What makes unusual vegetables different? I guess it’s the size, shape, color, variety and how popular it is. It’s nice to grow them in your garden provided that you know when to plant them and that you’re familiar with the taste.

Planting Vegetables

When you look at an ordinary vegetable garden, you can expect to see vegetables like potatoes, rows of beans and peas, carrots, onions, lettuce, radish and so on. A reason for growing your own vegetables can be to basically feed you and your family.

After all, at the end of the day it wouldn’t be wise to waste your time and money to grow vegetables that turn out to taste unpleasant. However, who says you can’t try anything new in your garden.

You can even set aside a row for vegetables you may have never grown or seen in a garden.

It’s Easy Gardening Vegetables that are Unusual

First things first, it’s easy to develop the reason why you would want to grow unusual vegetables as it’s not really expensive to do so. The good news is that they are all generally easy to grow; some are even easier than peas.

It’s a nice feeling after harvest to serve your guests with some vegetables they may have never heard of before.

Unpopular Vegetables

There are some vegetables that fail to be popular. That is because they add little value to the different tastes of vegetables that are usually grown. Examples are culinary dandelion and corn salad as they lack flavor.

There are some once popular vegetables that you wouldn’t see in a vegetable seed catalog. The reason is the fact that trends and fashions change over time. The old is therefore replaced by the new.

Some examples are purslane and seakale. These are some unusual names indeed, however when these vegetables were listed in old seed catalogs, tomatoes and runner beans were considered to be odd vegetables.

Planting a Vegetable Garden with Unusual Vegetables

Here are some unique vegetables to try…

• Turnip-sized Black Spanish Round

• Purple podded French beans

• Red Brussels sprouts

• Striped tomatoes

• Bronze colored lettuce

To get more info on unusual varieties of usual vegetables, take a look at the catalogues that are distributed each autumn. These along with the garden magazines can keep you up to date with the latest varieties available to gardeners.

You can sow one or more of the uncommon vegetables like celeriac, globe and Jerusalem artichokes, kohl rabi and scorzonera for example. To test out the taste of a vegetable you’re not familiar with, buy a few from the supermarket and see if you and your family will enjoy it.

It’s best to do that before you set out your time and space to grow it. Vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers or aubergine are ideal for a greenhouse. Tomatoes and cucumbers are common but they have lots of delicious unique varieties that are good for planting.

There are also other beautiful unusual vegetables to grow such as the Florence fennel if you like the taste of aniseed. Land cress is a great replacement for watercress and can be given a try.

Hamburg parsley leaves are excellent for garnishing and a cluster of welsh onions can produce some really beautiful spring onions on a yearly basis. These unusual vegetables can be very valuable in the garden.

Growing some rare vegetables can make your garden look outstanding and special. You can always experiment and be a little adventurous when it comes to gardening; after all it’s always worth being creative.