Solanum lycopersicum 'Paoline' F1

The 'Paoline' F1 Tomato is a variety highly appreciated for its taste and disease resistance. It produces beautiful red fruits, round in shape, measuring between 7 and 9cm (3 and 4in) in diameter and weighing between 130 and 180g. Its juicy flesh is firm and flavourful, making it an excellent tomato for summer salads, stuffing, juice, and sauces. It is highly resistant to diseases, including fusarium wilt, verticillium wilt, powdery mildew, and tomato mosaic virus. The plant has good resistance to phytophthora and has proven its vigour even in wet conditions. It is easy to cultivate and yields a bountiful harvest. Its taste and productivity make it an essential variety for the garden. It is recommended to stake the plants from transplanting to promote growth up to 1.80 m (6ft) tall. Early, sow from March to May for a long harvest from late June to October.

NB: This variety is labelled F1 for "F1 hybrid" as it is a variety resulting from the cross-breeding of carefully selected parents to combine their qualities. This results in a variety that can be particularly flavourful and/or early while being resistant to certain diseases. Sometimes criticized or wrongly associated with GMOs, F1 hybrid seeds are interesting both for their uniformity and their resistance, but unfortunately, their qualities do not pass on to the next generations: it will therefore not be possible to save the seeds for future sowing.

The tomato originates from South America and Central America. Several varieties were already cultivated by the Incas long before the arrival of the Conquistadors. We are still amazed by the variety of this solanaceous plant. The term "tomato" comes from the Inca word "Tomatl" and refers to both the plant and the fruit it produces. There are fruits of all colours (red, of course, but also green, yellow, and even some very rare blue varieties), in all shapes and sizes. Ancient varieties are indeterminate plants and can live for two years. More recent varieties have a determinate growth and stop growing at the bush stage, so there is no need to stake or trellis them.

The tomato is one of the many foods that came to us from the New World, along with beans, corn, squash, potatoes, and chili peppers. It took significantly longer for tomatoes to reach our taste buds. And for good reason! It was cultivated for a long time for its aesthetic and medicinal qualities. It was thought to be toxic because of its resemblance to the fruit of the mandrake, another solanaceous plant. It only became a regular part of our tables from the beginning of the 20th century.

The tomato is a herbaceous perennial plant in tropical climates, but it is cultivated as an annual in our latitudes. It becomes lignified over time and produces small, insignificant yellow flowers grouped in cymes that will turn into fruits. Tomatoes are grown in open ground but can also be grown in containers on a balcony, favouring varieties with compact growth.

It must be admitted that its fruit is very attractive and adds a pleasant colour to the vegetable garden. It also has many nutritional benefits. Low in calories like most vegetables, rich in water, it contains a particularly interesting molecule: lycopene, a powerful antioxidant. And the longer the tomato is cooked, the more lycopene becomes available. It is also rich in vitamin C, provitamin A, and trace elements.

Today, its taste and nutritional qualities are well established. For the gardener, the tomato is among the essential vegetables of summer. They just need to consider how they want to use it to guide them among all the existing varieties. Is it for salads, sauces, consuming directly on-site, cooked, etc.? They will also consider when they want to harvest it. The answer will of course be determined by the average summer sunshine in the region where their garden is located. Rest assured, the choice is vast, and every situation has its tomato! And while tomatoes indeed need a lot of sunshine and heat, they don't necessarily require a lot of space. Therefore, don't hesitate to grow them in containers on your balcony, where you can favor 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 various ways: in salads or for appetizers, grilled, stuffed, marinated, confit, 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 pleasures!

Harvest: 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. Harvest when the tomato takes on its final colour and when its 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: Tomatoes do not keep as long when they have a high water content. They can be stored well for a few days in the vegetable compartment 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 confit tomatoes because it's so simple and delicious: cut your tomatoes in half, collect the juice. Place your halved 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 recommended to grow several varieties of tomatoes each year to minimize the risk of complete crop loss due to climatic conditions or specific pathologies. To prevent the phenomenon of "blossom end rot" - not a disease but a calcium deficiency - spray a comfrey maceration rich in calcium on your plants. When transplanting, do not hesitate to 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 technical reminder that tomatoes and basil go well together.