Tag Archives: Aralia cordata

Bonus Day 4 Permaveggies grafting course

It wasn’t planned at all (the best things aren’t), but our Swedish guests Christian Odberger and Dante Hellstrøm stayed over until Monday evening to dig up a few (!) must-have plants from my garden. Our “camper” Berit  Børte also accepted the offer to stay over until Monday.  Christian had brought grafting material with him and kindly volunteered to do a grafting course for us, so here are the pictures of Christian, Berit and my garden helper Lorna from Belfast grafting some 6 varieties of apple on to a wild apple tree, the seeds of which I collected at Warsash (on the solent), Hampshire UK some 13-14 years ago!! AND it was a beautiful afternoon too! See also http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=4617

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Lorna taking notes next to my Udo (you can almost see it grow at this time of year!) and ostrich ferns
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We discovered that Rheum palmatum, ornamental rhubarb, has a pleasant taste, less acid than common rhubarb!
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Udo and ostrich fern

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The Wild Greens of Korea

There are still many undiscovered (in the west) perennial edibles in the Far East. I’m therefore now concentrating mainly on that area in this quest. This spring I will travel for 3 weeks in Japan as part of this work. Another “country” with a rich diversity of food plants is Korea. With help from my Norwegian / Korean friend Misoni Sandvik whom I mention in my book, and who is on her own quest to find and grow wild herbs she remembers foraging when she was a child in South Korea, I’ve received two books from Korea today entitled “The Wild Greens of Korea” and “The Medicinal Herb of Korea”. There’s often a diffuse boundary between food and medicine in Korea, so the second book is also relevant, including plants like Aralia cordata (Udo)!

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Aralia cordata (Udo)
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Aster scaber (Korean Asters), the plant that lead to Misoni contacting me as related in my book, a plant she was looking for that I had on my seed list!


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Berries 17th October 2015

Sambucus nigra cultivars “Samyl” and “Samnor” – Ripe elderberries were impossible here until these new Danish cultivars arrived…ripe even in a bad summer!

Otherwise: Aralia cordata (Udo) and Aralia californica berries ready to harvest for trading seed…..

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Sambucus nigra “Samyl”
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Aralia cordata, Udo
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Aralia californica
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Sambucus nigra “Samnor”
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Aralia cordata has collapsed under its own weight next to Ostrich Fern

 

Perennial vegetable tempura

April 2014 and Yngvil (aka Ms. Saladdy) was helping out in my garden, her practical experience for her education to become a gardener!  I’ll let her tell her own story of the wonderful diverse tempura we made together on that day using perennial veggies!

See also https://saladdy.wordpress.com/2014/04/25/tempura-day 

..includes ostrich fern, blanched lovage, Udo, perennial kale, moss-leaved dandelion, Allium victorialis, nettles, Aster scaber, scorzonera shoots, Campanula latifolia, Oca, Myrrhis, Allium scorodoprasum, garlic, Allium ursinum, Ligularia fischeri (first time), sea kale, Primula veris “Red Strain”, Rumex acetosa, Alliaria petiolata and a few others…

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