My main focus is on Jamaican cuisine with this garden plan, but many caribbean regions use the sane ingredients and flavors. You can use this plan to create all types of caribbean cuisines by just switching out the fruit and vegetable plants. I am also very interested in Caribbean fusion cuisine. I love sweet/hot dishes with warm spices. Always an adventurous foodie and cook, I have learned to love succulent slow cooked Oxtails, jerk chicken and pork bellies.

What struck me about Jamaican cuisine, is that most of the ingredients are healthy. Except for the fatty meats. But the felt melts off during the slow cooking process. Put the spices and seasonings together for a sweet/tangy/hot dish, which puts the veggies over the top. I'm not sure whether plant-based "meats" would work as well. Rices add a nice bed for presentation. Vegetarians would love the flavors of this cuisine, when eliminating the meats.

To view an ornamental Mexican Food Garden plan, Mediterranean Diet Food Garden, Kitchen Garden design, or an African American Heritage Garden, Creole, Mini Gourd or Mini Melon Garden, or Herb Gardens.... Read on, I've got you covered.

First of all, you should create a happy and colorful Caribbean garden design to tie it all in. You'll have a beautiful food and ornamental landscape garden. A seating area, garden nook or benches, or a bistro table is beautiful and restful, or joyful and tropical. Garden statues in a tropical theme and a solar fountain, solar fairy lights and tabletop torches are stunning at night and highlight your landscape and path. If planned well, you can use small beachy items for a party feel, like a grass hut bar. And of course, colorful bird sculptures fit right in.

Many of the fruits and vegetables come in varieties for the colder climates of the northeast U.S.
Check the USDA cold hardiness maps for your region to choose plants that will thrive in your planting zone. There are many plants that can substitute for the ones listed.

If you are interested in teaching yourself Jamaican and other Caribbean styles of cooking, might I suggest these seasoning and spice items that I have tried. They're multi-purpose and yummy on or in  most everyday foods. Like soups, stews, and dips. Fabulous when slow cooking in your crockpot. No need to marinate before tossing it all into the pot. But you can, if you like

I like to cook most of the foods on a low simmer overnight. Just add spices and seasonings, set it and forget it. 

Traditional Cookware

The "dutchie" -  dutch oven or "dutch pot", is a very common cooking pot in the Caribbean. The "Dutchie" reigns supreme.

For fun, i like to use traditional cookware, bakeware and serving bowls. A crockpot and Dutch Oven go a long way in several types of cuisine. I also bake bread in Dutch Ovens.What to grow in pots or in-ground to supply ingredients for Caribbean Cuisines.

I am teaching myself Jamaican cuisine, and others... so i'm putting together a list of what you can grow, depending upon your planting zone, to eat fresh, use in cooking your daily meals, or put up for the winter. If you grow in containers, you can grow a lot of varieties. Tip: whatever you choose to grow, can be grown in containers, or if you grow from seed. Pick the vegetables to grow that are bush or dwarf varieties. Or tie vining plants, like yams and sweet potatoes to a trellis inside the pots or put the pots along a fenceline. I do both. There are fabric grow bags for potatoes. Everything i've grown in them has done very well.
Those of you who have urban space restrictions can grow a vertical garden on a balcony, in a courtyard, on a patio or deck. This garden works for urban rooftop gardens, as well.

Favorite Source - Caribbean seeds, bulbs, including cold hardy varieties, and seasonings and spices

The Caribbean Garden Seed company

Foods popular in Jamaican and Rastafarian cuisine. Included in the list are plant foods grown and eaten throughout the Caribbean.

Fruit - Dwarf Fruit Trees or dwarf fruit shrubs and berries. Get plants and seed directy from nurseries and growers to be sure there are no chemicals or GMO issues and the plants are healthy and bug/disease free. The more mature it is when planted, the sooner you get fruit. I buy nursery stock that's at least 2 years old. Many fruit the first year. There are patio varieties that produce smaller fruit, but bumper crops. I rarely grow my flowers from seed. I prefer mature plants. All of my ornamentals, including fruiting and flowering trees, grow in containers very well and i can keep them small and just pot upwards, if needed.
Dwarf fruit trees - including figs, lemon and lime, which are great houseplants in winter.

Oranges
Persimmons
Ackee - National Fruit of Jamaica. Popular in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean and Jamaican diaspora.
Cassava
Breadfruit
lemons and limes
Cho cho (Christophine, chayote) - same family as melon, gourds, squashes and pumpkins.
Jamaican Custard Apple
Mango - Peach mango, Haitian mango and East Indian mango
Sapodilla (Naseberry)
Coconut - Coconut milk is a main ingredient in many Jamaican recipes
Watermelon
Flat Pumpkins (Calabaza)
- I haven't grown this yet, but i do grow mini edible pumpkins like the white "Casperita" and Delicata Squash. I'll get to the Calabaza eventually if they grow in my planting zone and I have enough pots to grow them in.
I use pumpkin for all types of cooking. I puree the pulp for my puppy's food toppers. But i grow them because they are mini- and non-vining bush types, and grow great in large planters or containers. They need no staking. I use support stakes for the stems if it's heavy with pumpkins. I also grow Heirloom Round Zucchini. They grow like small bowling balls, but can be picked sooner, the gourds, squashes and little pumpkins add interest to the garden, can be grown with your ornamental flowering plants and don't take up much room. Delicatas are pretty and come in more than one color or striping.
The Delicatas are delicious no matter how you cook them, but i like them crisp roasted in a pan with sweet potatoes, yellow potatoes, sweet frying peppers, onions, garlic, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Or stuffed with a seafood filling and cheese. Delicata and the zucchini make beautiful quick breads. They can be used for your fall centerpieces and outdoor displays. My pumpkins kept their color and shapes outdoors and indoors for more than three months.
pawpaw
Loganberry
Jackfruit
Pomegranate
Jamaican Apple (Otaheite apple)
Soursop
Peanuts
Pigeon Peas (gungo peas)
Culantro (known in Jamaica as  spiritweed) similar to cilantro
Taro Root
Tamarillo - Tree Tomato -  Grows up to 18 ft. - Bitter tomato - Looks much like a medium-sized tomato, but the tree tomato is not a true tomato. Tasting somewhat like a tomato, it is usually eaten with sugar or boiled to make a popular drink.
String Beans
Yams and Sweet potatoes (Batata)
Corn - for Corn Soup
Irish potatoes
Bird Pepper
Pimiento Peppers
Aji Cito Peppers
Kidney beans
Red Peas
Ginger Root
Avocado
Scotch Bonnet, and Red Hot Peppers/habanero/chili peppers
okra
Spinach (or Callaloo)
tomatoes
Scallions
Carrots
Cucumbers
Red peas
Sweet peppers - I use sweet, long, Italian frying peppers. My favorite is the red "Carmen" variety. Very prolific, perfect in containers.
Supermarkets carry bags of large and mini sweet peppers in multiple colors. Makes your dishes and preserved peppers very colorful.
Rutabaga
Parsnips
Cabbage
Gullybean (Susumba)
Squash
Thyme
Sorrel
Garlic, onions,

Recommended Ornamental Landscape Plants For A Cottagey. Caribbean Island Feel

Look these plants up on the USDA Zone Hardiness map to be sure they'll thrive, or find alternative plants that are similar that are hardy to your region.
Most plant and seed listings will give you the hardiness zone information for each plant

There are so many ornamental to choose from for a tropical garden, it will be hard to choose. This is just a teeny selection of my favorites.

Foxglove

Hollyhock
Gloriosa Daisy - These look beautiful with sunflowers and dark red or yellow dahlias, spider lilies
Blue Star Creeper - beautiful, low growing, spreading mat groundcover. Perfect between your containers, in spaces in walkways, and in rock gardens. Stunning when your bulbs bloom, for underplanting of your shrubs and as a groundcover for containers. Beautiful when combined with creeping phlox.

Hardy and Tropical Hibiscus - tropical variety for warm climates, hardy hibiscus for cold climates. Any type for containers if staked. In cold climates, bring in or dig up the tropical varieties and replant in spring.
You can see mine in southwestern Pa. Zone 6 here---> They are strong, sturdy, reliable plants that laugh at winter. They die to the ground, and come up again late spring/early summer.

Rose of Sharon - cousin of the Hibiscus. Hardy and reliably beautiful. I train the shrubs into trees. They are stunning when planted with hibiscus. I gow the very tall (6-7 ft), hardy Hibiscus tied along my fencelne, and the trees are kept pruned as accent trees here and there. You can see mine here--->

Clematis - I grow several varieties. Grow well in pots. Easy to grow and shape along fences, balcony and deck railings, and posts.

Pride of Barbados
Jackaronda
Flame Tree

Eucalyptus

Clumping Bamboo

Rock Cress
Red Hot Poker
Amaranthus
Dahlias
Primula

Variegated Plantain
Sunflowers
Amaranthus
Snapdragons
Larkspur
Snow in Summer
Dwarf Goatsbeard
Red Columbine
Gardenia
Lewisia
Lupines
Spider Lilies
Parrot Tulips
Zinnias
Butterfly Weed - Primary food for the Monarch Butterfly. Placed around your landscape, these will increase your pollination, and provide food for the endangered Monarchs.
Abutilon - look similar to hibiscus

Five Spot
Jack In The Pulpit
Nemesia
Creeping lilies
Hummingbird Mint (agastache)

Honeysuckle - I grow several types in pots. They can spread wildly if not kept in bounds, trimmed, tied to trellises and along fencelines. The lovely fragrance attracts pollinators and humans.

Angel Trumpets

Pussy Toes ground cover
Grassy Toes

There are lots of evergreens with colored berries, palms, bamboos and evergreen shrubs, as well as colorful foliage plants, that will tie it all in. My advice is to think "dwarf' and fill lots of colorful containers.

A Little Extra - Fun information on how to cook in the Caribbean style, and ingredients that are common.....

I began my Jamaican/Carribbean culinary journey by remembering the tastes from many caribbean cuisine restaurants and street carts i have visited. And from what I've remember and have learned so far, the majority of my favorite recipes are stews, soups, rice and bean recipes. Perfect for simmering in dutch ovens. I use my cast iron dutch pot, but many times, i'll switch over to my trusty crockpot and slow cook these incredible meals overnight. I use my lighter-weight dutch ovens for stovetop breads and soups when I have time to sit around and watch it.

Dutch pots originated in the Netherlands, and were brought to the Caribbean by Dutch settlers. They an essential part of Caribbean cuisine, and are still used to cook traditional dishes.

A heavy cast iron pot is also called a caldero. This pot is similar to the Dutch Oven. The iron pot is used to cook meat, stews, soups and rice dishes. A cast iron or heavy dutch oven is fine. But if your atmosphere and presentation "taste better" with traditional cookware, find a good quality caldero. You'll find many uses for it.

Roasters - My trusty enamelware roasters can be used on my stovetop. It makes an awesom roasted anything.

Traditional coal stoves are still being used. A small charcoal-fuelled cooker on a stand, with a basin-like top,  covered by a flat metal grill, upon which you can roast your meats and veggies.

Caribbean Cuisine Pantry Essentials Quicklist

Beans,  Rice - I discovered that often beans are called "peas' in Caribbean dishes. Rices are long grain or jasmine. Carolina is a good rice brand.

Scallions and Garlic

Mojo sauce - Lots of variations - a blend of oil, orange juice, lime juice, brown sugar, garlic, cumin, chili powder, oregano, salt and pepper. While there are many variations

Jerk is a blend of spices made into a marinade and sauce using citrus and hot spices. Once marinated, meat and vegetables are often grilled. I have the sauces and the dry sprinkle on different spice blends. I buy several Jerk spice blends and usually don't marinate. I rub it on meats and fish, sprinkle it on salads, baked potatoes, fries, ribs, steaks and burgers.

Coconut (Oil, Water, Milk, Flakes, toasted)

Caribbeans use coconut in almost every form ranging from coconut milk, water, oil and flour to dried and shredded flakes. It has the capability to add a rich and creamy texture to grains as well as great flavor for stewing meats. 
The coconut palm was considered the "staff of life" for centuries in the Caribbean. Coconut oil is the cooking oil of choice - it has a high smoke point and good flavor. The liquid in a coconut is coconut water; the liquid mixed with grated coconut meat is coconut milk. Coconut is used in all kinds of Caribbean dishes, desserts and drinks. I use this in Thai and Indian cooking, as well.

Allspice
Jamaican pepper. These spice berries taste like a combination of nutmeg, cinnamon, black pepper and cloves. In the French Caribbean, allspice is used frequently to season seafood dishes and creole sausage. Allspice leaves are like bay leaves. The wood of the allspice plant is used for authentic Jamaican "jerked" foods, that are grilled over a fire of allspice branches.

Curry Powder or Curry Blend

Callaloo
This is  a traditional Caribbean soup and also the name of the greens. They are often prepared like collard greens, spinach or turnip greens. Canned leaves are easier to find than fresh. Jamaica's Grace brand is one to check. I love Grace brands for my seasonings, marinades and other grocery items. You can substitute spinach leaves in a recipe that calls for Cllaloo.

Molasses
It has a slightly spicy flavor and is used in all kinds of Caribbean sweets.

Pigeon Peas (And Other Beans)
These are the "peas" predominantly used in rice and peas, a staple Caribbean side dish. They are also used in soups and stews. Pigeon peas are African in origin and can usually be found dried or canned. Kidney beans, butterbeans, black beans, mayacoba, red beans, cranberry and pink beans are also frequently used in Caribbean cooking. I found them in the Goya section. I haven't found them dried yet, which I prefer, because i like to use dried beans and make the dish from scratch.

Pepper Sauces
It is used as a condiment, like hot sauce, to enhance and add heat to a wide variety of dishes. I have found Jamaican marinades and sauces in my supermarket.

Plantains
Never eaten raw - it is much starchier and much less sweet. The ripeness of the plantain determines its cooking use in Caribbean cuisine. Green, under-ripe plantains are used for fried plantain chips and stews. Yellow plantains are softer and less starchy, so they are mashed and eaten as a side dish. Black-skinned, ripe plantains are used in Caribbean desserts.

Rum - Screams Caribbean Islands and laid back lifestyles. I've had island rum cakes and they are spectacular. It can be used with coconut milk and jasmine rice for desserts.

Scotch Bonnet Hot Peppers
Used in almost all courses of Caribbean cuisine, except dessert. Mexican habanero peppers are a close substitute. These spicy chiles are always used fresh in Caribbean cuisine. If you prefer your food slightly less spicy, remove the seeds from the chile (any hot chili) before cooking with it. Seeds and seedlings are readily available to grow your own.

Turmeric
In the Caribbean, it is often sold as saffron, which is way more expensive. Get the store-bought turmeric - it's popular, available everywhere, and not very expensive. It adds color and flavor to curries and rice. Turmeric is well-known as a medicinal herb.

Bacon or another animal fat, oxtails and pork bellies - Tails make an amazing stew or soup, bacon fat is sometimes used to season bean and rice dishes, and pork bellies are a fabulous jerk dish, as an entree cooked slow with beans and spices.

Salt Cod - If you've ever enjoyed an Italian Christmas Eve Feast of Seven Fishes, chances are that baccala -  salted cod - was served. Salt cod is featured in many Caribbean dishes, as well. Flaked, seasoned,  and made into cakes and fried is my favorite.