Garden Gallery - Purple Reign

 

Echinacea

 Bumblebee on my lavender

I'm a big fan of color in the garden, and not just flowers.  Purple vegetables are 

fun to grow, enjoyable to look at, and delicious to eat.

 Purple Podded Pole Beans

are an heirloom variety that are very tasty, and easy to pick because they're

easier to see than the green ones.  Although they turn green when you

cook them, they are botanical treasures in the garden.

Pole beans are like indeterminate tomatoes.  Bush beans are bred to bear a 

heavy crop over a short period of time, then die back.

Pole beans will produce until hard frost, and are easier on the back to harvest.

Just one packet, planted to grow up a fence or trellis, 

will yield more than enough for several meals

every time you harvest.

 Red or purple cabbage is a nice addition to cole slaws and fresh salads.

The purple color means it contains more antioxidants than green cabbage.

 Carrots come in a kaleidoscope of colors.  "Purple Haze" are reddish purple with orange cores, and "Deep Purple" are very purple all the way to the core.  Carrots are somewhat tolerant of cool weather, and all colored carrots will grow nicely in Northern Minnesota.  Carrots originated in Afghanistan, 

and were not the familiar orange that we all associate with carrots now.  The first

carrots were actually red and yellow.

 Beautiful Lolla Rossa heirloom lettuce

  I grow eggplants for the color in the greenhouse and to roast in the oven.

 Indigo Rose tomato - high in antioxidants!

 "Lilac" bell pepper

Organic heirloom Midnight Chard

 Next year, add some color to your vegetable patch.  There are purple peas, purple kales,

purple Brussels Sprouts, and more.  Experiment and try something new!

Happy gardening,

Kathy and Patty