Allotments 4 All
Produce => Non Edible Plants => Topic started by: hellohelenhere on March 05, 2009, 01:47:00
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I can buy nigella seeds ('kalonji', also sometimes called, completely misleadingly, 'black onion seed') in my local Asian grocers for 79p, 400g of seed. It's really nice with chicken, potatoes, more or less any veg... smells like a combination of thyme and strawberry!
I tested the seed, and it's viable. So I'm wondering about doing some guerilla gardening with it, and seeing how much nigella I can spread around Reading. Is there any reason I shouldn't, though? Could it cause a nigella plague?
I also bought basil seed, called 'Tukmaria', which if it's viable and makes nice basil leaf, would be a great bargain - but at my first try, none germinated. It may have been too cold, though, even in our kitchen. I'll try again when it's warmer.
I'm tempted to try growing some other spice seeds - coriander, dill, fennel, caraway, etc - but I do know that the kind sold for seed will produce plants selected for seed, not leaf, so probably not really worthwhile. Aniseed could be interesting but it needs a good hot summer to keep it happy.
Anyone have experience of gardening from the spice rack?
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That's how these foreign infestations start. Some silly fool spreading seed around they know nothing about!
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Nigella is hardly in the same league as Knotweed or Himalayan Balsam ACE,
I had some on my bottom allotment 12 years ago... still get some coming up every year... :-X
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Nigella is hardly in the same league as Knotweed or Himalayan Balsam ACE,
I had some on my bottom allotment 12 years ago... still get some coming up every year... :-X
Nigella, I take it you mean that pest 'LOVE IN A MIST' It takes over a garden, and that is controlled by the gardener, What the hell is it going to do left to its own devices.
It has also been sold to the lady by her local asian grocer under a different name, so is it nigella to start with. They use different names to us.
Knotweed and balsam are only the tip of the iceberg, I know of areas of natural british plants that have been wiped out by escapees. Spanish bluebells is one and I used to know of an area of adders tongue that has been wiped out because of some selfish person who wanted to see vinca growing in the wild.
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ACE, you don't have to bite my head off! I made a point of asking here whether there was a reason not to do it - if nigella is something that could grow uncontrolled, then I won't do it! Strewth, that's what I came to pick peoples' brains about!!
Yes, kalonji is nigella, nothing else:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigella_sativa
I would never introduce anything to the countryside, I'm talking about urban spaces, though I appreciate that seed can then travel, due to birds, the wind, etc, so I wouldn't plant any really ferocious pest - even in my own garden.
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Sorry. You happened on one of my pet hates. I've know that people really want to do the best for their enviroment and you did really ask if it was a viable idea. I have worked in countryside areas for the last 40 years and have seen the damage done by the good meaning folk.
You can be banned from keeping animals for bad husbandry, its a pity the same does not happen to some so called gardeners. (not a dig at you).
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nigella grows quite wild in Croydon wild green spaces. its an annul and does self seed crazily but is easy to eradicate. when i moved to my new home six yrs ago it was all over my garden but it pulls up easily and now its only in the areas that i want it to grow, so i wouldn't call it particularly invasive as its easily controlled. also looking through my British wildflower book first published in 1992 its listed in there, its not a native but its certainly naturalised now. so once you sow some in a corner of the garden you won't have to buy anymore from the shop cause it does produce a massive amount of seed :).
by the way i have known that it can be used in cooking can you tell me exactly how to do this?
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nigella grows quite wild in Croydon wild green spaces. its an annul and does self seed crazily but is easy to eradicate. when i moved to my new home six yrs ago it was all over my garden but it pulls up easily and now its only in the areas that i want it to grow, so i wouldn't call it particularly invasive as its easily controlled.
In a garden that may be fine but if it is left to grow in the wild then who is going to control the spread.
Conrad Joachim Loddiges introduced Rhododendron Ponticum in 1763 because it was considered a decorative flower & later thought to be useful as cover for game birds on country estates. Since that time it has spread all over the UK, in this area entire hillsides are covered with it an individual plant can cover upwards of 100m2 of ground, grows to 10m tall & produces numerous runners in addition to dispersing up to 7000 seeds in the wind over a very wide area each year.
Nothing grows underneath the rhododendrons and the whole system of herbivores invertebrates and vertebrates and the animals which feed on them vanishes. Even the water of engulfed streams dies. There are no plants left on the banks, therefore no invertebrates, therefore little food for fish. There is no light for aquatic plants. Only the trees taller than the rhododendron survives. When they die, there is no chance of seedling regeneration in the dry darkness beneath the rhododendron. If any light or moisture gets through on the margins of an invasion, a thick, toxic mulch of decay-resistant chemical-laden leaves prevents all but a very few species from germinating. Honey containing a large amount of converted rhododendron nectar is poisonous to humans which causes problems for beekeepers. Rhododendrons also act as carriers for Phytophthora Ramorum (the cause of sudden oak death) which kills oak, beech & ash trees amongst other things.
If rhododendrons had not been introduced 'because they look pretty' then there would not be all these problems which now need to be sorted out. Think carefully before planting anything likely to escape into the countryside.
Apologies for the rant but I have spent an awful lot of time volunteering to clear invasive plants primarily in events arranged in conjunction with the environment agency or forestry commission. It's hard work & would be completely unnnecessary if these plants had not been introduced in the first place.
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Thifasmom, you just sizzle it for a moment in the frying pan before adding other things, just like cumin.
Here's a nice recipe that you could adapt by using a vegetable instead of the chicken, I know you're veggie! http://www.recipezaar.com/Kalonji-Chicken-Vijs-285528
Likewise this one, which I have made and which my husband thought was spectacular:
http://www.recipezaar.com/Kashmiri-Chicken-42029 - the yoghurt at the end makes it rich and creamy.
Here's one that needs no alteration, as it's veggie already:
http://www.recipezaar.com/Zucchini-and-Cretan-Cheese-Pie-With-Nigella-Seeds-314020
There you are, something to do with all those nigella seeds!
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Baccyman, I'm persuaded already that nigella is too invasive to plant outside of a garden.
If I do any guerilla gardening, I'll stick to native or established species - like purple toadflax, for example.
The term guerilla gardening is perhaps a bit provocative, anyway! I'd like to brighten up some of the scraggy areas in my neighbourhood, that's all. :)
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Another escapee but at least it is beneficial to some of our moths especially the humming bird hawk moth. Some plants wipe out the species that were growing on wasteland but those species however scruffy and untidy were doing their bit for the eco system feeding insects etc.
Bye the way toadflax spreads like wildfire if not kept in check.
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I've never seen toadflax growing en-masse, usually just a straggly opportunist in walls and so forth, not that I'm contradicting you. I guess you're not a great fan of buddleia, either? What used to dominate rocky wasteground before, was it rosebay willowherb?
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whats the problem with H.balsam? my parents have some land by a river, before Balsam the river edges were covered in nettles (ugly, impossble to get rid of and died down in winter...) now balsam has made its way there from seeds coming down from upstream, its covered in bees, its pretty we just cut it back if it gets too much and it provdies more privacy from the river... yes its not a "native" but to be honest most of our plants/trees/etc which people consider native are not... there are very few native to the UK since the ice age...
no doubt Ace will accuse "me" now of being one of "his pet hates" too for even suggesting I like the plant! ;D
oh and nettles are not native either - the romans introduced them... never hear anyone waging a war against them... shame...
mat
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Himalayan balsam is *bad* news... it grows so thick and fast that it smothers all the other vegetation. NOT a good thing.
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whats the problem with H.balsam?
Quoting from http://www.open2.net/naturalhistory/invaders/wanted/himalayan_balsam.html
Problems:
This tall, fast-growing, invader grows in dense clumps that prevents shorter native plants from getting enough light to grow underneath it. As a result Himalayan balsam can take over large areas. As well as causing problems for native species, Himalayan balsam also increases the risk of riverbanks washing away because it stops the more long-lived plants such as grasses, which bind the soil with their roots, from growing. This means that when the balsam plants die in the autumn they leave bare patches of soil, which can be more easily washed away by rain.
Himalayan balsam also causes less obvious problems for native species, by luring pollinating insects away from native flowers. Like many flowering plants, Himalayan balsam produces sugary nectar to attract insects. Its flowers produce more nectar than any native European species, making it a more attractive option to pollinating insects such as bumblebees.
How can you measure such subtle effects and find out if Himalayan balsam does affect the pollination native species? Scientists investigated this by placing potted Himalayan balsam plants in experimental areas where native species were growing. This meant they could compare what happened in areas where balsam was or was not present. They counted the number of bee visits to native species and found that bees made fewer visits to native flowers when Himalayan Balsam was present. Less visits by insects, meant less pollination and the number of seeds produced by native species were reduced in areas where Himalayan balsam was present.
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There is a lot more involved than just replacing one species with another, nettles are beneficial to a whole host of insects, balsam will supply nectar to the bees, but nectar comes from every flowering plant. I'll leave it up to you to see which one comes out on top. Buddleia is an opportunist. not many people in their right minds would put it down because of the butterflies it attract. Although you are right not one of my favourites.
Somebody is moaning about 'what the romans did for us' a very good reason not to to carry on the same.
Leave nature alone. It is only interfering that is putting it in a sorry state. Do you think farmers like the scruffy corners they have to leave as set aside, I bet they would like to cultivate the lot, which would be sprayed, artifially fed etc.
It's a fad, it is also a shame that the brown bread and sandel brigade don't go back to something they were good at. Saving trees and countryside from development.
OH OH just saw your post baccyman, but I will still put this on.
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Thifasmom, you just sizzle it for a moment in the frying pan before adding other things, just like cumin.
Here's a nice recipe that you could adapt by using a vegetable instead of the chicken, I know you're veggie! http://www.recipezaar.com/Kalonji-Chicken-Vijs-285528
Likewise this one, which I have made and which my husband thought was spectacular:
http://www.recipezaar.com/Kashmiri-Chicken-42029 - the yoghurt at the end makes it rich and creamy.
Here's one that needs no alteration, as it's veggie already:
http://www.recipezaar.com/Zucchini-and-Cretan-Cheese-Pie-With-Nigella-Seeds-314020
There you are, something to do with all those nigella seeds!
thanks for these will definitely give em a try. and will let you know how the family liked them. thanks again and good luck with the guerrilla gardening ;).
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Thifasmom, Nigella seeds are great in any indian style food, if you make dals or curries, fry some nigella seeds, ginger, mustad seeds, garlic, onions etc, together and then add them on top of your dal or curry - very tasty. I'm now going to creep away so as to stay out of the guerrilla gardening / non-native species debate!!!
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in Tooting they sell gorgeous bread with nigella seeds on top. When you toast the bread the nigella seeds are delicious.
this is like two conversation now, isn't it.
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thanks guys for the further recipe ideas.
this is like two conversation now, isn't it.
;D
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.......shhh ! ......you go for it girl ! and throw in some poppy seeds ! YEE ! HA !
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Hehe, I actually thought I was posting a query about planting seeds that were bought as spices, I didn't foresee the whole 'introduced species' debate.... ooops!
Anyway, on the subject of Indian spices, ajwain is another one I've discovered lately - looks like caraway seed, tastes and smells more like thyme, is great with fish - only a very small amount required, or it would be overpowering. The English name for it is 'Bishop's Weed', and it is also mistakenly called lovage sometimes.
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I've got nigella on my plot and leave a bit of it to flower each year, looks lovely I think, it's easy to control by hoeing where it's not wanted. I didn't even know it could be eaten so you've taught me something new. Would make a great choice for guerrilla gardening I'd have thought - and poppies- and english marigolds. :)
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You can be banned from keeping animals for bad husbandry, its a pity the same does not happen to some so called gardeners.
.......shhh ! ......you go for it girl ! and throw in some poppy seeds ! YEE ! HA !
I'll rest my case!
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Can I be provocative and ask for tips on how to get Nigella to spread? It's my favourite flower but it doesn't seem keen to self-seed in my garden, no matter how much seed I throw around every year! :(
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I've always found that, like popies, wherever the soil is disturbed they pop up.. :-\
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Can I be provocative and ask for tips on how to get Nigella to spread? It's my favourite flower but it doesn't seem keen to self-seed in my garden, no matter how much seed I throw around every year! :(
plants are funny like that, take my garden for instance it started volunteering California poppies all of its own accord about three years ago. since then it have self seeded and overwintered really well, my next door neighbour on the other hand can't get the thing to grow not for love or money i have given him seedlings, fresh seed established plants but except for the seedlings/ established plants growing and no where looking as great as the ones that i have planted out or got through self sown seed. his simply wont overwinter or self seed itself ???.
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Caroline, is your garden shady? I used to have a garden that was overshadowed by a bloody great eucalyptus next door - 17m high or so, and growing more to our side, being the south. Almost the entire garden is shaded from it, from both rain or sun, and the ground is bone dry as the tree leaches all the moisture out. About the only border flowers that do well in it are aquilegia, foxglove and sedum. I tried nasturtiums once and they just vanished, which was a new experience for me, but I guess there just wasn't enough light for them!
(This is an ongoing problem, as my brother now has that flat, and we're still trying to tackle the tree - but the neighbour won't talk to us about it, which poses a bit of a problem!)
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Didn't Gertrude Jekyll always have a handful of seeds in her pocket and whenever she went visiting anyones gardens, she would suruptitiously deposit a sprinkling in the beds??
I can appreciated how lovely it is to see wild flowers springing up in the verges, but in North Devon, and probably lots of other places, the species daffodil has almost been wiped out and replaced by different cultivated varieties.
Nigella started in my back garden, a lovely big patch under my willow tree which looked fab, but after 3 or 4 years it has now vanished, but now I have a big patch in my front garden! It is moving through the neighbourhood I fear.
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If Nigella was going to become an invasive pest, it would have done so already, given the number of people who plant it. I don't see the harm.
Himalayan balsam is definitely a pest, I had it all over my plot at one point. Firtunately, in a domestic environment, it's easy to deal with as it's a tender annual, and the seeds are very short-lived. It was all down the banks of the Wye when I was a kid, swamping everything. It wasn't in my flower book and it really puzzled me.
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If Nigella was going to become an invasive pest, it would have done so already, given the number of people who plant it. I don't see the harm.
Things have changed a lot lately with people throwing seed willy nilly all over the place and never a care for the consequences, so I disagree with your statement. It can be invasive under check, so left to its own devices what then. I would rather be careful than sorry.
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One the one hand, I tend to agree with Robert that nigella has been around long enough, without causing a problem, that it's probably not going to. It's been in our gardens for perhaps a couple of hundred years? But then, things can change, if you have a few years of warmer weather. Various things are getting a foothold here due to overall warmer temperatures - termites, for example, I heard a lot about, a few years ago! So maybe we shouldn't be complacent about any invasive plant.
Having said that, if we're talking about guerilla gardening, we're talking about scrappy urban spaces, or I hope we are. Very few plants can thrive enough to cause infestation, in ground like that, without watering. Buddleia, rosebay willowherb, nettles, and some other weeds... not much else. So I doubt that a few cheery poppies, nigella, or marigolds are truly going to reach problematic numbers. Since birds can spread the seeds, that logic would have to apply to gardens too, and you could argue that no-one should plant ANY non-native plant in their garden. Not even that, since one can still alter the local eco-system, even with plants native to other parts of these same islands. ACE, you grow exotics, don't you? Tut tut!! *
This thread has given me food for thought, though.
*sorry - I may regret that, but just couldn't resist... :D
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TOUCHE ;)
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http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Nige_sat.html
I found the above a rather interesting read. I did not know that it could be used as a spice/herb.
Much prettier I feel in the less wild places like roundabouts than the dandelion. Probably would not do any harm to the countryside on a roundabout, dare I suggest..
You can use culinary seeds in the garden, they do grow, as do lots of seeds from things like peppers tomatoes melons sunflowers, anything really but the results would not be guaranteed.
Mung beans can be grown for bean shoots too, on a window sill in a few days. Ideal for teaching kids about growing.
As an after thought, since people feeding birds with bread have been prosecuted for littering, could the same law apply to some one spreading seeds?
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Probably, unless you live in Todmorden...
Don't get caught! ;D
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Why not join a guerilla gardening group in your area and see what they plant?
Get some tips from here...
(http://www.guerrillagardening.org/)
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Oxford Ragwort was planted in one garden, at Oxford Botanical Gardens. It's now spread far and wide. So if a plant wants to go wild, it will. For that matter, neither Japanese Knotweed nor Himalayan Balsam was ever deliberately introduced to the wild that I know of. We're talking about urban gardening here, after all. It's not that far from gardens.
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Did anybody see the Natural World programme last night on bbc2. All about no mans land alongside the iron curtain. Beautiful, natural, no interference from ignorant people. I expect seed scatterers would have been shot on sight, (give me a gun).
neither Japanese Knotweed nor Himalayan Balsam was ever deliberately introduced to the wild that I know of.
I do not know either but I am willing to lay my money on some criminal act taking place when somebody thought they would look nice on that waste land. Lets scatter some spare seed there.
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You seem determined to think that it's deliberate, ACE! I agree with Robert, I think that if something is going to go wild, it's because it can thrive all too well in the new environment, finds an un-filled or ill-defended natural niche, plus absence of old-country predators/rivals, and can spread quickly and easily. Not because someone with malice or stupidity gave it one single head start in one single place - which could as easily be a garden as a verge, the seeds don't care if they're in a 'garden' or on 'wasteground', it's all the same to them.
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thanks guys for the further recipe ideas.
this is like two conversation now, isn't it.
;D
Naan Roasties:
Parboil 2lbs potatos cut into roastie sized pieces for 8-10 minutes. put in a plastic bag with 1desert spoonful of oil, the same of butter, 2 teaspoons kalonji, 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds. shake it up until the butter is melted and the potatos are well covered in seeds, tip out into a preheated pan and put in the oven at about gas mk6-7 200 degrees or so..... great with any fusion style mash-up of British and Indian cuisines or just by themselves with beer...
chrisc
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You seem determined to think that it's deliberate,
Um! am I missing something here? I thought this thread was about guerilla gardening. If that is not deliberate vandalism, what is?
If somebody has to even ask the question whether they could or could not do it means a lack of experience. Because they selfishly want their scruffy little eyesores looking pretty, disregarding the micro culture that is already in place on that scruffy patch that is also inexperience. Somebody mentioned planting marigolds to swamp out dandelions. Do you not use marigolds as companions to keep pests away. Why can't you let the pests have their little bit, all insects are in the chain somewhere. Even dandelions feed some species.
I am not an expert myself but I can forsee these holigans spoiling it for the rest of us with their selfish attitudes. They even pat themselves on the back, shouting what a good job they are doing.
I spent years campaigning for my local cemeteries to be left alone. They would turn them every year into a green desert of neatly trimmed grass, because otherwise they looked scruffy. Nobody took any notice, until a conservationist called Dr. Pope, told them they were killing our heritage. luckly they listened. Now they are not termed as scruffy, they are sites of special scientific interest and it is against the law
to 'tidy' them up.
Orchids, cowslips, oxlips, wild grasses that were rediscovered, wild crocus, species daffodils and every type of stinging, biting, buzzing insect. I could garantee that everybody on this forum would love a walk through them, just to remember some of the plants they used to know.
but you would not like that yourself would you? too many weeds not enough garden flowers.
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I agree with Ace,if you must have a tidy up then just pick up the litter, better that than introducing a pretty that further on up the line will become a pest.
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thanks guys for the further recipe ideas.
this is like two conversation now, isn't it.
;D
Naan Roasties:
Parboil 2lbs potatos cut into roastie sized pieces for 8-10 minutes. put in a plastic bag with 1desert spoonful of oil, the same of butter, 2 teaspoons kalonji, 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds. shake it up until the butter is melted and the potatos are well covered in seeds, tip out into a preheated pan and put in the oven at about gas mk6-7 200 degrees or so..... great with any fusion style mash-up of British and Indian cuisines or just by themselves with beer...
chrisc
TAH! guess what they are going to have for dinner tonight ;D
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It's well known what happened in the case of Oxford Ragwort, which is why I mentioned it. The seeds are windborne; they spread across Oxford, then down the railway lines. Both Himalayan Balsam and Japanese Knotweed have equally efficient means of spreading, and both of them went along waterways. There's no need for conspiracy theories.
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Orchids, cowslips, oxlips, wild grasses that were rediscovered, wild crocus, species daffodils and every type of stinging, biting, buzzing insect. I could garantee that everybody on this forum would love a walk through them, just to remember some of the plants they used to know.
These will grow on my local industrial estate then, if I leave it alone? Oooh, great! Can't wait to seem them this summer.
The way you're talking, ACE, you don't seem to approve of flower gardening at all.
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Hells bells, how is everyone growing nigella? Mine committed hari kari after the first year. It seem though, if I manage to grow them, I can use their seeds for culinary purposes?
However I do agree with Ace, I once had a blazing row in the office as an Asian colleague had brought back roses, complete with rootball, from Pakistan. Her argument was that the garden centre down the road sold them at a higher price than she had purchased them in Pakistan and anyway no one stopped her - and I ended up being regarded as rascist
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Not actually considered this properly LouLou but, if it is so successful on lotties perhaps it likes a cold spell, and if we sow it under glass in spring, or direct in spring it goes dormant??? Many seeds naturally overwinter as seedlings.. :-\
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Orchids, cowslips, oxlips, wild grasses that were rediscovered, wild crocus, species daffodils and every type of stinging, biting, buzzing insect. I could garantee that everybody on this forum would love a walk through them, just to remember some of the plants they used to know.
These will grow on my local industrial estate then, if I leave it alone? Oooh, great! Can't wait to seem them this summer.
If you want to interpretate it that way. Up to you. Are my words too big for you to understand properly.
And to think I said sorry earlier.
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Ah well, sorry ACE, I shouldn't have stooped to sarcasm, but you did it first, nah nah nah... (with the 'but you would not like that yourself would you? ') :D
Let's call a truce on sarcasm?
I'm completely in accordance with you in wanting to preserve natural environments for their native species; wish I'd never bought up the subject of guerilla gardening. I wasn't even considering doing it anywhere other than the concrete hinterland of the industrial estate I live on the edge of, where I thought a few commonly-existing, already-well-tolerated-in-Britain flowers would brighten the place up a bit.
I was simply wondering what to do with the vast quantities of nigella seed that I have at my disposal.
Why this should lump me in with people who like to keep cemeteries strimmed, I have no idea. Nor does it mean that I want to gleefully and maliciously introduce the next exotic plague.
You've accused me (or my implied ilk) of being 'a silly fool', 'selfish', 'a hooligan', 'ignorant', and 'a criminal'. I think I've had enough of being abused, now! You have lots of interesting things to say, but tearing people's heads off might not be the best way to get them across.
And on that note - I'm bailing out of this thread! Bye all, see you on a calmer thread sometime soon. :)
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Yeh. Gone on a bit ain't I. Lets stop now, what do they taste like anyhow, poppy? sesame? anything I can relate to. We have no asian greengrocers over here, I think they might think it is the Isle of 'White' instead of Wight which is anglo saxon for Whitgar or something like that.
I must admit I am sometimes mystified at some of the produce I see on display when I venture north of the solent, but I would like to try some of the strange shapes and different tastes. (perhaps try some of the seeds, shhhh)
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Ace, white shops like Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsburys etc sell poppy seeds and other exotics nowadays. In fact they can be just a cheap as the Asian shops.
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Nigella seeds taste a bit like thyme, only earthier, and they have a slight fragrance of strawberries. Sounds a bit odd but they go fantastically with chicken, or with potatoes. They also have a little bit of a peppery edge to them. Very nice. :)
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I do not think we ever recovered from the Romans introducing snails into the British Isles as food.
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Ace, white shops like Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsburys etc sell poppy seeds and other exotics nowadays. In fact they can be just a cheap as the Asian shops.
lottie lou if you ever go to the island, check out the supermarkets,
it might have improved since they rebuilt tesco but the range is limited to say the least,
lbb
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I do not think we ever recovered from the Romans introducing snails into the British Isles as food.
only the edible snails were introduced by the italians! ;) also edible frogs, btw
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And didn't those bl**dy romans introduce Ground Elder? My mum has never forgiven them! ;D
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http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-ground-elder-omelette (http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-ground-elder-omelette)
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That ACE
with t'orrible face
Is determined to have the last word on this.
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I might have to try that ground elder omelette, just out of sheer revenge. I'm going to help my bro with his garden next week - it used to be my garden, and I'm afraid I didn't keep on top of the ground elder and it's now gone rampant. Argh. Out with the glyphosate and the black plastic; it won't be pretty!
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this is like two conversation now, isn't it.
Maybe we can turn this thread into Guerilla recipies???!!!!
Nigella seeds go great with cauliflower ;D
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At least the subject's been changed!
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At least the subject's been changed!
8) 8) 8)
What I've picked up from this thread, tho, is the paucity of 'proper' shops on the IOW? Now! I never knew that, there again, I've never visited the IOW :-\
How fortunate we are in B'ham having the Bull Ring fruit&veg Open Market & the indoor fish'n'meat one 8) - everything to cater for all races, from exotic stuff to just plain ordinary. Not too much I love about Birmingham, but the food choices.....wonderful 8) ;D
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That's one reason why I live here. I spent years in Cornwall, and unless it's changed drastically, there's very little 'interesting' food avaliable down there either. You need the diversity, otherwise you get the bog-standard, utterly boring English stuff, and very little else. Every time we've been on holiday in Cornwall, we've taken food for the entire trip with us.
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ooo conversation number 3 / 4 !! Love it. and agree with you Hyacinth and Robert, I caouldn't live without diversity of food (and people!)
1066
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That's one reason why I live here. I spent years in Cornwall, and unless it's changed drastically, there's very little 'interesting' food avaliable down there either. You need the diversity, otherwise you get the bog-standard, utterly boring English stuff, and very little else. Every time we've been on holiday in Cornwall, we've taken food for the entire trip with us.
I take it then you don't like seafood then. boring ::)
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Derby has a great fish market... and many "asian" food shops. Now got Chinese and Polish supermarkets as well... :)
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Derby has a great fish market... and many "asian" food shops. Now got Chinese and Polish supermarkets as well... :)
Don't forget the Tarts. ;)
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Now, now, there's no need to insult the good ladies of the town!
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No that's Bakewell.... ;D
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I suppose they could go into the batter for the fish.
Personally, I think it is 'oven chips' and frozen chips which should be banned. Only ones made with fresh potatoes taste right.