Niki Jabbour’s book is directed at experienced gardeners who want to expand their palette. But beginners can benefit from the book as well.
I love to experiment in my garden by growing plants I’ve never even seen. This can be fun but also tricky. The first time I grew arugula (long before it was common), I pulled out one third of the seedlings before I realized they weren’t wild mustard. I had no idea of what the plant looked like. Another challenge is that when you push boundaries, you may encounter plants that need extra help to become established.
With the help of the Veggie Garden Remix, gardeners don’t have to learn it all by trial and error—Niki Jabbour shares the tips she has learned while growing unusual crops and varieties in her home garden in Halifax, NS. The book’s gorgeous photos serve to educate and inspire readers.
The book is organized in a wonderful way—with 14 sections focused on alternatives to common crops. Chapter titles include: “Like tomatoes? Try ground cherries, Cape gooseberries, tomatillos” and “Like lettuce? Try celtuce, minutina, Tokyo bekana, mâche.” Jabbour also describes her favourite varieties of common vegetables, such as Hakurei turnips, Rat-tailed radish and January King cabbage. The number in the subtitle, “224 new plants…”, includes multiple and sometimes heirloom varieties of common and unusual crops. Regardless, there is a wealth of information on around 80 types of vegetables and 9 herbs.
If a crop fails to germinate or grow well, Jabbour doesn’t give up. Instead, she tries other approaches. For example, she realized that edible gourds germinate best after their seeds are scraped with a nail file and then soaked overnight. Many unusual plants require more work than common ones (and this may be why they aren’t grown as often). For example, Jabbour starts seeds of yard-long beans inside and puts black plastic on the soil outside for two weeks before transplanting. This effort might be justified to grow a few plants as novelties. Sometimes her extra effort may not be necessary. For example, I direct-seed certain crops, such as asparagus peas and crosnes, that Jabbour starts inside and transplants (n.b. I have similar growing conditions).
The book is directed at experienced gardeners who want to expand their palette but beginners can benefit from the book as well.
Tips from Veggie Gardening Remix
- Senposai, a cross between cabbage and komatsuna, has leaves like ping-pong paddles—better for cabbage rolls than cabbage itself!
- Make syrup by boiling grated sugar beets, straining and keeping the liquid.
- Gai lan is easier to grow than broccoli and has a similar but slightly stronger flavour.
- The Blues variety of Chinese cabbage can produce 4-lb heads.
- If you see lemongrass in the supermarket with roots, buy it and pot it up. It will make an edible houseplant.
- Many ornamentals are edible, including hosta shoots, daylily tubers and blossoms, certain dahlia roots, and loves-lies-bleeding.
- To avoid bitter eggplants, keep the soil moist—particularly important when growing in pots.
- Chickpeas can be eaten green, just as like soybeans can be eaten as edamame.
- Young snake gourds can be cooked like zucchini; the plant’s highly fragrant flowers open at dusk to attract moths.
- Janet Wallace