COLUMBUS, Ohio – Head to just about any farmers market in the tri-state area and you’ll find plenty of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and apples.

There are specialists who say there are unusual, yet lucrative, fruits and vegetables out there that growers either don’t know about or just don’t take the time to grow – ones that could assist growers’ bottom line.

“Yes, if growers want to put forth the effort and time there are many unusual fruits and vegetables that can turn a profit,” said Gary Gao, small fruit specialist at Ohio State University’s South Centers in Piketon. “Perhaps they don’t want to produce these fruits and vegetables in high quantities, but perhaps selling at farmers markets or being a supplier for restaurants could turn into a small money-making venture.”

Gao is an expert in fruit cultivation. He’s been conducting research on high value fruit crops such as aronia, currants, elderberries, gooseberries, goji berries, ramps, spicebush, hardy figs and others at South Centers since 2011. He conducts research trials on many high value fruit crops.

“Ohio’s climate is conducive to growing many fruits and vegetables that most small farmers don’t think about growing,” Gao said, referring to such edibles as painted hill corn, persimmons and rat’s tail radishes.

Charles Tubesing, who retired after working 30 years as a plant collections curator at Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, Ohio, said there are plenty of unusual, exotic or just plain weird foods that the small farmer might grow to add to their “produce portfolio.”

Atop Tubesing’s list is kiwi. The kiwifruit one sees in the grocery store grows in warmer climates than that of Ohio, but it has hardier relatives that can tolerate the cold conditions of Ohio.

“Hardy kiwifruit is produced on a perennial vine that can survive brutal cold, but new growth is susceptible, so spring freezes oftentimes destroys the crop,” Tubesing said. “Kiwi is usually grown around here for its beauty and its ability to cover a fence quickly and provide screening, but if you can get it to produce, that’s a bonus.”

Those hardy types, Tubesing said, are Actinidia kolomitka (sold as Arctic Beauty) and Actinidia arguta. They have flavors that are similar to the more familiar kiwi, but sweeter. They’re smaller (size of a grape) and their skin isn’t fuzzy, so one can eat them without peeling.

Tubesing said Globe artichokes aren’t normally hardy in northern Ohio, but some varieties (Imperial Star and Opera) can be grown in the Buckeye State as annuals. These varieties produce good-size flower buds (the edible parts) in their first year.

Next on Tubesing’s list are Lingonberries, a staple in Sweden, where toothed scoops are used for gathering the tiny berries. While they grow wild in far northern reaches across the globe, Tubesing said they can be cultivated in one’s own yard.

Lingonberry plants are small, spreading evergreen shrubs with berries that ripen in summer or fall, or both. The berries look like miniature cranberries and taste similar, but not as tart. The plants like sun, but don’t tolerate heat. And, they’re self-pollinating.

Another vegetable “odd ball” is romanesco, oftentimes referred to as a type of broccoli and sometimes a cauliflower. The plant produces lime green heads, made up of pointed florets that are formed from a never-ending pattern of spirals called a fractal. The heads get so big that the plants need to be spaced at 18- to 24-inch intervals. In Ohio, romanesco needs to be started indoors from seeds, then transplanted outside when the danger of frost has passed.

Sure to catch one’s eye at any farmers market are yardlong beans. The skinny beans are a favorite in Asian cooking, but they’re gaining interest here, too. Yardlong beans are also called asparagus beans because when cooked they taste a little like asparagus. Attention-getting for sure, as the pods can grow up to three feet long.

Surely to attract people to your roadside stand are Mexican gherkins. These tiny cucumbers appear like watermelons made for a Barbie doll. The taste is that of a cucumber with a bit of lemon.

“The backyard gardener or the small farmer could grow a number of these lucrative yet exotic vegetables on a half-acre and turn a good profit by selling to restaurants or at a farmers market,” Gao said.

Other strange vegetables that do well in Ohio’s climate include celeriac, kohlrabi, oca and shiso perilla.

Celeriac is a root vegetable that’s related to celery and parsley. It can be eaten raw or used as a low-carb substitute for potatoes in soups and stews.

Kohlrabi is a vegetable with swollen stems that look like bulbs and taste like broccoli. It grows best in the second half of summer and is harvested before it reaches the size of a tennis ball.

Oca is a popular potato alternative that can tolerate poor soil and harsh climates. Shiso perilla is a leafy vegetable that’s often used in Japanese cuisine, such as sushi and tempuras. It has a flavor that’s a mix of herbs, like basil and mint, and spices, like cinnamon.

And there are many more veggies that take a liking to Ohio’s climate, such as cardoon, Malabar spinach, seakale, amaranth, winter radish, white eggplant, Armenian cucumbers, banana melons, Chioggia beets, ground cherries and cosmic purple carrots.