A.W. Smith
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A.W. Smith
Alfred William Smith (A.W. Smith) (1855-1927), also known as "The Cabbage King", was one of the most successful market gardeners working in South West Middlesex, England in the 19th and 20th centuries. Smith was born in Putney in 1855 but lived most of his life in Feltham until his death in 1927. Smith was remembered by one of his foremen, Alfred Lucas: "He was a man of extreme modesty, was deeply but silently religious, did not drink or smoke and I never heard him use a profane expression during the whole 14 years I was in his service. He told me he never had time to read a book. He had no holiday when I was with him and he was absent only 3 months when he had a severe breakdown and fear was entertained for his life." Lucas, as the man who spent much time working with Smith, is the main source of information relating to Smith. Career Humble beginnings In 1890, Smith began his empire with a modest 40 acre fruit garden (Feltham Glebeland) that faced Staines Road in Bedfont, ...
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Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbouring ceremonial counties. Three rivers provide most of the county's boundaries; the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Lea to the east and the River Colne, Hertfordshire, Colne to the west. A line of hills forms the northern boundary with Hertfordshire. Middlesex county's name derives from its origin as the Middle Saxons, Middle Saxon Province of the Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Essex, with the county of Middlesex subsequently formed from part of that territory in either the ninth or tenth century, and remaining an administrative unit until 1965. The county is the List of counties of England by area in 1831, second smallest, after Ru ...
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Jerusalem Artichoke
The Jerusalem artichoke (''Helianthus tuberosus''), also called sunroot, sunchoke, wild sunflower, topinambur, or earth apple, is a species of sunflower native to central North America. It is cultivated widely across the temperate zone for its tuber, which is used as a root vegetable.Purdue University Center for New Crops & Plants Products''Helianthus tuberosus''/ref> Description ''Helianthus tuberosus'' is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to tall with opposite leaves on the lower part of the stem but alternate towards the top. The leaves have a rough, hairy texture. Larger leaves on the lower stem are broad ovoid-acute and can be up to long. Leaves higher on the stem are smaller and narrower. The flowers are yellow and produced in capitate flowerheads, which are in diameter, with 10–20 ray florets and 60 or more small disc florets. The flowers are briefly fragrant, giving off a light, vanilla-chocolate perfume. The tubers are often elongated and uneven, typically ...
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Lunaria Annua
''Lunaria annua'', called honesty or annual honesty in English, is a species of flowering plant in the cabbage and mustard family Brassicaceae. It is native plant, native to the Balkans and south west Asia, and cultivated throughout the temperate climate, temperate world. Description It is an annual plant, annual or biennial plant, biennial growing to tall by broad, with large, coarse, pointed oval leaves with marked serrations. The leaves are hairy, the lower ones long-stalked, the upper ones stalkless.Parnell, J. and Curtis, T. 2012 ''Webb's An Irish Flora.'' Cork University Press In spring and summer it bears terminal racemes of white or violet flowers, followed by showy, green through light brown, translucent, disc-shaped silicles (not true botanical seedpods). When a silicle is ripe and dry, a valve on each of its sides readily falls off, and its seeds fall off a central membrane which has a silvery sheen, in diameter; the membrane can persist on a plant throughout a wi ...
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Myosotis
''Myosotis'' ( ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae. The name comes from the Ancient Greek "mouse's ear", which the foliage is thought to resemble. In the northern hemisphere they are colloquially known as forget-me-nots or scorpion grasses. ''Myosotis alpestris'' is the official flower of Alaska and Dalsland, Sweden. Plants of the genus are commonly confused with Chatham Islands' forget-me-nots, which belong to the related genus '' Myosotidium''. Description The genus was originally described by Carl Linnaeus. The type species is ''Myosotis scorpioides''. ''Myosotis'' species are annual or perennial herbaceous flowering plants with penta merous actinomorphic flowers with 5 sepals and petals. Flowers are typically 1 cm in diameter or less, flatly faced, coloured blue, pink, white or yellow with yellow centres and borne on scorpioid cymes. The foliage is alternate, and their roots are generally diffuse. They typically flower in spring or soon after ...
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Erysimum
''Erysimum'', or wallflower, is a genus of flowering plants in the cabbage family, Brassicaceae. It includes more than 150 species, both popular garden plants and many wild forms. The genus ''Cheiranthus'' is sometimes included here in whole or in part. ''Erysimum'' has since the early 21st century been ascribed to a monogeneric cruciferous tribe, Erysimeae, characterised by sessile, stellate (star-shaped) and/or malpighiaceous (two-sided) trichomes, yellow to orange flowers and multiseeded siliques. Morphology Wallflowers are annuals, herbaceous perennials or sub-shrubs. The perennial species are short-lived and in cultivation treated as biennials. Most species have stems erect, somewhat winged, canescent with an indumentum of bifid hairs, usually 25 ± 53 cm × 2–3 mm in size, and t-shaped trichomes. The leaves are narrow and sessile. The lower leaves are linear to oblanceolate pinnatifid with backwardly directed lobes, acute, 50–80 mm × 0.5–3 m ...
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Savoy Cabbage
Savoy cabbage (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''sabauda'' L. or ''Brassica oleracea'' Savoy Cabbage Group) is a variety of the plant species '' Brassica oleracea''. Savoy cabbage is a winter vegetable and one of several cabbage varieties. It is named after the Savoy region in France. It has crinkled, emerald green leaves. The leaves are crunchy and tender. Known cultivars include 'Savoy King' (in the US), 'Tundra' (green with a firm, round heart) and 'Winter King' (with dark crumpled leaves). Uses Savoy cabbage maintains a firm texture when cooked. It has the same flavor and appearance as regular cabbage when cooked but retains a firm texture which is desired in some recipes. Savoy cabbage can be used in a variety of recipes. It pairs well with red wine, apples, spices, horseradish and meat. It can be used for roulades, in stews and soups, such as borscht, as well as roasted plain and drizzled with olive oil. It can be used in preserved recipes such as kimchi or sauerkrau ...
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Rhubarb
Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The whole plant – a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhizomes – is also called rhubarb. Historically, different plants have been called "rhubarb" in English. The large, triangular leaves contain high levels of oxalic acid and anthrone glycosides, making them inedible. The small flowers are grouped in large compound leafy greenish-white to rose-red inflorescences. The precise origin of culinary rhubarb is unknown. The species ''Rheum rhabarbarum'' (syn. ''R. undulatum'') and '' R. rhaponticum'' were grown in Europe before the 18th century and used for medicinal purposes. By the early 18th century, these two species and a possible hybrid of unknown origin, ''R.'' × ''hybridum'', were grown as vegetable crops in England and Scandinavia. They readily hybridize, and culinary rh ...
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Marrow (vegetable)
A marrow is a fruit used as a vegetable, the mature fruit of certain ''Cucurbita pepo'' cultivars. The immature fruit of the same or similar cultivars is called ''courgette'' (in Britain, Iran, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand) or ''zucchini'' (in North America, Japan, Australia, the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany and Austria). Like courgettes, marrows are oblong, green squash, but marrows have a firm rind and a neutral flavour ("overgrown when picked and insipid when cooked"), making them useful as edible casings for mincemeat and other stuffings. They can be stored for several weeks after harvest (like pumpkins and other winter squash), to be processed for food when required. They are a vegetable used in Great Britain and areas with significant British influence, though their popularity is waning in favor of immature summer squash like courgette. Giant marrows are grown competitively in the United Kingdom, where the term "marrow" is often r ...
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Vicia Faba
''Vicia faba'', commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Varieties with smaller, harder seeds that are fed to horses or other animals are called field bean, tic bean or tick bean. Horse bean, ''Vicia faba'' var. ''equina'' Pers., is a variety recognized as an accepted name. This legume is very common in Southern European, Northern European, East Asian, Latin American and North African cuisines. Some people suffer from favism, a hemolytic response to the consumption of broad beans, a condition linked to a metabolism disorder known as G6PDD. Otherwise the beans, with the outer seed coat removed, can be eaten raw or cooked. In young plants, the outer seed coat can be eaten, and in very young plants, the seed pod can be eaten. Description ''Vicia faba'' is a stiffly erect, annual plant tall, with two ...
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Phaseolus Coccineus
''Phaseolus coccineus'', known as runner bean, scarlet runner bean, or multiflora bean, is a plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. Another common name is butter bean, which, however, can also refer to the lima bean, a different species. It is grown both as a food plant and an ornamental plant. Description This species originated from the mountains of Central America. It was most likely cultivated in the highlands of Mexico and Guatemala around 2000 BC. Most varieties have red flowers and multicolored seeds (though some have white flowers and white seeds), and they are often grown as ornamental plants. The vine can grow to 3 m (9 ft) or more in length. It differs from the common bean (''P. vulgaris'') in several respects: the cotyledons stay in the ground during germination, and the plant is a perennial vine with tuberous roots (though it is frequently treated as an annual in colder climates). The knife-shaped pods are normally green; however, there are very rare va ...
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Beetroot
The beetroot is the taproot portion of a beet plant, usually known in North America as beets while the vegetable is referred to as beetroot in British English, and also known as the table beet, garden beet, red beet, dinner beet or golden beet. It is one of several cultivated varieties of ''Beta vulgaris'' grown for their edible taproots and leaves (called beet greens); they have been classified as ''B. vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'' Conditiva Group. Other cultivars of the same species include the sugar beet, the leaf vegetable known as chard or spinach beet, and mangelwurzel, which is a fodder crop. Three subspecies are typically recognized. Etymology ''Beta'' is the ancient Latin name for beetroot,Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback). pp 70 possibly of Celtic origin, becoming ''bete'' in Old English. ''Root'' derives from the late Old English ''rōt'', itself from Old Norse ''rót''. History The domesticat ...
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