WHAT IS
FAT TOMATO?
Fat Tomato began with a simple question: What would happen if we stopped growing for yield and started growing entirely for flavour?
Perched on Carrig Rua Hill, just behind Anthony O'Toole's parents' home in North Wexford, that question has quietly grown into one of Ireland's most unusual edible gardens.
Fat Tomato is now home to more than 500 varieties of fruit, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers, alongside a seasonal pantry, honesty farm shop and food project rooted in biodiversity, curiosity and flavour.
Some people call it an edible forest. Others call it an edible zoo. Anthony simply calls it the garden.
It’s all about growing for flavour — not yield.
The current garden is only the beginning. The long-term vision is to create a destination in North Wexford where gardens, food, workshops and hospitality come together — somewhere visitors can discover extraordinary ingredients, learn new skills and experience how flavour begins long before it reaches the kitchen.
The ideas behind Fat Tomato don't stop at the garden gate. Anthony continues to work internationally across food, hospitality and tourism, bringing new ideas, partnerships and inspiration back to North Wexford to shape everything Fat Tomato becomes.
A long time coming
Although the first seeds were sown in 2016, the idea had been quietly growing for years.
As many people who know Anthony 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 has always been the thread that connects it all.
After years travelling, working with chefs, artisan producers, destinations and food cultures around the world, he returned home carrying more questions than answers.
Before a single seed was planted, he found himself asking:
Why does Ireland commercially grow such a limited range of fruit, herbs and vegetables?
Could I grow the fruits, herbs and vegetables I craved when I returned 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 peaches, grapes and even tropical fruits, could we grow them again today?
As our climate changes, could heritage varieties prove more resilient than modern commercial crops?
And perhaps most importantly, what would these ingredients actually taste like if I grew them myself?
The answers weren't going to be found in books. They had to be grown.
So, with a single polytunnel, a handful of organic seeds, homemade compost, a few feathered helpers, and an unhealthy amount of curiosity, Fat Tomato quietly began to take shape.
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
Learning by doing. The first season was full of experiments, successes, failures and surprises.
Raised beds were built by hand. Compost heaps grew almost as quickly as the vegetables. The first beans climbed. The first tomatoes ripened. Every week brought another lesson.
There was no grand masterplan. Just curiosity.
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.
