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Rusty Hinge 2 · 02-07-2008, 04:11 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:
In article
,
Dave Hill writes:
|
| I am supprised that no one has picked up on the fact that parsnips are
| the same family as Hemlock.

And tomatoes are as deadly nightshade and thorn apple, beans are as
laburnum (and even more toxic tropical plants), and so on.

However, tomatoes are much more closely related to black nightshade,
whose berries are edible when ripe, in just the same way as green
tomatoes are slightly poisonous, but on ripening, become free of the
relevant toxin.

Black nightshade berries are quite widely eaten on every continent
except Antarctica, and I concoct a very passable ersatz blueberry pie
filling with them, and some added sugar and tartaric (or ascorbic) acid.

You *CAN* use citric acid, but IME it tastes of lemon.

rant

And it's added to most commercial jams, and ruins their flavour.

/rant

--
Rusty
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