Tomatoes are France’s favourite vegetable – or fruit, to be biologically accurate – with each household eating an average of more than 14 kilogrammes of them every year.
France is the fifth largest producer in Europe, with one-third of all the country’s tomatoes hailing from Brittany, followed by 21% in PACA and 15% from Pays de la Loire.
Right now, tomatoes are at their peak – and delicious in all forms. One of the joys of living in France is being able to grow wonderful tomatoes in your garden which taste fantastic.
Commercial tomatoes on offer in supermarkets, however, are grown hydroponically in greenhouses. This sounds frighteningly industrial, but the biggest collective of producers – Tomates de France – who are responsible for more than a third of the country’s 602,000 tonnes of tomatoes grown every year is keen to tell the world their tomatoes are healthy to eat, use almost no pesticides, few fertilisers and do not waste water.
Every May, they open their doors to the public. In 2018, they welcomed more than 2,500 visitors in four days, keen to see where their favourite vegetable/fruit comes from. Tomates de France is made up of 1,000 producers and 90% of their tomatoes are grown in greenhouses using a hydroponic system with a soil replacement which can be either coconut matting, peat, volcanic rock or mineral rockwool.
Their tomato statistics certainly give the impression of intensive farming. A single plant can produce an average of 20 kilos in a season stretching from February to the end of October, nothing like a traditional tomato plant in a potager. In the greenhouses they grow like a creeper on a seemingly ever ending stem which is wound down 45cm every couple of weeks to make the new crop accessible to the pickers at waist height.
The tomato grower
Nathalie Binda works on the family farm at Andiran, Lot-et-Garonne, is part of Tomates de France, and has been growing tomatoes for the past 32 years.
She is proud of her crop and passionate about their cultivation. She grows three varieties on seven hectares and employs eight people per hectare at the busiest times of the year:
“We receive the tiny tomato plants in the last two weeks of November. They are planted on mineral rockwool where the main element is basalt. This has to be changed every year, but we plough it into our arable fields where it acts like a compost and so nothing is wasted.
“In February, the plants begin to produce fruit, and the picking begins. They will produce until the end of October.
It is labour intensive as everything is done by hand, the picking as well as the pruning, where side shoots are cut out to preserve the strength of the main stem.”
Tomatoes need a great deal of water. In 1985, 30 litres of water was needed for every kilogramme of tomatoes produced. Now, Tomates de France says amounts have halved following the introduction of drip systems. Nutritional elements such as nitrates, phosphates and potassium are added to the water to feed the plants. And, Mrs Binda says, no water is wasted: “We operate a closed system, so the water is recycled and never goes into the water table. The amount of fertiliser is kept to a minimum with about 500g per plant for the whole of its life.”
Pesticides are only used in emergencies. Instead insects are introduced like ladybirds and Encarsia formosa, a species of micro-wasp which destroys the larvae of one of the greatest dangers to tomatoes under glass, the greenhouse whitefly. Bee hives are also placed in the serres to pollinate the flowers.
The temperatures must be regulated to an average of 18°C which means ventilation in summer and heating in winter. The Binda family use a biomass boiler which produces electricity as a bi-product which they sell to EDF; and any CO2 waste is pumped into the greenhouses where it contributes to the photosynthesis of the plants. The farm is also proud that it no longer has any plastic tunnels, but only plants under glass.
Labour of love
“It is a labour of love,” said Mrs Binda. “We are proud of our production. We produce healthy tomatoes which are good for you. Whenever we have visitors they are amazed at how ecological our system is and how healthy our plants are.”
But what about the taste? The two major varieties grown on her farm are red tomatoes sold on the vine and a round, red tomato, which she agrees are good, but not necessarily flavoursome: “They are what the supermarkets want. These varieties have a high yield so can be sold at a reasonable cost and they keep well.
“This year, for the first time, we are producing a new tastier variety of cherry vine tomato for the fruit and veg supermarket Grand Frais, called Avalantino. However, its yield is only half that of our other tomatoes, so it will be more expensive in the shop.
“I have done an experiment growing the delicious classic tomato, Coeur de Boeuf and found it produces the same taste whether grown in the soil or grown in our hors-sol system and so the taste comes with the variety, not with the growing method. But sadly, the more flavoursome varieties do not produce as much fruit and do not keep as well and so far that is not what sells best.”
Toms: a user’s guide
Tomates de France says, contrary to common practice, you should never put them in the fridge because they lose their flavour and texture if kept under 12°C.
Tomatoes are divided into different families. First en grappes (on the vine), rondes (round) and charnues (fleshy) which are firm and the most versatile. They can be eaten in salads or cooked in tarts, sauces, soups, roasted or grilled.
The smaller varieties are the cerises (cherry), which can be round or long and the cocktails, which are sold on the vine and the advice is to eat these raw or in tarts. They are described as juicy and crunchy.
The increasingly popular old style varieties are the tender fleshed coeurs (hearts) côtelées (ribbed) and zébrées (striped) and should be eaten raw or in tarts.
Finally the longer, oval shaped tomatoes are either cornues (horned), latines (Latin) or allongées (lying down). These have dense flesh and are not juicy which makes them good for sandwiches. They are also recommended for use in tarts, grilled or in soups.
There are six principal factors which govern taste; first the variety, then light intensity during growth, amount of water and nutrition, degree of ripeness when picked and the length of time between picking and eating.
Storage can also change taste so they are best kept away from the cold; we all know the best ones are the warm, sun-kissed fruits picked straight from the garden.
