EVERY other year seems to be the year of the tomato in my garden. The intervening periods are years of the blight when the crop is affected and sometimes wiped out by the mystery disease.

I say mystery because I've tried just about everything to beat the blight but without success. The popular theories that it's all to do with the weather, too much rain or too little, too much humidity or not enough, don't wash.

Nor, I'm convinced, has it anything to do with plant or garden hygiene, crop rotation, composts or fertilisers. It's pure luck, or simply fate.

The really strange thing, though, is that ten years ago I'd never suffered an attack of blight. Five times since then it has struck, in the same garden and in the greenhouse too. Next year, if I'm lucky, will be the year of the unusual tomato.

I have been trawling the catalogues with an eye to what are generally called heritage varieties and some newcomers from abroad. You don't have to look far. One of the best catalogues I know is that of Simply Vegetables from the Plants of Distinction stable which has done most of the work for us.

It has collected more than 100 varieties from countries around the world, most of them relatively unknown in the UK. I have picked out a few, just for tasters.

Top choice is what must be called the grape tomato, Riesentraube, a German name which means "bunches of grapes" and that's how the tomatoes look as they hang on the vine in vast quantities. The fruits are about an inch round and have been known for their flavour for about 150 years.

At the other end of the scales is Aunt Ruby's German Green, one of the giant beefsteak types but much quicker to fruit than most, producing juicy and spicy fruit of a pound or more within 80 days of transplanting. Other eye-catchers include Cherokee Purple, from North Carolina, a dusky red, very sweet tomato.

Also from America is Hill Billy Potato Leaf, described as a gorgeous slicing tomato from Ohio, a heavy-cropping juicy variety, predominantly yellow with red streaks. Kellogg's Breakfast is another beefsteak giant, orange in colour. Long Tom, from Pennsylvania, has fruit that is 12cm long and 5cm wide, perfect for slicing and salad sandwiches. Nebraska Wedding is another good slicer.

Italy is famous for its tomatoes, of course, and probably the best from that country are Principle Borghese, probably their oldest and certainly the best known for sun-drying as it retains its rich colour and flavour when reconstituted in olive oil for winter use. Italian Heirloom is a quick-growing favourite with smallholders. Lots of interesting tomato varieties originate from Russia and the East European countries. Some are black and red, others brown, and one called Black from Tula has been labelled the ugliest tomato of all, yet decidedly delicious.

In addition to that magnificent collection of tomatoes, the catalogue has an impressive list of runner bean and sweet corn varieties, sweet peppers of all shapes and description, and chilli peppers calculated to take your breath away in every sense of that phrase. There are coloured carrots, too, with red, white, yellow, and purple varieties, and also the golden beetroot which seems to have caught the imagination of supermarket buyers.

The list goes on with aubergines galore, cucumbers, courgettes, melons, onions, and more besides. The Simply Vegetables catalogue is a treat even just to read. You can get a copy of it and its parent flower and plant catalogue from Plants of Distinction, Abacus House, Station Yard 4 Needham Market, Suffolk, 1P6 8AS.