In this Issue:
GUEST ARTICLE
Customer Awareness Series--Part 4
VEGETABLE NEWS
STRAWBERRY NEWS
Understanding the Strawberry at Renovation
APPLE NEWS
Apple Pest Focus: Apple Maggot
Where the Heck Did “Peck” Come From?
| Vol 1 No.9 | July 12, 2004 |
Where the Heck Did “Peck” Come From?*
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers?
If Peter Piper Picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
So maybe you are one of the few elite members of society who happen to know that a peck is a unit of dry volume that, according to the U.S. Customary System, amounts to roughly eight quarts, ten to twelve pounds or-if you want to get technical-537.6 cubic inches. But do you know where the word peck came from?
According to some, the true origin is mysterious. However, one source suggests a possible link between peck (Middle English, circa 1280 AD) with the French word picot; it also hints that the original “sense” of the word developed from the act of picking rather than from a standard measure of quantity (Etymology Online).
Occasionally, standards of measure make their way into history books. During the end of China’s Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220) a Taoist movement called Five Pecks of Rice was founded and fueled by an early Taoist patriarch, Zhang Daoling. Considered by many to be a healer, the name of the movement came from the amount of rice his clients paid him for his services (Encyclopedia Brittanica).
*Material compiled by MDA Biological Control Program
APPLE MEASURES & QUANTITIES BY WEIGHT
Weights:
1 pound = 3 medium apples = 2 cups sliced
3 pounds = 8-9 medium apples = one 9 inch pie
1 peck = 10-12 pounds = 32 medium apples = 3-4 nine-inch pies
= 7-9 quarts frozen = 4 quarts canned
1 bushel = 48 pounds = 126 medium apples = 15 nine-inch pies
= 30-36 pints frozen = 16-19 quarts canned
Reprinted with permission from Michigan State University Extension Preserving Food Safely 01600351
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Co-Editors: Bill Hutchison, Department of Entomology,
University of Minnesota, hutch002@umn.edu
Jeanne Ciborowski, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Ag. Resources Division,jeanne.ciborowski@state.mn.us
Suzanne Wold-Burkness, Department of Entomology, University of
Minnesota, woldx018@umn.edu
The Newsletter is published weekly from May through August, cooperatively, by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the University of Minnesota (U of MN). Reports are posted on the U of MN and MDA web sites on Fridays. If you have suggestions and/or comments, please send your contributions by 4 p.m., Tuesday to Jeanne Ciborowski, 651-297-3217, jeanne.ciborowski@state.mn.us , MDA, 90 W. Plato Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55107-2094. You can access the Newsletter at the U of MN web site in htm. format at: www.vegedge.umn.edu/MNFruit&VegNews/mnindex.htm and at the MDA web site in pdf. format at: www.mda.state.mn.us/biocon/fruitreports/default.htm
Partial funding for this publication is provided through partnership agreements with the Minnesota Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association and the United States Department of Agriculture – Risk Management Agency (RMA) and the RMA Community Outreach and Assistance Partnership Program. These institutions are equal opportunity providers.
DISCLAIMER
References to products in this publication is not intended to be an endorsement to the exclusion of others which may have similar uses. Any person using products listed in this publication assumes full responsibility for their use in accordance with current manufacturer directions.
Last Revised July 8, 2004.
The University, including the Minnesota Extension Service, is an equal
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