Unusual vegetables to grow on an allotment

Unusual vegetables to grow on an allotment

Supermarkets rarely offer novelty vegetables and if they do they rarely offer them at affordable prices.An example of this was the premium price tomatillos fetch at fortnum and mason.So you can grow an unusual vegetable for little more than the price of a packet of seeds and obtain it at premium freshness.

Good king henry(licolnshire asparagus;chenopodium spp.)-a plant in the spinach family which surprisingly has leaves that taste of spinach!Its young shoots can be blanched by excluding light and are said to taste like asparagus(maybe an exaggeration?)Typically found on rubbish heaps in the wild illustrating its preference for fertile and moisture retentive soil.Also best in full sun or partial shade.

Dandelion-One of the worst weeds in the garden due to its persistant roots buta very delicious salad leaf when blanched.The french are mad on it and call it piss in the beddue to its diuretic properties.infact it was in france where I obtained my seed at a garden centre in chamonix-the leaves appear more succulent than the weed found on bridleways.I have also tried the cultivated version at caravan restaurantin london and the blanched leaves were delicious but similarly I have triedthem in the green and they were bitter to say the least although this is why they wereoriginally eaten because bitters typically purge the toxins accumlated in the body during the fat rich period of winter.Although dandelions will typically grow in any situation rich soil(high in nitrogen)and plenty of water ensures leafy growth.Again place in partial shade.

salsify-A member of the carrot family that therefore requires sandy soil that has not been manured too richly if at all the previous autumn.Again place in full sun or partial shade and do not thin when sown to prevent attracting carrot fly.Supposed to taste like oysters(supposed to!)

tomatillo-very simliar to a tomato in cultivation-better in a glasshouse due to increased heat and lack of rain on the leaves(thus preventing blight),make sure you water during fruit formation and place in full sun.Relatively rich soil is probably necessary too so add some compost to the soil and feed with a potassium rich fertilizer.Other members of the solanaceae family that are novelty crops are huckleberries and goji berries but im not going to talk about these because i have never grown them.However their requirements are similar toother members of the family.

Amelanchier canadensis-an ornamental tree that produces blackcurrant like berries in the summer which are supposed to be quite delicious.Requires acid soil and partial shade(i would say morning sun would be better as my experience indicates that the hotter afternoon sun can scorch the leaves)

now the plants i have mentioned so far are novel crops but they are not unheard of.Now two plants that i would grow as a novel crop if i was an expert grower would be the pignut(a member of the carrot family that is a rare native of the uk with a tuber attached to its root) and orchids whose tubers were used as a milky drink in the uk until orchids became endargered here but is still drunk in turkey....

POST COMMENT

Alcohol Abuse – How Worse Can Things Get? How To Get Ripped - Why You Need Fiber Mega Mass - Side Effects Hint on Finding the Perfect Loft Conversion Company In Your Basement, It's A Trap Currency Wars: Our Short-term Gain Results in Long-term Pain Havarti Dough Cheese Pizza Adriatic Gulet Charter Taps For All The Last Days: Signs or Guesswork? Shop Your "must have" Jovani Evening Gowns On The Web Make Capital Rapidly Tacfit Commando Login-Tacfit Commando Mass Assault