I’d never noticed that a tomato’s seeds were arranged radially inside the fruit.

Tomato seeds are remarkably resilient, surviving the heat of the compost bin and the acids of the mammalian digestive tract. Every time I spread compost on my garden, tomato seedlings pop up, and I’m happy to let these volunteers grow*. Given the competition from other hungry critters, I usually pick the fruit at first blush and ripen it indoors.

*Squash/pumpkin seedlings, on the other hand, are plucked at first sight. I don’t have room for their sprawl.