GREEN THUMB SUNDAY
Look what I found in our local Homebase...I was sooooo tempted to buy one but was very good and resisted the urge.
The Victorians grew pineapples in special pineapple pits, where the required heat was provided by a surrounding layer of fermenting manure. The Lost Gardens at Heligan in Cornwall have produced ripe pineapples using the Victorian method in their restored pineapple pit. Due to the huge amount of labour involved, these pineapples cost between £600 and £1,000 each to produce in 1997.
A Bit Of Trivia
Workers who cut up pineapples eventually have no fingerprints, this being due to the action of the proteolytic enzyme, bromelain, dissolving them. This trick is well-referenced by authors of the crime novel world.
13 comments:
When I lived in the tropics,the meat you could buy was, to say the least, rather tough.
I was told that if I squeezed a pineapple, and marinated the meat in the juice, it would make it tender.
It worked every time. In fact, you couldn't leave it too long as the meat would begin to disintergrate!
Papaya had a similair, but more gentle effect.
I would love to try to grow a pineapple, but I think they need more humidity than we have here in Arizona. I have friends who grow them in Virginia--they keep them in greenhouse ever winter. They have pineapples every September.
I first saw pineapples growing at the Eden Project, also in Cornwall :-) I had thought they grew on trees and was so surprised to see them in the ground! I hope the pineapples you saw were not as expensive as the ones at Heligan:-)
How tempting!!!!!!!!
Interesting facts about pineapples. It is great to hear of the ingenuity of other people and other times! thanks for stopping by my blog.
I saw those pineapple beds at Heligan when I first opened - they were not successful the first year as I remember, but have been since.
I had no idea about loss of fingerprints and pineapples. I haven't read enough mysteries, have I.
Hope you're having a lovely day, Ruth.
What fabulous photographs. I visited a pineapple plantation in Australia a few years ago. Thanks for the memory.
Sara from farmingfriends
that's an interesting information (about having no fingerprints)!
they grow quite well here, and at one time or another my family and I used to have them in our garden, too. :)
Loved seeing the pictures of the pineapples and the trivia about growing them in pits and the fingerprints was fascinating. I have never heard such things before but it makes sense when I think about it. Keep up the good work....I love visiting your great blogs.
Jon on 7-29-07
http://mississippigarden.blogspot.com
Pineapples make a nice photo. Interesting about the finger prints.
That's so weird about the fingerprints and pineapples. They are yummy though.
I like the facts x x
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