Producing vivid, brilliant color is something that plants do amazingly well. Why not take advantage of their abilities and add some visual spice to your vegetable garden? Many vegetables have purple plant varieties and they are just as easy to grow organically as their more conventionally-colored cousins.

There are some vegetables, including eggplant and cabbage, that people expect to be purple. These will be less of a shock to the picky eaters in your family than purple cauliflower or potatoes. No matter what their reaction, it will be worth your while to convince them to eat their organic purple veggies.

According to the Texas A&M University Department of Horticulture, "Purple onions and cabbage have all the benefits of white onions and green cabbage but also a little added benefit of another phytochemical that acts as an antioxidant and can also improve memory. This phytochemical is what gives the purple color" For the curious, these phytochemicals include anthocyanins and phenolics.

Some varieties of these normally purple vegetables that are suited to organic growing are Pingtung Long Eggplant (a long, narrow, slicing eggplant), Purplette Summer Onions and Super Red 80 Cabbage, a variety that is great for planting in close spacing to make single-serving cabbages.

If you are looking for some beautiful surprises in your garden, there is a long list of purple vegetable varieties. These include basil, carrots, garlic, leafy vegetables (usually referred to as greens), potatoes, turnips, radishes, string beans, beets and cauliflower.

Purple vegetable varieties for your organic garden

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