Plant by colour for extra-ordinary veggies!
Tomatoes are green, beans are blue, if I am confused, I am sure you are too!
We grew up knowing that tomatoes are red, carrots are orange and beetroot are purple. Or so we thought.
What we didn’t know was that the first tomato ‘exported’ from Mexico to Spain some 500 years ago was orange. That’s according to New Zealand scientists at Heritage Food Crops Research Trust (HFCRT).
Today’s red tomato stems from a cross between that orange tomato and a tiny red tomato, which probably came from Peru, according to Mark Christensen, a researcher at HFCRT.
What about carrots? There too we were mistaken. Up until the mid-1500’s most carrots were purple, with some strains of white and yellow, until Dutch growers developed orange carrots from mutant strains of purple carrots.
Orange carrots, which contain higher amounts of beta-carotene, became the fashion and were grown in honour of William of Orange, who led the Dutch in revolt against the Spanish in the late 1500’s.
So, to beetroot. There we were right, the most common varieties of beetroot have always been a dark purple-red, but not exclusively, because the Italian heirloom Chioggia Guardsmark is red and white, and Burpee’s Golden Beet has been available since the 1940’s, with a sweeter, milder flavour than the purple beet.
What is less well known is that beetroot was originally grown for its leaves, harvested and eaten like spinach. The original root was more parsnip shaped and according to food writer Tori Avey, who delves into the history of foods that we eat, the shape of today’s beetroot is thought to have evolved from a prehistoric North African root vegetable.
It is thanks to the resurgence of heirloom vegetables that there are now so many different colours of veggies. What a treat for the more adventurous veggie grower. Though personally, I still like my carrots orange and my tomatoes red.
For those wanting to add pizzazz to the salad bowl, produce a beautiful dish of multi-coloured roast veggies or just want to enjoy the look of surprise on family or guest’s faces, here are some ordinary vegetables in out-of-the ordinary colours.
Tomatoes – pick a colour
Tomatoes have been the subject of more cross breeding than most other vegetables. There are at least 500 different varieties of tomatoes. The result is a rainbow of colours; black, purple, pink, yellow, orange, red and striped varieties as well as green tomatoes that stay green when ripe.
- ‘Black Krim’ (RAW) is a dark brownish- red determinate variety from Crimea. It is a beefsteak tomato (fleshy, few seeds) with a smoky-sweet flavour. Plants are hardy, heat tolerant and grow 1.2m high, and should be staked.
- ‘Flame Orange’ (RAW) is as close as you can get to the original. This is a French heirloom variety with apricot-coloured fruit that is a fruity blend of sweet and tart citrus flavours. It is a vining variety, which produces elongated trusses of fruit. Orange tomatoes contain a different form of lycopene called cis-lycopene which is more easily absorbed by the body, with claims that it helps prevent certain types of cancer.
- ‘Sunrise sauce’ (Gropak) is a quick maturing, orange Roma-type. It is a small determinate hybrid variety with high yields. The orange fruit is sweet and meaty. It can be eaten raw, but the best flavour is achieved through cooking.
- ‘Green Zebra’ (RAW)is an emerald-skinned tomato with dark green stripes and flecks. It is sweet but with a sharp bite. For best flavour, this tomato should be stored at room temperature. It is an indeterminate variety that needs staking and support.
- ‘Clear Pink’ (RAW) is a compact, bushy, Russian heirloom tomato. The bright pink tomatoes are round, smooth and with a sweet, yet tangy flavour. Good for using in salads, salsa, sauces and baking. They can be grown in a large container.
Go for gold
- Zucchini ‘Easy Pick Gold’ (Gropak) is named for the colour of its fruit as well as the fact that it is painless to pick because the leaves don’t have the customary prickles and the fruit snaps off easily. The upright, spreading plants grow 1.3m high and wide. Pick when fruit is about 15cm long.
- Cucumber Lemon (Kirchhoffs) produces lots of small, round yellow fruit with a mild sweet flavour and crunchy texture. Although it looks like a lemon it doesn’t taste like one. Plants continue to produce later in the season than most other varieties.
- Beetroot Detroit Gold (Kirchhoffs) has golden veined leaves and golden coloured beets that have a slightly honey flavour and keeps its yellow colour when cooked. They don’t bleed like other beet and the leaves are also good for eating.
Moonlighting
White veggies ae particularly unusual and here is an interesting selection. They have the same growing requirements as the conventionally coloured veggies, but the flavours are somewhat different.
- Eggplant ‘Gretel’ (Gropak)is part of the Simply Delicious patio range. It produces clusters of white elongated fruit on a bushy plant (91cm high).. The fruit is tender and not bitter. If eaten as a baby vegetable fruit can be harvested when 8 – 10cm long or left to mature (10 to 15cm long).
- Eggplant ‘Casper’ (Kirchhoffs) produces elongated, tear-drop shaped fruit. The snow white flesh has a delicious mushroom-like flavour, which makes it good for roasting, or adding to stews. Fruit matures early, within 70 to 80 days.
- Cucumber ‘Martini’ (Kirchhoffs) is referred to as a ‘blonde’ slicing cucumber for its pale skin. It is very sweet (no trace of bitterness) crunchy and has a tender, ‘no peel’ skin if harvested early, when 13 – 15cm long. It is heat tolerant and resistant to powdery mildew, which means that successive crops can be sown in summer.
- Cucumber “Crystal Apple’ (RAW) has the shape of a Granny Smith apple with a pale, greenish-white skin, but the taste is pure cucumber with a tang. The smooth, creamy fruit is best eaten young, and is a bright, crunchy addition to salads. It is a compact growing plant.
- Beetroot ‘White Albino’ (Kirchhoffs) is a completely white beet and is the sweetest of all the beets, not having the earthy flavour of ordinary beetroot. It’s an heirloom from Holland and sugar beets were developed from this beet.
The colour Purple
- Purple cauliflower was developed after years of crossbreeding between heirloom varieties and natural mutations, so is not genetically modified. The colour purple comes from anthocyanin, a phytochemical naturally found in fruits and vegetables. ‘Cauliflower Graffiti’ (RAW) retains its purple colour when cooked, while ‘Sicilian Violet Cauliflower (Living Seeds) turns green when cooked. The mid-sized heads have a fine texture and good flavour. Start sowing from February.
- ‘Purple Sprouting Broccoli’ (RAW) has a main purple central head and once that is harvested, the plants continue to produce side shoots. March is the cut-off month for sowing broccoli
All the colours of the rainbow
The most fun to be had is sowing rainbow mixes. It is like a lucky packet because you just don’t know what colour it will be until you pull it out of the ground or when the fruit matures.
- Beet ‘Rainbow Mix’ (Kirchhoffs) consists of five varieties: white, gold, dark red, crimson and striped (Chioggia Guardsmark).
- Radish ‘Rainbow Mix’ (Kirchhoffs) is a lively variety of plum shaped radishes in shades of purple, red and white bicolour, white, red and gold. All have crisp white flesh and a tangy flavour.
- Carrot ‘Rainbow blend’ (Raw) is a mix of white, yellow, orange and purple carrots and ‘Colour Mix (Stark Ayres) has three colours: purple, yellow and orange. Each colour has a slightly different flavour.
- Tomato ‘Heirloom Rainbow Mix’ (RAW) contains a selection of purple, green, red, pink, yellow, black, orange and white tomatoes, all of which, were originally grown by Thomas Jefferson, the United States statesman and experimental farmer. All are beefsteak varieties that range in flavour from mild, to sweet to tangy.
Published in The Gardener
Written by Alice Coetzee
