Living and Dying in the G.O.E - Part 1

I've been doing some thinking about the creation account from Genesis 1-4. Specifically about the Garden of Eden (G.O.E). I've always been curious about some of the details about the story that are often passed over too quickly.

This post will be first in a series of posts regarding some observations and questions I have about the G.O.E.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

God also said, "Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you, for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth-everything having the breath of life in it. [I have given] every green plant for food." And it was so. - Genesis 1:29-30

1. God says in the above that every tree bearing fruit with seeds is for food, and also the every green plant. Can we take this to mean that the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (TOTKOGAE) was not green and did not bear fruit contain seed? One might exclaim 'who cares!?'. I do. If the TOTKOGAE didn't have seed, it would not reproduce and would have been the single source of that info. Also, it would NOT have been intended for food if it were not green, etc. There might be implications in these statements? Don't know - still thinking about it.

2. Why did God plant this tree in the G.O.E. to begin with? If it was not for Adam & Eve, why put it there? Was it for someone/something else? Was it planted by God?

3. What is the fruit? Not biologically, but more "what is it's purpose"?
I am not inclined to think it's a metaphor, so I am curious to know if the fruit indeed contained the knowledge (in some capacity), or if the knowledge of Good and Evil was realized upon the disobedient action of taking from the tree.

Some possible ideas about the fruit:
- What if Evil is the essence of the absence of God. How I see it, God's person demands that all things exist and are held together by Him. He's totally good, and without defect. Where God isn't, life isn't. If God weren't, what would be (nothing). Where God isn't life isn't. What if Evil is what happens when God isn't or doesn't. Could it be said that to be disconnected from God is Evil. Learning of Evil (after knowing God), would by default reveal to one the essence of Good.

Dinner time - more to come!