At the start of the season I made the decision to grow both Harbinger and Shirley varieties of tomato.  For many years I grew Harbinger but the seed became more difficult to source and I used up my own seed taken from previous years.  I tried a few varieties that disappointed me before settling on Shirley.  Whilst sorting out seed packets in January I found a small packet of Harbinger still sealed and obviously a giveaway from a magazine, the perfect opportunity to do a trial. 

So now getting towards the end of the season what can we say about Harbinger versus Shirley? 

The first thing to say is that it has been a difficult season in the UK for tomatoes.  Early spring was very hot and the tomato plants came on very well, looking strong and healthy.  But then the weather changed dramatically becoming very cold and wet.  Growth suddenly came to a halt and never really got going again.  In the summer I normally have to take out the tops of the tomato plants once they have reached the greenhouse roof.  Not this year.  I gave some plants to my father-in-law who grew his outdoors and he has fared even worse.  He is struggling to get good sized fruits and struggling even more to get any to ripen.  He is in his ninetieth year so I think he might have some idea of how to grow his tomatoes! 

I have had a good crop from both and not much trouble ripening the fruit under glass.  The crop has not been as good as previous years on both varieties.  One thing I have noticed is that some flowers were not pollinated and just died back.  Maybe I could have helped here but for so many years I have not had to bother as an abundance of beneficial insects has done the job for me.  Usually I have green tomatoes at the end of the season that I hand over to my wife to make her delicious tomato chutney but I think I am going to miss out on this treat this year. 

As might be expected the fruits of Shirley have been a more regular size on the truss, the variation in size expected on Harbinger as it is not an F1 hybrid. 

But what about that all important taste?  I can honestly say I could not pick between the two.   I expected to favour Harbinger having grown and loved it for so many years but the taste of Shirley matched it.  Both are so tasty and do not have tough skins, a joy to eat.  Firstly there is the smell attacking the senses as the fruits are picked to go straight onto the plate which intensifies as the knife cuts in for the first time.  Then the taste, sorry, nothing bought in the supermarket even comes close. 

I still have fruits to pick and pictured is a truss still left on Shirley.  It was a worthwhile trial, using up seed and proving to myself that I am not fooling myself. Tomato Shirley is a good substitute for Tomato Harbinger.