6 Exotic Vegetables To Grow From Seed In Fall – Just when your summer garden runs out of the typical crops of tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and corn, you may want to start thinking about growing fall vegetables from seed. You can still get some great tasting fresh food on the table before winter. Take a walk on the wild side and try some exotic vegetable varieties that you won’t typically find at the produce section in your grocery store. Take a bite and fall in love!
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Natalino – Romanesco broccoli, with its chartreuse coloured, pointed buds is best planted to mature in September to October. Cut promptly while it is still pale-green. Natalino makes a wonderful addition to a vegetable dip tray with its curious look, fantastic flavour and great source of vitamins A and D, dietary fiber, and potassium. Matures in 90 days.
Carrot ‘Dragon’ – With their reddish-purple skins and yellow-orange interiors, ‘Dragon’ carrots are unusual and beautiful. The flesh is sweet and mildly spicy, rich in nutrients and red carotenoid pigments that have been linked to many health benefits. Plant Dragons carrots in deeply dug, loose soil and be sure to keep the surface of the soil damp during germination. Matures in 60-90 days.
Also Read About: Grow Your Own Garlic This Fall
Beira Tronchuda – A hybrid Portuguese kale, featuring five-pound heads, which are ready in 50 to 60 days. Paddle-shaped, blue-green leaves grow up to 24” wide. Sweeter and more tender than regular cabbage, it may be harvested as a whole plant or leaf-harvested to promote center re-growth with paler, milder, frilly leaves. Beira Tronchuda kale is winter hardy, with a taste that is improved by frost. Matures in 55 days.
Kohlrabi – Also known as German “turnip cabbage”, is a small, green or purple vegetable that can be eaten raw or cooked and tastes like broccoli stems. Kohlrabi is also a good source of vitamin B6, a water-soluble vitamin that plays an important role in the metabolism of carbs, fats, and especially protein. Purple varieties are slower to mature, but hardier. For a fall harvest, sow seeds in late summer. Matures in 55-69 days.
Also Read About: Fall Planting Bulbs For Spring Blooms
Esmee Arugula – A cool-season member of the mustard family with an appealing green rounded oak leaf. The leaves grow upright, but have a very three-dimensional nature, so they add loft to salad mixes. Grown as baby leaf greens, Esmee is ready for harvest in just 21 days from sowing. In cool weather, it is nutty and flavourful, with very little spiciness. It is a good source of nutrients, including vitamin K, vitamin A, folate and antioxidants. Matures in 21-40 days.
Winter Density – A butter head/romaine cross lettuce that is compact and has a smooth, sweet and nutty flavour. It is thick-leaved with a spongy texture, ideal for salads and creative entrées. These deliciously edible leaves are green in hue, deeply savoyed with a slightly jagged edge. This plant is frost tolerant and ideal for late fall planting. Matures in 65 days.
At Nicholas Alexander Home and Garden Centre, we carry numerous varieties of non-genetically modified, untreated organic seeds to grow your vegetables in fall. Come and check out our comprehensive collection today!