I'm a big fan of plants. I love the oddball plants and really wish I had a house so I could set up my own garden area. Instead, I have a bunch of indoor plants and I share a greenhouse and summer garden with my parents.
Anyway...I picked up the Whole Seed Catalog and wanted to share some sweet gothic plant finds. I'll do this again for other plant catalogs that I get. For the Whole Seed Catalog (http://www.rareseeds.com) there are vegetables and grains, herbs, and flowers available.
Vegetables & Grains
Beans
I can't eat beans due to my restricted paleo diet, but I know people like them. Here are a few choice options for a gothic stock of beans. You can grow them, then pickle them for year-round eating.
Black Turtle Beans - White pod, black beans
Red Swan Beans - Lovely scarlet color
Purple Teepee Bean - Dark purple, nearly black
Purple Dove Bush Bean - Dark purple
Blauhilde Bean - Purple color
Roots & Tubers
I have to really watch it with roots and tubers due to the high-starch levels - a big no-no for folks on the paleo diet.
Crosby's Egyptian Beet - Deep red
Cylindra Beet - Long and deep red
Malaga Radish - Purple-Black skin with white-purple flesh
Pusa Jamuni Radish - Purple flesh
Round Black Spanish Radish - Black skin with white flesh
Sichuan Red Ruby Radish - Deep red inside and out
Black Nebula Carrot - Black-purple inside and out
Gniff Carrot - Purple outer with light yellow core
Kyoto Red Carrot - Red inside and out
Pusa Asita Black Carrot - Purple-black outer with white core
Leafy Vegetables
These are all the leafy plants that you could cook up and/or turn into salad.
Red Rubine Brussel Sprouts - Red-violet brussel sprouts
Merlot Lettuce - Dark red romaine variety
Garnet Rose Lettuce - Red romaine variety
Dazzling Blue Kale - Green to Violet leaf
Beni Houshi Mizuna - Purple and green mizuna. Excellent for salads.
Kalibos Cabbage - Lovely bright purple cabbage
Mammoth Red Rock Cabbage - Red-violet cabbage
Squash & Melons
If you only eat squash when there's a pumpkin pie or zucchini bread being passed around, you are totally missing out. Squash is pretty easy to grow. I have pretty good luck with squash in either a greenhouse or in a sunny area. I'm still working on getting melons to grow. I think I just started them too late. I plan on trying again this year.
Charentais Melon - Grey/green skin with orange flesh.
Noir de Carmes Melon - Dark green skin with orange flesh.
Black Beauty Zucchini - Dark green skin with white flesh. Very common.
Long Island Cheese Pumpkin - A classic-looking light orange pumpkin that is about the size of a large cheese wheel.
Kogigu Winter Squash - Black skinned squash with dark orange flesh.
Jarrahdale Pumpkin - Slate blue pumpkin.
Hot House
Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. There aren't any real gothic cucumbers out there. I could list a variety of hot peppers, but I'm just going to avoid it.
Black Beauty Tomatoes - Purple-black flesh with red flesh. Great flavor.
Cosmic Eclipse Tomatoes - Red/Green to Purple/Black flesh.
Great White Tomatoes - White inside and out. Fruity notes.
Real Black Eggplant - Black-Purple skin.
Blot Pepper - Gold to Purple skin. Sweet pepper. For whatever reason, these strike me.
Lilac Bell Pepper - Purple skin. Sweet pepper
Garden Staples
There aren't any gothic varieties of broccoli or cauliflower.
Bronze Fennel - Bronze-red color.
Giant Red Celery - Red stalked celery is an English traditional variety.
Romanesco Italia - Bright green with natural fractals. Kind of a cross between broccoli and cauliflower.
North Holland Red Blood Onion - Red-violet onions.
Grains
There are a few goth grains out there. If you like grains...making beer...whatever, perhaps these are up your alley.
Love Lies Bleeding Amaranth - Ruby red amaranth.
Montana Lavender Clay Corn - Purple corn.
Dakota Black Corn - Black corn.
Bloody Butcher Dent Corn - Blood red corn.
Herbs
I always find herbs to be kind of personal since you use them for whatever purposes you want. If you want complex herbs, beyond the regular culinary herbs - say for a witch garden, that's cool. Here are a few goth choices.
Honeywort - Purple-pink that darkens as it ages. Related to borage.
Cerise Queen Yarrow - Pink to purple flowers.
Moldavian Dragonhead Balm - Blue-purple flowers. Flowers and leaves used for a tea to "lighten the heart".
Genovese Red Freddy Basil - Nearly black leaves.
Cardinal Basil - Red-violet basil.
Green Twister Echinacea - Green faded to purple echinacea. Healing plant.
Flowers
There are so many types of flowers out there! Do your research to figure out if they're fragrant or not.
Black Boy Bachelor's Button - Purple-black flowers.
Kew Blue Salpiglosses - Black-purple to blue-violet flowers.
Mother of Pearl Poppy - White to red or pink or orange or white flowers. Reminiscent of an oil painting.
Hungarian Blue Breadseed Poppy - Blue-violet flower.
Black Swan Poppy - Ruby red flower cluster.
Amazing Grey Poppy - Grey to white flowers.
Black King Pansy - Black flower with yellow center.
Orchid Cream Nasturtium - White with blood red splatters flowers.
Bloody Mary Nasturtium - Yellow to red with blood red splatters flowers.
Miss Jekyll Love In A Mist - Blue and purple flowers set in a "misty" leaf.
Jet Black Hollyhock - Black flowers on a stalk.
Black and White Minstrals Dianthus - Black with white edged flowers
Blue Disc African Daisy - White petals with blue center.
Black Magic Cosmos - Dark red flowers.