Are you a gardener that likes to try out new vegetables? Or a cook who enjoys adding colour to your meals?
If you answered yes to one or both of these questions then you will have to try some of the interesting seed varieties that are available in the 2011 seed racks.
While looking through the seed racks, I noticed there is a lot of vegetables that come in the colour purple.
Such as the 1,000 year-old heirloom carrot variety Purple Dragon available from McFayden seeds.
Carrots have a dark reddish purple exterior while the inside is orange yellow.
It is claimed that they have a sweet, spicy taste!
Beans also come in the colour purple. McFayden seeds have a Bean Velour Dwarf French, which are 13-15 cm long, purple, stringless beans that have a good taste and texture, ideal fresh or frozen.
The plants are a compact bush so you do not need poles and are resistant to many diseases.
Also available from McFayden seeds are Violet Queen F1 cauliflower seeds and Summer Purple broccoli seeds.
The cauliflower is good tasting raw, or cooked, but when steamed the purple colour fades to green.
The broccoli will continue to produce new purple spears throughout the summer as they are picked and are said to be more tender and rich in flavour then other varieties.
Another brassica vegetable available in purple is Kohlrabi. Kohlrabi is not a well known vegetable, but is more popular in Europe especially Germany, and is sometimes called a cabbage turnip.
When growing in the garden, it stands out because of its odd looks.
It looks something like a turnip that grows above ground with stems and leaves coming from one end.
It is a cool-season crop that grows almost anywhere and can be eaten either raw or cooked, and is high in vitamin C and potassium and low in sodium and calories.
It normally is green or white but there are also purple varieties available such as the Early Purple Vienna, available from Livingston Seeds, and Kolibri F1 from McFayden seeds.
If you or your kids do not like eating green Brussels sprouts then, perhaps, they may enjoy trying the Falstaff Brussels sprouts available from The Cook's Garden.
This variety produces purple red sprouts that have a milder, nutty flavour than than their green counterparts and there is a recipe on the seed package that sounds delicious.
Green salads and stir fries can be very colourful and now you can add another colour to the dish by adding some mahogany-coloured peppers such as the Tawny Port F1 available from McFayden seeds.
Burpee seeds also have a seed packet available that contains a Carnival Mix of organic pepper seeds that come in colours of orange, yellow, red, purple and white.
Tomatoes also come in a wide range of colours including the mahogany coloured Black Cherry tomato available from McFayden seeds.
If you are looking to add some purple colour to your vegetable garden then I suggest you check out the 2011 seed display racks early so that you won't be disappointed!
