National Tomato Week!
It’s National Tomato Week and this is a brilliant time for growers across Britain to showcase their tasty produce and get you to start buying them!
Local stores as well as larger more well-known shops are getting involved along with schools who are teaching children about the different flavours you can get from the British tomato.
The website is brilliant and gives you all the information you need to know about the week along with fantastic growing hints & tips for you to get involved and maybe even start growing your own! Click here to find out more.
Here is some interesting facts you didn’t know before….
‘If all the British tomato plants were lined up end to end, they would wrap around the equator 8 times.’
‘British tomato growers use an army of over 40 million beneficial predatory bugs called Macrolophus in summer to keep pests out of their crops, remaining the removing the need for chemicals.’
‘2.5 million British native bumblebees pollinate all the tomato crops in the UK. Every second that’s 24 billion wing beats per minute in British tomato greenhouses.’
And to settle the argument….
Tomatoes are Fruit!! They are specialised reproductive structures that contain seeds, like cucumbers and squash, this makes them ‘fruits of the vine’.
Recipes
Tomatoes are in many of our meals in different shapes and forms. They make a beautiful pasta sauce, pizza base and much much more. The National Tomato Week website has plenty of recipes on that you should definitely try out, here are a few of the scrummiest looking ones!
Tomato and Fig Tarts
Recipe can be found here
Spinach Dumplings with Tomato, Red Pepper and Lemon Sauce
Recipe can be found here
Tomato and Chickpea Curry
Recipe can be found here
Tomato Fish Pie and Macaroni Cheese
Recipes can be found here and here