Tomatoes for Mosaic Monday

Better known as a tomato!
That little brown cap is the shell of the seed.
It will fall off in a day or two & the green part will
split into two leaves.


Two summers ago, a golfing buddy of my husband's gave him
some heirloom tomato seeds to plant.
You can read about heirloom tomatoes here.
We've always loved having a garden & homegrown
Ohio tomatoes are simply wonderful!

Last year's crop was SO successful that he decided to do it again!

We carefully saved a few seeds from one of the tomatoes.
We rinsed them really well & let them dry on a paper towel.
We gently pried them off & stored them in an envelope over the winter &
planted them in little peat pots in early March.

My sunroom is like a greenhouse for 2 months of the year,
while hubby becomes a farmer!

All the pots, except for the two cherry tomato plants on the left &
the two eggplants on the right (red band) are heirloom
tomato plants, started from last year's seeds.

You can see the teeny-tiny sprouts in the peat pots in
the background.
Even the tiny fuzzy hairs on the leaves stand out.
Have I told you how much I ♥ my new camera?!

Last year, one of his plants grew almost as tall as he is!

This year we will transplant them outside before they get to that size.

We've got blossoms on some of the tomato plants already.

We've even got a teeny-tiny little tomato, too!

I love stepping out onto the deck in the morning &
picking a fresh tomato to go with breakfast.
We put some in pots on the deck
& the rest go in the ground.

Did you know a tomato is technically a botanical FRUIT
& not a vegetable?
They are seed-bearing structures that develop from flowers.

Its a member of the nightshade family &
people were afraid to eat them at one time.
Many plants of the nightshade family contain toxic
alkaloids including nicotine, atropine, (slows ♥ rate)
&
scopolamine (dries secretions & is used prior to surgery)

Ripe tomatoes are particularly rich in the lycopene.
In addition to imparting the bright red color to tomatoes,
lycopene ingested daily may reduce the risk of atherosclerosis
(clogged arteries) and ♥ disease.

Lycopene may also reduce the risk of certain cancers,
including cancers of the prostate, lung, bladder,
cervix, skin and digestive tract.

Amazing to go from this tiny little sprout to

THIS in just a few short months!

I can't wait!!!


Thank you Mary, for hosting Mosaic Monday on your beautiful blog
A Dear Little Red House.

I wish I could send you ALL some Ohio tomatoes
as a way to say "thank you" for visiting the Gazebo House!