What exotic crops can be grown in the middle zone: there is nothing complicated about it

Traditional apple, pear and cherry trees, which grow well in all regions and produce good harvests, are familiar to most gardeners.

However, the expert of the online publication BelNovosti, agronomist, landscape designer Anastasia Kovrizhnykh advises not to stop there and to add rare and exotic plants to your gardens.

Tortorello (tortarello)

How to describe this plant? Perhaps the most accurate would be to say that tortorello is an unusual cucumber with a melon flavor, similar in appearance to a long Chinese cucumber.

The fruits are ideal for salads, but they should be picked at the pickle stage, as overripe fruits become tasteless.

Growing tortorello is similar to growing regular cucumbers. The plant grows quickly and produces fruit productively, and its shoots can reach 4 meters in length, so the stems need to be pinched. The length of the fruits varies depending on the variety and can reach 35 cm or more.

Okra

Cream-colored with a red-violet or violet center, okra flowers resemble mallows, and the leaves resemble grapes.

Okra produces interesting pyramidal pods containing ripening seeds. They should be harvested early, about 2-3 days after the ovary falls. Okra tastes like green beans and can be boiled, stewed, or used in a variety of vegetable dishes.

Okra seeds germinate slowly, and shoots can appear 6-8 weeks after sowing. Seedlings can be planted in the ground 30-35 days after emergence, but provided that the air temperature is not lower than +10 degrees. You can sow seeds directly into the ground and cover with film to keep warm.

Okra requires little care other than pinching the stem to control its growth. Fruiting begins in July and continues until early August.

Purslane

Purslane is an annual herbaceous plant about 15 cm high with fleshy round leaves and yellow flowers.

It is grown for use in salads and added to soups, but the problem is that purslane is a fairly aggressive plant that can spread on its own and therefore requires control and attention from gardeners.

Earlier, the expert told how to sow tomatoes so that they sprout on the third day.