Ingerid Angell-Pedersen holdt et kort innlegg om kvann (en fast “månedens art” innlegg) under kveldens medlemsmøtet hos Trøndelagsavdelingen av Norsk Botanisk Forening i Trondheim! Ingerids onkel, hagebruker Jens Roll-Hansen på Kvithamar forsøksgård i Stjørdal, var utgangspunktet for Markusteigen linje av Vossakvann som dyrkes på Landvik…og nå er også dyrket og distribuert i høst gjennom “foreningen” KVANNs høstkatalog av Karl fra prosjektet archangelica.no! Ingerid har fortsatt Vossakvann i hagen som bildene viser…
Etter foredraget begynte møtelederen faktisk å fortelle forsamlingen om at det var til og med dannet en forening KVANN…før jeg kunne fortelle dette selv… Jeg kunne derfor sto opp og fortelle at jeg var faktisk KVANNs leder og jeg fortalte litt om oss….
Dette bildet viser Ingerids mann og en kvannplante i hagen
Forskjellen mellom vanlig fjellkvann og nesten fylt vossakvann (nederst)
The owner of the Airbnb I was staying at in Victoria, BC kindly took me on a tour of gardens on 2nd April 2017! This was the first garden, a lot which was donated to the city and maintained for native plants by volunteers!
Thanks once again Kelly Kerr!
The year’s first flowering Trillium!
Erythronium oregonum (white fawn lily)
Mahonia aquifolium, tall Oregon grape
Mahonia nervosa, dull Oregon grape
Maianthemum
Sword fern? (Polystichum munitum)
Viola spp.
Indian plum or osoberry (Oemleria cerasiformis)…the plums were/are eaten fully ripe by native peoples of the west coast!
There are many Asters that are foraged and cultivated in the Far East. This includes Aster scaber (Korean Aster) which is one of the 80 in my book Around the World in 80 plants. I’ve blogged a lot about this fantastic edimental. See http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?s=aster+scaber. In my book, I mention 4 other Asian species that are used as spring vegetables and in my most comprehensive Japanese foraging book there are 8 species mentioned. I’ve now finally flowered two other species, both mentioned in my book, so maybe there’ll be a taste in the spring…they are all late flowering. Here they are at the end of October 2017!
See on FB here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10155527725545860.1073743046.655215859&type=1&l=7a796be893
My oca (Oxalis tuberosa) plants (grown in large pots) have now been moved inside to be finished off for Xmas. A couple were still in flower!! It should be a good crop!
Oca are difficult to get a good crop off in the north as tuberisation doesn’t start until days are short…and early frost /cool weather can stop development and lead to almost no yield!
I’m full of hope!
The autumn songs of the European robin (rødstrupe), heard in the video from the garden this morning and wren (gjerdesmett) always puts me in a good frame of mind despite everything
It’s still very mild here and still no proper frost (just a slight ground frost one morning) and no frost forecast either in the next 10 days! Just as well as I’ve hardly started harvesting and preparing for winter! On my bike ride to town yesterday I heard 4 singing robins, and in Bakklandet (central Trondheim) a singing wren on my way into town and with the full moon accompanying me on the way home, all the signs are good!
A common sight on warm autumn / winter days are the swarms of what I’ve always called winter gnats…however, I know little more about who they are or their life history..
If you know more, please enlighten me!
…and a closeup with double reflection :)
So much has happened this year that I haven’t had time to blog about several places I’ve visited this year….with a bit more time now I’m returning to my great trip to Canada in March and Victoria, BC. Solara Goldwynn, a local Permaculture Landscape Designer (Hatchet & Seed) had arranged a program for me including a walk and talk gig at the Garden of the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific, just 12 km from downtown Victoria! It’s a relatively young garden but full of interesting plants (far more interesting than the nearby world famous Butchart Gardens which doesn’t even merit a blog post!). It’s non-profit community focused garden with sustainable management practices. Here’s an album of pictures from the garden tour and talk – the participants preferred to stay inside and hear the whole lecture rather than going outside, so this album documents what we would have seen :)
Thanks to Solara Goldwynn for arranging this and great also to finally meet my friend Lara from Salt Spring Island!
Before my talk Solara and I walked around the garden, making a plan for a tour of these largely ornamental gardens looking for edimentals!! A good start was this sign announcing the Hosta garden, although it was a bit early to see any spring sprouts (Hostas appear in late spring) ;)
Allium acuminatum is one of the west coast wild onions, widely used by Native American peoples as food, including the Coastal Salish and Thompson
Caltha, cowslip or marsh marigold is also widely used for food and medicine by native peoples
Cornus officinalis, Sanshuyu: the fruits are used fresh and in an alcoholic drink
Cornus avellana “Contorta”, contorted Hazel. I hadn’t seen the name “Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick” before. From Wikipedia, it has Scottish roots!: “Sir Henry McLennan Lauder (4 August 1870 – 26 February 1950) was a notable Scottish entertainer, described by Sir Winston Churchill as ‘Scotland’s greatest ever ambassador!'” The Corkscrew Hazel was dubbed “Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick” because the comedian used a crooked branch cane during his performances.”
Harry Lauder and twisted walking stick
Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick
Sedum spectabile is a good spring salad plant!
Trachystemon orientalis took my thoughts to my friends in Bulgaria, Maria Tariyska and ИВАН КАМБУРОВ, plants bind us all together; see how this plant is eaten here – http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?page_id=1269
Nice touch at the entrance, including Trachystemon!
Lilium martagon has edible flowers and bulbs, a great plant for a forest garden
Trilliums and Polygonatums, more edible forest garden inhabitants
Erythroniums
…and more, Erythroniums
One of the edible berries of the west coast, kinnikinnick (melbær) is also widespread in Norway.
The native plant garden!
…with edible camas (Camassia) and garry oak
Edible camas and Dodecatheon
Ribes sanguineum “White Icicle”
Arabis
Allium tuberosum
Allium schoenoprasum
Bronze fennel
Lovage
Native Allium cernuum
Sweet cicely, Myrrhis odorata
Guess what I chose? Dandelion Latte or Organic Bone Broth? ;)
A few pictures from a short lunch time visit to the Oslo Botanical Garden at Tøyen this week with my little girl!
Eryngium maritimum (Sea holly) is an endangered species in Norway, so not encouraged to eat it. The next picture shows what Cornucopia II says of its use in the kitchen (I’ve never managed to grow it, so haven’t tried)
Eryngium maritimum (Sea holly) in Cornucopia II
Allium thunbergii is one of the latest onions to flower…it looked like there were two different forms here..
Allium thunbergii
Pinus wallichiana, Indian blue pine (tårefuru /tear pine). The seeds are sometimes eaten as pine nuts..
Photographing the tears of Pinus wallichiana…..Conucopia II: the tree exudes an edible manna from the leaves and twigs!
The tears of Pinus wallichiana…..Conucopia II: the tree exudes an edible manna from the leaves and twigs!
Pinus wallichiana
The Viking garden
An ex-Elm
Hazel with Turkish Hazel!
Turkish Hazel…all I’ve opened have been empty
Campanula rapunculoides, from the garden’s Korsmo weed chart exhibition!
Probably the oldest Gingko tree in Northern Europe, soon to reach 150!
This week I gave a couple of talks for the first time on the subject of “Perennials: Attractive and climate friendly city vegetables” ….covering everywhere from roof gardens to shady backyards to city farms, including Slottsparken – the park around the Royal Palace in Oslo which is in reality a productive forest garden ;) (full of Hosta and ostrich fern / strutseving)!
3 hour course for Bybondelagon 1st November 2017 (the Norwegian City Agrarian Society)
Short 35 minute talk as part of the “Grønn Helse i Byen” (Green health in the city) symposium arranged by Det Norske Vitenskaps Akademiet (the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters!)
Excellent and enthusiastic talk by city farmer Andreas Capjon from the Losæter farm in the centre of Oslo at the Green health in the city symposium.
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden
