Gardeners across California and Oregon have amazing growing conditions for food plants, yet many stick with the usual tomatoes and lettuce. There’s a whole world of tasty, easy-to-grow edibles that thrive in our West Coast climates but rarely make it into home gardens.
These overlooked plants can add new flavors to your meals while making the most of our region’s growing conditions.
1. Miner’s Lettuce
Originally eaten by Gold Rush miners to prevent scurvy, this native West Coast green practically grows itself in shady California and Oregon gardens. The round, lily-pad shaped leaves have a mild, refreshing taste.
During cooler months, miner’s lettuce self-seeds generously, popping up in garden beds without any effort on your part. The tender leaves work beautifully in salads or as a spinach substitute.
Unlike many greens, it doesn’t mind our clay soils and actually prefers some afternoon shade, making it perfect for spots where summer crops struggle.
2. Sunchokes (Jerusalem Artichokes)
Beneath their unremarkable appearance lies a versatile, nutty-flavored tuber that thrives in both states with minimal care. Many gardeners overlook these sunflower relatives, not realizing how productive they can be in our climate.
The plants produce beautiful yellow flowers in late summer, adding ornamental value while the tubers develop underground. They’ll return year after year from even the smallest piece left in the soil.
My Oregon neighbor harvests these knobby treasures throughout winter whenever the ground isn’t frozen, enjoying their crisp texture roasted or in soups.
3. Cardoon
Related to artichokes but grown for their stalks rather than flower buds, these Mediterranean natives adapt wonderfully to California’s climate. The dramatic silver-gray foliage reaches impressive heights, making them as ornamental as they are edible.
Harvest involves blanching the stalks by wrapping them in paper for several weeks before cutting. The resulting vegetable has a flavor similar to artichoke hearts but with a unique texture.
Last season, I planted cardoon as a statement piece in my front yard garden, and passersby constantly asked about the striking plant with its thistle-like purple flowers.
4. Sorrel
The bright, lemony flavor of sorrel leaves adds a surprising punch to dishes without needing actual citrus. This perennial green thrives in the mild coastal areas of Oregon and Northern California, returning reliably each spring.
French sorrel varieties stay compact, while the common garden sorrel grows larger leaves perfect for soups. Either way, this plant requires almost no maintenance once established.
For me, discovering sorrel changed my spring cooking. Just a few leaves torn into a salad or soup bring a fresh, tangy dimension that’s hard to find in other garden greens.
5. Lovage
Imagine celery with the volume turned up – that’s lovage, a forgotten herb that grows into a impressive perennial in Oregon gardens. The hollow stems and large, glossy leaves all carry an intense flavor that means you need just a small amount.
One plant provides more than enough for cooking, where it enhances soups, stews, and potato dishes. The tall stalks can even be used as natural straws for tomato-based drinks!
Unlike finicky celery, lovage doesn’t mind our clay soils and actually appreciates some afternoon shade in hotter California gardens.
6. Alpine Strawberries
Unlike their commercial cousins, these dainty berries produce fruit continuously from spring through fall in both states. Their intense, almost tropical flavor packs more punch than any store-bought strawberry you’ve ever tasted.
Growing in neat little mounds, alpine strawberries don’t send out runners, making them perfect for garden edges or container growing. The tiny red or yellow fruits hide beneath the leaves, offering delightful surprises during garden walks.
While visiting a Portland community garden last summer, I watched children hunting for these little treasures like they were on an Easter egg hunt – each berry a precious find.
7. Good King Henry
This medieval European vegetable deserves a comeback in our modern Oregon and California gardens. Young shoots can be harvested like asparagus in spring, while the arrow-shaped leaves make a spinach substitute throughout summer.
Once established, Good King Henry requires almost no care, returning year after year without replanting. The drought-tolerance makes it especially valuable for California gardens looking to reduce water use.
Several Portland community gardens have started growing this versatile perennial, creating living history lessons about food plants our ancestors relied upon before modern vegetables dominated our plates.
8. Chilean Guava
Queen Victoria’s favorite fruit grows beautifully along the coast from Northern California through Oregon. These small evergreen shrubs produce tiny berries with an extraordinary flavor combining strawberry, kiwi, and candy notes.
The glossy foliage looks attractive year-round, making Chilean guava as ornamental as it is delicious. Berries ripen in late summer through fall, turning a deep reddish-purple when ready to harvest.
Last year’s drought barely affected my Chilean guava plants while other fruits struggled. Their natural habitat in South America’s coastal regions makes them well-adapted to our similar Pacific climate patterns.
9. Mashua
Growing up trellises with attractive nasturtium-like leaves, mashua offers beautiful flowers and edible tubers from the same plant. This Andean crop thrives in Oregon’s climate, where cool nights enhance its productivity.
The peppery tubers develop underground throughout summer and fall, ready for harvest after the first frost sweetens their flavor. They can be prepared like potatoes – roasted, mashed, or added to stews.
Beyond food value, mashua flowers attract beneficial insects while the plant itself seems to repel certain garden pests. Several Eugene community gardens use it as a companion plant for this reason.
10. Groundnut (Apios americana)
Native Americans cultivated this nitrogen-fixing vine for its protein-rich tubers long before European arrival. The plant produces strings of underground nuts with a flavor reminiscent of potatoes and peanuts combined.
Beautiful reddish-purple flowers appear in summer, attracting pollinators while the plant quietly develops its nutritious tubers below. As a nitrogen-fixer, groundnut actually improves soil wherever it grows.
During a permaculture workshop in Southern Oregon, I tasted groundnut for the first time – roasted simply with herbs. The nutty, starchy flavor was unlike anything from the grocery store, yet perfectly adapted to our local growing conditions.
11. Oca
Resembling colorful fingerling potatoes, these Andean tubers bring unexpected tangy flavor and crisp texture to fall harvests. The lemony taste of fresh oca transforms to sweetness after curing in the sun for a few days.
Growing oca couldn’t be simpler in our coastal climate – plant in spring, then forget about it until the plants die back in late fall. The shamrock-like foliage stays attractive all season without pest problems.
A Portland urban farmer I know sells rainbow mixes of oca at farmers markets, where customers are initially drawn to their unusual appearance but return specifically for their unique flavor and versatility in cooking.
12. Malabar Spinach
During summer heat when regular spinach bolts and turns bitter, this climbing vine produces abundant tender leaves that taste remarkably similar. The glossy foliage with red stems makes an ornamental statement while providing nutritious greens.
Unlike true spinach, Malabar thrives in California’s summer temperatures, climbing trellises or fences to save garden space. The succulent leaves maintain their mild flavor even during the hottest months.
My Sacramento garden would be incomplete without this heat-loving climber. When planted against a fence with morning sun, one plant provides enough leaves for weekly harvests from June through October.
13. Salad Burnet
The delicate, cucumber-flavored leaves of this perennial herb remain available for harvesting year-round in mild West Coast gardens. Its fern-like foliage forms an attractive mound that rarely needs attention once established.
Medieval gardeners considered salad burnet essential for both culinary and medicinal purposes. Today, the fresh young leaves add unexpected cucumber notes to salads, cold drinks, and herb butters.
During California’s drought years, my salad burnet continued producing tender leaves while many other plants struggled. Its deep roots access moisture far below the surface, making it remarkably resilient to dry periods.
14. Turkish Rocket
Few gardeners know about this perennial vegetable that produces broccoli-like florets each spring without replanting. The young flower buds and tender leaves offer a mild, nutty flavor with hints of arugula.
Established plants develop impressive drought tolerance, making them ideal for California gardens looking to reduce water use. Unlike annual broccoli, Turkish rocket needs no fertilizer and shrugs off most pests.
A Eugene gardener shared cuttings with me three years ago, and now this valuable perennial anchors my spring harvests. The earliest shoots emerge weeks before other vegetables are even planted, providing welcome fresh greens after winter.
15. Yacon
Growing tall like sunflowers, yacon plants develop sweet, crunchy tubers that taste like jicama crossed with apple. This Andean crop stores sunshine in the form of inulin rather than starch, making it suitable even for diabetic gardeners.
The massive leaves create dramatic tropical effects in the garden while the plant quietly produces its treasure underground. After frost kills the tops, dig carefully to reveal clusters of storage tubers.
When I brought yacon to a Sacramento community garden tasting, everyone was surprised by its refreshing crispness and natural sweetness. Several gardeners immediately requested starter plants for the following season.
16. Crosnes (Chinese Artichokes)
Looking like small white Michelin men, these unusual tubers bring delightful crunch and nutty flavor to fall and winter harvests. Despite their exotic appearance, crosnes grow effortlessly in both Oregon and California gardens.
The mint family relative produces modest foliage above ground while developing its distinctive segmented tubers throughout summer and fall. Their natural resistance to pests makes them particularly easy to grow organically.
At Portland farmers markets, chefs seek these gourmet treats for their unique texture and subtle artichoke-like flavor. One small garden bed can produce enough for several special meals throughout winter.
17. Sea Kale
The wavy blue-gray leaves of this coastal perennial bring ornamental beauty while providing three distinct harvests throughout the season. Early spring shoots can be blanched like asparagus, followed by broccoli-like flower buds, then tender young leaves.
Native to European shorelines, sea kale thrives in Oregon’s coastal gardens, tolerating salt spray and sandy soils where other vegetables struggle. The deep taproot accesses nutrients and moisture far below the surface.
Along California’s northern coast, several state park demonstration gardens feature this historical vegetable that sustained coastal communities for centuries before modern transportation brought inland crops to seaside towns.