In my short 10 minute introduction to Norwegian Seed Savers, I talk about one of the pioneers and the person that inspired me into seed saving, Lawrence Hills of the Henry Doubleday Research Association. The first newsletter I received from HDRA in 1980 was about the World’s Vanishing Vegetables…almost exactly 40 years on it’s a very interesting read: https://www.fni.no/getfile.php/1311057-1573120703/Dokumenter/Kvann%20-%20powerpoint%20presentation.pdf
Thanks to Regine Anderson of FNI for arranging this event!
On 4th April 2018, I took advantage of my trip to Switzerland to attend the The Potential of Perennials for Food Resilience symposium to visit KVANN’s (Norwegian Seed Savers) sister organisation Pro Specie Rara in Basel. Many thanks to Director Béla Bartha (since 2002) and Head of Education, Esther Meduna for making me feel so welcome. The trial grounds and offices of Pro Specie Rara are located in the Merian Gärten, a botanical garden in Basel. I lead a walk and talk of the trial grounds and botanical collections followed by an evening lecture at Markthalle in the centre of Basel! A great place for a seed saver organisation to be located! Béla also showed me their seed vault a specially climate controlled room (15C and 15% humidity). The walk and talk was sadly interrupted by heavy rain and we moved indoors and I did a short version of my evening lecture instead!
On Thursday 5th April 2018, I arrived to give a talk at a place called Neubad in Lucerne! I had no idea that I would be talking from the deep end of a swimming pool ;)
Neubad, formerly a swimming pool, is now a thriving alternative cultural centre! Across the road I also visited Neugarten, a small community garden.
Thanks to Francesca Blachnik and Sven for inviting me and showing me around!
So, Im talking in the swimming pool…that’s a first!!
Tempting to lecture from the diving board!
….or an original entry…
Before the talk I visited the community garden across the road!
Sven showing me the bee hotel
On the roof of the old swiming pool, Neubad!
The views of Mount Pilatus (2,128m) are spectacular
Mount Pilatus (2,128m)
The audience sat on the slope between the deep and shallow ends
During my trip to Switzerland I had a fantastic day together with Mountain Gardener Joe Hollis in Zurich, first in the new (larger) Botanical Garden of the University of Zurich where some 7,000 plant species can be seen and later in the old botanical garden which is still maintained as a public park!
Joe is incredibly knowledgeable about useful plants and we spoke mostly latin!
Thanks to Matthias Brück and Kala Serafim for bringing us together!
More about Joe here: https://www.mountaingardensherbs.com
Joe Hollis botanising
Camassia leichtlinii
Malva (Lavatera) olbia
Umbilicus horizontalis (horizontal navelwort)
Joe and I were surprised to find liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) planted and spreading in dry soil under a pine tree
Crocus sativus (saffran)
Muscari comosum bulbs are commonly sold on markets in the Meditteranean countries at this time of year
Yucca filamentosa
Allium ampeloprasum
Not one to eat, Mandragora officinarum, Mandrake
Peltaria alliacea
Butcher’s broom, Ruscus aculeatus
I hadn’t heard of this species before, but it’s a synonym for Hosta rectifolia
Zanthoxylum simulans
Cornus mas
Centranthus ruber
There was a great display of native Swiss Cardamine kitaibelii in the woodland rock garden
Cardamine kitaibelii
In the company of ramsons (Allium ursinum), this was labelled Cardamine x killiasii, a natural hybrid between C. pentaphyllos and C. kitaibelii
I don’t know of any uses of this one, but a nice plant, Valeriana triptera
Joe Hollis
Caltha palustris
Bunium bulbocastanum (Great pignut)…I wonder if this is the real thing, most often it’s wrong!
There was a good display of Allium victorialis from the high Alps, confirmation that it can also be grown in the lowlands as a forest garden edible
Allium victorialis
Primula veris / elatior / vulgaris and hybrids
Primula veris
The only reference to this species, Lactuca uralensis, when I google it is from the Zurich Botanical Garden
Aster (Kalimeris) mongolicus may wel be used in Mongolia
Hemerocallis middendorfii
Pachyphragma macrophylla is a beautiful edible woodlander in the cabbage family
Pachyphragma macrophylla is a beautiful edible woodlander in the cabbage family
There was also a cone display, Pinus pinea, one one of the pine nut trees
..and another, Pinus cembra
Pine cone display
A familiar one from Joe Hollis’ neck of the woods, Trillium sessile
Ramsons (Allium ursinum) is everywhere in Zurich, loved to eat and hated as a weed…
Ramsons (Allium ursinum)
We didn’t get time to visit the domes
Equisetum telmateia is a native…also found in the Pacific North West in North America where I saw it on Vancouver Island on the coast
These were collected to eat at the symposium. However, it wasn’t Equisetum arvense (too large) and knowing there are poisonous species in the genus, I persuaded them not to use them and they were thrown out. I now know it was E. telmateia which I know was used by native americans in Western North America
Gunnera tinctoria from Chile, one of my Around the World plants
Another Around the World plant is Apium nodiflorum
Yet another Around the World plant, Polygonum bistorta
We also visited the interesting library…ethnobotany is important at the University. This is a Goji (Lycium) display
Last weekend I attended this symposium in Stans (near Lucerne) with a diverse group of people including farmers, decision makers, bankers, investors, NGOs, students, landscape architects, writers, international organisations, chefs, plant breeders, university researchers, syntropic farmers, permaculturists etc. to discuss the role of perennials in what more and more people are seeing as a necessary paradigm shift in agriculture in the face of climate change and dwindling resources.
The program: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a574020b078696d379ca25e/t/5ab04a9288251bfd948ffe44/1521502868186/Program+PerennialsConference+7.Apr18.pdf
Jugendstil-Hotel Paxmontana in Flüeli-Ranft was where we were accomodated :) We arrived here in true Harry Potter style as the station (platform) where we had to get a connecting bus here didn’t seem to exist. At the next station where we asked a railway employee…a bus miraculously appeared going to the hotel which the official managed to flag down!
The magic bus…me, Joe Hollis and a few other delegates!
The site of the symposium: Kapuzinerkloster & Garten in Stans
The symposium was very well attended with around 100 people despite no real marketing!
Myself and Joe Hollis helped out foraging perennial food for the symposium!
It was an honour to meet the Mountain Gardener Joe Hollis in person, such a wise and gentle person :) I’d encourage you to watch his Youtube videos (includes Udo, Aralia cordata) about many of the plants he grows in his paradise gardens! See https://www.youtube.com/user/mountaingardens/videos
Sonchus, sow thistle
Plenty of nettles
Wild onion, probably Allium vineale
Hedge garlic (Alliaria)
Nettles and ground elder
Organiser and initiator Matthias Brück
We ate lunch at the restaurant in the middle of the Nature park….the waiter and owner was bemused by us augmenting their rather boring salad :)
Billed as the Perennial Life Experience symposium food, it was for most attendees!
Perennial Ryotto! Similar to Norwegian Svedjerug, so not truly perennial…
It was a beauiful spring weekend weatherwise and food and breakout sessions were held outside!
The author Dominic Flammer is also the curator of the Kapuzinerkloster & Garten which is currently under restoration.This will be a wonderful place for courses when it’s restored! He’s written several books including the wonderful Culinary Herbs of the Alps!!
Katharina Serafimova wraps up the final breakout session to discuss how to take this forward!
Malva syrup
Dandelion wine
Menu for the first dinner at the hotel
View from the hotel
While I was visiting Pro Specie Rara in Basel, Joe Hollis joined the others foraging ramsons which grows like a weed in Zurich and is common on the hills around!
While I was visiting Pro Specie Rara in Basel, Joe Hollis joined the others foraging ramsons which grows like a weed in Zurich and is common on the hills around!
Campanula
Galium
Path down to the river
Primula veris x vulgaris hybrid?
Primula veris
Heracleum
Taraxacum
Viola
Hepatica (not edible)
Veronica beccabunga
Nettles
Barbarea vulgaris
Fallopia (Japanese knotweed)
Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis)
Primula vulgaris
Sanguisorba minor
Aegopodium
Spring heath (Erica carnea)
Long distance paths
Chapel by the river
Primula vulgaris
More symposium food
The view from the symposium
Another dandelion product
Joe Hollis
I was chuffed to sign Joe Hollis’ copy of my book and to see that he had made so many notes!
A bed right outside the venue with a contorted hazel full of ramsons (Allium ursinum)
The venue in Stans
View from a hike above Stans
I saw this potential edimental Phyteuma spicata (?) in two places
One of the breakout sessions was based on two of us so-called “pioneers” telling our story as to how we became perennial vegetable growers. I was one. It was strange sitting in a room with groups discussing and analyzing my “case” ;)
Happy to announce that I’ll be in Switzerland the week after Easter to attend and talk at a symposium on “The Potential of Perennials for Food Resilience” Here’s the symposium announcement: https://www.perennials-resilience.org (more later!).
Excited that I’ll get to meet Mr. Mountain Gardens himself, Joe Hollis, who is also attending. Many of you will know Joe from his youtube videos, like this one on Udo (Aralia cordata): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNzCpfSQWks
Joe has spent 25 years developing Paradise Gardens, a botanical garden of edible plants in the mountains of western N. Carolina!
I will also visit Pro Specie Rara (KVANN – Norwegian Seed Savers’ counterpart in Switzerland!) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ProSpecieRara
Thanks to Matthias Brück and Katharina Serafimova for doing most of the organising!
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden
