Growing power plants

Three years ago when my wife, Sylvie, and I were starting our business, one of the first things we did was to start a vegetable plot in our back yard. We also planted a pink lady apple tree, and pear, plum, orange and olive trees.

However, tomatoes are my favorite fruit and nothing beats watering your homegrown tomatoes in the late afternoon sun, with the aroma radiating off every plant. However, my first spring saw me go a little over the top with tomato planting - sixty plants, to be exact.

So how do you grow tomatoes?

The best time to plant tomato seed is in very early spring, if you are in a temperate climate. If you live in a tropical area you can grow tomatoes all year round. Plant 10 or so seeds in each pot about 1cm under the potting mixture and organic matter. Give each pot a little water and place a clear plastic freezer bag over the top to create your very own miniature greenhouse.

It should be only a few weeks until you see your seedlings appear. Once they are approximately 6 cm tall, it's time to transplant them into larger pots or straight into the garden.

Remember each plant will give you about 10 kg of fruit if you look after them well, so don't make the mistake Sylvie and I did and plant too many. If you live in an apartment with a balcony, three or four plants will be plenty.

To pot your tomato seedlings, you will need some large pots, three to four bamboo sticks about 1 meter high, organic potting mix and organic fertilizer made out of seaweed or blood and bone.

Carefully take out the seedlings from the pot, so you don't damage any of the roots and position two seedlings in each pot. Once this is done, place a bamboo stick in the middle and water them in with a little blood and bone. Make sure you give your plants plenty of sun.

For best results, you should only need to water your tomatoes every three days. Take care not to over water them, but if it's hot, keep moisture in the pots.

As the plants grow, tie the stem of the plant loosely to the bamboo stick to promote even more rapid growth. In three to four months the tomatoes will be ready to harvest.

So what to do with all that fruit? I loved my grandmother's famous tomato sauce, but I have adapted it a little. What I do is make a fabulously versatile tomato base that I freeze so my family can enjoy the taste of summer all year.

Basic tomato sauce

Ingredients:

1 kg tomatoes, roughly chopped

2 brown onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large base pot and add the onions and garlic. Cook until they turn clear.

2. Add the roughly chopped tomatoes into the pot with a pinch of sea salt and stir until the mixture starts to bubble.

3. Turn off the heat and place a lid on top. Let the mixture cool for two hours. The tomatoes will continue cooking for a while but you don't want to cook them too much, because you are going to use this as a base for other recipes that require tomatoes, such as pasta sauces, soups, curries or chutneys.

4. The sauce is now ready to be put into small containers for the freezer, but remember never put anything in the freezer hot. Always cool it to room temperature first.

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