If you stroll through the majority of supermarkets, you will see remarkably similar vegetable types and varieties wherever you live. We sure do love our lettuce, orange carrots, white potatoes, broccoli and other staple vegetables. It’s not surprising that when we set off to plan and plant our own gardens, we often stick with many of the standard crops we purchase in the grocery store, but there are many options for rare or unusual vegetables and fruit that you can add to your garden.
While many of these staples are wonderful fresh from the garden, growing your own vegetables provides a special opportunity to try some of the less commonly known crops, unusual vegetables and rare fruit. Even some of the more commonly grown vegetable come in an array of colors and varieties that you can’t find in the store.
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Unusual Vegetables for your Garden
Before you rush out and buy every weird vegetable seed you can find, it’s a good idea to determine if you even like unusual vegetables before you decide to grow them. See if you can find the vegetable at a farmers market or unique natural store. If you aren’t able to find the vegetables and you’ve never tried these crops, I suggest planting one or two new rare vegetables each year and deciding which ones you like best, it’s no fun having a whole row full of something your family won’t eat!
There are also some reasons that these are less commonly planted vegetables – sometimes it’s the taste, sometimes it’s how they look, sometimes unusual vegetables are hard to grow, or sometimes they don’t keep well. Since you aren’t growing for mass productions most of the time these aren’t big concerns on the backyard farm. You will also see several vegetables on the list that you may not consider uncommon but I’ve included them because they are interesting vegetables that just aren’t as common or don’t make some of the common lists of vegetables.
If you’re looking for the more common vegetables – check out the article:
Best Plants to Grow in Your Kitchen Garden
Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi is related to cabbage and is a vegetable that can be eaten raw or cooked in stir fries or other dishes. You can plant in the fall for a spring harvest, or transplant outside in the spring for harvesting in the fall.
Beets
Beets are a new favorite around our home. They are sweet, can be canned, baked, added to salads, frozen, used as a natural dye, and you can even eat the green tops. Plant them starting in the spring and throughout the growing season for continuous harvest.
Jerusalem Artichokes
Jerusalem artichokes, also called sunchokes, are related to sunflowers and grow beautiful flowers in addition to edible roots. They can be eaten raw or cooked like other root vegetables and have a nice earthy flavor.
Celeriac
Celeriac is related to celery and is grown for its roots and tops. It is generally used much the same as potatoes, but can also be eaten raw, and has a nice mild taste. While it does take a long time to grow, celeriac stores well.
SeaKale
Seakale is a mulit-faceted perennial vegetable with edible shoots, roots, and tops. It is also a beautiful plant that can be used among flowers in your favorite garden. Like asparagus, seakale thrives after several years and the same plant can be divided and enjoyed for years to come.
Tomatillas/Ground Cherries
Both tomatillos and ground cherries form and grow inside husks. When removed from the husk, they can both be used in a variety of ways such as salsas, chilies, jellies, or eaten raw.
Bok Choy
Bok Choy is a mildly flavored vegetable perfect for stir fries. It can be grown in the spring or for a fall crop and is not only delicious but beautiful.
Oca
This root vegetable is similar to potatoes and is grown in the south and central Andes, although many varieties are now grown around the world. Oca can be mashed or added to food in the same way as potatoes.
Romanesco
This plant is very similar to broccoli with swirling patterns of buds. Like broccoli it can be put into stir fries but has a slightly more earthy flavor
Celeriac
This root vegetable is similar to turnips and you can also eat the leaves and stems. It’s mild flavor is best roasted or in soups
Manioc
The drought resistant vegetable is becoming more widely grown and while is may not be common is some parts of the world, it is an important food source for many people. When it is dried it becomes tapioca.
Yard-Long Beans
These long beans (although not really quite a yard) are grown in warm climates just like you would grow other climbing bean varieties.
Brusselberry Sprouts
This uncommon vegetable has been on my wish list to grow for a while. Just like normal brussel sprouts, these are purple.
Jicama
These are commonly eaten and grown in Mexico and central America and have pleasant taste and crunch when eaten raw.
Uncommon Fruits for your Backyard Farm
There are several different types of uncommon fruits that can be grown in the backyard farm and even more rare fruits that grow around the world. Many of these fruits don’t keep as well as their store-friendly varieties. Some varieties will need a second tree/plant to produce fruit.
Paw Paw
These fun fruits look like mangos and are grown on trees that also grow wild across the United States. You need two trees to produce fruit and should harvest the fruit when it is ripe on the tree. Eat paw paws fresh or mash and make smoothies or pudding.
Persimmon
These are delicious fruit when they are ripe (and sour inedible fruit when they aren’t. Grown on trees, there are both American and Asian varieties. The trees are slow growing (they can take up to 10 years to produce fruit!) but grow up to 50 feet so you will need plenty of space in your backyard farm.
Gooseberry
Gooseberries look like extra large green grapes and grow on plants and can be grown in pots as well as the garden. They are best eaten fresh but can also be frozen. For a time, growing gooseberries was illegal and it still is in some places, so make sure you check before you plant them.
Maypop
The vines have beautiful flowers that grow well in zones 5-9. You can grow them up a vertical support and grows a fruit that tastes like passionfruit. Be careful since this plant can become difficult to control.
Cold Hardy Kiwi
This vigorous vine takes a male and a female to produce small kiwis that can be eaten with the skin on. Train this vine over an arch or arbor and enjoy the pretty foliage and the big supply of hardy kiwi.
Different Varieties of Common Vegetables
If you’re not ready to try some of these more unusual vegetables, consider trying some of the less common varieties of vegetables you already enjoy. While only a few tomato varieties make it to the store, there are hundreds to choose from for your garden. Even vegetables like carrots come in a multitude of colors, so don’t get caught up in planting a traditional vegetable, spice it up by growing different varieties of unusual vegetables and fantastic varieties of your favorites.
My favorite way to find these varieties is to look through seed catalogs, note what your local farmers market sells or look online. We’ve grown fun types of beans, beets, tomatoes, corn, squash and more by just being open and experimenting.
Where to find Unusual Vegetables and fruit seeds/trees/plants
Always start local if you can, but you can also search for individual varieties online for some of the more unusual vegetable seeds. My favorite places to get seeds include:
I've been hearing a lot about kohlrabi lately but I've never even tried it. I bet I would like it, though.
This year we got purple tomatillo seeds. I've never grown them before. I'm so excited! We are going to roast the tomatillos to make some yummy salsa. I can taste it now 🙂
This year I am going to try and grow Brussel Sprouts and Lima Beans along with the usual tomatoes, beans (many different kinds) peas, corn, cauliflower, broccoli, cucmber and squash.. Also going to plant herbs that will keep the bugs away and plant herb to attract butterflies. Pumpkins, melons, strawberries, lettuce are new this year. All my seeds are heirloom seeds. I forgot about the potatoes, white potatoes and this year sweet potatoes.
I plan on doing a lot of campionion plantsing this year.
I can't wait to get out there and start planting. The last frost days here in Delaware are in the middle of April but I have started some of my plants in the house.
We are planting Easter egg radishes this year. I think my son will enjoy the show! We also plan to plant purple carrots, and an assortment of non-traditional pumpkins, to include white ones and flat-ish ones. Great post! Why grow common stuff, when you can have fun!
We started growing beets this year. I love that we can eat the entire plant. We most often chop the tops and add them to whatever other greeens we're having. I like to grate the bulb like a carrot and add it to our salads. Not everyone appreciates a pink salad, but really you can't even taste it.
We enjoy growing many varieties of potatoes for different tastes, textures and colors. We love roasting a variety of red, white and blue (yellow too!) spuds with homegrown shallots and garlic. Yum!
I have always added something "unusual" to get the kids interested in the garden. Sometimes it is rainbow carrots, last year we tried peanuts, we have tried tomatillos, popcorn, sugar beets to name a few. This year we will be planting edamame, daikon radish as well as some unusual tomatoes (purple and green zebra). The kids in the neighbourhood love to see the unusual vegetables growing, and are always willing to sample a few…and sometimes even the parents come along to see what is new for the season. It's a great way to get kids eating their vegetables, and to have a friendly chat with the neighbours.
I would love to grow tomatillos so I could can some spicy green salsa. 🙂
Thanks for sharing at the Farm Girl Blog Fest–always a was a pleasure to find your posts in the list!
~Kristi@Let This Mind Be in You
I'm growing artichokes – which I've never eaten in any way other than pickled. So this is a great way to try something new. I'm also growing purple potatoes; I tried them in Peru and thought they were great. Speaking of Peru, I am growing two types of Peruvian peppers: Rocoto (hot as a habanero – had in Peru) and Lemon Drop (hot pepper with lemon taste – can't wait to try it). This will be my first time growing tomatillos, so I'm looking forward to homemade salsa! And, I love growing several varieties of a crop: two spinaches, two beets, two turnips, two carrots, several types of tomatoes and peppers. It's interesting to note which varieties I think taste better, which produce better in my climate, etc. I love experimenting!