We don't usually stop to think about where the food we’re eating comes from – you might be surprised to learn how some of your favourite fruits and vegetables grow. And some look very different in their raw, unprocessed state on trees and in bushes, to how they end up on your plate. Here are just a few of the bizarre origins of some of our staple foods.
When they’re growing on trees, dates are almost unrecognisable to the food sold in stores. The yellow fruit grows in bunches that hang from towering date palms in warm regions such as the Middle East. As they ripen, their colour deepens and they begin to look more like the shrivelled, brown fruit you buy.
No these are not weeds, they’re sweet potato leaves. The tuber grows underground just like other potatoes and above the ground, it produces lush foliage. Gardeners like to use them as a ground cover and they can even be trained to grow up a trellis.
When okra grows, it heads upwards rather than down, and its slender, pointed shape is why it's nicknamed "lady's fingers". Plants can reach six foot (1.8m) and need lots of sun and warm weather. You can grow okra yourself – the plants are a gift that keeps on giving, with new pods appearing soon after you cut their predecessors.
For something to be a vegetable, it has to be edible and a root, stem, leaf or flower bud. Can you guess what these tiny veg are? They're the flower buds of a caper bush. If they're given the chance to bloom, they become beautiful white flowers with purple stamen.
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You'll find this festive berry and juice favourite growing on a woody shrub that thrives in acidic peatlands. When it's time to harvest the cranberries, farmers flood the area with water so that the berries rise to the surface and can be collected easily.
Steamed, grilled or from a jar, artichokes are delicious. But who knew they grew on such beautiful plants? The veg comes from a thorny thistle with the most glorious purple flowers. The part you eat is the flower bud before it has blossomed.
Did you know this salad staple is actually a fruit? The definition of a fruit is the part of a flowering plant where the seeds are found. Cucumbers grow on leafy, spindly vines that climb upwards and need to be supported. After a female flower has bloomed, the cucumber-shaped swelling at its base turns into a full cucumber.
Found in tropical and subtropical regions including South America, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia, this striking plant is dragon fruit. The thin cacti are often trained to grow up a trellis and cascade back down. Its flowers, which bloom at night for a single night, are what turn into the brightly-coloured fruit.
A classic winter veg, Brussels sprouts form on the trunk of small plants that grow to 30 inches (76cm) tall. At the top of its thick stalk is a big head of green, edible leaves that look and taste very similar to cabbage. These plants fare best in cool climates and can even survive snow.
There's no mystery when it comes to asparagus – the vegetable simply grows straight out of the ground. Thriving in cooler regions with cold winters, asparagus is a long-term investment. It takes a couple of years to be ready to harvest, but after that will keep producing new shoots for several years.
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Despite so many of us being avocado enthusiasts, a surprisingly large number of people don’t know avocados grow on trees. In hot climates, the towering trees can reach 65 feet (20m) and the tempting fruit hang in abundance on long stems. If harvesting food isn’t your goal, they make attractive indoor plants thanks to their large, lustrous evergreen leaves.
Many people believe that aubergines grow in the ground, but in fact they grow upright on a shrubby plant. There’s huge variety in the sizes, colours and shapes of aubergines you can grow, from the classic purple and pear-shaped aubergines to white, rounder varieties that resemble eggs.
Black, white and red peppercorns all start life as tiny green berries on a peppercorn plant. They grow in bunches that dangle down from leafy vines and as they ripen, slowly fade from green to orange to red. Favouring hot, humid climates, the tropical species can grow to 30 feet (9m), but also make wonderful house plants.
When you buy a leek from the supermarket, what you have is the plant’s bulb and stem. However, when the veg is growing from the ground it has long edible leaves that get chopped off before it’s sold. From the allium family, it grows in a very similar way to chives, garlic, spring onion and onion.
A sweet fruit with green and orange skin, papayas look a little like mangoes from the outside. However their flesh is harder and they have black seeds in the centre instead of a stone. They grow on a tall herbaceous plant, directly out of its thin, woody trunk and just underneath its fanned leaves, in hot climates such as Central America.
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You may have seen the seeds in plastic boxes in supermarkets or sprinkled over salads in a restaurant, but have you seen how this beautiful fruit grows? Similar to an apple, pomegranates develop on round shrubs that vary greatly in size. The fruit has a shiny, inedible outer layer and has to be cut open to get to the juicy seeds inside.
Like leeks, you might not instantly recognise celery because you normally see it without all of its leaves, however they are edible and can be used as a herb. The thick green stalks (the part most people eat) grow in bunches straight from the ground. Native to marshlands, it thrives in wet conditions.
A type of melon, cantaloupes have hard, green skin and a sweet, orange centre. Similar to cucumbers, they are a trailing vine that likes to climb up walls and trellises. It’s hard to imagine how the plant’s thin stems manage to carry such heavy fruit and they often need slings to support them.
Often prepared as the bright green, spicy paste served alongside sushi, wasabi starts its life as a plant. Part of the same family as cabbage, mustard and horseradish, it grows out of the ground to about two foot (60cm), and has beautiful and delicate, heart-shaped leaves (which are edible) and white flowers. The part we mainly eat is the root, grated into dishes for a fiery kick.
A world away from the snack aisle, chocolate begins life as a cocoa fruit. Sometimes called a pod, this colourful, oval-shaped fruit grows on the trunk and branches of 15 to 25-foot (4.5 to 6m) cocoa trees in rainforests. The cocoa beans within the fruit are what's used to make chocolate.
If you thought these were the ridged stems and herby leaves of a celery plant, you aren't completely wrong. Celery and celeriac are very similar vegetables, but one is produced for its stems and the other for its knobbly, edible root which protrudes from the ground as it grows.
They make a great snack, but who knew almonds' origins were so beautiful? Similar to a peach, almonds grow as a stone fruit on a tree which has glorious pink and white blossoms in spring. Later in the year, in the summer, almond hulls split open and reveal the shell of the nut. At this point they can be harvested, dried and sold.
You’ve probably eaten these if you’re a fan of spicy stir-fries and curries. Bird’s eye chillies grow on small bushy plants in hot countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia. The most amazing thing about the small, spicy fruits is how they grow up towards the sky.
There are many unexpected things about the way this ubiquitous fruit grows. Famous for its yellow colour, it’s actually green for most of the time it's on the plant. It grows in big bunches that look like they’re hanging upside down. Although people think the banana plant is a tree, it's a tall herb that can reach 49 foot (15m).
This eye-catching, red fruit is a cashew apple, rarely eaten around the world as they decay quickly. What you’ll be more familiar with is the cashew nut that grows out the bottom of it, which is the fruit’s seed. These are poisonous raw and must be shelled and roasted before they can be enjoyed.
It’s not just grapes that grow on vines, but kiwi fruit too. The sweet fruit needs plenty of space, mild winters and sheltered sunny spaces to flourish. If you decide to grow them at home, the vines can make an elegant addition to your garden.
Many people believe that pineapples grow on trees, but just like money, they don’t. In fact they're grown from the ground and the plants make for eye-catching pineapple fields. The fruit sits at the top of a stem and the sharp leaves that surround it can reach a whopping five foot (1.5m).
Plants have all kinds of strategies for dispersing their seeds and the peanut’s is one of the most interesting. After the plant's flowers have bloomed, they wilt and bury themselves into the ground and grow into a peanut. An edible seed, the peanut eventually becomes a new plant (unless it’s harvested) and the cycle begins again.
When you drink your morning brew, take a moment to think of the amazing journey it has been on. Coffee beans are actually seeds, extracted from the fruits of the coffee plant, known as coffee cherries. They grow in bunches on evergreen shrubs as big as 20 foot (6m), turning from green to red as they ripen. Once harvested they can be made into coffee.