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"American commanders cite al-Qaida's severe brand of Islam, which is so extreme that in Baqouba, al-Qaida has warned street vendors not to place tomatoes beside cucumbers because the vegetables are different genders, Col. David Sutherland said."

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18234571/

No comment, on my part, is required.

Dan,

You think this is a joke, but I have this problem all the time in my greenhouse. If I leave them alone for too long the cucumbers molest the tomatoes. I understand al-Qaida's noble stand on this completely - anything that can be done to protect the tomatoes from randy cucumbers gets my vote.

The real problem with allowing this kind of horticultural fornication is the baby cucumatoes - no one wants to eat those freaky little critters.

Blacknad.

I've been thinking about this for a few minutes. I realized that the actual image of those two, side-by-side (or better yet the cucumbers flanked by tomats) is a very pleasurable image. Wow!

I guess in such a repressive society, things like that would be a real problem! But on to more serious matters.

I've noticed that many of the religious prohibitions seem to be designed to prevent health/disease problems. Keeping things clean and separated made much more sense back in the days when nothing was washed (& still does). It's people who have pigs that will start the avian flu pandemic.

Maybe there is some fungus/pest that is common between cukes and tomats.

But it sure is funny on the surface.

~~

Arrgghh...(is that the correct spelling?)
_______

samwik: "Maybe there is some fungus/pest that is common between cukes and tomats."

- You cannot credit those abominations with an ounce of good reason.

Certainly no good reasons that are known.
I imagine religions as incorporating some folk wisdom whose origins are then lost and mutated.

...but now here's another example of ridiculous prohibitions perhaps having some practical result: "The cucumber mosaic virus has one of the broadest host ranges of any of the tomato viruses. The disease affects a number of important vegetables and ornamentals including tomato, pepper, cucumber, melons, squash, spinach, celery, beets, and petunia." -thanks google.

Dare we ask what the punishment is for rubbing cucumbers up against the tomatoes? Probably way out of proportion to the crime of spreading powdery mildew (though there probably were times in history when food was much more important than today).

~SA

Samwik wrote:
"Maybe there is some fungus/pest that is common between cukes and tomats."

That pest is called Wackosa fundamentalia.

Rather prolific at times
Habitat caves
Killed by exposure to sunlight

a M-organism

And highly R-selected, too.