Manager KERDIEN GERBRANDS singles out tomatoes as he talks about Swindon's farmers' markets this week

AT the Styan’s family produce stall at the Outlet farmers’ market every Sunday they have a really fabulous selection of tomatoes on sale; freshly picked for you from the vines at the farm.

At worst they are three days off the vine, a freshness you can’t find outside of shopping at farmers’ markets.

I’m sure most of us like tomatoes. They are found in a large proportion of what we eat, from sandwiches to pizza and pasta but they come into their own when they are chopped into a mixed salad.

I’m not a fan of tomatoes in sandwiches because they make the bread soggy and I never have them in my falafel wrap from Funky Falafel at the market, but I enjoy them in their natural state.

While I love chopping a beef tomato and leaving it to marinate in balsamic vinegar and black pepper, a mixed salad featuring chopped tomatoes has to be my favourite way of eating them.

Every variety has its own distinct texture and flavour and I had a wonderful salad featuring red and yellow cherry, beef, plum and Alicante with some cucumber chunks, finely chopped leaf parsley and dressing; very simple but deliciously summery and refreshing.

There’s one more thing that’s nice about Styan’s tomatoes; they don’t come in a plastic punnet. They come in recycled cardboard punnets that biodegrade in the compost.

Find Styan’s every Sunday at the Designer Outlet farmers' market from 10am to 4pm.