Jade Pearls and Alien Eyeballs Unusual Edible Plants and the People Who Grow Them

About this book

Jade Pearls and Alien Eyeballs is a guide book to the world of unusual edible plants, whether they are old or new, rarely grown or from somewhere far flung. It looks as the history of plant hunters moving these plants around the world, and tells the stories of modern day enthusiasts, showcasing some of the unusual plants you may encounter as you being your own journey into this intriguing world.

Beyond our familiar fruits, vegetables and herbs, edible plants can be exotic, old-fashioned, wild or just plain weird. Think of the things you consider to be unusual – things you've seen in the produce section, or the latest 'superfruit' to be mentioned in the media. Perhaps you encountered something new on holiday, and wished you could bring it home with you. A list of plants you consider to be unusual would be different from my list, which would be different from everyone else's, because what counts as unusual depends on both your past experiences, where you live and when you live – there are trends and fashions in food and gardening, as in anything else. An unusual plant may have been commonly grown in the past, or it may have been bred only recently and be something truly new. Or it may come from far away. It may be a plant that is very commonly grown and known in agriculture, but not often cultivated at home – or the reverse, a plant that is common in gardens and on allotments but rarely commercially available.

Why would people want to step off the beaten garden path and grow something unusual? At the simplest level, there is a natural human impulse to seek out new and interesting things, to collect them, to experience them, and for gardeners to grow something new just to see if they can.

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