So, you have a veggie patch down in the back corner. But, is it really a veggie patch?
Often we forget that most of the plants that we grow in our “veggie” patches are indeed fruit, not vegetables. We call them vegetables. They’re sold as vegetables. But, if you compared them to a valid definition of fruit and vegetables you would find that most of them come up short on a vegetable classification and are instead fruit.
For example: is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Ah, that’s too easy. Of course you’re going to say fruit. And the reason you chose fruit instead of a vegetable is because it has seeds inside it – isn’t that how you define a fruit?
But, what about a pumpkin? Fruit or vegetable? Well, if you stuck with the tomato explanation then a pumpkin would have to be defined as a fruit – and you would be right!
A fruit, by definition, is;
- the developed ovary of a seed plant with its contents and accessory parts
- the edible part of a plant developed from a flower, with any accessory tissues
Which means that all of the cucurbits, solanacae and legume members fit neatly into the “fruit” category rather than vegetable.
Therefore, if most of what we grow in our “veggie” patches is technically fruit rather than vegetables why do we call them veggie patches?
