Diamond back moth invasion

One of the worst invasions of diamond back moth / kålmøll happened a couple of days ago….here is a video showing hundredds swarming over one of my Lily White sea kale plants which is about to flower. Luckily they never do much damage to sea kale (Crambe maritima) as the harvest is over before they arrive, one of the big advantages of perennial brassica…on the other hand, annual brassica crops are being planted now in my area…they have little chance against these tiny moths….
I blame the rapeseed oil industry for this…they don’t overwinter here, but they migrate passively on warm winds from central Europe and Russia, even reaching Svalbard and Northern Norway…

Fast Slow Edimental Lunch!!

15 minutes from garden to table must qualify as fast food, but unlike its namesake this is highly nutritious and with a few flowers becomes gourmet edimental food…
The greens were boiled and then stir fried quickly in olive oil with chili and garlic.
Inspired by traditional Mediterranean village food!
Yes, cooking is FUN!!
P1600062
Flowers: Trillium grandiflorum, Claytonia virginica / spring beauty, Claytonia sibirica / Siberian purslane, Primula veris / cowslip ( 2 cultivars), Taraxacum officinale / dandelion, Allium zebdanense, Allium humile, Alchemilla spp. / lady’s mantle

P1600065 P1600060

P1600058
The greens: Honckenya peploides, Rumex acetosa / sorrel, Carum carvi / caraway, Humulus lupulus / hop shoots, Cryptotaenia canadensis / honewort, Hosta “Red October”, Hablitzia tamnoides, Caucasian spinach, Allium schoenoprasum / chives (flower bud and leaves), Clematis vitalba / Old Man Beard shoots (must be cooked)

Grennessminde and the fantasy salad beds

On 13th August I’ll be doing an edible wander at Grennessminde, the organic nursery just outside of Copenhagen. A large number of edible flowers are also produced here for Michelin restaurant NOMA. I popped in for a quick look on Tuesday with project leader Aiah Noack who is also (together with Naturplanteskolen) organising a trip from Denmark and Southern Sweden to my garden around 15th – 19th July! There are still some places available!

P1590831
Red mitsuba (Cryptotaenia japonica)
P1590833
Watercress
P1590816
Edible flowers, Malva
P1590812
Edible flowers, Oxalis
P1590821
Edible flowers, Fuchsia
P1590823
Edible flowers, Oxalis
P1590835
Allium fistulosum
P1590838
Rumex acetosa “Abundance” (non-flowering form)
P1590842
Lepidium latifolium – Nordic wasabi :)
P1590844
Cochlearia (scurvy grass)
P1590846
Variegated ground elder (Aegopodium podograria variegata)
P1590847
Aster scaber, Korea aster
P1590848
Aster scaber, Korea aster
P1590849
Pink-flowered dandelion, Taraxacum pseudoroseum
P1590850
Allium cernuum, Chicago onion
P1590852
Allium hookeri, Hooker’s onion
P1590854
Canada violet, Viola canadensis
P1590858
Atriplex hortensis “Aurea” / Golden orach
P1590856
Allium “Summer Beauty”
P1590860
Rumex patientia, patience dock
P1590862
Allium fistulosum
P1590866
Fragaria “Lipstick”
P1590867
Fragaria “Lipstick”
P1590870
Grennessminde fantasy lunch!
P1590872
Grennessminde fantasy lunch!


P1590825 P1590863

Visiting Camilla Plum

On 2nd May 2016 I finally got to visit Camilla Plum and Fuglebjerggaard. Camilla is one of Scandinavia’s best known authors and broadcasters on edible gardening and cooking. It was such a beautiful day that the formal talk was abandoned in favour of an edible tour of the organic nursery and farm lead by myself and Camilla. A great crowd of knowledgeable folk, some of whom had travelled quite a long way including one couple from Norway! Thanks for inviting me Camilla!! A great place and many must-have plants :)

P1590069
Camilla in front of a large bed of emerging Ostrich Ferns which were obviously thriving in this open location as shoots were popping up in the grass around the bed!

 

P1590072
Wool mulch
P1590073
Perennial kales
P1590075
One of the 80 in my book is Allium obliquum, twistedleaf garlic from Siberia! I’d never seen it growing on this scale before.
P1590077
This form of Allium obliquum had beautiful purple stems and was also on sale on the nursery.
P1590079
Nursery
P1590080
Edible perennials
P1590084
What was happening here? Camilla had asked staff to go down into this swampy pit to collect rhizomes and young shoots of a plant known in North America as the Supermarket of the swamps… 
P1590090
Harvesting salad ingredients :)
P1590091
Large selection of chilis!
P1590094
Large selection of chilis!
P1590098
Yellow flowered Allium moly is a great edible onion for partiual shade in the forest garden! Not often you see this one on sale, although supermarket chain Lidl were selling bulbs this autumn!
P1590099
Hop clones after Danish breeder Øyvind Winge, now made available in the nursery. I remember seeing these in the hop collection at Årslev…
P1590102
DAHLIAS!
P1590103
Hop-Asparagus!
P1590104
Perennial kales
P1590105
…and Lathyrus tuberosus
P1590106
Scorzonera
P1590107
Tulbaghia or Society Garlic from South Africa
P1590108
Wonderful lunch with ostrich fern, fried dandelion flower buds with salt and a lovely salad with tulip petals!
P1590116
Mushroom plant, Rungia klossii from Papua New Guinea is a novel salad plant

 

P1590082 P1590083P1590085 P1590088 P1590089 P1590100 P1590101 P1590110 P1590111 P1590112 P1590113 P1590117 P1590118

Allium humile

I call Allium humile (syn A. nivale) the snowy onion, and is my favourite spring flowering Allium!  I saw it flowering first in the Tromsø Botanical Garden and was bowled over by this view:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is found in the wild on slopes at high elevations (4000-4500m) in China, India; Nepal and Pakistan. Now flowering in my garden! Definitely not suffering from (low) altitude sickness ;)

P1590798 P1590800