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Manual of Minor Vegetables - Popular IFAS Book Back in Circulation

 At one time or another, most of us have found ourselves sitting at a restaurant toying with our tossed salad, aimlessly wondering just what were each of those odd-shaped little pieces of green, red, or yellow morsels. Some resembled lettuce, while others perhaps spinach, but something about them seemed different - maybe the shape of the leaf, the color, or the flavor.

Because in these modern times, we place so much emphasis on not just what we eat, but on how much of it and its nutritional value, we hurry home to identify those tasty but strange little pieces of greenery. Unfortunately, none of our gardening guides show pictures or describe anything except the vegetables we already know- leaf lettuce, romaine, iceberg lettuce, and maybe even endive and escarole.

To the rescue comes the UF/IFAS Florida Cooperative Extension Service. A quick call to the local county office gets an all-knowing Master Gardener on the line. "Yes, we have that sort of information available in one of our publications. It is a for-sale booklet called Manual of Minor Vegetables. No, we do not sell it here. You will have to order it from UF/IFAS Extension Bookstore, University of Florida, P.O. Box 110810, Gainesville, FL 32611-0810. Send them a check for $7.00, plus shipping and handling."

The above scenario is just one of many that has put this popular publication in the hands of readers not only in Florida but all over the world. So much that the stock of several thousand copies was soon depleted following the initial printing in 1988. UF/IFAS recognized the need to re-print the publication and collaborated on the project with the author, James M Stephens, who retired as Florida Extension Vegetable Specialist, and who now is Emeritus Professor.

The vegetables described in this manual are listed alphabetically according to a common name. The manual also lists but does not describe the major vegetables. Common names are cross-referenced in the index.

The text includes other common and related botanical names, history, description, climatic adaptations, and brief cultural information. In some cases, a discussion of harvesting, preparation, marketing, composition, and uses are included.

A photograph or illustration of most every vegetable occurs with the text. An additional supplemental collection of illustrations is also included.

The collection of illustrations used in the first edition (1988) has been revised in the 2004 edition. Most of the photographs were taken by the author, and permission was granted for use of others.

The publication could not have been accomplished without major inputs from the UF/IFAS Communication Services staff of Ashley Wood. These contributors are word processing operators, Christy Ann Taylor and Jo Ann Lyons; editors, Lin Welch and Lee Herring; graphic designer, Angela Timpanaro; artist, Lilianne Ciacedo; manuscript and text editors, Chana Bird, Andee Cohen, and Carol Church; designer, Julissa Mora Hernandez, who won a national award for the cover; and Tracy Zwillinger for the layout of the book.

(Jim Stephens, (retired), Horticultural Sciences Department - Vegetarian 04-09)