Horticulture Today, 1st Edition Page 95 (125 of 992)

Chapter 4 The Horticulture Industry 95
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
leaves are eaten. The fl owers of plants can also be eaten as a vegetable, as is
the case with broccoli and caulifl ower. Fruits include beans, peas, tomatoes,
cucumbers, squash, peppers, and sweet corn.
Vegetable Growers
Vegetable growers should enjoy working outdoors in a variety of
conditions. They must be prepared to lead
teams of people and have good communication
skills. Vegetable growers have the opportunity
to provide people with nutritious plants
for better health. Growers must make daily
choices for plant management. They face many
challenges that require critical thinking and
problem solving, Figure 4-4.
Pomology
Pomology is the cultivation, processing,
storing, and marketing of fruits and nuts. People
who work this area are known as pomologists.
The study, management, and harvest of fruit and
nut trees helps feed and medicate people around
the world. Fruit from trees such as those in the
citrus family (grapefruit, tangerine, and oranges)
provide the vitamin C used to help ward off
sickness and disease such as the common cold.
hjschneider/Shutterstock.com
Figure 4-4. Vegetable growers must make decisions and
solve problems related to gardening. How would you
cultivate a garden? What would be your biggest challenge?
Leaflet
Primary
branch
Main stem
Peg
Soil
Peanut
Taproot
Roots
sunsetman/Shutterstock.com
STEM STEM Connection Connection
Peanuts
How does a fruit grow underground?
Peanuts provide countless products that are
used daily by Americans. Peanuts are not true nuts.
The peanut is a member of the legume or bean family.
Arachis hypogaea is the botanical name of the peanut
and means “under the earth.” This agronomic crop is
originally from South America, but it has found a home in
the soft soils of the southeastern United States. Peanuts
exhibit something called geocarpy (a rare means of plant
reproduction). After pollination, the flower stalk elongates
and pushes into the ground. Where each plant stem
touches the soil, a nodule (or peanut) forms. The mature
fruit, now called a legume, is nestled in the soil waiting for
harvest. How many peanuts would it take to make one jar
of peanut butter?
Corner Question
Where did pumpkin pie
originate?

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Chapter 4 The Horticulture Industry 95
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
leaves are eaten. The fl owers of plants can also be eaten as a vegetable, as is
the case with broccoli and caulifl ower. Fruits include beans, peas, tomatoes,
cucumbers, squash, peppers, and sweet corn.
Vegetable Growers
Vegetable growers should enjoy working outdoors in a variety of
conditions. They must be prepared to lead
teams of people and have good communication
skills. Vegetable growers have the opportunity
to provide people with nutritious plants
for better health. Growers must make daily
choices for plant management. They face many
challenges that require critical thinking and
problem solving, Figure 4-4.
Pomology
Pomology is the cultivation, processing,
storing, and marketing of fruits and nuts. People
who work this area are known as pomologists.
The study, management, and harvest of fruit and
nut trees helps feed and medicate people around
the world. Fruit from trees such as those in the
citrus family (grapefruit, tangerine, and oranges)
provide the vitamin C used to help ward off
sickness and disease such as the common cold.
hjschneider/Shutterstock.com
Figure 4-4. Vegetable growers must make decisions and
solve problems related to gardening. How would you
cultivate a garden? What would be your biggest challenge?
Leaflet
Primary
branch
Main stem
Peg
Soil
Peanut
Taproot
Roots
sunsetman/Shutterstock.com
STEM STEM Connection Connection
Peanuts
How does a fruit grow underground?
Peanuts provide countless products that are
used daily by Americans. Peanuts are not true nuts.
The peanut is a member of the legume or bean family.
Arachis hypogaea is the botanical name of the peanut
and means “under the earth.” This agronomic crop is
originally from South America, but it has found a home in
the soft soils of the southeastern United States. Peanuts
exhibit something called geocarpy (a rare means of plant
reproduction). After pollination, the flower stalk elongates
and pushes into the ground. Where each plant stem
touches the soil, a nodule (or peanut) forms. The mature
fruit, now called a legume, is nestled in the soil waiting for
harvest. How many peanuts would it take to make one jar
of peanut butter?
Corner Question
Where did pumpkin pie
originate?

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96 Horticulture Today
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Almond, pecan, pistachio, and macadamia nut trees produce fruits
that provide essential fats and proteins. Pomology also includes the
cultivation of fruits that grow on prickly, rambling vines or shrubs called
brambles (boysenberries, loganberries, raspberries, and blackberries),
and smaller, fruit-bearing plants such as blueberries and strawberries.
Regardless of whether fruit grows on the ground or up high in a tree, all
fruits offer benefi ts for horticulturists and consumers alike.
Growing Practices
The tree fruit and nut industry is feeding a growing population
and meeting this goal through scientifi c research and application. For
instance, apple trees and orchards are managed quite differently today
than they were 20 years ago. A high-density orchard is a fruit tree
orchard with between 150 and 180 trees per acre that bears fruit within
2 to 3 years of planting. Many traditional orchards have been converted
to high-density orchards, growing almost four times the number of
trees in traditional orchards. Trees may also yield increased harvests
with earlier and better quality fruit. In order to feed 9 billion people
in 2050, practices similar to high-density orchards must be applied to
other crops in pomology and further scientifi c study must be pursued.
Fruit and Nut Growers
Fruit and nut growers, or pomologists, must be physically fi t because
the work requires a great deal of physical labor. Head growers manage
crops and lead other workers. Pomologists must keep up to date with
current research and be excellent recordkeepers. They must decide how
best to cultivate their fruits, Figure 4-5. Fruits require intense pesticide spray
programs or other means of pest management.
Viticulture
Viticulture, sometimes called viniculture, is the cultivation of
grapes to be eaten fresh and to be used for making juices, raisins,
jams, jellies, and wines. Grapes are cultivated by viticulturists, then
marketed, processed, and stored. Viticulturists must pay close attention
to pruning and training grape vines, properly fertilizing soils, and
managing pest populations. Enologists are people who use grapes to
make wine using chemistry and food science knowledge.
B
Franck Boston/Shutterstock.com
Figure 4-5. Macadamia nuts (A)
are native to Australia but are
grown for commercial purposes
mainly in Hawaii. Almonds (B)
are native to the Middle East
and South Asia. Where else do
these trees grow around the
world? Are the nuts expensive?
Where do other nut trees grow?
A
joloei/Shutterstock.com
Thinking Green
Espalier Fruit Fencing
Irina Fischer/Shutterstock.com
A pomologist can create a living
fence through the intensive pruning and
training techniques known as espalier.
This vertical and interlinked growth of
fruit trees can provide borders or privacy
screens and edible fruit.

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94 Horticulture Today
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Horticulturists often specialize in either edible or ornamental
horticulture. Edible horticulture includes olericulture, pomology, and
viticulture, while ornamental horticulture includes fl oriculture, nursery and
landscape production, interiorscaping, and turfgrass management. These
areas of horticulture are explained in the following sections.
Olericulture
Olericulture is the science, cultivation, processing, storage, and
marketing of herbs and vegetables. People who grow herbs and vegetables
are olericulturists.
Herbs
Herbs are the vegetative parts of the plant (roots,
stems, and leaves) harvested for fl avorings, foods,
perfumes, or medicines. Botanists and horticulturists may
also refer to an herb as an herbaceous plant. In the culinary
world, herbs are referred to as spices. Although chefs often
use the seeds of these plants and consider them herbs, a
true herb is only the root, stem, or leaf of a plant.
Herbs have been cultivated for both medicinal and
culinary purposes since the dawn of gardening. They were
typically grown outdoors and dried for later use. Today,
many people grow herbs in planters and on windowsills
as well as in outdoor gardens for easy access to fresh herbs
for their tea or coffee and for cooking. Lavender, parsley,
chives, chicory, cilantro, lemongrass, oregano, and basil are
some of the most popular herbs cultivated, Figure 4-3.
Vegetables
Consider the age-old debate of the tomato: is it a vegetable or a fruit? The
answer, it seems, varies by profession. Chefs traditionally consider fruits and
vegetables by the course of the meal in which they are eaten. Fruits are typically
sweet and eaten as desserts. Vegetables are typically eaten as appetizers, main
courses, and side dishes. Thus, for chefs, the tomato may be considered a
vegetable. Horticulturists who grow tomatoes for food may also consider them
to be a vegetable. However, botanists consider the tomato to be a fruit because
it develops from the fertilized ovary of a fl ower. Botanists also consider squash,
pumpkins, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, and pea pods as fruits whereas most
people call them vegetables. As a tomato grower, you may prefer the Supreme
Court’s 1893 ruling in favor of vegetable. It all depends on your perspective.
In horticulture, a vegetable can be the roots, stems, leaves, fl owers, or
fruit of a plant. Therefore, all fruits are vegetables, but not all vegetables are
fruits (to further the fruit/vegetable debate). The roots of sweet potatoes,
carrots, radishes, and parsnips are harvested for eating raw or for cooking.
When you eat celery or asparagus, you are eating the stems of those plants.
The leaves of plants such as spinach, lettuce, cabbage, and kale are eaten.
With some plants, such as onions, leeks, and shallots, both the stem and
thatreec/Shutterstock.com
Figure 4-3. Thai basil is a delightful addition
to many dishes. It is grown by olericulturists.
How many types of basil can you find at local
nurseries or farmers markets?
Corner Question
People have always
linked the affinity for
growing plants to having
a “green thumb.” Where
did this term originate?

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