In front of a courtyard that looks like a scientific research institute, the figures of the four little friends gradually solidified.

Ding Xuecheng saw that there was a plaque hanging on the gate of the courtyard, which read "Vegetable Base of XX Institute of Botany". There is a three-story building in the courtyard, with nearly ten rooms on each floor, and each room has a nameplate nailed to the door frame, so it is impossible to see what is written on it. The yard is a hollow fence covered with greenery, dotted with small yellow, white and purple flowers, and long strips of blue-green fruits swaying in the wind.

At this moment, an old man came out of a room in the middle of the first floor of the building.

The old man walked to the gate of the courtyard, and Ding Xuecheng found that the old man had short and straight hair and white temples, like a rural grandfather in his sixties. He was dressed in a green cloth shirt, and the deep wrinkles on his forehead were like ravines; Wearing black-framed glasses, it looks like a circle of water waves; The smiling face appeared warm and kind; The palms of the hands are wide and rough, and there is a little mud on the cloth shoes and trousers; There is a nameplate pinned to the chest, printed with the words "Yuan Nongping, Director of the XX Institute of Botany".

The old man approached them, and his voice was full of energy, so that Ding Xuecheng couldn't tell the real age of the old man, and thought it was a middle-aged uncle.

"Hello kids! I just received a notice that some children have come to the vegetable base of our institute to carry out extracurricular practical activities. Let's get to know each other, I'm the person in charge here, you can call me Grandpa Yuan; What are the names of the children? ”

Yanyan raised her cute little face, put her little hand into the old man's wide palm, and said crisply, "Grandpa Yuan, my name is Yanyan!" ”

Kiki jumped over, her ponytail raised high, she grabbed Grandpa Yuan's big hand and said, "Grandpa Yuan, my name is Kiki!" ”

"I'm Binbin, Grandpa Yuan is good!"

"I'm Bobo, Grandpa Yuan is good!"

"Okay~Good~Good~Good~, haha~ Nice to meet you! I will arrange your activity, this activity has two links, one is to visit the vegetable base, and the other is the practice of vegetable planting. I'll show you around first, watch and talk, come with me! ”

Grandpa Yuan held Yanyan's little hand with one hand and Qiqi with the other, like holding a pair of granddaughters.

Qiqi pointed to the plant fruits on the fence, raised her little face and asked, "Grandpa Yuan, is this a lentil?" ”

"Well, this is lentils, a type of kidney bean, also known as kidney beans, kidney lentils, etc. It is an annual herbaceous plant with vines, small leaves, white or purple flowers, and the pods are oblong, flattened, slightly curved, purple-red or blue-yellow, and the seeds are white or purple-black. It likes warmth and humidity and is heat-resistant. Generally, spring sowing and autumn harvest. The young pods are common vegetables, and the seeds can be used in medicine. Next to it is also lentils, also called eyebrow peas in the north, different types, are elongated, and some places are called green beans, the difference is the length of the pods, the size and color of the bulges and the seeds. These are the vegetables you eat on your dinner table. ”

Bin Bin pointed to the plants on the fence on the other side and said, "You see, the cucumbers are also full of vines. ”

Grandpa Yuan smiled and said, "That's right, the fruits of stem vine plants generally bear on vines, lentils and cucumbers are like this. Cucumbers are vegetables that we often eat, who knows the origin, origin, and appearance of cucumbers? ”

Bin Bin hurriedly said: "This cucumber is a cucumber plant of the Cucurbitaceae family, also known as courgette and cucumber. The fruit is elongated and rod-shaped, oily green or emerald green in color, with small soft spines on the surface. There is also a white-skinned cucumber, which is thicker, smoother and no thorns, and turns yellow when it is old, and the stewed loach is super delicious. ”

Ding Xuecheng checked the information of cucumbers, and immediately raised his hand to answer: "I know the origin and origin, cucumbers were brought back to the Central Plains by Zhang Qian from the Western Han Dynasty to the Western Regions, and they are called courgettes." After the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms, Emperor Shi Le tabooed the word 'Hu', and Fan Tan, the county shou of Xiangguo County, Hanchen, changed it to 'cucumber', which is still used today. It is now widely cultivated throughout the country and widely cultivated in temperate and tropical regions. Cucumbers like warmth and are not tolerant to cold, and are one of the main greenhouse products. ”

"You know so much!" Grandpa Yuan appreciated.

Yeon-yeon tilted her head and asked, "Apart from these, where do the other vegetables grow?" ”

Grandpa Yuan said: "Let's go to the greenhouse over there and have a look, and you will know where they grow." ”

The group walked into a huge greenhouse, and looked all the way through the door, as if there was no end in sight. The vegetable patch inside is divided into patches, each with different vegetables, and there are many female employees who are busy with greenery.

Yanyan pointed to the employees and asked, "The aunts here are carrying vegetable baskets and picking vegetables!" What are the aunties digging over there? ”

Grandpa Yuan smiled and said to the four of them, "You'll know after a while!" Do you know where common vegetables grow? ”

Yeon-yeon said, "The lentils and cucumbers I saw just now grow on vines. ”

"Radishes and potatoes grow in the soil, along with garlic and onions. ”

Binbin thought for a while and said, "Some vegetables grow in water, such as lotus root, water chestnut, etc., all of which grow in the mud under water; Water chestnut grows on the surface of the water; Kelp grows in seawater. ”

Ding Xuecheng also said: "Some vegetables are artificially cultivated or processed, without soil, such as bean sprouts, tofu, etc. ”

Grandpa Yuan smiled and listened to the children's answers, nodded again and again, and asked another question: "So, do you know what parts ordinary vegetables are composed of?" ”

Ding Xuecheng replied first: "I know~ ordinary vegetables are also plants, with roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds, and different vegetables eat different parts. ”

"Hehe, that's good! Do you know which part of these vegetables to eat? ”

The four friends almost didn't have to think about it, and they rushed to answer.

"Carrots, edible roots."

"Cauliflower, edible flowers."

"Cucumbers, edible fruits."

"Cabbage, edible leaves."

"Celery, edible stems."

When Grandpa Yuan heard this, he was very happy, praised the four of them, and then said: "Let's look at it while walking, you carefully observe the vegetables here, I tell riddles, you guess which one is together, see who is faster!" ”

"Okay~" The four of them replied in unison.

"What's green and long?"

Yanyan: "Cowpeas, beans." ”

"What's dressed in green?"

Kiki: "Green cucumbers, green peppers, lentils. ”

"What lantern is hanging high?"

Yeon-yeon: "Eggplant, and chili peppers. ”

"What underground hide-and-seek?"

Binbin: "White radish, carrots, well, sweet potatoes, potatoes. ”

"What's the older the skin, the more yellow it is?"

Ding Xuecheng: "Pumpkin, and white cucumber." ”

Grandpa Yuan: "You all guessed right, it's all good!" What kind of vegetables do you see in this greenhouse? ”

"Red pepper, Hangzhou pepper."

"Onion, garlic, celery."

"Pumpkin, gourd, tomato."

"Beans, eggplant, cucumber."

"Potatoes, turnips, carrots, sweet potatoes."

……

Yanyan pulled Grandpa Yuan to the aunt who was digging things, looked at it for a while, and said happily: "Grandpa Yuan, this is digging potatoes!" Potatoes grow in the dirt like a nest of big eggs lying in the dirt, so cute! ”

"Yeon-yeon said it vividly! You look closely at this piece and see what's the difference? ”

Qiqi pointed to the stem that was also digging next to her and asked, "Grandpa Yuan, is the aunt digging over there also a sweet potato?" ”

"Hehe, guess what?"

Bin Bin ran over to take a look at it, and said loudly: "It doesn't look like a sweet potato, it looks like a potato!" How is it red? Hey, and the purple ones! ”

"Who will tell me the alias, the origin and the parts of the potatoes?"

"I know."

Bin Bin ran back, coughed twice, looked whole, shook his head and said: "The scientific name of this plant is potato, potato is its other name, Solanaceae, an annual herbaceous plant, also known as ground egg, artichoke, etc. The cultivation of potatoes can be traced back to the southern region of Peru, from about 8000 to 5000 BC. Potato is one of the five major staple foods in China, with high nutritional value, strong adaptability and large yield, and is the third most important food crop in the world, second only to wheat and corn. The stem is divided into two parts: above-ground stem and underground stem, and we eat the underground stem tuber of the potato. ”

"Hehe, the Bin kid is right! We still like to call it a potato, the skin of the potato is white, yellow, pink, red, purple and black, and the flesh is white, yellow, yellow, black, cyan, purple and black purple. In addition to the edible value, potatoes also have medicinal value, who of you knows? ”

The information found by Ding Xuecheng finally came in handy, he raised his hand and said: "I know that potatoes are propagated by tubers, which can be used as medicine, and can be sweet and sweet, and can cure stomach pain, ribs, carbuncles and other diseases. ”

"Well, Bobo said it well! In fact, potatoes contain a high level of trace elements, and studies have shown that potatoes contain about 4 times more vitamin C than apples. ”

"Potatoes are higher in vitamin C than apples? No wonder we kids love to eat potatoes! Kiki was excited, as if she had the foresight to eat potatoes.

Kiki was like a happy puppy, running around and looking around, and found again: "Come and see!" Is this garlic or onion? ”

Yanyan ran over and looked at it for a while and said, "If you don't dig it out and look at it, you can't tell it!" ”

Bin Bin glanced at the leaves of the plant and said angrily, "Just look at the leaves!" The leaves of garlic are flat, whereas the leaves of onions are round tubes and cone-shaped. ”

Grandpa Yuan walked over, praised Binbin, and asked, "Who knows the origin of the onion and the parts of it to eat?" ”

The two little girls shook their heads and said politely and embarrassedly: "I only know that onions are edible underground stems." ”

At this time, Yeon-yeon objected: "What Binbin said is not entirely right! My mom sprinkled chopped green onions when she made soup and cooked vegetables, and it wasn't an underground stem. ”

"Oh, yes, the underground stems are used when making braised beef slices and teppanyaki, and the flatbread from the Northeast and the roast duck slices in the capital are wrapped with shredded green onions." Kiki came back to her senses.

"I know where it comes from, onions are native to Central or West Asia, and there are many different varieties that have been used in food all over the world. Pictures of onion harvesting were found in ancient Egyptian stone carvings dating back 1,000 BC, which later spread to the Mediterranean. During the Western Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian traveled to the Western Regions and brought back many species from the Western Regions. At that time, there were already records of onion cultivation in the Western Regions. After the great geographical discoveries, it spread from Europe to the world. In the 16th century, it was introduced to North America. It was introduced to Japan in the 17th century. In the 18th century, the Lingnan Miscellaneous Records recorded that onions were introduced to Macao by white Europeans and cultivated in Guangdong. ”

Grandpa Yuan laughed and said, "Bobo's children are very knowledgeable~ The origin of what he said is correct, the edible parts you said are confused with the varieties of green onions. There are many varieties of green onions, which are divided into green onions, shallots, onions, etc. Bin Bin is talking about onions, Yeon-yeon is talking about shallots, and Kiki is talking about green onions, and you are not wrong. ”

Grandpa Yuan paused for a moment, looked at the children's smug expressions, and continued, "I'll talk about onions first. Onions are a very common and inexpensive home-cooked dish. Its meat is tender, juicy and spicy, and the quality is good, making it suitable for raw food. Native to western Asia, it is cultivated all over the country and is supplied in all seasons. In foreign countries, it is known as the 'queen of dishes', with high nutritional value. The edible part of the onion is a large bulb in the ground, which is called an onion. The leaves of the green onion are composed of two parts, the leaf body and the leaf sheath, from which the leaf sheath part forms a pseudostem and a bulb; The leaves are dark green, cylindrical, hollow, and the leaves grow upright; There is a groove in the abdomen, which is one of the morphological markers that distinguish the seedling stage from the green onion. The tubular shape of the onion has a small leaf area, and the leaf surface is covered with a thick wax powder, which is a drought-resistant ecological characteristic. The young green onion leaves of the shallots are cut into green onions for condiment, and there are also small bulbs underground, which are similar to garlic, and some places use it to make kimchi, called 'chewing head', crisp, sour, sweet, and is an appetizer. The bulbs of green onions are also very small, and they are mainly eaten with stick-shaped thick fake stems, which are cut into strips to make side dishes such as roast duck slices, shredded pork rolls with Kyoto sauce, and crispy pork elbows. ”

The children were impressed by Grandpa Yuan's knowledge, and were even more stimulated by the names of the dishes reported by the old man.