Beautiful Gardens Spring Edition 2020 | Page 43

T O P F O R TA S T E Tomatoes and chilli peppers are both available as grafted plants and starter plants. These can be planted outside in the garden, or in an unheated greenhouse, when there’s no further risk of frost NEW VARIETIES E N J OY T H I S Tomato ‘Crokini’ Disease-resistant cherry tomato with long trusses of scarlet fruit. Cordon variety Tomato ‘Goldwin’ Easy-to-grow cherry tomato with lots of large, firm golden fruit. Cordon variety Tomato ‘Riesling’ Baby plum tomato with very sweet, glossy, grape-sized fruit. Cordon variety Tomato ‘Tumbling Tom’ Ideal for hanging baskets and pots, with lots of tiny red fruits. Trailing variety Tomato ‘Sungold’ Dainty cherry tomato with super-sweet golden fruit. Cordon variety Pepper ‘Jalapeno’ Fiery-hot chilli with plump, glossy green fruits that eventually turn red. Pepper ‘Sweet Banana’ Long yellow, sweetly-spiced chillis that mature over time to orange-red. CLASSIC WINNERS Tomato ‘Gardener’s Delight’ Reliable cherry tomato with a very sweet flavour and large fruit. Cordon variety TASTY CHILLIES Pepper ‘Apache’ Compact plant that produces masses of medium-sized, very hot red chillies Use homegrown tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers to make this fresh gazpacho ½ cucumber (peeled & de-seeded) 1 large yellow pepper (de-seeded) 1 large red pepper (de-seeded) 6 ripe tomatoes 2 banana shallots 3 garlic cloves, minced or finely chopped 100g/3½oz stale white bread, soaked in cold water 3 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp sherry vinegar 3 or 4 cherry tomatoes to garnish Method 1. Set aside a small chunk of cucumber and the cherry tomatoes to garnish, then roughly chop all the vegetables. 2. Using a food processor, blend all vegetables to a rough purée. Add the garlic, soaked bread, olive oil and sherry vinegar. Blend again until smooth, then season. 3. Transfer the soup to a lidded container and chill. 4. Halve the cherry tomatoes and chop the spare cucumber into small cubes. Serve the gazpacho in bowls, garnished with the tomato and cucumber. BEAUTIFUL GARDENS/43