Pinecones and Pineapples

Pineapples are native to the Americas, and they became known to Europe when Christopher Columbus discovered them on the island of Guadeloupe in 1493. He named it piña de Indies, or "pine of the Indians," because he thought that the pineapple fruit resembled pinecones. After he took some pineapple plants back to Spain, the Spanish introduced the pineapple to the Philippines, Hawaii, and Thailand, places where they are still grown. 

Pineapple plants are not propogated from seed. However, they are easy to grow:

1. Remove the leafy top of the pineapple where it joins the fruit. Make sure to remove all the fruit from the top so it doesn't mold. 

2. Remove the short leaves at the bottom until you have a 2-inch stem. 

3. Dry this pineapple top for two days. 

4. Plant the pineapple top in a pot filled with sterile potting soil. Only the two-inch stem should be below ground. 

5. Water the soil, keeping it damp. Keep the plant in a shady place.

6. In two weeks, once the pineapple plant starts growing new leaves, move the plant to a sunny windowsill.

7. Water occasionally. 

Pineapple plants grown this way do not always get fruit, but they usually start producing fruit once they reach a certain size. I planted a pineapple top about 5 years ago, and my plant recently flowered.  

Pineapples take a long time to ripen, usually 6 months, sometimes longer. You can tell if a pineapple is ripe when it begins to turn yellow. After the pineapple ripens, the mother plant dies, but the sucker, which grows from the side of the mother plant, will replace it. Slips, which grow from the base of the pineapple fruit, can be replanted to grow new plants. 

Grow Your Own Coffee

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One-third of Americans drink coffee every day. It is one of the most commonly-consumed beverages in the world, yet it has been surrounded by controversy ever since its discovery. 

According to one legend, coffee was discovered by a mystic named Abu al-Hasan al Shadhill, who ate the berries after noticing that birds became livelier after eating them. In another legend, an Ethiopian goatherd named Kaldi realized that his herd became hyper after eating coffee berries. He took some of the berries back to the monastery, and the abbot made a drink from them. The monks discovered that the new beverage helped to keep them awake during their evening prayers. Soon, coffee's fame spread, eventually reaching the Western world.

Coffee houses were founded in the 1500s after the plant began to be widely cultivated. Though coffee consumption was at first encouraged by the government, officials soon realized that coffee tended to stimulate creativity and radical thinking, a recipe for dissent and sedition. So coffee houses were banned, with limited success. 

Throughout the world, there have been many attempts to outlaw coffee.

One sultan named Murad IV (1612-1640) banned alcohol, tobacco, and coffee. He enforced it by roaming the streets of Constantinople and beheaded anyone whom he caught breaking the ban. 

In Rome, Pope Clement VIII's advisors wanted him to ban coffee because it was popular with Muslims. After tasting it, the pope came to a different conclusion, saying, "This devil's drink is so delicious... we should cheat the devil by baptizing it."

King Gustav III of Sweden tried to scientifically prove coffee's harmful effects by experimenting on twin convicts condemned to death. He commuted their sentences on the condition that one twin drank three pots of coffee a day for the rest of his life. The other twin had to drink the same amount of tea. Doctors monitored them, but, ironically, the doctors died before the twins did. 

Right now, I'm trying to germinate a dwarf variety of Coffea arabica, but it is not very easy. Coffee seeds can take anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months to sprout. 

If you want to try growing it, though, I have found an inexpensive way to do so. The Vermont Coffee Company will give you coffee seeds if you send them a self-addressed envelope with two stamps on it. And, if your plant eventually produces beans, the company will roast them for you. For more information, click here. 

Trade Winds Fruit has several varieties of coffee seeds under $4. 

Here are some basic germination instructions:

1. Soak the seeds overnight in a dish of lukewarm water. This softens the seed coat and speeds up the germination process.
2. Plant the seeds about 1/2"-1" deep in sterile potting soil. 
3. Water carefully, not letting the seeds dry out. 
4. Wait. 
5. Wait some more. Keep watering.
6. After a few months, you might get a coffee sprout.

Coffee does not tolerate cold weather, so keep it indoors unless you live in zone 10a or higher. Water twice per week. Use a fertilizer with a high proportion of nitrogen. After 2 or 3 years, fruit is possible. Some sources suggest shocking the plant into bloom by watering it a lot in the spring after reducing its water intake during the winter.  

A Short History of Tomatoes (And How to Grow Them)

Because they are members of the nightshade family (Solanaceae), most Europeans and Americans thought for hundreds of years that tomatoes were poisonous. Native to the Andes mountains and cultivated by the Aztecs, tomatoes were introduced to the Old World by the conquistadors, who brought tomato seeds with them when they returned to Europe.

Each country in Europe seemed to have its own name for the tomato. In France, it was known as pomme d'amour, or apple of love. In Germany, it was called Wolfpfirsich ("wolf peach") because witches were thought to summon werewolves with nightshade, a plant associated with tomatoes. The Italians named it pomo dei Mori, or "Moors' apple." Then they changed it to pomi d'oro, or "apple of gold" (the varieties commonly grown in Italy at the time were yellow).

Because most people thought tomatoes were poisonous, tomato plants were grown primarily as ornamentals. However, that all changed on September 26, 1820 when in Salem, New Jersey, Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson stood on the steps of the courthouse and publicly consumed an entire basket of tomatoes. Because he survived this daring feat, everyone was finally convinced that tomatoes were not poisonous, after all. 

Tomatoes are very easy to grow. They exist in almost every color, and they can be a variety of sizes. A standard-sized tomato plant needs a three-gallon pot to accommodate its extensive root system. Dwarf varieties can be grown in much smaller pots. 

When choosing a variety of tomato to grow, consider whether it is determinate or indeterminate. Determinate tomato plants are annuals; they grow to a certain height, produce fruit within a limited time span, and die. Most dwarf varieties are determinate. Indeterminate tomatoes keep growing and flowering until they are killed by frost. Both types can be grown in containers, but indeterminate tomatoes need to be pruned. 

Right now, I am growing a variety called "Micro Tom," which was developed in the 1990s by the University of Florida. It is the smallest tomato plant in the world, growing no taller than eight inches. Other compact varieties include "Tiny Tim" and "Lizzano," which is an All-America Selections winner. Micro Tom and Tiny Tim are both open-pollinated and determinate, and Lizzano is a hybrid and semi-determinate.

Here's how to grow them:

1. Plant one seed in each pot 1/4" deep in potting soil.   
2. Water carefully; if you water too much, the seeds may rot. If you don't water enough, the seeds will dry out and die. Water only when the surface of the soil has begun to dry-- I recommend using a spray bottle. 
3. After they have sprouted (usually within 4-10 days), keep them by a sunny window. 
4. If you're growing an indeterminate variety, you may need a stake or a cage such as this one to support it. To prune an indeterminate tomato plant, cut off the suckers that grow between the main branches and the stem. This will encourage fruit production. 

Tomato plants love heat, and they need at least 6 hours of sunlight per day. They also require frequent watering. Since tomato plants are heavy feeders, they benefit from regular fertilization; a complete fertilizer administered every other week is best.