In the Garden with Pat Rubin

Bee garden writer Pat Rubin writes about everything that grows, from flowers and trees to vegetables and lawns. Pat volunteered for several years as a Placer County Master Gardener and has written about gardening for many national and regional publications. In addition to gardening, she spends time raising and showing miniature horses and miniature donkeys.

In the Garden will include news, events, advice and other gardening tidbits. Pat will also answer reader questions.

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February 26, 2008

Fun in the vegetable garden

Put a little fun in the garden this year. When you send in your seed orders, or when you’re browsing through the seed racks, look for something a bit different, a tad odd or unusual to try.

Here are a few of the offbeat things I’m going to try this year:

1. Cranberry Red potato: It’s red on the outside and on the inside, and the flesh stays a pink-red color even when cooked. It’s great sautéed, but probably not as mashed potatoes. Wood Prairie Farm

2. Broom corn: It’s actually sorghum, and comes in many colors, including bronze, cream, black. The stems below the seed heads are stiff enough to make into brooms. I love the names of the various varieties: Apache Red, Texas Black, Amber, Tennessee Red. Great in flower arrangements. Seed Savers Exchange

3. Walking Stick Kale: Also called Jersey Kale, the stalk can grow six or seven feet tall with the kale at the top. If you live where it will over winter, it can grow to 15 feet the second year. And, yes, you can make a walking stick out of it. Whatcom Seed Company

4. Udumalapet eggplant: This one is from Seed Savers Exchange, and it makes striped teardrop shaped fruits that are green with lavender stripes. They also offer one called Stiped Toga that is orange with green stripes. They’re so pretty I’ll probably leave them in the garden and never harvest them! Seed Savers Exchange

5. Yugoslavian Finger Fruit winter squash: It’s an acorn-type squash, except it’s creamy white with ten finger-like ribs that come to a point. It was introduced as “Pineapple” in 1885, and is said to be fine grained and smooth to the taste. Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

6. Explosive Embers peppers: Yikes. They’re a brilliant purple color when young, although eventually turn bright red. Tomato Growers Supply Company

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