As a follow up to the recent posts on Growing Eggplants and Controlling Flea Beetles on Eggplants, I wanted to share a few rare and unusual varieties of heirloom eggplants that are available to the home gardener. Do a little research and you’ll quickly discover that eggplants are well traveled and a very international vegetable. There are many exotic varieties hailing from remote regions of Turkey, Africa, Italy, Thailand, India, China, the Ukraine, and Louisiana.

Yesterday I mentioned some of the benefits of growing cherry tomato plants; today I thought I’d share some of the interesting, colorful, and tasty varieties of cherry tomatoes that are available to the home gardener. For the backyard gardener there’s a wealth of variety, diversity, and unique flavors available when it comes to growing different varieties of cherry tomatoes.

I didn’t plant a single potato in the garden last year due to space constraints, but this year I’m looking to include at least one variety of heirloom potato. I settled on growing a fingerling type potato because I really like the waxy texture and the versatility that they offer in the kitchen. Fingerlings are just as easy to grow as the common standard potato varieties.

As promised in the recent entry on browsing heirloom seed catalogs I intend to share some of the interesting plants that I stumble across in my favorite seed catalogs. Here’s the first new and unusual vegetable variety that I plan to grow in the garden this year; Purple Peacock Broccoli.

With nothing but cold and more snow awaiting me outside, I’ve finally gotten around to enjoying one of my favorite indoor gardening activities… browsing through the latest heirloom and gourmet seed catalogs.

I recently wrote about my experiences at an annual fruit tasting, and posted an article describing the enticing qualities of heirloom apples. Today I wanted to share my impressions on a few specific antique apple varieties that I had an opportunity to sample at the fruit tasting event.

Last weekend’s fruit tasting event provided me with an opportunity to sample many rare and unusual heirloom apples that were popular decades ago, but are pretty much nonexistent in today’s marketplace. It’s pretty amazing to come across so many heirloom apples that you’ve never seen or tasted before.

The previous entry discussed growing okra in the home garden, today’s post takes a look at a few great okra varieties for the home gardener, along with ideas for preparing and cooking these delicious home grown pods.