(Spinach)

The lovely dark green leaves of spinach are delicious cooked or raw and high in nutritional value. Spinach has been cultivated for centuries and thought to have originated in southwestern Asia. It was introduced to Europe in the Middle Ages and brought to North America by colonists. This cold hardy annual herb is a cool season crop that will quickly flower and die once temperatures heat up.

Spinach forms a rosette of thick, fleshy, lobed leaves when young. The leaves may be flat and smooth,...

(Spinach)

The vigorous spinach variety, ‘Spargo’ is noted for having excellent seedling vigor, fast germination and early maturation. Its semi-savoyed leaves are ready to harvest in only 37 to 40 days. It is also very slow to bolt and winter hardy.

The lovely dark green leaves of spinach are delicious cooked or raw and high in nutritional value. Spinach has been cultivated for centuries and thought to have originated in southwestern Asia. It was introduced to Europe in the Middle Ages and brought to...

Grown mostly for its edible root, salsify is also cultivated for its greens and pretty flowers. A common wildflower in the Mediterranean, and an introduced weed in much of the rest of the temperate world, this biennial has long been popular in European vegetable gardens.

First-year plants form dense rosettes of long, tender, grass-like leaves with milky sap. The leaves are good in salads. The long, creamy-white, parsnip-like tap root matures 4 or 5 months after germination. Unharvested plants...

The heirloom salsify 'Mammoth Sandwich Island' produces large off-white roots with flavorful white flesh. A common wildflower in the Mediterranean, and an introduced weed in much of the rest of the temperate world, salsify has long been popular in European vegetable gardens. A biennial grown mostly as a root crop, it also bears edible greens and pretty flowers.

First-year plants form dense rosettes of long, tender, grass-like leaves with milky sap. The leaves are good in salads. The long,...

(Mache)

This cool season field green has numerous common names such as corn salad, feldsalat, fetticus, lamb's lettuce, mache and nut lettuce. Its small, rounded, somewhat fleshy leaves are produced when weather is cool or even cold. It will even withstand snow. Originally from Eurasia and North Africa, it is a true annual that self-sows freely and has become naturalized in many other countries including parts of the United States. As a green, it is typically eaten in salads and has a fresh, nutty flavor.

The...

(Gala Mache, Mache)

A cold-hardy, mildew-resistant alternative to leaf lettuce, Gala mache has numerous common names such as corn salad, feldsalat, fetticus, lamb's lettuce and nut lettuce. Its small, rounded, somewhat fleshy leaves are produced when weather is cool or even cold. It even withstands snow. Originally from Eurasia and North Africa, it is a true annual that self-sows freely and has become naturalized in many other countries including parts of the United States. As a green, it is typically eaten in salads...

(Faba Bean)

Cultivated for thousands of years, broad beans - also known as horse, Windsor, English and fava beans - preceded snap beans in the human diet. In addition to being large, fava beans are nutritious, high in protein (approximately 23%) and plants are variable in habit. It is thought the area or origin or domestication is the Mediterranean Basin, though no wild species are present. Today broad beans are used for human consumption, dried or fresh, and as animal feed for horses and poultry.

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(Blackeyed Pea, Cowpea)

The humble cowpea is an essential world crop for food, forage and green cover. It is eaten dry or fresh. Even its new tender leafy shoots are edible. Its protein-rich seeds are a vital food source in developing countries. Wild forms are found throughout the tropical regions the world. The center of origin is thought to be Africa.

Easy vegetables to grow, cowpeas are bushy or somewhat vining herbaceous annuals with trifoliate (three-leaved) leaves, arranged in an alternate fashion on the stem....

(Asparagus Bean, Yardlong Bean)

An easy vegetable to grow successfully, yard long beans are a type of cowpea and not a bean. They are grown for their unusual long seed pods which are harvested before the peas or seeds inside fully mature and are snapped and eaten like beans. Wild forms of cowpeas are found throughout the tropical regions the world; however it is thought by some the center of origin is Africa. Yard long beans are popular in Asia.

This interesting vegetable is an herbaceous annual. The leaves are trifoliate...

(Corn)

As one of the key grains that feeds the world today, corn is a vitally important plant. It also has an interesting history. Oddly enough, corn does not exist in the wild, and research supports that it is truly the result of human innovation. Modern corn has been traced back to the wild Central American grass teosinte (Zea mays ssp. parviglumis), which does not resemble cultivated corn. It is believed that over 2000 years mutants of this primitive maize were discovered, selected,...