Due Tuesday, August 5, 2014 at 10:00am

750-word essay submitted online, posted to the course website (roughly three double-spaced pages)

Choose one vegetable that currently grows in the Yedikule gardens: purslane (semizotu), lettuce (marul), tomato (domates), purple basil (reyhan), pepper (biber), mint (nane) or radish (turp). Answer the following questions in your essay:

I. 250 words on the origin of your vegetable:

– Location of wild progenitor (ancestor)?

– When was it domesticated? When/how did it come to Istanbul?

– What part is eaten? How is the modern crop different from the wild form?

II. 250 words on how to grow your vegetable:

– Soil, water, sunlight requirements?

– How to plant, how to protect from pests and disease?

– You can use both ancient sources (Geoponika, Classical writers) and modern gardening websites for agricultural information (do these information sources correlate in any way?)

III. 250 words on taste and a traditional recipe:

– Detail your own experiences tasting this vegetable (smell, feel, taste, appearance)

– Are you familiar with this vegetable already, or is it new to you?

– Locate a Turkish recipe that uses this ingredient and explain how the vegetable is prepared/cooked (online recipes are okay, but try to find one from a traditional cookbook or one that is noted as being passed down through generations)

– Include the recipe and a photo of your vegetable