Perennial Nine Star Broccoli – Brassica Oleracea Botrytis Asparagoides. Is an amazing hardy vegetable that produces a central large creamy white cauliflower type head with a myriad of sprouting side shoots from as early as February through to May. To keep the plants sprouting year after year you have to cut off all the florets for eating and any flowers that try to emerge so you don’t allow the plants to go to seed.
How to Grow Cardoons
How to grow Cardoons – article first published in Grow Your Own Magazine May 2015 growfruitandveg.co.uk
Cardoons are fantastic edible, ornamental and bee friendly plants. I’m obsessed with resurrecting long forgotten varieties and started growing Cardoons 14 years ago after discovering they were stars of the vegetable garden in Britain right up to Victorian times. I thought it was time for these architectural edimentals to make a re-appearance.
Taunton Deane & Daubenton’s Kale
Taunton Deane kale (Brassica oleracea var Acephala) a very old variety of perennial kale that keeps growing for years giving a tasty supply of greens all year round. It is also known as cottager’s kale and would have been common in vegetable gardens up until Victorian times. Plants can grow more than two metres tall and wide and are very hardy. Being perennials they withstand pests very well, survive all kinds of weather and have a flourish of new growth each spring and summer. They are extremely nutritious as they have many years to accumulate minerals and have a great flavour and are tender enough to eat raw. Taunton Deane plants do slow down after about 5 years, so it is worth making cuttings every now and again to produce new stock.
Skirrets – the long forgotten vegetable
Latin name Sium sisarum, Skirrets are hardy perennial root vegetables. They date back centuries, pre-dating the potato, and were one … Read more
A stunning winter harvest of edible tubers
December is an exciting time for lifting our edible tubers and discovering the buried treasure that has been busy growing under the earth. Vivid red Oca tubers, stunningly beautiful Ulluco tubers, Chinese Artichokes and Jerusalem Artichokes are a welcome harvest when there is not much else to gather in the veg patch.
Tuberous Chervil – what a find!
I have just sown some tuberous chervil Chaerophyllum Bulbosum. This is a root vegetable with a chestnutty earthy taste. Seeds can be sown in the Autumn or in the Spring after a period of stratification ( they need a good 8 weeks of cold to germinate ). The tubers will grow over the summer months and can be harvested in the Autumn/winter but benefit from a period of frost.
Spigariello, wavy ringlets of tasty greens from this heirloom variety
Spigariello, also known as Cavolo Broccolo a Getti di Napoli, is a beautiful leafy green that produces abundant ringlets or ribbons of dark leaves that you can steam, saute, toss into pasta or put on top of a pizza. This is an old Italian heirloom variety which has a long sowing period and can be cut over and over again as the ringlets re-sprout before eventually producing a white central flower head a bit like sprouting broccoli.
Chinese Artichokes – How to grow
Chinese Artichokes are also known as Chorogi, Betony or Crosne. They are prolific producers of delicious knobbly crunchy tubers and have a bushy top growth of fuzzy leaves that grow up to 50cm tall. They are related to the mint family. BUY NOW in our online shop.
How to grow Chinese Artichokes
Being hardy things tubers can be planted out between October and April. Alternatively you can keep your tubers in trays or pots of slightly damp compost in a light place and leave them to sprout. You will see leaves appearing and when the plants are about 3 or 4 inches tall you can plant them out. Slugs do like the plants when small, so getting them going in pots first ensures that they can survive pests until they have got established. Plant about 25cm apart and a 7.5cm deep in rows of 45cm.
It’s all jungly in the polytunnel
In just 3 months our sweetcorn is up to the roof and our Tromboncino squash has almost eaten our polytunnel whole.
Giant Tree Spinach-beautiful and edible
Chenopodium Giganteum or giant tree spinach is a strikingly beautiful edible spinach with dazzling magenta and green leaves which can be used to make vibrant salads.
How to Grow Giant Tree Spinach
It can be sown directly in the spring by scattering the seeds thinly. I find it is best to sow in small flurries so that you get lovely tall islands of spinach amongst your other plants that give height and colour to your vegetable garden.
Tasty Tomatillos
Tomatillos are really fun to grow as tiny yellow flowers turn into magical hanging green lanterns which eventually burst open revealing the green shiny fruits inside. They can be used for relishes, or fried with a crispy polenta coating. They are one of the main ingredients in Salsa Verde and have a sharp taste a bit like a green plum, but very refreshing.