What are you growing this year?

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What are you growing this year?
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Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 05 12:58 pm Post subject:
Cheers. What's Fat Hen?....

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45691
Location: Essex

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 05 1:07 pm Post subject:
Orach was introduced by the Romans I believe, Fat Hen predates that and is another excellent spinach alternative, in ancient Britain the seeds were eaten too. Nowadays it's considered a weed.

Tristan

Joined: 29 Dec 2004
Posts: 392
Location: North Gloucestershire

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 05 1:17 pm Post subject:

Orach and Fat Hen are both of the Amaranth family, for some more of these try www.futurefoods.com, they can be used for grain and leaves.

This years list includes: Good King Henry; parsnips, swedes, sweetcorn, tomatillo, 6 types of tomato, onions, 3 types of potato,
chillis (apache), sweet peppers, squash, pumpkins, mange tout, french beans, sunflower (eaten like artichoke or for seeds), carrots, 2 types of cucumber, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, calabrese, courgette, pepino,and a cucumber/melon hybrid.

May get a few more as another catalogue arrived today

Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 05 1:42 pm Post subject:

Ooh Tristan, can we have more details on:

- sunflower - when you say "eaten like artichoke" do you mean globe or jerusalem? I've read on packets that you can eat the unopened heads, but I know they're related to jerusalem artichokes, so it could be either. Is it a particular variety and how do you harvest and prepare it?

- what is pepino and have you grown it before?

- cucumber/melon hybrid, ditto really, I assume it's eaten raw, but is it outdoor or greenhouse material?

The last two at least sound famliar from Future Foods, whom I've managed to steer clear of so far, but having ordered from Simpsons this year it's a slippery slope...though one I'm happy to slide down!

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 05 2:40 pm Post subject:

Madman wrote:

Cheers. What's Fat Hen?....

One of the most common wild vegetables that there is. Practically ubiquitous, but quite unobtrusive, and it makes capital eating. Do a web search for pictures.

Tristan

Joined: 29 Dec 2004
Posts: 392
Location: North Gloucestershire

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 05 5:01 pm Post subject:

Sunflowers are apparently eaten like a globe artichoke, I've not tried them this way before but read an article somewhere last year (might be the RHS mag) so it is experiment time, I'll keep you posted and add some cooking details if I can find them again.

Pepino is available from www.jungleseeds.com, and again is a new one to me, having just checked their catalogue I'm now adding Tree Tomato and Naranjilla (hopeless case!!!!!).

Cucumber/Melon hybrid is from Fothergills and is called Carosello di Polignano, again a new one but I've got to find something to put in the polytunnel when it goes up

Supposedly it does best under cover, but I'll try a couple against a wall in case.

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 05 8:22 pm Post subject:
Ok....finished wrapping up the greenhouse, heater installed now, planted 48 lobelia, 10 fuschia and dozens of petunia. These are for patio pots early colour. Also planted 50 garlic cloves, 80 parsnip seed and 80 onion sets.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 05 9:08 pm Post subject:
In a rare moment of weakness (!) I succumbed to a bag of fir-apple seed potatoes. Never grown them before, haven't got room to grow them this year. Going to grow them in someone elses garden. I wonder if Bagpuss is reading this, and whether I can enlist her to help dig over her garden...

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 05 9:36 pm Post subject:
They are a very good potato. A little difficult to clean but worth it.

Pilsbury

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 5645
Location: East london/Essex

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 05 12:20 am Post subject:

I'm late onto this thread as well but i have got cherry toms coming up and jalepeno chilles that are showing in the propergator and peppers and scotch bonnet chillies still to show, then i want cuecumbers, dwarf beans, strawberrys, garlic, and some more herbs but not decided on them yet.
Not sure where it is all going to go as i have no actual soil in my garden yet but i think it will all grow in containers.

Tristan

Joined: 29 Dec 2004
Posts: 392
Location: North Gloucestershire

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 05 12:24 pm Post subject:
Everything except the garlic I've had really good crops from in pots. If you use a peatfree compost it'll save on the feeding as the feed doesn't wash through. Try a John Innes compost mixed 50:50 with peat free for the garlic, and the container will probably need to about 18 in deep.

Behemoth

Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 05 12:39 pm Post subject:
A distrubing amount of stuff in a small place - I'm going for a litlle of lots of things rather than the surfit of Sprouts. I've tried to by a few variieties of this and that to crop over a longer period e.g. late and early leeks. This year I'm having a go Brassicas such as cale, PSB, Romanesco, Cavalo Nero and some savoys and determined to put on a better show than last year's miserable effort.

Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 05 12:45 pm Post subject:
Lucky you didn't post the address of Jungle Seeds before I'd bought this year's seed, Tristan, or OH and I would be sleeping in the car (as it is there are already coffee plants and papaya seedlings on the bedroom windowsill ). Soooo many things But I am strong. And I already have some tomatillo seeds saved from a fruit last year

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45691
Location: Essex

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 05 12:48 pm Post subject:
Anyone added them to Links?

Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 05 1:02 pm Post subject:
Yes sir!

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