After almost two months absence the green monsters have returned to eat not just leaves but holes in whole tomatoes. Wouldn’t you think they’d have transformed into something magnificent by now!
They are in competition with the white fly, that had also disappeared for weeks after copious treatment with soapy water, to see who can wreck the most havoc.
So any fruit that is a reasonable size is being plucked even if it’s green and incubated with a ripe sibling to help it on the road to becoming something edible.
This little miracle is amazing. It’s something I remember my Mom doing when she got green tomatoes from my Auntie Nora’s garden. She’d put them in a brown bag with one seriously ripe tomato and let them rest for a while. It was like the older and wiser ripe tomato was infusing them with wisdom.
We’d take a peak at them now and then and see them in their various shades of rosiness. Little did we know what was causing this transformation. It was only at college I learned it was éthylène gas. Ripe fruits produce this and it acts like a hormone to tell other fruits it’s time to shape up and mature.
Shame it doesn’t work the same with humans but at least we can
be glad that it does in all those lovely pink plants surrounding us this time of year from watermelon to pomegranates and grapefruits.
The color tells us these foods are good sources of Lycopene an antioxidant that has all sorts of benefits protecting our eyes and skin from those UV rays that some of us like myself are a little too fond of at this time of year!
Its one of those goodies that’s best absorbed when it’s cooked especially with a little fat. So get stewing!
Blessing # 449 – Mighty Marinara
