The answer is simple: plants! Since fruits and vegetables both come from plants, it’s logical to WONDER how they’re different from each other.

Fruits contain seeds and develop from the ovaries of flowering plants. The first step in making fruits is pollination. Fruit trees and plants produce flowers. Then, bees, bats, birds, and even the wind spread pollen from one flower to another.

This sets off the second step, the process of fertilization, which results in a fertilized seed contained within the flower’s ovary. Once this happens, the petals of the flower will fall away, leaving an immature fruit that begins to grow.

Inside the ovary, the seed produces hormones that cause the cells of the ovary wall to multiply, expand, and thicken. Over the growing season, the “mother” plant receives sunlight, water, and nutrients from the soil to keep growing, helping the immature fruit to continue growing larger.

Eventually, the fruit will release a hormone called ethylene that signals the ripening process. Ethylene causes enzymes to be released that make the fruit change colors and become softer, sweeter, and delicious to eat!

Vegetables, on the other hand, are all the other edible parts of a plant, including roots (carrots, potatoes, and turnips), bulbs (onions), and stems (celery). Vegetables are also leaves (lettuce, spinach, and kale), stalks (asparagus and corn), and flower buds (broccoli and cauliflower).

In addition to sunlight, water, and proper temperature, plants need certain nutrients from the soil to grow these different vegetable parts. For example, plants need potassium for root development, nitrogen for healthy leaves, and phosphorus for flower development.

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