Consuelo F1 Cherry tomato

The 'Consuelo F1' Tomato is a cherry variety selected for its high yield of regular fruits with a sweet, subtly acidic flavour, offering continuous harvests from July to October. Each plant can produce 5 to 7 clusters of 25 to 30, round and bright red fruits. Weighing approximately 15 to 20 grams, this small tomato with juicy flesh is a lovely natural treat. It accompanies appetizers with its freshness and its sweet flavour is appreciated as a garnish for meat or fish dishes. 'Consuelo' is a vigorous hybrid variety, resistant to blight, reaching a height of 1.50 m when staked. It is suited for growing in open ground, under glass or outdoors.

The Tomato is native to South America and Central America. It belongs to the Solanaceae family, like potatoes, aubergines and peppers. Several varieties were cultivated by the Incas long before the arrival of the Conquistadors. We are still amazed by the variety of this Solanaceae. The term "Tomato" comes from the Inca Tomatl and refers to both the plant and the fruit it produces. There are fruits of all colours and all shapes and sizes. The tomato is one of the many foods that came to us from the New World, along with beans, corn, squash, potatoes, and peppers. It took much longer for the tomato to reach our taste buds. It was cultivated for a long time for its aesthetic and medicinal qualities and thought to be toxic because it resembles the fruit of the Mandrake, another Solanaceae. It only became a regular on our tables from the beginning of the 20th century.

The tomato plant is a perennial herbaceous plant in tropical climates, cultivated as an annual in our latitudes. It turns woody over time and produces small, insignificant yellow flowers grouped in cymes that will turn into fruits.

Its fruit is very beautiful and pleasantly colours the vegetable garden. It also has many nutritional advantages. It is low in calories like most vegetables and rich in water, it contains lycopene, a powerful antioxidant. The longer the tomato is cooked, the more available lycopene it releases. It is also rich in vitamin C, provitamin A, and trace elements.

Today, its taste and nutritional qualities are well established. For gardeners, the tomato is one of the essential vegetables of summer. They simply have to decide how they want to use it to guide them among all the existing varieties. Is it for salads, sauces, eating from the plant, cooking, etc.? They will also need to consider when they want to harvest it. The answer will of course be conditioned by the average summer sunshine in the region where their garden is located. Rest assured, the choice is vast and there is a tomato for every situation! And while tomatoes do need a lot of sun and heat, they don't necessarily require a lot of space. That's why you can grow them in containers on your balcony, choosing varieties with small fruits. Be careful, immature fruits, stems, and leaves contain solanine and should not be consumed.

In the kitchen, tomatoes can be consumed raw or cooked in many ways: in salads or as appetisers, grilled, stuffed, marinated, preserved, in ratatouille, as a sauce... They come in all colours, shapes, and sizes. Take advantage of this and grow several varieties in your vegetable garden to vary the choice!

Harvest: Harvest times vary depending on the variety: 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. Harvest when the tomato has reached its final colour and when its texture remains firm but shows a slight softening. For better storage, pick the fruit with its stalk.

Storage: Tomatoes do not keep as long when they have a high water content. They can be stored for a few days in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator or spread out in the open air. To keep them longer, consider culinary methods such as tomato confit, sun-dried tomatoes, sauces, frozen fruits, preserves, jams, or juices. We love to confit them because it's simple and so delicious: cut your tomatoes in half and collect the juice. Place your half tomatoes face up on the baking sheet of your oven. Season with salt, pepper, and sugar, then bake at a very low temperature for at least an hour. Remove your tomatoes and consume them immediately, or store them in a glass jar and cover with olive oil.

Gardener's tip: It is a good idea to grow several varieties of tomatoes each year to minimize the risk of complete crop loss due to climatic conditions or specific diseases.
To prevent the phenomenon of 'blossom end rot,' which is not a disease but a calcium deficiency, spray a comfrey maceration rich in calcium on your plants.
When transplanting, bury the stem up to the first leaves. This will stimulate the root system, ensuring a bountiful fruit harvest.
Winning combinations in the garden are often the same on the plate. It's a good reminder that tomatoes and basil go well together.