Hey all! Real Farmer Jeff here.
This may be slightly controversial, but I am a firm believer that tomatoes are the best garden vegetable (or fruit, don’t come at me!) to grow.
Whether you’re a seasoned green thumb or just starting out, growing tomatoes offers countless benefits, from the satisfaction of harvesting your own produce to the incredible taste of fresh, homegrown tomatoes in your meals.
In this post, I’ll share why tomatoes should be at the top of your gardening list – whether you’re a beginning gardener or not!
Let’s go through my 4 main reasons why!
1. The Taste
I can’t think of any vegetable that tastes so drastically better when grown in your own garden compared to what you find in stores.
For example, I could grow a standard eggplant, cucumber, or eggplant and agree it tastes fresher than the supermarket, but it might only be twice as good.
However, with tomatoes they can literally taste 100x better than what you buy at the store. Garden fresh tomatoes are hardly comparable to what is available in stores.
I will say, there are fruits and vegetables that truly do taste much better than store-bought versions, but my next 3 reasons only solidify further why tomatoes truly reign supreme.
2. Many Distinct Varieties
Tomatoes are widely considered to have the most variations among both fruits and vegetables. There are over 10,000 varieties!
If I grew five different varieties of cucumbers, they would likely have more subtle differences in taste, texture, and size.
In the case of tomatoes, however, a yellow tomato is generally going to be a lot less acidic than a red tomato. Purple and brownish tomatoes almost have a smoky richness and green tomatoes can sometimes be somewhat tart or tangy.
Similarly, some tomato varieties are extremely sweet, others are juicy, and some have more flesh that is ideal for making certain dishes. For example, for pasta sauces, Roma or San Marzano tomatoes are ideal due to their meaty texture and low moisture content, which cook down into a thick, flavorful sauce.
You can’t even find many varieties of tomatoes at farmers markets, let alone your local grocery store.
3. Versatile in the Kitchen
Some of my favorite recipes use tomatoes as a main ingredient. For this reason I could eat tomatoes every single day in some sort of preparation. Tomatoes are so versatile! Here are a few of my favorite dishes to create with fresh garden tomatoes:
- Pico de Gallo/Salsa
- Pasta Sauce
- Caprese
- Tomato Sandwiches
- Soups
Tomato sandwiches are Kyrie’s personal favorite – anytime it’s off-season for growing tomatoes, she has strong cravings for them! The stunning variety that is pictured is called Old German. Perfect for the best tomato sandwiches. Slap it on a thick slice of sourdough with a generous slather of mayonnaise, and you are in heaven.
4. Yield and Cost Savings
Finally, tomatoes have among the highest yields per square foot of any garden vegetable, when grown vertically.
On many lists, tomatoes rank #1 in that category! Interestingly, tomatoes are also one of the most expensive vegetables to buy in stores or at farmer’s markets.
Thus, even with limited space, you can grow enough tomatoes to enjoy a bountiful harvest and see significant cost savings if that’s your goal. Additionally, tomatoes are so fun to give to neighbors, friends, and family, because so many people love a garden fresh tomato.
I am very passionate about growing tomatoes in my small townhouse garden because of the reasons listed above! I would recommend anyone to grow their own tomatoes to see these benefits for yourself! Tomatoes can be tricky to grow depending on your climate and I would say that tomato growing is as much of an art as it is a science.
I’d love for you to follow along with me this year so I can give you my tomato growing tricks! Here’s my Instagram.
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