Category Archives: Trees

Kurrajong: a house tree with edible roots!

July 25, 2018 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

Kurrajong is an Australian tree, Brachychiton populneus, which along with other species of the genus make interesting house plants due to their interesting leaves. Kurrajong leaves resemble poplar leaves as the epithet populneus suggests. It’s a common tree of sandy plains in Eastern Australia. The seeds are remarkably nutritious and were popular Aborigine tucker (wild gathered food). It is unlikely I will ever be able to harvest seed of this tree in the Malvaceae (mallow family), but Rowan White on the Radix Root Crops FB group reminded me that the swollen roots of young trees could also be eaten. My tree wasn’t exactly young at 9 years (seed propagated along with Brachychiton acerifolius), when I first decided to have a go in 2012, at the same time as I moved it to a bigger pot…

Brachychiton acerifolius (Illawarra flame tree) is another beautiful tree growing in my living room forest garden….making an attempt to escape…it’s been suggested I make a hole in the ceiling so that it can grow on up into my bedroom where it could flower and produce nuts that I could harvest from bed ;) (this tree is often planted as an ornamental street tree in the tropics, see https://tinyurl.com/yaqnnm65)

There were 3 young roots worth trying so I harvested them and baked them in their skins together with potatoes. They seem to need a bit longer than potatoes. The skins peeled easily off after baking and they were crispy with a good mild taste. If you have a ready supply of seed, they can be grown and harvested a bit like carrots when quite young!

Kurrajong doesn’t often if ever experience snow, here’s my plant with earth removed (December 2012)

Roots removed, hope it doesn’t kill my tree (it didn’t!)

This spring the tree died (at 15 years old) with no sign of life in the above ground parts, but when disposing of the plant I noticed that the young roots looked healthy, so I harvested them and repotted the remainder of the root to see if it might resprout and after several weeks in the window sill it now has fresh leaves, so not dead after all!

I didn’t get round to eat the young roots…they were left inside for a month and looked withered and inedible, but cutting in to one it looked good inside and indeed it was tasty and almost free from fibre….so we ate it in a stir-fry dish last night!

Garden tour, Nut trees, Trees, Uncategorized

Balestrand and the journey to Sogn

April 16, 2018 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

Andrew McMillion kindly picked me up early on Friday morning from the night train at Oslo airport and we drove together to the location of the KVANN / Norwegian Seed Savers annual meeting in Leikanger on the Sognefjord. As we were to arrive earlier than the other board members, I suggested going to Balestrand, about an hour further on as I’d heard that Norway’s largest Monkey Puzzle tree (apeskrekk) could be seen there! Andrew didn’t hesitate as he wanted also to go to Balestrand as he actually had family roots just a kilometer away from the tree!! There was much more than that though! It was an amazing day, first the wonderful trip over the mountains in perfect weather…to see what else we experienced, see the album!!

On the way over Hemsedalsfjellet to Sogn

Just before this point, Andrew tells me that the last time he passed thjis place there were birdwatchers looking up at an eagle…I looked out of the window and there WAS an eagle high above us ;)

Ferry crossing from one tunnel to the next

Ferry across to Balestrand….Andrew coming home ;)

Kviknes Hotel was the largest wooden building in Norway when it was built…in Swiss style. Balestrand was a popular destination for Brits in the late 19th century and English climbing pioneer Margaret Sophia Green married one of the Kvikne family who owned the hotel and an English church was built in her memory after her death (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Olaf%27s_Church,_Balestrand)

To our surprise there was a little botanical garden in the grounds around the hotel!

Frame dedicated to an artist colony from Balestrand

We had a taste of the young shoots of these giant stonecrops (bergknapp), Hylotelephium spectabile

Andrew inspecting a lovage plant emerging next to a grape..

The Golden House is an art gallery with an observation dome and meditation spot on the roof

Andrew with his ancestral farm in the background

Driving up to Andrew’s ancestral farm was a carpet of emerging ramsons (ramsløk)…he took a couple of plants for his own farm in Nes!

View from the ancestral farm with a carpet of crocus

Andrew taking cuttings from one of the oldest fruit trees

Lunde Arboretum was established in 1973 with the help of Professor Oddvin Reisæter from Oslo University due to the threat of developing the area for housing! However, some of the trees go back to the time of the first rector Harald Ulrik Sverdrup and his son HUS jr. who began to plant foreign trees in 1849 and fruit. By the end of the 19th century there was a collection of 46 pears here! The collections here were described by Professor Schubeler in the 1880s. Schubeler is well known for getting the help of local priests to test out plants throughout Norway. Both Reisæter and Schubeler figure in the Hablitzia tamnoides story in Norway!

Norway’s champion monkey puzzle came from England in 1873! It was long alone but several more trees were planted in 1984!

Norway’s champion (largest) monkey puzzle (apeskrekk)

Norway’s champion (largest) sweet chestnut tree

A large Siberian pine (Pinus cembra), has edible pine nuts

Japanese knotweed…we had a taste of the emerging shoots

Trees

Grow your own Christmas tree

December 18, 2017 Stephen Barstow 1 Comment

There’s been a lot of talk recently that we should return to real Xmas trees from the plastic trees which were once touted as being more environmentally friendly as they could be reused for many years. However, with the recent movement away from plastics due to the discovery that our oceans are filling up with microplastics, real trees are once again cool and what’s better than growing your own!! In June 2005, I was sent seed of Brazilian monkey puzzle, also known as Paraná pine, Brazilian pine or candelabra tree. It turns out that this tree is nowadays critically endangered. It is an important nut tree for the indigenous populations as is the common monkey puzzle tree further south.

Not being hardy, I’ve grown this tree in a large pot and move it into a cold cellar which is around +3-4C in midwinter. There is very little light, but it just goes to sleep until spring. I adopted it as a Xmas tree around 2010, I just move it in its pot into the warm living room. After about 10 days it is moved back into the cellar. It survives this treatment without problem. Now at 12 years old the trees are getting a bit lanky and less attractive as a Xmas tree – they and are no doubt root bound.

Yes, best of all for the environment is the grow your own perennial Xmas tree (..and yes, I know it’s a plastic bucket :( )

I tried to overwinter the Brazilian monkey puzzle with a leaf mulch and in an open (to the top) greenhouse. I was surprised that it made it well into March (picture), but a subsequent cold period killed it…

It grew much more quickly than the common monkey puzzle and this picture was taken in November 2008, only 3 years old

In the middle of London in the Chelsea Physic garden, you can compare both species of monkey puzzle – Araucaria araucana (below) and the narrower-leaved Araucaria angustifolia above

This picture was from the first time I saw this species, in the Jardín Botánico Nacional Viña del Mar in Chile around 2004.

On my 2004 trip to Chile I was fortunate to experience the amazing old growth monkey puzzle forest (Araucaria araucana) in the Huerquehue National Park

The picture (from Wikipedia) shows the cones (pinhas) and nuts (pinhões); Wikipedia: The seeds, similar to large pine nuts, are edible, and are extensively harvested in southern Brazil (Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul states), a habit particularly important for the region’s small population of Native Americans. The seeds, called pinhão [piˈɲɐ̃w̃] are popular as a winter snack. The city of Lages, in Santa Catarina state, holds a popular pinhão fair, in which mulled wine and boiled araucaria seeds are consumed. In Brazil, 3,400 tonnes (7,500,000 lb) of seeds are collected annually which, combined with extensive logging, seriously threatens the regeneration of the species. It is also as a softwood timber, used in stair treads and joinery.

Since about 2010, I’ve used it as a Xmas tree. The next few pictures are from 2011 with the fairy replaced by the seed head of Schubert’s Onion, Allium schubertii

Xmas tree 2011 with the fairy replaced by the seed head of Schubert’s Onion, Allium schubertii

Lyspære (Light pear) is Norwegian for light bulbs. These are lysplommer (dried plums) but are disappointingly not very bright….. ;)

Continuing the 2011 theme of an edible Xmas tree, the concept was further developed in 2012 (sorry, no chocolate): Brazilian Monkey Puzzle or Parana Pine (the tree), Cuban Oregano, Rosemary, Butcher’s Broom (Ruscus), Chili, Dried Apples, 3 varieties of Oca (Oxalis tuberosa), Karaka (Maori edible from New Zealand), Mashua and, once again, Allium schubertii in the star role as the fairy!!

The two trees I have are moved outside for the summer, her blown over in a summer storm!

18th December 2017…at 15 the trees are getting a bit lank, a bit like old growth trees :)

181217: Another good Xmas decoration plant is butcher’s broom (Ruscus aculeatus), also not hardy and overwintered in the cellar)

181217: Holly (kristorn) is also not hardy and is similarly overwintered in the cellar, also some 15 years old now

Butterflies and moths, Trees

For Helge Finnøy

December 16, 2017 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

I was very saddened yesterday to learn that my friend Helge Finnøy has passed away after a very long illness :cry:
Helge was a gentle, modest, intelligent man and we shared an interest in particular in plants and insects and he reintroduced me to the music of Ray Davies (Kinks) and we were both at his memorable performance at Trondheim Torvet (town square) on October 11th 2014. I’m not one for sending flowers (at least not at this time of year), so I’ve put this little gallery together of my colourful memories of Helge! I have fond memories of visiting Helge (and Randi) and his garden at Torp (incidentally right next to Granly, where we rented a flat when we first moved to Norway i 1981). Takk for alt, Helge! Kondolere Randi Stubban og Sunniva Stubban Finnøy <3

Helge was passionate about the things that interested him and that included butterflies. He told excitedly of seeing two peacock butterflies (dagpåfugløye) in his garden at Torp (a few km east of my own garden) in 2004. Two years later I had them in my own garden (picture). It turns out that Helge’s observation was the first ever of this species this far north. I checked our species reporting system artsobservasjoner.no and his observation was missing, so I’ve just added it on his behalf!

Helge was also passionate about trees and shrubs and was chuffed when he managed to grow plants that shouldn’t be possible here…in that way he inspired me to try despite what people said :) Buddleja (sommerfuglblomst) was one of them and he grew several colour forms to attract butterflies, including a particularly fine form, Royal Red. This picture is of a Brimstone (sitronsommerfugl) which finally turned up in my garden.. Helge told me this would happen!

This creature turned up in another garden Torp and the owner brought it over to me hoping I could ID it…. I asked Helge and he could tell me it was the larva of the pussmoth (stor gaffelstjert)…this was in the days before it was easy to do an on-line identification!

Rhus typhina (Stag’s horn sumach / hjortesumak) is one of the plants Helge gave me and 15 years on it’s still thriving, despite this being one of the plants that shouldn’t be hardy enough for Malvik

Helge recommended this album that had just came out when we saw Ray Davies play in Trondheim in 2014 and it still is a favourite which I incidentally played just a few days ago for the first time in a long time… The set list: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/ray-davies/2004/torvet-trondheim-norway-73da9ab5.html (now playing). Prior to this I’d seen the Kinks play on the Schoolboys in Disgrace tour in 1975/1976…when I was at uni in Exete

Buddleja in my garden from a cutting from Helge

…and this is another Helge helped me with, moorland clouded yellow (myrgulvinge), the first time this species was recorded in Malvik kommune in 2008 (there have been 3 more observations in the last 3 years).

Berries, Bushes, Garden tour, Perennial vegetables, Trees

Walk with Bosse in the Gothenberg Botanics

September 7, 2017 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

I visited Bo “Bosse” Blomquist last year outside of Gothenburg and despite it being a bit late in the day and almost dark at the end, I was really impressed by his collection of edible trees, shrubs and bushes! He works in Gothenburg and is a regular visitor to the gardens! We agreed to meet before my talk and a group of friends also joined us!! It was great to walk in the garden with Bosse as he knew all the interesting edible woody plants! Thanks!! Here are a selection of pictures!

A walnut I’ve never seen before, Juglans microcarpa (Little walnut/Texas walnut)…this tree was surpisingly old, almost 90 if I remember right!

Juglans microcarpa (Little walnut/Texas walnut

Another surprise, Sorbus devonensis, which I first saw in Martin Crawford’s forest garden about 11 years ago :)

Another surprise, Dystaenia takesimana, a plant in the carrot family that I haven’t succeeded with…sometimes called Korean celery due to the taste of the leaves

…and then Aralia cordata var. sachalinensis, Sakhalin-udo!!

Aralia cordata var. sachalinensis, Sakhalin-udo!

Rubus peltatus from Japan (is in my Japanese foraging book)

Another thing I’d missed earlier in the day (looking down too much) was the hardy kiwi (Actinidia arguta I think) which has climbed right to the top of this conifer…

Bosse pointed out this bamboo with relatively thick shoots: Phyllostachys atrovaginata…

Large clump of Hosta (Sum and substance?)

Another patch of yellow flowered Allium hookeri var muliense; Yellow Hooker’s Onion

I hadn’t noticed this large Toona sinensis either….extensively cultivated in China for the young shoots, often served as a onion-like flavouring with omelettes!

Bosse shows us Zanthoxylum bungeanum (Northern China Pepper), one of several species for which the spicy seeds and leaves are used

Zanthoxylum bungeanum (Northern China Pepper)

Matteuccia orientalis is as far as I know not used like Ostrich Fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris

Sinofranchetia chinensis, an unusual fruit from China

Giant lily, Cardiocrinum…the bulbs have been foraged in Japan!

Torreya nucifera from Japan is a popular edible seed!

Bosse and friends next to Ligularia fischeri

..and another walnut (Juglans regia) I’d missed..

Trees

The old Elm

August 11, 2017 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

A little glimpse from one of the best permaculture courses ever that only a selected few attended, Perennialen III i Fykse, Hardanger :)
Rebecca J Smith warns me in this video about this old growth elm on Eirik Lillebøe Wiken and Hege Iren Aasdal Wiken‘s land on the tour up to their mountain farm.

Perennialen IV is definitely planned to happen next year and will be announced in very good time, so watch this space!!

Best in HD!

Birds, Seed, Trees

Siskins and birch

July 17, 2017 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

Birch seed scales are currently falling in the garden thanks to the feeding of siskins (grønnsisik)….
Added videos of a siskin feeding on fallen birch seed next to the entrance to the garden…this one allowed me to stand only 2m away and film:

…and above the siskins were feeding in the birch trees

…joined briefly by a Robin

…and showing the proximity to the road

My visitor’s car will soon be covered in birch seed debris, thanks to the flock of siskins (grønnsisik) feeding in the garden….

Birch seed scales, a fallen leaf and reflection of the trees :)

Difficult to photograph as the siskins are mainly in the tree tops…

…and I’ve just read Thoreau’s account of the dispersion of birch seeds in the great book “Faith in a seed”

…and I discovered this picture on the same day, 5 years ago (17th July 2012), when I heard the gentle patter of birch scales falling on a rhubarb leaf outside the front door! The siskins are absolutely silent when feeding and this was the only clue to their presence :)

Parasitic, Trees

Misteltoe on Sorbus

May 3, 2017 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

I’m not sure how I missed this last summer, but one of the misteltoes (Viscum album) I “planted” about 3 years ago succeeded :) It’s on a Sorbus hybridus. NB! Misteltoe isn’t edible, just fun!