I have some great news to share! My word edimentals, “invented” some 17 years ago to describe those amazing plants that are both edible and ornamental – has […]
Edientomental / Edimentals
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Asteraceae: valuable autumn flowering edientomentals!
When giving talks I like to renew myself and talk about something different each time. For my talk in Copenhagen at the Future Heirloom event last weekend I […]
Edible flowers / Edientomental / Perennial vegetables
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Toad lilies: great edientomentals
Toad lilies (Tricyrtis sp.) are great edientomentals from the Far East; i.e. both food for us to eat (the edi bit), eye food (the mental bit ;) […]
Edientomental / Perennial vegetables / Root crops
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Rampions for the hungry gap
The rampions (vadderot in Norwegian, Phyteuma in Latin) has been naturalizing in my garden but so far keeping to the cultivated beds. I needed to dig up a […]
Climbers / Edientomental / Pollinators
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Old Man’s Beard
Clematis vitalba (old man’s beard / tysk klematis) is an important wild edible in Italy (young shoots which must be cooked) and also one of the most attractive […]
Edientomental / Edimentals / Food / Pollinators
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Sweet Gigas stalks
Somebody asked me a few days ago if one could eat Angelica gigas (Korean Angelica) as you can Angelica archangelica (see my book Around the World in 80 […]
Edientomental / Root crops
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Root Chicory Trials 2021 at Være
One of the experiments this year in the KVANN (Norwegian Seed Savers) trial gardens at Væres Venner in Trondheim has been a comparison of different root chicories. These […]
Edientomental / Perennial vegetables / Pollinators
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Dystaenia heaven
Along with many members of the Apiaceae (carrot family / umbellifers) the flowers of Dystaenia takesimana (Giant Ulleung Celery) are heaven for pollinators like hoverflies (blomsterfluer).These great edi-ento-mentals […]
Edientomental / Edimentals / Onions / Pollinators
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Keeled garlic, a useful winter Allium and edimental in summer
There are Allium species that can be harvested year round in the garden, notably nodding onion / Norw:prærieløk (Allium cernuum) which I’ve blogged about before. In autumn, new […]
Beans / Edientomental / Edimentals
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Broad Bean Diversity contributes to Resilience
Broad beans (favas / bondebønner) will easily cross with other varieties that are growing nearby. In order to keep a variety pure, you need to isolate them physically. […]
Dandelions / Edible flowers / Edientomental / Edimentals
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Swirly Late Dandelion
“WHY IS IT SWIRLY WHEN IT’S LATE?” (MMA, 2020)Probably the last dandelion to flower in the edible garden in 2020! The temperature didn’t drop below +12C last night, […]
Edientomental / Edimentals / Perennial vegetables / Root crops
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Scorzonera harvest
This is the harvest of 6 varieties of Scorzonera at our community garden (Væres Venner) last week two years after I sowed seed (I was surprised by an […]
Edientomental / Edimentals / Tubers
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Queen Anne’s Thistle: a multi-purpose ediavientomental*
Two years ago I accidentally dug up one of my Queen Anne’s Thistles (Cirsium canum) and I discovered the tubers were quite like the tuberous thistle (Cirsium tuberosum). […]
Butterflies and moths / Edientomental / Pollinators
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Buddleja Butterflies
By chance, the best two plants in the garden for pollinating insects in late summer are growing together in the garden. The Clematis vitalba (old man’s beard / […]
Beans / Breeding / Edientomental / Edimentals / Seed sAVING
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Broad Bean Mix
Broad beans (favas / bondebønner) will easily cross with other varieties that are growing nearby. In order to keep a variety pure, you need to isolate them physically. […]
Bees / Edientomental / Edimentals / Insects / Onions
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Red-tailed bumblebee: new species for the garden
Yesterday, I registered red-tailed bee / steinhumle (Bombus lapidarius) for the first time at the community garden (Væres Venner), the first time in this part of Trondheim. This […]
Edientomental / Edimentals / Insects / Pollinators
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Bee beetle on the first Sanguisorba flower
It’s always nice to spot a bee beetle / humlebille (Trichius fasciatus) in the garden. I discovered this one on the first Sanguisorba flower of the year! Post […]
Edible flowers / Edientomental / Edimentals / Perennial vegetables
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Edimental of the Day is Malva alcea
Malva alcea (greater musk-mallow, cut-leaved mallow, vervain mallow or hollyhock mallow / Norw: rosekattost) is a mallow native to southwestern, central and eastern Europe and southwestern Asia, from Spain north to southern Sweden and east to Russia and Turkey. It is easy to confuse […]
Butterflies and moths / Edientomental / Entomental
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Butterfly prefers onion to butterfly bush!
The warmth has encouraged the Buddleja (Butterfly bush / Sommerfuglbusk) into flower, but this small tortoiseshell (neslesommerfugl) still prefers Alliums! Buddleja isn’t edible, but it is one of […]
Annuals / Edientomental / Edimentals
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Opium poppy season is here again
My annual vegetable beds are once again aglow with opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) flowers, my favourite annual edimentals. These are my favourite “weeds” that come up year after […]
Edientomental / Perennial vegetables
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Pink Hogweed
This lovely pink-flowered common hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) comes back year after year in my garden! One of the tastiest spring perennial vegetables and source of one of my […]
Bees / Edible flowers / Edientomental / Edimentals / Root crops / Uncategorized
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Rampions for dinner: one of the best edientomentals!
The most successful of the half dozen Phyteuma species I’ve tried in my garden has been a plant received as Phyteuma nigrum (syn. Phyteuma spicatum ssp nigrum), black […]