Last week we set a new direction for the next few Garden Gossip columns. In response to popular demand, we’re going to step back and take a very basic and simplified look at many aspects of gardening. So many Garden Gossip readers are new while many others have indicated that they would like a refresher on many of the topics that have been covered in past years. With that in mind I have decided to start off with what is widely considered the most commonly grown vegetable (fruit?) in North American gardens.
Tomatoes were first cultivated in South America and it is believed that the Aztecs, among others, were growing domesticated tomatoes as much as three thousand years ago. In fact, the word tomato is derived from the Nahuatl (Aztec tongue) tomatl. Most of these early South American tomatoes were yellow. Tomatoes are members of the nightshade family. This family also includes edible members such as peppers, potatoes, eggplants and highly toxic members like the deadly nightshade and mandrake. This close relationship to the deadly nightshade, coupled with the fact that tomato plant foliage is poisonous, left tomatoes with a reputation for being not only inedible, but outright dangerous for decades after their “discovery” by the Europeans. One problem tomatoes had to overcome with relation to their deadly nightshade kin was the latter’s association with witchcraft and lycanthropy. One dubious name for tomatoes that came of this troubled connection was “wolf peach”. The Latin name for tomatoes is Lycopersicon esculentum which translates to edible wolf peach. Up to the 1800s, it was rare to find an enthusiastic tomato consumer but the plants were widely grown for their ornamental qualities. One story has it that in order to quell the suspicions surrounding tomatoes, a gentleman named Colonel Robert Johnson sent out word that he would consume as many tomatoes as possible in front of the courthouse in Boston during the year of 1820. Reports say that thousands came to watch him eat himself to death, which he didn’t, and as a result many believers in the virtues of tomatoes were established. Consumption, breeding and popularity of tomatoes snowballed and today we have close to eight thousand varieties to chose from.
Technically a fruit, tomatoes were legally reclassified as vegetable by the United States judicial system in order to bring them into taxable status. Part of the reasoning in this decision was that tomatoes were traditionally used as a vegetable in main course dishes and almost never as a fruit in deserts. The versatility of tomatoes is unmatched in the kitchen and as succulently sweet as a garden fresh tomato is, the nutritional benefits of these fruit is best realized once they are cooked. The most frequently discussed nutrient of tomato fame is Lycopene. Powerful antioxidants that are associated with dark coloured fruits and vegetables, Lycopenes are noted for their positive effects on cancer, heart health, bone health and much more. The fascinating thing about Lycopene is that it is not easily released from the tomato until the tomato’s cell walls have been ruptured by a process such as cooking. Besides Lycopene, tomatoes are great sources of biotin, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin A, Vitamins B3 and B6 as well as a whole slew of other vitamins and minerals. This information alone should be enough to make the average gardener envision growing rows of tomatoes in the back yard.
Did you know?
Pincushions are red and tomato shaped because ripe tomatoes were one of the original pincushions.
Ketchup is derived from the Chinese ke-tsiap which is a fish sauce.
Every year in Bunol, Spain the La Tomatina festival is the world’s largest tomato fight with nearly 200,000 pounds of tomatoes used for ammunition.
The largest tomato ever grown weighed close to 4 kilograms!
The largest harvest of tomatoes from a single plant was over 520 kilograms!!!
Tomatoes aren’t just red when ripe, they can also be white, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, brown, black, green and multi-coloured.
The average North American eats over 11 kilograms of tomatoes per year.
Ninety three percent of home gardeners grow tomatoes.
Today was a fun little introduction to tomatoes. Come back next week when we will look at everything you need to know to grow the best tomatoes ever.
