Here be stories of weird and wonderful vegetables from the depths of vegetable gardens in some of the wildest parts of the known world such as Canberra, County Sligo, Nutfield and on the side of the road leading into the town of Grand Champ in France where I found what be the most tastiest apple I'd ever laid me eye on.  

Are you sick of growing boring vegetables and not helping to preserve the biodiversity of the planet? Or are you just bored with your lot in life, you are sitting there in some office thinking, "What the hell am I doing here? What's it all about, I might as well start reading Proust and collect squashed bottle tops that I find on the side of the road."

Well don't despair, don't stay a minute longer in that office. Log off now and Liberate yourself! You're not a battery hen, the office is too small for you, considering you don't lay eggs as already mentioned. You oughta grow some zany vegetables: it's true, you and the chicken know it. So does Puff the Magic Dragon.

Puff says, "why grow any sort of basil, when you can grow holy basil or purple basil, or lemon basil?" Good question.

He also says, "why grow your standard bean, when you can grow Dragons Tongue beans (though he's prejudiced being a dragon), or Tongue of Fire beans. And why grow 'normal' carrots when you can grow the purple-coloured Dragon carrots or Purple Pakistani carrots. And unlike Puff, both these beans and carrots actually exist and can be grown in your very own garden. But there's not only dragon inspired beans out there, there are also Rattlesnake beans, Black Turtle beans and many hundreds others. There's hundreds of varieties of all vegetables which you can grow yourself, with variations of colour of foliage and flowers and seeds. For example the speckled seed of the Roi de Carouby snowpea, pictured below Puff's magic beans.

Dragons Tongue Bush Bean

Most seed for vegetables mentioned on this site, and many more that I have failed to mention due to my not wanting to spend too much time on this infernal Internet thing, are available from the seeds sellers listed on the seed supplier's page. But wait, there's more in the way of far out and unusual vegetables from the tomato family, the eggplant clan and the association of the lettuce. There's the naturally colourful Freckled Cos lettuce, the increasingly familiar and popular Black Russian tomatoes as well as Purple Russian Tomatoes, and Green Zebra tomatoes. And there are Udumalapet eggplants which come in yellow with purple stripes as well as Casper eggplants that are white just like the ghost.

So if you want to help to preserve your fellow organisms - or if you are just an eccentric looking to grow Purple Podded Peas or Stars and Moon Watermelon - have a look around as there are many to read about. There should be enough simple information here to help you start growing your own wonderful odd (and "normal") varieties of fruit and vegetables for all conditions from Dublin to Brisbane. Links are on the left-hand side of each page. There's even information on how you can save seed yourself (and links to the Seed Savers' Network, Byron Bay, who have put a book out on the subject). I've also included a few stories and links to a humorous dhal recipe and Zen Cleaning Robot quotes which may interest some just looking for a break from the garden.

The Cherokee Purple Tomatoe - not really that purple and I'm unsure of what association it has with the peoples of the tribes of the American Indian nation formerly located on the eastern United States (before they were moved out west - read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee for the full story on the wild west). But it's a darn good tomato and has been a higlight of this season's mixed crop surviving the frosty nights of early spring (with help) and the heat wave of late Janaury where the tempratures hit the mid to high 30s for several weeks. I had it growing in a half wine barrel, stained with the lovely purple tinge of the South Australian grapes. And pictured next to them are a purple and a yellow carrot that I grew last summer.

Freckles Lettuce, a type of cos lettuce which did fairly well in a hot summer (up to 42 C, but mainly around 30 C), in a semi-shaded spot with plenty of water, only bolting after about 8 weeks with plenty of nice leaves before that - most lettuce is better planted during cooler months however, and summer lettuces in the sub-tropics might need some protection from the heat. Another good variety for the sub-tropics is Yugoslavian lettuce (pictured right - a bit squashed from scanner). Demonstrating the extremes to which lettuce can grow, I have grown Yugloslavian and other lettuces like rouge de hiver through Canberra's winter where they often get partially frozen overnight with temperatures down to minus 5 degrees celcius. But, as mentioned, for best taste you want the in between temperatures.

Holy Basil (also called Sacred Basil): This is a rather fragrant variety with variegated leaves which is grown around temples in India (though there's another variety called Spice Basil which is also supposedly sacred to Hindus). It suits very humid areas and can be eaten but more for medicinal purposes (indigestion) rather than culinary concerns. It is great for attracting bees as it flowers for very long periods, self sows, and grows all year round. Sub-tropical permaculturalists should consider incorporating this into their gardens. And next to the holy stuff we have the purple basil which has an ever so slight anise flavour to it.

The Seed Savers' Network Byron Bay

Michel and Jude Fanton have written a great book on saving your own seed called The Seed Savers' Handbook. You can buy it directly from The Seed Savers' Network or through places like Eden Seeds and Green Harvest. The book is available in several languages including: Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Khmer and Bulgarian. There's also a seed saving and growing guide for schools which you can download by clicking here: http://www.seedsavers.net/publications/seedtoseed_public.pdf

They've also made some videos - see the YouTube links on the side for a preview.

The Seed Savers' Network also hosts permaculture courses from time to time and you can arrange to volunteer there and help out with saving precious varieties of seed from around the world or if you are lazy but have a couple of dollars to spare, just get a life-time membership so they can have the money to keep going.

They have helped with community projects around the world.

Michel Fanton, seed saver extraodinaire, on the right side of the tracks at the Seed Savers' HQ Byron Bay (and a not to scale copy of the book he wrote with Jude)

The author planting potatoes at the Seed Savers' Network Byron Bay

Other Links and a picture of a sheep...

Sheep in Captivity, Byron Bay Police Station, Byron Bay, Australia (alas the sheep seems to have gone along with Byron Bays' feral goats - we call 'em the good old days when the goats and the hippies roamed and seldom was heard a discouraging word and the bees and the canteloupes played - again nothing to do with vegetables - though canteloupes (rockmelons) should be part of any vegetable garden)

More Organic Gardening, Seed Saving and Permaculture Links

For a guide to saving seeds go to the International Seed Saving Institutes's
seed saving page

Lawn not growing due to the drought or water restrictions? Get some Australian native grass seed: nativeseeds.com.au

Harvesting Water the Permaculture Way*Tagari Press (Home of Permaculture Books)*Seed Planting Guide for Around Australia*Northey Street Farm (Brisbane city farm)*Ceres Brunswick, Melbourne (environmental park and organic vegetable gardens)*Brisbane Organic Growers Inc.*Canberra Organic Growers Society*ABC TV's Gardening Australia*Australian National Botanic Gardens*Tropical Fruit World Fruit Tree List*Californian Rare Fruit Group*Landline: for all the latest news about farming in Australia*Kew Gardens (for the English)*Permaculture Australia*Journal of Permaculture Design Group*Hints for Growing Blueberries*

Unusual Little Fish, Bilinga, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia