Grow Your Own Magazine

To add a bit of interest in the plot this year we're thinking of growing some unusual coloured veg like Cauliflower Purple Graffiti, Cauliflower Sunset, yellow and purple french beans. Does anyone have any experience of these types? Are they easy to grow and do they taste good? Any help gratefully recieved!

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I've grown Sungold French Beans this year, girls, and I have to say that although they tasted ok, there's something about yellow french beans which just doesn't look healthy, somehow...

I might try purple ones this year.

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Hazel
www.hazelandjanesallotment.blogspot.com
update Sat 15/11/2008......there's gold in them thar...compost bins!......

Do they stay the unusual colour when cooked, or would that be just for ornamental purposes when growing?

Well the yellow beans do - they go from looking unhealthy yellow on the plant to looking unhealthy yellow on the plate.

I'm pretty sure that the purple ones revert to green when you boil them - but don't know what happens if you steam them, or stir fry them.

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Hazel
www.hazelandjanesallotment.blogspot.com
update Sat 15/11/2008......there's gold in them thar...compost bins!......

I think the cauliflowers might lose their colour when boiled, but not sure about stir fried or steamed. Its just the novelty value really!

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I'm a bean fan - I've grown both the yellow and purple (Had purple climbing french bean Empress this year) The yellow stay yellow but as Hazel said, look a bit sickly. The purple go dark green on cooking. However, they taste fantastic. They are colourful when growing so I don't mind that they change on cooking. Good luck whatever you choose Newbie. Two Sheds is the bean queen - I'm sure she'll have some recommendations - I fancy a borlotti this year. (PS should that be a borlotto?)

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Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

www.vegheaven.blogspot.com

Updated November 17th - The Big Dig

Something a bit different, but great colour - so looks as well are Rainbow Quinoa and Magenta Orach - both available from Real Seeds - have a look at their website for descriptions. We are growing both next year

LCG

I grew purple carrots and purple beans this year. Both were as easy to grow as their more 'ordinary' relatives and tasted just as good too. I've also got some Romanesco Caulis (lime green). I haven't tried one yet but I actually found them easier to grow than white caulis (I'm quite a new veg gardener though, so it could have been a fluke!).

Claire

The purple caulis do blanche on cooking but the carrots stay purple (or whatever colour they were) - mind you, have to be careful if you're steaming them as whatever is below gets coloured too! I grew purple French beans this year (Blauhide) and they were lovely, as somebody above said they went dark green on steaming and looked interesting on the garden. Also grew yellow toms and courgettes so it's not just purple I go for!

If you want other colours, rainbow chard is good for some really good colour.

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Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.

Which one are you and is it how you want to be?

Here I am !
I absolutely love French Beans ... the good thing about yellow ones is they show up well on the bush for picking (green ones hide). Apparently purple ones will keep their colour if you add some vinegar to the cooking water, though I haven't tried this yet.

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

Rainbow chard is really colourful and tastes good too. Purple french beans look good on the plants, but turn green on cooking. Coloured carrots not good, the white ones taste like turnips.

I grew rainbow carrots - only got one carrot to maturity - it was orange!!!

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

I so want to grow purple carrots. They look funky.

Purple podded peas are a climbing pea growing to 6 foot!

There are three colours of beetroot, the normal maroon, orange and white beetroot! There's also a ringed version with annualar rings like that on a tree.I've grown the orange/yellow type which is very easy to grow. Apparently bred so that when you have a bit of beetroot with your ham, it doesn't stain the meat!

Redbor kale is a hardy red curly variety and red sprouts are very architectural in my lottie growing to 5 foot high.

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Purple carrots are really nice, the ones I've had are only purple for the outer half of the cross section and the middle bit is orange. They taste a bit nuttier to me but I really like the taste. Cooked some on Christmas Day last year and it didn't half confuse the ILs - they're not big on veg!

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Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.

Which one are you and is it how you want to be?

the rainbow carrots i grew this year were a real success, the kids loved them, which was the main aim of growing them, picked early they tasted nice and sweet. although the ones left to mature did lose the sweetness.

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Kernow rag nevra http://www.cornishnotenglish.com/

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits
Albert Einstein

Just be ordinary and nothing special. Eat your food, move your bowels, pass water and when your'e tired go and lie down. The ignorant will laugh at me, but the wise will understand
Bruce Lee

I can 'ditto' most of the above recommendations, having grown them (apart from the multi-carrots) and would seriously, seriously recommend any vegetable grower to grow BORLOTTI beans. Wow! Funky to look at, Gorgeous to eat (fresh, out of the pods) and then dried for what you can't manage for later.....
Bulls Blood Beetroot is WELL worth space as it looks and tastes stunning.
Get a copy of Sarah Raven's Garden Seed Catalogue online. Even if you don't buy seeds from it (too pricey, and let's not start!!) but it gives you great ideas if you want a decorative as well as tasty plot, which I do, every time when it's on your doorstep.
Very good luck with your choices, and I look forward to keeping up with this thread as to others' recommendations....

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With Love,
Wellie

Give it some....

http://hollycottagegarden.blogspot.com
BLOG UPDATED Sunday 2nd November at 19.30hrs

I would very, very much like to try crimson flowered broad beans, which are just the prettiest things, but having seen the seeds on sale at FIFTY PENCE EACH!!!!! at the Malvern Show in the Spring I didn't buy any.

Daft really - but I was very new to all this then, which is a poor excuse, I know, as I'd have 3 or 4 like a shot now - which is only the cost of a packet of seed - and grow them for seed and I'd also have some to 'trade'...

They are something that I will definitely be scouring the seed catalogues for this year.

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Hazel
www.hazelandjanesallotment.blogspot.com
update Sat 15/11/2008......there's gold in them thar...compost bins!......

When I looked around my plot earlier this year (when it was in "full" swing), I though everything looked a bit, well, green. So like you I set about selecting a few crops to add a bit of colour to the plot for next year. I have bought Falstaff Brussels (kind of purple colour), Blauhilde Beans (dark purply colour), and some Bright Yellow Chard.

I've also bought some meadow flowers seeds, and a load of poppy seeds (my favourite) to try and introduce some colour.

Oh, and purple and white sprouting broccoli.

Looks like purple's next years colour for me....

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A simple dude trying to grow veg.

http://haywayne.blogspot.com/ - Minor update - 10th November

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I've just joined the HDRA Seed Library Hazel. This gives you the opportunity to choose 6 different packs of seed each year - all heritage and otherwise unobtainable (unless you have friends who'll swap of course!) The cost per year is £20 so you could look upon the seeds as £3+ per pack but I prefer to look upon it as the opportunity to help to fund the people who are growing on and bulking up these stocks to preserve them - and then I get 6 packets of free seeds for being good! It's the glass half full thingie.
Anyway, if you want something really unusual (which you can collect again at seed time and keep it going) the Seed Library is well worth a punt.

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Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

www.vegheaven.blogspot.com

Updated November 17th - The Big Dig

Haven't tried any of the coloured caulis or beans but have grown rainbow chard which is very pretty & fancy trying the coloured carrots. Bit worried about them now as some of you didn't have very good results with them.

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Into every life a little rain must fall.

Thanks Flum - you've given me more info than the web site and the leaflet at Ryton put together. Lesson in communication there - the web site quite happy to tell me it's £20 to join, but less keen to tell me what joining does for me!

I see this being put on the Christmas 'wish' list!

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Hazel
www.hazelandjanesallotment.blogspot.com
update Sat 15/11/2008......there's gold in them thar...compost bins!......