Tomatoes: growing champions and tastemakers in all shapes and sizes
1 May 2025
A tomato plant grows to great heights
It sounds incredible, but a tomato plant can grow as tall as a three- to four-storey apartment building in a single season. In practice, that would be rather inconvenient. That is why growers have developed clever techniques to keep the plant in check. They first guide the tomato plant up along a wire and remove unnecessary leaves and shoots. When the plant reaches the top, they carefully lower it and slide it further horizontally. In the world of growers, this is called 'turning in, pruning, thieving and lowering'. This keeps the plant manageable as well as productive.
Pasta with roasted tomatoes
Main course
20 - 30 minutes
Growing tomatoes in the light of the sun
Tomatoes are real sun worshippers. Not for nothing do you find most tomato cultivation in the Netherlands in the west of the country, close to the coastline where the sun shines most often. In the winter months, we get our tomatoes from sunny places, or they are grown in Dutch greenhouses equipped with special lighting. So we can enjoy flavourful tomatoes all year round.
Green beans with tomato
Main course
20 - 30 minutes
The huge variety in colour, shape and taste
In the supermarket, the range of tomatoes is already impressive, but in nature the variety is even greater. Tomatoes come in all colours of the rainbow: red, pink, green, yellow, orange and even brown. They come in all shapes and sizes: from tiny to huge, from perfectly round to elongated, plum-shaped, oval or ribbed. Tomatoes also range in flavour from deliciously sweet to fresh and aromatic. Who knows which surprising new tomato variety will soon be on your plate.
Colourful tomato salad with different types of tomatoes
Side dish
10 - 20 minutes
Healthy enjoyment of raw and cooked tomatoes
Raw tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C. When heated, some of this vitamin is lost. Yet cooking also has benefits: heating tomatoes breaks down their cell walls, making lycopene - a powerful antioxidant that gives tomatoes their red colour - more readily available. Lycopene seems to have positive effects on our health. In short: both raw and cooked tomatoes are a healthy choice, each in its own way.
Courgette with tomatoes
Side dish
10 - 20 minutes
