As I was looking though the different food holidays that we can celebrate to make April even a little more exciting, there were some good ones.

While I could have chosen the “sexier” ones like “National BLT month” or maybe even my personal fave, “National Grilled Cheese Month”, I was quite intrigued to see “National Florida Tomato Month”.

It’s not just any old Tomato month, but FLORIDA tomato month. Now, this may kind of sound like a snooze fest if we talk about tomatoes, but they are far more exciting than you may think! Here are some fun facts I learned about tomatoes.

There are at least 10,000 varieties of tomatoes.

One pound of tomato seeds will produce about 140,000 tomato plants.

The key ingredient in 78% of Americans favorite recipes is tomatoes. I can totally see this. My two favorite kinds of food is Mexican food and Italian. I don’t know if I could live without chips and fresh salsa!

In 2009, Florida and California accounted for 70% of the U.S. fresh tomato production. California accounted for 95% of processed tomato production. Ok, I can see why it is called FLORIDA Tomato Month. Florida grows a ton of tomatoes for us.

The first tomato plants were planted in Greece by a Friar Francis in 1818, in the gardens of a Capuchin monastery at the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates (built in 335 B.C.) in Athens.

Supposedly Ronald Reagan didn't eat a tomato for 70 years. His dislike of tomatoes sprang from a childhood prank. He had been given what he thought was an apple, but when he took a bite realized it was a tomato.

The smallest species of tomatoes are less than three-quarters of an inch in diameter. There are both red and yellow varieties.

The highest concentration of vitamin C in tomatoes is in the jelly-like substance around the seeds.

The tomato was named the Official Fruit of Ohio and Tennessee.

The tomato was named the Official Vegetable of Louisiana and New Jersey.

And now here’s the funny part, Arkansas has named the tomato the official fruit AND vegetable! Haha. I can just see them in a court room and the guy in charge says, “Guys, we’ve been at this for hours. We’ve taken votes 3 times now. We’ve heard both sides of the argument. Let’s take one last vote……..okay. That’s it! It’s a tie again. Whatever! We’re just gonna call it a fruit AND a vegetable.”

I hope you go out there and make your very favorite dish this week with tomatoes! I’m gonna go get some tomatoes, onions, cilantro and jalepenos to make some salsa!