Outside the comfort zone - try something new

Coming from a long line of food snobs I used to be a little weary about eating anything that didn’t come from a roasting dish, was smothered in gravy, made from animal fat and overly boiled. It’s a wonder my arteries are still in working order.

Now, as a sometimes mature adult, I have shed my fear of eating something new and have embraced growing not so common crops.

Autumn is the perfect time to plant some new veggies for winter and spring harvest.

Veggies:

Cavolo Nero - the Italian cabbage - is sought after by foodies the world over. Its so easy to grow, takes about 2 -3 months to mature, its upright habit takes up little space and what’s even better is you can harvest a few leaves at a time and more leaves re-grow, it’s produces a marathon of greens for up to 6 months of the year! Perfect crop for the cooler seasons.

Lettuce ‘Drunken Woman’ is a frilly red leafed lettuce that is particularly good in the cooler months of the year. This brightly coloured lettuce is a winner in the taste department and is certainly attractive enough to use in pots and containers too.

Fruits:

Pomegranates are one of the few fruits that prefer a cold winter, making them an ideal choice for southern areas. This hardy fruit forms the most handsome shrub, and is often admired as much for its glamorous frilly salmon flowers as well as its fruits. Plant in full sun, they are happy grown in a pot or container. No special care required except for patience, plants take a few years to begin fruiting in earnest, it well worth the wait, good things take time.

Flowers:

For the flower garden, if you want to add something a little different then I strongly suggest you hunt down flowering Alliums. Hardy and adaptable to the garden or pots, they are well worth a try. These tall dark purple bulbs add real theatre to the garden as well as a hint of magic. Feed with Tui Bulb Food in autumn and spring. (You may already grow other members of the Allium family onions, garlic, leeks and chives).

For constant colour I am finding it hard to go past the new sun loving Impatiens, called Sunpatiens. These flowering powerhouses put on a show for over half of the year if planted early enough. The downside is making the decision on what colour to plant, there is about 10 to choose from, note they hate the cold, but for a plant that struts its stuff as well as they do, who cares. Enjoy! Costing about the price of an economical bottle of wine they are a real bargain for the length of time they last.

So you see there are real benefits in trying something new.