THE TOMATO THAT TRAVELED

As I sat waiting for the morning sun to strike this tomato, I considered sticking a tape measure above it but discarded the idea as tacky. Take my word for it, it is huge and not quite ripe. It is by no means as large as its ancestors. I am not waiting to eat it; I am waiting for its seeds.

It's like this. A friend in Umbria, the region south of Tuscany, sent me seeds for this variety of tomato and exclaimed over and over again that they were the best she'd ever eaten. She got the seeds from somebody in Puglia, in the heel of Italy, and those people got them from somebody in -- Peru. So much for EU restrictions.

The first year was a huge success in more ways than one. The tomatoes were twice the size of the beefsteak variety and a slice did, indeed, fill a large dinner plate. We ate them in thick slices with a splash of olive oil, snorfling and giggling as we did so. They were dense, sweet and full of flavour. Some of them weighed over three pounds (one and a half kilos). Neighbours were speechless, smacked their foreheads and said, "Mama mia!"

The British have a reputation as good gardeners, in our case ill deserved, but these tomatoes were unbelievable. Seeds were saved and passed around.

The next year was a bad one for tomatoes and they did not do well. We then drifted to varieties that produced more tomatoes per plant. I did save a few seeds at the last minute but didn't plant them last year. I found them sticking to a paper towel this spring and wondered if they would still germinate. Yes! So this plant is growing in a giant pot, has grown to over nine feet in height (2.75 meters) high. I know I should have pinched out the top but I wanted to see what it would do. It has produced only two tomatoes. The other is around the back of the plant and is not as large.

This has not been a good year for tomatoes, either. Spring was late and cold. Italian news speaks of a "tomato crisis" in Tuscany. Maybe next year will be better although something tells me the climate has changed forever. We have lost three growing weeks in the past ten years.