Here is a bumble bee pollinating
a tomato flower.
Calling all gardeners and tomato enthusiasts! Join the Community Garden Program at Ishihara Park’s monthly community breakfast for its annual tomato competition! To pique your interest in tomatoes or just get you excited for the competition, here are some interesting facts relating to tomatoes.
Tomatoes are a member of the Solanaceae, or nightshade family. Other members of this family include potatoes, peppers, tobacco,and tomatillo. Although tomatillos may look like green tomatoes, they are actually completely different plants. Tomatillos grow in a papery husk and have a tarter
and more acidic flavor profile.
Tomatoes also originated in South America, while the tomatillo is native to Central America. And, while tomatoes are botanically a fruit, developing from flowers of the tomato plant, they are legally considered a vegetable by the U.S. Government (ruled in 1893 for taxation purposes)!
As fruits, tomatoes require pollination to set develop. Due to the shape of the flower, the managed honey bee is unable to pollinate tomato flowers. This makes sense once you consider the fact that honey bees are not native to the Americas, where the tomato originated. Instead, tomatoes need
buzz pollination, in which the pollen is shaken out of the anthers. Bumble bees, which are much larger than honey bees and much larger than honey bees and native to the Americas, can rapidly vibrate their flight muscles, causing the pollen to fall out and onto the bees’ bodies. Next time you
enjoy a tomato, remember to thank the bees that helped produce it. The tomato competition will take place on Saturday, August 15 at 10 a.m. at Ishihara Park Learning Garden, 2909 Exposition Blvd., Santa Monica. Whether you’re growing yellow, purple, green, or the classic red tomato, heirloom or cherry, all are welcome to enter their tomatoes.
Not growing any tomatoes this year, but still a big fan? Come and be a judge! Arrive at 9 a.m. to enjoy breakfast, enter your tomato (or register
to be a judge) by 9:30 a.m., and wait for the festivities to begin at 10 a.m! Tomato-lly fun time guaranteed.