Transcription
What if I told you that some of the most nutritious, delicious, and productive vegetables you could possibly grow are the ones that nobody's planting anymore? Vegetables that our grandparents grew without thinking twice, that fed families through wars and depressions, that thrived without fertilizers or pesticides or any of the fuss we deal with today.
Most people don't know this, but while we're all struggling with picky hybrid tomatoes and finicky lettuce, there are vegetables out there that are tougher than nails, produce more food per square foot, and practically take care of themselves. And today, I'm going to show you 20 of them that will change the way you think about vegetable gardening forever. Stick around because number 17 on this list, it's been growing wild in ditches for centuries, produces edible food from root to flower, and you can harvest it 8 months out of the year. And number 20 is so indestructible that it survived being buried under volcanic ash and kept producing food.
Hey there, green thumbs and victory gardeners. Welcome back to Senior's Gardening, where we rediscover the practical, time-tested wisdom that makes growing your own food not just possible, but actually easy and enjoyable. If you're new here, welcome to the community. We're all about bringing back the gardening knowledge that actually works. The stuff our grandparents knew but somehow got lost along the way. Make sure you hit that subscribe button because we post new videos every week that'll save you time, money, and a whole lot of frustration in the garden. And to my returning viewers, my fellow vegetable detectives and heirloom hunters, thank you for being here week after week. Your comments and success stories inspire every video I make. Some of you have already started growing forgotten fruits from our last video, and I've loved reading about your adventures. Keep those updates coming.
Today we're diving into the world of forgotten vegetables. And trust me, this is going to be eyeopening. Somewhere along the way, probably in the last 70 or 80 years, we decided that vegetables needed to be perfect. Perfect shape, perfect color, perfect size. They needed to survive being shipped across the country, sit on storeshelves for days, and still look pretty. So plantreeders started selecting for appearance and shelf life instead of flavor, nutrition, and the ability to actually grow easily. And you know what got lost? All those incredible vegetables that taste amazing, grow like crazy, handle tough conditions, and have been feeding people for hundreds or even thousands of years. Vegetables that don't need perfect soil or constant watering. Vegetables that laugh at pests and diseases. vegetables that produce way more food with way less work.
These are the vegetables that kept people alive through the Great Depression. The ones that fed soldiers in World War II victory gardens. The ones that immigrant families brought from the old country and grew in tiny urban plots. The tough ones, the survivors, the vegetables that actually want to grow. And here's the beautiful part. They're still available. Seed companies that specialize in heirlooms still carry them. Seed savers and garden clubs still trade them. And once you plant them, you'll wonder why anyone bothers with anything else. So, let's get into it. Here are 20 forgotten vegetables that grow like weeds. Ranked from impressive to absolutely incredible.
Number one, let's talk about Good King Henry. And yes, that's really its name. This is a perennial green that was a staple in European gardens for centuries. Grown for its spinach-like leaves and edible shoots. Think of it as asparagus and spinach had a baby that never dies. Good King Henry is a true perennial, which means you plant it once and it comes back year after year. The leaves taste like mild spinach and you can harvest them from spring through fall. In early spring, the new shoots can be blanched and eaten like asparagus. The plant grows about 2 ft tall, handles shade better than most vegetables, and once established, it's practically indestructible. Here's why I love it. Most greens are annuals. You plant them, harvest for a few weeks, and they're done. Good King Henry just keeps coming back, getting bigger and more productive each year. It doesn't bolt in hot weather like spinach does. Pests mostly ignore it. And it actually improves poor soil because it's related to plants that mine minerals from deep in the ground. Think of it as the friend who not only never asks for anything, but actually makes your life better just by being around.
Number two is carrot. And I guarantee you've never heard of this one. Scarro was one of the most popular root vegetables in medieval Europe. Prized for its sweet, almost nutty flavor, it looks like a cluster of small white carrots all growing together. and it tastes like a cross between a carrot and a parsnip with a hint of sweetness. This is another perennial and that's huge for lazy gardeners like us. You plant it once and every fall you can dig up some of the roots while leaving others to multiply. The plant grows about 3 ft tall with pretty white flowers that bees love. It handles poor soil, tolerates shade, and has basically no pest problems because modern pests don't even recognize it as food. The roots are ready to harvest in fall and can stay in the ground all winter, so you dig them up as you need them. They're sweet enough that in medieval times, people ate them as dessert. And unlike carrots that need deep, loose soil, skir will grow in heavier clay soil without complaint. It's like discovering a vegetable that's been waiting patiently for 400 years for someone to remember how delicious it is.
Number three, sea kale. And this one's special. Sea kale grows wild along the coasts of Europe, which tells you everything you need to know about how tough it is. It handles salt spray, sandy soil, cold winters, and hot summers. The young shoots are blanched in spring and tastes like a cross between asparagus and broccoli with a slightly nutty flavor. Sea kale is a perennial that gets better every year. The first year you don't harvest, the second year you can take a light harvest. By year three, you've got a plant that'll produce for 20 years or more. In late winter, you cover the plant with a bucket or pot to block light, which makes the new shoots tender and mild. A few weeks later, you've got incredible vegetables that sell for premium prices in fancy restaurants, except you're growing them in your backyard with basically no work. The plant has beautiful blue green foliage that looks ornamental even when you're not harvesting. It tolerates drought once established. deer won't touch it and it's so cold hearty that it's native to places where not much else will grow. Think of it as the vegetable equivalent of that person who thrives in extreme conditions and makes everyone else look like they're working too hard.
Number four is scorera, also called black salsifi. And this is where things get interesting. Scorzanara is a root vegetable that looks a bit intimidating because the roots are black on the outside. But peel that skin and you've got white flesh that tastes like a cross between oysters and artichokes. It's so unique that in Europe it's called the oyster plant. This is technically a bianial, but here's the trick. If you leave some roots in the ground, they'll produce edible leaves the second year and then reseed themselves, giving you a continuous supply. The roots are incredibly nutritious, packed with minerals and a type of fiber called inulin that's really good for digestion. They can stay in the ground all winter without damage, so you dig them as you need them. They're sweet enough that in medieval times, people ate them as dessert. And unlike carrots that need deep, loose soil, scores will grow in heavier clay soil without complaint. It's like discovering a vegetable that's been waiting patiently for 400 years for someone to remember how delicious it is.
Number five, salsasai, which is Scorzanera's cousin, but with white roots. Same incredible oyster-like flavor, same easy growing, same ability to handle tough conditions. But there's something special about salsifi. The purple flowers that appear in the second year are edible and beautiful. And if you let some plants go to seed, you'll get volunteer plants forever. Salifi was incredibly popular in American gardens from the 1700s through the early 1900s. Then it just vanished from seed cataloges. Why? probably because it doesn't look perfect. The roots are sometimes a bit hairy and it takes a whole season to mature. But for gardeners who actually care about food instead of appearance, Salifi is gold. The roots can be eaten raw and salads when young, cooked like parsnips when mature, or made into the most incredible soup you've ever tasted. The young leaves are edible. The flower buds can be pickled like capers. It's like getting five vegetables from one plant and the plant barely needs you at all. It's like the multitasking vegetable that makes you look like a genius gardener without any extra work.
Number six, Hamburg parsley. Also called root parsley. And this one should never have been forgotten. It's a parsley that produces big white roots that taste like a combination of parsley and celery root. The roots are incredible in soups and stews. And meanwhile, you can harvest the leaves all season just like regular parsley. Hamburg parsley is bianial but often grown as an annual for the roots. It grows in partial shade which makes it perfect for those spots under trees where nothing else will produce. It handles cold beautifully and actually tastes better after a frost. Pests mostly ignore it because of its strong oils and it actually stores well all winter in a root cellar or even just in a bucket of damp sand in your garage. This was a staple in European gardens and early American colonial gardens because it gave you both an herb and a root vegetable from the same plant. It's efficient, productive, and requires about as much care as a weed, which is to say almost none. Think of it as the multitasking vegetable that makes you look like a genius gardener without any extra work.
Number seven, cardon, which is basically a giant relative of the artichoke, but grown for its stems instead of its flower buds. Cardons look dramatic in the garden, growing 6 to 8 ft tall with silvery leaves and purple thistle-like flowers, but it's the thick leaf stems you're after. And when they're blanched and cooked, they taste like a cross between artichoke hearts and celery. Cardons are perennial in mild climates and grown as annuals elsewhere. They're native to the Mediterranean, which means they handle heat and drought like champions. They need space because they're big plants, but once established, they're incredibly lowmaintenance. In fall, you tie up the leaves and mound soil around the base to blanch the stems, making them tender and mild. A few weeks later, you've got incredible vegetables that sell for premium prices in fancy restaurants, except you're growing them in your backyard with basically no work. The plant has beautiful blue green foliage that looks ornamental even when you're not harvesting. It tolerates drought once established. Deer won't touch it, and it's so cold hearty that it's native to places where not much else will grow. Think of it as the vegetable equivalent of that person who thrives in extreme conditions and makes everyone else look like they're working too hard.
Number eight is Crohn's, also called Chinese artichokes. These are small tubers that look like little white grubs or segmented worms, which probably explains why they're not popular. But get past the appearance and you've got something incredible. They taste like artichokes and water chestnuts with a slightly nutty flavor and a crisp texture even when cooked. Crons are perennial and they spread like crazy. You plant a few tubers and within 2 years you'll have more than you know what to do with. They grow in shade which is rare for a productive vegetable. They have no pest problems. They're cold hearty and harvesting them is easy because they grow right near the surface. You can leave them in the ground all winter and dig them as you need them. The only reason crrons disappeared is that they don't store well after harvest. And they look weird. But if you're growing your own food and eating fresh from the garden, storage doesn't matter. And once you taste them, you won't care what they look like. They're crunchy, delicious, unique, and they basically grow themselves. Think of them as the ugly duckling that turns out to be the most productive, easiest vegetable in your garden.
Number nine, seabbeet, which is the wild ancestor of all our modern beets, charred and sugar beads. Except seab beet is better than any of them in terms of toughness and productivity. It grows wild along ocean coasts, handling salt spray, poor sandy soil, and harsh winds. The leaves taste like chard, but with a more complex, slightly mineral flavor. Seabbeat is a perennial or bianial depending on climate and you can harvest leaves continuously from spring through fall. The plant is incredibly tough, handling conditions that would kill chard or spinach. It doesn't bolt as easily as other greens. It tolerates both drought and wet soil. And it has deep tap roots that mine minerals, making the leaves incredibly nutritious. This is the vegetable that ancient people gathered before anyone thought to domesticate it. And honestly, the wild version might be better than what we bred from it. It's more vigorous, more nutritious, and requires zero pampering. If you have a spot with poor soil or salt issues, Seabbeat will thrive there while everything else struggles. It's like having access to the original version of software that's somehow better than all the updates.
Number 10, turnup rooted cherville. And this is one of the great mysteries of vegetable gardening. How did something this delicious and this easy to grow completely disappear? Turnup rooted churville produces small gray roots that taste like a combination of chestnuts and potatoes with a hint of parsley. When cooked, they're sweet, nutty, and absolutely addictive. This is a fall-plated, springh harvested vegetable, which means it occupies garden space during winter when nothing else is growing. You plant seeds in fall. They germinate slowly, grow a bit before winter, then take off in early spring. By late spring, you've got roots ready to harvest. The plant prefers cool weather and shade, making it perfect for the difficult spring garden period when it's too hot for some crops but too cold for others. Turnup rooted churville was grown all over Europe until about 100 years ago, then just vanished. Probably because commercial growers couldn't mechanize the harvest and the roots don't store as long as potatoes. But for home gardeners, it's perfect. It fills a timing niche when you need fresh vegetables. It grows with minimal care. And it gives you something completely unique that you literally cannot buy in stores. It's the vegetable equivalent of discovering a secret that everyone forgot about.
Now, if you're finding this valuable and you're starting to realize just how many incredible options have been hiding in plain sight, do me a huge favor. Hit that like button right now. It helps this video reach other gardeners who are tired of struggling with highmaintenance vegetables and ready to try something better. And if you haven't subscribed to Senior's Gardening yet, click that subscribe button and ring the bell. We're building a community of practical gardeners who value production over perfection, and I'd love to have you as part of it. All right, let's keep going because we're just getting to the really amazing ones.
Number 11, Alexander, which is sometimes called horse parsley. This is a bianial that was grown for thousands of years in Europe before celery was domesticated. The leaves taste like a strong combination of celery and parsley. The stems can be blanched and eaten. The flower buds can be harvested like broccoli. The roots are edible and the seeds are used as a spice. You basically get five vegetables in an herb from one plant. Alexander's grows in partial shade, which is rare for productive vegetables. It handles poor soil. It's cold hearty. It tolerates coastal conditions. And once you have it, it selfseeds, giving you volunteer plants forever. The only reason celery replaced it is that celery is milder and less assertive. But if you actually want flavor, Alexander beat celery hands down. The young shoots in spring are considered a delicacy in parts of Europe. You blanch them by mounding soil over the emerging growth, and they taste like the richest, most flavorful celery you've ever experienced. This plant fed people for centuries before anyone thought it needed improving. Turns out it didn't. Think of it as celery's wild, more talented older sibling that everyone forgot about when the mild younger brother got popular.
Number 12, patient stock. And yes, patience is right in the name because this perennial gives you harvests for years. It's related to sorrel but with larger leaves and a milder flavor. The leaves taste like a lemony spinach and are incredibly high in vitamins and minerals. Patient stock was a staple green in European gardens, particularly valued because it's one of the first greens available in spring. This plant is absurdly easy to grow. It tolerates any soil. It grows in sun or shade. It's cold hearty to extreme temperatures. It has deep tap roots that break up clay and my nutrients. And once established, it produces leaves from early spring through late fall. You harvest the outer leaves and let the center keep growing, giving you a continuous supply. The only catch is the leaves are high in oxalic acid, so you want to cook them or eat them in moderation rather than eating pounds of raw leaves. But that's true of spinach, too. Patient stock got its name because it patiently provides food year after year without asking for anything in return. It's the reliable friend who shows up every spring without fail and always brings something useful.
Number 13, ORAC, also called mountain spinach. And this annual green was more popular than spinach for centuries. Ora comes in green, red, and golden varieties, making it beautiful in the garden. It tastes like a mild spinach with a slight tang, and can be eaten raw or cooked. But here's what makes it special. Orac doesn't bolt in hot weather the way spinach does. ORAK grows fast, reaching 6 ft tall, and you can harvest leaves continuously all summer. It tolerates poor soil, handles drought better than spinach, and actually grows better in heat. The red and golden varieties are stunning, looking like ornamental plants while producing pounds of nutritious greens. And if you let one plant go to seed, you'll have volunteer orac forever. This was the main leafy green in Europe before spinach became popular in the 1600s. Why did it get replaced? Honestly, I have no idea. ORAC is easier to grow, more heat tolerant, more beautiful, and just as nutritious. It's one of those mysteries where the worst option somehow won. But that means it's waiting for gardeners like you to rediscover it. It's like spinach's cooler cousin who moved away and is just waiting for you to call them back.
Number 14, rampion, which has the distinction of being the vegetable that Rapunzel was named after in the fairy tale. The plant produces edible roots that taste like a mild radish and leaves that taste like a bitter lettuce. Both were eaten in salads in medieval Europe. And the plant was so popular that people would risk sneaking into gardens to steal it, which is literally the plot of Rapunzel. Rampion is bianial, producing roots and leaves the first year and edible flowers the second year before setting seed. It prefers cool weather and partial shade, making it perfect for spring and fall. The roots are best harvested when young and tender, about the thickness of a pencil. The leaves can be harvested continuously if you take outer leaves and leave the center growing, giving you a continuous supply. The only catch is the roots are small and it takes patience to grow enough for a meal. But for gardeners who appreciate unique flavors and historical vegetables, rampion is fascinating. It grows with minimal care, tolerates shade, and gives you the satisfaction of growing the actual vegetables from a fairy tale. How many vegetables come with their own story? It's like growing a piece of history that happens to be delicious.
Number 15. Skirit's cousin, arkatcha, which is sometimes called Peruvian parsnip. This one's from South America and was a staple food of the Inca Empire. It produces clusters of roots that taste like a cross between celery, carrots, and chestnuts. The texture is creamy when cooked, almost like a potato, but with more flavor. Arakatcha is perennial in warm climates and grown as an annual in cooler areas. It handles poor soil, produces reliably and has virtually no pest problems because pests in North America don't recognize it. The plant looks a bit like celery with thick roots clustered at the base. You harvest after 6 to 10 months using some roots and replanting others. This vegetable was so important in South America that it was second only to potatoes in terms of cultivation before European contact. Then it got forgotten in the rush to globalize European crops. But it's making a comeback among gardeners who appreciate productive, unusual, flavorful vegetables. If you have a long growing season, Arakatcha will reward you with pounds of unique, delicious roots that cook into something between a carrot and a potato. It's like discovering a whole new category of root vegetable that no one told you existed.
Number 16, earth chestnut, also called ground nut or apios. And this one's a native North American perennial vine. It fed indigenous people for thousands of years. The plant produces chains of small tubers on its roots that taste like a combination of potatoes and chestnuts with a hint of artichoke. They're high in protein, which is rare for a root vegetable. Earth chestnuts are a nitrogen-fixing plant, which means they actually improve your soil while producing food. The vines grow 8 to 10 ft, so they need support, but they also produce edible flowers that are fragrant and beautiful. The tubers are ready to harvest in fall and can stay in the ground all winter. Each year, the plants produce more tubers, so your harvest gets bigger without any extra work. This plant is so tough that it grows wild in ditches and along streams throughout eastern North America. It handles wet soil, poor soil, shade, and neglect. The only reason it's not widely grown is that commercial agriculture never figured out how to mechanize the harvest. But for home gardeners, it's perfect. Plant it along a fence, let it climb, and harvest tubers every fall for decades. It's the ultimate lazy gardener's protein source.
And number 17, and this is the one I mentioned at the beginning, is lovage. Now, you might think lovage is just an herb, but traditionally it was grown as a vegetable. The leaves taste like intense celery and can be used fresh or dried. The stems can be blanched and eaten like celery. The roots are edible and taste like a cross between celery and parsnips. The seeds are used as a spice. And the plant is perennial, coming back bigger and more productive every year. Lovage grows 6 to 8 ft tall, making it one of the most productive plants per square foot you can grow. It handles poor soil, tolerates shade, and is cold hearty to extreme temperatures. Once established, you can harvest leaves from spring through fall, stems in summer, roots in fall, and seeds in late summer. And here's the beautiful part. You can harvest for 8 months of the year because different parts are ready at different times. This plant was in every cottage garden in Europe and every colonial garden in America. Then somewhere along the way, people decided it was just an herb and stopped using it as a vegetable. But one plant gives you more usable food than a whole row of celery with less work and zero pest problems. It's like discovering that what you thought was a minor character, is actually the hero of the story.
Number 18, oka, which is sometimes called New Zealand yam. And this is one of the most productive, beautiful, and easy vegetables you've never heard of. Okcha is native to South America and was the second most important tuber crop after potatoes in the Inca Empire. The tubers come in bright colors, pink, red, yellow, orange, and purple. And they taste like a lemony potato with a hint of sourness when raw that become sweet and nutty when cooked. Okcha plants look like clover with colorful flowers, making them ornamental while they're producing food underground. They're frost tender, but the tubers form late in the season in fall after the first light frost. One plant can produce several pounds of tubers. They have virtually no pest or disease problems because North American pests don't recognize them. And they're so easy to grow that they're actually considered weedy in New Zealand. The reason oka isn't popular is timing. They need a long cool fall to produce tubers. And in areas with early hard freezes, you might not get a crop. But if you have a mild fall or use row covers, you'll be rewarded with pounds of the most beautiful, unique, delicious tubers you've ever grown. They store for months and can be eaten like potatoes in any recipe. It's like growing rainbow potatoes that taste better and are easier to grow.
Number 19, yakone, which might be the ultimate forgotten vegetable because it checks every box. Yakone is a perennial from South America that produces sweet, crunchy tubers that taste like a cross between an apple and a hikima. The tubers are low in calories but high in a special type of fiber that's incredibly good for gut health. And they're naturally sweet without spiking blood sugar. Yakone grows as a perennial in mild climates and as an annual in cold areas. The plants look like small sunflowers and grow 6 ft tall. In fall, you harvest the tubers, and you can also save the crown to replant for next year. The tubers store for months and get sweeter during storage as starches convert to sugars. This vegetable was grown throughout South America for thousands of years. It came to the attention of health food enthusiasts a few decades ago because of its prebiotic properties, but it's still incredibly rare in gardens. The plants are easy to grow, productive, pestfree, and give you something you literally cannot buy in most stores. If you like crunchy, sweet vegetables and you want something unique, yakone is your answer. It's like growing your own superfood that requires less work than growing tomatoes.
And finally, number 20, the vegetable I've been saving for last because it represents everything a forgotten vegetable should be. The Ulco from the high Andes of South America. Ulco produces colorful tubers that come in wild combinations of pink, orange, yellow, and red with stripes and spots. They taste like a cross between a potato and a beet with a slightly nutty flavor. The leaves are also edible and taste like spinach. Ulukco is perennial in its native climate and grown as an annual elsewhere. But here's what makes it legendary. This plant was grown at 14,000 ft elevation in the Andes in volcanic soil in conditions that would kill most vegetables and it thrived. It produced reliably. It fed people for thousands of years in one of the harshest agricultural environments on Earth. The tubers form late in the season like oka and one plant can produce several pounds. They have virtually no pests or diseases. They store for months and they're so nutritious that they were a dietary staple for Andian people. Plus, they're beautiful. When you dig them up, it's like discovering treasure. Each tuber is uniquely colored and patterned. Ulco represents everything we've talked about today. A vegetable that's incredibly productive, handles tough conditions, requires minimal care, provides unique flavors, and has fed people for thousands of years. And somehow it's almost completely unknown outside of South America. But that's changing as gardeners discover these forgotten treasures and bring them back. It's the ultimate survivor vegetable that's waiting for you to give it a chance.
So there you have it. 20 forgotten vegetables that grow like weeds, produce incredible food, and require a fraction of the work we put into conventional vegetables. Vegetables that our ancestors relied on because they worked. vegetables that survived because they were tough, productive, and dependable. Here's what I want you to take away from this. The modern vegetable industry wants you to believe that their hybrid seeds and chemical inputs are necessary. But the truth is, some of the best vegetables in the world are the ones that grow despite us, not because of us. Vegetables that have been tested by centuries of real world growing instead of being bred in laboratories for appearance and shipping.
Every one of these vegetables tells a story. A story of people feeding their families with what worked. A story of plants that earned their place in gardens through reliability and production. A story of flavors and nutrition that we gave up in exchange for convenience and uniformity. But here's the beautiful thing. These vegetables are still here. Seed savers kept them alive. Small seed companies still offer them. And when you plant them, you're not just growing food. You're bringing back a piece of agricultural history. You're growing vegetables that your great-grandparents might have known. You're preserving genetic diversity and flavor diversity and the knowledge of what really works.
So, here's my challenge to you. Pick three vegetables from this list. Just three. Order the seeds, find a spot in your garden, and plant them next season. Give them a chance to show you what they can do. And then come back and tell me in the comments what happened. I guarantee you'll be amazed at how much easier gardening can be when you work with vegetables that actually want to grow.
If you enjoyed this deep dive into forgotten vegetables and you learn something new, smash that like button. It really does help the channel grow and helps other gardeners discover these incredible plants. Drop a comment below and tell me which forgotten vegetable you're most excited to try. Are you team perennial greens? Team unusual roots? Team South American tubers? I read every comment and I love hearing from you. And if you haven't subscribed to Senior's Gardening yet, what are you waiting for? Hit that subscribe button and ring the notification bell so you never miss a video. We're building a community here of practical gardeners who value production, flavor, and ease over perfection and trends. A community that remembers the old ways and isn't afraid to try something different. Until next time, keep growing smart, keep growing adventurous, and remember that the best vegetables are often the ones everyone forgot about. They're out there waiting for gardeners like you to bring them back to life. I'll see you in the next video. Now get out there and start planting your forgotten vegetable.