Slimy_0kra, you have another unusual vegetable on the way. Two unusual veggies volunteer in my garden every year; Martynia and Litchi tomato. Both are rather anti-social plants (Martynia for its smell, Litchi tomato for its thorns) but I always let a few grow if they come up in an out-of-the-way location... and that is all that is necessary for me to keep a supply of fresh seed. I love unusual greens. Swiss chard is my main green for freezing, but my #2 green is kang kong (a.k.a. water spinach), which is a morning glory relative grown for its edible leaves & shoots. The first planting is from seed, but after the first harvest, I root & plant the stems. After two such plantings, the final harvest of the summer is large - that one gets frozen for the winter. This is a great hot-weather substitute for spinach; as long as it is kept watered, it thrives on hot weather. If you are unable to find water spinach, sweet potato leaves are similar... not surprising, since they are both in the morning glory family. Not all varieties are good for leaves, though; the best ones for that purpose can be found in Asian markets, where you might also find water spinach. Both can be easily rooted from stem cuttings. Egyptian spinach (a.k.a. Saluyot, Molokhia, Jew's Mallow) is another reliable hot-weather green. The leaves are mint-like in appearance, and very mild in flavor. When cooked, the leaves are mucilaginous much like okra, so they are good for thickening soups. They also go great with fish. All of the greens above have something in common - the more you cut them, the stronger they get. Moringa is a fast-growing tropical tree grown for its edible leaves. They are very high in protein, and also have anti-biotic properties. This is probably not a good crop for those with limited space, since the yield is fairly low... but DW makes a soup from the leaves which is to die for, so I grow some every year. Many years ago, I grew some in pots to over-winter; but it was a pain to move those large pots in & out, so now I just grow a lot of plants in the garden, grown as annuals. They will reach 4-5 feet in height by the end of the summer, and yield 3-4 pickings. This year, I will be trying Caihua, a tropical climbing gourd that is edible immature. I have also grown Achocha (which is closely related) and found it to be rather tasteless, so I am hoping Caihua will be an improvement. Bitter melon is a vegetable I grow every year; while we eat a little, we give most of it away to some Filipino friends. It serves other important purposes in the garden: as a wind break (the vines densely cover the trellis); to both attract & isolate pollinators (it blooms continuously all summer); and for the scent of the blossoms, which is very fragrant. Some years I grow Mexican Sour Gherkin and West Indian Gherkin, but not this year. Anyone who has visited the Bean Forum knows I am a bean fanatic, so if a bean relative can be grown to seed in my climate, I will grow it. I am particularly fond of yardlong beans, and grow several varieties each year. Someone on another forum sent me a hyacinth bean which, if accounts are true, could be highly unusual. Most hyacinth beans are climbers, and because they only flower in short days (in or near September) they will not produce seed in Northern latitudes. This one, though, is supposed to be a bush variety which will bear seed in Wisconsin... so I am really looking forward to this trial. This year I will also be growing a yellow mung bean from the Philippines, and a large-seeded reddish-brown garbanzo. And "Madras", an edible-podded radish. Probably a few more oddities, but I've been growing some of them so long I no longer think of them as unusual. Here's a good group photo from one year: I started a similar "unusual vegetable" thread many years ago, but it seems to have fallen off the cliff. Edit: Found it, link below Here is a link that might be useful: Unusual vegetables This post was edited by zeedman on Sun, Mar 16, 14 at 23:56

This is my SEED Exchange List. * Eggplant * Squash 'early butternut hybrid' * organic cilantro * shallot 'ambition hybrid' * radish 'cherry belle ' * gourd 'bird house' * Buck wheat berries * Will put more on the list, Lord willing. I am looking for these seeds: jute or jew's mallow or Egyptian spinach upo (bottle gourd) sigarilyas or winged bean amplalaya or bitter melon ANYONE who are interested please let me know.

I just moved to Tujunga/Sunland, close to you San Fernando folks. Currently, we have about 2 Japanese sweet potato vines, the tubers should be about ready to harvest. Just planted some mizuna, daikon and napa cabbage, along with other salad greens. In florida, I grew red shiso (perilla), malabar spinach (basella alba) and asian winged bean. The malabar spinach and shiso should do OK in this climate, but not sure about the asian winged bean, as I am up in the foothills and we get frosts up here. Would be happy to trade malabar spinach or winged bean seeds for other asian vegetables. If I get the shiso established, then I can trade those seeds too.

You might get a few squash on the smaller size, that aren't fully ripen, but they'll still taste good, just not as intense/rich of a flavor as the summer fully ripe ones. Kabocha usually are the first ripen squash for my parents(in early summer, by late April-May), then the winter squash ripen in late summer and fall. At this time, there's no Kabocha squash still growing for us. But, if sowing late, then, they will be like the other winter squash, ripening later in the summer and fall. If you need, more lemon grass cuttings or rooted cuttings fresh from the bush/mat, I can get you some for shipping cost. Same with Thai, holy, and lemon basil. I can also get you seeds of the kind of squash we grow too. I don't know the variety, but it have ridges and some are light brown/yellow and others are green with white lines and splotches. I'll show pictures when, I go to the farm. Let me know, if you would like some of the stuff, I mention.