[Christine]

Look I know an allotment is supposed to be Brussels, leeks, cabbage, onions and tatties but ....

Well this year I'm going to try purple carrots for salads. Just to be different. We're a bit limited up here in the darkest North East so can't do things that will grow in the soft south west.

So .. is anyone else doing something different just for a change?

[Bombers]

Ohh yes.. One of my lottie neighbours grew an enormous Pumpkin, which we divided up between us,once fully grown. My OH made the best pumpkin soup I ever tasted. So I've been promised a couple of plants this year  (the variety was Atlantic Giant) I haven't really got much space at my lottie as it's only 5 rods, and I think I might nead 1/2 of that for the pumkin, so It's going in the garden!

[jennyb]

purple carrots i plan to mix with a rainbow pack,  so hopefully white, orange and yellow too.

i'd like purple sprouts too

i wish i could have found a red gooseberry bush but have green instead.

[Tom Netall]

Well this year I'm going to try purple carrots for salads.

Christine, that's so wrong.
Carrots should be carrot coloured, you'll be telling me they have yellow tomatoes next  :?

[jennyb]

Christine, that's so wrong.
Carrots should be carrot coloured, you'll be telling me they have yellow tomatoes next  :?

how could i forget tomatoes?  yellow or even better - tigerella!

carrots were originally black, does anyone know if you can get seeds for the original carrot colour?

purple caulis would be good to but i still have seeds to use up....

i'd like to try strawberry sweetcorn one day.

[Christine]

Well this year I'm going to try purple carrots for salads.

Christine, that's so wrong.
Carrots should be carrot coloured, you'll be telling me they have yellow tomatoes next  :?

 :mrgreen: that's probably what the natives here said when William of Orange introduced the new colour - http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history.html for some fun reading!  :mrgreen:

[DD.]

Well this year I'm going to try purple carrots for salads.

Christine, that's so wrong.

Why so? That's their natural colour!  

From www.carrotmuseum.co.uk

The Orange Carrot Arrives ! The noble carrot has long been known as an orange vegetable thanks to patriotic Dutch growers who bred the vegetable to make it less bitter than the yellow varieties, and then it was adopted it as the Royal vegetable in honour of the House of Orange.  The King at the time was William of Orange (1533–84), also known as William the Silent.

Carrots were originally purple or red, with a thin root. The species did not turn orange until the 1500's when Dutch agricultural scientists and growers used a mutant yellow carrot seed from North Africa to develop a carrot in the colour of the House of Orange, the Dutch Royal Family.  In an attempt to "nationalize" the country's favourite vegetable they began experiments on improving the pale yellow versions by cross breeding them with red varieties. These varieties contain beta carotene to produce orange-coloured roots This was developed to become the dominant species across the world - wonderful, sweet orange.

[Elcie]

I'm growing some purple carrots this year and some yellow tomatoes.  Think I also have some orange tomato seeds.  Have decided to grow some things that you don't see, or rarely see in the supermarket.

Should be an interesting talking point at the dinner table!

[CarlC]

erm..... except for gardening it self, i`m going to eat, if it will succesfully grow, purple broccoli, and squash which i found ok to eat but can`t eat alot of in one go.

[Coltar223]

If you can find a seed source try the Black Russian Krim or the German Pink varieties. I have grown the German Pinks for a few years now and have great success. My wife , who will not eat a raw tomatoe will actually eat the German Pink!! They fruit up to one pound and are very sweet/spicy with a wonderfull flesh.

I grew one Krim last year and was really impressed, will be growing a lot more this season.

[jennyb]

Any ideas of the darkest variety in this photo?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carrots_of_many_colors.jpg

there are 2 purple varieties shown. is the darker purple haze do you think or something else?  or photoshop?

[mrs bouquet]

Christine, that's so wrong.
Carrots should be carrot coloured, you'll be telling me they have yellow tomatoes next  :?

how could i forget tomatoes?  yellow or even better - tigerella!

I grew yellow and tigerella, amongst the usuals, all in tubs and growbags. they were my 2 favourites.

When you cook coloured vegetables, does the colour fade when they are cooking ?  Mrs Bouquet

[jennyb]

i grew yellow stone carrots this year.  We steam our veg so i think the colour comes out less if at all.

even steaming though,  the purple sprouts i got from the farmers market, dripped purple juice whilst steaming!  

[Mrs SpudtheBinx]

We've gone for purple carrots this year as well, I'm hoping to get more coloured veg as well, I'm hoping it might encourage the kids to try more foods!

[joshwain]

Im going to be growing roast dinners...

Chickens
Potatoes
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Parsnips
Turnips
Carrots (orange )

The only think i will be buying is Gravy