Tag Archives: garden orach

A diversity of garden orach

I’ve grown numerous forms of garden orach (Atriplex hortensis; hagemelde) over the years as they are useful and decorative (edimental) annuals for the summer garden. Even though they are grown quite close to each other they don’t see to cross much. My red form (var. rubra) has maintained its colour for over 20 years in one small patch. Other favourites include golden orach (var. aurea) and an heirloom from Seed Savers Exchange in the US “Marie Barnes”. My favourite though is the Norwegian heirloom “Backlund/Bly” with enormous green leaves. Sadly, the seed doesn’t mature often here and I’ve lost it. Although this plant originated in Norway, it no doubt modified to its new home in the Mid-West in the US where it was maintained for several generations in a Norwegian family. See the (Norwegian) story here:
http://www.edimentals.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/3_Backlund-Bly_Hagemelde.pdf
There are also a number of green Danish heirlooms like “Lille Næstved Skole”
You can maybe spot red and golden orach as well as “Marie Barnes” in this salad ingredient picture (click on the plants in the picture for the names) https://www.adressa.no/pluss/magasin/article9858403.ece?rs6280711594805805236&t=1
I use them mainly in summer, both in mixed salads and cooked in numerous dishes, as there are plenty of other perennial greens available in early summer. 
See the pictures below:



Artikler om grønnsaksarven fra Hagetidend

I 2011 skrev jeg en serie artikler om vår grønnsaksarven til Norsk Hagetidend. Etter Skog og Landskap sidene ble nedlagt er artiklene ikke lenge tilgjengelig på nettet. Derfor dette innlegget hvor alle artiklene kan igjen bli lastet ned! Artikelene blir også etter hvert lagt ut hos kvann.org (Norwegian Seed Savers/KVANNs webside).

English: In 2011, I wrote a series of one page articles about Norwegian heirloom vegetables in Norsk Hagetidend (the magazine of the Norwegian Horticultural Society) in Norwegian. The complete series can be found below.

  1. Fjellmandel og takløk (Mandel potato and the roof onions of Gudbrandsdal)

Download (PDF, 1.2MB)

2. Aleksandra hvitløk (Garlic Aleksandra)

Download (PDF, 1.01MB)

3. Hagemelde “Backlund-Bly” fra USA (Garden orach Backlund-Bly from Seed Savers Exchange i USA)

Download (PDF, 246KB)

4. Stjernemelde (Caucasian spinach, Hablitzia tamnoides)

Download (PDF, 6.5MB)

5. Vossakvann (Voss Angelica)

Download (PDF, 2.77MB)

6. Seiersløk fra Lofoten (Victory onion, Allium victorialis from Lofoten)

Download (PDF, 664KB)

7. Luftløk fra  Udøy  (Walking onion, Allium x proliferum from the island Udøy and Catawissa onion)

Download (PDF, 362KB)

8. Jordskokk fra Ontario (Jerusalem artichoke from Ontario that travelled the world)

Download (PDF, 1.23MB)

9. Maries høje ært (Marie’s pea…from Norway to Denmark and back)

Download (PDF, 349KB)

10. Tante Cis tomat (Tante Cis or Ansofs Gule tomat)

Download (PDF, 287KB)

Pakora hasn’t met this selection of veggies before!

I gave myself a little treat this week and made Indian pakora! Pakora are basically fried vegetable fritters, often sold as a starter in Indian restaurants. The vegetables were dipped in a batter made of gram (chick pea) flour, a little chili and garam masala spice.  It would be interesting to use broad bean (fava) flour instead of chick peas!
I used: Day  lily buds (Hemerocallis), common sow thistle  (Sonchus oleraceus), radish, red mitsuba (Cryptotaenia japonica atropurpurea), musk mallow (Malva moschata), Korean aster (Aster scaber), sorrel (Rumex acetosa), garden orach (Atriplex hortensis), Parsley pea (tops), Allium nutans x senescens (leaves and flower stems/buds) and Hablitzia tamnoides (tops)…..
DELICIOUS!!

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