You say tomato, I say Mortgage Lifter?

Spring is upon us and I’ve spent a lot of time flipping through gardening books, perusing the local nurseries, and trying to decide what to plant. Every time I thought I had made a selection, ok so I’ll plant the tomatoes here, another question would inevitably crop up. (Who knew there were that many different tomato varieties out there?)

Looking through seed catalogs I was actually struck by some really interesting tomato names. One of the tomatoes I came across, the Mortgage Lifter, turned out to have a great back story. Apparently, sometime in the early 20th century, a West Virginia auto repairman known as Radiator Charlie created an extremely popular tomato. In just four years, Charlie paid off his $6000 mortgage by selling his tomato seedlings for $1 each. How ‘bout them love apples?

Love apples? You mean apples, right? Not so. Did you know that in colonial America tomatoes were believed to be poisonous and grown only as ornamental plants called “love apples,” and that the Italian name for tomato is pomodoro, meaning “apple of love.”

Italians and tomatoes lead me to the conclusion of this rambling post. Several of the tomato names I came across reminded me of Mafia nicknames, so I couldn’t resist putting together a little “quiz” for fun. (Who knew a seed catalog could be so entertaining?)

Can you tell which of the following are old mafia nicknames and which are tomatoes? (scroll down to the bottom of the post for answers)

1. Banana Legs
2. Bloody Butcher
3. Box Car Willie
4. Diamond Jim
5. Dingwall Scotty
6. Fat Richie
7. Vinnie Hot

Happy planting and eventual eating everyone!!!!!! Or should I say… piantatura felice e finalmente mangiare del tutto!!!! But that would be a direct translation and probably be really weird.

Answers to quiz: (1.,2.,3. and 5. are tomatoes)

By: Laurie Scott