3/16/2012 Unusual Vegetables & Edibles Rebecca McMahon Horticulture Agent Sedgwick County Extension What is the most unique edible plant you have ever grown? 1 3/16/2012 Expand Your Horizons! • Becoming a Vegetable Explorer – Common Vegetables with a Twist – Less Common Vegetables – Uncommon Edibles – I Never Guessed You Could Eat THAT! • Sources for Planting Stock Becoming a Vegetable Explorer • Be open to eating new types of foods • Be open to eating strange colors • Don’t expect everything to work • Be Careful! 2 3/16/2012 Do Your Research! • Where did the plant originate? • Does it have unique requirements? – Day length or light – Temperature – Soil type • What part is edible? • How do you know it’s mature? 3 3/16/2012 Common Vegetables with a Twist • Tomatoes • Swiss Chard • Peppers • Brussels Sprouts • Eggplant • Cauliflower • Carrots • Cutting Celery • Beets • Potatoes • Beans Tomatoes • Numerous opportunities • Hybrids, Heirlooms, Hybrid Heirlooms • Red, orange, yellow, green, striped, purple/black/brown, white • Beefsteaks, oxhearts, roma, huge, tiny, etc. • Stuffing Tomatoes –like a bell pepper! • Peach Tomatoes – fuzzy skin like a peach! 4 3/16/2012 Eggplant • American, Italian, Japanese/Asian, Thai, Indian • Mostly purple, white, shades of purple, striped, white, green • Many sizes • Orange/red varieties tend to be bitter! 5 3/16/2012 Eggplant Carrots • Carrots: red, orange, yellow, white, purple • Until the 1500s, there were no orange carrots! – www.carrotmuseum.com 6 3/16/2012 Potatoes • Beyond Red, White, & Russet • Fingerlings • Red & Blue potatoes • Heirloom potatoes • Varying amounts of starch/water – textural differences Fingerlings • Smaller, oblong shape • Variety of flavor, texture, color characteristics • Not “new” potatoes, harvested early 7 3/16/2012 Less Common Vegetables • Long Beans • Shallots • Tomatillos • Potato Onions • Husk Cherries • Bok Choy • Cucamelons • Other Asian greens • Fennel • Jerusalem • Leeks Artichokes • Walking Onion Tomatillos/Husk Cherries • Planting time/Growing season –same as tomatoes • Should start seeds indoors and transplant 8 3/16/2012 Tomatillos • Physalis sp. – Solanaceae –Nightshade • From Mexico (Pre‐Colombian) • Highly self‐incompatible – need multiple plants Husk Cherries • Physalis sp. (Ground Cherries) • Sweeter flavor – “pineapple” tomatillo • Resemble Chinese Lanterns (related) 9 3/16/2012 Onions & Shallots • Egyptian Walking Onion • Potato Onions • Shallots Egyptian Walking Onions • aka Tree Onion, Topset onion • Allium cepa var. proliferum • The topsets fall over and root, hence the “walking” 10 3/16/2012 Potato Onion • aka Multiplier Onion • Sometimes confused with shallots • Planted in the fall • One onion set will produce 8‐12 onions Potato Onion • One onion set will produce a clump of 8‐12 medium‐sized onions • Store 8‐10 months • Replant from your own bulbs 11 3/16/2012 Shallots • Common in French cooking • Onion flavor, but milder • Cook down so you have the flavor, but no chunks of onion Shallots • Plant in fall, like garlic • Each “bulb” planted will produce a cluster of bulbs • Keep moist (not wet) over the winter 12 3/16/2012 Cucamelons • Aka Mexican Sour Gherkin, Mouse Melons, etc. • Cucumber family –small leaves, delicate vines, tiny flowers • Needs heat –may be late to produce without vertical trellis Jerusalem Artichokes • Helianthus tuberosus • Edible root – starchy and sweet, crisp – Eat raw, baked, boiled, etc. 13 3/16/2012 Jerusalem Artichoke • Can be aggressive • Best to treat it as a perennial sunflower! Asian Greens • Bok Choy • Tatsoi • Mizuna • Komatsuna • Shiso 14 3/16/2012 Bok Choy • Brassica rapa var. chinensis – AKA Pac Choi, Pak Choi, etc. • Very popular Chinese green • Dark green leaves with white or green stems • Mild leaves, crispy leaf petioles • Best for fall (mid‐August) planting in Kansas Mizuna • Brassica rapa var. nipposinica • Toothed leaves reminiscent of oak leaves • Sweet with a mild mustard taste 15 3/16/2012 Shiso • Red, Green, or Red‐Green • Used in sushi or for pickling • Grows similar to basil • Reseeds prolifically! Uncommon Edibles • Alpine Strawberries • Celeriac • Amaranth • Parsley Root • Asian Herbs • Crosnes (Chinese • Sorrels Artichokes) • Oxalis • Oca • Lemongrass • Yacon • Ginger • Garden Huckleberries 16 3/16/2012 Sorrels • Rumex sp. • Red Rib • Garden Sorrel • Various others • Lemony, tart flavor • Prefer cool weather/maybe some light shade Garden Huckleberries • Solanum melanocerasum • Grow like tomatoes • Not edible until fully ripe –Black, dull, soft • Cook and add sugar • Don’t confuse with Nightshade! 17 3/16/2012 Crosnes • Stachys affinis –Mint family • Aka Chinese Artichokes • Small, crisp, tan tubers • Eat raw or cooked like a potato • Low growing, mat of leaves – similar to spearmint Crosnes • Plant in fall or spring, well‐drained soil • Plan for it to grow as a perennial • Harvest in October • Goodwin Creek, Companion Plants 18 3/16/2012 Gingers • Ginger, Galangal, Cardamom = Zingiberaceae • Love heat and humidity • Have to overwinter indoors • Takes 2‐3 years to have harvestable roots • Some have showy flowers Lemon Myrtle • Backhousia citriodora • Native to Australia • Woody shrub • “Queen of the Lemon herbs” • No plant material available in U.S. – Can buy seeds –4% germination rate – Grows slowly 19 3/16/2012 I Never Guessed You Could Eat That! • Stinging Nettles • Nasturtium seeds • Mallow • Gladiolus • Chufa Nuts • Daylilies • Campanula • Tiger Lily bulbs • Houttuynia • Ice Plant • Sweet Violet • Fiddle Head Ferns Stinging Nettles • Urtica dioica • Rich in vitamins A, C, D, iron, potassium, manganese, and calcium 20 3/16/2012 Stinging Nettles • Cooking or drying neutralizes the stinging • Use only the young shoots –delicacy for soup • Similar in flavor and texture to spinach Chufa Nuts • Cyperus esculentus var. sativus • Aka Chufa Sedge, Yellow Nutsedge, Tigernut Sedge, Earthalmond 21 3/16/2012 Chufa Nuts • Edible tubers, slightly sweet, nutty flavor, crunchy when raw • Best to consider it a perennial Gladiolus • Flower petals are edible • Taste like lettuce with a teaspoon of sugar on it 22 3/16/2012 Ice Plant • Aptenia sp., Mesembryanthemum sp., etc. • Fleshy succulent leaves are like really juicy lettuce • Trailing/ground cover • Has small flowers 23 3/16/2012 Great Resources ‐ Books • Rosalind Creasy – Herbs, Flowers, Mexican, Asian, French, Heirlooms, Italian, Rainbow, etc. • Unusual Vegetables by Anne Halpin • Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book by Jane Grigson (includes growing & cooking) • Perennial Vegetables by Eric Toensmeier Great Resources ‐ Websites • www.pfaf.org • http://www.unusualherbsandedibles.c o.uk/herbs/index.html • http://www.rosalindcreasy.com/ • http://www.uni‐ graz.at/~katzer/engl/index.html 24 3/16/2012 Seed & Plant Sources • B & T World Seeds • Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds • Seed Savers Exchange • Kitazawa Seeds • Evergreen Seeds • Bountiful Gardens • Nichols Garden Nursery Seed & Plant Sources • Irish Eyes Seeds • Fedco Seed • Native Seeds/SEARCH • Ronnigers Potato Farm • Seedman.com • Tradewinds Fruit • Seeds of Italy 25 3/16/2012 What are you going to try? Questions? http://thedemogarden.org 26.