Rare Vegetable Plants for your Home Garden
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Rare Vegetables Create a Unique Garden and a Fun Meal
As an Avid Gardener
and a vegetarian I am a fan of interesting vegetables. As I plan my garden each year, I look for new heirloom varieties and unique vegetable plants to expand my garden. I have compiled my research here, so you too may enjoy the joys of purple carrots and orange cauliflower. I hope that these unique vegetables inspire you to be unique and creative in your garden year after year.
Well that's a vegetable of a different color
A favorite crunchy veggie gets a new look
Purple Dragon Carrot 350 Seeds - Absolutely unique!
Purple on the outside, deep orange on the inside. These babies are packed full of antioxidants making them excellent for juicing or for raw snacking. Enjoy!
Blood Red Atomic Carrot 150 Seeds - NEW
These bright red carrots are such to jazz up any salad. These are also very high in the nutrient lycopene, most commonly found in tomatoes and shown to be good for the heart.
Lunar White Carrot 100 Seeds - Tender,Coreless,Sweet
This very tender almost coreless white carrot is long lasting, so it is excellent for storage.
Carrot Salad
Simple and Sweet
2 to 3 apples finely chopped or grated
1 cup Raisins
Juice of 1/2 lemon (or orange if you prefer less tart)
Mix all ingredients well, Chill and Enjoy!
Featuring Mr. Stripey
A Unique Heirloom Tomato
Slice up a few of these beautiful tomatoes for your next family picnic! Mr. Stripey Open-Pollinated Tomato has a mild, low-acid flavor and intriguing color both sure to win praise. Plum-sized, bicolor fruits have yellow flesh and a pink center. Indeterminate. 80 DAYS.
Tomatoes offer so many delicious possibilities-slice them, sauce them, can them, or turn them into salsa!
Selection Tip: When choosing varieties, keep in mind that "determinates" ripen over 3-4 weeks on bushy vines that usually need no staking. "Indeterminate" vines continue to grow and produce fruit all season until frost. The large vines need support.
Heirloom Tomatoes
These Rare and Unique Varieties are sure to impress
Black Sea Man Tomato 10 Seeds - Heirloom
One of the most interesting tomatoes I have seen with dark skin and light pink on the inside. These grow on small determinate plants and are ready to harvest around 75 days from transplant.
Black Zebra Tomato 15 Seeds -Incredible and Fascinating
Zebra striping of bright red and green with gold. These medium round fruits are great for salads.
Organic Yellow Pear Tomato 75 Seeds -Heirloom
These adorable little pear shaped tomatoes have a little bit of tangy bite to them. Wonderful for snacking or oven roasted with fresh green beans and a little olive oil.
Amana Orange Tomato 125 Seeds
These heirloom slicing tomatoes are originally from the Amana Colonies in Iowa. A beautiful yellow tomato is a late summer harvest with germination between 70 and 85 degrees- 75 - 90 days on Indeterminate plant.
Big Rainbow Tomato 50 Seeds - Heirloom
Slice these up on a platter for a great display with red in the bottom half of the fruit and Yellow on top. It has a big, lumpy beefsteak shape with a very mild and sweet flavor. These large fruits, around 22 ounces, grow on tall indeterminate plants which are ready to eat in about 85 days.
Tasty Tomato Salad
4-5 large ripe tomatoes, wedged
1 medium sized green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced (optional)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 pinches dried oregano
salt and pepper (to taste)
Place all vegetables in a bowl, add vinegar and oil, then the spices. Toss Gently. Cover and put in refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes.
This is great with some crusty bread to soak up all the yummy juices!
Rare and Heirloom Broccoli
Romanesco Broccoli 50 Seeds-Heirloom-Best Taste/Texture
Probably one of the most interesting plants that you will see. It is a relative of the broccoli and cauliflower family. Broccoli Romanesco is Native to Italy and grows as a lime green colored head with cone-shaped florets that swirl upward forming peaks. Also referred to as romanesca or cauliflower romanesco, the Broccoli Romanesco can be either eaten raw, when added to salads or steamed/baked. It provides a nice nutty texture and a flavor that is delicious.
Sweet Baby Broccoli 50 Seeds
Sweet Baby Broccoli, also referred to as Broccolini is a green vegetable resembling broccoli. Although often mistakenly identified as young broccoli, it is actually a natural hybrid of the cabbage family Brassica oleracea, a cross between broccoli and Chinese Kale. The name Broccolini was first conceived of, strangely enough, in the oval office, by Richard Nixon, who when asked by Attorney General John N. Mitchell, who asked "Is that an asparagus in your ear?" "No, it's broccolini."
Purple Broccoli 200 Seeds - LOW CARB!
An extra early variety originating in the UK produces large bright purple spears. Plant this along with your regular broccoli to extend your harvesting season.
BroccoFlower - 50 Seeds LOW CARB!
This bright yellowish green plant is actually a cross between broccoli and cauliflower.
Organic Broccoli Raab 100 Seeds
Although not as rare, it is a favorite of mine, sauteed with a little olive oil and garlic. I like to grow this in my own garden, because it is difficult to find in the grocery stores.
Broccoli Soup
Ingredients
1 head of broccoli, Chopped
4-6 cups Vegetable Broth or water (enough to just cover chopped broccoli in pot)
Salt (to taste)
Directions
Roughly chop broccoli and place in large soup pot. Add vegetable broth, or water so that broccoli is mostly covered. Bring to a boil, simmer until broccoli is tender. Scoop broccoli and some of the broth into a blender or food processor, blend until smooth. Return blended broccoli to pot, stir, rewarm and serve.
Featuring the Lumina Pumpkin
Spooky, Ghostly White Pumpkin"
How about a Spooky White Pumpkin for your jack-o-lantern this Halloween. This Ghostly White Pumpkin is perfect for carving, painting or decorating. It is also perfect for making tasty pumpkin pies. Lumina Pumpkins are smooth and pure white outside, all fine grained orange flesh inside. Mid size fruits grow 8-10 inches tall, weigh up to 12 pounds. It takes 95 day to maturity.
Seed Counts: 1/2 oz. of pumpkin seeds contains about 65-150 seeds and sows a 100-ft. row.
I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep contemplation over my vegetable progeny with a love that nobody could share or conceive of who had never taken part in the process of creation. It was one of the most bewitching sights in the world to observe a hill of beans thrusting aside the soil, or a rose of early peas just peeping forth sufficiently to trace a line of delicate green. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mosses from and Old Manse
Really Unique Cauliflowers
Purple Cauliflower 40 Seeds -LOW CARB
Bright Purple Cauliflower, need I say more? You just don't see these in the grocery store.
Orange Cheddar Cauliflower 35 Seeds
Originally from Canada the Cheddar cauliflower has been cross bred with white varieties to improve taste. Aside from being orange and yummy it also has 25% more beta carotene than white cauliflower.
Snowball Cauliflower 600 Seeds
Okay, you are probably looking at this one and saying, "What's so interesting about this one?" I know it looks just like regular cauliflower, but these are the whitest cauliflower heads I have ever seen, they would disappear in the snow.
Join the Fun- Take our Poll
This is probably the hardest decision you will have to make all day
International Cucumbers
Bring the whole world into your backyard!
Hmong Red Cucumber - 10 Seeds
These beautiful red cucumbers are very mild even when harvested large. They originate from a Hmong Immigrant and are very productive plants.
Uzbekski Cucumber 7 Seeds
Believed to originated in Uzbekistan these rare seeds produce a crunchy and delicious pale green cucumber which turns gold brown as it ripens. 50 to 60 days
Organic Suyo Long Chinese Cucumber 50 Seeds - SALE*
These long Chinese Cucumbers grow 10 to 16 inches. They are a hardy variety that can withstand short periods of drought. If transplanting, do so gently, with as little root disturbance as possible and in the early morning or at dusk.
Organic Heirloom Armenian Cucumber 75 Seeds
These light green Armenian Cucumbers are closely related to the honeydew melon family. They can grow up to 18" long on well producing vines.
Jerusalem Pickle Plant 10 Seeds
From longest to shortest, these tiny fruits are the ancestors of cucumbers. Originating in the west indies, they are the smallest cucumbers in the world at 2 inches. The soft spikes on the skin of the fruit can be rubbed of by hand.
Hot, Hot, Hot!
Who's up for some 5 alarm Chili?
Pretty Purple Very Hot Pepper - 15 Seeds
These purple beauties are hot hot hot! These very productive plants have violet flowers which grow into dark purple fruits which turn orange and red as they ripen creating a beautiful, colorful plant.
Jamaican Hot Yellow Scotch Bonnet Pepper 15 Seeds
These interesting looking thin skinned hot peppers grow on a very compact bush with dense foliage.
Peruvian White Lightning Habanero Pepper 30 Seeds- HOT
The White Habanero is a lovely, Rare variety of the Habanero that is thought to originate in Peru. Small bushy pepper plants produce very high yields of beautiful chiles approximately 2 inches long with a creamy-white colored skin. These beautiful, rare white chiles are extremely hot and have been rated at over 300,000 Scoville Units which is about ten times hotter than a standard Jalapeno Pepper. If you like a searing hot chile, this ones for you! Can be used fresh, but makes wonderful, fiery dried chile powder or ultra hot white hot sauce!
Jamaican Hot Chocolate Habenero Pepper 15 Seeds
These Habeneros originated from a pepper found in a market in Port Antonio, Jamaica. The fruits are 1-1/2 to 2 inches long, are deep chocolate-brown when ripe and ribbed or wrinkled, resembling large dates or prunes, with an extremely hot strong and smoky flavor.
Organic Czechoslovakian Black Chile Pepper 50 Seeds
These chilie peppers are such a dark green that they appear black. These mildly spicy peppers turn red when ripened.
Cucumber Black Eyed Pea Salad with a Kick
1 1/2 cup black eyed peas, dried
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 Serrano chile, seeded, diced
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 lemon and/or lime
salt and pepper
Combine 1.5 cup dried black eyed peas and 3 cup water w/ pinch of salt. cover & bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, simmer with lid cracked 15-20min until tender but with a little bite. Drain and run under cold water.
Combine cucumber, tomato, Serrano, cilantro. Salt & Pepper to taste. Add lemon/lime juice. Let sit for at least 20 minutes. The longer the better.
You can also substitute your favorite hot peppers for the Serrano chile's and I also add some diced avocado when I have it on hand.
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Join the Discussion
Ideas, Sources and Recipes
Do you have more favorite vegetable varieties or recipes? Do you know of another great source for spectacular vegetable varieties? Then please share your favorites with us.
If you liked this lens, please add it to your it favorites or send it to a friend.
OhMe wrote...
This was so interesting. I really enjoyed the great read and wonderful pictures.
Posted May 31, 2009
LindaJM wrote...
I love these unusual veggies... too bad I've run out of room in my garden this year! 5* and blessed!
Posted May 15, 2009
Ramkitten wrote...
Love your lens! We used to grow loads of veggies and sold some at a stand out in front of the house and at the farmers market in Kent, CT. We always had lots of the common stuff, but people really enjoyed some of the lesser-known, rare varieties. We'd give out recipes with them, too, which definitely helped move them from our table to other people's kitchens. I'm lensrolling this to my Ideas For Your Farmers Market Booth Or Vegetable Stand. Now I'm hungry.
Posted May 04, 2009
gardenlady wrote...
I've already planted the my usual favorites, but boy what a selection of unusal choices. I'll have to try some of these goodies - the purple & orange cauliflower would be a fun addition to any vegetable tray at parties. Nice Job. Adding to favs, and lensrolling.
Posted April 20, 2009
Ener-G wrote...
Fantastic lens. Love the recipes mixed in with the pictures of the vegies.
Posted April 18, 2009
cyberpunkdreams wrote...
Great lends. I particularly liked the section on heirloom tomatoes. I grow a few of them myself.
Posted April 18, 2009
LeanneAttwell wrote...
Yum. I'm a vegetarian and I love this lens - I've been back a couple of times today already. Thanks!
Posted April 18, 2009
Katee wrote
Hey Hey I love fruits veggies and more
Posted April 17, 2009
