You Say Tomato, I Say Tomato

One of the reasons I will miss the summer is that I won't have any more home-grown tomatoes.  Every May my Dad plants tomato seeds in a large, bulky plant pot.  After endless days of watering the soil green starts to green sprouts begin to emerge from the brown dirt.  By July the tomato plants grow to sky-high levels and we need to enclose them in tomato cages.  Tomato cages surround the plant to help them stay straight so they don't droop or break down.  Even in the end of September, my family and I collect numerous cherry tomatoes from our plants daily.  We use every tomato that comes from our plants.  We make tomato sauce, even in scorching summer, and we freeze the sauce so we can make warm meals like baked ziti and lasagna during the chilly winters.  A delicious, new recipe I recently learned to make is bruschetta.  The best part about all of these homemade recipes is the home-grown ingredient they are made with! Yum!

Grammar Point

Synonyms are words or phrases that share very similar meanings. For example, "shut the door" and "close the door" have the same meaning because the words shut and close are synonyms. Create synonyms for the bolded keywords. Use words that come before and after the keywords to help you.

bulky (adj): 
emerge (v): 
enclose (v): 
surround (v): 
droop (v): 
numerous (adj):
scorching (adj): 
chilly (adj): 
delicious (adj): 

Were You on the Right Track?

bulky (adj): taking up much space

emerge (v): to come into view

enclose (v): to be closed off by something

surround (v): to be all around

droop (v): to bend 

numerous (adj): many

scorching (adj): very hot

chilly (adj): uncomfortably cold

delicious (adj): highly pleasant to taste

Activity 2

Substitute the keywords with your synonyms.

One of the reasons I will miss the summer is that I won't have any more home-grown tomatoes.  Every May my Dad plants tomato seeds in a large, _________ plant pot.  After endless days of watering the soil green starts to green sprouts begin to ___________ from the brown dirt.  By July the tomato plants grow to sky-high levels and we need to _________________ them in tomato cages.  Tomato cages _______________ the plant to help them stay straight so they don't __________ or break.  Even in the end of September, my family and I collect __________ cherry tomatoes from our plants daily.  We use every tomato that comes from our plants.  We make tomato sauce, even in ______________ summer, and we freeze the sauce so we can make warm meals like baked ziti and lasagna during the _______ winters.  A _____________, new recipe I recently learned to make is bruschetta.  The best part about all of these homemade recipes is the home-grown ingredient they are made with! Yum!