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Fascinating Fruits and Veggies That You Have Got to Grow! 🍎🫑🥕🍆
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items Spring is not that far away (for those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere anyway). Why not consider planting some of the more exotic (and lesser known) edibles that I've grown (or contemplated growing)? Note: This list may contain affiliate link...
Sections
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What I've Grown
What I Want to Grow!
What I've Grown
A running tally of the comestibles that I've grown in the backyard!
Also great with ice cream! Unedo takes a full year to develop from bud to fruit. When these bumpy little wonders turn from yellow red, pick and enjoy them right off the tree, pronto – because the birds have learned to develop quite the taste for them...
Arbutus Unedo (aka Strawberry Tree)
Patience is the name of the game if you're going to commit (at least) 13 years of your life to growing avocadoes from seed. Start early (earlier than I did – think before you get your driver's license)! 😉
Avocado Plants
I planted this bush in the hopes of attracting birds for photo opportunities. Unfortunately, there's a better chance of me turning those berries into jam! ;)
Beautyberry bushes require little maintenance and should be pruned back every year to encourage branch growth and berry production for the following year.
Beautyberry bushes require little maintenance and should be pruned back every year to encourage branch growth and berry production for the following year.
BeautyBerries (callicarpa)
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These massive (the size of your two fists put together--or even larger!) heirloom tomatoes are available in yellow, black, red, and produce amazing and tasty yields!
Brandywine Tomatoes
Once you get past its looks, celeriac is a tasty root vegetable to grow and I preferred the taste of it to turnip. Make sure you give it lots of room to mature – I grew one a few summers ago, and the root alone was bigger than my hand (the leaves are...
Celeriac (Brilliant)
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You will need a sturdy support structure for it, but it's worth the effort, because this plant is a super producer of sweet summer squashes! In my case, I could grow only chayotes and tomatoes that year, because they took up all the available space a...
Chayote Squash
After my 3rd year of growing elderberries in the backyard, I had such a bumper crop that they were begging to be turned into elderberry syrup (which is reputed to ward off winter illnesses like colds and flu. I'm guessing that the generous amount of ...
Elderberries (sambucus)
Gorgeous to look at, and the red jewels inside (mine are the Desert King variety) are as sweet as candy on the tongue!
Fig Trees
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Wonderful with ice cream or dried and made into tea! Ironically, it is the smallest goji transplant (from my parents' garden) that has yielded the largest crops, year after year!)
Goji Berries (aka wolfberries)
These taste as great as they look (in my humble opinion, even better than the regular green zucchini!)
Golden Zucchinis
It may be a bit difficult for beginners to tell when these eye-popping wonders ripen, but they are both eye candy and tongue candy!
Green Zebra Tomatoes
These sweet little golden wonders are great for jam or eaten as is! You'll know when they're ready for eating when their green exterior turns a cheery shade of yellow and the fruit falls to the ground.
Ground Cherries (physalis)
They're not nicknamed “fartichokes” (on account of their high inulin content) without good reason! No amount of boiling will break down inulin (trust me – I've tried!) Still, the delicate taste may be worth being socially unacceptable for a few days!
Jerusalem Artichokes (sunchokes)
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When luffas are young, they can be picked and used as a nice addition to soups and stews! If you're thinking that these sound like the loofahs that are used as exfoliating scrubs in your bath – you're absolutely correct! :)
Luffa Squashes
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It was love at first sight for me with these gorgeous award-winning purple cherry tomatoes when they showed up at the local nursery a few years ago!
Midnight Snack Hybrid Cherry Tomatoes
The flowers are beautiful to photograph and as delicious to eat as the fruit itself!
Pineapple Guavas (feijoa sellowiana)
Yes, I’ve even got these, and they are tasty (not lemonade-y in the least!) They must be doing a good job of fooling the songbirds (chickadees, in particular) who like to snack on the blueberries that contain the proper anthocyanins.
Pink Lemonade Blueberries
These carrots are sweet and tasty, no doubt – but the other cool thing with rainbow carrots is that the color of the carrot you'll pull out of the ground is always a nice surprise! Note: the Back to the Roots brand is a very solid and reliable one – ...
Rainbow Carrots
They don't look (or taste) like a Russet or Yukon gold, but potato salad made from homegrown (and hardy) Russian Blues is still an amazing dish! (and the blue hued flesh stays blue, even after cooking!)
Russian Blue Potatoes
Not as tart as their bigger cousins, but delicious and oh so hardy (these vine fruits are found in the colder northern regions of Asia – even as far as Siberia!) I had a banner crop of kiwiberries in 2025 – so many that I contemplated jamming them (a...
Self-Pollinating Kiwis (issai)
I grew up growing shallots (the French red variety) in the garden, harvesting them, julienning them (you'll still shed a few tears here!), and deep-frying them to a golden brown … and then generously sprinkling them over my rice- and pasta-based crea...
Plus! Shallot flowers emit a lovely scent that is great for attracting pollinators!
Plus! Shallot flowers emit a lovely scent that is great for attracting pollinators!
Shallots
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Tried growing these winter squashes one year, and they are delicious! As their name suggests, you can use these as a great gluten-free alternative to pasta!
Spaghetti Squash
The leaves of sweet potatoes can be eaten (unlike the leaves of regular potatoes, which are poisonous). Had a blast growing these in a big planter a couple of years ago (but if you don't grow them in a raised bed or in the ground, make sure you selec...
Sweet Potatoes (yummy!)
I ate a lot of bok choy in my youth (adding it to chow mein), but Swiss Chard is even better – and the nice mix of stalk colors of this particular variety make it even more appetizing!
Swiss Chard (Mixed Colors)
Every year that we've grown tomatillos, we've had so much that we've had to turn them into tomatillo (verde) salsa!
Tomatillos (Mexican Husk Tomato)
Yes, I've even tried growing wasabi with no degree of success. This is a “Goldlilocks” plant that requires very specific growing conditions, but if you can master them, you may have Japanese restaurants beating a path to your door for more.
Wasabi Plants
Although I have a soft spot for most purple produce, I'll eat eggplant of any color! My favorites are the ones that are neither round nor tubular shaped, but fall somewhere in between.
White Eggplants
What I Want to Grow!
These fruits and veggies are on my “got to grow” list!
This heirloom variety of flint corn has got to be the ultimate in eye candy! Sure, you can't steam glass gem corn (or slather the cobs with butter), but they are great for popcorn- or tortilla- making purposes! (PS. don't wait until Thanksgiving to e...
Glass Gem Corn
Until mid-February 2026, I didn't know what kalettes were, and now I can't stop raving about them! Kalettes are a hybridization of kale and brussel sprouts – and if you're like me, the latter is not on your list of favorite veggies! Kalettes (formerl...
Kalettes (Autumn Star)
If you're looking to grow the biggest pumpkin in your town, county, or state, then these are not the seeds you're looking for (cue lightsaber sound effects 😉). If, on the other hand, you want to make a scrumptious pumpkin pie, you've come to the rig...
Pie Pumpkin