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Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur As I have free reign, and as there are over 20 000 edible plant species in the world, it seems negligent to stick to the tomato-zucchini-bean situation when I could be playing around with thousands of others like black turmeric, midym berries and Turkish orange eggplants. I started thinking about growing more edible diversity as I (actually, my dad) re-built my vegetable garden cage last month. It now looks like a plant prison rather than a den of thriving chlorophyllic life, but so far there’s been no break-ins from our resident wallaby, possum, rat, mouse, bandicoot and antechinus populations. Another reason I began to think about obscure edibles – aside from it being spring, and aside from my new animal-proofing engineering feats – is because growing food is a particularly empowering pursuit that I need to get better at. Many years ago I interviewed Nick Ritar, co-founder of Milkwood Permaculture. Something he said has stuck in my mind ever since. Every meal we eat, every mouthful of food we swallow, is both an ethical minefield and an exercise of power, he told me. We choose what kind of world we want, what kind of systems – agricultural and otherwise – we’re willing to support, by what we eat. We, very literally, put our money where our mouth is, three times a day. Or five, or six, in my case. New worlds need imagining right now – on political, community and personal levels. All are intertwined, all require reflection, interrogation and action. On a personal level, I know I can be a better food grower, and it’s really important to me that I try. And so, I’m imagining beyond past failures and current inexperience. I’m imagining a vegetable kingdom/prison that’s wild and radical and mad and diverse and fertile and delicious. In order to indulge my love of horticultural curiosities and my desire to expand my vegetable growing enterprise, I consulted two queens of the vegetable patch for guidance on their favourite obscure edibles – horticulturalist and serious veggie gardener Olivia Caputo, formerly of CERES organic farm in Melbourne, and Sydney based Laurie Green, founder of Crop Swap Australia. Here’s a collection of the pair’s favourite obscure edibles for consideration in your own radical, edible, garden world.