Tomato Cookie F1 GRAFTED ORGANIC plants

The Tomate Cookie F1 is a cherry type variety. It is an original hybrid that produces clusters of small pointed fruits, weighing 35 to 40 g, with a tiger red color tinged with dark green. It is an early, productive, and disease-resistant variety. Very tasty, these Tomatoes can be used in salads or as appetizers. The Tomato is a plant that is grown as an annual, requiring heat and rich soil.

The Tomato Cookie F1 plug plants are planted from April to June, after the last frost, for a harvest from July to September. Grafting allows for a faster and more abundant harvest.

The technique of grafting tomato plants consists of giving a desired variety the root system of another specially selected variety, called the rootstock. This rootstock has excellent resistance to soil parasites and diseases, which provides the plant with extra vigor: it is then more resistant to difficult external conditions (such as cold climates) and will yield significantly higher than a non-grafted plant. The fruiting of grafted plants starts earlier and lower on the main stem. Thanks to the use of the 'Protector' rootstock, our grafted tomato plants also produce fewer leaves, making ripening and harvesting easier.

The Tomato is native to South America and Central America. Several varieties were already cultivated by the Incas long before the arrival of the Conquistadors. The term "Tomate" comes from the Inca "Tomatl" and refers to both the plant and the fruit it produces. It is one of the many foods that came to us from the New World, along with beans, corn, squash, potatoes, and chili peppers. The Tomato took significantly longer to reach our taste buds. And for good reason: for a long time, it was cultivated for its aesthetic and medicinal qualities, but it was considered toxic because of its resemblance to the fruit of the Mandrake, another member of the Solanaceae family. It only became a regular part of our tables from the beginning of the 20th century.

The Tomato is a perennial herbaceous plant in tropical climates, but it is grown as an annual in our latitudes. It lignifies over time and produces small, insignificant yellow flowers clustered together, which will turn into fruits. Tomatoes can be grown in open ground but can also be grown in containers on a balcony, with a preference for varieties with a compact habit.

It is a fruit vegetable that has many nutritional benefits. Low in calories like most vegetables, rich in water, it contains a very interesting molecule: lycopene, a powerful antioxidant. It is also rich in vitamin C, provitamin A, and trace elements.

In terms of cooking, Tomatoes can be consumed raw or cooked in many ways: in salads or as appetizers, grilled, stuffed, marinated, confit, in ratatouille, as a puree, etc. They come in all colors, shapes, and sizes. Take advantage of this and cultivate several varieties in your vegetable garden to vary the pleasures!

Harvesting: Harvest periods vary depending on the earliness: early varieties are harvested from 55 to 70 days after planting, mid-season varieties from 70 to 85 days, and late varieties beyond 85 days. The fruits should be picked when they have reached their final color and when their texture, while remaining firm, shows a slight softening. For better storage, be sure to pick the fruit with its peduncle. Be careful, immature fruits, stems, and leaves contain solanine and should not be consumed.

Storage: The optimal storage temperature for tomatoes is between 10 and 15°C (50 and 59°F). Refrigeration is possible but alters the taste qualities of the fruits. For longer storage, tomatoes can be confit, dried, frozen, canned, or cooked into jam. To confit them, cut your tomatoes in half and collect the juice. Place your half tomatoes face up on the grill pan of your oven. Season with salt, pepper, and sugar, then bake at a very low temperature for at least one hour. Remove your tomatoes, store them in a glass jar, and cover with olive oil.

Gardening tip: To reduce watering, we recommend mulching the soil with thin successive layers of grass clippings, if possible mixed with dead leaves. This protection, which keeps the soil moist, also limits weed growth.