the 2,000 year old seed? For real - I'm not making this up. Apparently Israel doctors and scientists have actually germinated a date seed that they estimate to be about 2,000 years old. The story behind the seed is that it was highly praised in the Bible and Koran for its qualities and no longer existed. Three seeds were found in Masada during an excavation and one has actually sprouted.

Even though only one is growing, that's still pretty exciting considering its age. According to the scientist who is running the project, dates need to grow 30 years to reach maturity and it's the female that bears fruit and is considered holy. So the upshot is the scientist has no way of knowing if it's male or female and it will be years before she finds out.

But you know what I say? Heck - who cares? The fact that the seed still had the stamina to sprout is one for the history books. And with that kind of determination I'm guessing it's female. Wouldn't you? Happy Gardening.