Monthly Archives: December 2016

Climbers, Forest Gardening, Perennial vegetables

My first wild Hablitzia accession

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10 years ago in July 2006, I received an email seed request  from a Sergey Banketov in the Caucasus. I don’t usually trade seed in summer, but he had such an interesting list of wild collected species from the Caucasus that I made an exception and we traded seeds. At the time I was writing my article on Hablitzia tamnoides for Permaculture Magazine and on the offchance I asked “Do you know the plant Hablitzia tamnoides? It was introduced to Sweden in about 1870 as an ornamental plant and later it was realised that it was also a very good edible plant (used in the springtime as spinach) . It is still grown in some gardens in Scandinavia for food. However, I can find no reference to its use as a food plant in its home range (the Caucasus). Do you have any information about its use? I am also interested in seed from wild populations and photographs of the plant in the wild as I am writing an article about it.”

Sergey, a botanist, lived in the city of Pyatigorsk in the Stavropol region of Russia (Northern Caucasus) and he quickly replied:

 “I know a plant of Hablitzia tamnoides. This plant grows with us in the vicinity of the city. And like for the first time it is described from mountain Mashuk. I shall collect seeds and I shall try to photograph her. Unfortunately the information on it is very poor. I hear the first time that she is edible. With us we do not use even for decorative purposes. I shall try to learn about it at work (Botanical institute) and in the pharmaceutical academy.”

Just 4 days later he sent me these 4 pictures of the plant growing on northern slope at the bottom of the mountain Mashuk (see the images for the location). Further he told me that nobody knows the plant apart from botanists!

In January 2007, Sergey sent me his new seed list which now included Hablitzia! In February, I received a good amount of wild seed, collected from 3-4 plants at the bottom of Mt. Mashuk (my own single plant produced almost no seed) and in the Permaculture Magazine article an offer of seed was given, the source being Sergey.

Edible flowers, Edimentals, Fibre plant

Nepal Exhibition at RBGE

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When I visited the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh (RBGE)  in September 2016 I was pleased to find an exhibition of portraits of Nepalese plants, many of which were edible and information was even provided on food and other uses of the plants shown!  The exhibition celebrates the 200th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Britain and Nepal and the even longer botanical relationship of the gardens with Nepal  (see  http://stories.rbge.org.uk/archives/21610).
The exhibition features drawings made by a group of 6 RBGE artists that visited Nepal in 2015 as well as a Nepalese artist.  See also http://www.mdhardingtravelphotography.com/single-post/2016/08/13/Bicentenary-UK—Nepal
My album of pictures show the edible and fibre plants on display!

Pulses

Did the Carlin Pea originate in Norway?

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PC123954At the weekend, I packed some seed of Carlin Pea, a very old English pea that I’ve grown here in Malvik since around 1990 when I ordered it from the Heritage Seed Library in the UK. I was googling it and to my great surprise, I discovered that it is both now commercially available in the UK and that there is actually a story about it arriving on a boat from Norway:

«…one tradition has it that when Newcastle was besieged by the Scots (in 1327), the citizens might have starved but for the arrival of a cargo of dried peas from Norway on the Sunday before Palm Sunday, known as Carlin Sunday.”

…and concerning the origin of the name Carlin:

«North East, Lincolnshire, Nottingham
Carling Peas, Black peas (Maple Peas or Pigeon Peas), boiled and then lightly fried in butter or beef fat, well-seasoned. Eaten, or given away, a tradition during Lent, particularily on ‘Carlin (or Carling or Care*) Sunday’, usually noted as the 5th Sunday in Lent known in the Church as ‘Passion Sunday’, but occasionally with the 6th Sunday in Lent, due to regional variations in the Church Calendar. Known by this name at least since Turner’s Herbal of 1562, the word may derive from ‘care’.”
* “Care” is an alternative name for “Passion”.
(Source: http://www.foodsofengland.co.uk/carlinpeasorbrownbadgers.htm and https://www.slowfood.org.uk/ff-producers/nick-saltmarsh-hodmedods-carlin-peas )

There are, however, alternative interpretations of the word Carlin, see http://adambalic.typepad.com/the_art_and_mystery_of_fo/2007/02/left_maple_peas.html

I sent the peas this week after a request from Agneta Magnusson in Sesam (Swedish Seed Savers). Sweden, unlike Norway has a rich diversity of surviving old peas, so I asked if they knew of any old varieties that resembled the Carlin Pea. They answered that, no, they hadn’t seen such a round “marbled” grey pea before!
There’s some justification then in considering the Carlin Pea to also be a Norwegian heirloom!

The flowers are also very attractive:
http://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/jun162-Carlin-pea.jpg

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Carlin seed pods
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Dried mixed peas, including Purple Podded and Carlin
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Sowing peas for indoor sprouting in my living room: Carlin and another Norwegian heirloom Ringeriksert!
Biannuals, Perennials, Root crops

Jack-go-to-bed-by-noon/Chorogi/Madeira vine tuber harvest

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Harvested roots of Jack-go-to-bed-by-noon (Tragopogon pratensis), an introduced weed in my garden. It is related to salsify and scorzonera – I eat the roots and force a few for early spring greens; Madeira vine is in the Basellaceae and isn’t everybody’s cup-of-tea as they are rather mucilaginous – they can also be forced in winter for the equally mucilaginous greens! I LIKE THEM, but always mixed with other veg. Finally, I harvested my long neglected chorogi which were surprisingly good yielding despite the fact that they were completely overgrown by weeds..
All are now stored in the cellar.

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Jack-go-to-bed-by-noon (Tragopogon pratensis) / geitskjegg
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Anredera cordifolia (Madeira vine)
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Chorogi or chinese artichoke (Stachys affinis)

 

Root crops

Greater pignut

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Greater pignut or earth chestnut (Bunium bulbocastanum) is an interesting perennial hardy root vegetable in the carrot family (Apiaceae) that I had in my garden for 10-15 years. The seeds didn’t often mature, so it didn’t spread at all (unlike common pignut, Conopodium majus).  It is like a outsized pignut in appearance.  However,  I can’t eat either of these raw as I get a burning aftertaste at the back of my  throat after a while, after an initial mild nutty flavour….and yield needs to be improved dramatically before it will be widely grown..
Often greater pignut received as seed is actually Oenanthe pimpinelloides which also is reported to have edible tubers (plants received as O. pimpinelloides have never survived the winter here). As discussed in the pictures, I believe mine was the true Bunium.