Category Archives: Winter shoots

H for Hablitzia Extreme Salad

The Less than Extreme Salad Man has been in action with the year’s multi-species salad! A few hours before the polar low storm hit and snow covered the greens, I did a forage around the garden, finding about 15 species, mostly onions, but there were fresh dandelions, perennial kales and the first Hablitzia shoots. These were added to a selection of stored vegetables from the cellar, including blanched dandelion and chicory shoots which had grown in the above average temperatures. About 30 different veggies!

Long Horseradish root

We’re nearing the end of a very mild period with no frost in the ground, so I’ve been doing a lot of unseasonal work in the garden. Yesterday, I dug over the horseradish (pepperot) bed and excavated this one root that was trying to escape into a neighbouring area as carefully as I could!
I cut off the top with a bit of root for forcing the delicious young shoots and the root will be ground!

Webinar on winter perennial vegetables!

Thank you Emilia Rekestad for putting last week’s webinar on winter perennial vegetables up more permanently on youtube. Emilia first introduces the webinar and the polyculture project through which it was organised!
I hope you find it useful and please help us by sharing with friends and relevant groups!!
 

January vegetables from cellar and window sills

Kosmorama/ Credo diversity dinner #1

Last night (8th March 2017) was the first of two events I had been asked to take part in celebrating the diversity of vegetables that our area has on offer (or could have on offer) even in winter! The Trondheim Kosmorama international film festival are showing two films related to food. Last night, the film “NOMA: My perfect storm” was shown and around 40 people also bought tickets to a fantastic 10-15 course, 4 hour meal (I lost count) at Trondheim’s NOMA: Credo!
I supplied a number of vegetables for the dinner and these are shown here, several being served for the first time in Norway :)
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All the veggies including Primula elatior (oxlip / hagenøkleblom flowers)
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Blanched dandelions (løvetann)
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Oca, ulluco, Hablitzia shoots (stjernemelde) and Chicago onio
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Blanched horseradish (top left) with blanched wild dandelion, Aleksandra garlic bulbil sprouts, Chicago onion (Allium cernuum), different types of Oca (Oxalis tuberosa) and Ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus – green tubers)
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Sweet cicely / spansk kjørvel seed sprouts at the top with blanched horseradish shoots at bottom and blanched wild dandelion on the right

Today in the garden

A few pictures of life returning to the garden…

Food diversity events in Trondheim next week!

Winter recordI was very pleased earlier in the winter to be asked to take part in the Trondheim Kosmorama Film Festival’s culinary programme, set up around the showing of two food related films:

Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food  http://kosmorama.no/program/gourmet-cinema-in-defense-of-food  and NOMA – My Perfect Storm  http://kosmorama.no/program/gourmet-cinema-noma-my-perfect-storm

In connection with both films I am collaborating with Trondheim’s leading restaurant Credo in putting together the most diverse locally-sourced winter food ever in Norway, if not the world…. ;)
After the Michael Pollan film on Thursday 9th March,  participants will be able to sample one of my multi-species edimental dishes and other snacks, see a cavalcade of pictures from over 50 of my fantasy salads and other multi-species dishes and there will also be a Food Talk with myself, the film’s producer Michael Schwartz and Credo’s Heidi Bjerkan and local farmer and supplier of gourmet raw ingredients Carl Erik Nielsen Østlund!  As Pollan concludes, Eat Food, Not too Much, Mostly (a diversity of) Plants!

After the NOMA film on the day before (Wednesday 8th March), guests can purchase tickets to a dinner at Credo or Jossa Mat og Drikke (upstairs at Credo). The Extreme Salad Man (that’s me!) will be at the Credo dinner and will inform the guests about some of the weird and wonderful veggies from Trøndelag to be included in this 10-12 dish meal. A multi-species dish will also be served at Credo!

Please join us for one or both of these two unique film-food diversity events!
Buy tickets here:
https://kosmoramafilmfest.hoopla.no/sales/kulinarisk-jossa (Noma)

https://kosmoramafilmfest.hoopla.no/sales/kulinarisk-in-defense-of-food  (In Defence of Food)
See also Credo’s blog about the Kosmorama culinary events here:

http://us10.campaign-archive1.com/?u=02c6cd43bc54fa6b9821680b9&id=3881be9ef6

All ingredients in my multi-species dishes apart from a simple dressing will be freshly harvested either outside in the garden, from my cold cellar or from living rooms in the house without additional heat, lights nor freezer (no greenhouse). My previous winter diversity records can be seen by following the links below! How many will it be this time? ;)
30th March 2014 (81) Salad   http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?page_id=4064

February 2015  (55) Salad  http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?page_id=815

January 2017   (56)  Salad    http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=9559

January 2017   (57)  Green pasta sauce http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=9577

NB! TRONDHEIM and Trøndelag is the best place anywhere to grow tasty veggidiversity!

Sulfur containing winter greens

The most hardy winter greens in my garden are mostly rich in sulfur compounds including various onions (Allium) and onion-tasting brassica, Garlic mustard (løkurt), Alliaria petiolata or is it just coincidence that Alliums and Alliaria are both very hardy. 
Does the sulfur play a role in giving these plants hardiness? The only other plant that I can harvest a little of in midwinter is Hablitzia tamnoides (although it turns red in the coldest weather).

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Allium cernuum also stays green through the winter and can be harvested even in the coldest weather!
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Garlic mustard (løkurt), Alliaria petiolata is a short-lived annual / biannual that germinates in the autumn here and the leaves often make it through the winter and can be eaten in midwinter!