A Word Game Anyone?

Carolyn I don't think it matters.

ROFL! You know what?! I don't care! I just wanted to get a thread hopping and everyone having FUN and MAYBE we could learn something new or more about something that we don't know much about or see a variety we never heard of and maybe spark some excitement. Whooo hooo!

Artichoke

Links to Oregon Extension Service and Virginia Tech Extension Service
Did anybody else know they could be grown in Virginia? (Difficult but possible)

Growing Artichokes in OR

Artichokes in Virginia

Elephant garlic

http://www.chow.com/recipes/10154-roasted-elephant-garlic-soup-with-grilled-eggplant

Carrot

Tulip = Pumpkin

All about pumpkins

www.pumpkinnook.com/

New Zealand Spinach

2 ft tall perennial, usually grown as an annual, with 1 - 2 inch pointed lime green leaves that have a spinach like taste. Harvest the leaves and tender shoots

Click Below
N Z Spinach

HABANERO HOT HOT HOT

Oleander. (Look out, this one's poisonous!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerium_oleander

Okra..........haven't a clue why anyone would grow this. :scratch: Tasted it ONCE and that was enough!

GK

Okay we must have posted at the same time because oleander was not there before!!

GK

That's okay. Next person can pick R or A!

Don't forget, everyone.... ideally post some information about the plant you are naming, too!

Asparagus
Strawberry
Yam
Malabar Spinach
Huckelnerry
Yarrow
Wild Leek
Kale
Endive
Eggplant
Tulip
Pepper
Rampicante Squash
Echinacea
Elephant Garlic
Carrot
Pumpkin
New Zealand Spinach
Habanero
Oleander
Okra

Rutabaga, a cross between a turnip and a cabbage. Take about 4 weeks longer to mature than turnips.

CLICK HERE

OR HERE

I love rutabagas. Had no idea they took longer to mature than turnips!

AMARANTH

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/amaranth.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaranth_grain

Horehound - an herb used as a companion plant and often used to treat coughs (along with some other stuff). It has a rather interesting, not necessarily completely nice smell (the smell is what's supposed to deter pests).

Look here:

http://health.learninginfo.org/herbs/horehound.htm

and here:

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/h/horwhi33.html

I really like this game/thread! I'm learning so much and the first 2 on the list are what's going into my newest bed - instant update tutorial! Thanks for starting the thread, Jennie!

Hill onion

A less common name for my favorite potato onions.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2003-08-01/The-Other-Onions.aspx

Nasturtium
Lightly spicy edible garnish for salads, also used in companion planting


"Nasturtium is an excellent companion for many plants. It is a companion to radishes, cabbage family plants (cabbage, collards, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, broccoli and mustards), deterring aphids, squash bugs, and striped pumpkin beetles, and improving growth and flavor. Plant as a barrier around tomatoes, cabbage, cucumbers, and under fruit trees. Deters wooly aphids, whiteflies, cucumber beetles and other pests of the cucurbit family. Great trap crop for aphids (in particular the black aphids) which it does attract, especially the yellow flowering varieties. It likes poor soil with low moisture and no fertilizer. Keeping that in mind there is no reason not to set potted nasturtiums among your garden beds. It has been the practice of some fruit growers that planting nasturtiums every year in the root zone of fruit trees allow the trees to take up the pungent odor of the plants and repel bugs. Studies say it is among the best at attracting predatory insects. It has no taste effect on the fruit. A nice variety to grow is Alaska which has attractive green and white variegated leaves. The leaves, flowers and seeds of nasturtiums are all edible and wonderful in salads!"


Yeah Nasturtiums, I enjoy them as hanging plants, but maybe I should put more in my garden

Mache

Also known as corn salad or lambs lettuce; an early spring green / "micro green".

http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/4614/how-to-grow-mache-corn-salad-springs-first-green

Since HorehounD was somehow skipped for the last letter, I will add DILL.

Dill was the garden favorite this year and I hope to grow a little more before frost come.

More information can be found at:
http://www.sallybernstein.com/food/columns/gilbert/dill.htm

I think some of our postings are getting caught in some type of delay. When I posted my hill onion after amaranth, the horehound posting hadn't yet shown up on my screen. As this is the second time this has happened in the game, as Jennie or someone said I agree we should just choose whichever letter we wish and go with it. Otherwise it will get really confusing.

(It's odd that the "someone posted another reply since you wrote this one..." message did not appear, but it didn't.)

LEEK Leeks can be grown from seed for harvest the same year. They serve as an excellent substitution for onions and can be grown in protected gardens well into the fall.

info on leeks

Kohlrabi

http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch24.html

The green variety is more common, but the purple variety is a little sweeter. The leaves are edible, too, as greens.

Ice plant

http://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/WfHC/Mesembryanthemum/index.html

I've never tried it myself I must confess! It is supposed to be used as a salad or like spinach.

Howdy Folks:

Ice Plant = Turmeric - Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia.

God Bless, Ward and Mary.


BIG OOPS. Ice Plant does not equal Turmeric. I was just using the last letter in ice plant (T) to start the new word, in this case Turmeric. Ice Plant and Turmeric are two different plants alltogether and should not be used as a subsitute for each other. Again SORRY.

God Bless, Ward.