Growing Unusual Vegetables: Weird And Wonderful Vegetables And How to Grow Them

by Simon Hickmott

Growing Unusual Vegetables is for gardeners who like to try something different. In this book they will find more than ninety unusual plants, all of them edible. The book is divided into sections on greens, roots, fruits, seeds, grains, and flavorings for easy reference. Each plant entry comes complete with comprehensive cultivation instructions, hardiness zones, and fascinating notes on the plant's origin, history, and uses.
With this indispensable guide, you can turn your garden into a unique storehouse of useful and unusual edible plants, many of which are surprisingly easy to grow.

Genres: Gardening

268 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2006

Reviews

[Emma Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing Unusual Vegetables is the UK's handbook for gardeners who want to grow things that are off the beaten track. There are over 90 different plants included, divided up into Greens, Roots, Fruits, Seeds, Grains and Flavours. Some are vegetables that were once common here and have been forgotten (including sea kale, skirret and salsify) and others hale from more exotic climes (try the jelly melon or the yard long bean).

For each plant you get detailed cultivation information (because Hickmott has personal experience of growing them all), some notes about the history of the plant, particular varieties to look for and some ideas on what to do with your crop when it's ready to harvest.

There's too many plants here to grow in one season, so this is a book that will provide interest for several years, and after that will be useful as a reference book if you add any of these unusual plants to your repertoire.

At the back there's a glossary and a list of suppliers, so if you are looking for something interesting to grow in your veg patch, this is a great place to start.