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Does
the word “Orange” come from the color?
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Grapefruit
doesn’t
look anything like a Grape…
or does it? |
ORANGES, GRAPEFRUIT (Monday, March 8): So does the word “Orange” have
anything to do with the color? Well, not really. The color of “orange” most
likely came from the name of the citrus we call Orange. We get
the citrus name of “Orange” from a very ancient Sanskrit
word that means…fragrance. That’s right. Has nothing
to do with the color. Rub your fingernails across the rind of an
Orange. You release so much oil, the fragrance is unbelievable.
You could be in a large room and peel an orange. Everyone in that
room
will know an Orange is being peeled. Why? Because it is so fragrant.
So what’s up with the name of Grapefruit? It doesn’t
look anything like a cluster of Grapes. Or does it? The Grapefruit
is most likely the only citrus that originated outside of Asia.
Somewhere in the Caribbean, a Pummelo crossed with a sweet Orange
to produce
what we call a Grapefruit. The word “Grapefruit” most
likely was first uttered in Jamaica. If you have ever seen Grapefruit
growing on a tree, the fruit bears in what appears to be “clusters.” So
the Jamaicans look up into this tree and saw…Grapes. Thus,
we have the name “Grapefruit.”
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This
tiny town in Italy gave
us the name of…Cantaloupe.
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Cantalupo,
Italy sits in the center of the province of Molie, northeast
of Naples.
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CANTALOUPE (Tuesday, March 9): There is a small mountain village
of Cantalupo (Singing Wolf) in the province of Molise. Molise is
located northeast of Naples, Italy. The village sits at the base
of Mount Monta in the heart of the mountain range that runs down
the middle of Italy. There are actually 10 Cantalupos in Italy.
However, this one is where the early Popes of the Catholic Church
would vacation, in the monastery here. Now we know that most melons
originated in Persia, what we call Iran today. Melons love the
hot, dry weather conditions of this region. As trade routes began
moving north into Western Europe, many of these melons also made
their way north. One, in particular began being cultivated by the
gardeners of the monastery in Cantalupo, for the vacationing Pope
and ministers. From this tiny mountain village of Cantalupo, the
Cantaloupe was first named.
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We
get the name “Eggplant” from the English.
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| We can thank some
school children in London, England for giving us the name of
Strawberry. |
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Thomas
Jefferson did more than just author the Declaration of
Independence. He also developed this Eggplant we enjoy
today.
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STRAWBERRIES, EGGPLANT (Wednesday, March 10): Today, Prince Edward
of England is celebrating his 40th birthday. Born to Queen Elizabeth
II in London, England, Edward was named after King Edward I, who
reigned as King of England from 1272 – 1307. We can thank
the English for also naming a couple very popular produce items,
Strawberries and Eggplant. Let’s start with Eggplant. You
know that large purple cylindar with a green calyx and stem? Who
in their right mind would call this an Eggplant? Unless, of course,
there is a dinosaur egg that it resembles. But I doubt it. The
Eggplant is a member of the nightshade family, counting tomatoes,
potatoes and peppers as cousins. The Eggplant is the only member
of the Solanaceae family to come from the eastern hemisphere, where
it was probably first cultivated in India 4000 years ago. England
had colonized India centuries ago. They brought back to England
many of the native plants of the Indian region. One of those plants
became known as Eggplant. The fruit from this plant are small,
white and shaped just like…an egg. So what would the English
call this plant? Of course, an Eggplant. Today, about 78% of the
world’s supplies of Eggplant are consumed in Asia and Southeast
Asia. Even today, still the most popular Eggplant in the world
is this tiny white, egg-shaped Eggplant. Thomas Jefferson grew
eggplant he obtained from France in his garden at Monticello in
Virginia. Today the heirloom garden at Monticello continues to
grow an all-white, prickly variety. The main purple variety which
we see in most stores today, was indeed developed by Thomas Jefferson
from seed he had obtained from France. The eggplant really took
hold in countries bordering the Mediterranean. That’s mainly
because you need lots of Olive Oil to cook your Eggplant with.
So countries which produce a lot of Olive Oil also produce a lot
of Eggplant. The Turks are said to have 1000 recipes for the fruit,
and regularly cook about 40. In fact, the Turks produce more Eggplant
than all of Europe combined. Greeks, Egyptians and other peoples
of the Middle East also feature the eggplant as daily fare. Southern
Italians revel in eggplant parmigiana, while the French of the
south favor ratatouille, a vegetable stew. Spicy eggplant dishes
abound in the plant'shome country of India, as well as in China
and Thailand. We can thank the English for the “Eggplant,” and
we can also thank some school children in England for the name
of Strawberry. A century and a half ago, school children in London,
England would travel each morning before school, to the surrounding
hillsides, particularly in the early summer months. There, these
children would pick baskets full of sweet red berries. They would
then take these berries and place a piece of rye straw through
the berry. Armed with their wares, these kids would travel the
downtown streets of London yelling, “A pence for a berry.
A pence for a berry.” Of course, what were they selling?
A berry on a straw. The strawberry was born.
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Who
is the Granny…
behind the Granny Smith?
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The
Granny Smith Apple originated in
New South Wales, Australia.
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GRANNY SMITH APPLES (Thursday, March 11): Today is Johnny Appleseed
Day, a day to celebrate the life of a traveling missionary named
John Chapman. On this date, in 1845, Chapman died, but not before
he sowed the seeds for apple orchards throughout the East and Midwest.
So, we shall talk about the names of apples today, and one apple
in particular, the Granny Smith. Her name was actually Maria Ann.
She was married to a farmer named Thomas and lived outside Sydney,
in New South Wales, Australia in the mid 1800s. Maria would often
take her garbage and throw it away down by the creek on one end
of their property. Now, don’t fret. Garbage in the 1800s
was not like garbage of today. There was no paper or plastic. Simply
scraps, and bones and cores from apples. The main apples they ate
was the French Tasmanian Crab Apple. These were the cores she would
throw away in the garbage. Now, Maria Ann threw away her garbage
down by the creek because the local racoons would come to the creek
to drink and to eat. The racoons actually would clean up her little
pile of garbage. One Spring, Maria Ann noticed that a tiny apple
seedling was growing up through the pile of garbage. “This
is great,” she thought to herself. “Now my little racoons
will have some shade when they come to eat and drink.” Eight
years later, Maria Ann began harvesting a large, green apple with
a very crisp texture and a tart flavor. She began making apple
pies from these apples. Pretty soon, it didn’t take long
for moms and dads, grandmothers and grandfathers to tell their
kids, “Heh, go over to Granny Smith’s and get an apple
pie.” Maria Ann died in 1870, before she could ever realize
that her apple would eventually become the 3rd most popular apple
in the world. Maria Ann Smith, the original Granny Smith.
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The
Thompson Seedless Grape was first grown on this farm in
Sutter County, California. Here are Sarah and George working
on their farm in Yuba City.
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George
and Sarah were the first to grow the Thompson Seedless
Grape
in the United States.
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The original
name of the Thompson Seedless Grape
was the Lady DeCoverly.
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THOMPSON SEEDLESS GRAPES (Friday, March 12): Among the
most influential and well-known public-spirited citizens of Sutter
County
in California
is George, a native of Yorkshire, England. He was born September
4, 1839, a son of William and Ann. The family immigrated to the
United States and settled in Macoupin County, Ill., where they
began farming. In 1863, the family crossed the plains with seven
horses and two wagons, via the Salt Lake route. They arrived in
Marysville on August 25, 1863, where they stopped for several weeks.
On October 25, of the same year, William purchased a quarter-section
of railroad land ten miles west of Yuba City. He then bought eighty
acres adjoining this ranch on the west, and later purchased 240
acres, which he farmed to grain for a few years. At that time there
were only three families settled on the flat country between their
ranch and Yuba City. William died at the age of eighty-two. George
had attended the schools of England, but after coming to the Golden
State, he was always associated with his father in the developing
of their extensive farmland. One of the most popular grapes growing
in England when George was born, was the Lady DeCoverly. A beautiful
seedless, elongated green grape, with excellent size and flavor.
In 1872 George and his father received three grape cuttings from
Almira & Barry, of Rochester, N. Y., and grafted them on the
roots of one of their grapevines. That spring the vineyard was
flooded and only one of the three sprouts grew, the Lady DeCoverly.
From this sprout the seedless raisin grape was developed, and in
1875 George and his father exhibited at the Marysville Fair several
branches with the luscious seedless fruit on them. Now, if you
were a farmer in Yuba City, California, and your neighbors came
and asked you what grape you were growing, would you tell them
the “Lady DeCoverly?” No way, so the name on the Marysville
Fair entry, was their last name. That’s right. George…Thompson.
The Thompson Seedless Grape…and the raisin industry…began.
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