The Alien Tomato

Although I have always put tomatoes in the refrigerator, I have always heard that I shouldn't.  Not sure why.

So, awhile back, I bought a couple of tomatoes to use for BLT's.  One such hot-house tomato was on the counter but got pushed back behind boxes of crackers.  This morning, as I was finally clearing off the counter, that tomato appeared.  I expected it to be mushy and moldy, but it wasn't.  What I discovered, instead, was that it was sprouting!

I am 72-years old.  Have grown, eaten, and  purchased many a tomato through the years.  I have had to throw away a bunch of them because they had gone past the pail before I could use them...but never, in my entire life, have I witnessed an unrefrigerated tomato sprout through the skin!

The minute I saw that the tomato had sprouted, I threw it away...but then took it out of the trash to take pictures of it to post online.  In the course of the day, more sprouts showed up, and I became enthralled.  This is Nature's way of sustaining a species, and I'm not 100% sure that I should discard it.  I mean, I love tomatoes.  If I found a way to plant these tiny seedlings and could sustain them all through the winter, could I have free tomatoes next spring?

My brain tells me to throw the tomato out, but my heart and my upbringing tells me to try...in the same way that I tried to revive a baby mouse that we found in the bushes...and in the same way that I saved a baby Robin at a Boy Scout camp.  (The latter didn't end well.  I don't care to talk about it.)

Should I save the tomato sprouts and try to grow them for a crop next spring/summer, or should I realistically understand that these tiny plants need more tending than I have to give?   Stay tuned!