• Our tomato plants need to be tied up now. Use a soft T-shirt ribbon so as not to damage the stems.
• Basil is a good companion plant for tomatoes because it likes the same slightly acidic soil that tomatoes do. As a rule of thumb, if things taste good together, they’re a good companion plant.
• There are many different kinds of basil: Sweet Genovese – general, all-round basil, Lettuce – larger leaf variety and good for making pesto, Greek Mini – works well in a pot on your windowsill, Purple – adds colour to a summer salad, Lemon – adds zing to salads and works well with fish, Thai – suits Asian cooking; spicy, anise-clove flavour.
• Flowers of the basil plant are edible and taste like their leaf.
• Plant two basil plants per one tomato plant. Slugs and snails love basil. See here for how to get rid of slugs and snails.
• Beneficial flowering plants bring in parasitic wasps and hoverflies and repel unwanted bugs. Companion flowering plants for tomatoes need to be low-growing. We suggest marigold, catmint, nasturtium and phacelia.

Camera: Jarod Murray
Editor: Thomas Asche
Production equipment and post-production services provided by The Black Forest Breathes