We might get a little break from the rain on Wednesday, then it starts again on Thursday. This is staying-home-under-the-covers weather. Too bad I have to go to work. WSing tomatoes is the only way to go, IMHO. If nothing else, you don't have to worry about that hardening off process. In-out-in-out-in-out ..... PV

There's no problem eating the fruits at all and not even any problem eating those germinated seeds if you wanted to. The several alkaloids are present only in the foliage and in very small unripe fruits, but as the fruits mature the alkaloids also disappear. And it isn't at all uncommon to see seeds sprouted in store bought tomatoes which have been shipped and stored at low temps for long periods of time. Many have shown pictures here of just that. One can also see germinated seeds from time to time in ripe red/gold bicolor fruits I think mainly b'c the flesh of those is so soft. Carolyn

Wow - you all are quick! The seeds were not old, just from last season's crop. They were a nice buff color with some fuzz. I have seen the darker (fermented) seeds and I do not plant those. I did not try them on a paper towel, but I will try that with a couple of the seeds left. We have used those expandable peat pots to start them for the last four years. We then set the peats pots into those clear egg containers, kind of a mini greenhouse, they fit perfectly, and placed them in our garden window. The moisture level is fine, humidity good. I have baked things in the past... The seeds have been sown for just shy of a month. :( I can't think of anything different that was done. I will just have to buy plants, right? I so appreciate your follow-up & additional questions to make me think about what may have happened! Thank you so much, Carolyn and Spiced Ham!

Before I left work yesterday, several of my co-workers whom I told about the tomato asked me to rewrite my will - which I didn't, of course, although I will next year or so, and they still won't be in it. Caterpillars in food creep me out - I used to scream and drop the food if I would find one, although caterpillars in their normal homes do not bother me. I would hate shucking fresh corn from the field, for fear of finding a caterpillar. The sprouts in the tomato looked like little worms, and that was a bit creepy, but since I normally eat alfalfa sprouts, I wasn't that bothered by it. Lars