When potatoes were brought back to England, the English were not quite sure what to do with them. Sir Walter Raleigh gave some potato plants to Queen Elizabeth I. When it came time for Queen Elizabeth's cooks to prepare them, they tossed out the tubers and boiled the stems and leaves. Everyone at the table became very deathly ill and potatoes were banned from the royal kitchen.

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In the 6th century B.C. the Greek philosopher Pythagoras condemned the fava bean (broad bean) and would not let his followers eat them, as he believed that they contained the souls of the dead.

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Date stones from 4,500 BC have been found in Egypt.

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The world production of grapes is over 72 million tons.

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How do you tell the difference between chard and silver beet? You don’t – they are two names for the same vegetable.

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During the American Civil War (1861-1865), doctors in the Union army used onion juice to clean gunshot wounds, and General Ulysses S. Grant, deprived of it, sent a testy memo to the War Department: "I will not move my troops without onions!" The next day he got them.

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Banana oil never saw a banana; it's made from petroleum.

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Peanuts are beans, not nuts.

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Fennel was said to be eaten by serpents to improve their eyesight, making it easier for them to attack their victims.

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The tulip is the national flower of Iran and Turkey, and tulip motifs feature prominently in Persian and Turkish folk arts. It is also considered the unofficial emblem of The Netherlands.

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