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Friday 25 March 2016

OLERICULTURE

Olericulture is the science of vegetable growing, dealing with the culture of non-woody (herbaceous) plants for food.
Olericulture is the production of plants for use of the edible parts. Vegetable crops can be classified into 9 major categories:
  • Potherbs and greens - spinach and collards
  • Salad crops - lettuce, celery
  • Cole crops - cabbage and cauliflower
  • Root crops (tubers) - potatoes, beets, carrots, radishes
  • Bulb crops - onions, leeks
  • Legumes - beans, peas
  • Cucurbits - melons, squash, cucumber
  • Solanaceous crops - tomatoes, peppers
  • Sweet corn
Olericulture deals with the production, storage, processing and marketing of vegetables. It encompasses crop establishment, including cultivar selection, seedbed preparation and establishment of vegetable crops by seed and transplants.
It also includes maintenance and care of vegetable crops as well commercial and non-traditional vegetable crop production including organic gardening and organic farming; sustainable agriculture and horticulture; hydroponics; and biotechnology.
References

  • Introduction to Olericulture by the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University.

- Wikipedia 

FLORICULTURE

Floriculture, or flower farming, is a discipline of horticulture concerned with the cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants for gardens and for floristry, comprising the floral industry. The development, via plant breeding of new varieties is a major occupation of floriculturists.
A retail greenhouse shows some of the diversity of floricultural plants
Floriculture crops include bedding plants, houseplants, flowering garden and pot plants, cut cultivated greens, and cut flowers. As distinguished from nursery crops, floriculture crops are generally herbaceous. Bedding and garden plants consist of young flowering plants (annuals and perennials) and vegetable plants. They are grown in cell packs (in flats or trays), in pots, or in hanging baskets, usually inside a controlled environment, and sold largely for gardens and landscaping. Pelargonium ("geraniums"), Impatiens ("busy lizzies"), and Petunia are the best-selling bedding plants. The many cultivars of Chrysanthemum are the major perennial garden plant in the United States.
Flowering plants are largely sold in pots for indoor use. The major flowering plants are poinsettias, orchids, florist chrysanthemums, and finished florist azaleas. Foliage plants are also sold in pots and hanging baskets for indoor and patio use, including larger specimens for office, hotel, and restaurant interiors.
Cut flowers are usually sold in bunches or as bouquets with cut foliage. The production of cut flowers is specifically known as the cut flower industry. Farming flowers and foliage employs special aspects of floriculture, such as spacing, training and pruning plants for optimal flower harvest; and post-harvest treatment such as chemical treatments, storage, preservation and packaging. In Australia and the United States some species are harvested from the wild for the cut flower market.


An example of floriculture: Cactus planting
References 


Further Reading


External Links 



- Wikipedia 

ARBORICULTURE

Arboriculture /ˈɑːrbərkʌləris the cultivation, management, and study of individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody plants.  It is both a practice and a science.
The science of arboriculture studies how these plants grow and respond to cultural practices and to their environment. The practice of arboriculture includes cultural techniques such as selection, planting, training, fertilization, pest and pathogen control, pruning, shaping, and removal.
An arborist practicing arboriculture: using a chainsaw to fell a eucalyptus tree in a park at Kallista, Victoria.
A person who practices or studies arboriculture can be termed an 'arborist' or an 'arboriculturist'. A 'tree surgeon' is more typically someone who is trained in the physical maintenance and manipulation of trees and therefore more a part of the arboriculture process rather than an arborist.
Risk management, legal issues, and aesthetic considerations have come to play prominent roles in the practice of arboriculture. Businesses often need to hire arboriculturists to complete tree hazard surveys and generally manage the trees on-site to fulfill Occupational safety and health obligations.
Arboriculture is primarily focused on individual woody plants and trees maintained for permanent landscape and amenity purposes, usually in gardens, parks or other populated settings, by arborists, for the enjoyment, protection, and benefit of human beings. It falls under the general umbrella of horticulture.

References

  • Harris, Richard W. (1983). Arboriculture: Care of Trees, Shrubs, and Vines in the Landscape. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 07632: Prentice-Hall, Inc. pp. 2–3. ISBN 0-13-043935-5.
  • "arboriculture". Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition. Merriam-Webster.
  • "arboriculture". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2007.
  • "arboriculture". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Online. Houghton Mifflin Company. 2000.

External Links

  • Arboricultural Association, UK
  • International Society of Arboriculture, (USA)
  • European Arboricultural Council
  • BatsandTrees.com, Promoting the importance of British trees to bats
  • Institute of Chartered Foresters The UK based Chartered body for forestry and arboricultural professionals
  • American Forests Urban forestry resources
  • Encyclopædia Britannica
  • Wikisource-logo.svg "Arboriculture". Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.


- Wikipedia 

POSTHARVEST

In agriculture, postharvest handling is the stage of crop production immediately following harvest, including cooling, cleaning, sorting and packing. The instant a crop is removed from the ground, or separated from its parent plant, it begins to deteriorate. Postharvest treatment largely determines final quality, whether a crop is sold for fresh consumption, or used as an ingredient in a processed food product.


Drying and bagging of peanuts in Jiangxia District, Hubei,  China

Goals


Drying chili peppers. Milyanfan, Kyrgyzstan.

The most important goals of post-harvest handling are keeping the product cool, to avoid moisture loss and slow down undesirable chemical changes, and avoiding physical damage such as bruising, to delay spoilage. Sanitation is also an important factor, to reduce the possibility of pathogens that could be carried by fresh produce, for example, as residue from contaminated washing water.
After the field, post-harvest processing is usually continued in a packing house. This can be a simple shed, providing shade and running water, or a large-scale, sophisticated, mechanized facility, with conveyor belts, automated sorting and packing stations, walk-in coolers and the like. In mechanized harvesting, processing may also begin as part of the actual harvest process, with initial cleaning and sorting performed by the harvesting machinery.
Initial post-harvest storage conditions are critical to maintaining quality. Each crop has an optimum range for storage temperature and humidity. Also, certain crops cannot be effectively stored together, as unwanted chemical interactions can result. Various methods of high-speed cooling, and sophisticated refrigerated and atmosphere-controlled environments, are employed to prolong freshness, particularly in large-scale operations.
Regardless of the scale of harvest, from domestic garden to industrialized farm, the basic principles of post-harvest handling for most crops are the same: handle with care to avoid damage (cutting, crushing, bruising), cool immediately and maintain in cool conditions, and cull (remove damaged items).
Postharvest Shelf Life
Once harvested, vegetable and fruit are subject to the active process of senescence. Numerous biochemical processes continuously change the original composition of the crop until it becomes unmarketable. The period during which consumption is considered acceptable is defined as the time of "postharvest shelf life".
Postharvest shelf life is typically determined by objective methods that determine the overall appearance, taste, flavor, and texture of the commodity. These methods usually include a combination of sensorial, biochemical, mechanical, and colorimetric (optical) measurements. A recent study attempted (and failed) to discover a biochemical marker and fingerprint methods as indices for freshness .
Postharvest Physiology
Postharvest physiology is the scientific study of the physiology of living plant tissues after they have denied further nutrition by picking. It has direct applications to postharvest handling in establishing the storage and transport conditions that best prolong shelf life.
An example of the importance of the field to post-harvest handling is the discovery that ripening of fruit can be delayed, and thus their storage prolonged, by preventing fruit tissue respiration. This insight allowed scientists to bring to bear their knowledge of the fundamental principles and mechanisms of respiration, leading to post-harvest storage techniques such as cold storage, gaseous storage, and waxy skin coatings. Another well known example is the finding that ripening may be brought on by treatment with ethylene.
References

  1. ^ Janet Bachmann and Richard Earles (August 2000). "Postharvest Handling of Fruits and Vegetables". NCAT. Archived from the original on 2002-02-11.
  2. ^ actahort.org.

External Links


- Wikipedia 

How to Bake a Fully-Cooked Semi-Boneless Ham

A semi-boneless ham gives you the best of both worlds: the shank bone is removed for ease of carving, but the leg bone remains to give the ham more flavor. Nutritionally speaking, a 3 oz. serving of cooked ham contains roughly 140 calories, 10 g of fat and almost 800 mg of sodium. Although ham is a very adaptable meat offering a variety of preparations using the leftovers, only consume it in moderation if you are watching your sodium intake.
How to Bake a Fully-Cooked Semi-Boneless Ham
A baked ham on a plate with vegetables. Photo Credit Igor Dutina/iStock/Getty Images

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil.

Step 2

Place the ham in the roasting pan. If the ham has a sufficient layer of fat, use a small, sharp knife to score the fat in a diamond pattern.

Step 3

Mix the brown sugar, pineapple juice, honey, dry mustard and cloves in a small bowl and set it aside.

Step 4

Put the ham in the oven and cook for 15 to 18 minutes per pound for a whole ham, 18 to 24 minutes for a half ham, or until the internal temperature of the ham reaches 140 F. Brush the ham with the glaze several times during the last hour of cooking.
Tips
www.livestrong.com

How to Smoke a Ham Shank on a Charcoal Grill

Ham comes from the hind leg of the pig, and the shank portion is the lowest part of the whole ham. Ham shank typically comes bone-in and is available in grocery stores either "ready to eat" or "ready to cook." Ham shanks that are ready to eat are already cooked; ready-to-cook shanks require cooking for safe consumption. Make sure your ham reaches an internal temperature of approximately 145 degrees Fahrenheit. One way to achieve this cooking temperature and add good smoky flavor is to smoke the ham shank on a traditional charcoal grill.
How to Smoke a Ham Shank on a Charcoal Grill
A baked ham shank. Photo Credit oei1/iStock/Getty Images

Grill Preparation

Step 1

Place hardwood chips in water, and soak them for at least 30 minutes.

Step 2

Place the charcoal in your grill and spray it with lighter fluid -- or simply add lighter briquettes to your grill. Light them and allow them to burn until they turn white or light gray.

Step 3

Divide the lit charcoal in half, and push it against either side of the grill, creating an open space in the middle.

Step 4

Place an aluminum drip pan in the open area and pour three cups of a liquid into the pan. This liquid will help keep the air inside the grill moist and prevent the ham from drying out.

Step 5

Place a handful of soaked wood chips on both piles of charcoal, and replace the grill food grate.

Smoking

Step 1

Place your ham shank on the grate over the drip pan.

Step 2

Monitor the interior temperature of the ham shank with a meat thermometer. According to the USDA, ham must reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit to be fully cooked.

Step 3

Remove the ham shank when it reaches the proper temperature, tent it loosely with aluminum foil, and allow it to rest for 10 minutes. Resting finishes the cooking process and forces the juices to reabsorb into the meat for a more tender smoked ham shank.

How to Broil or Bake a Leg of Chicken

A simple chicken breast is well known as a healthy entree, but most people don't realize that chicken legs are also a healthy choice. Dark meat chicken, found in the legs and thighs, contains iron-rich myoglobin. Dark meat also contains more zinc and B vitamins than a chicken breast and is rich in calcium and potassium. For a healthier chicken leg, remove the chicken skin. By skinning a 6-ounce serving of chicken, you save 11 grams of fat. Choose from a variety of seasonings to flavor your meal, then bake or broil for a healthy main dish.
How to Broil or Bake a Leg of Chicken
Roasted chicken leg with herbs and spices. Photo Credit Tetiana_Chudovska/iStock/Getty Images

Prepare the Chicken

Step 1

Create a seasoning mix of your choice. You can use a commercial rub mix or make your own seasonings from herbs and spices. Good flavor combinations include soy sauce, garlic, pepper and dried parsley. Alternatively, marinate chicken for up to 8 hours in a mixture of honey, Dijon mustard and curry powder. If you wish to serve the chicken with a sauce, simply coat the chicken lightly with olive oil or melted butter and season simply with salt and pepper or lemon pepper. If you like your chicken breaded, toss chicken legs in bread crumbs after seasoning.

Step 2

Remove the skin from chicken legs. Season the chicken with your choice of herbs or spices.

Step 3

Line a roasting pan with foil for easy clean up. Spray the roasting rack with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Place the chicken legs on the rack of the roasting pan leaving space between each piece.

Broiling Chicken

Step 1

Place seasoned chicken under a preheated broiler, 4 to 5 inches below the broiler.

Step 2

Broil the chicken legs for 10 minutes. Turn them with tongs and brush them with more oil, seasoning mix or marinade.

Step 3

Broil for another 10 minutes or until the chicken is tender and the juices are clear. Chicken legs are done when the internal temperature reaches at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit on an instant-read meat thermometer.

Baking Chicken Legs

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Step 2

Place the prepared chicken on the center rack and bake it for 45 to 50 minutes or until the chicken is tender.

Step 3

Check the internal temperature with an instant-read meat thermometer. Chicken is safe to eat when the temperature reads at least 165 F. Many cooks prefer to cook chicken to 185 F.

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