WHAT IS
FAT TOMATO?

Fat Tomato is Anthony’s horticulture project, 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, the garden showcases the rich diversity of edible plants, highlighting the differences in colour, size, and taste. Imagine a variety of peaches, tomatoes, figs, apples, chillies, pears, squashes, and currants—each offering something unique.

It’s all about growing for flavour, not yield.

Perched on picturesque Carrig Rua Hill in North Wexford, Anthony’s small garden is home to over 500 varieties of organic heritage seeds and plants.

As well as founding Fat Tomato, Anthony is an international specialist on travel, food, drink, sustainability, and design. He is also a chef, writer, Slow Food activist, and avid collector of food, gardening and cookery books. Learn more about Anthony here

A long time coming

Anthony’s edible garden started in 2016 with a polytunnel, a ‘handful’ of organic seeds, a lively compost heap, some feathered friends, and the curiosity to grow, cook and taste the many different plant varieties.

As many people who know Anthony say, his curiosity and passion for food and drink are at the heart of who he is. Whether exploring a farmers’ market, embarking on a culinary tour, growing a new vegetable, visiting a local producer, sharing a meal, or immersing himself in a new culture, food and drink are always at the forefront of his mind.

New Polytunnel in 2016

This horiculture project was always bubbling away in Anthony’s mind. When returning home from his travels, Anthony kept asking himself the following questions:

  • Why does Ireland only commercially grow a limited number of varieties of fruit, herbs, and vegetables?

  • Could I grow some of the delicious fruits, herbs, and vegetables I crave when I return 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 once grew tropical fruits, could we grow them again today?

  • With climate change threatening crops, could some heritage varieties thrive where the more common ones might not?

  • And, most importantly, what would they taste like if I grew them myself?

SOME FAVOURITE VARIETIES TO GROW, COOK AND EAT

BRAD’S ATOMIC GRAPE | OX HEART | WHITE LOTUS | BLUE BETTY | WILD ARGENTINIAN | PURPLE PRINCE | ROMA | TIM’S TASTE OF PARADISE | BLACK BEAUTY | BAMBINO | HABANERO | LEMON DROP | BLACK TURTLE | BORLOTTO | IRISH GREEN | FILL THE BUCKET| PRINZ | TIPPERARY | TOKYO MARKET | CHERRY BELLE | TOUCHON | FRENCH TARRAGON | BEDFORD MONARCH | CHIOGGIA | BULLS BLOOD | TAMRA | CRYSTAL LEMON | MINNESOTA MIDGET | SUGAR BABY | PINK BANANA | HONEYNUT | TROMBONCINO | COCOZELLE | LADY GODIVA | GRANDPA ADMIRES | TREVISO | PEREGRINE | CHAMPAGNE | CHARLOTTE | SHARPE’S EXPRESS | LOVAGE | GERMIDOUR | SALAD BURNET | ALL GOLD

THE YEAR OF 2016

It only took 8 years!

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 deep commitment to working with nature, Anthony’s edible garden has blossomed into a vibrant tapestry of curiosity, biodiversity, and flavour.

Anthony can still remember his first harvest. The tomatoes were bursting with flavour, the peas sweet, the beans tender, the cucumbers crisp, the chillies fruity, the corn sweet, the tomatillos tangy, and the squash rich and nutty. The polytunnel felt like an edible forest, and everything grew from there.

Each year, Anthony kept scratching that itch, and now his edible garden and kitchen pantry are jam-packed with delicious things to share with all of you.