Sometimes it helps to be on the opposite side of the world to other bloggers. Last winter I read about the wonders of lasagne gardens as I planned my vegetable patch. Now as I am pulling out the last of my tomato plants, I am reading about what others are planning to put in for the next summer. I thought it might help if I shared the tomatoes I'd be planting, if it were spring again.

PIONEER – this one was brilliant. Beautiful globe shaped fruit in trusses of about 8 each. The fruit were great for preserving, easy to peel and regular sizes. As I type, I can hear the seals popping in on the latest lot of relish. It appeared to be quite disease resistant based on the simple criteria of me not spraying and the plant not dying.

ROMA – An acid free Itallian tomato. The tomatoes tasted great and had very few seeds inside.

BLACK CHERRY (heritage) – This cherry tomato was prolific. The fruit tasted great and next year I will be either making the stakes twice as high, or letting it trail on the ground. The fruit wasn't as black as the label showed, but it was definitely darker.

THAT STIPEY TIGER ONE – The label said sweet 100, but the plant was something else. This was one of the best surprises I had in the garden and I only wish I knew what it was really called so I can be sure to get some next year. The fruit had a green stripe to it that slowly faded to orange as the fruit ripened. It tasted good too.

The yellow plum cherry tomato was a bit slow on the uptake and is only just coming into it's own. I probably wont plant this one next year. There was also a dwarf beefsteak tomato that came down with some sort of blight so I'll be leaving that one out next year too.

Even if it doesn't help anyone else, at least I now have something to refer to when spring finally rolls along again, and a few less jars of green tomato chutney to make.