We’re growing some unusual edible plants in our backyard.
Having said that, they’re unusual to us, but they’re also some of the most commonly eaten crops in the world!
Above is a photo of common purslane, which has been growing in our yard for years as a weed. We’re hoping to plant them in a more controlled fashion, once we’ve been able to collect some seed. It’s widely eaten by many cultures, including the Italians, Lebanese and Chinese. It’s an essential ingredient in Lebanese fattoush, and my mother knows it as both “mouse ear plant” and “horse tooth plant”.
When freshly picked, this annual succulent has a mild, pleasantly sour tang and more omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy vegetable!
. . . . .
If you’ve ever ordered a bowl of endamame in a Japanese restaurant, you’ll know how addictive these little soy bean pods can be. What you might not realise though, is that almost all endamame in Australia comes frozen from China.
So it was with great excitement that we discovered that the Diggers Club were selling endamame seeds – fellow Aussies, if you’re interested in trying to grow them, they’re sold as “Soy Bean (Beer Snack)”. We haven’t harvested any yet as they’ve taken quite a long time to mature – but our three plants are laden with small pods and enormous promise!
. . . . .
Kohlrabi are a new vegetable to me – Wikipedia tells me they’re a member of the turnip family, although I find them a good substitute for broccoli stems (which I love). They grow very easily and the chickens adore the leaves!
. . . . .
Even though we’d resolved to only grow roma and cherry tomatoes, we couldn’t resist trying just a few plants of these Principe Borghese tomatoes. An heirloom Italian variety, they form delicate oval heart-shaped fruit. We haven’t had any ripen enough to pick yet, but even the green ones are looking gorgeous. They’re dry, fleshy tomatoes which are apparently well-suited to sauces and drying.
. . . . .
In our backyard, we have a very large lilly pilly tree. Also known as riberries (which is enough to convince my Pete that they might have been the original fruit used in Ribena), this Australian native fruits prolifically, although we have never had as substantial a crop as this year’s. Perhaps it’s a combination of all the rain we’ve been having, and the increased number of bees in the yard.
The fruit of the lilly pilly tree is extremely versatile for cooking. It’s not great for eating raw, but we’ve turned it into lilly pilly jelly, which we’ve then used as a glaze on roast meats and in our onion marmalade. Maude recently made a very nice lilly pilly cordial as well. I have a few more ideas to play with…will let you know how I go.
. . . . .
I’ve always known these long skinny eggplants as Japanese eggplants, but the seeds we bought were marked as “Lebanese”. Either way, the four plants in our garden have produced a wonderful crop over a long period of time – we’ve already harvested several kilos off them, and as you can see, they’re still producing prolifically.
The small fruit are sweeter and tenderer than their large counterparts, and the seeds less bitter. They’re a great addition to a curry or stirfries.
. . . . .
These are pigeon peas – a completely new variety to me, but apparently one of the most widely eaten plants in the world. Known also as toor dal, they are high protein, drought resistant and widely cultivated and eaten in India, Eastern Africa and Central America.
. . . . .
A few more – we’ve tried to grow horseradish, but to no avail, as something “stole” our plant – we went out one morning to find it completely gone, from the root up! Also, we’re hoping to grow turmeric and asparagus, once we’ve found a permanent spot for them in the yard.
Are you growing any unusual edibles in your garden? We’d love to know of any suggestions you might have!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Ooh those are exciting veggies indeed, what fun! Sorry to hear about your horseradish, I wonder who would have been brave enough to dig that up and carry it off, eyes streaming.
I love those little skinny aubergines, much sweeter than the big ones. We grew a funny little plant one year, asparagus pea it was called, pretty flowers and a strange little pod, don’t know if I would recommend it. Purslane I think we’ve grown. I like lambs lettuce and I like growing mustard. And are you going to try for a brave little fennel of your own, the bronze ones are very handsome? I quite fancy growing those pink and white beans, borlotti? Brian says, ominously, that he is only going to do quick things this year…. don’t know what that means….
Celia, it’s such fun to experiment with different plants, and it keeps those chickens on their toes, never knowing what to expect when the chicken dome is moved, I bet!
Jo, I have never heard of asparagus pea before! I shall have to look out for it – even if not for growing, just to see what it looks like. I am in awe of your brave fennel, but no-one here likes to eat it except moi, so it probably won’t make the garden. I’d love to grow borlotti beans – apparently you can dry them and keep them for soups all year long. Tell B if he wants something quick – our kohlrabi seemed to grow up very quickly indeed! :)
Mmm! I love all that green!
I always grow a hearty batch of purslane- and I’ve made a salad once or twice. I like to use dandelion greens in a wilted salad and sorrel grows like (as) a weed in my garden. If I can get out there before my husband I pick a bunch to go into a soup.
Heidi, I’m very excited by the purslane – I love the flavour of it. Pete tried growing buckwheat, but I was less convinced about that.. :)
All so impressive Celia! How many different plants do you have growing?!
Anna, I have no idea! Not as many as I’d like – there’s always something I want to add to the list! Latest is apple cucumbers – Pete’s sister Pen gave us some when we saw her last, and they’re just divine!!
Our horseradish didn’t do much, turned out woody. We’ve grown curry leaves which were delish. Our white eggplant looked cool. I can’t remember if we ever actually cooked it.
My Mother-in-law gave me a peach tree that has three different kinds of peaches. Can’t wait for Spring. :-)
Maz
Maz, we’re pretty right for curry leaves – my mum has a huge tree, as does Maude. They’re essential for so many Asian dishes! That peach tree sounds amazing! Our baby dwarf peach tree gave us just two white peaches this year, but they were sublime.. :)
Right now I am growing nothing. With all or crazy weather my herbs got a bit stressed and bugs ate the lot. Not ot worry, I am off to Italy soon and my husband wouldn’t eat them anyway.
Deb, have a wonderful trip! Look forward to reading more Italian adventures! :)
What fun Celia! Id love to grow some horseradish, or even wasabi. I’m growing all the usual suspects for a home garden, but I also have an Australian finger lime, a Kaffir lime, a curry plant, Laska Leaf, and a Chocolate Mint plant. I just love your bountiful lilly pilly, I’ve never seen one that full of fruit before! You must have to fight off the birds and fruit bats for your share.
B, if you were closer, we could share our garden spoils! I desperately lobbied for a finger lime, but in the end our space only allowed one citrus, so a standard lemon it was instead. And laksa leaf..oooh, my mother would love you! :)
Can you believe we’ve had that lilly pilly for 20 years, but only in the last two years have we done anything with the fruit? I have about three kilos in the freezer, waiting for inspiration. I was thinking of trying to do a alcoholic liqueur with some of them.
Love Principe Borghese – they’re one of my favourite tomato varieties. Something you might like to try is tomatillo. They grow easily in our climate and make the best salsa verde.
Linda, thank you, we’ll look out for it! I’ve never tried a tomatillo before – hooray, more plants to consider! :)
I can’t wait to see what you guys do with all the new stuff in the garden. Never in my life have I heard of Lily pilly. Your aubergines look fabulous. Celia I just love all your energy and creativity. I hope you rub off on me. B:)
Hey Beth, I feel the same way, I was just telling Pete about your gnocchi post a few days ago! :) The eggplants have been just wonderful – next post has photos of the eggplant pickle we’ve been making – but we’ve also been eating a lot of it just roasted with potatoes and carrots!
Aren’t they all lovely! Love the finger eggplant, I have a great sri lankan curry recipe I was given that uses them. Might have to go dig it out…
The lilly pilly, I’m on the look out for a tree that I can reach properly, and not take too much to cause concern for the owners ;-) Lilly Pilly jam sounds too good not try and make!
Brydie, you are sooo right, in the end we had to give up on the tall lilly pilly branches, for fear of breaking our necks! Maude recently made lilly pilly cordial which was absolutely delicious – tangy and pink! :)
Celia, this truly is amazing, I’ve loved reading your bountiful garden ‘show ‘n tell’. I found in Cookie’s Diary’s references made to Lilly Pilly jelly & have been asking around the wise women in our family but no-one has ever tasted it either, so this is very exciting. Apparently its awesome on cold meats amongst other things (although I shall have to re-find the references & get back to you).
Big hugs to you Celia for the wonderful surprise package you sent of the most delicious curry spice blends, I’m so excited to come up with something really special in honour of this wonderful gift. Thankyou so much Lovely. xx
Anna, I think lilly pilly jelly is a little like redcurrant jelly, and we use it accordingly – in onion marmalade and on roast meats. It’s very versatile, and so nice that we have at least some fruit in our garden we can turn into a preserve!
So glad the parcel got to you – freshly blended by our Indian man at the markets. He told me to ask you not to add anything to them, so you could really taste the flavours (we add the usual onion and garlic, but no other spices). Hope you have fun with them! :)
Whatever ate your horseradish may have done you a favor. Ours has decided to take over half the entire yard. Just know that once it’s well established, you can never get rid of it.
My favorite ‘weed’ plant is Lamb’s Quarters, sometimes also called Goosefoot plant here. It’s a pure weed, but quite popular in parts of the world (India I think, maybe Africa too) as an eatable. It is highly nutritious, but also high in oxalic acid, which just means that if you ate 5 lbs for dinner, you could get sick. It comes up all over my garden and most I remove, but I always keep some too – young stuff makes splendid salad greens, and the old leaves are cooked like spinach. Great stuff.
Doc, wow, I have never heard of goosefoot plant! Thank you – I’m heading to google now to check out photos! :)
We have the horseradish growing in a tub which is dug into the ground. This keeps it from spreading and taking over the garden! I find it funny that it was “kidnapped”.
I’ve marked the tomato as one to try this year, along with some other trials. I plant lots of romas; they’re one of my many favorites.
Garden sorel, lemon balm, black radishes, endive, orange, green and white cauliflower, armenian cucumbers, some of the plants in the garden last year. Last year I also grew red, purple, yellow, white, and orange carrots. (heirloom seeds) I’m always looking for something new or novel to grow.
Your lily pilly tree looks beautiful.
Manuela
Manuela, it really is a mystery – who or what ate our horseradish? It’s so hot that I can’t even imagine what would eat it! We grow a small patch of sorrel (which we try to keep contained) – the chickens absolutely adore it as well – and we grew rainbow carrots as well. My favourite were the yellow ones, closely followed by the red/orange ones. They were soooo delicious roasted!
I only have a teeny tiny city garden with just enough room for a few plants. But if I had a big garden, I would love to grow asparagus and artichokes. I of course love to eat both but also think they are stunning while growing.
Preppy, we keep looking for a spot for the asparagus – at the moment we have seven little plants looking for homes! Because the beds are always rotating, it’s hard to find a permanent spot, plus the small beds we have that aren’t in the rotation aren’t nearly as fertile as the chook-fertilised ones!
What a great selection of plants on top of all you’ve already shown us. Your kohlrabi are wonderful, don’t let them get too big because they get woody. I never get around to cooking them because I eat them raw in the garden.
Hi Celia,
I wouldn’t mind betting that possums were the culprits with your horseradish. The ring-tails have been giving one of mine a beating (and the kaffir lime, but it has come back from the dead at last). Even chillies are not enough to keep them at bay!
Giant Red Mustard is a great leaf to grow. Hard to kill, looks and tastes great.
Tomatillos are great – the plant is a bit like cape Gooseberries (which you can also never be rid of…but who wouldn’t want some?)
How I miss my old garden and chooks. Just discovered the secret to my new veg patch not thriving. The fancy “vege patch mix” which I bought from the local landscaping place – 2 tonnes at vast expense – is quite high in Ph. Very annoyed. So good to see, vicariously at least, your beautiful garden flourishing…
Celia, as always your garden is a true inspiration!
When at home one of the different / unusual herbs I love to grow is Sorrel which has a lovely tangy lemony taste and unusual texture. It works well in salads.
:-) Mandy
I have three black apples AKA plantionella australis native plum trees seedlings languishing in my front yard. Someone was supposed to pick them up months ago, they are yours if you ever drive by Annandale.
Liz, the kohlrabi are wonderful – perfect in stir-fries. I find them a cross between cabbage and broccoli – agree that they’re delicious raw too! :)
Vix, our garden is still up and down – it’s the first year, and the soil was pretty poor to start with. We’ve been able to grow enough for eating, but not really bumper crops yet. Need to get lots more organic material onto the beds for next year!
Mandy, thank you! We love the sorrel too – we’ve been having it finely chopped over boiled new potatoes!
Frances, that’s a very generous offer, thank you, but we already have three Davidsons plums looking for a spot to be planted! :)
Purslane is delicious – we haven’t grown it in a long time, but I do like it. This year we tried growing Principe Borghese, but unfortunately they all got blight :(
We are growing lots of unusual veg in our plot, but they are mostly for CTs breeding programme and wouldn’t be suitable for your climate.
CT wonders if you’ve tried taro or yard long beans?
Lovely photos.
Choc, we’ve never tried taro, but I grew up on long beans (or snake beans as they’re often called here). They’re a Chinese staple, and my favourite beans when I was a child. We not growing climbing beans at the moment, but I would really love to grow these – might have to go negotiate with Pete. :)
These are not Davidson’s plums. I did not spell this right so you may have wondered what I was talking about! http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/plant/Planchonella-Australis-Black-Apple.htm. You could use large pots until you have your permaculture farm! I know where there is an ancient fruiting tree and often raise seedlings. The tree was decimated for timber but used to grow in the Sydney area. Lots of landcare groups will not ” introduce it ” considering that it is not a natural species for the area but they are wrong.
Thanks anyway, Frances, but we’re pretty full at the moment. Love Daley’s Fruits by the way – great source of temperate climate native fruiting trees, and the plants we’ve bought from them have always come in wonderful condition! :)
Wow, another full round of all new veggies from the last lot you showed us – I don’t know how you fit it all in your garden Celia! I’d like to try growing Kholrabi now that you’ve described what you use it for – always wondered what it was like.
Great photos! I lead a sheltered existence when it comes to unusual garden edibles. Must try to venture more into unchartered territory. I do have a slight addiction to heirloom tomatoes though oh, and I just remembered, we have a Chilean Guava! Does that count? :)
What a fantastic range of produce and of course I’m intrigued by the unusual items. I’m interested to hear how the heirloom tomatoes taste!
The only garden oddity I know of is my mother in law has a very vigourous climbing spinanch. Lovely red stems and pleasant spinch taste and mouth feel.
The interweb tells me, it is not a spinach at all but part of the Basellaceae family, commonly callled anyone of the following: Red Stem Malabar Spinach, Ceylon spinach, Vietnamese Spinach (Mong Toi), Indian Spinach, Emperor Vegetable.
MM – I really want that Malabar spinach! Eden Seeds sell it.
Cherry Guava I grew up on and dearly miss. What a lot of variety everyone has!! Not hot enough in Sydney for snake beans (not very long ones anyway…) or so I have discovered. Lucky they are cheap and plentiful in the chinese grocers :-) Black Apple sounds intriguing!
I have some green tomatoes in my garden that I am waiting to ripen, also some corn which is growing strongly. I would love to grow that type of eggplant. Would it still be ok to plant now do you think?
Sarah, I’m a big fan of kohlrabi! It grew very quickly as well. It’s quite nice grated into a coleslaw too.
Chris, I’ve never even heard of a Chilean guava!
Moo, that climbing spinach sounds intriguing…Vix, thank you for finding out where to buy it! And what a shame about snake beans not being right for Sydney – they really are my all time fave!
Lorraine, I’m crossing fingers we actually get some principe bourghese – the recent weather has played havoc a bit with the plants since these photos were taken. We have been eating some lovely bella rossa roma toms lately, which have been lovely (not homegrown though!).
Susan, I’m not sure how the eggplants will do right now, but we’re about to find out, as we have some new seedlings waiting to go in! :)
I only wish that I had those eggplant in my garden 8), back home we call them brinjals (skinny eggplant). They are supper nice in assam fish curry and the japanese miso version.
I have some vietnamese mint in my garden that’s not really unique but very easy to grow and fantastic in flavor.
Do you get most of your seeds from diggers club?
Your Lilly Pilly tree looks gorgeous.
I picked a huge bag of Purslane from a local park the other day. We enjoyed it fresh for a few days and now i’m drying it to collect the seed. The seed are edible so i’m going to try making some seed balls.
Soy, that’s right, brinjal! I’d forgotten the Indian name for them. We get some seeds from Diggers, but not a lot, as they’re quite expensive!
Tricia, thank you! I didn’t know you could collect the purslane seeds, we’ve just been eating it fresh!