Stuff you can't get in the shops

[pigeonseed]

Forgot to say Pigeon.. if you want some GKH I have some self sets...

Why thank you saddad! I would like to try it!

[pigeonseed]

[saddad]

You'll need to pm me an addy then...  :)

[Eristic]

Forgot the eddoe and mango from my list.

[1066]

Forgot the eddoe and mango from my list.

Mango - one of my all time favourites. What kind of success have you had and how and where is it planted?
Thanks

[Eristic]

far too early to think about a result. Last years plant suffered badly with the cold and has taken till summer to regrow.

I have now got the germination off to a fine art:

1. Eat the mangos.
2. Put stones in a container of water for about 3 days.
3. Scrub remaining pulp away with pan scourer.
4. Put cleaned stones in polythene bag while still wet.
5. Leave bag on greenhouse staging or other warm place for a few weeks.
6. When a shoot emerges from stone, pot up.

Leaving the stones to soak allows moisture to permeate the kernel and trigger germination. Scrubbing the stone helps stop fungal growth. Leaving stones tied in a poly bag keeps temperature and humidity high.

The shoot usually emerges before the root so plant with shoot pointing upwards.  The root when it emerges is a tap root so pot up in a tall pot. Depth is more important than diameter.

All that remains is to overcome the winter problems.

[1066]

Thanks Eristic the info is interesting & comprehensive.

I know I can certainly manage number 1  ;)
I was always envious of a friends garden in Queensland that had a massive mango tree - they got fed up with the gluts, but the kanagroos that came down into town certainly loved the fruit that had fallen

Anyway, something to try next year, but I'm presuming they might not like being indoors overwinter?
1066

[saddad]

I think they just don't like Winter....  :-\

[terrier]

 I don't think anyone has mentioned Nasturtiums yet. Grow them as a trailing / flowering plant or as an addition to the salad garden. They grow like weeds but never take over, if they pop up anywhere you don't want them, just pull them out. Use them instead of lettuce for a strong peppery taste, just right for ham and mustard sarnies. Slugs hate them!

[thifasmom]

I don't think anyone has mentioned Nasturtiums yet. Grow them as a trailing / flowering plant or as an addition to the salad garden. They grow like weeds but never take over, if they pop up anywhere you don't want them, just pull them out. Use them instead of lettuce for a strong peppery taste, just right for ham and mustard sarnies. Slugs hate them!

gotta agree with you there, i like them in cheese sandwishes.

[Eristic]

I've only mentioned the more unusual food items growing on my plot. I thought everyone had nasturtiums.

[Biscombe]

far too early to think about a result. Last years plant suffered badly with the cold and has taken till summer to regrow.

I have now got the germination off to a fine art:

1. Eat the mangos.
2. Put stones in a container of water for about 3 days.
3. Scrub remaining pulp away with pan scourer.
4. Put cleaned stones in polythene bag while still wet.
5. Leave bag on greenhouse staging or other warm place for a few weeks.
6. When a shoot emerges from stone, pot up.

Leaving the stones to soak allows moisture to permeate the kernel and trigger germination. Scrubbing the stone helps stop fungal growth. Leaving stones tied in a poly bag keeps temperature and humidity high.

The shoot usually emerges before the root so plant with shoot pointing upwards.  The root when it emerges is a tap root so pot up in a tall pot. Depth is more important than diameter.

All that remains is to overcome the winter problems.

Can't even grow mangoes here in the Spanish mountains! The slightest bit of frost and you will loose them. You'll need a monster greenhouse!

[Biscombe]

Back to Stuff you can't get in the shops that I grow here, for me it's

Chillies
Okra
Passion Fruit
Unusual tomatoes

[Eristic]

Back to Stuff you can't get in the shops that I grow here, for me it's

Chillies
Okra
Passion Fruit

I take it that there are no shops in Spain. Almost everything on my list is readily available in the local shops here.

[pigeonseed]

Back to Stuff you can't get in the shops that I grow here, for me it's

Chillies
Okra
Passion Fruit

I take it that there are no shops in Spain. Almost everything on my list is readily available in the local shops here.

I think that's because you live in a major world city Eristic. In most small towns and villages you don't get much choice. Think wrinkly golden delicious and limp parsley.

When i was staying at my mum's I asked in their local greengrocer if they had aubergines and had to explain what it was, she said she could order one in for me from the wholesalers. She sounded quite excited.

[saddad]

Not everyone has our benefit of multiculturalism... exotic foods are all over Derby and the migrant communities support local "grocers"  :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

I can get almost anything in Birmingham because it's so multicultural, there's money in stocking a far wider range than traditional English people want. But when I lived in Cornwall it was a very different story! Even there, the range is a lot broader than it was in Oxford when I was a kid. Things have disappeared as well; you can't get lambs' brains in the local butcher any more. To some extent it's healthy, to some extent it isn't. The food miles bother me, along with the waste of food. Why don't we eat brains any more?

[cjb02]

I Have Oca, Yacon, physallis, green tomatoes and jerusalem artichokes

[Biscombe]

Back to Stuff you can't get in the shops that I grow here, for me it's

Chillies
Okra
Passion Fruit

I take it that there are no shops in Spain. Almost everything on my list is readily available in the local shops here.

Yes shops  ::) but fruit and veg shops in my small town sell really basic fruit and veg! That's why I love my garden so much. I think the only way you would get okra is if you flew over to the other side of Spain to Barcelona!

[macmac]

I Have Oca, Yacon, physallis, green tomatoes and jerusalem artichokes

I keep seeing Yacon being mentioned can somebody tell me what it is ? ???

[saddad]

It's a huge triffid of a plant that has (hopefully) an edible tuber... first time for me...  :-\