A French Dandelion cultivar, early and productive with very long leaves!
Vert de Montmagny Ameliore
Category Archives: Perennial vegetables
Hosta Superstar and Host in Vienna
The genus Hosta is just about my favourite vegetable as you can read in my book Around the World in 80 plants, productive, tasty and perfect for a forest garden as it doesn’t mind deep shade! I did a walk and talk at the Botanischer Garten der Universität Wien as part of my tour organised by Arche Noah in mid-June 2017. To my great surprise, there was a Hosta installation in the garden and a large collection of species Hosta! It turns out that the genus Hosta was named after Austrian botanist Nikolaus Host (1761-1834) and he managed a garden on the site of the botanical garden until his death!
From the garden’s web site: “On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Nikolaus Thomas Host (1761-1834). A group of students of the class for landscape design, under the supervision of the British artist and landscape designer Tony Heywood, is working on a “horticultural installation” for the Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna.”
Here’s a series of pictures from the installation “Hosta Superstar” and a long bed of species Hosta!
All Hostas are edible.
This was the highlight of my guided tour of the garden which ended at the Hosta installation.
It was unknown to the garden that Hosta are edible and the director was excited of this new dimension to the garden…perhaps there will be a Hosta tasting next spring!
It was unknown to the garden that Hosta are edible and the director was excited of this new dimension to the garden…perhaps there will be a Hosta tasting next spring!
Monster ground elder
My ground elder breeding efforts are paying off…. ;)
…just kidding…I’m really not trying to breed a monster ground elder, but this one was growing next to my compost heap!
Hablitzia-Ramsons-Nettle quiche
Tonight’s dinner was a Hablitzia-Ramsons-Nettle quiche with oregano, poppy and celery seeds on top with cowslip-violet-Allium zebdanense-Arctic bramble flowers….wholegrain barley-oat-rye pastry…. not at all bad 
:)
Anyone else have this tonight? 
…no, I didn’t think so somehow ;)
Geirlauk
Sand leek (rocambole) or Allium scorodoprasum gives bigger yields here than leeks, so it’s not surprising to learn that this perennial onion was probably cultivated by the Vikings (it is found naturalised near many old Viking settlements in Scandinavia) and I believe it is the original “geirlauk” (meaning spear onion) and the root of the word garlic in English… See also pages 215-217 in my book!
I hadn’t noticed the red base to the stems seen in these pictures before…
I used it in a quick scrambled egg dish together with Amish onion (Allium x proliferum), sorrel flower shoots, ground elder (Aegopodium), nettle (Urtica dioica), Hydrophyllum virginianum (water leaf) with golpar spice.
These pictures can also be seen on my 700 plus album of Allium pictures on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150966880345860
I used it in a quick scrambled egg dish together with Amish onion (Allium x proliferum), sorrel flower shoots, ground elder (Aegopodium), nettle (Urtica dioica), Hydrophyllum virginianum (water leaf) with golpar spice.
These pictures can also be seen on my 700 plus album of Allium pictures on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150966880345860
Sorrel (Rumex acetosa) flowering stems
Extreme May salad
Yesterday, 19th May 2017, I spent several hours being filmed in the garden collecting and preparing a multi-species salad, predominantly perennials…and this was the result! How many? The recount will take some time….
More later
:)
Thanks to Ane Mari Aakernes (camera), ably supported by Berit Børte…
More later
:)Thanks to Ane Mari Aakernes (camera), ably supported by Berit Børte…
In the forest garden on 16th May 2017
Just a few pictures of udo, ostrich fern, devil’s walking stick, giant bellflower today in the forest garden..
Old growth Hablitzia status 4th May 2017!
Most of this has now been sacrificed (last two pictures) as foragables haven’t come very far where I’m holding a course this weekend (large snow fall recently)..
Tradescantia ohiensis
Attractive young and edible leaves of Tradescantia ohiensis…
2nd May Abundance
The change from winter to spring abundance happens very quickly…here’s last nights haul for a very green pasta sauce (it took about 30 mins from garden to table, fast slow food), including the following stars of spring:
Hablitzia
Allium nutans
Allium sativum (garlic)
Rumex acetosa (sorrel)
Campanula latifolia (giant bellflower)
Aegopodium (ground elder)
Alliaria (hedge mustard)
Angelica archangelica
Heracleum (hogweed greens and seed spice)
Urtica dioica (nettle)
Taraxacum (dandelion)
Carum carvi (caraway greens)
Tragopogon pratensis greens (Jack-go-to-bed-by-noon)
