Unusual Vegetables - Fun & Funky Crops to Try Growing

Unusual vegetables can be a really fun addition to your garden.  Of course, you will probably always have your standard go-to's like green beans or romaine lettuce.  However, if you want to add a little color or some cool shapes and sizes to your crops, there are some fun and funky unusual vegetables you can try growing.

8 Unusual Vegetables for Your Garden:

1. Glass Gem Corn

This is really the most beautiful corn.  It has a multitude of bright colorful kernels.  Each ear of corn is different and unique with a different rainbow and pattern of colors.

You see the pictures online and ask yourself, "Can you eat glass gem corn?". Glass gem corn is not a regular eating corn (for things like corn on the cob).  It is a flint corn and can be ground into meal or used as popcorn.

2. Lemon Cucumbers

These are a really fun addition for your garden, especially if you are used to huge bumper crops of plain 'ol pickling cucumbers.

They look like (no surprise) lemons.  They are round and yellow.  These cute cucumbers are good to slice and eat.

3. Moon and Stars Watermelon

What, you say?  These cool smaller watermelons are a very dark green in color.  They also have various sized bright yellow spots (hence the moon and stars name).  These melons are great for snacking!

4. Casper Pumpkins

Again, a very descriptive name that probably is a give away to what this unusual vegetable looks like.  These pumpkins are ghostly white.  They are a very striking addition to a garden.  They can be used in pies.

5. Romanesco

I bet (unlike the others on our list) you have no real clue what this vegetable may be from it's name.  Romanesco is a cauliflower variation.

However, unlike your typical cauliflower, it is slightly green in color.  And, it's florets are pointy and spiraled. It truly is mesmerizing to look at!

6. Rainbow Carrots

Rainbow carrots get their name, obviously, because they are a wide variety of colors. Typically, a bunch of Rainbow Carrots is actually made up of several types of carrots, each with their own health benefits; Atomic Red, Bambino, Cosmic Purple, Lunar White and Solar Yellow.

7. Chocolate Bell Peppers

The chocolate bell pepper is a more rare vegetable. They get their name from their dark chocolate brown exterior color. Like other bell peppers, they are a sweeter than they are hot. They make an interesting twist on any of your traditional pepper recipes.

8. Rosa Bianca Eggplant

Unlike your typical long and deep purple eggplants you are used to seeing in the store, these eggplants are more round. They are not as dark in color and have a bit of white striping on them. These differences make it one of the more interesting vegetables to just look at.

They almost look like little purple peaches combined with a pumpkin. They also are delicious when sauteed and mixed with other vegetables.

There you have it!

After you try these 8 unusual vegetables you can start on the fastest growing vegetables.