Cauliflower is a vegetable that can be used in a variety of ways, but did you know it's actually a flower?
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HOW IT GROWS
Cauliflower plants grow about 1.5 feet tall. The plant has large rounded leaves. In the center of the plant grows a firm group of flowers, which is the cauliflower. When the cauliflower is about the size of a tennis ball, the leaves surrounding it are tied together to shade the cauliflower. Growers could skip this step, but the cauliflower would turn yellow and buyers prefer white cauliflower. 
Watch to learn more about How it Grows!


DID YOU KNOW

• Cauliflower has more vitamin C than an orange!
• Cauliflower is a bunch of flowers, and if it's harvested too late, the flower starts to pull apart. 
• Cauliflower means "flowered cabbage"
• You can also grow orange, purple, green, and brown cauliflower!

HOW TO EAT IT
You can eat cauliflower fresh. It is also enjoyed roasted (baked). It is not recommended to boil it, because it will turn to mush - it's a flower after all!

​Did you know you can eat the broccoli sprouts, the leaves, and the flower?  The flower is the part you normally eat!

Potato in Spanish is patata

A potato is a root vegetable, the Solanum tuberosum. It is a small plant with large leaves. The part of the potato that people eat is a tuber that grows under the ground.

A potato contains a lot of starch and other carbohydrates. Potato usually has a light-brown or yellowish skin and is white or yellow inside. If the potato gets light on it, the tuber turns green and will be poisonous (only if you eat a lot).

​History
The potato is originally from the high and cool areas of the Andes of Peru. It was grown as a food crop more than 7,000 years ago. When Spanish conquistadores came to South America in the 1500s they took potatoes back to Europe.

It took nearly 200 years for the potato to become a widely grown crop. In the 1780s the farmers in Ireland began growing potatoes because they grew well in the poor soils. They also have most of the vitamins that people need to survive. The Irish became so dependent on the potato that when the crop failed in 1845 there was a famine and many people starved to death.

The potato plant is now grown in many different parts of the world. Captain William Bligh planted potatoes on Bruny Island, Tasmania in 1792. In Australia they are now the largest vegetable crop.

Cooking
Potatoes are almost always eaten cooked. People cook potatoes by boiling, baking, roasting, or frying them. French fries are potatoes cut into long pieces and fried until they are soft. Potato chips are potatoes cut into very thin round pieces and fried.

Source: ​Potato Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.

A pumpkin is a gourd. They are usually orange, but they can also be white. Pumpkins are spheres or stretched-out spheres.

People can eat pumpkins. Often people make pumpkins into pies. People can eat and cook pumpkin seeds. People also use pumpkins for decoration, for example when people make jack-o-lanterns at Halloween.
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It also has a few noted medicinal use, which are traditionally used in India.
In New Zealand and Australian English, the term pumpkin generally refers to the broader category called winter squash elsewhere.

As one of the most popular crops in the United States, in 2017 over 680,000,000 kilograms (1.5 billion pounds) of pumpkins were produced. The top pumpkin-producing states include Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and California.

According to the Illinois Department of Agriculture, 95% of the U.S. crop intended for processing is grown in Illinois. Nestlé, operating under the brand name Libby's, produces 85% of the processed pumpkin in the United States, at their plant in Morton, Illinois. In the fall of 2009, rain in Illinois devastated the Nestlé crop, which combined with a relatively weak 2008 crop depleting that year's reserves resulted in a shortage affecting the entire country during the Thanksgiving holiday season. Another shortage, somewhat less severe, affected the 2015 crop. The pumpkin crop grown in the western United States, which constitutes approximately 3-4% of the national crop, is primarily for the organic market.

Pumpkins are a warm-weather crop that is usually planted in early July. The specific conditions necessary for growing pumpkins require that soil temperatures 8 centimetres (3 in) deep are at least 15.5 °C (60 °F) and that the soil holds water well. Pumpkin crops may suffer if there is a lack of water or because of cold temperatures (in this case, below 18 °C or 65 °F; frost can be detrimental), and sandy soil with poor water retention or poorly drained soils that become waterlogged after heavy rain. Pumpkins are, however, rather hardy, and even if many leaves and portions of the vine are removed or damaged, the plant can very quickly re-grow secondary vines to replace what was removed.

Pumpkins produce both a male and female flower; they must be fertilized, usually by bees. Pumpkins have historically been pollinated by the native squash bee Peponapis pruinosa, but this bee has declined, probably at least in part to pesticide (imidacloprid) sensitivity. Ground-based bees such as squash bees and the eastern bumblebee are better suited to handle the larger pollen particles that pumpkins create, but today most commercial plantings are pollinated by hives of honeybees, which also allows the production and sale of honey that the bees produce from the pumpkin pollen. One hive per acre (4,000 m2 per hive, or 5 hives per 2 hectares) is recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If there are inadequate bees for pollination, gardeners often have to hand pollinate. Inadequately pollinated pumpkins usually start growing but abort before full development.

Giant pumpkins
Giant pumpkins at a "heaviest pumpkin" competition. "Giant pumpkins" are a large squash (within the group of common squash Cucurbita maxima) that can exceed 2,000 pounds in weight. The variety arose from the large squash of South America through the efforts of botanical societies and enthusiast farmers.

Source: Pumpkin Facts for Kids . Kiddle Encyclopedia.

The parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) is a root vegetable.
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The parsnip is native to Eurasia; it has been used as a vegetable since antiquity. It was cultivated by the Romans. It was used as a sweetener before the arrival in Europe of cane sugar.

The plant is closely related to carrot and parsley; all belong to the family Apiaceae. Its long, tuberous root has cream-colored skin and flesh. Left in the ground to mature, it becomes sweeter in flavor after winter frosts.
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Parsnip Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.

Hey, Snacksters! Have you tried parsnip? 

Don't forget to explore the Snackster Sam app for more fun!

Radishes come in a variety of shapes from round or long. They also come in different colors, including white, brown, black, red, and even one that looks like a watermelon inside! No wonder it's called a Watermelon Radish. 

​HOW IT GROWS
Radishes grow in the ground and can sprout in 3 days! Radishes are the perfect vegetable to grow in a pot because it grows so quickly.

DID YOU KNOW

• The radish plant is part of the mustard family
• Radishes are grown across the world, but most likely started growing in the Mediterranean
• Young radish leaves can be cooked and eaten​

HOW TO EAT IT
Radishes are most often eaten raw and added to salads. Some radishes become sweeter and lose its spicy taste when cooked, like watermelon radishes.

Did you know there were so many different types of radishes?

HOW IT GROWS
Bell peppers grow on plants that grow about knee-height high. Farmers fertilize (nourish) the land up to three years before planting bell peppers on it. Peppers are handpicked and finish ripening on their way to the grocery store. While peppers grow best in warm climates, a touch of cold weather sweetens it.

Watch to learn more about How it Grows! 

DID YOU KNOW

• All bell peppers start as green
• Red peppers are ripe green peppers
• It takes up to 3 years to fertilize the ground to produce large peppers
• Bell peppers are technically berries! ​

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HOW TO EAT IT
Bell peppers are delicious sliced and eaten raw. You can sautée peppers and add to stirfries, pasta, and more. Bell peppers are also cut up and added to salsas and sauces. Try cutting out the top and stuffing the pepper with rice and other vegetables, and baking it. ​

Or try our Colorful Bell Pepper Nachos recipe.

DID YOU KNOW

• Pears ripen after it is picked off the tree
• Every pear in the United States is picked by hand!
• The cells on the skin of pear are called "stone cell" (you can feel that in its gritty texture)
• Pears are part of the rose family
• Pears used to be called "Butter Fruit" for its buttery-texture

HOW TO EAT IT
Pears can be enjoyed raw, canned, and baked! ​

DID YOU KNOW

• Tomatoes turn red from the inside out
• The ripest tomatoes of a crop are used to make sauce
• Tomatoes are native to the Andes in South America
• Tomatoes became popularized in Italy
• Tomatoes come in many colors and sizes, including yellow, green, orange, purple, and of course, red. 

HOW TO EAT IT
Eat tomatoes fresh, chop it and add to salads, salsa, bread and more! Cook it and add it to soups or make sauces. Or freeze it to cook it later. ​

​Get more facts like this on the Snackster Sam app.

​Snackster Sam provides fun and educational content about food that grows. Join the adventure. Get it where you get apps!

Apples are the apple of our eye! One of Snackster Sam's first discoveries on the Blue Planet was apples. They grow on trees and come in thousands of varieties. 


HOW IT GROWS
Apples seem simple enough, but there is a lot more to this fruit than you know! 

Apples grow on trees. Before the apple can grow, the tree fills with blossoms. The flowers are pollinated by bees and then the apple can grow. 

Apples are harvested at the end of summer. 

DID YOU KNOW

• There are more than 8,000 varieties of apples
• It takes 4-5 years for a tree to produce an apple
• The largest apple ever grown was 4 lbs 1 oz!
• Each seed is unique and can grow a new kind of apple
• Apples can be "put to sleep" so they are enjoyed year-round.​