Definitions of Gardening Terms
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Posted by Sally Odum Sep 30, 2006 |
“Vegetable is a culinary term. Its definition has no scientific value, and is somewhat arbitrary and subjective. Any part of an herbaceous plant that humans eat whole or in part is a vegetable, except for culinary fruits and arguably grains, nuts, herbs, and spices. Also, mushrooms are commonly considered vegetables, despite belonging to a different biological kingdom, namely fungi (which used to be classified as plants).”(1)
Types of Vegetables
- Leaf Vegetables
- Stem Vegetables
- Root Vegetables (carrots, etc.)
- Flowering vegetables
- Bulbs (garlic, onion, etc.)
- Botanical pulses (green beans)
- Fleshy immature seeds (peas and beans)
The commercial production of vegetables is a branch of horticulture called olericulture. The word "horticulture" is derived from the Latin hortus (garden plant) and cultura (culture). Horticulture is defined as the culture or growing of garden plants.
There are five branches of horticulture:
- Floriculture
- Landscape Horticulture
- Olericulture
- Pomology (fruits)
- Postharvest Physiology
A person who works within, is trained in, or practices horticulture is known as a horticulturist. A horticulturist might work within areas such as plant propagation, plant physiology, crop production, biochemistry, genetic engineering, or storage, processing and transportation of garden plants.
Agriculture "is the process of producing food, feed, fiber and other goods by the systematic raising of plants and animals."(2) Agriculture encompasses the term, "farming." Agri is from Latin ager (a field), and culture is from Latin cultura (cultivation).
A Gardener is any person involved in the growing and maintenance of plants, notably in a garden.
(Definitions from Wikipedia.org)