Anyone have suggestions for odd and unusual fruits/veggies I can grow here in z7?

This year included black corn, pumpkin on a stick, three nuclear peppers (Bhut Jolokia, 7-Pot Douglah, and T. Scorpion Butch T), purple potatoes, blue tomatoes, kiwano, and... some regular old carrots.

But next year, what oh what can I grow for next year that either has that "[insert veggie here] isn't supposed to be that color..." or "What in the sweet name of a merciful God is that?!?" factor?

I'm overwintering one of each of the best peppers, got plenty of black corn seed (as well as some bloody butcher), saved some kiwano and blue tomato seed, but what else could I grow next year?

Perhaps a peck of peter peppers? Take a swing at growing the world's largest pumpkin? Hmmm... do pumpkins come in black? I know some squash do, but I mean something that would look like a Halloween jack-o-lantern pumpkin, only black?

Any ideas at all? Exotic plants that I can grow in a single z7 season, or common plants with an uncommon color/shape, or just something that most people would have absolutely no idea what it is by looking at it, anything like that would be great.

Ooh, I should look up where to get purple sweet potatoes from...

I'll have to look into that one, thanks.

There are a lot of interesting members of the gourd family:

* Bitter melon - whether you eat it or not, it's really eye-catching on a trellis, has fragrant flowers, and has several health benefits if you can stomach it.
* West Indian gherkins - eat like baby cukes when small; the spines then are softer than they appear, the fruit is sweet & crunchy without the bitterness so common in cukes, and the rampant vines bear forever if kept picked.
* Mexican Sour Gherkin - petite climbing vine looks like ivy, tiny 1" watermelon-like fruits that taste like a sour cucumber. Not a true gherkin, but tastes great in salads with them.
* Exploding gourd - climbing vine similar to Achocha, to which it is related. Can be eaten in salads when young.
* Tromboncino - looks like zucchini on steroids & can be used any way you use zucchini, up to 18" long while still 1-2" wide... and oh yeah, highly resistant to SVB.

Bean family:

* Bi-colored edamame soybeans (I have several)
* I'll second Farmerdill's recommendation for yardlong beans, they bear heavily when it is too hot for most snap beans, and are really eye catching whether hanging on the vine or served on a plate tied in knots (kids get a kick out of that). Furthermore, unlike snap beans, the purple yardlongs keep most of their color when cooked.
* Winged Beans - be sure to get a "day neutral" variety. Really pretty light blue flowers. The pods are best picked very young, before they develop fiber.
* Adzuki beans (there are colors other than red)
* Pole limas - in your zone, you should be able to grow one of the really large-seeded varieties (such as Dr. Martin) or one of the multi-colored varieties (such as Lynch Butterbean or one of the Hopi varieties).
* Peanuts (find an heirloom variety)
* Hyacinth bean - rampant climber, beautiful fragrant flowers borne late, loves heat, pods eaten when young & flat taste just like snap beans. I recommend one of the purple-podded varieties for eating. The mature seeds are toxic unless properly prepared.
* Sword bean - pole type, another long-season bean with beautiful, fragrant flowers, and huge pods. Pods can be eaten when young, but the mature seeds are toxic. Best used as an ornamental.

There are quite a few greens that do really well in hot weather. Egyptian spinach, Malabar spinach (there are both red- and green- leaved varieties), New Zealand spinach, water spinach (if it is not banned where you live), and Moringa (tree grown as an annual).

* Martynia - a.k.a. Devils Claw, unusual desert plant with pods that are edible when very young, and grow into decorative (but very sharp!) curved spiny pods.

Nightshade family:

* Ground cherries
* Litchi tomato - thorny but attractive plants, clusters of white 1" flowers borne non stop until frost, red berries eaten raw or used like ground cherries.
* Tomatillo

I grow most of those mentioned above (except some of the tropical beans) and would be happy to send seed for a few. Denninmi also grows a lot of the unusual stuff, hopefully he will weigh in on this thread. You will find a lot more info useful to your quest on the Unusual Vegetables thread I posted to this forum several years ago. I'll try to bump it up, but if that fails, it is still in the archives at the link below.

Good luck and thanks for sharing your gardening interests!

It was my father's old favourite though I never personally grew myself, but I did eat it raw before. It's cool season vegetable.

What would I need to do to make it keep until warm weather?