Germany: 20 tomato varieties on 500 m2

German grower Albrecht Hauser is delighted with the high demand for regionally grown vegetables. The vegetables that he and his coworkers produce in the greenhouses travel less than 1,000 kilometers before being sold at the weekly markets in Balingen and Weilstetten, says the German website schwarzwaelder-bote.de.

In the past four weeks, production at Hauser’s was all about tomatoes: the winter lettuce has been replaced by about 20 tomato varieties on approximately 500 square meters. And it’s not just cherry and beef. Among the seeds used in Geislingen are both old and new varieties. The fruits vary from very small (such as the ten-gram "Pepe") to huge, as with the 'Fleurette' and 'Ochsenherzen', the fruits of which can swell up to 800 grams.

The first tomatoes from Geislingen will probably be on the market in June. Albrecht Hauser hopes that the special tomatoes from local cultivation will continue to grow in popularity. "These are tomatoes that actually taste like tomatoes," says Hauser. Unlike the varieties that are grown with a tough, thick skin so they can handle transportation.