The earliest tomatoes were little sour berries. They grew on low bushes in dry, sunny places in the Andes mountains in South America , beginning about 350 million years ago. Tomato plants are related to nightshade, which is poisonous.
Another common inquiry is “What do tomatoes and potatoes have in common?”.
Tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers have several attributes in common: All are members of the nightshade family (Solanaceae). All are native to the Americas and were first domesticated by Native Americans.
Where do potatoes come from?
Potatoes were first cultivated in the mountainous regions of Peru and Bolivia 3000 to 7000 years ago, where they are thought to have originated.
The potato is a root vegetable native to the Americas, a starchy tuber of the plant Solanum tuberosum, and the plant itself, a perennial in the family Solanaceae. Wild potato species, originating in modern-day Peru, can be found throughout the Americas, from the United States to southern Chile.
This begs the inquiry “How are potatoes grown?”
Some think that potatoes are generally grown from seed potatoes , tubers specifically grown to be free from disease and to provide consistent and healthy plants. To be disease free, the areas where seed potatoes are grown are selected with care. In the US, this restricts production of seed potatoes to only 15 states out of all 50 states where potatoes are grown.
Some sources claimed today, wild potatoes still grow in parts of Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador . Potatoes didn’t reach Ireland until after the discovery of the New World, when Spanish explorers entered South America looking for gold and precious metals. Largely overlooked, the potato eventually made its way overseas where it was met with a less-than-enthusiastic greeting.
How did the potato spread around the world?
The potato has since spread around the world and has become a staple crop in many countries. It arrived in Europe sometime before the end of the 16th century by two different ports of entry: the first in Spain around 1570, and the second via the British Isles between 1588 and 1593.
This begs the query “What was the first potato crop in North America?”
Early colonists in Virginia and the Carolinas may have grown potatoes from seeds or tubers from Spanish ships, but the earliest certain potato crop in North America was brought to New Hampshire in 1719 from Derry . The plants were from Ireland, so the crop became known as the “Irish potato”.
When were potatoes first domesticated in South America?
The potato was first domesticated in the region of modern-day southern Peru and extreme northwestern Bolivia between 8000 and 5000 BC . Cultivation of potatoes in South America may go back 10,000 years, but tubers do not preserve well in the archaeological record, making identification difficult.
Where do tomatoes grow in the wild?
From its origins as a wild plant in the Americas to the thousands of varieties grown around the world today, tomatoes have evolved into one of the world’s most popular food crops. Today’s tomatoes began as wild plants in the Andes, growing in parts of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru .