Not a bad yield considering the size of the plants…this is the yield of one large pot with two plants grown inside. Chufa / tiger nuts (Cyperus esculentus) has very tasty tubers! You can read more on my friend Alan Carter’s excellent blog (Aberdeen): https://scottishforestgarden.wordpress.com/2013/12/03/chufa-tigernut
This young man came over last night and decorated this 135 ingredients “salade à la jambes de fille” for me to celebrate my daughter’s homecoming ;)
A few pictures taken on my train journey yesterday to Inderøya to talk at the Nord Trøndelag regional gardening club meeting!
Økologisk seminar at Bjerkem, near Steinkjer has become a tradition and it was a great day together with kindred spirits with a wide range of interests and skills. Thanks so much to the hosts Jakob Bjerkem and Berit for taking a chance in inviting me to give a talk!
My lovely daughter Corylus avellana is home again and I made this salad for her with a tomato called Moonglow, grown in her old bedroom in the loft, so it had to be a moonglow salad :)
On my way from Hardanger (Eirik Lillebøe Wiken and Hege Iren Svendsen) to my walk and talk in Bergen in September 2016, I had a great evening with my friend Vidar-Rune Synnevåg. He is one of the most important figures in the organic movement here in Norway from the early 1970s, working towards self-sufficiency, organic farming as well as being a skilled house architect and boat builder. As a young man, he worked towards an alternative future from the early days through talks, articles, books and TV and radio appearances! A great inspiration for many of us here in Norway! And he is working just as hard today towards a better future, including as leader of the board until recently of the (formerly the Nordic Peace Academy).
See the opening talk he gave 2 years ago (in Norwegian) https://www.facebook.com/
See more from my last visit two years ago here
http://www.edimentals.com/
http://www.edimentals.com/
See pictures from Vidar-Rune’s place and dinner with “neighbours” Veronica and Dag Kyrre Lygre and garden visit chez Aase Kristensen
I have Malabar spinach (also known as Ceylon spinach or just Basella), a vigorous climbing spinach which isn’t hardy outside here, but grows very well and sets seed every years in an unheated bedroom, this year in my bedroom…should I be worried it might strangle me in its sleep?
It’s in the Basellaceae alongside Madeira Vine (Anredera cordifolia) and Ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus), both of which have both edible tubers and leaves… I actually included all 3 of these in Xmas dinner one year (picture below) :)
Malabar spinach can be harvested here – I usually take a few leaves and mix with other greens – from August right into the depths of winter, a great winter leafy green house plant! This year I have both green (Basella alba) and red-stemmed (Basella alba “Rubra”) varieties growing alongside each other…
I presume that Malabar is the area of southern India where it’s a popular vegetable and I look forward to making Malabar bhaji next time I make an Indian meal!