Tag Archives: America

Choko

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Choko

Do not choke on these choko facts.

  • A choko is the fruit of a vine with the scientific name Sechium edule, that is a perennial and grows vigorously.
  • ‘Chokos’ are also known by eighteen other names, including ‘cho-cho’, ‘pear squash’, ‘mirliton’, ‘chayote’, ‘vegetable pear’ and ‘christophine’.
  • Chokos are native to Mexico, in southern North America, and they were later grown in Europe, other parts of America and Australasia.
  • Chokos are from the family Cucurbitaceae, the family of gourds, and the fruit of the plant, as well as the leaves, roots and seeds are edible.
  • Chokos are typically shaped as a pear with significant ridges and are a mid to light green colour.

Choko, Green, Gourd, Vegetable, Australian, Wrinkled, Ten Random Facts, Chayote

  • Chokos have a length ranging from 10 to 20 centimetres (4 to 8 inches) and are usually used as a vegetable and peeled before cooking.
  • Chokos are most often cooked, although they can be eaten raw, and are typically used in stir-fry, relish, soup, salads, seasoned or as side vegetables, and can also be used in baked goods.
  • It has been commonly suggested that the apple pies of Australia’s McDonald’s fast food outlets contain chokos, however, this is incorrect.
  • Chokos are high in folate and are a good source of vitamin C and manganese.
  • Chokos can positively affect the cardiovascular system and limit inflammation, while the leaves can be made into a tea for medicinal purposes.
Bibliography:
Chayote, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chayote
Choko, 2014, Burke’s Backyard, http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/2001/archives/2001_archives?p=1320

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Papaya

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Papaya

No fruit salad is complete without papayas!

  • Papayas are fruit that grow on plants native to the American tropics, with the ‘trees’ that they grow being as tall as 5 to 10 metres (16 to 33 feet).
  • A ‘papaya’ is also known as a ‘pawpaw’ and a ‘papaw’.
  • Papayas come from a plant that has the scientific name Carica papaya and are from the family Caricaceae, a family of small trees and shrubs.
  • The largest producers of papayas in the 2008 to 2010 period, was India, producing approximately 38.6% of the world production.
  • Papayas commonly have green coloured skin that turns yellow or orange when ripe, and the flesh is either yellow, orange or red, depending on the species.

Papaya, Yellow, Fruit, Black, Half, Australia, Ten Random Facts

  • Papayas have soft and sweet musky flavoured flesh and are popularly eaten raw or cooked, in salads, curries or soups, and the black seeds can be used as black pepper replacements.
  • Papayas, when unripe, contain latex, which can cause allergic reactions and possibly miscarriages.
  • Papayas can grow up to 51 centimetres (20 inches) in length and are generally pear or round shaped.
  • Papayas are very high in vitamin C, and are high in folate, vitamin A and dietary fibre.
  • Papaya has been used in traditional medicine and in some hair products, and is commonly made into ointment for the treatment of cuts, rashes, burns and other skin conditions.

 

Bibliography:
Papaya, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papaya
Papaya, 2014, The World’s Healthiest Foods, http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=47

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Silo

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Silo

While silos may be dangerous, these facts are not.

  • A silo is a large storage facility used to store and/or ferment large volumes of loose materials, often in the agricultural industry, and they are most commonly used to store grain, wood chips, food products, cement, coal and sawdust.
  • ‘Silo’ comes from the word ‘siros’, a Greek word, meaning ‘a pit to keep corn in’, and there are three modern types of silos, called ‘bunker’, ‘tower’ and ‘bag’, that store materials below ground, above ground, and in small quantities respectively.
  • Tower silos are shaped as a cylinder, and are typically made of materials of wood, concrete and/or steel and are unloaded by slides or grain elevators.
  • Bag silos are typically strong plastic bags that are long and laid on the ground and are significantly cheaper and less dangerous than a tower or bunker model.
  • Bunker silos are trenches or pits in the ground, sometimes with concrete walls, that are filled with the material to be stored, and then covered in durable plastic that is often held down with weights.

Tower Silo, Steel, Row, store, 8, Farm, Ten Random Facts, Australia

  • Tower silos are approximately 10 to 84 metres (30 to 275 feet) in height and 4 to 30 metres (10 to 90 feet) in diameter, while bags are around 2.4 to 3.7 metres (8 to 12 feet) in diameter and can reach lengths of 30 to 91 metres (100 to 300 feet).
  • There is evidence of bulk storage buildings, or silos, being used in Ancient cultures, including Greece and Israel.
  • Tower silos typically have ventilation to replace the toxic methane gas produced by fermenting materials.
  • American Fred Hatch, the son of a farmer, and his father Lewis Hatch are commonly believed to have invented the first modern tower silo in 1873, in the McHenry County of the United State’s Illinois, that quickly became popular throughout the United States.
  • Silos are highly dangerous, and people are killed annually, due to poisoning, suffocation or crushing due to gases and grain or machinery collapsing, with an average of 16 people each year in the United States, dying from grain entrapment.

 

Bibliography:
Silo, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silo
What is a Grain Silo?, 2014, WiseGEEK, http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-a-grain-silo.htm

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Snowshoe Hare

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Snowshoe Hare

Snowshoe hares do have ‘snow shoes’.

  • Snowshoe hares are mostly nocturnal mammals native to forestry areas of northern parts of North America.
  • ‘Snowshoe hares’ are also known as ‘snowshoe rabbits’ and ‘varying hares’ and have smaller ears than most other hares.
  • The snowshoe hare’s scientific name is Lepus americanus and it comes from the family Leporidae, the family of rabbits and hares.
  • The name ‘snowshoe hare’ comes from the animal’s very large and furry back feet that allows the hare to move across snow more easily, and they can reach up to speeds of 43.5 km/hr (27 miles per hour).
  • Snowshoe hares have brown coloured fur during summer, that changes to white in winter, with the change occurring over a 10 week period.

Snowshoe hare, winter, alert, single, one, coat, Ten Random Facts

Snowshoe hare during winter
Image courtesy of Denali National Park and Preserve/Flickr
  • A snowshoe hare’s diet mainly consists of vegetation, with leaves and grass eaten during summer and bark, twigs and buds eaten during winter.
  • Snowshoe hares generally have litters of 2 to 4 young, known as leverets, up to 4 times a year.
  • Snowshoe hares are preyed on by dogs, cats, large birds, lynxes, foxes and weasels, among others.
  • Snowshoe hares grow to be 41 to 52 centimetres (16 to 20 inches) in length and range from 0.9 to 1.8 kilograms (2 to 4 pounds) in weight.
  • Snowshoe hares have a relatively short lifespan, typically a year, due to being a main food source for a number of predators, but they can grow to be 5 years old.
Bibliography:
Shefferly N, Lepus americanus, 2007, Animal Diversity Web, http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Lepus_americanus/
Snowshoe hare, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/mammals/snowshoe-hare/
Snowshoe hare, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowshoe_hare

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Passionfruit

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Passionfruit

What is a fruit with passion? A passionfruit!

  • Passionfruit are fruit that grow up to 4 to 7.5 centimetres (1.5 to 3 inches) in diameter, and are native to South America.
  • ‘Passionfruit’ are also known as ‘passion fruit’, ‘granadilla’ and ‘purple granadilla’, and some of the varieties are ‘purple’, ‘yellow’, ‘panama’ and ‘banana’.
  • Passionfruit is roughly spherical or ovoid in shape, with skin coloured purple, pink or yellow when ripe, that is either smooth, or slightly wrinkled.
  • Passionfruit have yellow to orange pulp containing juice and many black edible seeds, and they generally have sweet flavoured juice and tart flavoured seeds.
  • Passionfruit can be eaten raw, added to fruit salad, used as a dessert topping and flavouring, made into a variety of beverages and used as a flavouring in icing or cream for baked goods.

Passionfruit, Halve, Whole, Yellow, Pulp, Black, Ten Random Facts, Australia

  • Passionfruit grow on vines that have the scientific name of Passiflora edulis and are from the family Passifloraceae, a family of approximately 530 flowering plant species.
  • Passionfruit are often found in home gardens grown on fences or trellises, and are commercially grown in warm climates that are frost free.
  • Passionfruit, before ripening, have softer, green coloured skin, and when ripe, it is best to choose heavy fruit as they will contain more pulp and seeds.
  • ‘Passionfruit’ were named by Spanish missionaries in South America as the flowers were interpreted to symbolise ‘Christ’s passion (suffering) on the cross’.
  • Passionfruit are very high in vitamin C, vitamin A and dietary fibre, and also contain iron, potassium and other vitamins and minerals.

 

Bibliography:
Passiflora edulis, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora_edulis
Passionfruit, 2011, Fresh for Kids, http://www.freshforkids.com.au/fruit_pages/passionfruit/passionfruit.html
Passionfruit, 2014, Purdue Agriculture, https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/passionfruit.html

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Maidenhair Fern

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Maidenhair Fern

Keep up the water to your maidenhair ferns.

  • Maidenhair ferns are a group of ferns of which there are approximately 200 species.
  • Maidenhair ferns are from the family Pteridaceae, the family of ferns, and has the scientific name Adiantum.
  • Maidenhair ferns have soft textures and lacy appearances, although textures and appearance vary among the species.
  • Maidenhair ferns are generally green in colour with black or brown leaf stems, although the colours of the leaves can be variegated.
  • Maidenhair ferns are deciduous, grow from rhizomes, and reach up to 1 metre (3 feet) in height.

Maidenhair Fern, Green, Plant, Vegetation, Genus, Adiantum, Ten Random Facts, Australia

  • Maidenhair ferns are typically used as an ornamental plant, both indoors and outdoors, and are often grown in pots, terrariums and hanging baskets.
  • Maidenhair ferns prefer a shady position in the garden, and if kept inside, then need to be grown in a well lit area.
  • ‘Adiantum’, the scientific name of maidenhair ferns, is from the Greek word ‘adiantos’, meaning ‘unwettable’, referring to the foliage of the plant that repels water.
  • Maidenhair ferns dry out quickly if not watered, but can be resurrected by cutting off dead branches and keeping the soil moist, and are not technically dead until green growth has not been seen for 18 months.
  • Maidenhair ferns are native to all continents except Antarctica, and grow best in moist habitats, particularly among rocks or near water features.
Bibliography:
Adiantum, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adiantum
Maidenhair Fern, 2006, Burke’s Backyard, http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/factsheets/Indoor-and-Potted-Plant/Maidenhair-Fern/2156

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