The definition of a vegetable is any part of a plant that is eaten by humans as food. Vegetables do not include grains, nuts, herbs, spices or fruits. Vegetable gardening is the art of growing these varied vegetables. Commercial production of vegetables is termed olericulture.
Since the word vegetable is not a botanical term it is not contradictory to call certain fruits, such as tomatoes, vegetables. Most vegetables are annual crops which complete their life process in one year.
There are many different types of vegetable which make up the human diet. These varied
vegetables date back far into antiquity and have made up an important part of our diet for
many generations.
There are many different types of vegetables. Some parts of some plants are edible and very
nutritious while other parts of the same plant may be quite poisonous. This is true in the
case of tomatoes, in which the leaves are poisonous.
Leafy vegetables include lettuce, spinach, endive and escarole. These are generally eaten
raw in salads. These vegetables as a class usually grow better in the cooler weather of
early spring and fall. Summer heat causes them to bolt to seed and become bitter.
Root vegetables include carrots, parsnips, potatoes, onions and turnips. These typically are
grown to store through the winter to provide food when the garden isn’t able to produce
fresh food.
Seed vegetables include sweet corn, beans, and peas which have been dried for
consumption.
Some vegetables are grown for their edible flowers. One example of this type of vegetable is
broccoli.
Fruits commonly eaten as vegetables include peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins and squash.
Vegetable gardening has been with humankind since antiquity, but the modern garden has
benefited from vegetables from all over the world and from many cultures. South America
has given us the potato, Central America the tomato and sweet potato. Corn and squash
were grown by the Amerindians of both North and Central America. From Asia come many
types of cabbages and Europe has contributed other types plus cauliflower and beets.
