Fresh from the Farm tomatoes!

The taste of a freshly picked tomato straight from the vine of the plant that you have grown yourself is a taste like no other. If you have never had a bite of a juicy tomato fresh from the garden, you are missing out. At the Urban Farm and the Columbia St. Garden, we grow a variety of different tomatoes. Students from the Summer term course get to help harvest and enjoy the tomato bounty and students from the previous terms prep the beds, plant, and install the cages for the vines to grow up.

A few notes on the history of the tomato..

A common misconception is that the tomato originated in Italy, due to its identification in today’s world with Italian cuisine. This, however, is false. The tomato is originally from South America and was brought over to Europe during the Colombian exchange.

The tomato was feared when it was first brought over. When the tomato was first introduced to Europe, people thought that they were poisonous! This may have been partially due to the fact that most dishes (of the wealthy families) were made out of pewter, so when the acidic tomato was put on the plates, the lead leeched out. Due to this, tomatoes did not rise to popularity until the 1800’s in Europe.

Fun Facts:

  • We can still find wild tomatoes in the Andes
  • Belongs to the family Solanaceae (sun loving plants)
  • The biggest producer of tomatoes in the world is China!
  • Fruit or vegetable? It depends on who you ask…but the large majority consider this treat to be a fruit.
  • Billions of tomatoes are produced every year

 

Project Tomato (click to learn more)

Another cool UO freshmen program is Project Tomato. This program takes incoming freshmen on a bike tour around to local farms to learn about sustainable agriculture. The students visit the Urban Farm as one of their first stops and help pick the abundance of ripe tomatoes at the beginning of Fall term. They use these tomatoes to create a pizza sauce that is served in Carson dining hall for s local foods night. This is a unique and pretty amazing program to the introduction of the Willamette Valley food scene and gives students a taste of how sustainable agriculture works. I participated in this program as an incoming freshmen and it was how I was first introduced to the Urban Farm. I would highly recommend it to anyone!

Check out some delicious tomato recipes below.

 

Make your own pizza with this homemade pizza sauce recipe! Also, add some of your fresh tomatoes on top of your pizza for a great fresh topping! Check out how to make it here.

 

 

 

An Italian treat, Bruschetta! Click here to learn how to make this classic.

 

 

 

 

Sources:

“Tomato History.” Tomato History | A Brief History Lesson about the Tomato, Veggie Cage, 2005, www.tomato-cages.com/tomato-history.html.

Smith, K. Annabelle. “Why the Tomato Was Feared in Europe for More Than 200 Years.”Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 18 June 2013, www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/why-the-tomato-was-feared-in-europe-for-more-than-200-years-863735/.