[snowdrops]

Ornamental gourds are nice, Mr S bought me a packet a few years ago & I had a wonderful crop. I sowed the last ones this year but only one survived planting out, when I harvest I'll put a pic up.

[gypsy]

Turks turbans look very impressive, I grew them a couple of years ago and used them as ornaments for a few months until they were past their best.

[sunshineband]

Turks turbans look very impressive, I grew them a couple of years ago and used them as ornaments for a few months until they were past their best.

We eat ours 

Won first prize in the Any Other Vegetable class at the local show with one of ours this year, too 

[Madame Cholet]

Well done Sunny

[Markw]

Apart from growing tobacco as a hobby, I have grown Oca and this year I am growing Yacon. It will be interesting to see how turn out at the end of the year. I always like growing unusual things !!! 

[Snoop]

Real wasabi... Well, it's something to ponder next time your allotment's under water! See the following story in the BBC business section (rather than food or gardening), it's that valuable:

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29082091

[surbie100]

In the same vein as Snoop, I'm growing saffron this year, which is expensive, no-faff and loves the British climate. And the bulbs are self-perpetuating, so you only buy them the once. Better and better...

I'd definitely second the achocha and purslane recommendations and am looking forward to harvesting my oca, salsify and root parsley to see what they taste like.

[snowdrops]

Very interesting,thanks for the link

[Snoop]

In the same vein as Snoop, I'm growing saffron this year, which is expensive, no-faff and loves the British climate. And the bulbs are self-perpetuating, so you only buy them the once. Better and better...

I'd definitely second the achocha and purslane recommendations and am looking forward to harvesting my oca, salsify and root parsley to see what they taste like.

Hi Surbie, I've found a source of saffron bulbs here and am thinking of giving it a go. There are a couple of villages in my area that are renowned for saffron, so I reckon it should work here too if I can find a decent patch of soil. In fact, this year would have been perfect as we've just had a period of decent rain.

The flowers sound so lovely I reckon I might find it hard to pick them!

[surbie100]

The flowers sound so lovely I reckon I might find it hard to pick them!

They do sound lovely - I keep peering at the spaces they are planted in to see if they are coming up, but so far they are busy underground. There's always the tweezering option - hook out the stamens and leave the flowers in place. 

[Springlands]

This year I am growing Boothby Blonde Cucumbers from Real Seeds. They are an outdoor American variety. Very prolific and easy to grow - I am just letting them wander where they will. Oh - nearly forgot - they taste good.

[gypsy]

Turks turbans look very impressive, I grew them a couple of years ago and used them as ornaments for a few months until they were past their best.

We eat ours 

Won first prize in the Any Other Vegetable class at the local show with one of ours this year, too 

We ate some of ours but was more impressed by how they look than the taste.

[mumofstig]

They certainly need spicing up IMO

[TheWhiteRabbit]

Love the idea of growing Saffron - pretty and it would be fun for the kids to harvest (and they're the right height too!)

[LotuSeed]

I grew a peanut! I pulled up one of the rooted pegs and loo and behold there was a cute little peanut on the end of it. That's going in my trophy case lol