Tomatoes: History, Origin, Facts... or Fiction?
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Article by: Kirk Gordon A tomato , Traditional Wisdom or Old-fashioned Nonsense? importer, John Nix, decided to challenge the law after scrutinizing the Tariff Act. His case relied on the fact that tomatoes , Adirondack Chairs - How to Choose One were a fruit , Your Dream Garden and not vegetable, , Getting Started with Garden and Patio Design therefore, it should not be subjected to the Tariff Act. Nix's objections brought the case to the Supreme Court in 1893. Although Nix had a solid case, the Supreme Court rejected the botanical facts and continued to refer to tomatoes , Adirondack Furniture - What It is and Why You Want It as a vegetable. , Trends and Styles of Patio Furniture Plant family Tomatoes belong to the genus Lycopersicon, while potatoes belong to the genus Solanum; Both of which belongs to the same "flowering plant , Gift Ideas for Bird Lovers family" solanaceae. The similarities in leaves and flowers , Fertilizers - What you Need to Feed Your Lawn justifies this taxonomic grouping. The UK - Introduction of the tomato When the tomato plant , Gardening Tips and Tricks for Late Autumn was first introduced into the UK, some areas were not willing to consume the fruit , The Great History of Roses because they were considered poisonous. Other plants , Growing Great Strawberries that were poisonous, and in the same family as the tomato, , Say Your Feelings with Flowers - Flower Meaning such as the henbane, mandrake and the deadly nightshade were reasons to be concerned. The deadly nightshade (Atropus belladonna), in particular, resembled the tomato plant , Tips On Caring For Your Cut Flowers the most, and was used as a hallucinogenic drug, as well as for cosmetic purposes in various parts of Europe. In Latin, the name "belladonna"; literally means "beautiful woman." The women in medieval courts would apply drop of deadly nightshade extract to their eyes, dilating their pupils, a fashionable statement at the time. When the deadly nightshade was taken for it's hallucinogenic properties, , No Dig Gardens - How to Build One the consumer would experience visuals and a feeling of flying or weightlessness. German folklore suggests it was also used in witchcraft to evoke werewolves, a practice know as lycanthropy. The common name for tomatoes , Growing Organic! Herbs, Flowers and Fruit in Germany translates to "Wolf peach," which was simply another reason for Europeans to avoid the plant. , Soil, Drainage, and Water North America - Introduction of the tomato Tomato plants , Metal Sheds were transported by colonists from Britain to North America. The plants , Gardening Tips and Tricks for Late Autumn were most valued for removing pustule (Pimples, Blisters - Pus filled, inflamed skin). The inventor of peanut butter, George Washington Carver, strongly urged his poor Alabama neighbors to consume tomatoes , Growing Organic! Herbs, Flowers and Fruit because of their unhealthy diet. However, he had little success convincing them that the plants , Adirondack Furniture - What It is and Why You Want It was edible. Early efforts by merchants to sell tomatoes , Mulchers - A Buying Guide were not very successful. It is said that the fruit , Water Lilies - Pruning and Trimming was brought to the liberal hamlet of Salem, Mass. in 1802 by a painter who also found it difficult persuading people to try the fruit. , Garden Room Basics New Orleans cuisine was reported to have used tomatoes , Water Lilies - Pruning and Trimming by 1812, however, doubts about the fruit , Discount Garden Benches lingered in some areas. It's thought that doubts about the plant's edibility was laid to rest, when Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson announced that he will consume a bushel of tomatoes , Growing Great Strawberries in front of the Boston courthouse at noon on September 26, 1820. Thousands of spectators turned out to watch the man commit suicide (At least, so they thought) by consuming the poisonous fruit. , Getting Started with Garden and Patio Design It is said that spectators were shocked when they realized the Colonel will survive after consuming numerous tomatoes. , Perfume Your Garden and Home with Gardenias This story is from an old farm , Maintaining Water Quality in a Garden Pond journal and may not be very reliable, however, it's quite entertaining. Tomato popularity on the rise Throughout the western world, tomatoes , Concrete Curb Landscaping began to grow , Metal Sheds in popularity. In the 1820s, several cookbooks included recipes which required or called for tomatoes. , Gardening Tips and Tricks for Late Autumn Tomatoes , Adirondack Furniture - What It is and Why You Want It were sold by the dozens in Boston's Quincy Market in 1835. In Thomas Bridgeman seed , Deck Swing Buying and Assembling Tips catalogue, 4 varieties of tomatoes , Light Up the Night! Quick Facts about Outdoor Lighting were listed: Cherry, Pear, Large Yellow and Large Squash. Bruist, a seed , Tips For a Long Lasting Amaryllis merchant commented on the tomato , Your Dream Garden in 1858 - "In taking retrospect of the last eighteen years, there is no vegetable , Say Your Feelings with Flowers - Flower Meaning on the catalogue that has obtained such popularity in so short a period as the one now under consideration. In 1828-29, it was almost detested; in ten years almost every variety of pill and panacea was extract of tomato. , Light Up the Night! Quick Facts about Outdoor Lighting It now occupies as great a surface of ground as cabbage, and is cultivated the length and breadth of the country." - www.heirloomseeds.com That year, Bruits had eight cultivatars listed in his catalogue. A few years later, in 1863, a popular seed , Fertilizers - What you Need to Feed Your Lawn catalogue had 23 cultivars listed. One of the listed cultivars was Trophy, the first modern-looking, large, red, smooth-skinned variety which was sold for $5.00 for a packet of 20 seeds. , How To - Casting Decorative Concrete Large scale breeding for desirable traits became common in the 1870s in both the US and UK. In fact, by the 1880s several hundred cultivars had been named and it was clear that tomato , What Are the Appropriate Plants for My Landscape had grown on the western culture. According to a study conducted at Michigan Agricultural College in the late 1880s, 171 of the named cultivars represented only 61 truly unique varieties, many of which were only marginally different. Heirloom varieties Although Central American is thought to be the center of domestication, throughout Europe and later in North America, further domestication occurred on a more intense level. Eastern Europe appeared to produce large numbers of high quality varieties. Tomatoes , Trends and Styles of Patio Furniture are self-pollinating plants , Grow Herbs in your Garden for Pleasure and Profit which tend to become genetically homozygous after many generations. Tomatoes , Specialty Trees - A Beginner's Guide will rarely cross breed and usually produce plants , Do Garden Statues Have a Place in a Modern Garden? will similar characteristics as the parents. Because of tomatoes natural , Metal Sheds breeding process, early cultivars did not change , Add Color and Fragrance to Your Garden with the Korean Spice Viburnum much and were kept in a family or community for a long time, hence the name heirlooms. There are cultivars that dates back to over one hundred years that are still produced today. Most heirloom varieties are different in color, , Concrete Curb Landscaping size and shape. Some varieties are black, red with black shoulders, dark purple, rainbow and green. , Trends and Styles of Patio Furniture In terms of size, some are the size of a cherry to larger varieties weighing over 2 lb. Heirlooms - a story Some heirloom varieties have interesting histories as well; at least I think so. Lets talk about the story of a heirloom name Mortgage Lifter. A radiator repair , How To - Casting Decorative Concrete shop owner, Charlie, experienced hard times, as did much of the nation through the Great Depression. Because of financial reasons, most people abandoned their cars and Ol Charlie's business too a hard hit. He decided to use his four largest fruit , Tips For a Long Lasting Amaryllis producing tomato plants , Adirondack Furniture - What It is and Why You Want It to cross breed repeatedly with each other to create a plant , Growing Great Strawberries that produced two pounds of fruits. , Do Garden Statues Have a Place in a Modern Garden? Claming that his plants , How To - Casting Decorative Concrete could feed a family of six, Charlie peddled the crops for a dollar per plant. , Concrete Curb Landscaping Within four years, Charlie generated enough money to pay off the $4,000 dollars mortgage on his home, , Gardening Tips and Tricks for Late Autumn which led to the heirloom name "Mortgage Lifter." Heirlooms - names & origins In general, the names of heirloom varieties links directly to their history. For example, the Baptiste family in Remis, Fance cultivated the First Pick variety. Picardy's history also dates back to France (1890). Besser arrived from the Freiburg section of Germany, while Schellenburg's Favorite came from the Schellenburg family near Manheim, Germany. Elbe was cultivated in 1889 near the Elbe River in Germany. Since the 1870s, the Amish in Pennsylvania cultivated the Amish Paste variety. Brandywine was also cultivated by Amish farmers near Brandywine Creek in Chester County Pennsylvania in 1885. The hills of Virginia is thought to be the origin of the Hillbilly variety. Old Virginia was cultivated in Virginia as well in the early 1900s. In 1953 Campbell Soup Co., introduced the Ace variety which is still popular for canning. On Edgar Allan Poe's estate, a cultivar found growing , Grass Varieties there bears his mother's maiden name, Hopkins. Please bear in mind that these heirloom stories may be true or false, in part or whole, and may be inaccurate or exaggerated.This article is courtest of HydroponicSearch.com - The Agriculture , Let Your Venus Flytrap Frost Over & Gardening , Add Color and Fragrance to Your Garden with the Korean Spice Viburnum Search Engine. |
  
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