Top 12 Unusual Fruit And Vegetables

If you fancy making a change from the usual crops that you grow in your garden here are twelve suggestions. Exotic fruit and strange shaped vegetables will certainly give a new look to the kitchen garden. While some are more difficult to grow than others many will thrive in most locations. These twelve weird and unusual fruit and vegetables are described in an article by Sierra Bright which I found on the Natural Living Ideas website.

Growing your own fruits and vegetables comes with many benefits, from saving money and getting the freshest produce possible to getting exercise in the garden, and being able to choose from an incredibly vast selection of different varieties that you?d likely never see in your local grocery store.
With all of those choices, why not have some fun and grow some more unusual fruits and veggies, it?s a great way to try some new flavors and flood your body with nutrients at the same time.

Dragon fruit

While this fruit definitely has a cool name, you have to stretch your imagination a bit to picture an actual dragon. Either way, it?s definitely an unusual one, with a red skin that projects out like fish fins, or dragon scales, hence its name. Inside, is a creamy white flesh somewhat akin to a kiwi, dotted with tiny, crunchy black seeds. While it isn?t common in the Western world and is mostly seen growing in Asia, it is becoming increasing popular, with some commercial farms starting to pop up among the more traditional crops.

Cucamelons

Cucamelons, are like a mini-watermelon. They?re adorable little fruits that also go by the name ?Mexican sour gherkin,? or sometimes, ?mouse melon,? which is the translation for their Spanish name, ?sandiita.? They?re about the size of a grape, and taste like cucumbers and lime.
This sour fruit that grows on a thin vine has been eaten since pre-Columbian times and are a staple in Mexican diets, abundant vitamins, and minerals, antioxidants, and fiber. Cucamelons need frost-free weather and soil temperatures of between 75 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit to bear fruit, but if you live in a cooler area, you can grown them in pots and move them indoors to a bright, warm room when nighttime temperatures drop below 50 degrees.

Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi is a strange, alien-like vegetable, but it has a surprisingly sweet flavor and it can be roasted or eaten raw and sliced up like an apple. ?Although it?s a member of the cabbage family, it?s easier to grow than cabbage. It offers a ton of nutrients, including lots of fiber and vitamin C.
The plant does best when it gets six hours of full sun each day and an even supply of moisture. The fast-growing, cool weather crop will have your plants ready to harvest in just a few weeks after planting ? when the swollen stem of the plant gets to be about the size of a tennis ball, you?ll know it?s time to harvest. In the meantime, you?ll have some very interesting looking plants in your garden.