Homegrown tomatoes can be one of the tastiest things you can grow in your backyard. Growing tomatoes can also be turned into a fun hobby which the whole family can enjoy and benefit from, because the taste, nutritious value and health benefits of the simple tomato is great for the whole family.
Let me quickly list a few facts and figures about tomatoes.
• Hernando Cortez, the famous Spanish explorer, first discovered tomatoes on a trip to South America during the early 1500′s and introduced them to Europe.
• Being part of the deadly nightshade family, tomatoes were first thought to be poisonous and for many years were only grown by wealthy Europeans as an ornamental curiosity. The leaves of the tomato plant are poisonous.
• The Italians were the first to begin cultivating the tomato as an edible food product. In these early times tomatoes were nearly always small and yellow in colour. In fact the Italian word for tomato, pom odore, simply translates to “golden apple.”
• There are more than 9,800 known and classified tomato varieties available worldwide. This list keeps growing.
• Tomatoes are the world’s most cultivated crop, beating apples, bananas, oranges and grapes! Close to 70 million tons of tomatoes are grown worldwide annually. This doesn’t include home and hobby gardening!
• Tomato varieties have been bred and can be grown in every corner of the earth under nearly any conditions. • Tomatoes contain a particular alkaloid (tomatine), which is known to counteract certain skin problems. It is also a known fact that eating tomatoes regularly improves and even rejuvenates the skin. Eureka! Fountain Of Youth!
• Tomatoes also contain lycopene, a phytochemical and carotene, which is considered to prevent some cancers, in particular prostate cancer in men. Lycopene through the blood stream and is stored in the liver, testes and adrenal glands.
• Tomatoes also contain good amounts of fiber, protein, Vitamins C, A and B, phosphorous, potassium, and iron.
So why should you grow your own tomatoes? There are several reasons why you should.
As mentioned earlier, there are thousands of varieties of tomatoes out there and there is definitely one or two out here made just for you. In supermarkets and stores you can only find a limited number of varieties and these are nearly always harvested before they are ripe. The true tomato taste simply is not there. On the other hand, a good nursery will have a wide variety of tomatoes, which you can grow at home.
There are, Acid Free tomatoes for those with reflux and sensitive stomachs, the sweetest of all tomatoes and any child’s favourite, the Cherry Tomato. Then there are hundreds of varieties of Beefsteak tomatoes such as, Big Beef, Mortgage Lifter, Moneymaker, the famous, Bragger Tomato, Il Grande, Champion, Big Bite and so on.
Then you have good old rich saucing tomatoes such as, San Marzano and Roma. There are some fantastic heirloom varieties you will never see sold fresh in stores. These include, Amish Paste, a small saucing tomato and arguably the truest tasting tomato, the Wapsipinicon Peach Tomato, with apricot like fuzz, small in size and yellow/orange in colour. This variety has won many taste test awards in the United States. Curiously patterned and coloured tomatoes such as the Green Zebra and Tigerella are all available with many others for you to grow at home.
As well as eating tomatoes fresh in salads and sandwiches, they are also great when preserved. This versatile fruit can be dried, juiced, sauced, pasted, pickled, roasted, boiled, and snap frozen. Try doing this with a banana!
Visit our store, The Plant Whiz, in Preston Markets, Preston and be in awe with our varieties of tomato. During the season we like to think we are the tomato specialists, ensuring that we have large numbers and a good, healthy range of tomato varieties, along with dozens of other vegetables and flowers for you to grow at home.
Visit us in person or click this link for more detailed contact information.
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