Beach Walk 30th December

Guest speaker at the Midwest Wild Harvest Festival

I’m very chuffed and honoured to have been asked to be guest speaker at next year’s Midwest Wild Harvest Festival on September 27-29. The festival is organised by Melissa Price and my favourite foraging author Samuel Thayer!
I plan also to visit nearby Seed Savers Exchange for the first time!

Around the World in 80 plants direct from the author!


281218: I’m now sending signed copies of my book from home in Malvik with any dedication you wish!
Cost:  NOK 250 plus postage
Payment either by Paypal, bank transfer or VIPPS (Norway) : Orders by email to sbarstow2@gmail.com

Around The World in 80 Plants : An Edible Perennial Vegetable Adventure For Temperate Climates, by Stephen Barstow

For book reviews, see here: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?page_id=271

What has underground gardening in Tokyo, the origin of garlic and an English bishop got in common? They are all stories from the original, groundbreaking book, Around The World In 80 Plants. Perennial gardening will never be the same again, nor will be your kitchen repertoire!

Around The World In 80 Plants takes us on an inspiring edible adventure across the continents, introduacing us to the author’s top 80 perennial vegetables, with inspiration along the way from local foraging traditions and small scale domestication. Each plant has its own ethnobotanical story to tell; introducing Sherpa vegetables of the Himalayas; forest gardened and foraged vegetables of the Sámi people of Arctic Scandinavia; a super-vegetable of the Maori of New Zealand; an onion with a 1,000 year history linking the author’s home and Iceland ; a plant which earned the name ‘supermarket of the swamps’; the traditional veggie roof gardens of Norway; clifftop perennial vegetables of Dorset’s Jurassic coast; the Hampshire perennial vegetable triangle; Scandinavias best kept secret, a long-lived spinach that climbs; Prince Charles’ Forest Garden, and inspiring multi-species dishes of the Mediterranean countries.

A thorough description is given of each vegetable, its propagation, cultivation and uses, and also how to source seed and plants. As many of the author’s selections are what he calls ‘edimentals’ – edible and ornamental –Around the World in 80 Plants will be of interest to traditional ornamental gardeners as well as anyone interested in permaculture, forest gardening, foraging, slow-food, gourmet cooking, traditional preservation techniques and ethnobotany.

Stephen has devoted over 30 years trialling the world’s perennial vegetables. He grows more than 2,000 edible plants in his garden close to the Arctic Circle in Norway, and in 2003 earned the title ‘Extreme Salad Man’ after creating a salad using 537 varieties, inspired by multi-species Mediterranean dishes! Sprinkled with recipes inspired by local traditional gastronomy, this is a fascinating book, an entertaining adventure and a real milestone in climate-friendly vegetable growing from a pioneering expert on the subject.

Foreword by Alys Fowler:
“I have been patiently waiting for this book and then impatiently pestering for it, drumming my fingers loudly. And then one day it appears. Like everything that you have to wait for in life, it’s better for it. This book speaks of its maker … It’s a wonderfully detailed, ofteneccentric look at all the plants you’ve ever wondered were truly edible. Stephen is an extraordinarily clever man with a truly academic approach to knowledge, thus every detail you could wish for is in here. I’ve been poring over my copy and have made a list of must-try plants, planning how I can rearrange my garden this winter so I can fit in more of these. There are several reasons why Stephen’s work is so important. Firstly, the climate in which Stephen grows is not easy. True, he has a fjord to keep the worst of the freezing temperatures away, but he has a very short growing season. His garden is also on bedrock often just inches below the soil surface. He’s a committed permaculturist so you won’t find electric strimmers or extra heat for the greenhouse – all his rainwater is recycled and I have a fantastic picture of a year’s worth of Norwegian newspapers suppressing weeds. All of which amounts to this: if he can grow it, so can you. This tome is a treasure trove of truly useful perennial plants for making healthy, ecologically balanced, edible gardens. Our climate is increasingly unpredictable and many traditionally grown crops are not faring well in such conditions. We need diversity in our crops, we need people like Stephen who explore the boundaries of what’s edible and worthwhile to grow, and we need people like you to get inspired and start growing them too. Anyone who reads this book and acts on it is an early adopter of a brave new growing world. Get sowing, write about it, write to Stephen, join social media groups and tell the world that we have found new things to eat and the future tastes fine!”
Alys Fowler
Garden author and broadcaster

Alys Fowler studying Cornucopia II in the Edible Garden, 16th July 2010

“Around the World in 80 Plants is more than just excellent profiles of little-known delicious vegetable crops. Stephen Barstow is one of the world’s great edible plant collectors and his stories of encountering plants in the wild, tracking down seeds of rare species, and of course growing and cooking with these species are absolute treasure. Many plant books just rehash information already written in other sources.  Around the World in 80 Plants is delightfully marinated in personal experience. It will make you not only want to grow and eat these crops, but to travel to Siberia, Norway, and Chile to know them in their natural habitat. ”
Eric Toensmeier, award-winning author of Paradise Lot and Perennial Vegetables, and the co-author of Edible Forest Gardens.

“Stephen Barstow presents fascinating and useful information about his top 80 perennial leafy vegetables including lots of historical references, his and others’ recipe ideas, along with photos and more. Many of these are easily grown and can be ornamental as well as great edibles. This will be a really useful book helping extend the range of food plants for gardeners.”  Martin Crawford, Agroforestry Research Trust.

This should prove to be the most exciting book of the year for veggie gardeners, plant geeks and ethnobotanists…” Emma Cooper, author, organic gardener & blogger

Visit to the Kilmacurragh Botanical Garden in 2018

Back in September again and I was in Ireland and my friend Orlaith Murphy had set up a diverse tour of great local gardens for me! Day two, we visited the National Botanical Gardens in Kilmacurragh which is still undergoing restoration after being taken over by the main botanical gardens in Dublin in 1996! There’s been a garden here for a long time and you can read more of its history here:
http://botanicgardens.ie/kilmacurragh and its monumental trees here:  https://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/irl/leinster/wicklow/2531_kilmacurragharboretum

As usual, most of the pictures are of useful and unusual edible plants discovered on our visit! See also the two videos at the bottom!

Back in 2011, I visited the main botanical garden in Dublin and here are a series of blogs from then:

The Vegetable Garden at the National Botanic Garden in Dublin in 2011:  http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20530

Berberis and other unusual fruit at the botanics in Dublin: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20547

Medimental border in Dublin 2011: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20550

Yellow Yews in Dublin: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20580

Other edible plants: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20607

 

Other edible plants in the Dublin Botanical Gardens in 2011

In early October 2011, I was on a work trip in Ireland (Cork) and stopped off to see the city’s botanical garden for the first time!
Here’s an album of pictures of mostly edible plants spotted during my day in this wonderful garden!

All posts from Dublin in 2011
The Vegetable Garden at the National Botanic Garden in Dublin in 2011: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20530

Berberis and other unusual fruit at the botanics in Dublin: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20547

Medimental border in Dublin 2011: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20550

Yellow Yews in Dublin: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20580

Other edible plants: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20607

Happy Edimentalmas

Merry St.Stephen’s Day (aka Edimentalmas!) to all edimentalists :)
This year’s Xmas dinner had the following tubers: Lathyrus tuberosus, Dioscorea polystachya (tuber and tubercules aka mukago), Madeira vine (anredera) , Dahlia, Carrot (2 varieties), Chorogi, Chinese duck potatoes ( Sagittaria trifolia subsp. leucopeta), Lilium martagon, Scorzonera, Yacon, Potato (Sarpo tominia and King Edward), Oca (Oxalis tuberosa – 4 varieties) and Taro (Colocasia esculenta). Together with nutroast, taro greens, perennial kale and leek this made for a delicious slow christmas dinner!
Norske ingredienser:  Kortreist julemiddag 2018: Nøttestek, med knoller av jordflatbelg, kinesisk yam (knoll og bulbiller / mukago), Madeira-vine, georginer, kinesisk wapato, gulrot, potet, krøll-lilje, scorsonerrot, yacon, 4 sorter oca og  taro….samt taro kål, flerårige kål fra hagen og purre!

 

Yellow Yews in Dublin

 At the Dublin Botanical Gardens, there was a superb collection of mature Yew trees – here are 3 yellow deviants…

All posts from Dublin in 2011
The Vegetable Garden at the National Botanic Garden in Dublin in 2011: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20530

Berberis and other unusual fruit at the botanics in Dublin: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20547

Medimental border in Dublin 2011: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20550

Yellow Yews in Dublin: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20580

Other edible plants: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20607

Medimental border in Dublin 2011

In early October 2011, I was on a work trip in Ireland (Cork) and stopped off to see the city’s botanical garden for the first time! I found this border composed of medicinal and edible ornamentals…a medimental border…

All posts from Dublin in 2011
The Vegetable Garden at the National Botanic Garden in Dublin in 2011: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20530

Berberis and other unusual fruit at the botanics in Dublin: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20547

Medimental border in Dublin 2011: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20550

Yellow Yews in Dublin: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20580

Other edible plants: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=20607