10 best tips for the tastiest tomatoes

Added on 05 April 2021

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On Saturday March 6, inside a greenhouse in Oxted, Surrey, Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui stands with a cup of tea in hand, ready to co-host a virtual tutorial to a community of over 1,500 members.

She's excited. At 10am, there are already hundreds of members joining her on Instagram live. The greenhouse is prepped for the event; shelves are lined with young tomato plants, soil-filled trays and pots. "Good morning everyone," she says brightly. "Welcome to The Tomato Club. We are so excited to be going live."

Today is the first day of the club's national grow-a-long: a virtual event lasting from spring until the end of the growing season in late November. Over the next few months, members will be able to access live Q&As, expert tips and videos every week on sowing, growing and harvesting up to 30 varieties of tomatoes.

For Elkhadraoui and Joe Harrison, co-founders of the club, this is a long time coming. Since January 11, the duo have been planning the online event in the hopes of bringing together a community of lockdown growers. Many members are joining the live today from as far away as Tokyo and Canada.

The idea of a virtual club began after Elkhadraoui, the creative director of interior design company Moska, reignited a passion for growing fruit and vegetables during lockdown. At the beginning of the first national lockdown, her business was temporarily halted and staff of ten were sent on furlough.

"Everything came to a grinding halt," she says. "Suddenly, we were all at home and I was looking at our garden - then, a bare lawn - and considering ways to start growing." The combination of beautiful spring weather and home-working turned out to be a winning combination for the keen gardener, who set to work building raised beds.