7 Unusual and Tasty Hybrid, Crossbred Vegetables to Grow

By Erin Marissa Russell and Matt Gibson

gardener have a long story of creating hybrid vegetable variety show that allow them to produce vegetables that share the strength of both their parents through crossbreeding . Some of those crossbreed come from two totally unlike vegetables , and when the two parent vegetables are get across , the result is something entirely new . One of the most unwashed example is broccolini , which was created by crossing broccoli with kai lan , or Chinese Brassica oleracea italica .

However , gardeners these days have many more crossbred vegetables to pick out from when they want to plant something completely new . Keep reading to find out about more variety of tasty intercrossed vegetable you could originate in your own garden .

broccoflower

Broccoflower / Romanesco

Broccoflower is the product of hybridise Brassica oleracea italica and cauliflower , two brassica vegetables that are so closely related to it ’s easy for them to cross - pollinate . The termination of this interbreeding between broccoli and cauliflower resembles cauliflower in everything but its color — birdlime green .

If broccoflower is not picked at the appropriate clip ( when heads appraise six to eight column inch widely ) , the pale unripe heads will in reality change state white-hot like Brassica oleracea botrytis . Its spirit is similar to cauliflower with a morsel less redolence . Broccoflower also tend to be smaller than cauliflower when ripe , less terse in texture , and not as dim ( making it not as heavy ) . Broccoflower packs more vitamin coke than an orange tree does and hold more vitamin A than either Brassica oleracea italica or cauliflower .

Broccoflower is grow during the cool of fall and winter , and it maturate good in gardens that have plenteous dirt that packs a sizeable dose of atomic number 7 . Gardeners can amend their soil to make it more appropriate for turn broccoflower by mixing in compost , well - rotted manure , or bloodmeal .

broccolini

mulch the garden seam where broccoflower is develop with lawn clippings can facilitate tote up nitrogen as well as regulating the soil temperature to keep it cool and choking out weeds . you could learn more in ourarticle Branch Out from Broccoli : How to get Broccoflower and Romanesco .

Broccolini / Brokali

One of the most commonly grow crossbreed out there is broccolini , sometimes called brokali . You ’ll sometimes see broccolini sell under the name “ baby broccoli , ” but this is n’t an precise description . Broccolini is really a cross between received broccoli and a Chinese vegetable called gai - local area web ( sometimes referred to as either Chinese broccoli or Formosan kale ) . The resulting crossbreed vegetable has prospicient stalks about the same heaviness as edible asparagus topped with small bud florets . Broccolini has a sweeter flavor and a more tender , toothsome texture than standard broccoli and is excellent make fun , grilled , steam clean , and conjure - electrocute .

Broccolini harvest do best when the weather condition is nerveless and the dirt has a pH level between 6.0 and 7.0 . The plant life flourish when cater with muckle of consistent hydration and are flow lots of nitrogen via compost tea or a Pisces the Fishes emulsion . you may learn more in ourarticle How to Grow Broccolini .

Caulilini

You wo n’t be able to raise caulilini in your garden , as this vegetable comes to theAmerican market through Mann ’s , a Del Monte company — so you may be able-bodied to find it in your local garden truck department . While caulilini is sometimes call baby cauliflower , it ’s not actually an immature version of the standard cauliflower veg . Though caulilini is n’t a hybrid variety , the name ’s law of similarity to broccolini have in mind it ’s often confused for a loan-blend which is why we ’ve included it on this lean .

Caulilini is actually an Asiatic Brassica oleracea botrytis variety , song hua , that ’s sometimes sold under the name flowering cauliflower or easy Brassica oleracea botrytis . Though you may not be capable to find caulilini by that name , it is potential to recover seeds for the Asian cauliflower variety song hua . One author for Modern Farmer suggested that a Brassica oleracea botrytis variety from Burpee called Fioretto may be the same veggie as well .

Celtuce

Celtuce is a mashup of celery and lettuce , though the hybrid here is the name of the vegetable . The plant does resemble a mark between lettuce and cultivated celery , too , further conduce to the disarray . The Lactuca sativa asparagina plant itself is not a cross , though — it ’s simply anAsian motley of lettuce , Lactuca sativa var . Augustana . Celtuce is sometimes cite to instead as stem lettuce , Chinese lettuce , or asparagus lettuce . Unlike with other type of cabbage , the flavor of stem lettuce does n’t lose from bolting , so gardeners can harvest and eat their crops even if hot conditions causes the stem lettuce to bolt .

The celtuce stem can be rust either bleak or manipulate . The vegetable consists of a thick , white stem that ’s just as comestible as the leafage that grow from it . bare-ass , it has a crisp crush that work well in salad or slit as a snack . Cooking the stem brings out the nuances of its flavor , which are haywire and balmy . It ’s often served grilled or conjure up - fried as a side dish on its own or a portion of sauteed dishes . you could learn more about growing celtuce in the articleCeltuce or Stem Lettuce from Permaculture Research Institute .

Cucamelon

Cucamelon is the outcome of get across cucumber with Citrullus vulgaris , and the result is for sure the cut hybrid vegetable out there . The fruits of the cucamelon vine are just an column inch or so long , about the size of grapes , but they resemble petite stripy watermelons . The savor of the cucamelon is similar to that of a cucumber , with a bit of a off-key , tart bite .

The cucamelon also run by the name Mexican morose gherkin , and has circumstances of nicknames , such as mouse melons , pepquinos , Mexican miniature watermelons , sandiita raton , and Mexican sour cucumbers . The entire yield is edible , including the skin . Cucamelons are often used as a garnish for nutrient and drink , and the fruit are often included in dinner party salad or fruit salad .

Cucamelons grow considerably in warm regions , which makes sense , as they ’re aboriginal to Central America and Mexico . They should be planted in springtime so they ’ll have the warm season of summer to grow and develop . Many gardener grow cucamelons in container so that if the temperature drops too low for these tropic plants , the container can be brought indoors overnight .

The plants need a trellis or other support structure nearby so they have something to climb . you could memorize cucamelons in our article How to maturate Cucamelon .

Kalettes

Kalettes are a intercrossed crossing of Brussels sprout and kale , and they take double the amount of Vitamin C and B6 of even Brussels sprouts . These veggies have a sweet , nutty flavor that works well when incorporated into many savory dishes . Kalettes look like miniature ornamental kale rosettes . The dark green rosettes are adorn with royal blushes .

Like Brussels sprouts , the bud of kalettes form in the leafage axils that arise along the stem turn of the plant . Just one cup of topnotch alimental kalettes provide you with five grams of fiber , 90 percent of the recommended day-by-day pane of Vitamin C , and 15 percent of the recommended day-by-day dose of iron . Kalettes can be make in a act of different ways , including boiling , stir - fry , steaming , broil or roasting . you’re able to enjoy these vegetable by either eating them in the buff or flip them into dishes like soups and stews .

Kalettes are a winter harvest vegetable . Sow the seed indoors in March , then move kalettes into the garden in May for a November harvest . Plant kalettes in a N - rich stain that has been amended with compost or well - aged manure , and add a pinch of line repast at the roots of each kalette works to give each works a nitrogen boost .

celtuce asian lettuce

Mulch with lawn clippings to aid dissuade skunk , improve wet retention , and supply even more nitrogen . earnestly , these plants really need nitrogen boosts , so the more ways you could get N to the soil where they ’re get , the better off they will be . Another way to furnish additional atomic number 7 is to spray your kalette plants every two weeks with a discourse such as a Pisces the Fishes emulsion or compost tea leaf .

Kalettes are easy to uprise , just call for a prospicient growing time of year and a very productive soil to perform well . There are early , midseason , and belatedly - mature varieties available . you may learn more in our clause How toGrow Kalettes : New Superfood , the Kale and Brussels Sprouts Vegetable Hybrid .

Rabbage

Rabbage is a hybridization between cabbage and radish , result in small foreland of ruffly , peppery leaf . The rabbage ’s leaf are pretty , with a two - toned force that makes them both jungle green and lifelike violet - red . They ’re tasty in cole slaw or salad , shredded to top tacos or sandwich , and grilled as a side cup of tea . Rabbages are also call off raphanobrassica plants .

This particular hybrid vegetable has never enjoyed the same popularity as many of the others . People look down on it as having the tough qualities of its two ancestors : the leaves of the Raphanus sativus longipinnatus and ascendent of the cabbage . As a effect , you ’ll belike have a strong time locate seeds or starter works if you determine you want to grow rabbage . You wo n’t be able-bodied to cross this loan-blend yourself at abode , as rabbage is an intergeneric crossbreed , a crossing that ’s only possible in the research laboratory and would never have pass off in nature .

While some of these interbreed veggie are only uncommitted in the green goods department , many of them can be buy as seeds so you’re able to raise them in your own garden . There ’s no near elbow room to make your harvest more exciting than to maturate an unusual vegetable . Your home will love obtain to be intimate these crossbred hybrid vegetables in the garden as well as on their dinner denture .

cucamelon