Tag Archives: Extreme salad man

Wild Hive Talk at Home in Chandlers Ford: Resonating with Hampshire!

Thank you once again to all the amazing Wild Hive Collective team for organizing my talk in Chandlers Ford, my home town, on 19th November 2023. It attracted a full house of some 80 people plus helpers. See their review here: Wild Hive Collective Review
This was a special event for me being the first time I’d talked outside of Norway since Covid and dedicated to my dad (Harold G Barstow) who died last year at 97 and possibly the vegetable grower who had been at it longest in the area, here with his broad beans at 90, in a raised bed he made in his 80s, planning for old age: 
Dad had worked as a joiner/carpenter all is life (his parents couldn’t afford to give him an education and he left school early). He became an expert on Great Britain Victorian stamps (where I get my collectomanic genes from). On retirement he spent his time well, researching local history and publishing 8 or 9 books on the subject, involving learning medieval latin. He also became an artist, painting old local buildings. He wrote 4 books about the North Stoneham area where his grandfather had repaired the one-handed clock at North Stoneham (he’s pointing to him in the picture on the wall of the Cricketers Pub and he can also be seen standing with his bike in front of the church on the front of one of the books):
…..and not forgetting my dear mum Patricia (Pat) Barstow (soon 94) who was in the audience:

The first part of my talk was all about perennial vegetables and Hampshire and all the wonderful interconnections with my family and others I’ve experienced there over the years!
In 2015, I was invited to give a two-part talk at the Walled Kitchen Gardens Network Forum at National Trust property Croome Court in Worcestershire and I discovered that two of my family were already well known and respected in that eminent group! At dinner on the first night in Pershore, it dawned on the people there that I also was the son of the “famous” North Stoneham historian and author and when it was revealed that author of the book “Garden archaeology”, Christopher Currie was my cousin, who excavated the North Stoneham site, then I was well and truly one of them!! For there is a strong link as Capability Brown (who designed Croome’s gardens) was almost certainly also responsible for North Stoneham. Several of those at dinner that night were from Hampshire and campaigning to save the North Stoneham site!! Small world and resonating with the cosmos once again………….
It was the chairwoman of the forum, Susan Campbell, one of the most knowledgeable people in the land on kitchen gardening and edible plants who had invited me to Croome, having read my book. She had thought I was Norwegian until we met. She and her husband Mike have a fantastic beachside property in Hampshire where I visited a year or so after Croome. The title of her book “Charleston Kedding: A History of Kitchen Gardening” is one of the most original book titles. Charleston Kedding is a fictional place around which the book is based, the name being an anagram for Old Kitchen Gardens! 
No photo description available.
The following year was the 300th anniversary of Capability Brown’s birth: 
See more pictures from Croome here https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?page_id=2554
It was at Croome I talked about Hostas,  jokeing as I did in my original article on “The Oriental Spinach” in Permaculture Magazine, about Prince Charles having the most productive forest garden in the UK as he had a national collection of large-leaved Hostas in a woodland area at Highgrove, not knowing that the Prince’s head gardener sat in front of me. I later signed a copy of my book “To HRH Prince Charles, good luck with your Hosta cuisine” asking them to pass on to the prince. This lead the following year to being invited to Highgrove to see the collection…sadly, the Prince didn’t turn up as it was his mum’s birthday….priorities!
I next introduced a good ex-pat friend in Norway, David Woodland, who had attended a talk I gave in Bergen over 10 years ago now. I had mentioned during that talk I was from Hampshire and afterwards he asked where. I said Eastleigh and he then told me he grow up only a mile or so away in Colden Common! We had been growing veg in Norway for as long as one another! David’s father was Dennis Woodland who did most of the work and took pictures for the Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs in the 70s. David’s family lived for some time at Jermyn’s House at the Hillier Gardens, just 6 miles from where my family have lived since the early 70s in Chandlers Ford. On the back of an interview I did with Radio Solent in Southampton soon after the book came out, I was invited to give a walk and talk at Hilliers in 2015 and the talk was in Jermyn’s House! This was the first of several walks and talks I did all over the world in botanical gardens and at Hilliers I was allowed for the first time to pick from the ornamental borders for a lunch salad! Mum and Dad attended (Dad can be seen in the background in the second picture below)!
See another blog post on the Hilliers walk and talk here: https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?page_id=1281
The next interconnection happened at that Hillier talk. As I was in Hampshire I talked about what I call the Hampshire perennial vegetable triangle where both Sea Kale (the most British of all vegetables), through William Curtis in Alton and Gilbert White in Selbourne, and watercress (Alresford) were domesticated in the 17-1800s: 

Little did I know but Sheila John, a volunteer at the Curtis Museum in Alton, was in the audience at Jermyn’s House. After the talk, Sheila approached me and asked if I would give my talk in Alton which I did a couple of years later in the Allen Gallery where, in the back garden they were planning a garden of William Curtis plants. I spent the next day in the library of the museum which had several rare books on Curtis. Sheila had also in the meantine helped me get a copy of his pamphlet on sea kale (below) from the British Museum:


….and this takes me back to garden historian Susan Campbell who I visited in 2017 at her home on the Solent, where she had a small sea kale garden next to the beach supplying sea kale to a restaurant in London (in season). At that time, she was the only one growing this wonderful vegetable for sale; see more at https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=10713 
The same day I had visited another of the speakers at Croome, Tim Phillips who has a wonderful vineyard within a walled garden near Susan in Lymington, see https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=10678
I was happy to spot Tim in the audience for the Chandlers Ford talk….thanks for the bottle Tim (pictures in the gallery at the bottom)! 
I can mention a few more connections to finish. In April 2008, I was with mum in the Hillier gardens and we’d stopped to admire some rather colourful purple spring shoots of a Hosta, possibly the cultivar “Patriot” (picture below). At that time I was writing my article for Permaculture Magazine on “Hosta: The Oriental Perennial Spinach” and was looking for ones with “edimental” shoots (a word I “invented” at about that time). At that moment a familiar face comes striding down the hill towards us with a group. It was well known plantsman, gardener, author and broadcaster, Roy Lancaster who has long been associated with Hilliers and I knew he lived locally in Chandlers Ford. He stopped for a chat and we talked for about 15 minutes about the edibility of Hostas and other unusual edibles Roy had come across on his travels. Below are those Hosta shoots and Roy disappearing up the path having lost the party he had been with!

Roy’s plant exploring writing had always been an inspiration for me, having read his book A Plantsman in Nepal in the 80s! It was to be over 15 years before we should meet again as he was in the audience at my talk, invited by Wild Hive’s Lizzie Dunn who is in his family. I was hoping he would come as my friend David Woodland (above) had known him when his dad was working at Hilliers and had sent a greeting to Roy which I passed on when I saw him react to the slide of David I showed! Roy told me that they hadn’t met since he had left for Norway! Roy came up afterwards to tell me that he had enjoyed the talk and encouraged me to keep it up….wow!
Incidentally, I grow one of Roy’s introductions from Nepal, a lovely form of Allium wallichii which I call “Lancaster”. It can be seen in the Onion Garden Chicago in Trondheim that I look after!
Long hoverfly on Allium wallichii “Lancaster” at the Ringve Botanical Gardens

I was also very happy to see Jen Butcher from Nottingham at the talk. She had stayed with us in Norway for a week on an RHS bursary in May and brought along two others from RHS Wisley! Another long traveller was  Chris Seagon and his wife who had travelled down from Lincolnshire. They have relocated their Devon Edible Garden Nursery there!

The final connection is a special thanks to Nic Landsdowne and her husband Richard who run the venue at the Hilt in Chandlers Ford. It was also Nic, who is one of my mum’s helpers who suggested earlier in the year that I should be in touch with Wild Hive….thank you, Nic, this wouldn’t have happened without you!

…and what a lovely review of my talk event by Wild Hive (follow the link below and help them if you can, what they are doing is incredibly important!). Through the amount of work and promotion the Wild Hive – Ecological Education Collective crew put in to this, they thoroughly  the fundrasing success it was!
https://www.wildhivecollective.org.uk/post/extreme-salad-man-stephen-barstow-talks-on-home-turf-in-hampshire

The talk was filmed, so will hopefully be made available at some stage!

Seed offered at the talk:
See https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=31661

Below are a collection of pictures taken by Wild Hive on the day (unless stated). Thanks all…and I’ll hopefully be back for more in the spring!

Gunnera-Chinese Yam salad

Delicious Gunnera-Chinese Yam salad with goldenberries (Barbadoslykt), Gunnera tinctoria, Dioscorea polystachya (Chinese yam) “Ichoimo”, carrot, turnip, various tomatoes, nodding onion (prærieløk), chicory (sikori), perennial kale (flerårig kål), Worcesterberries, celery, garlic, frozen Nasturtium flowers, Begonia flowers, ….

20 year anniversary extreme pizza!

Around 25 years ago I started reading scientific papers written by various ethnobotanists on the back of the discovery of the traditional Mediterranean diet – people in mountain villages had low levels of cardiovascular disease. The diet is characterised by eating a lot of fruit and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, seeds and fish and contains little fat from dairy products and red meat, but rather monounsaturated fat from olive oil and unsalted nuts. Even here in Norway, this is the diet recommended by experts, latest in an article this spring at NRK article  in which it’s also suggested that it can also contribute to preventing dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and prostate cancer. Nice to know as this is the diet I’ve followed for some 40 years, although using more dairy products than would have been used. 
Reading those articles, it struck me that one component was missing in recommendations and that is a large diversity of notably leafy green vegetables, something not possible for most people in Norway as, unless you are a forager, this isn’t available. In fact, for most people, vegetables seem to be interpreted as tomatoes, cucumbers and squash, all fruits. 
One of the first studies I read was Gathered wild food plants in the Upper Valley of the Serchio River (Garfagnana), Central Italy by Andrea Pieroni, published in the journal Economic Botany in 1999. In this study, 133 species 
belonging to 48 families were documented and over half were plants used for their leaves and shoots. I could also read in this paper about multispecies dishes for perhaps the first time. Notably, in this area a multispecies soup Minestrella with typically 40 different plants was made and a similar 50 species dish, pistic, traditionally made inland from Venice is also referred to (pistic is also referred to in Stephen Facciola’s Cornucopia II).
This inspired my own multispecies dishes and, a few days ago, 24th August 2023 was the 20th anniversary of my world record salad with 537 plants which lead to me being called Extreme Salad Man on a Norwegian gardening program Grønn Glede the year after! The importance of leafy perennial vegetables and food diversity, both cultivated and foraged also became the subject of my book Around the World in 80 plants.
My main multispecies dishes (with links) made over the years since can be found at the bottom of this post.
On 24th August we decided to mark the 20th anniversary of the world record salad by making a pizza with as many plants as possible, although it was a busy week otherwise so I only managed 229 this time, 225 of which were grown in one of my 3 gardens, the onion garden at the Ringve Botanical Garden, the Væres Venner community garden and my home garden, The Edible Garden. It was served to an unexpecting group of psychologists who had booked a garden tour that evening! They were on a Somatic Experiencing mentoring weekend in Malvik (Vennatjønna Levebruk) and they spend the first evening “grounding themselves” in my garden (this was the second visit)! The list of plants can be downloaded under the pictures below from that evening!

The record pizza ingredients:

Download (XLSX, 19KB)



Other notable extreme multispecies dishes –
SALADS: 19th August 2001 –  363 different plants (382 ingredients); see https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=29492 
            24th August 2003 – 537 different plants (over 90% were perennials); see https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=18997
PESTO: 6th June 2015 – 230 different Alliums (see https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?page_id=1507); a few were biennial (Allium cepa)
FERMENT: 412 varieties (7th June 2015)  – a mix of perennials and annuals (see https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?page_id=1544); probably over 80% were perennials!
SALAD FLOWERS: 115 different flowers on 7th July 2015; see https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?page_id=1904  (again probably over 90% flowers of perennials)




50 and 20 year celebrations

To celebrate our good friends’ Jurgen Wegter and Ingvild Haga’s 50th birthdays together with Meg’s 50-year anniversary of arriving in Europe for the first time (in Southampton near where I lived at the time) as well as my 50 year anniversary of leaving school and a memorable holiday with 20-30 school friends in Newton Ferrers in Devon, we made a special gourmet dinner of green mac-cheese. It had masses of veg mixed in – the year’s first broad beans and swiss chard, chicory, common sow thistle (Sonchus oleraceus), Allium senescens leaves, shallots and garlic from last year, rehydrated winter chantarelles, golpar – ground seed of hogweed – Heracleum spp., together with ramsons salt, chili, sun dried tomatoes and mustard, all in a wholegrain spelt white sauce with wholegrain spelt pasta; it was  topped with alpine bistort bulbils). 
Not to be left out, the Extreme Salad Man contributed one of his Meditteranean diet inspired multispecies salads commemorating it is now almost 20 years since he put together a salad from home grown ingredients in Malvik comprising 537 ingredients. something the world hasn’t seen before or since (see https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=18997). The record was set on 24th August 2003. This time there were a mere 106 ingredients….sad to see, but he must be losing it….
Thanks to Jurgen for the salad pictures:

The Extreme Salad Man photographs his latest creation

Unpacking the Edimentals Herbarium

Being the focus of an art installation wasn’t something I ever imagined, but since February an installation has been exhibited at the Trondheim Art Museum Gråmølna based on my January winter vegetables and very nicely put together it was too, by a group of international artists working on the Meatigation (get it?) project through the MOREMEATLESSMEAT exhibition. This was designed to stimulate debate on why it is difficult to get Norwegians to reduce their meat consumption in the face of climate change. They visited me in January filmed me harvesting in the cellar, in the living rooms and outside and took away about 30 of my winter vegetables that were then scanned and exhibited with narrative provided by yours truly: JANUARY HERBARIUM
For those that don’t know me, I am more or less 100% self-sufficient in vegetables and fruit all year round without using a greenhouse, additional heating or light (we use far less heating than most) and not owning a freezer. 


Last Sunday  (30th April 2023) between 14 and 16 the closing event focussed on the myth that one cannot avoid importing vegetables in winter here in Norway through the UNPACKING THE EDIMENTALS HERBARIUM event. It was fittingly also the #internationaldayofthedandelion a plant I eat most days year round (forced from roots in winter in my cellar and living rooms). 
To accentuate that vegetable diversity is possible even in cold Norway in winter, with snow showers outside the venue, at a time of year known as the Hungry Gap (I call it the Full Gap as it really can be the time of greatest abundance!) I (#extremesaladman) prepared my most diverse winter/spring salad ever (and probably anywhere) with 163 botanical species, 199 different plants (including cultivars) and in total 211 ingredients (includes different plant parts, such as flowers and leaves from the same plant). I prepared two different looking salads from the same ingredients! The list of ingredients can be found at the bottom (a list was also hung up on the wall so that the participants could read what they were eating!)


The second salad:

The centrepiece of both salads was a complete rosette of the moss-leaved dandelion (Taraxacum tortilobum) in recognition of the International Day of the Dandelion!



I was asked a series of questions and gave answers supported by various plants I’d brought with me:
Allium cernuum (nodding onion / prærieløk)
Hablitzia tamnoides (Caucasian spinach / stjernemelde) 
(both are available most of the winter outside)
Allium pskemense x fistulosum (Wietse’s onion / Wietsesløk)
Allium stipitatum (Persian shallot / Persisk sjalott)
Vicia faba (dried broad beans / bondebønner)
Beta vulgaris “Flavescens” (swiss chard / mangold) 
Angelica archangelica “Vossakvann” (Voss angelica / Vossakvann)
Taraxacum spp. (dandelion / løvetann – demonstrating dandichokes / løveskokker and dandinoodles / dandinudler)

The questions were:
BIODIVERSITY: Why is agricultural biodiversity important?
PRESERVATION: Why preserve heritage varieties of edible plants?EMOTION: Why joy, pleasure & humor in food and farming?
WINTER: What could we eat in the winter? Preservation & fresh.
FUTURE: What could a Norwegian food future taste like if plants were at the center?

There were of course also many questions from the participants about what different plants were in the salads.  
I mentioned that the salads were originally not just the result of a slightly mad collectomanic’s work in Malvik but also had an important message.  My second and still current world record salad was made 20 years ago in August 2003 (see https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=294). It had been inspired by the Mediterranean diet, where ethnobotanical studies on the back of the discovery of the low levels of cardiovascular disease in people eating traditional diets had revealed a huge diversity of plant species used in the Mediterranean region (over 3,000 species). Not only that, but traditional multi species salads, soups, calzones etc., often with over 50 different species had been discovered – more in my book Around the World in 80 plants).
This week just 4 days before the event national broadcaster NRK had published an article once again pointing to the Mediterranean Diet as being the healthiest one! See NRK article.
The previous winter / spring record with 140 ingredients was made for Credo  Restaurantat the Kosmorama Film Festival in 2017. 

PREPARING THE SALAD ON MY BIRTHDAY
The pictures below show me collecting the salad ingredients the day before which was my birthday, what better way of spending the day :)
Picking nettles (which were cooked)
Documenting as I went along!

On the way to the event, waiting at the bus stop with salad and plants as the snow came down!

Pictures from the event (taken by Anne Maisey from TKM Gråmølna):
Organising before the event

The opening talk

Voss Angelica / Vossakvann
Answering questions about the salad ingredients

Wietse’s onion (Allium pskemense x fistulosum and Persian shallot (Allium stipitatum)
Dried broad beans (bondebønner), leaf beets (mangold) and forced chicory (sikori)
Svedjenepe / svedjerova – an old Scandinavian turnip variety grown in the Svedjebruk tradition (slash and burn), A variety that KVANN (Norwegian Seed Savers) are popularising again in the area in south eastern Norway where this tradition was practised (with Vossakvann roots)
The list of salad plants was hung up next to the salads
An Instagram post
An Instagram post
An Instagram post
 
All the plants (forced Hosta bottom right) and the salads, Allium cernuum (nodding onion / prærieløk) near the centre

Here is the plant list: 
RAW VEGETABLES
Aegopodium podagraria Ground elder Skvallerkål
Agastache foeniculum Anise hyssop Anisisop
Alchemilla spp Lady’s mantle Marikåpe
Alliaria petiolata Hedge garlic Løkurt
Allium altyncolicum
Allium ampeloprasum Leek Purre
Allium angulosum Mouse garlic
Allium carinatum Keeled garlic Rosenløk
Allium carolinianum
Allium cepa Spring onion Vårløk
Allium cernuum Nodding onion Prærieløk; Chicagoløk
Allium douglasii Douglas onion Douglas-løk
Allium fistulosum Welsh onion Pipeløk
Allium flavum Small yellow onion Doggløk
Allium hymenorrhizum
Allium karilenii
Allium lusitanicum German garlic Kantløk
Allium moly Golden garlic Gull-løk
Allium nutans Blue chives Sibirsk nikkeløk
Allium ochotense Oriental victory onion Orientalsk seiersløk
Allium oleraceum Field garlic Vill-løk
Allium paradoxum var normale Few-flowered leek
Allium paradoxum var paradoxum Few-flowered leek
Allium pskemense
Allium pskemense x fistulosum Wietse’s onion Wietsesløk
Allium ramosum Chinese chives
Allium rubens
Allium sativum Garlic Hvitløk
Allium schoenoprasum Chives Gressløk
Allium scorodoprasum Sand leek Bendelløk
Allium senescens x nutans Hybrid onion Hybridløk
Allium stenodon
Allium tricoccum Ramps
Allium tuberosum Garlic chives Kinagressløk
Allium ursinum Ramsons Ramsløk
Allium victorialis Victory onion Seiersløk
Allium vineale Crow garlic Strandløk
Allium wallichii Jimbur; Nepalese onion Nepal-løk
Allium x cornutum St. Jansuien onion Johannesløk
Allium x proliferum Walking onion Luftløk
Allium zebdanense
Amelanchier alnifolia Saskatoon Matsøtmispel
Angelica archangelica “Vossakvann” Voss Angelica Vossakvann
Anthriscus sylvestris Cow parsley Hundekjeks
Anthriscus sylvestris “Golden Fleece” Cow parsley Hundekjeks
Apium graveolens Celery Selleri
Arabis alpina Alpine rock cress Fjellskrinneblom
Armoracia rusticana Horseradish Pepperrot
Aronia arbutifolia Red chokeberry Rødsurbær
Artemisia dracunculus sativa “German” German tarragon Tysk estragon
Aster scaber Korean aster Koreansk-asters
Atriplex hortensis “Rubra” Orach Rød hagemelde
Berberis vulgaris “Black Berried” Barberry Vanlig Berberis
Beta vulgaris “Red” Beetroot Bete
Beta vulgaris “White” Beetroot Bete
Betula pubescens Downy birch Vanlig bjørk
Bistorta officinalis Bistort Ormerot
Brassica napus napobrassica “Baggens” Swede Kålrot
Brassica oleracea “Daubenton” Perennial kale Flerårige kål
Brassica oleracea “Eiiwig Moes” Perennial kale Flerårige kål
Brassica oleracea “Tree Collards” Perennial kale Flerårige kål
Brassica oleracea “Walsall Allotments” Perennial kale Flerårige kål
Brassica rapa “Gul Finlandsk” Turnip Nepe
Brassica rapa “Målselvnepe” Turnip Nepe
Bunias orientalis Turkish rocket Russekål
Campanula latifolia Giant bellflower Storklokke
Campanula punctata
Campanula trachelium Nettle-leaved bellflower Nesleklokke
Cardamine pentaphylla
Cardamine raphanifolia
Cichorium intybus Chicory Sikkori
Cichorium intybus “Witloof” Chicory Sikkori
Cirsium canum Queen Anne’s thistle Dronning Annes tistel
Cirsium oleraceum Cabbage thistle Kåltistel
Claytonia virginica Spring beauty
Cornus mas Cornelian cherry Vårkornell
Corylus avellana Hazel Hassel
Crambe maritima Sea kale Strandkål
Elaeagnus umbellata Autumn olive Sølvbusk
Epilobium angustifolium “Alba” Rosebay willowherb Hvit geitrams
Fragaria x ananassa Strawberry Jordbær
Hablitzia tamnoides Caucasian spinach Stjernemelde
Helianthus tuberosus “Dagnøytral” Jerusalem artichoke Jordskokk
Helianthus tuberosus “Dave’s Shrine” Jerusalem artichoke Jordskokk
Helianthus tuberosus “Dwarf” Jerusalem artichoke Jordskokk
Helianthus tuberosus “Stampede” Jerusalem artichoke Jordskokk
Hosta sieboldiana Hosta Hosta; bladlilje
Houttuynia cordata Himalayan water creeper Kameleonbusk
Humulus lupulus Hops Humle
Humulus lupulus “Aureus” Golden hops Gullhumle
Hydrophyllum virginianum Virginia waterleaf
Hylotelephium spp. Sedum Sedum
Lepidium sativum
Leucanthemum vulgare Ox-eye Daisy Prestekrage
Levisticum officinale Lovage Løpstikke
Ligularia fischeri Fischer’s Ligularia Fischersnøkketunge
Malus domestica “Aroma” Apple Eple
Melissa officinalis Lemon balm Sitronmelisse
Myrrhis odorata Sweet cicely Spansk kjørvel
Oenanthe javanica Water dropwort, Seri Seri
Origanum vulgare Wild marjoram Bergmynte/Kung
Oxalis acetosella Wood sorrel Gjøksyre
Oxalis triangularis Purple shamrock Triangelgjøksyre
Oxalis triangularis “Fanny” Purple shamrock Triangelgjøksyre
Oxalis tuberosa “Red” Oca Oca
Oxalis tuberosa “Yellow” Oca Oca
Physalis peruviana Goldenberry Barbadoslykt
Phyteuma nigra Black rampion Svartvadderot
Phyteuma spicata Spiked rampion Vadderot
Primula denticulata Kuleprimula
Primula elatior Oxlip Hagenøkleblom
Primula veris Cowslip Marianøkleblom
Primula veris “Macrocalyx” Cowslip Marianøkleblom
Primula vulgaris Primrose Kusymre
Prunus cerasus Sour cherry Surkirsebær
Prunus domestica “Sviskeplomme” Plum Plomme
Ranunculus ficaria Lesser celandine Vårkål
Raphanus sativus Radish Reddik
Rheum palmatum tangeticum Turkey rhubarb Prydrabarbra
Rheum x rhabarbarum “Træna” Rhubarb Rabarbra
Rhodiola rosea Roseroot Rosenrot
Ribes divaricatum “Worcesterberry” Worcesterberry Worcesterbær
Ribes nigrum Blackcurrant Solbær
Ribes sativum Redcurrant Rips
Ribes uva-crispa Gooseberry Stikkelsbær
Rubus idaeus Raspberry Bringebær
Rubus idaeus “Gul” Raspberry Bringebær
Rubus idaeus “White Russian” Raspberry Bringebær
Rubus occidentalis “Black Hawk” Black raspberry Svartbringebær
Rumex acetosa Sorrel Engsyre
Rumex acetosa “Abundance’ Non-flowering sorrel Engsyre
Rumex acetosa “Belleville’ Sorrel Engsyre
Rumex acetosa “Profusion” Non-flowering sorrel Engsyre
Rumex patientia Patience dock Hagesyre
Rumex scutatus Buckler-leaved sorrel Fransksyre
Stachys affinis Chinese artichoke; chorogi Knollsvinerot
Taraxacum albidum White Japanese dandelion
Taraxacum officinale Dandelion Løvetann
Taraxacum tortilobum Moss-leaved dandelion Mosebladet-løvetann
Tigridia pavonia Tiger flower, cacomitl
Tragopogon pratensis Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon Geitskjegg
Tropaeolum tuberosum “Ken Aslet” Mashua Knollblomkarse
Urtica dioica Stinging nettle Brennesle
Vaccinium myrtilus Bilberry Blåbær
Vaccinium uliginosum ssp uliginosum Bog bilberry Blokkebær
Scorzonera hispanica Scorzonera Scorsonerrot, svartrot
COOKED VEGETABLES
Angelica sylvestris “Vicar’s Mead” Wild Angelica Sløke
Anredera cordifolia Madeira vine
Beta vulgaris flavescens “Flaming Pink” Swiss chard Mangold
Beta vulgaris flavescens “Sunset” Swiss chard Mangold
Beta vulgaris flavescens “Swiss Chard” Swiss chard Mangold
Beta vulgaris flavescens “White Silver” Swiss chard Mangold
Conopodium majus Pignut Jordnøtt
Dystaenia takesimana Giant Ulleung celery Ulleung kjempeselleri
Hemerocallis dumortieri Day lily Daglilje
Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus Yellow day lily Gul daglilje
Hemerocallis middendorfii Day lily Daglilje
Heracleum sibiricum Siberian hogweed Sibirbjørnekjeks
Lamium album White dead nettle Dauvnesle
Matteuccia struthiopteris Ostrich fern Strutseving
Mertensia ciliata Mountain bell
Oenothera biennis Evening primrose Vanlig Nattlys
Pastanica sativa Parsnip Pastinakk
Polygonatum biflorum American Solomon’s seal Amerika-konvall
Rudbeckia laciniata Cutleaf coneflower Gjerdesolhatt
Rudbeckia laciniata “Hortensia” Cutleaf coneflower Gjerdesolhatt; Kyss-meg-over-gjerde
Sagittaria latifolia Wapato Wapato
Solanum tuberosum ” Sharpe’s Express” Potato Potet
Solanum tuberosum “Blå Kongo” Potato Potet
Solanum tuberosum “Carolus” Potato Potet
Solanum tuberosum “King Edward” Potato Potet
Solanum tuberosum “Sarpo Mira” Potato Potet
Solanum tuberosum “Sarpo Tominia” Potato Potet
Solanum tuberosum “Shetland Black” Potato Potet
Solanum tuberosum “Troll” Potato Potet
Solanum tuberosum “Tysk Blå” Potato Potet
Tricyrtis latifolia Toad lily Paddelilje
Tricyrtis spp Toad lily Paddelilje
Tropaeolum tuberosum “White” Mashua Knollblomkarse
Urtica dioica Stinging nettle Brennesle
Urtica holosericea Hoary nettle
Urtica kioviensis Marsh nettle Sumpnesle
Urtica platyphylla
LAST MINUTE ADDITIONS
Allium schoenoprasum “Black Isle Blush” Chives Gressløk
Allium validum Swamp onion; Pacific onion Stillehavsløk
Aralia cordata Udo 
Barbarea vulgaris Yellow wintercress Vinterkarse
Campanula glomerata “Alba” Clustered bellflower Toppklokke
Carum carvi Caraway Karve
Coriandrum sativum Coriander Koriander
Lepidium campestre Pepperwort Markkarse
Lepidium latifolium Dittany Strandkarse
Malva alcea Hollyhock mallow Rosekattost
Melissa officinalis “Aurea” Lemon balm Sitronmelisse
Petroselinum crispum Parsley Persille
Sanguisorba minor Salad burnet Pimpernell
Sanguisorba officinalis Great burnet Legeblodtopp
Viola altaica Altai violet Altaifiol
Viola tricolor Heartsease Stemorsblomst, Natt og dag

Many thanks to Liz Dom who lead the event and project leaders Cat Kramer and Zack Denfeld and Anne Maisey from the museum, who took part remotely from Porto in Portugal at the start, for a great collaboration!

“Over the top” Flowery Whopper Carrot Salad

I was going to post an album of pictures showing off all the late flowers in the garden this record-breaking mild autumn still without any frost, but as they’re all edible I made a salad instead!
There were 33 different edible flowers (see the list below the pictures) plus 30-40 greens and a whopper carrot which I decided to keep whole as a feature! It was cut up when the salad was tossed afterwards. It has a story too as it is one of the Danish accessions rematriated from Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) in the US last winter. I took a few seed before sending the rest on to Danish Seed Savers (Dansk Frøsamlerne). It’s called Kämpe which means Giant in Swedish/Danish (I call it Whopper as it’s probably the biggest/thickest carrot I¨’ve grown here). It’s not a very old variety and SSE informed that it was a cultivated variety originally from the Swedish seed company Weibulls. Anyone know more about it?
Salad flowers, all harvested from the garden
Salvia (blackcurrant sage / solbærsalvie)
Fuchsia magellanica
Hemerocallis “Stella de Oro”
Taraxacum spp. (dandelion / løvetann)
Rubus fruticosus (blackberry / bjørnebær)
Papaver somniferum (opium poppy / opium valmue)
Viola altaicum
Campanula persicifolia (peach-leaf bellflower / fagerklokke)
Sonchus oleraceus (common sow-thistle / haredylle)
Glebionis coronaria (chopsuey greens / kronkrage) (3 varieties)
Daucus carota (carrot / gulrot) (unopened flower umbel)
Geranium sanguineum (bloody cranesbill / blodstorkenebb)
Brassica oleracea (kale / grønnkål)
Oenothera biennis (evening primrose / nattlys)
Begonia
Malva moschata (musk mallow / moskuskattost) (white and pink flowered)
Malva alcea (hollyhock mallow / rosekattost)
Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot / rørhestemynte)
Monarda “Elsie Lavender”
Calendula officinalis (pot marigold / ringblomst (2 varieties)
Campanula trachelium (nettle-leaved bellflower / nesleklokke)
Calamintha nepeta (lesser calamint / liten kalamint)
Tropaeolum majus (nasturtium / vanlig blomkarse) (2 varieties)
Pisum sativum (garden pea / ert)
Origanum spp. (wild marjoram / bergmynte) (2 varieties)
Campanula lactiflora
Alcea rosea (hollyhock / stokkrose)
Tragopogon pratensis (Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon / geitskjegg)

Salad for HGB and HvB

My dad Harald George Barstow (HGB) sadly passed away on 7th June at 97. A few days later on 11th June I’d scheduled a long-awaited visit from my friend Helene von Bothmer, the Koster Islands Permaculture Queen accompanied by participants on a one day permaculture course on Katy Chada’s farm (I had twice visited Koster but this was Helene’s first Malvik visit). They had asked if I could make a salad for lunch that day, so with my Dad’s loving memory in focus, the salad became a tribute to Dad as well as a welcome to Helene, Katy and the participants. It had exactly 97 ingredients <3 (a list can be found at the bottom of this page)


There’s an H in there (sort of!)

Now some pictures taken during a lovely visit! I hope it isn’t long before our ways cross again Helene!

…and a few pictures taken by Helene:

THANKS FOR THE MEMORABLE VISIT! 
The ingredients:
1-2. Oxalis triangularis
3. Claytonia perfoliata
4. Gynostemma
5. Physalis “Indian Strain” fruits
6. Begonia heracleifolia (flowers)
7. – 11. Lettuce (salat) – 5 varieties
12. Dill
13. Chopsuey greens (kronkrage)
14. – 15. Celery (selleri) – 2 varieties (Green Utah and Red Stem)
16. Allium “Purple Sensation” flowers
17. Allium ursinum (ramsons / ramsløk) flowers
18. Allium stipitatum “Album” flowers
19. Allium victorialis (seiersløk) flower stems
20. – 21. Allium fistulosum (Welsh onion / pipeløk) – 2 varieties
22. Myrrhis odorata (sweet cicely / Spansk kjørvel) flowers
23. Allium karataviense flowers
24. – 25. Polygonum viviparum (alpine bistort / harerug) bulbils (2 varieties – light brown and purple)
26. – 27. Viola cornuta “Alba” (flowers and leaves)
28. – 29. Crambe maritima (broccolis and flowers)
30. Anthriscus sylvestris (cow parsley / hundekjeks)
31. – 40. 10 different Hosta cultivars and species
41. Alliaria petiolata (hedge garlic / løkurt)
42. Sorbus (rowan / rogn) leaves
43. Campanula trachelium (nettle-leaved bellflower / nesleklokke)
44. Allium oleraceum
45. Stellaria media (chickweed / vassarve)
46. Meum athamaticum
47. Nasturtium (blomkarse)
48. Hablitzia tamnoides
49. – 50. Humulus lupulus (hops / humle) – 2 varieties
51. Basil
52. Aster scaber
53. Allium spp.
54. – 55. Lepidium sativum (cress / karse) – leaves and flowers
56. Rosebay willowherb / geitrams
57. Ground elder / skvallerkål
58. Allium macleanii – flowers
59. Lepidium latifolium
60. Origanum “Aureum”
61. Scorzonera hispanica (flower stems and buds)
62. Cichorium intybus (chicory / sikkori)
63. Cryptotaenia japonica “Atropurpurea”
64. Allium nutans x senescens
65. Sonchus oleraceus (sow thistle / haredylle)
66. Oxeye daisy / prestekrage
67. – 68. Rumex scutatus – 2 varieties
69. Tragopogon pratensis (Jack-go-to-bed-by-noon / geitskjegg)
70. – 72. Allium schoenoprasum (chives / gressløk) – 3 varieties including Black Isle Blush
73. Campanula latifolia (giant bellflower / storklokke)
74. Campanula punctata
75. Allium scorodoprasum (sand leek / bendelløk)
76. Rumex crispus (curly dock / krushøymole)
77. Phyteuma nigra (black rampion / svartvadderot)
78. Viola arborescens
79. Allium cernuum (nodding onion / prærieløk)
80. Kale / grønnkål – “Ragged Jack”
81. Lamb’s lettuce / vårsalat
82. Diplotaxis tenuifolia (perennial rocket / flerårig rucola)
83. – 84. Perennial kale / grønnkål – 2 varieties
85. Oxalis spp. (red leaved)
86. Plantago major “Atropurpurea”
87. Alchemilla spp. (lady’s mantle / marikåpe)
88. Fragaria vesca (wild strawberry / markjordbær) – flowers
89. Allium x proliferum (walking onion / luftløk)
90.- 91. Brassica juncea (mustard greens / sennepsalat) – 2 varieties
92. Chervil / hagekjørvel
93. Malva alcea
94. Ligularia fischeri (gomchwi)
95. Pisum sativum (garden pea / hageert) – top shoots
96. – 97. Malva moschata (musk mallow / moskuskattost); pink and white flower forms

The first 2022 outside salad

Sorry for the silence here on the Edimentals blog. I’ve been busy preparing to produce signs and plant labels for the Allium garden and the World Garden as well as working on various KVANN (Norwegian Seed Savers) projects. However, I had to share the joy of making the first salad where all (25) plants were collected outside in the garden (we’ve been making salads from cellar ingredients all winter). The snow is now gone from most of the garden and the temperature rose to above 5C today which has stimulated a lot of early shooting edibles. No complete plant list, but the salad included various Alliums, Rumex, Dystaenia, Taraxacum, Arabis, Hablitzia etc.
The first outside edible flower of 2022 was a Primula veris subsp. macrocalyx.



Extreme 66 ingredient November Salad

The Extreme Salad Man has been quiet recently. He was inspired to make this 5th November salad by a 10 year old Facebook memory of a salad he made (last picture below). Like 10 years ago, we¨’d  had a very mild autumn (we may have the first frost this weekend). By chance the number of ingredients equalled the number of years I’ve been on this beautiful planet (66). For the recipe with the full list of ingredients (many are perennials), see the bottom of this post. It took less than an hour to forage around my garden and put together!


THE RECIPE or how to make this at home?
Harvested first around the living room a few Basella alba leaves, lemony flowers of two Begonias, leaves of the Okinawan spinach (Gynura bicolor), a couple of flowers of blackcurrant sage / solbærsalvie (Salvia microphylla v. grahamii), Ragged jack kale (grønnkål) leaves, leaves of chopsuey greens / kronkrage (Glebionis coronaria), four different perennial kales / flerårige kåls (Brassica oleracea), leaf shoots of Egyptian onion / luftløk (Allium x proliferum), a few leaves of common sow thistle / haredylle (Sonchus oleraceus), perennial rocket / flerårige rucola (Diplotaxis tenuifolia), parsley / persille leaves (Petroselinum crispum), leaves of Chicory / sikkori variety “Catalogna gigante di Chioggia” (Cichorium intybus), berries of black chokeberry / svartsurbær (Aronia melanocarpa), flowers of hollyhock mallow / rosekattost (Malva alcea), flowers of two varieties of hollyhock / stokkrose (Alcea rosea) – black and pink, hedge mustard / løkurt (Alliaria petiolata), mouse garlic (Allium carinatum), two varieties of dandelion / løvetann (Taraxacum spp.) including moss-leaved, flowers of Japan thistle (Cirsium japonicum), leaves of Allium senescens, a few of the last blackberries / bjørnebær (Rubus fruticosus), berries of black nightshade / svartsøtvier (Solanum nigrum), flowers of Allium mairei, flowers and leaves of anise hyssop / anisisop (Agastache foeniculum), flowers of two varieties of hardy Fuchsia / Magellan-tåre (Fuchsia magellanica) “Alba”og “Tricolor”, Autumn olive / Japansk sølvbusk (Elaeagnus umbellata) berries, radish / reddik (Raphanus sativus)flowers and unripe seed pods, flowers and flower buds of mustard greens / sennepsalat (Brassica juncea), a flower of marigold / ringblomst (Calendula officinalis), new shoots of curled dock / krushøymol (Rumex crispus), leaves and bulb of nodding onion / prærieløk (Allium cernuum), flowers of two varieties of nasturtium / blomkarse (Tropaeolum officinale), two varieties of spring onions / vårløk (Allium cepa), a few leaves of two varieties of sorrel / engsyre (Rumex acetosa), flower buds and flowers of chives / gressløk (Allium schoenoprasum), two leaves of chicory / sikkori variety “Rossa de Treviso” (Cichorium intybus) on the edge of the salad bowl, leaves of perennial chicory (Cichorium intybus), leaves of horned violet / hornfiol (Viola cornuta “Alba”), leaves of Rumex scutatus “Silver Shield” (buckler-leaved sorrel / Fransksyre), a flower of a reflowering variety of strawberry / jordbær (Fragaria x ananassa), flower shoot of scorzonera / scorsonnerot (Scorzonera hispanica), seen in the centre of the salad, a flower of Begonia “Double White, a Dahlia (georginer) flower, oca leaves (Oxalis tuberosa), tomato / tomat “Ida’s Gold” (Lycopersicon esculentum), berries of Physalis “Indian Strain”, two varieties of celery / selleri (Apium graveolens), berries of Ribes divaricatum “Worcesterberry”, carrot / gulrot, turnip / nepe and garlic / hvitløk!
Put the flowers and other colourful ingredients to one side for the topping, wash, cut (I use scissors) and mix everything else for the main body of the salad, add the salad dressing (olive oil, salt, pepper and vinegar with crushed garlic) and mix, then use the artist in you to decorate the salad!