Seeing red

Was it the pomegranate that helped expel Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden? If you drop a ripe pomegranate in a circle drawn on the floor, will the number of seeds that fall beyond the circle predict the number of offspring you will have? Was Persephone's inability to resist that temptress pomegranate the reason that we have distinct seasons of summer and winter in the temperate world?

Eh, probably not. But the legends of this prolific fruit are many, and suggest a long history of human engagement with pomegranates. I can see why, as the fruits have a lovely deep wine flavor.

Pomegranates are actually multiple fruits, formed from the joined ovaries of individual flowers. Those ovaries become the tiny ruby fruits that comprise the pomegranate. In the pomegranate's case these fertilized ovaries are surrounded by a fleshy mesocarp, encased within an exocarp (the tough outside), all tucked inside a layer of tasty bacon. Mmmmm, bacon.

Sorry. I forgot to eat dinner before coming to the Coop. Anyway, that's probably all you need to know today as far as plant terminology. Below this post you can see some starkrimson pears, which just happened to be sitting next to the pomegranates, and also just happened to be the same color. It's a two for one fruit day here at the Cornucopia Blog. That's right, two fruits in one blog post! Crazy! The pears are a buck each and the pomegranates are $1.45 apiece, so come on by and grab em!

Have a fab week!
Jen

Look at the pears, so haughty on their banana throne. Now look at the organic farmer sticker! Yeah!