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 was potting up ocas and ullucos outside this afternoon (to force for winter greens) and there was a sudden hail storm . The pots are brought inside and I use the edible shoots from the tubers all winter!
As the psychedelic (colour not effect) Andean tubers Oca (Oxalis tuberosa), Ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus) and Achira (Canna edulis) benefit from a longer season than I can give them outside, I grow them in buckets which I bring inside and harvest around Xmas time for a colourful christmas dinner…so here’s an album of this year’s harvest!
I was very surprised by one of the best ulluco harvests here, despite the leaves being mostly frozen off before moving the pots inside and not regrowing…I don’t understand…
Each of the groups correspond to one bucket! The yellow tubers at 2 o’clock are from a bucket grown for two years to see if they would grow any bigger…otherwise yellow has the smallest tubers.
I’ve never grown anything like this size of ulluco before, similarly the white with pink dots variety were significantly bigger than normal…strange as all my Ullucos were severely frosted before I brought them inside and didn’t regrow inside…
A lot of variation in yield again this year in my ocas, here are 7 groups corresponding to 7 buckets…the large yellow at bottom right looked very promising but there were only two tubers :( The two groups at bottom left and centre were mixed varieties forced for the leaves last winter and then left to grow on…
For my daughter Avellana Wood who has been working hard around the house the last few days!
Tipping the bucket upside down, the tubers are revealed :)
With an even heavier frost threatened, I moved all my Ocas and Ullucos inside….but, until I clear space (seeds drying everywhere) they are blocking the entrance to my house ;)
I grow them on inside and harvest normally for Xmas!
A collection of pictures of greens now available in my house (15th February 2016), mainly shoots of perennial vegetables!
Garlic bulbil (hvitløk-toppløk) shoots – I eat garlic bulbil shoots for most of the winter, Bulbils (topsets) form instead of flowers on hardneck garlic and are ideal for winter forcing indoors. I’m clipping them every day now to go with my lunch. The sprouts in the bucket on the left have been clipped down twice already and will try one more time before giving up. The bulbils were planted in the bucket on the right about two weeks ago.Seed sprouts from an oriental brassica that produced masses of seed…Madeira vine, Anredera cordifolia, is mainly known as a marginal root crop that’s not to everybody’s taste. It’s in the Basellaceae, related to both Basella (Ceylon spinach) and Ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus). All have edible shoots and greens. I had lots of small tubers last autumn, so why not use them for winter sprouts!Madeira vine, Anredera cordifolia
This is Japanese chives (japan-gressløk), received as Allium schoenoprasum var yezomonticola years ago, now apparently a synonym of Allium maximowicziiThis is Japanese chives (japan-gressløk), received as Allium schoenoprasum var yezomonticola years ago, now apparently a synonym of Allium maximowiczii, which is closely related to chives. It’s a more robust and productive plant than most chives. I replanted my oldest clump this autumn and had lots left over, so why not force them inside for winter onions! I’ll use this one again!This is Japanese chives (japan-gressløk), received as Allium schoenoprasum var yezomonticola years ago, now apparently a synonym of Allium maximowiczii, which is closely related to chives. It’s a more robust and productive plant than most chives. I replanted my oldest clump this autumn and had lots left over, so why not force them inside for winter onions! I’ll use this one again!Oca (Oxalis tuberosa) can also be winter forced for the greens!
Allium cernuum (Nodding onion / prærieløk) dug in the autumn and now providing winter onions from the living room….Egyptian/ walkabout /topset onion (luftløk) aerial onions can be sprouted indoors for winter greens
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden
. The pots are brought inside and I use the edible shoots from the tubers all winter!
