Here on the urban homestead one never knows what strange creatures will show up on the kitchen counter. This week's unusual edible is a tiny little cucumber with spiky warts - not very appetizing! The urban farmers here tell me it's called a West Indian Gerkin
So these little spiky creatures not meant to be eaten fresh will end up in a pickle - a jar of pickles that is.
What sort of alien creatures are growing in your garden? Care to share.
6 Comments: "UNUSUAL EDIBLES" »
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We eat quite a bit of our yard! The flowers from our maple trees (Oregon bigleaf maple, in spring), dandelion, cat's ear, chickweed, rose hips, Oregon grape, plantains, spring onions, acorns, and sometimes even knotweed sprouts. And there's quite a bit of wild chamomile and mint for solar tea, as well as blackberries all over. Much of the menu is becoming less available to us as the poultry take over more and more of the place!
risa b
We have a different variety of gherkin that shows up volunteer each summer [11 years running now]. It is very small - smaller than a quarter! I only found out what they were this spring after looking through the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed catalog - its a Mexican sour gherkin. We have yet to try pickling any.
Carob pods, purslane, mesquite pods, amaranth sprouts, napoles cactus pads, prickle pear fruit (called "tunas")
Prickly pear margaritas: http://whatscookingamerica.net.....lyPear.htm
Prickly pear juice and muffins: http://www.cssainc.org/index.p.....Itemid=212
Mesquite, carob, nopales and other desert native food recipes: http://www.desertharvesters.org/recipes/
Mirlitons, Not really that unusuall I just don't know anyone else that's growing them.
I bet we are the only ones in LA (not the state) that know what mirlitons are ... well, for the most part.
With relatives in New Orleans we are quite familiar with this unusual vegetable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chayote
Tons of info about the Mirlitons. The whole plant is edible and they have many healing properties.