Not so common veg to grow

[Maggiethecat]

Involved in a small group plot and thinking ahead about things to plant in the spring.

We’ll probably do the usual courgettes, kale, beet and will try for squash, cucumbers, (aubergine- easy to grow?)

Is there anything a bit unusual/uncommon that you’ve had success with and enjoyed growing/eating.

Pink Fir Apple potatoes
Sprouting broccoli
Costoluto Fiorentino tomatoes

Yellow climbing french bean (highly recommend neckargold on taste and stringless) I thought it was just runner beans that went stringy. I’ve never known a stringy climbing French

a big vote here for pink fir apple potatoes, the best spuds ever

from the real seeds company this year we grew turnip greens, really quick crop and prolific, seems to suffer less from white fly
also, gigantes white beans

jostaberries- we inherited some mature and very prolific bushes, they crop heavily and are delicious, have never seen them for sale anywhere

I went to a lot of trouble to grow sea kale as I wanted more perennial veg, I really wouldn't bother, I blanched it as recommended (apparently the Victorians were big on this) it just had a vaguely cabbagey taste

purple potatoes- look great (and do stay purple) but taste is nothing special and the yield is not great

There was a website selling samphire, you are supposed to water them with salty water. Living miles from the sea, I'm tempted to give it a go.

@Trouvere tell me about skirret please! did you grow it from seed? how do you cook it? do you have to peel it?

globe artichokes fennel asparagus rocket and echo the loads of different type of squash. Also white and red currants and gooseberries if you like them as very productive and not often in the shops.

You're probably right! They tasted amazing though. Much better than lazy housewife or purple queen

@StillWeRise I bought skirret seeds from Pennard back in 2014. They can be a little erratic in germination and appreciate winter stratification. But once you have plants established they're perennial. Easy to divide, too, with clumps often spontaneously splitting apart in your hand while you're snipping off roots. They flower and set seed each year and I've found them a bit weedy.
Roots do need a little bit of cleaning and peeling. The taste is vaguely like potato, vaguely like parsnip, to me not really much like either. You can boil them, gently fry them, roast them, add them to soups (bit of a waste, I think). We made a cheesy skirret pie one year.