WHAT IS
FAT TOMATO?
Fat Tomato is Anthony O’Toole’s horticulture and food project — a place where the seasons are celebrated through both old and new Irish flavours. It is more than an edible garden: it is a living pantry, a shop, and, in time, a new place for sharing and community.
Driven by curiosity, biodiversity, and flavour, the garden is home to over 500 varieties of organic heritage seeds and edible plants, alongside a few feathered friends and an abundance of wildlife. Here, diversity is valued not just in appearance, but in taste. Imagine a garden filled with heirloom figs, tomatoes, herbs, apples, chillies, pears, squashes, currants, and more — each variety chosen for the character it brings to the plate.
It’s all about growing for flavour, not yield.
Perched on Carrig Rua Hill in North Wexford, just behind his parents’ home, the garden is a small but richly layered space. Some call it an “edible forest”; others, an “edible zoo” — a place where curiosity is encouraged, and difference is celebrated.
Beyond the garden, Anthony works internationally across food, hospitality, tourism, and design — connecting people, places, and ideas through projects rooted in sustainability, flavour, and culture. Fat Tomato is where those strands come together, grounded in soil, season, and everyday practice. Read more about Anthony’s work beyond the garden.
A long time coming
Anthony’s edible garden began in 2016 with a polytunnel, a ‘handful’ of organic seeds, a lively compost heap, a few feathered friends, and an unrelenting curiosity to grow, cook, and taste a wide variety of edible plants.
As many people who know him would say, curiosity and a deep passion for food and drink are at the heart of who he is. Whether exploring a farmers’ market, embarking on a culinary journey, growing a new vegetable, visiting a local producer, cooking and sharing a meal, or immersing himself in a new culture, food is always the thread that connects it all.
This horticulture project had been quietly bubbling away in Anthony’s mind for years. After returning home from his travels, he found himself asking questions that wouldn’t let go:
Why does Ireland commercially grow such a limited range of fruit, herbs, and vegetables?
Could I grow the fruits, herbs, and vegetables I crave when I return home from my travels?
What happened to the fragrant culinary herbs written 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 more common ones might not?
And, most importantly, what would they taste like if I grew them myself?
Today, that same curiosity continues to shape everything we grow, cook, preserve, and share — from seeds and pantry jars to the ideas that underpin Fat Tomato’s future.
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 | MORADO | LILYWHITE
THE YEAR OF 2016
Early days in the garden — learning by doing.
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, a few feathered friends, and a deep commitment to working with nature, has grown into a vibrant tapestry of curiosity, biodiversity, and flavour.
Anthony still remembers his first harvest: tomatoes bursting with flavour, peas sweet, beans tender, cucumbers crisp, chillies fruity, corn sweet, tomatillos tangy, and squash rich and nutty. The polytunnel felt like an edible forest — and everything grew from there.
Year by year, that curiosity deepened. Today, the edible garden and kitchen pantry are brimming with things to grow, cook, preserve, and share — shaped by seasons, patience, and flavour first.
