Why eat organic tomatoes?????

Tomatoes are one of the vegetables that signal the summer months. Even though they are available almost all year round, it's in the summer and late autumn months that tomatoes are at their best in Victoria. Vine ripened and full of flavour, they lend themselves to so many different dishes and can be eaten as they are, straight from the vine.

At the moment there are so many varieties of tomatoes available, there are the local heirloom varieties as well as the standard tomato varieties that are available. Let's have a look at some of these varieties:

Rouge De Marmande: these are a big 'beefsteak' variety. Ribbed fruit with an outstanding flavour.

Tigeralla: has decorative striped fruit.

Black Russian: has an unusual black colour, but brings a beautiful flavour to the plate

Tommy Toe, which has an outstanding sweet flavour, and the red or yellow fruit, is delicious to eat straight from the vine.

Conventional tomatoes has an average of 34 recordable total residues, these include 2 known or probable carcinogens, 15 suspected hormone disruptors, 7 neurotoxins and 3 developmental or reproductive toxins, comprised of methyl bromide, nevinphos, parathion and many other chemicals. These conventionally grown crops not sounding so tasty.

Organically grown counterparts offer a plethora of vitamins and minerals minus the chemicals. High in vitamin C, E, K, potassium, beta-carotene and lycopene, the organic tomato definitely has more flavour. An interesting fact on organic tomatoes is that they have been found to deliver three times as much lycopene, an amazing antioxidant than conventional tomatoes. Order some local organic tomatoes here.

We have two farmers supplying our tomatoes, we have a farmer who runs his farm using solar power, and we have our local heirloom farmer, the punnets of organic heirloom tomatoes are sensational. Both farmers are providing exceptional produce, get stuck into some organic goodness this week

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Heir looming

'Heirloom' or 'heritage' fruit and vegetables are essentially old varieties that have stood the test of time; these varieties are not used in modern large scale agriculture. So these plants have been engineered by nature. They are living artifacts and living history exhibits

Before the industrialization of our fresh produce, an enormous variety of crops were grown for humans to eat. Through time and with the modern agriculture in the industrialized world, most crops that are grown conventionally use large monocultural plots, which is the practice of growing one variety of crop over the whole farm. This is great if you are a farmer, easier to tend to your soil, but growing the same crops year in year out in the same soil leads to soil deficiencies, and in conventional farming, increased fertilisers, and increased pests because of the deficiencies in the soil.

These varieties that are mass produced are generally chosen for the drought/frost tolerance, crop yields etc.

Heirloom varieties are enjoying a new resurgence in our society, being chosen for the taste, visual appearance, their adaptability to grow in different environments and increasing the genetic diversity of the plants that exist. These plants have adapted through time, and as such are often resistant to local pests, diseases and extremes of weather. Flavor is one of the key reasons people like to preserve heirloom seeds. Their flavor is exceptional

We have some amazing heirloom Italian variety of zucchini, these are delicious, grown locally, certified organic and simply support to biodiversity of nature. Stay tuned for the heirloom tomatoes that are about to become available, black Russians, yellow, purple....

If you would like to organic goodness contact us tastebetter@organicempire.com.au and we can deliver it to your door, or perhaps you would like some heirloom plants for yourself contact us.

ORGANIC EMPIRE, organic home delivery melbourne, local organic foods