It was warm enough to sit outside yesterday and “prick out” (i.e., transplant into bigger pots) all the spring onions and leeks I’d sown a week ago inside. Neither Allium cepa, Allium fistulosum nor Allium ampeloprasum (porrum) need cold treatment to germinate unlike many other Alliums. Of the 40 varieties I sowed, about 28 germinated (some of the seed was a few years old). I’m still searching for a spring onion that is hardy enough to sow in late summer here so that I can harvest in early summer. The best bet is one of the cultivars of Allium fistulosum used for spring onions, but most of the modern varieties, mostly bred in Japan, have lost the hardiness of the species (from Siberia).
After 3-4 weeks of snow cover, the weather this week changed dramatically and we had the second warmest February day over the last 100 years with over 10C! Together with rain and wind, almost all of what was close to 50 cm of snow has disappeared. For plants, this has been a very mild winter and the ground has hardly been frozen. As soon as the snow had disappeared I could dig the soil. Some edibles such as nettles and chickweed haven’t been killed by frost. Here are some pictures of (apart from the snowdrops) edibles in the garden today.
Nettles (nesle)
Dandelion (løvetann)
Chickweed (vassarve)
Allium cernuum (Chicago onion / Prærieløk)
It looks like it would be a good year for overwintering of my perennial kales (flerårige kål/ staudekål)
A perennial leek (Allium ampeloprasum) will not normally overwinter here
Lesser celandine (vårkål)
Allium scorodoprasum (bendelløk)
Rumex patientia
Sideritis syriaca (Greek mountain tea /Gresk fjellte emerging from one of the last snow patches
Hablitzia tamnoides (Caucasian spinach / stjernemelde); my oldest 17 year old plant
Alliaria petiolata (hedge garlic / løkurt)
Alliaria petiolata (hedge garlic / løkurt)
Norwegian accession of Hablitzia tamnoides (Caucasian spinach / stjernemelde) from Hadsel vicarage
Toasted diverse Alliums, Hablitzia and dandelion for lunch
Toasted diverse Alliums, Hablitzia and dandelion for lunch
Snowdrops should be open in the open garden in a few days!
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden