Vivid Vegetables to bring a splash of colour all year round

Lee Senior looks at how to grow the rainbow in your own plot

- Lee Senior

The fruit and vegetables that we grow and eat can be very colourful! Seed companies offer an ever increasing array of colours ranging from red beans to yellow courgettes and even blue pumpkin and squash.

Gradually, almost all colours of the rainbow are becoming possible.

Carrots are one of the most colourful veg around and they are not just in orange as could be assumed. In fact purple, yellow and even white carrots are becoming increasingly more popular. But orange was not always the main colour. Prior to the 17th century purple was the dominant colour of most of the cultivated carrots around. There were also a few yellow and white carrots which were rarer still. It was Dutch breeders that created the ubiquitous orange carrot that we know and love today.

GE THE ORANGE GLOW

The colour orange is also represented by sweet bell peppers and chilli peppers of course. But it doesn't stop there. Orange is perhaps most synonymous with pumpkins as well as carrots. Further down the popularity list comes various types of squash and sweet potatoes.

If the list is broadened further to what we can buy as well as grow constantly well in the UK then it's not unreasonable to add clementines and oranges! Orange produce is generally rich in Vitamin A and antioxidants and has other properties too.

HOW COLOUR AFFECTS OUR PURCHASE DECISIONS