Interesting Vegetable Information
Following are a few of the information sheets from SarJay pamphlets. The list is growing as more are written, so do keep looking to find out more about your favourite vegetables.

Rocket Rocket is the name given to a group of popular salad plants that includes a number of annual and perennial herbs. Rocket is greatly valued for its flavouring properties, adding a delicious peppery flavour to salads and pasta dishes. Rocket is high in vitamin C, fibre, Iron, Beta-carotene and natural antioxidants. Known to have been used in Roman times, the oil extracted from the seed is said to be an aphrodisiac.

Sugar Snap Peas Sugar Snap Peas, or Sugar Snaps, are the result of a cross between a snow pea and a traditional English podding pea. Developed by USA plant breeders in the 1960s in conjunction with Australian growers, the pea breaks, or “snaps”, like a green bean, has thick walls and tastes sweet. There are currently five main varieties, some dwarf, while some are high growing. All varieties are entirely edible, sweet and crunchy, being an excellent source of vitamin C and dietary fibre. Unlike snow peas, sugar snap peas remain tender and flavourfull regardless of age.

Turnips Turnips are a root vegetable closely related to radishes. They can be cylindrical, carrot or top shaped, with a flat top and a root which tapers to a point. They have smooth skin which can be green, white with green bands, or white with purple bands at the top. Turnip leaves can be eaten as a leafy vegetable rich in beta carotene. The flesh is white or yellow in colour with a delicious, tender sweet flavour, high in vitamin C, iron, folate, vitamin E and dietary fibre. Originally native to Central Asia, the Mediterranean and the Near East, Turnips were known long before the Roman empire and are recorded as being for sale in 16th century England. Turnips are known to have come to Australia on the first Fleet in 1787, being planted on Norfolk Island shortly after colonists arrived in 1788.

Radish Radish is a root vegetable closely related to turnips. Native to Central Asia, they have been known in China since 400 BC. They are globe, oval, oblong or carrot shaped with a smooth skin which can be red, white, or green topped with white body. Radishes are rich in carotene (pro vitamin A, dietary fibre and vitamin C. Long white varieties (Daikon or Lo Bok) are most popular in Asia and can be grown for a long thin root or a green topped fat root. Radish flesh is white in colour and can vary from mild to very spicy in taste. Forerunners of the European varieties (e.g. Munchener Bier, the Munich Beer Radish) are believed to have arrived in the spice caravans, though the exact time is unclear.