Forgotten Vegetables
Skirret • Salsify • Good King Henry • Sea kale • Orach • Cardoon • Rampion • Scorzonera • Lovage • Jerusalem artichoke • Mangels
What makes these worth rediscovering?
Many older vegetables were selected for hardiness, storage, unusual flavors, edible leaves or roots, and usefulness at different times of the year. Some are perennial or especially low-maintenance once established.
Skirret, for example, is a sweet, white-rooted perennial that was grown in Europe before potatoes became dominant. Good King Henry is a hardy perennial green, while sea kale is a perennial brassica with edible shoots and leaves.
Resources
15 Forgotten Vegetables Medieval Farmers Grew That NEED to Come Back
Complete Gardening
17 Forgotten Vegetables
Plantisima
20 Forgotten Vegetables That Deserve a Place in Every Garden
YouTube
Edible “Weeds”
Purslane • Lamb’s quarters • Dandelion • Chickweed • Plantain • Amaranth • Violet • Red clover
Why look at weeds?
Some plants that volunteer in lawns and gardens are edible greens or herbs. Purslane, for example, is notable for its omega-3 fatty acid content, while lamb’s quarters and amaranth can provide useful minerals and vitamins.
Safety: Never eat a wild plant unless you are certain of its identification and that it is safe to eat. Avoid plants from areas treated with herbicides, pesticides, or other contaminants.
10 Common Weeds That Are Actually Expensive Superfoods
YouTube
Edible Weeds: 20 Common Weeds You Can Eat
The Old Farmer’s Almanac
Modern Superfoods: What Does the Research Actually Show?
“Superfood” is a popular marketing term, not a scientific category. The interesting question is what nutrients or plant compounds are present and what human research has actually found.
🍅 Purple tomato — a remarkable animal-study result
Scientists developed tomatoes that produce unusually high levels of anthocyanins, the purple pigments also found in blueberries and blackberries.
In a 2008 pilot study, cancer-prone mice fed a diet containing 10% freeze-dried purple tomato lived about 28–30% longer on average than mice on the standard diet. The researchers also reported a substantial delay in cancer progression in this mouse model.
Primary study: Butelli et al., Nature Biotechnology (2008), PMID 18953354.
🥔 Purple-fleshed potatoes
Purple potatoes contain anthocyanins throughout the flesh rather than only in the skin. In one small human study, eating 200 grams per day of Purple Majesty potatoes for two weeks reduced a measure of arterial stiffness. It was a small study, so the result is interesting rather than definitive.
🌱 Broccoli sprouts
Broccoli sprouts can be grown indoors in just a few days and are rich in glucoraphanin, which can produce sulforaphane. Human studies are promising but mixed; this is an active area of nutrition research, not a medical treatment.
🫐 Black currants & aronia (chokeberry)
These dark berries are rich in anthocyanins and other plant compounds. Both are interesting perennial shrubs for Illinois gardens. Black currants can tolerate partial shade, while aronia is a particularly hardy native shrub. Aronia fruit is nutritious but very tart and astringent.
🥕 Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes — biofortification
Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes were bred to provide much more beta-carotene, which the body can convert to vitamin A. Human trials have demonstrated improvements in vitamin A status among children who ate beta-carotene-rich orange-fleshed sweet potato. This is a good example of improving nutrition through plant breeding.
🍚 Black rice
Black rice gets its dark color from anthocyanins concentrated in the outer grain layers. Small human studies are exploring possible effects on cardiometabolic health and cognition, but the evidence is still preliminary.
Save Your Own Tomato Seeds
Today we’ll look at both fresh tomatoes and already-fermented seeds. Fermentation helps remove the gel around tomato seeds and can reduce some seed-borne problems.
- Save seeds from a fully ripe tomato.
- Put seeds and the surrounding gel into a small container with a little water.
- Let the mixture ferment for a few days until the seeds separate and the gel breaks down.
- Rinse thoroughly, remove debris and floating material, and keep the good seeds.
- Dry seeds completely before storing them in a labeled, cool, dry place.
Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth
Goodreads reference
SAVING TOMATO SEEDS at home like a pro!
YouTube
Why Seed Saving Matters for Food & Biodiversity
Farmer’s Footprint
Mark’s Tomato Seed Tracking Spreadsheet
tinyurl.com/mztomato
Free Mather Garden Opportunities
Grow-It-Together (G.I.T.) Garden Kits are available free to Illinois residents age 55+.
Garden Kit Sign-Up
mather.com/gardensignup
Garden Refresh Kits
For eligible 2025 recipients, with new seeds and supplies while available.
programs.mather.com/refresh-kits
G.I.T. Garden Kit Resources
Videos and instructions.
mather.com/git-resources