--- title: However You Say Tomato, ‘Tis the Season to Eat Them description: Consider the tomato: Easy to grow, healthy to eat, tasty in just about any recipe and pleasant to look at. And come late summer, in... canonical: https://time.com/4457121/however-you-say-tomato-tis-the-season-to-eat-them/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-18T10:01:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:03:35.132Z article:section: Health og:title: However You Say Tomato, ‘Tis the Season to Eat Them og:description: Consider the tomato: Easy to grow, healthy to eat, tasty in just about any recipe and pleasant to look at. And come late summer, in... og:url: https://time.com/4457121/however-you-say-tomato-tis-the-season-to-eat-them/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt057f2601dcc719e1/6988a2b7bc6cfc90b43de48a/heirloom-tomatoes-great-in-august.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1829 og:image:height: 1029 og:image:alt: heirloom-tomatoes-great-in-august og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: However You Say Tomato, ‘Tis the Season to Eat Them twitter:description: Consider the tomato: Easy to grow, healthy to eat, tasty in just about any recipe and pleasant to look at. And come late summer, in... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt057f2601dcc719e1/6988a2b7bc6cfc90b43de48a/heirloom-tomatoes-great-in-august.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # However You Say Tomato, 'Tis the Season to Eat Them > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=4de73388-49e0-4fe4-baa4-7554c5a053c8&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 18, 2016 10:01 AM UTC  August is the month for Heirloom tomatoes August is the month for Heirloom tomatoes Michael Bucher for TIME by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 18, 2016 10:01 AM UTC Consider the tomato: Easy to grow, healthy to eat, tasty in just about any recipe and pleasant to look at. And come late summer, in steady supply. Though you can find a stalwart plum variety in produce bins during the coldest winter months, August is the tomato’s season to shine. Farmers’ markets and grocery stores are bursting with lesser-known but arguably more-flavorful varieties, including punch-colored cherries and big-mac heirlooms. “Heirlooms ripened on the vine are the tastiest of all tomatoes,” says Amy Goldman Fowler, author of The Heirloom Tomato. “I think their beauty is more than skin-deep.” Heirloom seeds have been around for at least 50 years, often passed down from generation to generation. You may hear cherry or heirloom used to describe a tomato at hand, but classifications are niche, and growers have fun giving catchy names to varieties: Mortgage Lifters. Beefsteaks. Oxhearts. Early Girls. And all of them come with health benefits. Tomatoes are a good source of the antioxidant lycopene, which is thought to help lower a person’s risk for heart problems and cancer. Tomatoes also contain healthy doses of vitamins A and C. For the best fruit (they’re fruits, not vegetables), choose tomatoes with shiny, firm skin and a little give, and store them at room temperature away from direct sunlight. Keep them out of the fridge, since cold temperatures can affect texture and flavor. “They satisfy something more than just taste,” says Fowler. “Tomatoes feed your soul.” Eat up! ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4457121/however-you-say-tomato-tis-the-season-to-eat-them/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4457121/however-you-say-tomato-tis-the-season-to-eat-them/"},"headline":"However You Say Tomato, 'Tis the Season to Eat Them","datePublished":"2016-08-18T10:01:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:03:35.132Z","description":"Consider the tomato: Easy to grow, healthy to eat, tasty in just about any recipe and pleasant to look at. 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