The Mighty Pomegranate

The other day, I was editing all of the photographs that are stored on my computer, sorting through photos I no longer needed or wanted. I deleted over 1,300 images and Photoshop files, amounting to nearly 3GB of space on my hard drive! (Yes, I'm an image hoarder.) In one of the folders, I came upon this photograph of a pomegrante that I took in 2008 and it brought me back to the very day I took the shot. It is nostalgic for me because this was the first pomegranate that I had ever bought for myself, and it was precisely because of Martha Stewart that I purchased it: a great Martha Moment! I had seen pomegranates in my grandparents' homes growing up but I never really paid any attention to them, not fully appreciating their unusual good looks, unique taste and health benefits. I had seen Martha make something with pomegranates on her show that chilly November morning in 2008 and I vowed, then and there, to finally buy one of these strange fruits for myself. I was so inspired by its size and shape that I decided to photograph it using my first digital camera for posterity. You can see more from that "photo shoot" here.

Pomegranates are packed with health benefits. They are an excellent source of Vitamin C and the seeds from one pomegrante contain more potassium than 12 bananas! They are also filled with anti-oxidants. Pomegranates are native to the Mediterranean but the Spanish began growing them as crops in California over 200 years ago. Today, the San Joaquin Valley, in the heart of California, has the only concentration of commercially-grown pomegranates in North America.. Click here to see all the ways Martha has used these amazing fruits.