A harvest basket full of colour!

Beetroot
Aside from its intensely sweet flavour, another appealing thing about beetroot is the visual impact it has on the plate. It’s one of a select number of vegetables that has the ability to turn a mundane looking dish into a feast for the eyes.  I’m not just talking about the ordinary round purple beet that we are all familiar with, but the range of wonderful heirloom varieties that come in many shades of white, yellow and red. If you want to grow something visually spectacular, try ‘Italian Chioggia’, which has concentric rings of white and pink.
Beetroot is surprisingly low in calories even though it has the highest sugar content of all vegetables. In fact, historically in Europe the beet was often used as the raw material for the production of refined sugar.
Beetroot ‘Golden Burpee’ - Slower growing varieties such as Golden Beets often have the sweetest flavour. The beets are orange when harvested and turn a lovely rich golden yellow when cooked.

Carrots
It’s worth knowing that there is a lot more to this humble vegetable than the long orange carrots we’re all familiar with. Gardeners can grow white, yellow, red and purple varieties, which bring exciting colour and intrigue to the plate.
Carrots usually reach maturity about 3 months after sowing, but can be pulled at any stage during the growing season. They are particularly sweet and tender harvested as young, baby carrots early in the season. You can usually get a fair idea of a carrot’s maturity by observing the size of the carrot top above the ground or gently scraping away a bit of soil to check.

The Purple Carrot - The purple carrot originated in Afghanistan and still features strongly in the cuisine of this region. It was well known in Europe in the middle ages. In fact, it was the Dutch who crossed a purple carrot with a lemon coloured one to yield the orange carrots we know today. Skin is purple with orange flesh and a yellow core - loses skin colour when cooked so lightly steam or serve raw sliced down the centre for greatest impact.

Different coloured Peas
Peas are a cool weather crop. They are good to plant after tomatoes because they return nitrogen to the soil.
Purple podded peas - Ornamental purple pink flowers are followed by purple pods with green peas inside. It’s a shelling pea.
Golden podded peas - Golden podded peas are best picked when young and eaten pod and all.

5 colour silverbeet
An easy grower with brilliantly coloured red, orange, yellow, pink or white stems, which can be harvested as needed for months. The leaves and stems can be used in colourful salads, stews and soups. ‘5 Colour’ makes a real impact in the garden, planted in groups to provide a mass of vibrant stems all jostling. You can also grow an attractive selection in pots and window boxes.

Giant red mustard
Red mustard is a member of the Brassica family. It is a leafy vegetable with a spicy kick to it. It’s rich in vitamins A and C, as well as potassium, iron and calcium. It is also low in calories, high in fibre. The small tender leaves are best used to bring zing to your salads. Heavy stems are more fibrous so boil or stir fry larger leaves. Can be grown throughout the year. It grows to around 1 m tall.

Tuscan kale
Cabbage doesn’t have to be boring. Tuscan Kale or Cavolo nero as it is also known, is an Italian cabbage with deep green-black foliage and crinkled leaves, making it striking in the garden and the kitchen. It has a strong “cabbagey” flavour, with an almost sweet after taste and can be boiled without losing its texture or colour. Tuscan Kale is lovely braised with onion and garlic, which is perfect with pork or used to make decorative cabbage rolls. It’s particularly good in thick rich soups like Classic Tuscan Soup. It has one of the highest levels of antioxidants – twice the level of broccoli.

Bunch of borage flowers
Borage displays bright blue, star-shaped flowers (which bloom most of the summer) making it a decorative and tasty herb. The leaves and flowers taste a bit like cucumber.
Use borage flowers and leaves in gin-based cocktails. Set them in ice cubes and use to garnish. The flowers and young leaves are also good in salads or dips and the chopped leaves can be added to stews and soups . You normally sow the seed from early spring to mid-summer. It often goes to seed and then pops up again.

Heirloom Radish
Radish is the quickest and easiest of all root crops to grow. It’s high in vitamin C. Radishes like to be kept moist and can be grown at any time of year.
Easter Egg radishes – egg shaped roots of purple, pink and white

Purple Asparagus
Serve this on the dinner table and you'll raise some eye brows. Asparagus is a perennial vegetable, so you need to dedicate space for it in the vegie patch. You will be harvesting tender spears within 2 years of planting then increasing yields for the next 20 years.

Availability
Information compiled in this fact sheet includes extracts from Melissa King’s Book ‘Garden Feast’ published by ABC Books and information from the Digger’s Club. All of these varieties are available from the diggers club: www.diggers.com.au