Topic: unusual veg

[gardening-gal]

Can anyone help me?
Where is the best place to get hold of rare or unusual veggie seeds?

[gardening-gal]

LOL  yes that would make an unusual veg ;D

[gardening-gal]

I did wonder where I would find garvel LOL ;D

[Jeannine]

What kind of unusual veggie are you looking for

[gardening-gal]

Anything really just something that isn't available in the shops, varieties that have been forgotten,  things that may not appear nice but taste wonderful.

[raisedbedted]

I would recoomend Real Seeds address http://www.realseeds.co.uk/

They always have things a little unusual to tempt the credit card once again  :)

RBT

[Jeannine]

Hard to advise  one man's unusual is abother commonplace. Tell me what you are already growing and I can help better.

? Purple cauliflower, orange cauliflower, schorzona, salsify, orach, white carrots purple carrots,ocra,some odd beans and peas,certainly some of the rarer squash,coloured and frilly lettuce,red spring onions, white pumpkin, minature pumpkin, lentils, garbanzos,white cukes, round yellow cukes ,all different colours and sizes of eggplants,popcorn, red or multi coloured corn, white beetroot, striped beetroot,kohlrabi, fakir,black or white radishes,jicama,red brussels sprouts, collards,edible flowers.

XX Jeannine

[gardening-gal]

Wow well I've never heard of garbanzos, orach,  fakir or jicama, can you give me some idea of what sort of vegetable they are please.

Thanks raisedbedted will go and have a nosey.

[Vortex]

If you want varieties that have been forgotten you'll need to join HDSL. You should also check out Garden Organic (http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/index.php), which is their commercial arm, and  Thomas Etty (http://www.thomasetty.co.uk/index.html). If you're happy just picking seeds with pictures and growing instructions you may also like to try Seeds-by-Size (http://www.seeds-by-size.co.uk/). If you're into giant veg then try W Robinson & Son (http://www.mammothonion.co.uk/).

[gardening-gal]

ohhh thank you :)

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

fakir is just a turnip rooted parsley? trying that this year

[saddad]

Para Cress is about as weird as it gets... like eating local anaesthetic... makes your mouth tingle and then go numb...
 ;D

[gardening-gal]

so we need to eat that one before a hot madras then ;D

[Suzanne]

Or after?

[Jeannine]

Jicama is an odd one, it is a tuber, looks like a turnip, belongs to the bean family, used as an alternative fro water chestnuts or eaten raw, similar to an apple or pear.

Orach, used in salads or anywhere you would use spinach, like spinach it bolts in a hot summer. Comes 4 colours, white, green, bronze and red. Grows to 4 feet.

Gabanzo also know as chick pea,small round bumpy beans, light brown, fairly common in tins.

XX Jeannine

[gardening-gal]

Ahhh thank you :)

[sawfish]

Try
http://www.thomasetty.co.uk/vegetables/index.html
lots of strange victorian stuff.

Or
http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/

Or
http://www.tuckers-seeds.co.uk/
more old odd stuff

Or
http://rareseeds.com/seeds/
in America but cheap shipping and some funky stuff!

[GodfreyRob]

Here's an online database that contains a lot of unusual vegetables/herb/fruit plus pictures and cultivation instructions:

http://www.thevga.co.uk/the_shed/sindex.cgi