Showing posts with label black vegetables. Show all posts
Showing posts with label black vegetables. Show all posts

Thursday

Black Vegetables and Black Flowers

Well..not completely black, but at least near black. Black Flowers have always had a mystery to them but black vegetable gardens are pretty much something we haven't heard of. They are even heirloom vegetables! 

The darker the fruit or vegetable, the more antioxidants (anthocyanin) it has, plus the near black shades of dark purple to dark maroon make for a stunning display and great conversation. 


Almost Black Vegetables


Almost Black Vegetables


Almost Black Flowers

Almost Black Flowers


as well as individual Varieties
 
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"Black" Tomatoes

The latest trend in vegetables are very high in anti-oxidants dark and purple or so called "Black" vegetables. 

The dark pigments responsible for the purplish tones are called anthocyanins, a type of phytonutrient, or plant compound, hailed for its potential disease-fighting benefits. Studies suggest anthocyanins may help reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancer. Some evidence indicates these purple pigments may protect our brain as we age.

Being the darkest of all black tomato's, Indigo Rose (derived from P20 line) has beautiful eye-catching hues of deep purple where sunshine hits to red/orange where a leaf or stem shields an area from the sun.
The saladette sized fruits are excellent in salads or snacking. Fruit is from tennis ball down to ping pong ball size, has a nice fruity flavor and is quite variable. When sliced it looks just like a plum with its deep red flesh.
Difficult to find, black skinned heritage/heirloom cherry tomato.
 
Delicious! The one-word description I use to describe the Black Cherry Tomato. Full of rich, sweet flavor for which black tomatoes are known, with the convenient size of the cherry tomato. Fruits are about 1 ½" in diameter, perfect round true cherry tomato shape, and deep red-black in color with tender skins and medium-thick walls. Large, vigorous, indeterminate 4-8' plants set forth a bountiful harvest of these unique gems. Great snack right off the vine, delicious in salads, pasta dishes, or roasted, can be dried, canned or frozen also.


You can find these type of seeds here: Unusual Heirloom Tomatoes

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Tuesday

The Phenomena of Goth Gardening

Recently I have reconnected with a person from my past. The experience was associated with sweet and bitter memories and she unknowingly pointed out a rather unusual form of gardening. 

The Goth Garden. 

I see many people asking about about Goth or EMO gardening all over the web and I never knew what it meant, thought it was depressing nonsense.

Black flowers? That seems strange to me, because how would a bee or a butterfly be attracted enough wanting to pollinate. 
I am beginning to think that it's probably not any less strange than my desire to find the diamond in the rough, the best of the best, the most unusual, the most challenging and eventually the ultimate (?).

There must be some happiness in black flower gardening. .....I am still researching this phenomena.

In the meantime, here are some very beautiful and dramatic black or near black flowers :)


Here is a good US source: for black (almost black) flowering seeds

They have gift collections and many many individual species as well, even black vegetables!  - How cool!



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