Though several different groups of crustaceans are known as "lobsters," the clawed lobsters are most often associated with the name. Clawed lobsters are not closely related with spiny lobsters or slipper lobsters, which have no claws, or squat lobsters. The closest relatives of clawed lobsters are the reef lobster Enoplometopus and the three families of freshwater crayfish.

Cool weather and rain have made for a slow growing season thus far, while also creating the ideal conditions for fiddlehead ferns, which sprout in damp, wooded areas and more than compensate for sunbathing weather in our book.

Asparagus has been used from very early times as a culinary vegetable, owing to its delicate flavour and diuretic properties.

The shoots can be prepared and served in a number of ways, but are usually boiled or steamed and served with hollandaise sauce, melted butter or olive oil and Parmesan cheese.

Fiddleheads, peas, and strawberries shimmer, miragelike, in our near future — but don’t let them distract you from the bounty available right now. The market has never been greener.

Onions are available in fresh, frozen, canned, pickled, and dehydrated forms. Onions can be used, usually chopped or sliced, in almost every type of food, including cooked foods and fresh salads, and as a spicy garnish; they are rarely eaten on their own but usually act as accompaniment to the main course. Depending on the variety, an onion can be sharp and pungent or mild and sweet.

The pink, white, and green flag of spring has been raised: Little ramplets reared their heads a few inches from the damp earth last weekend, and Greenmarketers are already engulfed in the savory fumes of their oniony funk.

Popular etymology has it that it comes from gardeners' practice of mulching strawberries with straw to protect the fruits from rot. However, there is no evidence that the Anglo-Saxons ever grew strawberries, and even less that they knew of this practice.

Peonies stole the show last Saturday, while strawberries have sidled in at Yuno’s stand on Mondays and Fridays. There should be berries in quantity by next weekend, but for now we’re focusing on meatier matters, like what to grill as we kick off the outdoor-cooking season.

Chives are grown for their leaves, which are used for culinary purposes as condiment, which provide a somewhat milder flavour than its neighbouring Allium species.

Chives have a wide variety of culinary uses, such as in traditional dishes in France and Sweden, among others.

The market has reached a critical mass: It’s no longer possible to snap up every piece of good-looking produce and carry it all home. Our plan of attack is to go early, do a walk-through before the buying frenzy, and bring big bags — oh, and hit the ATM first.

The tomato is now grown worldwide for its edible fruits, with thousands of cultivars having been selected with varying fruit types, and for optimum growth in differing growing conditions.

Cultivated tomatoes vary in size from cherry tomatoes, about the same 1–2 cm size as the wild tomato, up to beefsteak tomatoes 10 cm or more in diameter.

The most widely grown commercial tomatoes tend to be in the 5–6 cm diameter range. It feels like the first week of camp at the market, as we check out which of our friends from last summer are back and how they look this year.

It can either be yellow or green or light green, and generally has a similar shape to a ridged cucumber, though a few cultivars are available that produce round or bottle-shaped fruit.

If you find yourself a little cowed by the wall of leafy greens and swarms of guys in chef’s jackets in Union Square, reach out to your local farmers. They’ll point you to what’s new, at peak, or just plain easy to cook, and they’re happy to brag about which restaurants are buying their stuff. This week that means zucchini, spinach, and carrots of a kind we haven’t seen yet this season.

There are more than 20 named species and many hybrids and cultivars. The most common strawberries grown commercially are cultivars of the Garden strawberry, Fragaria × ananassa.

Most farms will bring in the last of their strawberries in the next week or two, and prices are at their lowest now, so this is a great time to gorge on the tiny red gems. Lucky for us, a parade of other fruit awaits, from the already-appearing cherries to high-summer glories like apricots. And tri-star strawberries, a unique variety that lasts all summer, have only just begun

After sighting the season’s first apricots at the Greenmarket last Saturday, we figure the dog days can’t be far behind.

Gather your dinner-party guests while the weather is still cool enough for cooking, and be prepared to switch to a raw-food (or ice-cream) diet any day now.

Black raspberries appear earlier in the summer than blackberries; they look quite similar but have a hollow center. Though cultivated black raspberries, available at several farms, are large, sweet, and juicy, perfect for topping a tart...