Author: Elvira Bowen

The method is pretty simple and straight forward. Cut your cherry tomatoes in half. Place them cut side up on the dehydrator trays or a lined cookie sheet (if using your oven). Dehydrate until tomatoes are dry. Store in an airtight container. What is the best way to preserve fresh tomatoes? Arrange the tomatoes in […]

Once picked, tomatoes should be stored on a counter or shelf out of direct sunlight. If you wash them after picking them, make sure to dry them before you leave them on the counter. Tomatoes typically last 3-5 days on the counter. They can also be stored in the refrigerator so they keep a little […]

The perks of using frozen tomatoes are: You can wait until you are ready to make the salsa. Feel like making salsa in December? No problem! Peeling the tomatoes is insanely easy and takes way less time than blanching. Can you freeze tomatoes to make salsa later? Freezing tomatoes is also a handy trick if […]

Similarly, a prolonged downpour can have the adverse effects on plants, with unwanted water making its way into fruit until it bursts. That’s why grapes, tomatoes, apples and in fact all types of fruit have a special protective wax envelop covering their outer skins. This natural coating is invisible to the naked eye. What causes […]

That’s why if you hear “nightshade,” you might also think “deadly nightshade.” And even though tomatoes do contain some of the harmful compounds in their poisonous counterparts, their leaves, stems and fruit won’t hurt you a bit. Are the stems of tomatoes poisonous? Tomato. I know, I just said the tomato isn’t poisonous. The fruit […]

Cooking tomatoes won’t reduce the acidity enough to prevent acid reflux either, so next time you are making pizza sauce, trying whipping up some fresh pesto instead, and try to limit (or eliminate) tomatoes from your diet. How do you make tomatoes less acidic? Great tomato flavor is all about balancing acidity and sweetness. Too […]

Produces bountiful sets of 1″ long, plum-shaped fruits with a surprising flavor that’s both sweet and spicy at the same time. A real taste treat when eaten fresh, or dried to enjoy all year long! What type of tomato is a Roma? plum tomatoThe Roma tomato or Roma is a plum tomato popularly used both […]

High acid foods such as tomatoes and other fruit will keep their best quality up to 18 months; low acid foods such as meat and vegetables, 2 to 5 years. How long do homemade jarred tomatoes last? It is recommended to consume home-canned tomatoes in Mason jars within 1 year for the best quality. How […]

Heirloom tomatoes are varieties that have been grown without crossbreeding for 40 or more years. This is in contrast to the typical supermarket tomatoes, which are hybrids that have been carefully crossbred to have particular characteristics. How do you know if a tomato is a hybrid? A HYBRID TOMATO is one that is the result […]

GMO and Organic products fill most mainstream shops. GMO or genetically modified organism is the product of a laboratory procedure which involves artificial combination of differing genes. Organic is the description for products which were not processed and yielded through chemical-free fertilizers and pesticides. Which is better GMO or organic? While organic crops are often […]

The company Calgene manipulated the genes of the tomato so the ripe fruits wouldn’t get soft and mushy that fast. In this way the tomatoes could ripen on the stems all the way and didn’t have to be harvested too early. Why did they genetically modify tomatoes? A variety of tomato that has been genetically […]

Picked green and rock-hard, unripe tomatoes are loaded into trucks and taken to storage facilities where they are literally gassed. (Ethylene gas is what makes a tomato turn red.) What do they inject tomatoes with? And these bright green tomatoes go into warehouse-like buildings where the doors are closed and the processors turn on ethylene […]

Sometimes, you will see deformed tomatoes with pointed ends. However, this is not a cause for concern, since the fruit will still be edible. Pointed ends on tomatoes can be caused by genetics. Some tomato varieties will naturally have points at the bottom (blossom end). Why are my tomatoes odd shaped? There are several factors […]

Gardeners also attest that growing basil near tomatoes improves the flavor of the fruits. Studies have also shown that tomato plants grown alongside basil field more fruit. Does basil do well with tomatoes? Basil. Basil and tomatoes are soulmates on and off the plate. This vibrant, aromatic herb repels insects, specifically flies and hornworms, and […]

If you notice that your green tomatoes are catfaced, it is best to remove them because they will not ripen uniformly. However, if you don’t catch them early and they ripen, you can still use them as “ugly fruit” where looks don’t matter, such as for tomato sauce. How do you fix catfacing tomatoes? As […]

Beefsteak Tomato Plant | Two Live Garden Plants | Non-GMO, Beefsteak. A gardener’s favorite, the Beefsteak tomato grows as large as two pounds in size and bears tons of fruit well into frost season! Are beefsteak tomatoes natural? Specifically, the team traced an abnormal proliferation of stem cells to a naturally occurring mutation that arose […]

They share many of the same qualities as normal-sized tomatoes; however, they have a sweeter flavor and are less acidic. What is this? As well as being popular in salads, cooking with cherry tomatoes is often recommended due to their juiciness which makes them an excellent replacement for other vegetables. How many cherry tomatoes equal […]

A delightful, delicious and quite rare tomato with a rich and sweet flavor. The fruits weigh between 3-5 ounces, with a circular or egg shape and a smooth skin that ripens to a deep red/brown/black. Flesh is deep red-green. Fruits are juicy, with a sweet and smooth flavor. Are chocolate tomatoes sweet? Chocolate cherry produces […]

There are no GMO tomatoes on the market anywhere in the world today either. There was one back in the 90s (the Flavr Savr tomato), but it didn’t sell very well, so was taken off the market. Seedless watermelon and grapes aren’t GMOs. Are tomato seeds genetically modified? By this definition, there are no “GMO” […]

Mini tomatoes, also called micro tomatoes, are cultivars genetically developed for their compact size. All parts of the plant– stem, leaves, and fruit– are smaller than typical garden dwarf varieties. What are micro dwarf tomatoes? Micro dwarf tomatoes, also called micro or mini tomatoes, are diminutive tomato plants that bear edible fruit. These compact vines […]