Answer This, Please. . .

Hello ATS! It's been a minute.

I was working in my garden and decided that I want too add zucchini. Oddly enough, I couldn't find any tray plants or even seeds for zucchini.

I thought, "man, it would be nice if all I had to do was go to the forest and pick a plant."

This made me think a little and I realized that I've never really seen them in the wild. In fact, I don't recall ever seeing any vegetable plants in the forest. No cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, green beans, etc. I'm also referring to the domestic garden variety. I know I've seen blackberries and blueberries, but that's about it.

Why is it that there are no plants like this in the wild? I mean, it seems like you'd run across something at some point over your lifetime.

a reply to: esteay812

There are some similar....but in general...those mentioned were cultivated by us....

Hi!
I don't know the answer but would think the heavy domestication of food plants has a lot to do with it. They would probably look a lot different in the wild too, as well as any ripening fruit getting eaten by foraging animals, another reason they might not get spotted in the wild. Just throwing out my .02, it's a good question. I wanted to start a food forest for awhile, it would be interesting to see how it evolves and changes over the decades!

I have seen, and eaten, wild carrots. A book on wild edibles might clue you in. I recall that apple trees grow wild in Kazakhstan, the region from which they originated. I also know of wild lettuce, and I'm sure there are others.

a reply to: esteay812

I have seen wild onions and strawberries. I also asked myself years ago what you are asking. We bury all of our vegetable waste in the yard. Much decays into the soil but some stuff pops up. Acorn Squash, Mellon, pumpkin and tomatoes. All other vegetables ............ nothing.

We have done this for over 30 years yes its a pain in the - - - but rewarding. One cherry tomato plant grew to 5' in diameter and 3' high. NO fertilizer or chemicals. It knocked out over 10 gallons. It wasn't taken care of by us as we had moved and the former home had not sold yet. It grew in red clay that had been moved by a bucket loader during installation of an in ground pool. I took pics and kept the seeds.

Last year we grew 7 Butternut Squash this way on a trellis. The color inside was a vibrant orange.

a reply to: esteay812

I thought zucchini was a squash variety.
Probably a domesticated varied not suited for the wild.

quick look in wikipedia tells you

The zucchini, like all squash, originates in the Americas, specifically Mesoamerica. Its original name in Mexican language or Nahuatl is ayocotl, also with the variants ayo or ayocotzin (plural, ayococone).

So you need to do a trip to mesoamerica to see it growing in the wild.

Most garden vegetables don't do well without cultivation and care from a gardener. Most of our garden variety vegetables are hybrids or the results of hydrids in years past (due to domestication) that have set traits that make them valuable as a vegetable. Most of our vegetables, if left in the wild would slowly revert to the original plants that they started out as millenia ago, with small fruits, less sugar content, etc.

Corn (maize) is a completely domesticated plant that doesn't grow wild, as it needs to be planted in masses so that it gets pollinated. Single corn plants, which is how it would grow if it were to come up wild, do not get pollinated and hence don't produce grains on the ears.

Animals will eat it before you will

All vegetables & fruits have been genetically engineered (cultivated) over the last 10,000 years to what they are today. Wild carrots are very thin & white or purple instead of orange. Wild grapes are too bitter to eat. Wild corn is so small its unrecognizable. Wild bananas are nearly inedible. Many of the vegetables & fruits are out there but are unrecognizable or inedible in the wild.

www.collective-evolution.com...

a reply to: esteay812


Dig this

a reply to: esteay812

Why not buy a zucchini at the store and use seeds from it? I did that with tomatoes a few times and have some bell pepper seeds drying on a paper towel on the kitchen bar right now.

I have found all kinds of vegetables growing in the wild (not sure I've seen any wild zucchini but have found wild squash). Any where that birds fly over there can be veggies growing- they poop seeds everywhere! I once even found cucamelons growing in my yard that I never planted. I had to look up what they were because I had never seen or heard of them before.

originally posted by: butcherguy
Most garden vegetables don't do well without cultivation and care from a gardener. Most of our garden variety vegetables are hybrids or the results of hydrids in years past (due to domestication) that have set traits that make them valuable as a vegetable. Most of our vegetables, if left in the wild would slowly revert to the original plants that they started out as millenia ago, with small fruits, less sugar content, etc.

Corn (maize) is a completely domesticated plant that doesn't grow wild, as it needs to be planted in masses so that it gets pollinated. Single corn plants, which is how it would grow if it were to come up wild, do not get pollinated and hence don't produce grains on the ears.

Never trust a butcher guy when it comes to talking about fruit and vegetables except, maybe, in this post
Also, genetic modifications to much of what we eat now has been detrimental to plants growth

Ages ago they did grow wild in the forests and the valleys. But then the evil powers that be decided that free food would not allow them to control us so they did away with all the wild food and told us we could only eat if we grew it on farms. So food was domesticated and here we are today

originally posted by: esteay812
Hello ATS! It's been a minute.

I was working in my garden and decided that I want too add zucchini. Oddly enough, I couldn't find any tray plants or even seeds for zucchini.

Perhaps you may have more success if you look for a courgette plant?

zucchini is the Italian name for the courgette.......

These vegetables exist in one form or another in nature. Just not in your growing region. We have wild asparagus out here but that's about it for vegetables. Mushrooms on the other hand are plentiful...

I just remembered that I have wild strawberries growing in my backyard, but they are tiny and almost inedible.

originally posted by: Starcrossd
Hi!
I don't know the answer but would think the heavy domestication of food plants has a lot to do with it. They would probably look a lot different in the wild too, as well as any ripening fruit getting eaten by foraging animals, another reason they might not get spotted in the wild. Just throwing out my .02, it's a good question. I wanted to start a food forest for awhile, it would be interesting to see how it evolves and changes over the decades!

I planted potatoes in the woods, they came up for years, but eventyally they have all died off I think.

Some vegetables are perennials , that home hardeners grow as annuals. Peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant are tropical perennials in the Nightshade family. They die off at winter in non tropical zones. Im in California, so Im sometimes able to get them to make it through. I have 4-5 pepper plants (jalapeno, and pimento) that are on their 3rd season this year.

I once had a special heirloom Mexican purple hot pepper with purple flowers, that went for at least 7 years.

I have vegetable gardens year round here, by running root vegetables and leafy greens in winter

You'd also not expect to find any Yorkies or dachsunds in the forest, though you might see wolves. Same reason.

When I was a kid, in my region we had wild grapes, wild strawberries, wild blueberries, wild blackberries, wild chives, and wild carrots, as well as a few edible plants which were never domesticated for eating, such as violets, yarrow, wood sorrel, etc.

Of the domesticated plants, the blueberries and blackberries most closely resembled the current varieties, though the blueberries were smaller.

originally posted by: NightVision
a reply to: esteay812


Dig this

That was cool!