Yesterday was my most intensive weeding day of the year so far, first 2-3 hours finishing the weeding of KVANN’s bed at Væres Venner community garden followed by 7 hours at Ringve Botanical Garden weeding the Vermont Bed (see below). It was literally covered in an effective ground cover of birch seedlings, much worse for some reason than the New Hampshire Bed which I weeded a week ago: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=18255. This reminded me of the large flock of redpolls (gråsisik) at Ringve during the winter, a sign that it was a birch seed year 😊 and here’s a picture from my blog last winter at Ringve: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/P1080538.jpg
The Chicago garden resembles a map of Vermont and New Hampshire
Weeded mostly birch seedlings
Most of “Vermont” was a sea of young brirch seedlings
I left this plant that I initially thought was opium poppy to see what it is!
Finished!
I discovered one small problem…,the sea buckthorn tree (tindved) located about 4m from the southern tip of Vermont is suckering into the bed… I dug out several long suckers like this. It seemed to have the bootlace like mycelium of honey fungus?
An old picture from last autumn showing the sea buckthorn at top right!
In the previous blog a week ago linked above, I wrote: “The Allium garden at Ringve has grown well as have the so-called weeds (mostly very young birch trees!). I spent the afternoon weeding and documenting the right hand (easternmost bed)….now known as the New Hampshire bed (I’m told the two beds resemble a map of Vermont and New Hampshire) (As it looks like the garden will be known as Chicago-hagen due to the fact that the native american name Chicago means onion)!!
This is the link to the last album I made from 31st May: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10156051646095860.1073743203.655215859&type=1&l=cbacd0612e”
Hog peanut, Amphicarpaea bracteata, one of the varieties sent to me by Owen Smith in 2012 is still alive, although hardly thriving, mainly as it’s overcrowded by a kiwi and Runner Beans…
For the first time this year I have two different Yam beans growing in my office in Trondheim, Ahipa and Jicama (Pachyrhizus ahipa og Pachyrhizus erosus). I’ve grown and eaten Jicama before and here’s an album of pictures about my experiences of this delicious vegetable…worth growing for a little taste each year!
On the left, Ahipa (Pachyrhizus ahipa; Andean yam bean) and Jicama (P. erosus, Yam bean) in my office; September 2016… I hadn’t realised that Ahipa doesn’t climb, hence the stakes on both plants…the yellow things are models of my company, OCEANOR’s marine environmental monitoring buoys that I tested in a wave tank back in the 80s!
Reaching for the lights..
The first time I grew Jicama was in 2008. The yield wasn’t fantastic, but enough to try, here with tomatillos
Peeled Jicamas
Quinoa boiled and then stir-fried with chili, tomatoes and onion.
Home grown Norwegian tomatillos ready to cook ;)
Cooked tomatillos with other salsa ingredients!
The final dinner, grated Jicama with lemon bottom left was one of the tastiest vegetables I’ve eaten, salsa (bottom right) and quinoa (top)
My daughter painted a Jicama tuber… I’ve always liked this :)
September 2014 and I was visiting a friend in Woodstock, Vermont and we found Jicamas in the local food coop!
Jicama and chilis
This Woodstock edimental jicama salad was delicious (with foraged greens and flowers)
Woodstock edimental jicama salad
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden