On Sunday 25th May 2025 we celebrated spring at the Væres Venners Community garden in Trondheim with a pot-luck party (kurvfest) and although the wind was strong there was no rain, unlike the days on either side. My contribution as usual was a diversity salad, this time based only on ingredients harvested in the World Garden (Verdenshagen) with roseroot (rosenrot) flowers in the centre and decorated with plants organised geographically as in the garden itself! The list of 89 plants used can be found here. As usual there were a diversity of dishes provided by other members, many with home grown or foraged ingredients. The party started with a talk by my friend Jurgen Wegter of Fagerli Naturgård in Vanvikan (on the other side of the fjord and just visible from Være) on biodiversity and what we can do to help in particular wild bees. Jurgen wrote a report for us Tiltaksplan for biologisk mangfold giving us advice as to what we can do to help and increase the biodiversity of the community garden.
Please subscribe to my youtube channel! 1. Perennial Edge https://youtu.be/qRsQt_U0Ujo The edges of my annual beds in the garden are not so productive as they are drier because of overhanging branches of the hazel,/birch/aspen woodland adjacent to it. I therefore allow perennial vegetables to colonise these areas as they are much less impacted by summer drought conditions, growing most actively in the spring time. In this video I show garlic (hvitløk) being grown as a perennial together with Hablitzia tamnoides (trained up into the trees), stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), hogweed (bjørnekjeks), dandelion (løvetann) and ground elder (skvallerkål). This area at the same time supports a large biodiversity of, in particular, insects. 2. Hydrophyllum in the World Garden https://youtu.be/gLC7XLYTG5A The genus Hydrophyllum or the waterleaves consists of seven or eight species restricted to North America, half of which are restricted to the east and half at higher elevations in the west. I have best experience with Hydrophyllum virginianum (Eastern waterleaf) and Hydrophyllum tenuipes (Pacific waterlef) and both are growing well as you can see in the World Garden (Verdenshagen). We see both in the video at harvest time and introducing a beginning battle for dominance with fellow Appalachian rhizomatous Rudbeckia laciniata (Cherokee greens or sochan). The young and the tips of stems are best in salads; having a mild sweetest taste, the older leaves usually being cooked (boiled or steamed). I usually use them mixed with other seasonal greens in salads and vegetarian dishes. Indian salad or Shawnee (no, not Pawnee which I say in the video) salad and west coast H. tenuipes is known as squaw lettuce. The name John’s cabbage is also used in the east, vouching for the fact that white settlers also learned to use this spring vegetable. In 1818, William Barton wrote that, ‘The Indian Salad and Shawnee Salad of Kentucky and Ohio are praised by the white settlers’, and, ‘The young shoots are praised by all who eat them’. Please read more in my book Around the World in 80 plants! 3. The Oldest Habby Bed https://youtu.be/_ErX8IcTq04 My oldest Hablitzia tamnoides (Habby) is now 23 years old and rapidly approaching 1/4 of a century and just as vigorous as ever. In this short video I introduce some of its offspring which love the shady sheltered conditions in this plant of the garden. I reckon that blanched Habby shoots would be a winner in gourmet restaurants, a bit like Jet de Houblons (blanched Belgian hop shoots). Also starring probably Smyrnium olusatrum (Alexanders / sorte løpstikke), Allium paradoxum var paradoxum (few-flowered leek) and Viola odorata (sweet violet / marsfiol) 4. Prunus tomentosa at Være https://youtu.be/fbJmv-d9Gug One of the more unusual berry / fruit bushes in the collection at the Væres Venners Conmunity Garden in Trondheim is the very hardy Nanking cherry / kinesisk kirsebær (Prunus tomentosa), a native to northern and western China (including Tibet), Korea and Mongolia. As the video shows, it is already in full flower and is therefore valuable for both wild bees and bumble bees in early spring, but it was a bit too windy when this video was made on 24th April 2025. We see two varieties purchased from Steen and Wormsen, a nursery in northern Norway who imported from a great plant nusery in Finland: Blomqvist’s Planteskola. The variety with snow white flowers is Snøhvit Lumikki. It looks promising for a good crop! 5. The Moss Leaved Dandelion https://youtu.be/m1Y6iKBRuFw The moss leaved dandelion is depicted in Vilmorin’s amazing book The Vegetable Garden from 1920 (I would encourage anyone to access this book which shows the amazing vegetable diversity we had 100 years ago). After much searching I was sent seed and a root by Guy Dirix in Belgium who may have been the last person growing this variety, although it turns out that this is actually the species Taraxacum tortilobum, a relatively common species in Western Europe (https://www.gbif.org/species/5394131). Here’s a short video of it in the World Garden in Væres Venners Community Garden in Trondheim, Norway. 6. An edible self-sustaining perennial community https://youtu.be/ksfo6FoZOyc A shady bed in the garden which has had various uses over the years starting as a little garden where my daughter Hazel grew her strawberries to an area where I grew various seed propagated trees and bushes before planting them out elsewhere in the garden (the lilac is from that time). Although I planted various shade loving perennial edibles in this bed originally, others have moved in from neighbouring beds to form this complex edible perennial community which has become more productive with time. I do little more than harvest, observe and weed out tree seedlings. Polygonatum spp. (purple-leaved solomon’s seal / konvall, perhaps P. biflorum) Hydrophyllum virginianum (Easter waterleaf / vassblad) Campanula latifolia (Giant bellflower / storklokke) Campanula trachelium (nettle-leaved bellflower / nesleklokke) Heracleum sp. (hogweed / bjørnekjeks) Hablitzia tamnoides (Caucasian spinach / stjernemelde) Allium schoenoprasum (chives / gressløk) Parasenecio maximowiczianum Parasenecio hastatus
On 17th June 2024 I had a visit from Mihaela Tsarchinsk and Philip Varionov from the Green School Village and Permaculture Association of Bulgaria. We’d met previously at the European Permaculture Convergence in Bulgaria 10 years previously (she was the organizer). The purpose of the visit was to film my Permaculture LAND centre, The Edible Garden in Malvik. as part of a series of films of LAND centres in Norway, to inspire the establishment of a LAND network in Bulgaria. We visited all 3 gardens as they are all connected:We started at the Onion Garden Chicago at the NTNU Ringve Botanical Gardens, the Væres Venners community garden and last but not least The Edible Garden. Elin Tyse of Permaculture Association of Norway joined us. If you’ve got a bit of time to spare please join me on the tour which can now be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcCheUzMddQ WHAT IS LAND? There are now 5 videos available from different LAND centres across Norway made on the same trip: Eirik Lillebøe Wiken and Alvastien Telste; Robin Leeber and Holt Gård; Camilla Fauske and Nordre Holt Gård and Anne-Marit Skogly’s Hvaler Gjestehage at https://pab.greenschoolvillage.org/land-videos
Here are Elin, Mihaela and Philip in Trondheim during the visit:
I’ve shared my list of plants that I’ve planted in Trondheim’s World Garden to a few people who’ve asked and now it’s available to anyone who is curious (follow the link). The World Garden (Verdenshagen) is a garden I’ve created, starting in 2017, to show off the diversity of perennial vegetables, essentially my book Around the World in 80 Plants as a formal garden. Many are edimentals, edientomentals and ediavimentals (i.e, edimentals that are also useful to insects and birds respectively) and demonstrates how growing food can both look good and promote a large biodiversity. The plants are placed geographically around a 12m diameter circle with the centre representing the North Pole, where edibles from arctic and mountain regions of the world are planted. A few are annuals or biennials, planted in the gaps as the perennials grow and expand. For those of you who like lists, a list of the 359 plants I’ve planted so far is included below the new drone pictures taken in 2024! (thanks to board member Dan Smith). NB! A few of the plants have died, so this isn’t a list of current plants in the garden! I’ve noted this in the list. In addition, a few are planted each spring and overwintered indoors, such as some of the South American tuber crops.
14th November 2024: Although the World Garden I’ve created at the Væres Venner Community Garden in Trondheim is mostly perennials, I fill up gaps with some annuals and biennials and some of them continue right up to the first frosts when they become mush. Most of next week is forecast to be sub-zero day and night, so this was the last chance to harvest. See below the pictures for the ingredients list. All the following were used in the salad and all were harvested in the World Garden! Perennials: Rumex acetosa subsp vinealis (wine sorrel / vinsyre) Rumex acetosa “Abundance” (sorrel / engsyre) Taraxacum tortilobum (Moss-leaved Dandelion / mosebladet løvetann) Allium sativum (garlic / hvitløk) Cirsium canum (Queen Anne’s thistle / Dronning Annes tistel); tubers Helianthus tuberosus (Jerusalem artichoke / jordskokk); tubers Annuals/Biennial: Anthriscus cerefolium (chervil / hagekjørvel) Petroselinum crispum (parsley / persille) Fedia cornucopiae (horn of plenty) Glebionis coronaria (chopsuey greens / kronkrage Daucus carota (carrot / gulrot) Brassica rapa “Målselvnepe” (turnip / nepe) Flowers: Calendula officinalis (pot marigold / ringblomst) Malva moschata “Alba” (musk mallow / moskuskattost) Fedia cornucopiae (horn of plenty) Raphanus sativus (radish / reddik)
KVANNs stand på Ringve 2024KVANNs stand på Ringve 2024Verdenshagen, Væres Venners Felleshagen sommeren 2023Hagevandring i Den Spiselige Hagen under Økouka 2022
KVANN Trøndelag med meg selv i spissen har etablert en del samlinger av nytteplanter og driver også en del forsøk og prosjekter med støtte fra Sparebankstiftelsen gjennom Schübelers hager Her finner dere en oversikt over det som skjer i hagen denne sommeren. Besøk Hagen er fritt tilgjengelig for publikum og vi arrangerer hagevandringer, kurs og friluftsdager. Sommeren 2024 tok vi imot grupper av innvandrere fra både Trondheim og Malvik. Det er arrangert to hagevandringer for medlemmer av Trondheim Sopp og Nyttevekstforening i mai og august samt for deltagere av Nyttevekstreffet i juni. Den siste planlagte hagevandring arrangeres søndagen 22. september kl 14 som en del av Økouka. Det ble også arrangert Pollinatortelling i samarbeid med La Humla Suse i begynnelsen av juli. Se også Arche Noah besøker Trøndelag Verdenshagen Hagen fortsetter å vokse seg til og det er plantet en god del nytt denne sommeren og det er laget flere planteskilt. Av mer eksotiske nytteplanter er det plantet en kuldetolerant variant av sukkerrør, søtpotet samt Kinesisk yams (Dioscorea polystachya) og adlay / Jobs tårer Coix lacryma-jobi (en sort fra Japan). Sistnevnte er en flerårig kornvekst Poaceae. To sorter Cyperus esculentus (chufa eller tigernøtter) fra starrfamilien er også plantet: knollene er søte og gode. KVANNs Grønnsaksreservat og forsøksfelt Det var en kald vinter og ingen av våre flerårige kål overlevd ute. Heldigvis har de fleste sortene overlevd som stiklinger og et nytt felt med 9 sorter er plantet samt en vill art, Brassica cretica. Interessant nok resisterte sistnevnte angrepet av kålmøll – smaken er mer bitter enn de øvrige sortene. Etter vi startet med utprøving av ca 15 sorter gamle nepesorter for 3 år siden satser vi nå videre med følgende sorter som vokser bra hos oss (frøoppformeres lokalt fremover): Korova fra Sverige (veldig store neper med god smak), Norsk Elite, Målselvnepe “Væres Venners”-linjen (utgangspunkt var 5 sorter fra Nordgen), Svedjenepe “Væres Venner” og en lokal Snøball-nepe. Nytt i år er at vi tester sorten “Gränsrova” fra Sesam, en sort som var / er dyrket nær grensen til Norge på Østlandet. Vi tester videre 3 kålrotsorter som er lovende fra tidligere forsøk: Bangholm Sandnes, Bangholm Vereide (fra Nordgen) samt svensk Baggens fra Sesam. I år var det dyrket 21 sorter erter inkl. følgende norske sorter: Norrøna, Carlinert, Askerert (Ringeriksert?), Tidlig Lav, Engelsk Sabel Grimstad, Lomsert, Slikkerter fra Våler , Tidlig Sabel fra Kvithammer, Tidlig Grønn Sabel og Japansk Margert fra Tingvoll (sistnevnt oppdaget vi ifjor, hadde kommet til Tingvoll rundt 1920 fra USA). Medlemmer av felleshagen har ikke lov å dyrke med noen form for plastdekke (ingen fiberduk er tillatt pga mikroplast) og da kan dyrking av gulrot og pastinakk være utfordrende pga angrep av gulrotflue. Derfor har vi et forsøk i samarbeid med medlemmer hvor vi bruker og sammenligner forskjellige metoder for å slippe eller redusere angrep: vi kjøpte inn forskjellige sorter som skal ha en viss resistens: Fly Away, Maestro, Ibiza og Resistafly; det dyrkes i opphøyde bed (pallekarm) fordi fluen skal fly lavt og på den måten ikke oppdager plantene; samplanting med Tagetes lucida. Vi prøver to sorter bindsalat (celtuce) som er en variant av vanlig salat (Lactuca sativa) som er selektert for de tykke stilkene. Den kinesiske sorten “Kinesisk Keule” har vokst best og jeg håper at frøene modnes før frosten! Forsøket med frilandstomatene fortsetter (dyrkes ved siden av en steinmur som magasinerer varmen). De tidligste sortene fra forsøk de to siste årene er med videre: 42 days, Linda Sibirsk og Turbo Reakivny som alle har gitt gode avlinger fra midten av august. Det er satt igang forsøk med tidlige lave sorter solsikker med tanke på at frøene vil modne slik at fuglene og særlig stillitsen kan få lokal produsert mat til vinteren. Vi fortsetter seleksjon av en fargerik landsort bondebønner og et nytt forsøk med tidlige sorter bondebønner med tanke på en sort som kan dyrkes enda lengre nord. 7 sorter var sådd i slutten av mars, både kommersielle sorter som Hangdown, Express og De Monica og fra den tyske genbanken IPK Gatersleben. Feltet var høstingsklar allerede i midten av august! De øvrige bondebønnene var sådd i slutten av mai for å unngå at sortene fra de to forsøkene krysset seg med hverandre. Vi fortsetter også i år med seleksjon av en tidlig landsort løpebønner (Phaseolus coccineus) som tok utgangspunkt i bønner som modnet ifjor fra ca 20 tidlige sorter fra IPK Gatersleben og andre kilder. Vi oppformerer to nye gamle virusrenset sjalottsorter fra Anders Nordrum – Ørskog og Luntvika Vi fortsetter dyrking av spennende sikori sorter, både en lokal Witloof landrase (for innedriving vinterstid), rotsikori sorten Soncino som brukes som rotgrønnsak og diverse andre spennende bladsikori sorter som ikke går i stokk hos oss. Vi dyrker videre til frø i 2025. Vi fortsetter dyrking av ettårige (tidlig) svartrot (Scorzonera hispanica). Det er også igangsatt et forsøk med 36 sorter pipeløk (Allium fistulosum) sådd og plantet ut i august og høstet til våren som ekte “vårløk”. Bærbusker, frukttrær og nøttetrær Områdene i felleshagen satt av til frukt, bær og nøtter nærmerer seg fullt. Det siste området i sør plantes opp nå i august og september deriblant Hjertenøtt sortene Kalmar og CW3, Valnøtt Haratun og Goumi (Elaeagnus multiflora) sorten Red Cherry.
On the Eastern boundary at the Væres Venner community garden in Trondheim, I wanted to develop a small forest garden devoted to edible plants of the first peoples in North America. Two years ago I planted two of them which now have berries for the first time! They are a) Purple flowering raspberry / rosebær (Rubus odoratus), a species which is often planted as an ornamental in Norway, usually a single clone so most are not aware that is has tasty fruit. With this in mind I germinated seed from the NARGS seed list, sown in January 2022 which germinated late May the same year and were planted out in May 2023, so just two years from seed to the first berries. b) Black hawthorn / Douglashagtorn (Crataegus douglasii): this is given 4 out of 5 stars at https://pfaf.org/User/plant.aspx… and after my first taste I agree with their assessment: they would make a good addition to a mixed fruit salad. No wonder this berry was widely used by native americans including the Cheyenne. I now plan to prepare the area around the trees for perennial vegetables from the same area!
The first ripe thimbleberry / rosebær (Rubus odoratus)
Various berries harvested late July at home in the Edible Garden and in the Væres Venner Community Garden. More information in the picture captions. These were either eaten fresh for breakfast with muesli or were made into mixed fruit leather!
Mulberries (morbær) from a tree planted 15 years ago, received as Morus alba “Rubra” – these had started dropping from the tree!
Saskatoons / blåhegg – Amelanchier sp. ;this year the birds left a good number of berries for us – the thrushes and tits only seem to take these early on, until other berries that they prefer become available
Black redcurrants / svartrips (Ribes petraeum var. biebersteinii with assorted other berries
A mix of berries and indoor grown fig to be used in a mixed fruit leather
Redcurrant / rips “Pink Champagne” has a sweeter taste than most
From the community garden (Væres Venner), a sunnier site than my own garden, these super early tomatoes were ripe already on 20th August, something I never dreamed was possible in the past! 42 days to the left and Linda Siberian to the right.
Engelsk tekst nederst I løpet av 17.-19. juli var jeg glad for å kunne returnere gjestfriheten gitt av KVANNs søsterorganisasjon Arche Noah (Austrian Seed Savers) under mine 2 turer dit i 2017 og januar 2020 rett før COVID-en rammet (se https://www.edimentals .com/blog/?s=arche+noah) Dette var i forbindelse med et Erasmus pluss utdanningsprogram der Arche Noah-utdanningen besøker ulike steder i Europa for å lære mer om flerårige grønnsaker og skogshager! Vi besøkte hver av mine 3 hager: The Edible Garden, Væres Venners Felleshagen og Løkhagen Chicago ved NTNU Ringve Botaniske Hagen. Vi fikk selskap av Guri Bugge, Mette Theisen og Judit Fehér fra KVANNs styre (bilde). Ursula Taborsky fra Arche Noah er nest til venstre på bildet fra min spiselige (skogs)hage. English: During 17th-19th July I was happy to be able to return the hospitality given by KVANN’s sister organisation Arche Noah (Austrian Seed Savers) during my 2 trips there in 2017 and January 2020 just before COVID hit (see https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?s=arche+noah) This was in connection with an Erasmus plus education program in which Arche Noah education are visiting various places in Europe to learn more about perennial vegetables and forest gardening! We visited each of my 3 gardens: The Edible Garden, Væres Venners Community Garden and the Onion Garden Chicago at the Ringve Botanical Garden. We were joined by Guri Bugge, Mette Theisen and Judit Fehér from KVANN’s board (picture). Ursula Taborsky from Arche Noah is second left in the picture from my Edible (Forest) Garden.
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden
English: During 17th-19th July I was happy to be able to return the hospitality given by KVANN’s sister organisation Arche Noah (Austrian Seed Savers) during my 2 trips there in 2017 and January 2020 just before COVID hit (see https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?s=arche+noah)