'Nettles, soot and manure are secrets of my tomato success'.

Byline: By Alison Young South Wales Echo 

Tomatoes, tomatoes everywhere... and yet not one to eat... is the scene which confronts you when walk into Charlie Maisey's greenhouses.

They tumble from the roof and scramble up the sides weighing down laden trusses on the 75-year-old's prize winning plants.

But none are being picked at the moment, for Charlie has next week's Royal Welsh Show, for which he supplies the tomatoes for the National Vegetable Society stand, firmly in his sights.

"Someone asked me the other day for two pounds of tomatoes and I said: "Sorry, not until after the show."

The former railwayman has been growing tomatoes for 50 years on his quarter- acre plot backing onto forestry in the hamlet of Tylagarw near Pontyclun.

From his little patch of heaven he has produced fruit which have been voted the best in Britain - on four separate occasions.

His skills aren't limited to tomatoes, though, for Charlie has also won the champion runner bean title for the UK six times!

Nevertheless, it is for his tasty tomatoes that Charlie is best known - with friends, family and neighbours all queuing up for his surplus in the summer months.

His recipe for success includes homebrews of nettles, soot and sheep manure.

"They all smell to high heaven but I don't care as long as they do the job," laughs Charlie.

The three separate feeds are made by suspending the sheep manure, nettles and soot in bins of water until they produce liquids which are the colour of weak tea.

His other trick is to put his tomato growbags on top of six inches of rotten manure and then place a bottomless pot full of another six inches of compost around the top of the plants.

"It's common sense really, the plants are growing in 18 inches of compost instead of six inches so it is no wonder I get such good crops. There are always new ways of doing things but none produce as tasty crops as the old ways do.

"I picked my first tomato on June 12 and I'll still be picking in December from plants rooted from the side shoots of my first crop."

It was an accident on the railways forcing Charlie into early retirement at the age of 53, which gave him more time to devote to gardening.

"We all have a little bit of luck in life sometimes and although the accident was unlucky at the time, as I nearly lost my leg, in the end it gave me the chance to spend more time gardening," said Charlie, who lives with his wife Mary, 73.

"I absolutely love gardening and I like to keep it all spick and span - you won't find any weeds or mess here.

"In fact people say my two greenhouses are cleaner than many a hospital ward!

Every summer his front garden is ablaze with an annual show of bright summer bedding and the back is packed with vegetables including potatoes, beans, peas, beetroot, salad crops, marrows and parsley.

"One year I entered the local show here in Pontyclun and won and from that I started entering more shows and travelling further afield," said Charlie, who along with his son is a devoted Cardiff City season ticket holder.

"I'm no couch potato - if I am not gardening or showing then I'll be off to watch the football.

"The secret with gardening is to do a little every day - one hour a day keeping things neat and tidy is far better than one four-hour blitz once a week."