Top tomatoes in Guernsey

Guernsey used to be well known for its tomatoes as fellow channel island Jersey was for its potatoes.

But now, there are just five commercial growers left, where once there were 2,000.

 

 

Rob Plumley of Sarnia Seeds and Alan Nicholson of Nicholson Bros are two of the last handful. They have created a niche by growing speciality varieties such as 'Piccolo', 'Santa', 'Caprese' and 'San Marzano' - the premium end - for supermarkets Morrisons, Sainsbury and Co-op.

 

 

What was really interesting is that they have gone back to growing their tomatoes in season rather than all year round. They made the move to save on heating bills - by growing February to November only they can save 80 per cent of fuel costs. And consumers can always eat boring Dutch and Canary Island tomatoes out of season.