Often we judge the characteristics of fruits and vegetables on the basis of ideas that have been established since childhood and by the assortment of stores. Of course, the carrots are orange, the watermelon is red, the potatoes are yellowish-white, and the cucumber is green. And eggplants in general are colloquially called "blue".

It turns out that in nature everything is not so simple and unambiguous. So, the most unusual colored foods.

1. Carrots, which are usually orange in color in Russia, are not at all so common in Asia, where yellow roots are more common. Meanwhile, there are varieties of white, brown and even purple carrots.

2 ... Beets, which we love and appreciate not only for their taste, but also for the color they give traditional dishes turns out to be yellow (gold). It tastes little different from the usual one, but it does not get dirty and thanks to this property it is used with pleasure in cooking.

Energy value: 50 kcal $ 3.49 per bundle

Benefits: folic acid, vitamin A, potassium, fiber

It is unlikely that yellow, or, as it is also called, golden beets, will receive recognition in Russian market... Yellow borscht, beetroot soup, vinaigrette, herring under a yellow fur coat are incomprehensible to the mind. But Americans, far from Russian kitchen traditions, on the contrary, do not get enough of yellow beets - they do not get dirty during cooking.

To taste, this vegetable is practically no different from what we are used to. The same sweet, aromatic, ready to make friends with any product - from cheese and smoked meats to citrus fruits, good baked and even in chips. Yellow beet leaves can be used in fresh for salads.

And there are also striped ones inside the variety.

3 ... The abruses, it turns out, are also not always green on the outside and red on the inside. There are options, such as green watermelons with yellow flesh and yellow and red ones.

As for the taste, they are usually yellow inside watermelons (common in Southeast Asia), slightly less sweet than ordinary ones, but they have fewer seeds.

Energy value: 38 kcal from 350 rubles per kg

Useful elements: vitamins A, C

It looks ordinary striped watermelon, only inside it is bright yellow. But in addition to the unusual color, this watermelon contains very little, compared to the usual, seeds. Such a watermelon was born as a result of crossing a wild watermelon, which is just yellow (although it is impossible to eat it), with an ordinary one. And now round yellow watermelons are grown in summer in Spain, and oval - in winter in Thailand. By the way, the yellow watermelon is especially respected there, because according to Thai beliefs yellow attracts money. This watermelon is tender and juicy, though not as sweet as red.

There are also yellow watermelons in Russia, and they come from Astrakhan. For ten years, Sergei Sokolov, head of the melon and gourd breeding department of the All-Russian Research Institute of Irrigated Vegetable and Melon Growing, worked on the development of a new variety, until, finally, he could not get a variety, which he called "Lunny". By the way, the Russian variety - unlike foreign ones - is very sweet and with an exotic flavor, about which opinions differ: whether it is a lemon, or a mango, or a pumpkin.

4 ... Tomatoes, the name of which means “ Golden Apple”, Which reflects their bright color, are not so golden at all. In addition to reds, yellows, brown and pink tomatoes with which we most often meet, there are also black fruits. Their color is more or less intense, but there are real "gothic" specimens.

Their color varies from black to black and red. And only a few varieties are considered more or less tasty.

One of them is the "Black Prince". Very juicy and sweet. When grown, it does not like abundant moisture. Relatively resistant to disease.

"Gypsy" - large, fleshy, red-brown, he great taste... He also does not like abundant watering.

"Black Moor" gardeners dislike him, as he is susceptible to disease when grown. This variety great taste and increased productivity.

The "Angolan guests" look no different from De Barao, only black. They have beautiful appearance, great taste and very good yield.

Variety "Ethiop" - the fruit has an absolutely black fruit color. The taste is not for everybody, and the yield is weak.

: Black tomatoes are said to be very beneficial as they increase the level of antioxidants in the blood, which can ultimately prevent the development of cancer.

There are also black tomatoes that are not of natural origin; they were cultivated by botanists in laboratories by inoculating new genes with ordinary red tomatoes. At the moment, there are several types of black tomatoes in the world, the most popular of them are the British "kumato" and the Israeli "black galaxy". For dark tomatoes, one thing is in common - the grafted blueberry berry gene, which is responsible for coloring.

Black tomatoes are very similar in size and appearance to regular tomatoes, but they tend to be sweeter, have a less thin skin, and are much richer in variety. useful elements... The English "kumato", in addition to everything, contains substances that can increase sexual desire several times. Who knows, perhaps because of this they became so popular in the markets of foggy albion.

5 ... Attentive people have probably noticed an unusual cauliflower in stores long ago, which is now really cauliflower, and not just white. She is purple and pale orange, which, by the way, is much richer in carotene than her pale cousin.

This is another miracle of selection The vegetable has exactly the same taste, but it presents much more opportunities for culinary creativity and, as a result, warms up the appetite more.
Another weighty argument in favor of rainbow cabbage is its usefulness, for example, orange cabbages contain 25 times more beta-carotene, and purple ones are enriched with anthocyanin, which is useful for the prevention of cardiac diseases and for the body in general.

Romanesco cabbage, from 230 rubles per kg

Energy value: 25 kcal

Useful elements: carotene, mineral salts, vitamin C, zinc

The alien-looking vegetable is a close relative of cauliflower and broccoli, only its soft green inflorescences are not round, but cone-shaped and are located on the head of cabbage in a spiral. By the way, its shape is a reason for jokes. They say that the head of Romanesco fell from a flying saucer somewhere in Italy, where this cabbage comes from. The true story of the emergence of Romanesco is more prosaic: it appeared on the market about 10 years ago, and Dutch breeders served as its popularization, who slightly improved the vegetable, familiar to Italian housewives since the 16th century.

In Romanesco there are many nutrients and little fiber, due to which it is easily absorbed. An important fact for parents who want to force their child to eat cabbage: when cooking Romanesco, there is no characteristic cabbage smell, which children do not like so much. Besides exotic look a space vegetable will surely make you want to try it. Romanesco can be cooked like ordinary broccoli - boil, stew, add to salads and pasta.

An unusual vegetable shines not only in the kitchen, but also in science. Mathematicians argue that the example of Romanesco can explain the geometric concept of "fractal".

6 ... It turns out that the song about the green grasshopper, which was "just like a cucumber", does not apply to all cucumbers. There is a variety of not green, but white cucumbers.

7 ... Well, blue eggplants are also not always so blue. There are specimens of a variegated color, and there are also completely albinos.

8. And along with cucumbers and eggplants, corn, always so cheerful yellow, succumbed to the fashion for aristocratic pallor! They say that her flesh is aristocratic sweet and tender. =)

However, not all corn turned white and languid, some varieties were colored with all the colors of the rainbow! :)

Corn "Glass Gem" (Glass Gem) is a kind of retro product, the result of a return to the old approaches to obtaining new varieties of crops, when genetic modification has become the fruit of painstaking crop selection, carried out for quite a long time.

9. In pursuit of fashion, some are ready to turn inside out. So did the watermelon radish, which turned white on the outside. But the insides betray his true bright pink essence. By the way, this is a rarity - from $ 2.97 per bag of seeds

Energy value: 20 kcal

Benefits: Vitamin C, Folic Acid

Above it is covered with a white-green skin, which makes it look like a watermelon. In shape and size, this radish is similar to a medium-sized turnip or radish, and its diameter is 7-8 cm. Outside, the radish, as expected, is bitter, and closer to the core it becomes sweetish. However, it is not as crisp and juicy as the regular variety and is much harder.

Watermelon radishes are recommended to be baked, mashed, added to vegetables for frying or to a salad. Slices of watermelon radish sprinkled with black sesame or black salt look very impressive. In California, this dish is a restaurant hit. Buyers go to farmers' markets for bundles of the best watermelon radish. In Russia, this vegetable is easy to grow in the country.

10. But the most original on our list turned out to be such a seemingly ordinary and familiar potato. While everyone turned pale and white, she acted like a real informal. .. and turned blue! Price - £ 1.50 per 1.25kg package

This unusual view is of natural origin, genetic engineering and cultivators have nothing to do with it. Have purple potatoes many titles, in different parts Veta it is known for its own: in Europe - Blue French truffle potatoes, in Asia - Chinese truffle, in Africa and South America- Black woman, but most famous name has French roots - Vitalot.

You will not surprise anyone with yellow, pink or even purple-skinned potatoes. But here the potatoes, purple inside, are something new. We owe its appearance to scientists at Colorado State University, who worked on potatoes from the Andean highlands for a long time until they got an outstanding purple color. This rich color of potatoes is due to the high content of anthocyanins, which have antioxidant properties, by the way, which persist after cooking.

More than other potatoes of the "Purple Majesty" variety, which has been widely sold in England for about six months (the potatoes went on sale on the eve of Halloween), the climate of Scotland is suitable, where they are now grown.

The popularization of this unusual root vegetable among housewives was promoted by the English culinary guru Jamie Oliver, who is not afraid to experiment. From such a potato it turns out original puree saturated violet blue, it looks good baked in the company of other vegetables, let alone fries. Purple potatoes taste the same as ordinary ones.

Although just a multi-colored card is good too :)

11 ... Pluot, from 942 rubles per kg

Consisting of plums and apricots, this fruit is the work of biologist Floyd Seiger. This man is known for his scientific work in the field of fruit genetics. 13 years have passed since the creation of the new fruit. During this time, many varieties of pluot have appeared, and its popularity is growing every day among fruit lovers.

Energy value: 57 kcal

Useful elements: vitamin C, fiber

A hybrid of plum and apricot, pluot is named after the first and last syllable of two English words: plum (plum) and apricot (apricot). The pluot, which still went down the drain, has a sibling - aprium, which, on the contrary, looks more like an apricot.

Outside, the pluot can be pink, green, burgundy and purple, and inside - from white to rich plum. The authors of this fruit charge a royalty of about $ 2 per seedling. It was bred in 1989 in the California nursery Dave Wilson Nursery, where seedlings of ordinary fruit trees for sale, and then began to create their own varieties. Today in the world there are eleven varieties of pluot, two varieties of aprium, one variety of nectaplama (a hybrid of nectarine and plum), and one variety of pichplama (a hybrid of peach and plum).

They say that pluot makes great juice, desserts, homemade products and even wine. And fresh it is a real delicacy, because the pluot is much sweeter than both plums and apricots.

Plumkot is a relative of the pluot

Seiger was not the first person to create a hybrid of plum and apricot. Luther Burbank, a fruit grower and plant nursery owner, managed to cross the two fruits over a century ago. The problem was that back then, plant genetics were less developed and extremely vulnerable, and newly-made plants were not as hardy as they are now.

12 Bloody lime

Red oranges already exist, but few people know about other red citrus fruits. Regular limes have a high concentration of acidity that is significantly different from the acidity of red limes. Red lime tastes sweeter and softer.

13 Yoshta, £ 9.95 per sapling

Energy value: 40 kcal

Useful elements: vitamins C, P, anthocyanins with antioxidant properties

To give the name to the fruit of love between currants and gooseberries, yoshte, two German words johannisbeere (currants) and stachelbeere (gooseberries) were combined. Yoshta berries are almost black in color, the size of a cherry, have a sweet and sour taste, a little knit and give a pleasant currant flavor.

Michurin dreamed of creating a currant the size of a gooseberry, but without thorns. He managed to bring out a dark purple gooseberry, which was named "Black Moor". Around the same time, Paul Lorenz was working on the hybrid in Berlin. By 1939, he had grown 1000 seedlings, from which he intended to choose the best, but the Second World War began. And only by 1970 the German scientist Rudolf Bauer managed to create an ideal hybrid. Now there are two varieties of yoshta: "Black" and "Red", maroon and faded red, respectively.

The yoshta bush yields 7-10 kg of berries per season, which are used in desserts, homemade preparations, and even for flavoring soda. Yosht is advised to eat for gastrointestinal diseases, to improve blood circulation and remove radioactive substances and heavy metals from the body.

Yoshta, like currants, is a rare guest on store shelves, and you can only buy it at farmers' markets. Or collect from a bush grown in your own dacha.

14 Nashi, from 119 rubles per kg

Energy value: 46 kcal

Beneficial elements: antioxidants, calcium, phosphorus, fiber

Nashi is a hybrid of apple and pear that has been cultivated for centuries in Asia. It is also called Asian, sand, water or Japanese pear. A round apple tastes like a juicy, crunchy pear. The color of the fruit ranges from pale green to orange. The apple pear has an advantage over the regular pear: it is harder, therefore it tolerates transportation and storage better.

It is better to use the fruit solo or in salads, because neshi contains a lot of water, which is not very good for heat treatment... In addition, neshi is served as an appetizer for wine, along with grapes and cheese. There are about 10 particularly popular commercial Neshi varieties grown in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, France and Cyprus.

15 In South America, they remembered that everything new is a well-forgotten old and revived a strawberry variety that was about to disappear completely. Unlike our usual garden strawberry have South American pulp white and the seeds are red.

Pineberry - variety garden strawberry created by Hans de Jong and cultivated by VitalBerry BV. Bred in the Netherlands, first published in German in April 2009 named Ananaserdbeeren or pineapple strawberry.

The merit of Dutch botanists not only in breeding this variety, but also in saving Chilean strawberries from extinction, which formed the basis of white strawberries.

Spring vitamin deficiency is no joke! And after a fairly prolonged winter this year, it is simply necessary to please yourself and your loved ones with all kinds of fruits, including exotic ones.

It's hard to imagine our daily life without the main sources of vitamins - apples, pears, oranges, tangerines, lemons, peaches, plums, watermelons, melons and other less popular fruits or berries. But sometimes you really want to try something unusual, discover new flavors. Bananas were once exotic - now they are sold in every supermarket. But the fruits presented below are rarely found in a regular store, even if they cannot be called a rarity in the world. Some of them are even symbols of the countries where they are most loved.

(20 photos total)

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1. Lychee. The most popular fruit in Southeast Asia. Lychee fruits are used for fresh food, various sweet dishes (jelly, ice cream) are prepared from them, and traditional Chinese wine is made. Canned lychees with sugar without peels and seeds are exported to many countries, including ours. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

2. The homeland of lychee is China. Local residents used them for food already in the II century BC. NS. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

3. Tamarind. The pulp of the fruit is used as a spice in Asian and Latin American cuisines. It is also an important ingredient in the popular UK Worcester sauce and fruit sauce HP. The pulp of green fruits is very sour in taste and is used in the preparation of spicy dishes. Ripe fruits are sweeter and can be used for making desserts, drinks, snacks. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

4. Tamarind is native to eastern Africa, including the dry deciduous forests of Madagascar. It grows wild in Sudan, but at present the plant is distributed in most of the tropical countries of Asia, where it got through cultivation several thousand years before our era. Introduced in Mexico and South America in the 16th century. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

5. Psidium (guava). Guava fruits are widely used in food (jellies, jams, juices) and production alcoholic beverages... Popular in North and South America, Asia, Oceania. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

6. The homeland of psidium is the Western Hemisphere, from the tropical regions of Mexico to Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

7. Pitaya (dragon fruit). To prepare the pitaya for consumption, it is usually cut vertically into two halves. After that, you can either cut these halves into slices (similar to cutting a melon), or scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Although pitaya seeds are rich in valuable lipids, they are usually not digested unless chewed. The skin is inedible and may contain pesticides. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

8. Plants, the fruits of which are called pitaya - climbing epiphytic liana-like cacti, common in Central and South America. Popular in the USA, Israel, Northern Australia. Currently, these plants are also cultivated in several countries of Southeast Asia, such as Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, China, Taiwan, Japan. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

9. Passion fruit (passion fruit, passion fruit, passion fruit). The sweet and sour juice of passionfruit has high tonic properties (usually mixed with orange juice, added to yoghurts, etc.), and is also used in pharmaceuticals and cosmetology. Passion fruit plants are often grown for ornamental purposes. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

10. Passion fruit is native to South America (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay). Nowadays it grows in Israel, USA, New Zealand, Macaronesia. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

11. Jackfruit (breadfruit). These are the biggest edible fruit growing on trees: 20-90 cm long and up to 20 cm in diameter, they weigh up to 34 kg. Jackfruit is widely used in cooking. Unripe fruits are prepared like vegetables - they are boiled, fried and stewed. Ripe fruits eaten fresh, salads and desserts are made from them. Jackfruit is very nutritious and contains about 40% carbohydrates (starch) - more than bread. The seeds are also nutritious - they contain 38% carbohydrates, 6.6% protein and 0.4% fat; they are most often fried and eaten like chestnuts. Jackfruit wood is not damaged by termites and fungi and is used for buildings and furniture making, musical instruments... Jackfruit is the national fruit of Bangladesh. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

12. India and Bangladesh are considered the birthplace of jackfruit. Its plantings are in eastern Africa (Kenya, Uganda), southeast Asia (Malaysia, Philippines). In the islands of Oceania and the tropics of the New World, in addition to northern Brazil and Suriname, jackfruit is quite rare. In South India, it is comparable to mango and banana in prevalence. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

13. Acerola (Barbados cherry). The fruits of the Barbados cherry are edible fresh and dried. They are often added to fruit salads... They are also used to make syrups, jams, jellies and other canned food. These fruits are extremely rich in vitamin C: its content in the edible part of the fruit ranges from 1000 to 3300 mg per 100 g of weight, which is 15-100 times higher than that of oranges. In addition, acerola contains provitamin A, B vitamins, iron, calcium, phosphorus. It has an antioxidant, tonic and revitalizing effect. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

14. The birthplace of the Barbados cherry is the Lesser Antilles, including the island of Barbados. The plant is cultivated in Cuba, Jamaica, Bahamas, Bermuda, Philippines, Central America, USA, Australia, Ghana. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

15. Sapodilla (chiku, achra). Ripe sapodilla fruits are edible fresh. They are stewed with lime juice and ginger, put into pies, and fermented into wine. The sapodilla tree is also grown for the production of milky sap - latex. The so-called chicle is obtained from it - the basis for chewing gum... Unripe fruits are rich in tannins and are used as a remedy to stop diarrhea. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

16. The homeland of sapodilla is southern Mexico. It is currently cultivated throughout Central America, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

17. Papaya. It is usually eaten raw, without skin or seeds. Unripe fruits are stewed and also used in curries and salads. In some countries, papaya fruits are baked over a fire, which makes the fruit smell like bread. Papaya contains a lot of an enzyme called papain (a protease that softens meat) and other proteins. The property of papaya juice to break down the tough fibers of meat has been used in South America for thousands of years. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

18. The homeland of papaya, as well as sapodilla, is southern Mexico. It is now grown in all tropical countries. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

19. Purple mombin (spondias, Mexican plum). Mombina fruits are eaten raw and used for canning. A decoction of the bark is used to treat diarrhea and flatulence. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

20. The purple mombin is found both wild and cultivated throughout Central America. It is also currently cultivated in Venezuela, Nigeria and the Philippines. (Jennifer Podis / The Palm Beach Post)

it exotic fruit from New Zealand. It resembles a strange hybrid of cucumber and melon. But it is unusual not only from the outside, but also from the inside, as its green slimy insides evoke associations with horror films.

Dragon fruit (pitaya)

Let's start with the fact that it is a cactus fruit. Which is surprising in itself. The bright fruits are more like some kind of root vegetables, but, nevertheless, it is a fruit. It hails from Mexico, but is now grown all over the world, even indoors.

Durian

Probably the most controversial fruit of all. On the one hand, the aroma of this fruit is so disgusting that it is even forbidden to bring it into public places. But those who were able to overcome disgust and tried the pulp of this fruit note that they have never tasted anything tastier in life.

Buddha's hand

This fruity "octopus" looks like a mutated lemon with a very thick rind. Sometimes, except for the crust, he has nothing at all. You cannot squeeze juice out of it, it does not have seeds. Why is it needed? And as a home talisman, as, for example, it is used in China.

Passion fruit

Known throughout the world as the "fruit of passion". Passion fruit is unusually different delicious juice, and the pulp often serves as an additive to various confectionery.

Pandanus

Another name for the plant is spiral palm. Such are the unusual fruits, among other things, are very versatile in use: make paint and eat it.

Rambutan

Such a mysterious fruit: under the tough, prickly peel, there is a surprisingly tender pulp, which is often used to make jams and jellies. And the seeds are fried and eaten.

Akebia quinata

Here, oddly enough, but this plant is called "climbing cucumber". But the fruits, at the same time, are more like sausages, and they taste like raspberries.

Atemoya

It is a hybrid, "the fruit of botanical love" of cherimoya and a sugar apple. The pulp tastes like mango and pineapple at the same time, and the consistency is similar to sour cream or delicate cream- just melts in your mouth.

Snake fruit

The peel of the fruit is remarkably similar to the skin of some reptile. Actually, hence the name. Under the skin, the fruit looks like an onion or a large clove of garlic, but has a sweet and aromatic pulp with a specific taste. True, it is not so easy to get to the pulp: the peel is already very prickly.

Pitanga

Although it is a wild berry, its cultivation is gradually being mastered in many countries. Very similar to regular cherry, only very ribbed. And it ripens much faster - 3 weeks after flowering.

Chinese strawberry

In appearance, these pimpled balls can hardly be called strawberries. They look more like candied round candies that, for some reason, grow on a tree. And the taste is quite specific. So much so that trees often serve only as a decoration for parks and gardens. In general, it is not clear why this fruit was called strawberry.

Star fruit (carambola)

And here it is clear where the name comes from: the fruit in the section resembles a regular five-pointed star. Sometimes sweet and sour. The sour variety is used in salads. And sweet can be eaten so simply, the taste of the fruit resembles a mixture of lemon, mango and grapes.

Forbidden rice

This is a type of black rice native to China. Initially black, it turns dark purple during cooking. Has a nutty flavor, very healthy, thanks to the content a large number microelements. And it got its name because once only members of the imperial family could eat it.

Watermelon radish

It seems that they took an ordinary radish and turned it inside out: white outside, red inside. The size of the root crop is quite large - about the size of a baseball. Close relatives of cabbage, from which it tastes slightly bitter. In general, sliced ​​radish resembles small slices of watermelon, especially if you crush it with sprinkled sesame seed.

Blue corn (hopi)

it special grade corn, notable for its unusual color. Even in ancient times, blue corn was grown by the Hopi Indian people, who gave this species its name. Although blue corn has existed for several thousand years, for some reason it is not very popular nowadays. Though sweeter and has a nutty flavor.

Romanescu (coral cabbage)

This is not just cabbage, but the most real natural visual material by fractals. Closer in kinship to cauliflower, but more tender and tasty. Everyone will like the vegetable, even those who do not like cabbage. At least appreciate the look!

Canistel (egg fruit)

Fruits can be of a wide variety of shapes and sizes. They can be round, oval, heart-like. The color can range from the lightest shades of yellow to pale orange. What is it, a fruit or a vegetable - decide for yourself. On the one hand, it tastes like sweet potato and can be added to soups and salads. On the other hand, it is eaten fresh, with ice cream and fruit desserts.

And there are still a lot of such fruits. You can write about them for a long time. But, you see, no article can convey their taste. But I would so much like to try.

Summer residents plant cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, beets from year to year: their harvest is a good help for the family budget. But sometimes you want something unusual, such that the neighbors die of envy. And to make it easy to look after. And there are such unusual vegetables. Growing them is no more difficult than a cucumber!

This exotic unusual vegetable from the pumpkin family native to Africa. But since the fruits ripen quite quickly, only 120 days (the same number of late-ripening tomatoes ripen), it can be easily grown in the middle lane.

Kiwano is a liana, so the very place for her is at the fence or gazebo. This plant will beautify any garden, especially when the incredible fruits begin to ripen. I just want to pick them up and try!

By the way, Kiwano has a very unusual taste - a mixture of cucumber, banana, lime and avocado. Ripe fruits can be eaten raw - just cut the fruit in two and spoon out the contents with a spoon. Or mix the pulp with soft cheese - it will work great snack... Unripe fruits are pickled, just like cucumbers. They are similar in taste, but such preservation looks very impressive.

By the way, Kiwano is very unpretentious and does not get sick with anything.

Agrotechnics. Seeds are sown for seedlings in late April - early May in separate pots to a depth of 3 cm. It is useful to soak them in a solution of "Epin-extra" or sodium humate a day before sowing. Seedlings are planted in open ground in late May - early June, when the threat of spring frosts has passed. Planting scheme when growing on a support: in a row - 35–40 cm, between rows - 40 cm.

Loves the sun. It grows on any soil - Kiwano is less picky about the composition of the soil than a cucumber, but on fertile soil it will give more fruits. It is advisable to water it 2 times a week and loosen the soil each time.

Top dressing is required: once every 2 weeks, alternating organic matter (mullein solution 1: 5) and complex mineral fertilizer (50 g per 10 l of water).

Melotria rough ( Melothria scabra)

Another representative of the pumpkin family. Also a liana from Africa, and also extremely unpretentious. Its fruits are tiny, only 1.5–2.5 cm long. They taste like a cucumber and are ideal for pickling and pickling. They ripen only 75 days, so this miracle can be grown even in regions with a short summer.

Melotria is perfect for decorating fences and walls - it grows quickly, branches beautifully, completely braiding the entire support.

Agrotechnics. Seeds are sown for seedlings in the first half of April in boxes on the soil surface, without sprinkling. It is useful to cover the box with a film so that high humidity remains inside. In the 3-leaf phase, the seedlings dive into the pots.

In open ground, seedlings are planted in mid-May. When grown on a support, a distance of 50 cm is left between the plants.

The place for melotria needs a sunny one. Care is exactly the same as for cucumbers.

Pod radish ( Raphanus sativus var. caudatus)

The peculiarity of this wonderful vegetable is that it is not root vegetables that are eaten, but pods. They taste similar to ordinary radishes, but more spicy, which gives them a special piquancy. They eat them while young - if tightened with cleaning, they will become rough and very burning.

The plants themselves also look unusual for radishes - these are powerful bushes more than 2 m high and about 1 m in diameter. Without support, they fall on their side, so they need to be tied up.

This radish gives the first crop of pods 2 months after sowing. If you sow seeds at the end of April immediately on the beds (this culture is not afraid of frost, it can withstand up to -6 ° C), then at the end of June - beginning of June it will be possible to taste the first salad with an unusual radish, for the winter the pods can be pickled.

In addition to the pods of the aboveground radish, leaves and flowers are edible - they are used to decorate salads. This outlandish vegetable also forms edible roots, and quite large ones, weighing up to 1 kg!

Agrotechnics. Seeds are sown in open ground at the end of April to a depth of 1–1.5 cm. The distance between plants should be at least 1 m.

Pod radish loves fertile, loose soil and an abundance of light. It can do without feeding, but if you water it with a mullein solution (1:10) every 2 weeks, then the pods will be more juicy and their yield is higher.

What's more, this culture easily tolerates heat and drought.

Chufa ( Cyperus esculentus)

Chufu is often called "earthen almonds" among the people, but this plant has nothing to do with nuts. Chufa is a representative of the sedge family, famous for its underground nodules. They have a nutty flavor, which is why it is compared to almonds.

This is perhaps the most unpretentious plant among vegetable exotics. Even without care and in bad weather, each plant produces 50-60 nodules. And if the summer is favorable, then all 150.

Agrotechnics. The nodules are planted immediately in open ground in the second half of May to a depth of 5 cm. It is useful to soak them for 2-3 days in water at room temperature beforehand - this will help them germinate faster. They are planted according to the scheme: between the rows - 30 cm, in a row - 20 cm. In extreme heat, it would be nice to water the chufu, it does not need feeding.

Jicama beans ( Pachyrhizus erosus)

She's hikama, she's yam beans. Outwardly - the most common beans: same leaves, same flowers (usually lilac) and pods. Moreover, they are poisonous. Ask, and why is it needed? And then, what is most delicious in her - underground! Jicama forms tubers - something between a radish and a potato. Their skin is rough and tasteless, it needs to be peeled off. The pulp is very juicy, crispy, slightly sweet, with a taste of carrots, radishes and apples at the same time. Fresh tubers are cut into thin strips or small cubes, sprinkled with lemon and eaten in salads. You can cook jicama - it remains the same juicy and crispy. This will make a great side dish!

In root vegetables, unlike potatoes, there are very few calories, so you can safely eat them without fear for your figure.

Agrotechnics... Jikama loves the sun, so they choose the lightest place for planting.

Seeds are sown in open ground in early May (young plants will need to be covered with a non-woven cloth until the threat of frost has passed). Embedding depth - 2-3 cm.

While the jicama is young, frequent watering is necessary. For adult plants, once a week, 1/2 bucket per bush is sufficient.

As soon as the plants bloom, tubers begin to form underground. And so that there are a lot of them, but larger, it is better to cut off the flowers.

One plant usually produces 4–5 root crops. They ripen 120 days from the moment of germination. Stored in the refrigerator or in the cellar. True, they do not lie long - a month or two. But they can be peeled, cut into cubes, strips, frozen and feasted all winter.

Where to buy seeds of outlandish vegetables

Some rare crops are now sold in garden centers. They are in the firm "Gavrish", "Poisk", "SeDek" and NK "Russian Garden".

Seeds from private collectors are usually packed in plastic zip-lock bags. Small seeds can be safely stored in them for years. Large grains (beans, peas, pumpkins, zucchini) in such a package can suffocate, so from time to time the bags need to be opened so that air can enter there.

SUMMER RESIDENT! LOOK AND ENVY!

Someone grows such vegetables and fruits right now. And the point is not that it is a shortage or difficult to get, there would be a desire ...

Tomatoes "Octopus" F1

The tomato tree or the tomato tree Octopus F1 is a hybrid variety of cluster tomatoes, bred several years ago, which aroused great interest among farmers, gardeners and summer residents who like various innovations and curiosities. The unusual plant is indeterminate, i.e. unrestricted in growth, a hybrid with a well-developed ability to intensive shoot formation. Its height can reach 4 meters or even more, and the crown area is 40-50 square meters. meters. The annual harvest of Sprut F1 gives a fantastic one - about 14 thousand tomatoes, the total weight of which is 1.5 tons.

The author honestly admits that he does not know the name of this chili variety. However, there are offers on the network for the sale of seeds. Perhaps this is how any tall variety grows if it is placed in a greenhouse. It is also possible that it is a "giant chili".

The essence of this method is that a small pyramid is built, on which small bushes of a plant are planted in "floors" or "steps". Gradually, they put out antennae and completely envelop the entire area of ​​the pyramid. The result is better fruiting, better access of light to the berries and just a beautiful decoration in your garden. In addition, planting strawberries this way will give you a good opportunity to save a lot of space on the site for planting other crops.

These cucumbers are called Chinese because of their origin, since they come from China, but there are many varieties of them. Most Popular: Chinese snakes, Chinese Disease Resistant, Chinese White, Chinese Farm F1, Chinese Long Fruit, and China Miracle.

Stem chinese cucumbers can be about 3.5 meters in length, and the fruits (depending on the variety) reach 40-90 cm in length. But they amaze not so much by their impressive size as by their unpretentious cultivation and excellent taste. These cucumbers are very fruitful, absolutely not capricious, practically not affected by pests and hardly get sick.

The star of the western selection, the Exibishen bow that has taken root well with us. It is an annual variety with a short shelf life of no more than four months. It is one of the largest in weight among all varieties of giant bows, the weight of one head can exceed 1.5 kg.

Giant pumpkin (Latin Cucurbita maxima) is an annual cultivated plant, a species of the Pumpkin family (Cucurbitaceae). The fruits ripening from the giant pumpkin are the largest in the plant kingdom. In October 2010, a pumpkin was grown in the United States, the weight of which was 821.2 kilograms, in a girth it reached 4.7 meters.

An unusual hybrid was named "tomtato" / tomtato /, it was formed by combining the English words meaning "tomato" and "potato" / tomato and potato /.

TomTato can grow over 500 sweet cherry tomatoes above the ground, and white potatoes grow underground, which are suitable for both boiling and roasting.

Horticultural company Thompson & Morgan, sells these plants for £ 14.99 each, and describes their New Product like "vegetables in a pot".

Hybrid plants are not a product genetic engineering, just each seedling is individually grafted by hand.

The "tomtato" bush is obtained by grafting: the stalks of potatoes and tomatoes are cut and combined, connected with a special clip. Over time, they grow together, thus creating an unusual plant "pull".

Old italian variety long-fruited sweet peppers ideal for fresh consumption, grilling and pickling. The length of the fruit is more than 20 cm, the shape is conical, the walls are 3-4 mm thick, the taste is very sweet and fresh. The plant is medium-sized, 50-60 cm tall. The variety is mid-season, the growing season to technical maturity is 100–115 days. On one plant, an average of 12 to 15 fruits are formed.

Such a watermelon was born as a result of crossing a wild watermelon, which is just yellow (although it is impossible to eat it), with an ordinary one. And now round yellow watermelons are grown in summer in Spain, and oval - in winter in Thailand. By the way, the yellow watermelon is especially respected there, because according to Thai legends, yellow attracts money. This watermelon is tender and juicy, though not as sweet as red.

Purple potatoes

The popularization of this unusual root vegetable among housewives was promoted by the English culinary guru Jamie Oliver, who is not afraid to experiment. From such a potato, an original puree of a rich purple-blue color is obtained, it looks good baked in the company of other vegetables, let alone french fries. Purple potatoes taste the same as ordinary ones.