Tomatoes

It's not hard to breed a tomato that looks great and tastes like hell---Charles M. Ricl  Preeminent U.S. tomato breeder.


For just 35 calories one medium-sized tomato supplies almost half the recommended daily allowance for vitamin C, and almost 20 percent of the RDAs for vitamin A and fiber.  They also contain lycopine, flavonoids, and other phytochemicals that are believed to help fight cancer and some forms of heart disease.


Everyone is excited when tomatoes start popping up on their backyard vines.  It is because we have had to endure months of store bought awful tomatoes and are ready to taste some that are fresh..  It's not because the farmers are growing bad tomatoes but because the growers must harvest them while they are still unripe and resort to ripening them with blasts of ethylene gas.  This is the only way they can get transported to supermarkets before they spoil.

Personally, I gorge myself on tomatoes during their growing season and impatiently await the day when I see the red, delicious fruit hanging on the vine.  And maybe one day I will learn to can the tomatoes while they are fresh and have wonderful tomatoes all year.  I think I will put that on my bucket list.