Senga's Blog
Eco-chic Outdoor Living & Exterior Design
January 10/2010 – The Planning Stage The Heirloom Vegetable: Tomato 'Moneymaker'
The vegetable that is actually a fruit
Tomatoes have been grown as a food since the 16th century, though they have in various times and places been regarded as both poisonous and decorative plants. Technically a tomato is a fruit, since it is the ripened ovary of a plant. In 1893, the supreme court ruled in the case of "NIX vs. HEDDEN" that tomatoes were to be considered vegetables.
The Italian name for the tomato is pomodoro, meaning "apple of love" or "golden apple," because the first to reach Europe were yellow varieties. It wasn’t until much later that the red forms such as the heirloom tomato ‘Moneymaker’ became vogue.
Botanical name: Lycopersicon esculentum ‘Money Maker’
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Description: Deep red round fruits, heavy yielding, vigourous plants
Best harvested: 7 – 8 oz
Time to Sow Seeds: Early Spring - February 15 indoors (6 weeks before last spring frost)
Where to Grow: Start indoors and transplant to prepared bed with well rotted compost/manure in full sun. Space 30 cm apart and trellis. In case of late frost protect plants under cloches which can be made from old clear plastic pop bottles.
Maturity: 130 Days
Tip: Thrives in full sunshine and heat and time to mature
Taste: Full meaty, sweet bite
Uses: Sliced fresh or cooked
Place in Square Foot Garden: In the vertical vegetable section of the square foot garden on my edible green roof. As these edibles are slow growing, faster maturing crops such as can be inter planted with such things as leaf lettuce, radishes and onions. The latter being harvested by the time the plants grow into that space. By month’s end I will have this nicely slotted into a master plan of the vegetable garden and post it on my blog.
