In article opsejf04kpadtv40@matservices,
M. Tiefert wrote:
On Sat, 18 Sep 2004 13:48:01 +0100, Janet Galpin
wrote:

In fact I now
have one or two which are what I assume to be over-ripe (though I now
realise from the rest of the thread that ripeness is more complicated
than I was thinking)

Actually, when it comes to many fruit/seed crops, "ripe" can be defined in
two ways (if not more). There's "botanically ripe", which means that the
fruit contains mature seed that can be planted next season, and there's
"horticulturally ripe", which that the fruit is at the desired stage for
eating.

Quite. This rather futile thread started with me saying that
sweetcorn (effectively) never gets over the stage of being
horticulturally ripe into that of being botanically ripe (and
not eatable as green mealies, a.k.a. sweetcorn) in the UK, due
to our lack of sun and heat in the 'summer'.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.