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| Fruit and Vegetable FactsPurple SproutingPurple sprouting broccoli was cultivated by the Romans. It has been grown in Britain since the early 18th century. Purple sprouting is a cruciferous plant, in the same family as cabbage, and believed to have a number of health benefits. It has a delicious sweet, buttery taste, packed with Vitamin C, iron, folic acid, calcium, fibre and vitamin A. Once picked the sugars in the stem convert to starch, so the fresher it is, the less cooking it requires. The leaves are delicious too, so don't remove them. Steaming is a good method of cooking since it retains more of the vitamins, but don't cook for too long otherwise it will be too soft. RhubarbAlthough in Britain we use rhubarb as a fruit, it is in fact a vegetable, since it is the stem that we eat. Until the 18th century it was considered a medicinal plant, before people realised that it made a good garden plant. The idea of "forcing" rhubarb, or blocking out the light to growing stems, was discovered by accident in the Chelsea Physic Garden early in the 19th century. Excluding light causes the rhubarb stems to expand and become much sweeter and more tender. Forced or early rhubarb needs very little cooking. The leaves are extremely poisonous to eat - although they make a good addition to the compost heap. Mulch your rhubarb plants every spring with well-rotted manure or garden compost. Flowering stems should be removed so the plant puts all its energy into producing more stems.
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