Tomatoes grow year-round in Malta however, there is a process that allows for that to occur. There are two different ways to grow tomatoes, the first is with the tomato bush, which is grown outdoors in the soil and makes use of direct sunlight to grow tomatoes perfect for tomato paste, as well as those that will eventually be sun-dried tomatoes. The second way is known as suspended growing. This refers to tomatoes that are grown inside a greenhouse. The tomato bush is grown during the summer months and the greenhouse tomatoes start growing in November, all the way through to the end of May. Of course, due to climate change, the exact times of harvest may vary.

This year, for instance, the summer heatwaves resulted in the production of very few sun-dried tomatoes. The heavy rains and freak storms that followed drowned much of the vegetation that was being grown. Thankfully, in the greenhouse, the heavy rain does not affect the tomatoes growing inside. According to Joseph, heavy rain and winds used to occur once every three years or so and now, it is happening so often that farmers have to recover much of the time from the damage. Therefore, farmers try to collect every drop of rain during winter, to be able to use during the summer months.