This time of year people are gearing up to harvest tomatoes, potatoes, etc. from their gardens. At PTG we are also doing the same. We grow several varieties of tomatoes and the history of the tomatoe is interesting.

Wild tomatoes originated from the coastal highlands in Peru. Aztecs were mixing tomatoes and chillies with ground squash seeds long before the Spanish conquistadors arrived. Spanish explorers returned to Europe carrying seeds of the wild tomatoe back in 1519. The latin name is Lycopersicon esculentum, lyco meaning wolf and persicum meaning peach. A misunderstanding took place when Renaissance botanists working from botanical texts of Greek and Roman. They were arranging things into species and genus and placed tomatoes in the same group as Nightshade, widely known to be poisonous, this is how it got the name wolf peach, by no fault of its own.
These were grown as ornamentals bearing small yellow fruit, although, eaten in the New World. The plant was adopted by several cultures into their cooking.

The first recipe that listed tomatoe as an ingredient, published in 1692, was created by Italians. The first Europeans to cultivate the tomatoe. After intensive domestication, red tomatotes became the most common variety.

It managed to reach all the way to England by 1758, referenced in "The Art of Cookery" by Hannah Glasse. American colonists brought it to the new world, along with its prejudice. Early settlers were reluctant to grow them, but thanks to some growers like Thomas Jefferson, tomatoes found a place in the gardens as it had done in Europe and Central America.

In April, 1984 NASA sent tomato seeds in one of it's satelite's circling the earth for six years before it was retrieved. The seeds were sent to school children around the country to see what effects space had if any on them.

Today, tomatoes, loved by many cultures, run into the hundreds of varieties found in seed catalogues, and dozens of fruit in the local markets.

Tomatoe breeders are searching out the old varieties in keeping with the interest in healthy eating and are focusing on improving the nutrient composition among other attributes. New varities have a wide range of textures, flavours, shapes and colours. Heirloom seeds are saved and kept true over many generations by farmers and others dedicated to the preservation of rare and historic varieties. An example is the "Pomme d'Amour" variety, grown by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. The Monitcello estate still grows them. "Yellow Pear is another historical and heirloom variety.

High Temperature:
Actual: 26°C partly sunny Wind WSW17km/h P.O.P.1%
Average: 25°C
Record: 32°C in 2009

Low Temperature:
Actual: 17°C mainly cloudy Wind W14km/h P.O.P.13%
Average: 14°C
Record: 8°C in 1954