Tasty Tomatoes
Hard Work Brings Delicious Results
A Read-Along Activity
As you know, the teddy bears love food! Almost any kind of food actually, but especially food they have grown themselves. They have really enjoyed growing (and eating!) their own tomatoes this year.
It all started off at the end of March when they sowed the tiny tomato seeds, each into its own tiny pot of compost. They had chosen to grow several different varieties instead of just one type. There would be big plum tomatoes, huge dark red tomatoes, normal sized tomatoes (both red and orange), and small orange and red cherry tomatoes (they are the very small sized tomatoes which the bears have given the name of "teddy tomatoes" because they are just the right size for little teddies to hold in their paws).
The bears had taken it in turns to care for their tomatoes, from the very beginning when they were first sown, as they grew into small plants and then into the very large (to a teddy bear) plants in their greenhouse.
Bubbles had supervised every step of their growth, and advised the other bears on what needed doing and when. He was very lucky that there were no complaints from anyone as they all had a vested interest in making sure that the plants grew as many great-tasting tomatoes as possible - they love tomatoes!
When they had first sown the seeds, they had sown extra ones just in case some of the seeds didn't grow. As it turned out, all the seeds flourished and they ended up having to plant some of the tomatoes outdoors as they couldn't bear to throw away anything that was doing so well.
"We'll have to sort of mollycoddle the tomatoes in the greenhouse," explained Bubbles. "They have no-one but us to be their rain and pollinators, so there will be watering and feeding the plants and pretending to be bees by 'tickling' the flowers with a paintbrush so that the tomatoes develop." The other bears loved the 'tickling' job the best, and could often be found in the greenhouse making the buzzing sound of bees while they went about their job!
The bears were very excited when the first teeny, tiny tomatoes started to grow on their plants. Then they grew and grew until they became lovely big tomatoes (except for the teddy tomatoes, of course!)
Over the past few weeks, the bears have been harvesting tomatoes regularly. The big red and orange ones have been sliced and eaten fresh in sandwiches with cheese or ham - there have been many of these during the Summer.
Henry had been watching the older bears preparing the tomatoes for roasting. He watched Scary cut the tomatoes in half and lay them in roasting tins. Teddy had added salt and pepper, some basil leaves, olive oil and a little bit of sugar.
"Why are you adding sugar to the tomatoes, Teddy?" asked Henry. "We're not going to be putting them in puddings, are we?"
"No," laughed Teddy. "Tomatoes can be a little bit acidic," he explained. "The sugar is added to bring out the sweetness in them. It's not enough sugar to turn them into pudding material though - much as you all like puddings!"
By now though, the tomatoes have stopped growing and the bears have harvested the last ones for this year.
"Shall we have a meal to celebrate these last tomatoes?" asked Boo. "We could have lots of different tomato-y dishes for tea," he suggested.
That sounded like a great idea to all the other bears. They sliced up some of the biggest tomatoes and alternated them with slices of mozzarella cheese, and poured some good olive oil on top - a nice simple light dish. Some of the roast tomatoes they made into a thick and creamy tomato soup - every bear loves comforting tomato soup! There were sliced tomatoes on toast - a favourite snack. Then they made a lovely pasta sauce with some roast tomatoes, adding home-grown courgette and onions, and some bacon. They would eat that in bowls with pasta shapes like bows and spirals, and sprinkled with cheese. They even put a bowl of cherry tomatoes on the table, to nibble on in between courses! And if anyone was still hungry at the end, there were always tomato sandwiches to be made!
"Scary," whispered Vicky as all the preparation was going on. "Do you think that eating all these tomatoes will make our fur turn red?" she asked worriedly.
"Not at all," Scary replied, smiling. "You're quite safe to eat as many tomatoes as you like, and not change colour."
Vicky smiled back. She was glad that she could eat all these wonderful tomato dishes without any adverse colour effects!
You may have already grown your own tomatoes this year, in your garden, or in a container, or in a greenhouse. Have you made as many wonderful meals with them as the bears have? Have you made anything different?
