Mid Summer
- In July and August, the fruiting abundance of summer is in full flush.
- Search for lettuce, peppers, corn, eggplant, cucumbers, sweet onions, summer squash, zucchini, okra, green beans, potatoes, tomatoes.
- Bask in the summer sweetness with figs, grapes, melons, berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and all the many wild grown berries) and stone fruit (nectarines, apricots, plums, peaches, cherries, and almonds).
Tomæto, Tomāto
Tomatoes are arguably the most central culinary vegetable worldwide. When I was in 3rd grade I was asked to research, write, and illustrate a how-to book about anything. I chose “How to Plant a Tomato”, and since then I have been fascinated with this plant and its worldwide roots. Here are some facts about tomatoes that I think about often…
- Tomatoes originated in the Andes before 700 A.D.
- The word comes from the Náhuatl Aztec word tomatl. The Italian word comes is pomodoro, from pomo d’oro (golden apple). The French call them pomme d-amour, (the love apple)
- The color of the tomato depends on the antioxidants inside.
- In Europe after the journey of the tomato crossed the Atlantic in the mid 16th century, it was believed that tomatoes were poisonous as they were recognized by botanists as part of the poisonous nightshade family, and popularly used as an ornamental plant.
- "Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing you shouldn’t put it in a fruit salad"?
- Tomatoes contain vitamin C, potassium, vitamin K1, folate/B9, beta carotene, and lycopene.
- The best tomatoes are the ones that ripen to their fullest potential on their mother plant.
- The domesticated tomato plant we now know is a part of the wild cherry family.
- Heating tomatoes through cooking enhances the nutritional value by making the lycopene and antioxidant contents more easily absorbed by the body.