A roundabout way of learning about caroselli

Another despatch just in from our correspondent in Puglia, last seen checking out the olive plague. This time she sends us pictures of something called “cumazzi,” which is a new one on me.

They are not cucumbers exactly. Easy to digest and sweeter than cucumbers. Really crunchy and refreshing.

It turns out they are the immature fruits of a vegetable race of the melon, Cucumis melo, probably in the “adzhur group.” They go by a long list of names, but they seem to be restricted to Puglia (the heel of Italy), where they come in all shapes and sizes.

‘Carosello’ and ‘Barattiere’: Italian landraces of Cucumis melo whose fruits are eaten unripe. By Angelo Signore (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

Brainfood: Taste breeding, Cat domestication, ITPGRFA in USA, CWR extravaganza, Ecology & ag, Brassica identification, Biodiversity monitoring, Languages, Species recovery, Benin pigeonpea

Vote for African veggies!!

Great to see a project on African Leafy Vegetables in western Kenya in the running for the Farming for Biodiversity prize at Solution Search. Here’s what they say about return on investment:

The ROI is 39%. The budget was US $150,000 for 2 years. Returns from the sale of ALVs amount to $52,200 per season, for 4 planting seasons. The biggest return, however, is the farmers renewed sense of empowerment. “I never imagined I could go out and find a market for my veggies” said Ms. Joyce Okwara from Busia, as well as improved nutrition in schools and clinics. Funds supported a feasibility workshop to discuss limits and opportunities of linking farmers to institutional markets, the development of a farmer business school and its subsequent rolling out, the acquiring and distribution of certified ALV seed to farmers and nutrition education in local schools and clinics. Additional funds would allow the scaling-up of this model.

Good luck to the Sustainable Income Generating Investment Group (SINGI) in Busia! Vote for them!

Preparing traditional vegetables

Brainfood: Banana GWAS, MGIS, Commodification and racialization, Native tree seeds, Tea in China, Potato in China, Indian eggplant, Rapid phenotyping, Ag & environment

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