Topic: Growing Indian veg in UK

[pigeonseed]

That thread started by Betty about Bangladeshi veg got me thinking. I've got all nostalgic for the vegetables I saw when I went to uni in South India. As well as exotic unknowns like pink bananas, I was really thrown by the way the veg we eat just looked different.

- Carrots were a bit pink.
- Cucumbers were rugby ball shaped and yellow! (I now know these are Andhra Pradesh cucumbers called dosakai)
- And the onions were so beautiful - pink and pearly skinned. I had led a sheltered life and never seen an onion which wasn't brown before.

I would love to grow these things here - but I know it's silly. They are probably varieties bred specially to suit the local conditions. I did bring back some dosakai seeds and my mum tried to grow them in the greenhouse, but they didn't make it.

Has anyone ever tried to grow any of these in the UK? And how successful was it?

Dosakai photo (from www.summagallicana.it)


Indian pink carrots (from food.sulekha.com)


And pink onions (from tradeindia.com)

[1066]

Hiya
I'd love to know as well! And now you've got me thinking about all the other lovely fruit and veg in S India (lucky you for staying and studying there - I've managed holidays there  :)). 
I wonder for us here in the UK if you might be better looking at what grows further north?

Slightly off topic but I was going to ask you how you grow your mooli? I've been growing mine in crates filled with a mix of soil and sand. But wondered if I could try some in the ground, but then wonder about our clay soil!!

[aj]

- And the onions were so beautiful - pink and pearly skinned. I had led a sheltered life and never seen an onion which wasn't brown before.

Red onions? White onions?

The pink onions that you have posted look similar to the ones I am saving for seed :D

[Digeroo]

Garden Organci are having an Exotic Crop Fair 3rd October.  Thought I would give it a go

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/events/show_event.php?id=629

[aj]

Garden Organci are having an Exotic Crop Fair 3rd October.  Thought I would give it a go

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/events/show_event.php?id=629

I'll be there :D

[cleo]

I can`t see me ever managing to grow drumsticks in the UK but at least I can buy them from the Asian shops in Peterborough ;D

If anyone is planning to go to India soon let me know.

[1066]

If anyone is planning to go to India soon let me know.

There's a debate going on in our house at the moment - India or Laos/Cambodia for this winter (work commitments pending)...........................

[PurpleHeather]

A couple of years ago I brought home some seeds from Thailand to try to grow them in the UK.

They all started off all right but none got to a decent result. Our summer was too short or too cool.  I did not think it was worth trying again this year because it was a late start, taking ages to warm up. Perhaps with the hot and dry spell that followed things might have been different. But how were we to know?

It has gone back to an English Summer here again and there was, apparently even a touch of ground frost the other night.

Not only do we get cooler summers but we have different light. In the countries nearer to the equator they get 12 hours dark and 12 hours light. So even growing under cover the long hours of daylight we get confuses the plants causing some to bolt and go to flower and seed.

I rather think that with the price exotic imported vegetables fetch in specialist shops, if a grower could get them to grow in the UK they would be doing it.

I am sticking to growing what I know works here now. But might just try one or two bits again. The growing gremlin will raise his voice and get me at it no doubt.

Harvest so far of good old British fruit and veg has exceeded every year before and a delightful amount of stuff is making the freezer bulge. So, as me grandma used to say, be grateful for what you have.

I was told, when I was in Thailand,  that there are things THEY would love to grow and can not because it is too hot.  A lady told me she wanted to grow Leeks and Sweet peas (I know you can not eat Sweet Peas but they smell wonderful. The lady who wanted to grow them had a garden full of exotic orchids and a hedge of Bananas where we would have a privet hedge)  Strawberries too she said they find it hard to grow.

I suppose it is like everything else, we all want what we can not have.  

[meg_gordon]

A couple of years ago I brought home some seeds from Thailand to try to grow them in the UK.

Just a quick question - do we not have strict laws on what organic stuff like seeds you are allowed to bring into the country?  I have bought bulbs in Holland and was given a certificate to show customs in the UK.

Meg

[Jeannine]

Many of the seed merchants here sell seeds from all over the world Thailand is one of them. I can buy seeds for most things. Usually it is possible to find what you are looking for, Obviously  it would not be possible to grow everything but by picking short season varieties you can get close.Many immigrants bring seeds from their home lands, it is surprising what we can get our hands on.

Baker Creek sell quite a few Indian and Thai seeds.

I am growing a pink onion this year.

XX Jeannine

[pigeonseed]

Red onions? White onions?

No, as I say, I had led a very sheltered life! That was in the mid-90s as well, and I think that we've become more used to different coloured veg since then. Especially if you grow your own, which I didn't in those days.

What kind are you saving for seed, aj?

as me grandma used to say, be grateful for what you have.

Yes PurpleHeather, I do agree with you. And I do appreciate English veg too. It's just that the culture shock of being somewhere so different means that I've stored a lot of memories of that time.

Of course, if I was living in India, I'd be wishing the onions were brown and the carrots were orange!

And I would miss strawberries. Apples also don't do well in South India. Sometimes as a treat, people would buy an apple, all wrapped in paper, a real exotic fruit, to be sliced and handed round. People like what's rare!

Jeannine - can we buy from Baker Creek in the UK? I'll have a look at their website.

[pigeonseed]

Slightly off topic but I was going to ask you how you grow your mooli? I've been growing mine in crates filled with a mix of soil and sand. But wondered if I could try some in the ground, but then wonder about our clay soil!!

Sorry 1066, I forgot to answer your question.

I grew them direct in the ground, and I don't think they got any help at all on the heavy clay. It had been well dug, because it had potatoes on it previously. In the garden I also sowed some but they grew slowly and were tough and some didn't bulk up. Maybe a mineral deficiency or the ground was too dry. I did get leaves from them though.

The mooli were great - so easy and they just lurked there in the freezing rain and wind all winter, I just went down and pulled a couple up when we wanted some. It was only when it really froze around Christmas that they went mushy.

So I wouldn't bother mollycoddling them at all!

[PurpleHeather]

Yup.I did check the DEFRA site, after importing....as it happens.

Apparently seeds into the UK from anywhere are fine so long as you do not exceed a certain quantity which far exceeds what a hobby gardener would need.

I would point out that a lot of fruit which is imported for cooking contains seeds. Roots, like ginger can be propagated.

The things which cause problems are plants which might have a bug in them and of course soil which cold be contaminated with all sorts.

If any one is wondering about growing illegal substances from imported seeds, then the fact is that whilst seeds are fine to import, if you grow from the seeds, then it is the plant which could be illegal.

I am trying to explain this by not naming certain plants. In the past , people have managed to innocently grow controlled substances from imported bird seed

[pigeonseed]

I had a look at Baker's Creek site, it has some interesting ones - such a variety of climates in one country! They have short-day onions which look a lot like Indian ones.

They say they will send abroad, but customers have to check their own import regs.

I don't want to waste energy growing things which are sickly in our climate. If I try anything it might be a cooking cucumber, like the dosakai. I'm growing sikkim this year (thanks to grannyjanny!) I wonder if that's good for cooking. It's Indian (just)!

[Jeannine]

Soory PH but not all seeds are allowed in the UK even in small amounts. Defra stopped a parcel to me a couple of years ago and gave me options as to what to do with some seeds

Some seeds were OK and they released them straight away.  brassicas, squash

others were OK with a sanitary certificate if the seller would do one and is expensive, tomatoes , corn

Some where not allowed in under any circumstances.. I had TPS and they had to be destroyed.

It was explained to me by Defra that at the moment(2008) Defra were not checking all parcels coming into the UK.. they were checking anything that came through Parcelpost but regular mail was OK, the others would be checked eventually though

The company I bought from had put a label on the outside clearly stating the entire contents of the package.

The small risk of being stopped would never stop me from ordering though.

I have only ever had that 1 experience, everything else I purchased when over there had no problem getting though.

Pigeon Seed,Baker Creek are an excellent company to buy from,postage is very reasonable, free seeds too. Jare who owns the company is very highly regarded. Highly thought of by me!!

XX Jeannine

[Jayb]

Garden Organci are having an Exotic Crop Fair 3rd October.  Thought I would give it a go

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/events/show_event.php?id=629

Sounds a super day out, wish I lived closer  :-\

[earlypea]

What worries me about importing seeds, especially from some continents, is that they may be genetically modified or even unwittingly contaminated by GM....

There was a study, can't remember whether it was in the rareseeds catalogue or wildgardenseeds who are both very much opposed, showing just how much unintentional contamination there was in sweetcorn.

Someone offered to get me a load of seeds from China - no way!

[1066]

thanks Pigeonseed I'll give that a go

[pigeonseed]

But you have got me thinking, 1066 - maybe I was just lucky, I wonder whether I should add anything to the soil. Do you add manure for radish? I thought it might be like carrots, and would grow forked roots.

[1066]

No to manure on the beds where there are radish etc. I think your thinking is right (if you see wat I mean!!)
I think I'll give them a try in one of my crates and some in the ground and see what happens  :)