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PLANT TRIVIA GOOD PASTIME FOR -17 DEGREE WINTER DAYS
Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?
This question was on an email trivia list I received the other day and it sent me searching for additional trivia and quiz questions related to horticulture...I mean, what other gardening activity is there when the temperature is -17 degrees (as it was when this column was written)?
If you answered asparagus and rhubarb to the above question, you are one for one. Answers to the following questions appear below.
1. What Minneapolis street tree was growing 150 million years ago, escaped extinction only because it was cultivated by Chinese monks, and has fleshy, evil-smelling fruit?
2. What fruit has its seeds on the outside?
3. In liquor stores you can buy pear brandy with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn't been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?
4. Only two vegetables or fruits are never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or used in any other form but fresh. What are they?
5. This "vegetable" is actually a fleshy fruit with many seeds. Many times it is mistaken for a vegetable because it is not sweet. Originally thought to be poisonous, it gained acceptance in 1820 when Colonel Robert G. Johnson ate an entire basket full of them while sitting on the courthouse steps in Salem, New Jersey. The assembled crowd expected to see him drop dead, but when he remained healthy, this plant won its spot as an American favorite.
6. This small, crisp root of the mustard family is poetically called "the rose of winter" in French. Its name comes from the Greek raphanes ("easily reared"). In most locations it is ready to pull and eat three weeks after it's planted. Ancient Greeks valued it so much that they made small replicas of it in gold. Romans were less reverent -- they picked the spicy roots only so they could hurl them at politicians. This vegetable was also grown in Egypt and was part of the staple diet given to workers on the Great Pyramid, along with onions and garlic.
7. Of all fruits "native" to the United States, this is the largest. Its flavor has been compared to banana, pineapple & mango. It is grown in 26 states from Florida to Maine, and from Maryland to Nebraska. There is an old folk song written about this fruit.
8. The wild version of this veggie is thought to date back to prehistoric times. The bitter taste of its roots indicates that it was probably valued more as an herb than an edible vegetable. By contrast, its cultivated form has been eaten and enjoyed for approximately 2,000 years. Rich in Vitamin A, it comes in a variety of colors, from orange to red, white, and even purple.
9. Pound for pound, this dense wood puts out as much heat when burned as bituminous coal. It was used extensively for tool handles, barn-door hinges, ladder rungs, ramrods for muzzleloaders, and even golf-club shafts. What tree is it?
10. Name a vegetable of which we consume the flower. It consists of a single stem bearing a large, swollen head consisting of tightly packed white or creamy-white florets, known as "curd." It originated in Cyprus and is a good source of vitamin C.
ANSWERS
1. Ginkgo
2. Strawberry
3. The pear grew inside the bottle. The bottles are placed over pear buds when they are small, and are wired in place on the tree. The bottle is left in place for the whole growing season. When the pears are ripe, they are snipped off at the stems.
4. Lettuce and watermelon
5. Tomato
6. Radish
7. Pawpaw. In the song, "The Pawpaw Patch," a little girl was "pickin' up pawpaws, putting them in her pocket."
8. Carrot
9. Hickory
10. Cauliflower
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PUTTING DOWN ROOTS:
A Delightful Blend of
Gardening Wisdom, Wit
and Whimsy
$10 + $2 for shipping
by Cliff Johnson |
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