And the winners are....

The first tomatoes have appeared already and, for those interested in this sort of thing, the varieties that have fruited well ahead of their rivals are 'Marmande' followed by Tornado F1. 'Marmande' is an heirloom beefsteak variety which produces large, ribbed tomatoes of a very deep red colour.
They taste great and have few seeds.'Tornado F1' were specially bred for British summer conditions. They are very early and produce a compact bushy plant that carries a heavy crop of round fruits showing up well through sparse foliage. An RHS 'Award of Garden Merit' winner.
(Above: Marmande)
(Below: Tornado F1)
You won't see either of these varieties in the supermarkets because they are thin skinned and don't travel well (i.e. sit in lorries and storerooms for weeks being exposed to ripening gasses). These are very sweet flavoured and perfectly illustrate the advantages of growing your own!
The others varieties have plenty of flowers but no tomatoes as yet.


The strawberries are also doing well. We need some straw though, as this photo reminded me.