Why Grow Your Own Tomatoes Do you like to eat salads in summer What are your favorite ingredients in a salad Could it be peppers lettuce or perhaps tomatoes (cid:83) Most tomatoes are juicy and delicious in a sandwich or salad Size and Color Did you know that there are thousands of varieties of tomato They vary in size from enormous beef tomatoes to tiny cherry tomatoes and in color from yellow to red Flavors vary too The small cherry tomatoes can be sweet tasting some of the bigger varieties have a fruity taste (cid:83) Not all tomatoes are red you can get yellow orange white and even brownish-colored ones 6
Grow Your Own Have you ever thought about growing tomatoes It really is a great journey to go on one of flavor color shape and size and smell too Truss (cid:83) When you water a tomato plant it gives off an amazing smell (cid:87) (cid:84) These are the main parts of a tomato plant Stem Leaf Flower Fruit Root Root hair Fruit or Vegetable A tomato is actually a fruit not a vegetable because it has seeds see page 10 However we think of it as a vegetable and eat it in salads Seed 7
Be Prepared You’ve decided to go for it Growing your own is great fun You will get plenty of fresh air and have the pleasure of watching something that you’ve grown from seed grow into something that you can actually eat Thinking Ahead It’s worth thinking about what you will need For yourself you will need some old clothes that your parents or carers won’t mind if you get dirty including rubber boots or old sneakers (cid:84) You will need plant pots to sow your seeds in (cid:83) You could wear gloves but you don't have to 8
You can grow tomatoes in containers growbags or a vegetable patch If you choose containers you will need some potting mix and fertilizer (cid:88) If you are growing in containers you will need to feed your tomatoes with a liquid fertilizer Tomato Food (cid:83) Try to get a growbag that is thick with plenty of soil in it (cid:88) You will definitely need some tomato seeds (cid:87) Some types of tomatoes need support from canes as they grow Top Tip It’s a good idea to keep a growing diary writing down everything from the tomato variety to how and when you did things This will help if you decide to do it again and will be fun to look back on If you have a camera you could take pictures as well 9
