You know it is important to eat lots of fruit and vegetables. But did you know that watermelons were once used to carry water? Or that the largest pumpkin weighed almost 1,700 pounds?

There are so many interesting things to learn about fruits and vegetables. In fact, knowing information about your favorite foods makes it more fun to eat them.

Get an A+ with these fruit and vegetable facts.

• There are more than 7,000 different varieties of apples grown throughout the world.

• Strawberries are the only fruit with the seeds on the outside of the skin.

• Kiwi fruit got its name from New Zealand’s national bird, the Kiwi, because the animal’s fuzzy brown fur looks just like the skin of the fruit.

• The vitamins in blueberries can help keep your brain sharp.

• Cucumbers are actually a fruit, not a vegetable.

• The pineapple was named by Western European explorers who thought the fruit looked like a large pinecone.

• The world’s largest watermelon weighed nearly 270 pounds!

• The world’s heaviest carrot weighed almost 20 pounds.

• Apples, peaches pears, plums, apricots, cherries and many berries are all close relatives of the rose flower.

• In 1893, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the tomato was a vegetable, not a fruit.

• Broccoli was once referred to as “Italian asparagus.”

• The leaves of corn are called “husks” and the kernels are actually “seeds.”

• Lettuce dates back to ancient times, and was served to kings and royalty in Ancient Greece and Rome.

• Mushroom colonies can grow to be so big that they can be seen from airplanes and satellites!

Eating five servings of fruit and vegetables every day is a great way to be healthy and strong!