Key information
Colour: Most commonly red, but also yellow, orange, green, purple and striped.
In season: July to September.
Power to perform: Vitamin C helps keep your cells healthy and boosts our immune system to help fight infections. Humans can’t store vitamin C in our bodies, so we need to include vitamin C-rich foods, like tomatoes, in our diet to get what we need.
Grow me: Tomatoes grow well outdoors in sunny, sheltered spots, or indoors in a greenhouse. If these plants grow outside, they need to be protected from frost and watered regularly to keep the soil evenly moist. There are a huge variety of tomatoes to choose from so you can choose the colour, size, shape and flavour you like.
Did you know?
Ideas garden
Remember to ask an adult's permission before experimenting with any tomato ideas!
In the UK, tomatoes are harvested during the warmer summer months to early autumn and have the best flavour during this time. We call this seasonality, when certain foods grow better at certain times of the year due to the growing conditions they need.
So why can we buy fresh (as well as tinned!) tomatoes throughout the year? This is because the UK imports food from other countries and uses greenhouses to grow seasonal produce year-round. This is great for helping us all find the food we enjoy throughout the year, but these food supply methods do also have greater environmental impact than locally produced fruits and veggies due to increased CO2 emissions. Food out of season can also cost more, as it must travel further.
Can you design a poster to share the benefits of buying local seasonal foods with your community? Think about flavour, the environment and price. What other benefits can you find?
Get started: Think about the current time of the year in the UK. What fruits and vegetables can you find that are in season this month? (Remember to add one to your ‘Powered through the seasons’ poster!)
Go further: Create your own ‘Seasonal Produce’ article for your chosen fruit and vegetable. What facts and creative ideas and recipes will you find?
Tomatoes are one of the most common ingredients in dishes around the world. They are nutritious, tasty, incredibly versatile (adaptable) and affordable, making them a great option for many meals.
Make the most of fresh in-season tomatoes with a simple Mediterranean tomato bruschetta, roasted vine tomato soup or delicious salsa, perfect for summer BBQs.
Humble tinned tomatoes and paste turn into heroes in these incredible dishes: one pot smoky tomato rice, Spanish chicken thighs and sardine and tomato pasta.
Ask an adult to share your tomato adventures with us on social media using #GetSetEatFresh or by uploading a showcase on the Get Set to Eat Fresh community page.
