Benefits of Growing Your Own Tomatoes

As the year draws to a close, it’s common for people to start thinking about New Year’s resolutions and what they want to accomplish in the months ahead. If you are interested in a more self-sufficient and self-sustainable life, one of the steps you could take towards that is to have a go at growing your fruit and vegetables. 

Not only is it an incredibly rewarding feeling to stop buying certain bits of produce in the supermarket, it’s also a fun hobby and something you could do alone or even in the wider community in a shared allotment. 

There are a wide variety of fruit and vegetables you could pick from, but one of the most popular choices would be tomatoes. Tomatoes are so versatile. You will never find yourself short of ideas of what to do with them, from salads to soups to pasta sauces. 

Here are just a few of the benefits of growing your own tomatoes:

Nutritional value: Tomatoes are high in natural value, such as vitamin C and antioxidants, and studies show there are many health benefits from incorporating more tomatoes into your diet. From anti-aging properties and osteoporosis prevention to immune system support and helping to lower cholesterol. 

Fresh produce: Vegetables that have been grown organically at home often taste a lot better than the alternatives you could get from a supermarket. Home-grown tomatoes are often sweeter and juicer and stay ripe for longer. 

Variety: It’s often difficult to source lots of different kinds of tomatoes from your local supermarket, and if you do it’s hard to avoid waste as they may go out of date before you get to use them all. There’s an abundance of different varieties of tomato plants you can choose from, from super-sweet cherry tomatoes to yellow Jubilee. 

Cost-effective: Growing tomatoes at home will not only save you money on trips to the supermarket, but as they are very low maintenance to look after you won’t need to spend a lot of money keeping the plants healthy. Just make sure you use good-quality soil and occasionally feed them a tomato feeder, and you are good to go!

Sustainability: It can feel incredibly rewarding to grow your vegetables at home, as you know you are doing something for the planet, no matter how small, by helping to reduce your carbon footprint.  

Food security: Shop-bought tomatoes have often been grown with added chemicals and pesticides, so growing your means you can be confident that they will be healthier tomatoes for you to consume. 

Best of luck as you take the first steps in your new self-sustainable venture.

Feature Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash