September
Oklahoma Vegetable of the Month: Tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes in many colors from Peach Crest Farms, near Stratford, OK. Photo courtesy of Oklahoma State University.
Tomatoes love hot weather but stop producing once temperatures get down to 50 degrees. They ripen best at temperatures around 75 degrees. Savvy gardeners started new plants in July, so there are still plenty of delicious tomatoes available at your local farmer's market.
Of course the most important thing about tomatoes is that they are sooooo good for you. Tomatoes are high in Vitamins A and C and are considered one of the best sources of lycopene, an antioxidant that helps fight cancer and some other diseases.
The heaviest tomato ever grown weighed 7 lb, 12 oz. It was of the cultivar 'Delicious' and was grown by Gordon Graham of Edmond, Oklahoma in 1986.
- Smart Board Acitivities
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Smart Board Acitivity page - Tomato Facts
- Ode to Tomatoes, Poem by Pablo Neruda, with learning activities
Play With Your Food: Tomatoes
Bring a variety of tomatoes to class (from parents who have gardens or from the farmer's market).
- Students will sort tomatoes by shape, size, and color.
Bring green tomatoes to class.
- Students will experiment with the best conditions for ripening the tomatoes- on the window sill, in a bag, in a bag with a ripe peach or some other ripe fruit, in a refrigerator.
- Students will predict which tomatoes will ripen first.
- Students will observe the ripening tomatoes for several days and record observations.
Tomato varieties have some interesting names: Arkansas Traveler, Big Rainbow, Black Krim, Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, Mortgage Lifter, and Big Boy, to name a few.
- Assign each student two or three tomato varieties.
- Students will write paragraphs or draw pictures describing what they think the tomatoes look like, based on their names.
- Students will research the varieties, using the internet, seed catalogs or plant books.
- Students will write stories or plays with the tomato varieties as characters.
Read about Tomatina, a festival held each year in Buñol, Spain, where they take playing with their food (tomatoes) to a new level.
Be a Food Explorer: Cold Tomato Soup
Soup is great for warming you up in the winter time, but have your students ever tried cold soup? Prepare a simple gazpacho (another good vocabulary word) with tomato juice, chopped fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers and herbs like basil or parsley. Add lemon juice and a little olive oil, and chill thoroughly. Serve in small paper cups.