What are you growing that is out of the ordinary vegetables?

[Gary350]

I tend to grow the same stuff year after year I am looking for something new to grow that is very good to eat. What do people grow & eat in other countries? Lets see pictures of anything out of the ordinary that you grow?

Someone had bitter melons on here yesterday I think I will buy 1 at farmers market before I grow them.

I did ebay search for all vegetable seeds in search of anything that might be good to grow my the garden.

I found Kohlrabi seeds turns out these are German Turnips. We don't eat turnips.

[pepperhead212]

Besides the bitter melon, I also have a Thai sweet melon, and a wax melon plant growing. Besides these, I grow many Asian greens - Bok Choy, Tatsoi, Mizuna, Mibuna, Komatsuna, and Senposai, the last two being fairly heat resistant (just recently starting to bolt), and all being cold resistant. Almost all of them are ready to start harvesting by 30 days after transplant (I start them 3 weeks early), and are "cut and come again", like leaf lettuce, so they just keep producing. I also have some Asian herbs - green perilla, rau ram, Thai basil, and a curry tree, and a couple kefffir lime trees (I really don't need two!). Then, for Mexican, I have tomatillos, and the herb epazote.

[jeff84]

I would love to grow wasabi, but my climate is not suitable. indoors or in a climate controlled greenhouse would be the only option.

[xtron]

lessee....rhubarb.. lots of folks around here like rhubarb, but don't want to fuss with it. the starter crowns came from my grandparents farm in iowa..it was already there when they bought the place ...in 1927.

horseradish...I love horseradish, but can't seem to find the straight, pure product. everything in the stores is "sauce"..which means artificially flavored mayo.

asperagas got my first harvest...very small..this year after 3 years...hope for more next year.

parsnips. another one people like but don't want to invest the time it takes to do it right.

shell beans..red, black, and pintos...next year we add navy. they are so cheap in the stores most people don't think about growing their own. I like being independent of the corperate food machine.

[imafan26]

I got a few new plants but they aren't all veggies.
I have pak wan. I actually had a plant years ago but it only grew one long stalk and it died. I asked Frankie, who I bought is from how come. He said I had to cut it to make it bushy. OH DAH! It got buried in the weeds and I lost it and I finally found another so round 2.
https://hihort.blogspot.com/2011/11/vers ... k-wan.html

I also got coleus canina - the scaredy cat plant. It is supposed to be a cat deterrent. It does stink. It bloomed a purple wierd looking flower then it doesn't look so good now, but it is alive. I got another one. I am still trying to figure out the best way to grow this.

I found another pineapple sage. I had it in the herb garden for years. Something is eating it, maybe snails. I hope it makes it, it was just s hard to find.

I got some coreopsis and gaura for the perennial border. I am hoping they will be good for attracting pollinators. I did get a sterile gaura so it won't produce pollen.

I just planted some perpetual spinach which is related to swiss chard, but is a new plant for me. So far it is doing well. It is only a few weeks old.

I planted ajaka basil. It is a type of holy basil. The one I had growing in the herb garden never bloomed and it is resistant to downy. I have to see what it tastes like. Holy basil has a bite.

I tried some new varieties to cucumbers shiyo kyuri and jade cucumber. Shiyo kyuri looks like suyo long but is not parthenocarpic. I am having problems with fruit flies so my yields are not very good, but the plant does produce fruit. They just are getting stung. I have to put out some bait. Another thing to add on my list of things to do.

I planted parthenon zucchini, I think. It is making male and female flowers so maybe it was tigress instead. It has the same problem as the cucumber, it is being stung by fruit flies so I have gotten only 1 fruit from it so far.

This year, I had a lot of small pieces of ginger so I planted them in multiple pots instead. Instead of one I have 4 pots, but I have to get a bigger pot for one of them. The pot is deforming because the root is pushing against it. I still have another 4-5 months to go before I harvest. I may have to harvest early.

I have not planted much in the main garden at all this year. Hopefully I'll get something in it soon. I have to start planting the broccoli now get some garlic in the frig.

[digitS']

Gary, I have done some thinking about this thread and I imagine that what I am growing would be commonplace, in other areas - even other areas of the US.

First off, I have ginger in pots again this year. That worked okay in 2016. More cilantro seed went in the garden recently. Hopefully, I'll have plenty of small plants with the late-harvested tomatoes that may be filling counter space. Until those fall days, there is more than enough basil.

With plenty of Scotch kale, I began growing Portuguese kale several years ago. I like it and it might have taken the place of collards in southern gardens for me. This year, I have collards. It was way back 30+ years ago that I grew collards before. I only remember being disappointed but that probably wasn't from eating it. I don't remember eating it - the plants probably had too difficult a time in my garden. This year, it's doing okay but I'm reserving judgment on whether I like it at the dinner table, new-to-me.

Celeriac isn't new to me; I've grown it for years and began doing that because celery didn't do well. It's in a new 2017 location and had better begin to do some actual growing with the arrival of a late season cooldown, whenever that occurs. Mashed potatoes won't be the same without the celery root!

Pepperhead212 Dave sure has lots of Asian greens but I grow some of those. Stir-fries are real important for my veggie consumption and has been for several decades. Recently, I went back to try the chard that I grew tired of as a kid. Perpetual spinach and an Italian chard with narrow stems have been enjoyed and I seem to have "turned over a new leaf," in the greens department. I like that chard is available in the summer garden and have been trying amaranths the last 2 years for that summer harvest.

Those melons and squashes you have mentioned, generally I have tried. I'm not sure what I expected but I don't really like summer squash although I grow it for others. Bitter melon? Forget about it!

Steve

[Taiji]

I tried some amaranth this year too, from teeny tiny seeds in a package from the health store. They were doing really well but I didn't get them out of their gallon containers and into the ground in time. That is one amazing plant though that can get so big from the tiniest seed.

Tomatillos are new this year to me. I am getting some fruit set and we'll see what happens. I have learned though that they are just about the most vulnerable plant to pests in the garden, except for maybe swiss chard with the snails and goldfinches.

Am doing some Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck Squash for the first time. Some really great fruits have set, but with the dropping temps, I don't know if they'll make it in time. Was really looking forward to those.

[jal_ut]

I planted 5th of May as usual, then come June 5 we had this killing frost, so starting over a month late. Most things won't have time to finish this season. I do have a bunch of squash looking plants that come up voluntary. It will be interesting to see what comes on them. If they don't get frozen first..........

[Gary350]

I watch TV shows that show the market place in other countries I see vegetables I never saw before. Wish I could travel to all those places and eat their food. I am not sure what I am looking for anything I can grow that might be good. We like to grow a 1 year food supply for the kitchen pantry. I have extra room in the garden to try new things. I am getting ready to plant a fall garden about 2 more weeks. I have been cooking German and India food they are both very good. I am on the German food forum on Facebook there are lots of good recipes with photos. I wish I could find a FB forum for India food recipes with photos, there are recipes on YouTube.

[Ksk]

I am growing loofa sponge gourds -first time. I am going to let them dry and hopefully make them into gifts.
Also I planted "Bushel Basket Gourds" that are growing very large. They are suppose to be good for crafts.
Lastly, I am growing white pumpkins. White Lumina. Beautiful!

[applestar]

I grew loofah last year. If you are going to dry them for sponge there is a timing for harvesting and drying, then processing with best results. I had to harvest some of them fully grown but green but still had good results by hanging in warm airy location for quite a while. There's a thread somewhere where I posted some details.

[rainbowgardener]

I have one bed that is all perennials. It has a whole bunch of asparagus in it, that we should be able to eat from next year, strawberries, rhubarb, and an artichoke. The artichoke was planted this spring, so hasn't bloomed yet. Next year we should have our own artichokes!

I want to get a cold hardy avocado tree https://www.fast-growing-trees.com/Cold ... o-Tree.htm and keep it pruned as a dwarf. I think that would produce so much food in a limited space! Since I am old, I will invest the money to get a well grown one that won't take so many years to fruit.

I'm also growing ginger and I have a cold hardy dwarf banana (also in its first year, but growing fast), two apple trees, two peach trees, and two fig trees, plus elderberry and serviceberry.

[jal_ut]

Walked out through the garden. Things are mostly done, yet here is this one big honkin squash like thing that is three feet long. It is from a volunteer plant.

[applestar]

Is it related to the pink banana squash you've grown in the past do you think?

[Gary350]

We went to the Farmers Market today I found several things to grow, a pepper that looks like a long pointed sweet bell pepper, Called Ancho when dried, Poblano when fresh. This is one of the most popular peppers grown in Mexico. Mildly pungent, 4 inch heart-shaped fruits that ripen from dark green to deep red. Fully ripened, red fruits are much hotter and flavorful than the earlier picked green ones. I bought one and cooked with it, it has a nice mild spicy flavor not very hot. Flavor is not much different than a sweet bell pepper only difference is the slight spiciness.



Asian Pears are very good. I probably can not grow these in my life time but I can buy them at the Asian Market.



I have always liked scallions but never grew any in the garden. I have been cooking with them lately and we love them. Next spring there will be a place in the garden for these.



Another thing I need are Mexican Red Chilies. I grew these once about 7 years ago. It is much easier to buy these at the Mexican Market place $2 lb. they come in several spicy hot ranges, Not hot, mild, medium, hot, hotter, very hot. I still have 1/2 lb of these in the pantry, the Mexican market place closes last week of December & reopens about April 1st I need to stock up soon. I usually buy 5 lbs on none spicy they are good for color & flavor in many foods. I buy 5 lbs of mild for, Chili, Mexican, Asian cooking.



I talked to several people about bitter melons and decided not to grow them. It might be fun to grow but I think the soil space can be put to better use.

[digitS']

An Italian American friend suggested escarole a couple of years ago.

I grew witloof chicory once and it was too bitter for me. The same is true with radicchio and endive, that I have had in restaurants. He suggested cooking escarole. Wonderful! It's very early and stays around longer in summer heat, certainly longer than spinach. I learned to like lettuce outside of a sandwich by having it sauteed with bacon. Escarole reminds me of that "wilted lettuce" an elderly lady prepared for me back in the '60's.

Orach volunteers for me in my garden. Now, I like that spinach relative raw in salads . It tastes good and it's pretty.

Steve

[thanrose]

That wilted lettuce salad is a fond memory. My aunt who made it called it "Slip and Go Down" because the quick sauté in bacon fat made it half limp and all slippery. She was a lover of fine home cooking and introduced me to stuff like anchovy paste and capers and smoked paprika.

Along the same lines as escarole and endive, I grew arugula for my father's Italo-american friends from church. He was a Eucharistic Minister for the homebound and would often have requests for me of things these people missed or were seeking. Now we have the internet, but back then it took a lot of footwork or asking around. The arugula seed had to come from a mail order catalog. It's also called Rocket. Quite bitter, but most people like it well enough in a salad with milder greens.

Also grew dandelion one year for someone. That's a tall order in this area. And finding seed was a challenge. I think it's available online now. When I grew it again a few years ago, I started it from wild gathered seed taken from somewhere north of Florida. Recommend commercial seed if you try it.

How about pokeweed? Phytolacca something or other. I have to forage for it in February or March, and it does take some knowledge to prepare it safely. But you probably know it will grow where other things don't.

As with most things that tend to be bitter, keeping them well irrigated and never limp with drought will lessen the sharpness. It's a balance we learn.