If you could time-travel to visit the produce section of your  local supermarket about 10 years ago, and then dropped by today, you would notice many differences. Yes, the old standbys are there today, the same as then--the carrots and potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes, apples, bananas and melons.

But every year brings new produce items. These include herbs, sometimes weird-looking fruit (now 'fess up, the first time you ever saw a kiwi fruit, didn't you wonder why anyone would want to eat that brown fuzzy thing!)  and unusual vegetables.

This is partly due to our ever-increasing global economy, which means more items imported from exotic places--we never even knew they grew strawberries in New Zealand, or peaches in Chile. In addition, consumers have shown increasing willingness to try new things. We have begun consuming plant matter that we used to admire only from afar, such as edible flowers . At the same time, we now see genetically modified foods--a controversial subject--and an increase in organically grown foods.

Nutritional awareness plays a large role in produce buying habits. Every day seems to bring a new report about the health-giving benefits of vegetables and fruits in everyone's diets. It is now suggested that we somehow have 5 to 9 servings per day. This may seem to be a challenge to those with busy life-styles, yet with our ever-increasing variety of choices, this goal is not out of reach.

Shown below from bottom left:  Dragonfruit, fiddlehead ferns, exotic mushrooms, and Crystalline

Click on the images to learn more

Our aim is to introduce you to fruits and vegetables that may be new to you, provide information on nutrition and growing methods, and share recipes and ideas for use for some of these unusual but tasty and nutritious items.