Funky Tomato!

Several weeks ago, I was making soft tacos, guacamole, and PW's Pico de Gallo. I had all the ingredients ready. We had one tomato in the fruit bowl on the counter, and I figured I would use it before it went bad. This tomato hadn't been there very long, but I wasn't sure if there would be another chance to use it before it spoiled.


This tomato was firm, a pretty red with no bruises or squishy spots. First, I cut off the top. Nothing strange.




Next, something I have never seen. I started to slice the tomato. That's when I noticed something strange. I'll admit, my first reaction was worms.



Upon further examination, there were leaves. These weren't worms, they were SPROUTS! I don't normally take pictures of what I'm cooking, because, lets face it, I don't cook anything that is that exciting. But I knew I had to take pictures, becasue no one would ever believe me.

Of course, I wasn't just going to stop at that point. I had to see just how much of these sprouts there were. I then sliced the outer layer of the tomato off. This thing was COVERED! The only explaination we could come up with was that the tomato seeds fermented and started to grow inside itself.

Needless to say, we didn't use the tomato in the pico. BUT we did decide to plant it. We put it in a planter box in the kitchen. It almost started to take root, but then quickly faded.

I googled "sprouts growing inside tomato" and I didn't come up with much. There was one article that claimed it was from fertilizers and just another reason to eat organic food. This tomato had "frankenstein bumps".

And this blog. She didn't find her "tomato inside a tomato" until after she boiled it.

And this blog. The man was surprised to find a "green arm" coming out of his tomato. He didn't cut into his, just let it grow. It is pretty impressive.