Close-up photos of plump apricots, juicy mangoes, crisp lettuce ... these are familiar to us all through cookery books and garden guides. But seeing fruit and vegetables as detailed art, viewed through eighteenth-century eyes, is something very different - and more interesting.Thanks to intrepid explorers and plant-hunters, Britain and the rest of Europe have long enjoyed a wide and wonderful array of fruit and vegetables. Some wealthy households even created orangeries and glasshouses for tender exotics and special pits in which to raise pineapples, while tomatoes, sweetcorn and runner beans from the New World expanded the culinary repertoire. This wealth of choice attracted interest beyond the kitchen and garden. In the 1730s, a prosperous Bavarian apothecary produced the first volume of a comprehensive A to Z of all available plants, meticulously documented, and lavishly illustrated by botanical artists. 'A Cornucopia of Fruit & Vegetables' is a glimpse into his world. It features exquisite illustrations of the edible plants in his historic treasury, allowing us to enjoy the sight of swan-necked gourds and horned lemons, smile at silkworms hovering over mulberries and delight at the quirkiness of 'strawberry spinach' ... a delicious medley of garden produce and much else.

Sometimes books can make our mouths water, and this volume, full of beautiful pictures of fruits and vegetables, will do just that. The at-level text and supporting photographs encourage a healthy and colorful diet, while presenting a cornucopia of vocabulary for fruits and vegetables, such as bananas, strawberries, and peppers. A concluding question asks readers to muse about which is their favorite, a fun way to review an impressive—and important—word list.

Two beautifully illustrated little giftbooks Whether to escape the rat race, help save the planet, economize, or all of the above, people are heading back to the land. Backyard gardens have never been so popular, farmers markets are abundant with seasonal and local produce, and a healthy nostalgia for growing heirloom plants is in vogue. These two books embrace this idea by reacquainting the reader with the origins, nature, and peculiarities of the world's produce. Among the many revelations in their pages: apples have been cultivated by humans for at least three millennia, fresh pineapple juice can be used as a meat tenderizer, carrots were once purple, and potatoes were originally kept as ornamental rather than edible plants. Combining beautiful reproductions of the finest nineteenth-century botanical illustrations with a miscellany of fascinating facts and extraordinary histories, these are ideal giftbooks for the heirloom gardener, locavore, or conservationist. Mike Darton is a writer and editor with a passion for words, knowledge, and trivia. His published titles include a large number of dictionaries and miscellanies, such as the parody "Spott's Miscellany." He lives in the United Kingdom. Lorraine Harrison is a successful gardener and gardening writer with a passion for exotic and heirloom vegetables. Among her previous titles are" How to Read Gardens "and "The Shaker Book of the Garden."

Here is your opportunity to discover the origins, nature and personalities of everyday and unusual fruit. Combining exquisite botanical illustrations with fascinating facts and practical tips for growing and enjoying your own produce, A Potted History of Fruit unearths a wealth of kitchen and garden knowledge.

For centuries we have known that fruit is important for health, but we are only just beginning to fully understand why. Bioactives in Fruit: Health Benefits and Functional Foods aims to summarise some of our current knowledge on the bioactive compounds that are associated with the health benefits of specific fruits with a strong emphasis on the validation of health benefits by human intervention trials. Reflecting the current interest in food and health, the book includes strategies to retain and enhance the bioactives in fruit through breeding, growing conditions, fruit storage, processing into ingredients and production of functional foods. To accomplish this task authors with expertise in biology, chemistry, pharmacology, food science, nutrition, medicine, and horticulture have contributed. They come from universities, government and industry funded research institutes and biotechnology and food companies in Europe, the United States, Asia and New Zealand to give the book a broad perspective. This book, describing fruit bioactives, their health benefits when consumed as a food and related topics regarding their development into fresh or processed functional foods, will be of use to postgraduate students, researchers, functional food product developers, food regulators and anyone who has curiosity about why fruit is good for you. The information contained within will provide plant breeders with new targets for the development of value-added horticultural products, and will also provide nutritionists and dieticians with a useful resource for developing strategies to assist in preventing or slowing disease onset or severity. Bioactives in Fruit: Health Benefits and Functional Foods is a major resource which will be required reading for anyone working in the fields of health and functional foods.

The tropics are the source of many of our familiar fruits, vegetables, oils, and spice, as well as such commodities as rubber and wood. Moreover, other tropical fruits and vegetables are being introduced into our markets to offer variety to our diet. Now, as tropical forests are increasingly threatened, we face a double-fold crisis: not only the loss of the plants but also rich pools of potentially useful genes. Wild populations of crop plants harbor genes that can improve the productivity and disease resistance of cultivated crops, many of which are vital to developing economies and to global commerce. Eight chapters of this book are devoted to a variety of tropical crops—beverages, fruit, starch, oil, resins, fuelwood, fodder, spices, timber, and nuts—the history of their domestication, their uses today, and the known extent of their gene pools, both domesticated and wild. Drawing on broad research, the authors also consider conservation strategies such as parks and reserves, corporate holdings, gene banks and tissue culture collections, and debt-for-nature swaps. They stress the need for a sensitive balance between conservation and the economic well-being of local populations. If economic growth is part of the conservation effort, local populations and governments will be more strongly motivated to save their natural resources. Distinctly practical and soundly informative, this book provides insight into the overwhelming abundance of tropical forests, an unsettling sense of what we may lose if they are destroyed, and a deep appreciation for the delicate relationships between tropical forest plants and people around the world.

Ever wish someone could give you a big handle on the entire Bible without years of study? Well, this book not only promises to give you that big handle—it will deliver on the promise. You should be asking, how is this possible? The Bible is one story told over and over again, with many variations on the same theme. This structure is the Bible’s DNA. This basic seven-point pattern is the heartbeat of the Creation. It is the cycle of a human day and a human life. It is the pattern of the Tabernacle. It is the process of agriculture. It undergirds the speeches and Laws of God. It orders the rise and fall of nations and empires. It is also the structure of our worship. It is the rhythm of Christ, and it will open the Bible for you like never before.

Guide to fifty categories of edible plants including fruits, seeds, leaves, roots, oils. Detailed cultivar listing for 110 major crops. Taxonomic nomenclature of families, genera and species follows that of Tanaka and Kunkel. Classification of cultivars is modified ater Lewis and Hortur Third. In three sections: botanical listings, cultivar listings, and sources.

From Michael Pollan to locavores, Whole Foods to farmers' markets, today cooks and foodies alike are paying more attention than ever before to the history of the food they bring into their kitchens—and especially to vegetables. Whether it’s an heirloom tomato, curled cabbage, or succulent squash, from a farmers' market or a backyard plot, the humble vegetable offers more than just nutrition—it also represents a link with long tradition of farming and gardening, nurturing and breeding. In this charming new book, those veggies finally get their due. In capsule biographies of eleven different vegetables—artichokes, beans, chard, cabbage, cardoons, carrots, chili peppers, Jerusalem artichokes, peas, pumpkins, and tomatoes—Evelyne Bloch-Dano explores the world of vegetables in all its facets, from science and agriculture to history, culture, and, of course, cooking. From the importance of peppers in early international trade to the most recent findings in genetics, from the cultural cachet of cabbage to Proust’s devotion to beef-and-carrot stew, to the surprising array of vegetables that preceded the pumpkin as the avatar of All Hallow’s Eve, Bloch-Dano takes readers on a dazzling tour of the fascinating stories behind our daily repasts. Spicing her cornucopia with an eye for anecdote and a ready wit, Bloch-Dano has created a feast that’s sure to satisfy gardeners, chefs, and eaters alike.

Who belongs in the fruit bowl? Apples, check. Blueberries, check. Tomato, che-- Wait, what?! Tomato wants to join the other fruits, but does he belong? The perfect mix of botany and a bunch of bananas! All the fruit are in the bowl. There's Apple and Orange. Strawberry and Peach. Plum and Pear. And, of course, Tomato. Now wait just a minute! Tomatoes aren't fruit! Or are they? Using sly science (and some wisdom from a wise old raisin), Tomato proves all the fruit wrong and shows that he belongs in the bowl just as much as the next blueberry! And he's bringing some unexpected friends too! "A fun, brain-teasing food literacy lesson that's a cornucopia of produce and wordplay."--Publishers Weekly, starred review "An a-peel-ing addition."--School Library Journal