Eat your vegetables—and your tomatoes! This command might lack the gravitas of a simpler phrase like “eat your veggies,” but it’s technically more accurate. The edible part of the tomato plant is, in fact, a fruit—the ovary of a flowering plant, which distinguishes it from a vegetable, typically the leaf, stem or root of a plant.
This definition has created some confusion over the years. Many people call the tomato a vegetable, while experts refer to it as a fruit.
Of course, to lycopene lovers, the tomato’s legal definition seems unimportant. We appreciate the tomato for qualities such as its tasty flavor, health benefits and beauty in and out of the garden—all of which are explained and embraced in Tasty Tomatoes, the fifth installment of the Popular Gardening Series.
What You’ll Find
The Basics: Let this publication serve as your guide to all things tomato. Inside, you’ll find complete profiles of 25 of the most popular tomato varieties, including heirlooms like Brandywine, cherries like Yellow Pear and plums/pastes like Roma.
Tomato Needs: Articles such as “Capture the Taste of Tomatoes” and “The Planting Process” teach you about tomato plants’ basic needs and how to take yours from seeds to seedlings to transplants to full-grown plants capable of producing large quantities of delicious fruit.
Upkeep: Maintain your tomato plants’ good health with safe pest control. Gardeners in cooler climates will appreciate the season-extending tips in “Request an Extension,” and those lacking the space to grow tomatoes the traditional way can learn to container-garden in “Keep it Contained.”
Recipes: Find recipes for appetizers, soups and salads, entrées, side dishes and sauces to allow gardeners to taste the fruits of their labor deliciously and healthfully.
Contents
A Garden Star is Born
What makes the tomato such an appealing plant to grow? Let’s find out!
By Cherie Langlois
25 Top Tomatoes
Fun facts and growing tips for the most popular tomato varieties.
By Wendy Bedwell-Wilson
Capture the Taste of Summer
If you treat your plants well, they’ll reward you with a bounty of tasty tomato goodness.
By Wendy Bedwell-Wilson
The Planting Process
Find out how to take your tomato seedlings and transplants form miniscule to mighty.
By Jessica Walliser
Keep it Contained
Learn how to grow tomatoes in containers.
By Kristina Mercedes Urquhart
Bugging Out
Defend your garden against common tomato pests.
By Cheryl Morrison
So Happy Together
One of the friendliest crops in a garden, the tomato thrives with the companion planting method.
By Kristina Mercedes Urquhart
Request an Extension
Warm up your cold-climate plants with these tips and tricks.
By Amy Grisak
Ripe for the Picking
The fun doesn’t stop when your tomatoes ripen. Learn when to harvest and how to store them.
By Nancy Mann Jackson
Year-round Delicacies
Use canning, freezing or dehydrating to preserve your tomatoes.
By Kyra Kirkwood
Recipes: Soups and Salads
Recipes BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) soup; grilled panzanella tomato salad; stacked tomato Niçoise; tomato soup base; vegetable and pasta soup; potato, tomato and meatball soup; and creamy curried tomato rice soup
By Patricia Lehnhardt
Recipes: Appetizers
Recipes for cherry tomato salsa, tomato mini-quiches, quinoa cakes with tomato and cucumber, and cherry tomatoes stuffed with marinated mozzarella pearls
By Rhoda Peacher
Recipes: Entrées
Recipes for tomato tart, ham-stuffed tomatoes, roasted eggplant and tomato bake, and eggplant and tomato calzone with chipotle marinara sauce
By Fiona Green
Recipes: Side Dishes
Recipes for tomato pine-nut pasta, spicy tomato bulgur, fried green tomatoes, Indian-spiced stuffed tomatoes, roasted root vegetables, and grilled tomatoes Provençal
By Rhoda Peacher
Recipes: Sauces
Recipes for simply delicious roasted tomato sauce, tangy tomato curry sauce, sun-dried tomato and walnut pesto, and mango and pineapple salsa
By Fiona Green
Glossary
Resources
Garden Wisdom