Unusual Veggies

     E has decided that for our next garden he wants some unusual veggies to plant. He wants normal veggies in interesting colors or  different shapes. We are going to plant "chocolate" tomatoes, cosmic purple carrots, red lettuce, kale (a first for us- can't wait), tomatillo (can anyone say green sauce?) and Cherokee wax beans (since they are a yellow color). We are also going to plant that weird looking broccoli/cauliflower Romansescu (though I've only tried regular broccoli once or twice and had no luck). Currently we are search around trying to find interesting veggies we might enjoy growing and eating.

     We found this website for those of you who like heirloom veggies:
http://store.underwoodgardens.com/Unusual_Curiosity/products/10/

It includes a handful of different seeds- I haven't even heard of all of them. May try the cucamelon?

     The Gardenweb forum seems to always be a good place to find information out and it did not let me down this time either- lots of gardeners talking about what they like to grow that's unusual:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cornucop/msg0923420527392.html

     Here is a lens with various types of veggies that look neat- especially the sea man tomato and the Jerusalem pickle plant.

http://www.squidoo.com/Unique-Vegetable-Plants

      For Asian inspired veggies check out the Kitazawa Seed Company  http://www.kitazawaseed.com
It includes some veggies I have never hear of such as Molokeyhia, which was used in soups for kings and is considered quite nutritious, as well as numerous other varieties. 

      What about pineberries- strawberries that taste like pineapple? It looks like you have to buy the plant and not the seed as they are a hybrid, but it is something I think would go well at my house as my husband doesn't care for strawberries but loves pineapple.

     The only problem we have is that there are so many cool veggies, but we only have so much planting space... perhaps I should expand again? If not I going to have to incorporate more pots and such. If you have any unusual suggestions we'd love to hear them!


Our challenge to you- grow something unusual this year- and let us know how it goes :)

Mom and E