Nightshade berries for dinner

We didn't eat them...
Lots of them in a pack of frozen NZ baby peas.
Loading Image...

There were at least this many in about half a cup of peas:
Loading Image...

I understand that black nightshade is (much?) less poisonous than (but
sometimes mistaken for) deadly nightshade, so this may not be a big problem.

Can anyone confirm if these are black nightshade berries?
Apart from taking them back to the shop, is there anything else I should do?

Keith

2008-04-25 09:19:50 UTC

In article <***@ftpsrv1>, ***@slingshot.co.nz
says...

Post by Click
We didn't eat them...
Lots of them in a pack of frozen NZ baby peas.
http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~tmg/pea/notapea.jpg
http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~tmg/pea/pea.jpg
I understand that black nightshade is (much?) less poisonous than (but
sometimes mistaken for) deadly nightshade, so this may not be a big problem.
Can anyone confirm if these are black nightshade berries?
Apart from taking them back to the shop, is there anything else I should do?

What are they like on the inside. Nightshade is related to the tomato so
it will look something like that won't it?

Click

2008-04-25 09:35:10 UTC

Post by Keith
says...

What are they like on the inside. Nightshade is related to the tomato so
it will look something like that won't it?

They are a little mushy - from being frozen, but white opaque pulp,
possibly seeds inside.
I'm pretty sure I've read of this in the past, and after some initial
concern in the media, the all clear was given that it wasn't a big
hazard to public health.
Still not very nice though.

Nicolaas Hawkins

2008-04-25 09:52:32 UTC

Post by Keith
says...

What are they like on the inside. Nightshade is related to the tomato so
it will look something like that won't it?

Not necessarily. The solanum family includes nightshade (sunberry),
mandrake, laburnum (datura), tobacco, petunia, tomato, eggplant, capsicum
and potato (among others?) and they bear little similarity one to another.

--
- Nic.

Miche

2008-04-25 10:05:50 UTC

Post by Nicolaas Hawkins

Post by Keith
says...

What are they like on the inside. Nightshade is related to the tomato so
it will look something like that won't it?

Potato flowers look a lot like tomato flowers. The nightshades are an
interesting family of plants. They hybridise easily, for a start.

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases

A_ L _P

2008-04-25 15:06:31 UTC

Post by Miche

The solanum family includes nightshade (sunberry), mandrake,
laburnum (datura), tobacco, petunia, tomato, eggplant, capsicum and
potato (among others?) and they bear little similarity one to
another.

Potato flowers look a lot like tomato flowers. The nightshades are
an interesting family of plants. They hybridise easily, for a start.

Yay, ideal for the small garden or large pot in a sunny room! Enjoy the
petunia flowers, use the eggplant, capsicum and ripe tomatoes for summer
dinners, pick the leaves to make garden spray or dry, cure and sell to
prisoners and mental health patients. Then pull the plant up and throw
it in the log-burner when it's dry enough - don't want to spread viruses
by putting it in the compost - and roast/bake/mash those potatoes.
Self-sufficiency in times of rising food prices.

You know the latest announcement re delay in tax cuts? Cullen is
probably pouring the spare money into the hybrid project in the hope that
plants will be available before the election.

A L P

Matty F

2008-04-25 10:05:39 UTC

Post by Click
We didn't eat them...
Lots of them in a pack of frozen NZ baby peas.http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~tmg/pea/notapea.jpg
There were at least this many in about half a cup of peas:http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~tmg/pea/pea.jpg
I understand that black nightshade is (much?) less poisonous than (but
sometimes mistaken for) deadly nightshade, so this may not be a big problem.
Can anyone confirm if these are black nightshade berries?
Apart from taking them back to the shop, is there anything else I should do?

I think you should take them to some authority so that it stops
happening in future.
But the Food Safety Authority seem to be a dead loss.
Loading Image...

Geopelia

2008-04-25 12:08:00 UTC

Post by Click
We didn't eat them...
Lots of them in a pack of frozen NZ baby
peas.http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~tmg/pea/notapea.jpg
There were at least this many in about half a cup of
peas:http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~tmg/pea/pea.jpg
I understand that black nightshade is (much?) less poisonous than (but
sometimes mistaken for) deadly nightshade, so this may not be a big problem.
Can anyone confirm if these are black nightshade berries?
Apart from taking them back to the shop, is there anything else I should do?

I think you should take them to some authority so that it stops
happening in future.
But the Food Safety Authority seem to be a dead loss.
http://www.all-creatures.org/picb/wfshl-nightshade-04.jpg

Which firm froze the peas?

We don't buy anything from a certain one, (although Foodtown still stocks
their products), because of the frog and mouse in their frozen foods. If
another one is off the shopping list let's hope there will be one safe one
left.

Why not try the Health Department?

But how can nightshade berries get inside a pea pod? Or is a disgruntled pea
podder trying a bit of sabotage?

Matty F

2008-04-25 12:36:22 UTC

Post by Click
We didn't eat them...
Lots of them in a pack of frozen NZ baby
peas.http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~tmg/pea/notapea.jpg
There were at least this many in about half a cup of
peas:http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~tmg/pea/pea.jpg
I understand that black nightshade is (much?) less poisonous than (but
sometimes mistaken for) deadly nightshade, so this may not be a big problem.
Can anyone confirm if these are black nightshade berries?
Apart from taking them back to the shop, is there anything else I should do?

I think you should take them to some authority so that it stops
happening in future.
But the Food Safety Authority seem to be a dead loss.
http://www.all-creatures.org/picb/wfshl-nightshade-04.jpg

Which firm froze the peas?
We don't buy anything from a certain one, (although Foodtown still stocks
their products), because of the frog and mouse in their frozen foods. If
another one is off the shopping list let's hope there will be one safe one
left.
Why not try the Health Department?
But how can nightshade berries get inside a pea pod? Or is a disgruntled pea
podder trying a bit of sabotage?

http://www.lifestyleblock.co.nz/articles/weeds/49_nightshade.htm

While it’s [black nightshade (Solanum nigrum)] a common weed of
gardens and pasture, it also is a serious weed in pea crops, where the
green berries can be harvested with the peas.

http://www.dowagro.com/nz/resource/nightshade.htm

Black nightshade is a problem in pea crops when the green berries are
mistaken for peas during harvesting.

Geopelia

2008-04-25 21:08:41 UTC

Post by Click
We didn't eat them...
Lots of them in a pack of frozen NZ baby
peas.http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~tmg/pea/notapea.jpg
There were at least this many in about half a cup of
peas:http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~tmg/pea/pea.jpg
I understand that black nightshade is (much?) less poisonous than (but
sometimes mistaken for) deadly nightshade, so this may not be a big problem.
Can anyone confirm if these are black nightshade berries?
Apart from taking them back to the shop, is there anything else I
should
do?

I think you should take them to some authority so that it stops
happening in future.
But the Food Safety Authority seem to be a dead loss.
http://www.all-creatures.org/picb/wfshl-nightshade-04.jpg

Which firm froze the peas?
We don't buy anything from a certain one, (although Foodtown still stocks
their products), because of the frog and mouse in their frozen foods. If
another one is off the shopping list let's hope there will be one safe one
left.
Why not try the Health Department?
But how can nightshade berries get inside a pea pod? Or is a disgruntled pea
podder trying a bit of sabotage?

http://www.lifestyleblock.co.nz/articles/weeds/49_nightshade.htm

While its [black nightshade (Solanum nigrum)] a common weed of
gardens and pasture, it also is a serious weed in pea crops, where the
green berries can be harvested with the peas.

http://www.dowagro.com/nz/resource/nightshade.htm

Black nightshade is a problem in pea crops when the green berries are
mistaken for peas during harvesting.

So explain to your pickers that peas only come in pods.

Keith

2008-04-25 22:00:16 UTC

Post by Geopelia
So explain to your pickers that peas only come in pods.

Geo

I think you'll find the picker is made from steel and is towed behind a
tractor.

Matty F

2008-04-25 22:24:24 UTC

Post by Geopelia
So explain to your pickers that peas only come in pods.

Geo
I think you'll find the picker is made from steel and is towed behind a
tractor.

How are the pods opened by machine? Wouldn't it be possible to reject
anything not in the shape of a pod beforehand?
The cost of extra equipment is insignificant compared with losing
sales for ever when the brand name becomes known. There is a brand
that I never buy (because of past food contamination) that has the
most space in my supermarket.

Keith

2008-04-26 03:26:02 UTC

In article <1165483c-d3fc-4266-a865-884d0794a753
@u12g2000prd.googlegroups.com>, ***@yahoo.co.nz says...

Post by Geopelia
So explain to your pickers that peas only come in pods.

Geo
I think you'll find the picker is made from steel and is towed behind a
tractor.

How are the pods opened by machine?

Google "pea harvest" and the second hit tells me the mechanical pea
sheller was developed in 1855 [sic] by Madame Faure. By the 1970s the
machines were picking the pods & shelling them in the field

Post by Matty F
Wouldn't it be possible to reject
anything not in the shape of a pod beforehand?
The cost of extra equipment is insignificant compared with losing
sales for ever when the brand name becomes known. There is a brand
that I never buy (because of past food contamination) that has the
most space in my supermarket.

Geopelia

2008-04-26 04:05:40 UTC

Post by Keith
In article <1165483c-d3fc-4266-a865-884d0794a753
@u12g2000prd.googlegroups.com>, ***@yahoo.co.nz says...

Post by Geopelia
So explain to your pickers that peas only come in pods.

Geo
I think you'll find the picker is made from steel and is towed behind a
tractor.

How are the pods opened by machine?

Google "pea harvest" and the second hit tells me the mechanical pea
sheller was developed in 1855 [sic] by Madame Faure. By the 1970s the
machines were picking the pods & shelling them in the field

But it's nice to sit on the doorstep in the sun podding the peas. The broad
beans make your fingers black though.

Matty F

2008-04-26 05:29:36 UTC

Post by Keith
In article <1165483c-d3fc-4266-a865-884d0794a753
@u12g2000prd.googlegroups.com>, ***@yahoo.co.nz says...

Post by Geopelia
So explain to your pickers that peas only come in pods.

Geo
I think you'll find the picker is made from steel and is towed behind a
tractor.

How are the pods opened by machine?

Google "pea harvest" and the second hit tells me the mechanical pea
sheller was developed in 1855 [sic] by Madame Faure. By the 1970s the
machines were picking the pods & shelling them in the field

But it's nice to sit on the doorstep in the sun podding the peas. The broad
beans make your fingers black though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pea-pickers

"A Pea-picker is a derogatory reference to poor, migrant workers
during the Great Depression. These people were unskilled, poorly
educated workers, suitable only for menial tasks, such as harvesting
crops, and, as such, received poor wages for working long hours under
dreadful conditions."

Geopelia

2008-04-26 12:19:16 UTC

Post by Keith
In article <1165483c-d3fc-4266-a865-884d0794a753
@u12g2000prd.googlegroups.com>, ***@yahoo.co.nz says...

Post by Geopelia
So explain to your pickers that peas only come in pods.

Geo
I think you'll find the picker is made from steel and is towed behind a
tractor.

How are the pods opened by machine?

Google "pea harvest" and the second hit tells me the mechanical pea
sheller was developed in 1855 [sic] by Madame Faure. By the 1970s the
machines were picking the pods & shelling them in the field

But it's nice to sit on the doorstep in the sun podding the peas. The broad
beans make your fingers black though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pea-pickers
"A Pea-picker is a derogatory reference to poor, migrant workers
during the Great Depression. These people were unskilled, poorly
educated workers, suitable only for menial tasks, such as harvesting
crops, and, as such, received poor wages for working long hours under
dreadful conditions."

I suppose "pea picking" and "cotton picking" are the same kind of American
insult.

I've done a lot of potato picking, and some hop picking, in Britain. I quite
enjoyed both, "menial" or not.
Both mechanized now, I expect.

george

2008-04-26 20:24:42 UTC