My 18 year old udo (Aralia cordata) is probably the tallest ever this year (I’m 6 ft or 1.8m). After the coldest May for many years with plenty of rain, June is likely to be the warmest ever in this area with several days over 30C and a probable (to be confirmed) highest temperature for this area at 34.3C at the airport on Saturday. Cold damp spring temperatures are perfect for udo! I’m dreaming of fields of udo replacing the barley and oats!
AROUND THE WORLD IN THE EDIBLE GARDEN; Part 2 – Korea Inviting you to the second in a series of dinners from Malvik’s Edible Garden where we “forage” from different parts of the world! We don’t often eat oily food, but now and again its great and this meal was exceptional! From top left and clockwise: Ligularia fischeri Dystaenia takesimana (Giant Ulleung celery, seombadi) Aralia cordata (udo) (blanched for dipping and green for tempura) Phyteuma (should have been japonica, but I used nigra; svartvadderot) Allium victorialis subsp platyphyllum (victory onion; seiersløk) Aralia elata (devil’s walking stick, fandens spaserstokk) Hosta “Frances Williams” Hemerocallis dumortieri (flower shoots) (dayliliy, daglilje) Parasenecio hastatus (also the first time I ate this one and it was delicious, but I wouldn’t advise eating a lot: see here http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=23845) Matteuccia struthiopteris “Jumbo” (ostrich fern; strutseving) Taraxacum albidum and to the right of this: New Zealand spinach and Serratula coronata (also a first for me; the subspecies insularis is eaten in the Far East) Oplopanax horridus (North American species substituting Asian species Oplopanax japonicus or Oplopanax elatus) More information with the pictures!
The closest I got to white flowered Korean dandelion, this is Taraxacum albidum from Japan.
Taraxacum albidum; large up to 7cm flowers!
Taraxacum albidum
Blanched udo (Aralia cordata)
Blanched udo (Aralia cordata)
Blanched Hosta sieboldiana “Frances Williams”
Ligularia fischeri
From top left and clockwise: Ligularia fischeri, Dystaenia takesimana, Aralia cordata (udo) (blanched for dipping and green for tempura), Phyteuma (should have been japonicum, but I used nigra), Allium victorialis, Aralia elata, Hosta “Frances Williams”, Hemerocallis dumortieri (flower shoots), Parasenecio hastatus (also the first time I ate this one and it was delicious, but I wouldn’t advise eating a lot: see here http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=23845), Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), Taraxacum albidum and to the right of this: New Zealand spinach and Serratula coronata (also a first for me; the subspecies insularis is eaten in the Far East)
Peeling the blanched udo for dipping
Allium thunbergii from the Far East was used in the dipping sauce
The last group of tempurised veg!
We improvised dinner on the floor (the dining room table is my office!), the only thing missing was the Soju!
Dipping blanched Hosta! DELICIOUS!! The dipping sauce was made with 6T of soy sauce, 3T of water, 1T of apple cider vinegar, 1T of sesame oil, pepper, 1 crushed garlic clove, chili and green onions (Allium thunbergii)
Dipping blanched udo (Aralia cordata)
Last minute addition (there was enough food for two days), I remembered these Oplopanax horridus or devil’s club shoots. Although this is a North American species, there are closely related species in the Far East: Oplopanax japonicus and Oplopanax elatus
Last minute addition (Oplopanax horridus or devil’s club)
Unexpected but great visit today from Nat Mead and Audhild Bjune. Many working with organic farming and horticulture in Norway were taught by Nat. He teaches horticulture, plant cultivation, composting and soil fertility at the Sogn Jord- og Hagebruksskule, a national school for organic agriculture. Nat is from New Hampshire, from where I returned on Monday! I first met Nat at a meeting of the Norwegian Organic Gardening Network in 1989 at Sørbråten Gård in Maridalen, Oslo and didn’t meet him again until late 2014 at the event at Mathallen to save the school which was under threat of closure (not the first time!)…I had my book launch at the same event!
Nat has 3 types of perennial kale and udo seed head (Aralia cordata) in his hands!
What an amazing place, at Joe Hollis’ Mountain Gardens in North Carolina yesterday!
My favourite forest garden anywhere!! At 77, Joe is still expanding having purchased more land and with several new projects!
Thanks to all who came including the three who drove down from Ohio for the event (9+ hours!)
The picture shows me and Joe in his largest patch of Udo (Aralia cordata). Very much more when I get the time….on to Atlanta today and the gig at the Botanical Garden tomorrow!
Unlike me, my oldest Udo (Aralia cordata) is showing no signs of ageing….well, it’s only 18 years old!
My tallest vegetable is a herbaceous perennial!
Thanks to Maria Hammarsten from Jönköping University who visited today for the pictures!
This week, we made pakoras from a selection of perennial veggies from the garden (which ones can you spot?)
Pakoras are made with chick pea (besan) flour! Looking for a source of broad bean (fava) flour as that would I reckon be even tastier and could be produced in Norway!
A selection of perennial vegetables which ended up in pakora! Which ones?
Udo (Aralia cordata) – these are blanched. We also used green udo!
Green and white udo (Aralia cordata) pakora! Although the green udo is somewhat strong tasting raw, it is delicious in pakora!
The udo (Aralia cordata) shoots had begun to lift the forcing bucket, so time for the annual udo salad, a variant this year, East meets West salad…the udo paired with garden grown ramsons (ramsløk)! Delicious!
