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  1. Key Resource 2018-02-09 Traditional diets included a wide variety of ingredients from myriad wild and domesticated plants. Regional cuisines were shaped by native species in their local environment and by gradually-adopted plants from distant places. The modern global food system and market pressures have reversed this...
  2. 2009-01-01 Within a couple days after Bonnie and I arrived in Florida in June 1981 to assume my new role as founding CEO of ECHO, I began digging a garden. For an avid gardener used to the long winters “up north” this was an exciting adventure. I was going to grow flowers and vegetables year-round in the...
  3. Cushaw pumpkins are a herbaceous, vining, winter squash grown for the edible flesh and seeds. Flowers and tender shoots are also edible. The seeds are high in oil and protein and can be eaten roasted or ground up for an ingredient in sauces. The flesh is eaten as a vegetable and can be used in...
  4. Caigua isan Andean fruit that grows on a climbing vine similar to cucumbers. The mature greenfruit is hollow and is deseeded and stuffed for cooking. The immature fruits and young shoots are eaten raw and cooked. Fruit is 6-15cm long. Requires trellising. Relatively cold tolerantbut not freeze...
  5. Wax gourds are vining plants that produce large, round wax-covered fruits. Originally from Southeast Asia, the species is grown in many lowland tropical environments up to 1,300 m in elevation. The long vines may be trained along trellises or up buildings where they produce fruit. Fruits are...
  6. The Tropical Pumpkin originated in tropical South or Central America, possibly Peru or Mexico, and is now widely distributed throughout the tropics. Tropicalpumpkins are very well adapted to hot, humid conditions and the ripe fruits can be stored for months or even a year under dry well...
  7. Summer Squashes are distinctive from all other squashes because they are eaten when they are immature. They grow on either vines or bushes with large leaves that are hairy underneath. They have smooth, edible skin, flesh that varies from light to dark green or yellow, and seeds that are soft and...
  8. Seminole pumpkins are a landrace of Cucurbita moschata that developed in Florida. Naturalists record the conspicuous presence of Seminole Pumpkin fruits hanging from tree limbs during their travels to Florida already in the 18th century. Seminole pumpkins are very well adapted to hot, humid...
  9. This winter squash has been cultivated in tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas since Pre-Colombian times. Evidence of its use has been found in archeological diggings. It is a very old variety not often available through seed companies.