Fruit & Veggie Trivia: The history and facts surrounding our common fruits and vegetables are absolutely fascinating! How they got to where they are is often quite a surprise. Would it surprise you to learn that the humble tomato was once believed to be deadly poison, and was called the love apple? Or that throughout most of history, the Italians had no tomato sauce for their spaghetti? Isn't it interesting that the Irish, who flocked to America in the mid-1800s because of potato famines in their homeland, never had potatos before Columbus? How did they get so attached to them? What did they eat before? Did you know that papaya and pineapple, fruits almost synonymous with Hawaii, originated in Central and South America? Can you guess which vegetable is fermented to make Vodka in Russia? Hint-it isn't a grape! Did you know that cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, collards, and chinese cabbage are all really the same plant species? They have been artifically bred from wild cabbage to emphasize different parts of the plant. Maybe that's why if you dislike one you tend to hate them all! Did you know that one of the likely reasons the North American Indians never developed agriculture on a large scale was that there was just nothing edible? This only began to change when they began trading with their more prosperous southern neighbors. Why do you think the Middle East is called the "Cradle of Civilization"? Could it have anything to do with all the good stuff to eat that was available there?

1. Sometimes people make a juice out of me, but don't drink me too often or you'll turn orange!

2. When Columbus landed in the new world, he thought he was in India so he called the natives "Indians". He was told to bring back spices, so guess what he called me?

3. In Germany, people who first grew me tried to eat my leaves, but they tasted terrible. They almost gave up on me till they tried my tubers!

4. When you cook me, I will weep and sigh.

5. I used to be called a love apple, and people thought I was poisonous. Now I'm on your pizza.

6. Russians ferment me to make Vodka. Hint: I'm not a grape.

7. I was taken out of the wild in Europe and turned into all of the following: kale, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, collards.

8. I grow in huge plantations in Hawaii, but I'm an immigrant from South America.

9. I came from India, and I'm very sour.

10. Native Americans ground me into a "meal" and used me for baking.

11. If you've eaten me, you've also probably eaten the tiny wasp that died inside my fruit.

12. I am a North American, and am one of the very few blue foods.

13. I am incorrectly called a berry, and my seeds sit on the outside of a pulpy cusion.

14. I have a mutant relative, the nectarine, that isn't fuzzy.

15. My kind of fruit is called a "pome", and that's my real name in French.

16. I might be used to scare people in the Autumn, but I also make a great tasting pie!

17. I can "fix" nitrogen in my roots, so growing me actually improves your soil!

18. People eat my flowers, and they love my heart, but I am thorny so be careful.

19. When a blight destroyed my crop, thousands of Irish starved and left their homeland for the New World.

20. Wheat, rice, corn, oats, barley, millet, and bamboo are all members of this family. Without us, most humans would go hungry. What is our family called?