Seeds and Seedlings

1g

*Heritage variety * * * This variety is on the Slow Food 'Ark of Taste' which means it is endangered. https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/ark-of-taste-slow-food/san-marzano-tomato/ T4 -Mentioned on BBC Radio 4's Food Programme 10/6/12. Classic Italian plum tomato from Naples used mainly for cooking as it has very little water inside, few seeds and is very meaty. Use for making Passata, cooking. Fruits weight: up to 70g - 80g. Growing habit: Indeterminate (cordon) Approximate seeds quantity:@300 Sow: from February to April Variety: Outdoor Getting into a field of ripe San Marzano tomatoes is a unique experience: you are stunned by the fragrances of freshly cut grass and spices emanated by this tomato also when it is still green and persistent even in the canned product. All aromas reminding of the past, when salads tasted of tomato and sun and did not look like alien imperishable, odourless and flavourless objects. Up to twenty years ago, the very fertile territory around Naples and the sarnese-nocerino countryside in the province of Salerno, particularly suitable for vegetable growing, was mainly farmed with San Marzano tomatoes, a very delicate variety, with a thin skin, which keeps well also after being preserved, but which needs to be handled with care. However, due to diseases and low competitiveness in terms of cultivation costs, more productive hybrids became widespread, as more resistant to diseases and more suitable for mechanized work, but with poorer quality and organoleptic properties. The canning companies producing peeled tomatoes started purchasing these hybrids, thus endangering indigenous San Marzano.San Marzano tomatoes are grown like vines and are harvested seven, eight times or more from July to September, only when perfectly ripe and after sunset. After picking them up, the tomatoes are rinsed with water and put in the cans, then cooked for 13 minutes. Nothing else is needed: no additives, no preservatives. It will keep well for at least one year. The several small artisan firms, mainly employing women, peel the tomatoes. But the real personality of San Marzano is seen in the plate: the sauce made with these tomatoes literally sticks onto pasta and does not release any acidity.The San Marzano tomato is inextricably linked to Neapolitan pizza (Margherita), and is also an ingredient in traditional Neapolitan rag√π (meat sauce). 1g

Sweet Alyssum is a short, ground-hugging plant (20 cm) covered with tiny white flowers.

Also called "carpet of snow". Despite its size, it has some powerful attributes. First is the fragrance, which is sweet but delicate, not overwhelming. Second, it's a self seeder, so you have to plant it once and it will keep coming back in the same general area. Just as important, though, is its attractiveness to beneficial insects.

Alyssum is often grown among fruit and vegetable crops to provide nectar for the many tiny beneficial such as syrphid flies, which feed on aphids and mites. Sweet alyssum is especially recommended for planting near lettuce. Early spring or summer.

1g