Fruit or vegetable? -Which is the case?

Written and edited by Tammy 27th March 2023.

I was out at my girlfriends place a few weekends ago helping her harvest huge bounties of apples and pears from the trees in her orchard. As she is a junior primary school teacher, we were discussing her taking some apples in for the kids to each have a piece of home-grown fruit. From there we got onto the subject of teaching kids the difference between a piece of fruit and a vegetable, and then she showed me the most delightful little children's book that I couldn't help but share with you.

The book by Author Jean Richards, first published in 2002 is called "A fruit is a suitcase for seeds". It's so cleverly written and insightful leaving you thinking, "wow I never thought about it like that before", and it's so relatable and easy to understand for a young child. (Well for me too!)

Now my understanding has always been that edible plants that are purely foliage, stems, and roots, are a vegetable. Think spinach, carrots, celery, they all consist of roots, stems and foliage.

And then I think of fruit as being the end product of a pollinated flower on any foliage plant, reaching maturity. Think of it as the protective encasement nurturing and growing seeds within. Wow this really IS a lesson on 'the birds and the bees' in more ways than one. 🤪🐝

The book goes on to explain and give examples of all types of scenarios such as strawberries being an exception wearing their seeds on the outside, and some fruits only having one seed, avocados or peaches, where others have many; think rock melons or pumpkin.

It describes how clever seeds are having their own mode of transport to get around and populate the place. Some travel in the air, the water, washed away once gravity drops them to the ground, others travel in the tummy of an animal when an animal eats them, then the animal expels them somewhere else.

All in all, I was impressed! Definitely a book worth having in your library to read to your kiddies or grandies. You can never read to them too much, and what better way can there be to inspire the next generation of gardeners and plant enthusiasts.

Happy gardening! 😘🌸🪴