What do these foods have in common? I picked some of each in the garden on the same day. Besides being very tasty, these particular foods happen to be quite full of nutrition. Should I label them fruits or vegetables? Kale, most definitely, is a vegetable, while plums are fruits.
The real question is about the tomatoes. Tomatoes generally are eaten as vegetables and often served together with other vegetables. They are used in sauces, for example, along with onions, garlic, peppers, and herbs. They also are commonly used in salad and other raw preparations, where they might find themselves in the same bowl as lettuce, cucumbers, and other vegetables. But botanically, a tomato is a fruit. The plants flower and produce a fruiting vegetable that contains seeds, a hallmark of a fruit.
Let us take a closer look at each of these three foods.
Tomatoes
Round, red, juicy, and sweet are words that describe the typical tomato. However, the fruits can be other shapes, colors, textures, and flavors as well. I have tasted yellow, orange, purple, ripe green tomatoes also. Some are sweet and others are tangy. Many have elements of both. Rich in vitamin C and containing a beneficial antioxidant called lycopene, tomatoes are healthy additions to the diet.
In the end, it does not really matter if a tomato is a fruit or vegetable, either – just eat and enjoy it. And with these tiny cherry tomatoes, ripening in the summer heat, that status matters even less. That is because they are so tasty that few of them even make it to the kitchen. They are popped in the mouth and eaten long before then.
Plums
Like tomatoes, plums can come in many colors: red, purple, yellow/orange, and green. These plums I picked are purple on the outside and mostly yellow with streaks of red inside. Many temperate climates enjoy European plums, but the ones in my climate are mostly descendants of Japanese plums. These fruits are high in vitamins A and C and they contain healthful antioxidants. Studies show that eating plums also helps iron absorption in the body, possibly as a result of the vitamin C they contain.
The great plant breeder Luther Burbank did a lot of work with plums, leaving an ongoing legacy in my home region of California (and beyond). Burbank was the first to import and develop plums from Satsuma and other regions of Japan and East Asia. Those he further bred and developed into some unique varieties. Other plant breeders like Floyd Zaiger have continued his tradition and taken those varieties to new heights. Together, pioneers like them have created fruits that ripen earlier and later and are sweeter and more flavorful than anything our ancestors could have imagined.
Kale
What can I saw about kale that hasn’t already been said? These last few years, it has been quite the darling of the health food industry. Cauliflower may have taken over some of that buzz, but kale remains at the top of food charts. When it comes to nutrition, nothing packs a stronger punch. Kale has numerous vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
This is one of these vegetables you would consider if nutrition alone decides the answer to the question “If you were stranded on a desert island and could choose one vegetable, what would it be?” But would you really want to EAT kale every day? Yes, if you do not mind eating it along with other things (rice, pasta, stew dishes, etc.), because you might get tired of eating only kale, but when the other flavors change, it’s OK if kale is among them. I chop and add it to a lot of other dishes, even when it is not a main ingredient. Even a little kale goes a long way with nutrition.
Try it and you may even get to like the flavor! My kids will not eat the kale stems, so I cut them off while chopping the kale…and then I eat the stems myself.
Honestly, with these three foods – tomatoes, plums, and kale – all of them can make for good raw eating. No cooking needed!
Hello @dongkeypong, how are you doing? Eating fruits and vegetables is good for the digestive tract. They are a source of fiber. In fact, I often constipate if I don't eat fruits and vegetables. I like tomatoes and kale. Whereas plums are not in my area. Enjoy your day, sir.
That's true. Good digestion feeds good health.
Tasty, tasty!
My container tomatoes and sweet peppers are coming along but still a while before the first harvest.
I do love kale (particularly the Lacinato variety) and I've grown it several times but unfortunately it always becomes infested with aphids :(
Image by Ron van den Berg from Pixabay
Nice! Sorry about the aphids, though. Try getting a spray bottle, filling it with water and a small squirt of liquid dish soap. Spray that on the aphids and see if it keeps them off. Nurseries also has other natural pest sprays you can try with ingredients like garlic, neem or hot pepper in them.
I've tried making a garlic oil solution but it didn't seem to work. I've heard of the dish soap option but never tried that. Instead, I've opted to primarily just plant garlic and various herbs, which I use extensively for cooking and the added bonus is that no pests mess with it!
In my country, tomatoes are seen as a vegetable.
Very recently, plums can be found in fruit shops in Abuja. I don’t know if it can be found in the eastern states of Nigeria. I tasted my first plum early this year.
I only see Kale in international food shows on tv. I know it can be found here but it’s not something we really eat.
Other vegetables like celery and beet root are becoming popular here.
Those plums look juicy 😊
Yum!
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Anything fresh and local is good. Ignore the imported foods and eat what grows there!
Tomatoes and plums are tasty I like to eat them raw for breakfast.
Once tried oven baked kale chips, was good but here in Belgium you don’t find them.
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Yes, I've had kale chips a few times. They're good, but the leaves are healthier when fresh.
That is quite the bounty! There's nothing like fresh produce. Enjoy!
Mutiny on the Bounty. I tipped that colander right over and ate them all. :) (See if anyone understands that reference.)
Good for you! Lol. I don't get the reference...what is it?
You said bounty; I said mutiny. :)
Hello Friend how are you? how is the family? It's a pleasure to say hello.
In Venezuela the tomato is only for sauces and salad but there is a stick tomato that is used together with the guava juice to raise the emoglobina.
The cabbage is purple and white very good for salads, we also have plums and I love them, Vegetables or fruits do not matter as they are so nutritious that we should always eat them
Those look good!
I didn’t know that much about these vegetables & fruits . Specially tomato because I This is in my daily food but I didn’t know about that much what you have written. Thanks for sharing now I know what I am eating
Delicious and healthy indeed! I often eat at a local salad bar and get tomatoes and spinach leaves along with my grapes, watermelon, berries, nuts and other ingredients. They do not have plums (Sad) but they do have kale. Will try it next time. Thanks @donkeypong
That's a nice looking meal in the making
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fresh fruit, I like your post, sir
Good post, I like to eat fruits, greetings
That picture just looks divine!
It's funny how the older we get, the more veggies taste amazing, I could happily consume things from my garden for most meals!
I love cherry tomatoes - they are cute too
and Plums are so so so juicy - i love them
I used to think plums exist in Asian countries only.
You’ve been visited by @riverflows on behalf of Natural Medicine!
Yum! That actually gets me thinking - how could you make a meal out of those three ingredients only? I love those kinds of challenges. Are you are raw food person? I grow my own kale, plums and tomatoes too. Thinking... hmmmm.... plum and tomato chutney and kale chips? Fried tomatoes drizzled with plum sauce and shredded kale? Now you have me thinking, haha!
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@donkeypong, Whatever we call it but i want to say one thing here and that is, when we grow our food ingredients and when we pluck them fresh then it shows the true meaning of life and the Abundant essence. Stay blessed.
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We hope to see your great write up articles too here .