It made sense to use up our fruit that didn't fit with supermarket specifications, instead of letting all the hard work go to waste. The ketchups, jams and relishes have been so successful that now we actuallygrow plants specifically to make them, and we are developing the line each year. I think the chilli and tomato salad dressing is absolutely fantastic, and the tomato sauce has got the thumbs-up from my kids – they haven't asked for Heinz since.
*Stuffed Isle of Wight beef tomatoes*
Beef tomatoes have a greater ratio of flesh to juice than other varieties, making them more solid and easy to stuff. Their intense flavour packs a real punch.
Serves 4
*8 large beef tomatoes*
*1 small onion, diced*
*2 garlic cloves, crushed*
*4 tbsp olive oil*
*300ml hot vegetable stock*
*150g easy-cook basmati rice*
*15g fresh basil leaves, finely chopped, plus a few leaves reserved for garnishing*
*Zest of ½ a lemon, finely grated*
*35g mature cheddar cheese, grated*
*Mixed salad, to serve*
*1 *Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Remove the top 2cm of each tomato. Extract the seeds and pulp and set aside in a bowl.
*2* Fry the onion and garlic on a medium heat, until soft but not brown. Add the tomato pulp to the panand increase the heat slightly. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add the vegetablestock and rice, cover and cook for around 10 minutes, then stir in the basil, lemon zest and cheese. Season to taste.
*3 *Place the hollowed-out tomatoes on a lightly oiled baking tray and spoon the rice mixture in, leaving enough room to replace the tops.
*4 *Bake the tomatoes for 25-30 minutes, until the flesh is tender and the rice is fully cooked.
*5 *Decorate with fresh basil leaves and serve with a crisp mixed salad. Reported by guardian.co.uk 3 days ago.
Click here for an exclusive reader offer
I was born on the Isle of Wight, and have been growing tomatoes here for the past 26 years. It's a fantastic environment for this kind of fruit. We're closely surrounded by the sea, and because of that it's just that bit warmer than the mainland, and being so far south we have one of the highest sunshine levels in the UK – I think these things really enhance the flavour.
We only produce speciality varieties of tomatoes that are full of flavour, such as baby plum, angelle, piccolo and beefsteak, not the high yielding kinds. The farm grows about 40 different types of tomato plant every year, but as we work so closely with seed producers we can be trialling up to 200 at a time – we even have our own taste panel to make sure we are constantly producing the best fruit we can. Our baby plum are great for snacking, and I can just sit there and eat a tub of Angelle tomatoes like they are sweets! As for larger fruit, beef tomatoes, when they've had growing conditions like ours, can be really special – not like the flavourless, woolly things you find in a lot of supermarkets.
We have our own secret fertiliser recipe, and I like to grow the tomatoes in coir – a compost made from coconut husks – and although it take a bit more hands-on management day-to-day, it does mean that we can compost all our waste for the organic plants, which make up about a third of our crop.. As everything, from the supporting sticks and ties to the coir, is biodegradable, all the waste at the end of each growing season is mashed into compost and used to enrich the soil that our organic tomatoes are grown in. – that's totallyunique in the industry.
The nursery started as a co-operative of local growers. There have been lots of changes since then – it's now part of the Wight Salad Group, and now we have sister company called The Tomato Stall. It might not be a family business any more, but we still run it like it is.
We've got 26 hectares over five growing sites in the Arreton Valley, and we produce about 8m kilos a year from around 1m plants. Each week we have to prune and tend to the crop; there's no harvest machinery for tomato plants so everything is done by hand, which means it's very labour-intensive. At the peak of the harvest we have more than 200 people working for us.
Most of our fresh tomatoes are sold on the mainland, and since 2007 we've been making The Tomato Stall products, too. It made sense to use up our fruit that didn't fit with supermarket specifications, instead of letting all the hard work go to waste. The ketchups, jams and relishes have been so successful that now we actuallygrow plants specifically to make them, and we are developing the line each year. I think the chilli and tomato salad dressing is absolutely fantastic, and the tomato sauce has got the thumbs-up from my kids – they haven't asked for Heinz since.
*Stuffed Isle of Wight beef tomatoes*
Beef tomatoes have a greater ratio of flesh to juice than other varieties, making them more solid and easy to stuff. Their intense flavour packs a real punch.
Serves 4
*8 large beef tomatoes*
*1 small onion, diced*
*2 garlic cloves, crushed*
*4 tbsp olive oil*
*300ml hot vegetable stock*
*150g easy-cook basmati rice*
*15g fresh basil leaves, finely chopped, plus a few leaves reserved for garnishing*
*Zest of ½ a lemon, finely grated*
*35g mature cheddar cheese, grated*
*Mixed salad, to serve*
*1 *Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Remove the top 2cm of each tomato. Extract the seeds and pulp and set aside in a bowl.
*2* Fry the onion and garlic on a medium heat, until soft but not brown. Add the tomato pulp to the panand increase the heat slightly. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add the vegetablestock and rice, cover and cook for around 10 minutes, then stir in the basil, lemon zest and cheese. Season to taste.
*3 *Place the hollowed-out tomatoes on a lightly oiled baking tray and spoon the rice mixture in, leaving enough room to replace the tops.
*4 *Bake the tomatoes for 25-30 minutes, until the flesh is tender and the rice is fully cooked.
*5 *Decorate with fresh basil leaves and serve with a crisp mixed salad. Reported by guardian.co.uk 3 days ago.