A LONG TIME COMING - ANTHONY O'TOOLE'S HORTICULTURE PROJECT, FAT TOMATO, IS ABOUT TO RIPEN. IT ONLY TOOK 8 YEARS!

Perched on the picturesque Carrig Rua Hill in North Wexford behind his parents’ house, Anthony’s tiny garden is now home to over 500 varieties of organic heritage seeds and plants. What began in 2016 with a polytunnel from Anthony’s friends at Highbank Orchards in Kilkenny, a ‘handful’ of organic seeds from Brown Envelope Seeds in West Cork and Irish Seed Savers in Clare, a lively compost heap, some feathered friends, and a commitment to working with nature, Anthony’s edible garden has blossomed into a vibrant tapestry of curiosity, biodiversity and flavour full of hope and possibilities. 

We asked Anthony to tell us, in his own words, the story of how Fat Tomato came about - and this is what he came back with…

As many people who know me say, my curiosity and passion for food and drink define my personality. Whether working on a project with me, exploring a farmers’ market, embarking on a culinary tour, visiting a producer, cooking and sharing a meal, immersing myself in a new culture or fighting the good fight as a Slow food activist, my love for food and drink is always at the forefront.

My childhood

I’ve always been interested in where food and drink came from. I grew up reading food, gardening and cookery books – I’ve over 2000 in my collection! My childhood TV programmes were Keith Floyd, Saturday Kitchen and Two Fat Ladies, so it was no surprise that I ended up cooking in a professional kitchen at the age of 13. Both my parents cooked, as they both had jobs, to feed me and my four siblings, along with the Chernobyl and foster kids that appeared in our home from time to time.
My grandparents used to produce some of their food; my dad’s parents had a smallholding and grew potatoes, rhubarb, soft fruit and reared pigs and sheep, while my mum’s parents were dairy farmers and raised some poultry for the table. We used to live in London when I was young. I remember coming back on the boat for the summer and spending time on my mum’s family farm, helping my granny (we all call her Betty), my grandad (who loved sprinkling sugar on his buttered brown bread) and my uncle, who drank tea as thick as treacle. I’ve fond memories of working on the farm, milking the cows, making soda bread, foraging wild berries for the yearly hedgerow jelly and plucking turkeys for the winter table.

Travel

Since childhood, I dabbled a bit in growing various herbs and vegetables in pots, but nothing like what I have embarked on with my own edible garden. I travel a lot for work and when returning home, I kept asking the following questions:
• Why does Ireland only grow a few varieties of fruit, herbs, and vegetables commercially?
• Could I grow some of the delicious fruits, herbs, and vegetables I crave when returning home from my travels?
• What happened to all the culinary herbs I read about in old cookery and gardening books?
• If Ireland's great houses and castles grew tropical fruits many years ago, could we grow them again now?
• With climate change destroying crops, would some heritage varieties thrive in these difficult conditions while the readily available ones might not?
• And most of all, what would they taste like if I grew them?

Starting my garden

After returning home to Wexford after living in Dublin for nearly 8 years, I had a bit more time to act on an idea in the back of my head. My parents' back garden was still the same as when we moved into the newly-built house at Christmas of 2008, so I decided to take on the task of making use of it.

My horticulture project, Fat Tomato, is all about celebrating old and new Irish flavours. It is an edible garden, a kitchen pantry, a shop, and, later, a new place for sharing.

Driven by curiosity, biodiversity, and flavour, my garden celebrates the differences in colour, size and flavour among edible plant varieties. Think of different types of tomatoes (I grow over 100 varieties yearly), peaches, figs, apples, chillies, pears, squashes, and currants. Over the years, I’ve collected over 1000 packets of certified organic heritage seeds from reputable growers worldwide, with some being more successful in growing than others.

As a chef, I am always searching for flavour with integrity, so my edible garden is all about growing for flavour, not yield. I vividly remember my first harvest in 2016. The tomatoes were bursting with flavour, the peas were sweet, the beans were tender, the cucumbers were crisp, the chillis were fruity, the corn was sweet, the tomatillos were tangy, and the squash was nutty and rich. The tunnel was like an edible forest, and everything grew from there.

As they say, good things take time.

I kept scratching that itch each year, and now my edible garden and kitchen pantry are jam-packed with delicious things I should share with you all. In 2023, I decided 2024 would be all about me and my projects. As anyone who works for themselves and moves from one project to the next knows, your ideas are always put on the back burner.

In June 2024, I finally opened my not-so-ordinary Edible Garden Honesty Shop at the bottom of the driveway. It’s one of a kind, full of limited-edition bottles and jars from my kitchen pantry, rainbow eggs, fruit, herbs and vegetables, seeds, and potted plants from the garden. I also sell products from like-minded friends, like SaltRock cultured butter and Bread & Weather soap. Seeing my customers get a taste of what Fat Tomato will be about has been a joy.

Depending on the weather and the flavour of the harvest, some of my garden produce is preserved into condiments like spices, vinegars, chutneys, sauces, jams, jellies, syrups, and drinks. Stepping into my pantry is like embarking on a culinary adventure of new and old Irish flavours. It is full of vats, barrels, bottles, and jars maturing away.

I am just about to launch my all-singing-all-dancing website with an online store full of small-batch products, garden seeds, gift boxes, a seasonal subscription box, and an area called ‘Grow & Cook’ where I will share my knowledge, tips, and tricks on how to grow, when to sow, and how to prepare, cook, and eat. www.fattomato.ie
Like the seasons, my shop will change throughout the year with different bottles and jars, garden seeds, and fresh produce as I grow and harvest, make and mature. No chemicals, no artificial flavours or setting agents, just the best-tasting old and new Irish ingredients one can grow and buy. Most of the things sold will be grown and made by me and my tiny team. Once the products are sold out, you must wait for the following year or the year after. Who knows what the weather will bring?

What’s next for Fat Tomato?

I started my edible garden in 2016, with a bigger plan from the start, to begin again. I always wanted to create a space that celebrates my love for food, drink, and travel and share it with my eclectic mix of friends, family, colleagues, and anyone fun who crosses my path in the future.
Sadly, there is no land available beside my parents’ home, so plans are well underway looking for the new piece of land in the southeast that is full of character to be the new home of Fat Tomato. It will be a new place for living, a smallholding, a home for sharing, a garden and workshop where chefs, farmers, producers, artists, writers, and other creatives can escape, hide, breathe, energise, and get time to dream and, most importantly, grow, cook, and eat. It will be an edible forest of new and old Irish flavours where you never know who you might meet, what you might taste, or what might happen, adding an element of excitement to your stay.

But, for now, I look forward to seeing you visit my honesty shop, packing your online orders and seeing my products bring joy to many kitchen tables.

Follow Anthony on social at @FatTomato and @AnthonyOToole, or sign-up for his bi-monthly newsletter at www.fattomato.ie