Produce > Edible Plants

What's new?

(1/4) > >>

Beersmith:
I'm a complete sucker for novelties.  Over the years I've tried so many.  Yes I've tried cucamelons, asparagus peas, goji berries, salsify, jerusalem artichokes, kalettes, and many many more. Usually with a degree of disappointment, although I love salsify I cannot eat it due to the effects on the digestive system.  But somehow this season inspiration has fled. My crops are all very conventional this year. I had intended to sow some yellow rattle seeds into my bee patch where grass is beginning to out compete the wild flowers but forgot they needed to be over wintered to ensure germination. So nothing new at all.

Is anyone trying anything new or unusual? Please share!!

Deb P:
I’m a bit like you, previously grown rats tail radishes, parsley peas, par-cel,Egyptian walking onions……blue potatoes,bright red potatoes, black potatoes……J wouldn’t try any of them again! I do try new ( to me) tomatoes every year, get seeds from specialists and the HSL but have a short list of favourites I grow every year now…..

JanG:
I’m still open to trying new things but have given up on many of the things mentioned. Cucamelons are OK but just didn’t get round to eating many. Walking onions seem quite difficult to manage and when you grow annual onions aren’t particularly appealing to eat. I still grow kalettes but this year didn’t get round to eating many. There was always actual Brussel sprout or kale to choose, and they got quite a lot of aphid in the end. I do grow and enjoy coloured potatoes and keep the seed potatoes from year to year. I like Heidi Red etc. Salsify has  never given me a substantial enough root to bother to do much with, but I love the flowers so I let the odd bit self-seed. I love Jerusalem artichokes but ruinous on the digestion so currently trying to get rid of them totally - the odd bit still pops up. I’ve acquired a goji berry bush but no fruit yet, and sprawling but not looking promising. I love trying new varieties of much loved vegetables though - tomatoes, beans, peas, peppers especially, and still likely to try entirely new crops out of curiosity and fascination as much as anything else.

saddad:
I agree with salsify, love the flowers but never anything to eat. Scorzonera (?) was more useful but don't grow any longer. Have a small clump of Good King Henry but again never eat any. Buckler leaf sorrel is worth growing. Russian Tarragon was a thug and not as good as the French. Achocha is a decorative nibble... and like Deb the HSL is great for "new" tomatoes and climbing peas and beans..

Beersmith:
Expanding on my comment about my bee friendly patch, can anyone confirm if my idea is sensible.  It is an area about 5 metres by 5 metres, with some hazelnut shrubs surrounded by wild and bee friendly flowers. I leave it to do its own thing, only making interventions to prevent anything becoming dominant. But it has gradually been getting more grass that seems to be stronger growing than the flowers.  I thought that yellow rattle would parasite on the grass and weaken it allowing the flowers to grow stronger. Does anyone know if this will work? 

Also something I had not considered is if the rattle could weaken the hazelnut shrub roots. Maybe not such a good idea?

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page