One of the best things about gardening
is that there is an unlimited choice of things to grow. We tend to
grow those things that we love, year after year, but it's always fun
to try something new, too.
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| In 2008, I grew a lot of purple veggies. This is Phaseolus vulgaris 'Purple Queen'. |
One year, I decided to grow purple
veggies. Researching what vegetables came in purple, I was surprised
to find out how many there were. I already knew about eggplant and
cabbage, of course, but there was also sweet corn, okra, potatoes,
“green” beans, carrots, kohlrabi, lettuce, and several others.
Seeds were purchased and planted, and
my purple vegetable garden was born.
When I would talk about my purple
veggie garden, the number one question I got was, “Do the purple
ones taste the same as the regular colored ones?” And the answer
was yes. There was no discernible difference, other than slight
variations you would expect from one cultivar to another, independent
of color.
Besides being fun to do, I learned
something along the way. Those purple beans magically turned green
when they were cooked! We called them our magic beans.
For all of you adventurous gardeners,
there's a new book that will have you salivating at all the wonderful
and quirky choices available for growing. Niki Jabbour, star of
growing year round, even though she lives in Nova Scotia, and author
of bestselling The Year Round Vegetable Gardener, has written a fun
new book – Niki Jabbour's Veggie Garden Remix.
This book is like looking at a
catalog of 224 choices of a wide variety of edibles that you may not
have thought about growing or may not have even known existed! But
better than a plant catalog, Niki shares growing tips, plant origins,
how and when to plant and harvest, different ways to use them, and a
host of other information.
If your vegetable garden has become a
little ho-hum, or you've lost a little enthusiasm for gardening in
general, Niki's book can jump start it all again. How can you get
bored growing things with names like 'Poona Kheera' (cucumber) and
'Orange Jelly' (turnip). I'm not a turnip fan, but ORANGE JELLY!
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| A carrot in parentheses! |
I can think of no better way to begin
this year's garden than flipping through this book and making a list
of seeds that will elevate my veggie-growing space to stellar star
status. It's like how I used to go through the Sears Christmas catalog the day it came and I made a list of all the toys I wanted. That was such fun, too.
We've been doing the Blue Apron thing
for over a year now, and we've been introduced to some foods that we
might otherwise not have known about. We found new foods to love,
including some you'll find in Niki's book.
Win a copy of Veggie Garden Remix!
I was sent a complimentary copy of
Niki's book and you could win a copy of your own!
Just comment on this blog post by
midnight, EST, on Sunday, February 25, 2018. One random commentor
will get a copy of Niki Jabbour's Veggie Garden Remix sent to them
from her publisher, Storey Books. Be sure to indicate how you'd like for me to contact you, in case you're the winner.
Good luck!
________________________________
Niki Jabbour is the award-winning author of Niki Jabbour’s Veggie Garden Remix, The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener, and Groundbreaking Food Gardens. Her work is found in Fine Gardening, Garden Making, Birds & Blooms, Horticulture,
and other publications, and she speaks widely on food gardening at
events and shows across North America. She is the host and creator of The Weekend Gardener radio show. She lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is online at nikijabbour.com.
"Bejeweled"
