Taking a cue from cult New York pizzeria
Una Pizza Napoletana I thought I'd try growing San Marzano tomatoes last year. Not a good idea. For those unfamiliar, San Marzanos hail from a small town of the same name near Naples, and are generally considered to make the best tomato sauce in the universe. They sit there, baking away in volcanic soil at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, lavished with endless hours of Mediterranean sun, until they reach a sweetness and depth of flavor unrivalled in the world of fruit-masquerading-as-vegetables. Which, to my thinking, made them perfect for growing in the Midlands in April. I seeded around twenty pots, re-potted a dozen of the best seedlings a few weeks later, and then transferred them to the poly tunnel in June. The sun, which had been most obliging up until that point, decided, in a fit of pique, to disappear for the next two months. My plants grew... grew some more... grew again... finally fruited in late August, resolutely refused to turn red and then developed
rot. Of the small rainforest I'd cultivated I ended up with one solitary - ahem - 'ripe' tomato that tasted of nothing. Weeks of loving care and attention down the drain. Apparently the Italians just leave them growing wild and unkempt and nature takes care of the rest. Life isn't fair is it?