Over the past year, the Seed Sovereignty Programme has gone, by its own admission, a little tomato mad. Tomatoes are one of the most widely grown and loved food crops in the world, and they also happen to be one of the easiest plants from which growers can save seed. This combination made them an ideal focus for an ambitious programme of trials, seed bulking, breeding and tastings with our Advanced Learning cohort of growers who have completed our Year-Long Seed Training course in previous years. These offerings aim not only to strengthen tomato diversity but also to lay the foundations for flavour-led variety selection across other crops in the future.
Tomato breeder Simon Crawford, known for creating Stallworth tomatoes like ‘Red Alert’, and the world’s first truly blight-resistant tomato, Crimson Crush F1, was working with The Seed Coop to release an open-pollinated, blight-resistant tomato for outdoor production. Unfortunately, when The Seed Coop sadly closed in 2023, Simon’s breeding project was at risk of being lost, along with many other important seed initiatives. Thankfully, Hans Steenbergen of Esk Valley Seeds had also been growing these tomatoes and had saved a small quantity of seed. He shared these with the Seed Sovereignty Programme, allowing the lines to be bulked up and reintroduced into our trials.
Building on Participatory Variety Selection (PVS) trials that the programme has been running since 2022, the two tomato lines were grown by 20 growers across the UK and Ireland. This wide geographic spread helped assess the plants’ resilience and performance under varied conditions, while also spreading the risk of crop failure and increasing seed supply. Growers were able to observe how the tomatoes performed in their own local contexts, contributing practical knowledge that would not be possible through centralised trials alone.
Alongside Simon’s tomatoes, an additional Tomato Bulking trial was offered to trainees who had completed the programme’s Year-Long Training in 2024. Participants were invited to grow between one and three tomato varieties not currently commercially available in the UK. The aim was twofold: to bulk up seed and to assess the varieties’ potential for future commercial use, while providing trainees with hands-on experience in evaluation and selection.
To support growers throughout the season, a series of webinars was held for participants in both tomato trials. These included an initial meet-and-greet and trial planning session, followed later by focused discussions on tomato diseases and disorders, and an introduction to tomato breeding. Following the breeding webinar, participants were encouraged to make their own crosses, selecting for traits such as flavour, vigour and disease resistance. This practical experimentation helped nurture confidence in the growers that they could be the plant breeders of the future, working towards tomatoes better suited to a changing climate.
Inspired by the Culinary Breeding Network in the United States, the programme developed a tomato flavour wheel to support tasting and selection. Much like flavour wheels used in wine, coffee or whisky, this visual tool makes flavour assessment more accessible and engaging than traditional spreadsheets. At the same time, it generates meaningful data that can be used in breeding and selection decisions, placing flavour firmly alongside agronomic traits.
Throughout the late summer and early autumn, tomato tastings and celebration events were held across the UK and Ireland. These gatherings centred on Simon’s tomatoes, allowing flavour feedback to be collected, while also celebrating the wider diversity of tomatoes grown by members of the network.
In Scotland, 80 people attended a tomato tasting at East Neuk Market Garden, organised in collaboration with Seeds of Scotland. Over 30 varieties were available, drawing on cherry and beefsteak trials from both organisations.
In Ireland, participants in Simon’s tomato trial met with amateur tomato breeders to taste and evaluate the trial tomatoes alongside experimental lines. Seeds, ideas and ambitions were exchanged, laying the groundwork for future breeding collaborations adapted to Ireland’s variable climate.
In Bristol, growers and chefs from across southern England and Wales gathered for a day dedicated to tomato diversity and food system connections. A blind tasting of blight-resistant outdoor tomatoes opened the day, using the flavour wheel to identify favourites and spark discussion. A tomato-themed feast prepared by Setonji’s Sunshine Kitchen highlighted how varietal diversity translates directly into culinary creativity. Later, Songsoo Kim of Super8 Restaurants led a conversation on strengthening relationships between growers and chefs, reinforcing the role of collaboration in supporting agrobiodiversity.
London’s Tomato Futures event, held at Wolves Lane Centre and attended by over 100 people, was organised in partnership with Where the Rivers Meet and Black Rootz. The tomato tasting proved a highlight, with an abundant range of varieties sourced from the site and contributed by attendees. Participants explored flavour in depth before learning practical seed-saving skills.
In Wales, a tasting in Aberystwyth took place in the garden of YouTube gardener Huw Richards and chef Sam Black. Growers shared a tomato-themed feast and learned about seed saving from Sue Stickland, author of Back-Garden Seed Saving.
In Teesside, around 40 people tasted locally grown heritage tomatoes at a community café in Middlesbrough, which supports homeless people, newly arrived communities and those facing long-term unemployment. Seed saving was demonstrated, and seeds were shared with participants who had the means to grow at home.
The season’s work concluded at The Seed Gathering with a tomato passata tasting. Turning tomatoes into passata ensured that flavour could still be shared and evaluated in October, regardless of the weather. The tasting sparked lively conversations about flavour profiles and demonstrated new ways of engaging communities in crop evaluation.
After two years of trialling and bulking, one of Simon Crawford’s tomato lines clearly stood out, performing strongly both in the field and in flavour assessments. This variety has now been registered as a commercial amateur tomato under the name ‘Endurance’. The name reflects not only its impressive disease resistance, but also its journey from near extinction after the closure of The Seed Coop, to being revived, trialled and proven through the Seed Sovereignty network.
This winter, four seed companies will offer ‘Endurance’ in their catalogues, with two more trialling it for possible release in 2026. For the next three years, 5% of packet sales will be donated to The Gaia Foundation’s Seed Sovereignty Programme, helping to fund ongoing work in crop diversity, seed stewardship and grower training.
Endurance is currently available in the UK from The Wales Seed Hub and will shortly be available from Esk Seeds and Plants of Distinction. It is available in Ireland from Wolf Seeds.
