Thinking outside the box, some cool perennial vegetables.

[Nature's Babe]

Hello Tony, I was thinking of trying garnet red amaranth for the leaves, perhaps the chickens would enjoy any grain it produced.

[alan refail]

One I haven't grown for many years:

Dandelion - best is the selected French cultivar Pissenlit à coeur plein - as the name suggests hearts up - blanch for use in spring salads. Available from Suffolk Herbs

[Nature's Babe]

That looks a lush dandelion Alan, not sure it's my cup of tea, but my chickens would love it!

[alan refail]

That looks a lush dandelion Alan, not sure it's my cup of tea, but my chickens would love it!

This is what it looks like blanched



Much appreciated in the Netherlands, where it is known as molsla (mole lettuce)

[Nature's Babe]

Very nutritious I believe Alan, and I believe the blanching takes away any bitterness.

[Johnboy]

Hi Alan,
I have not grown Dandelion myself but have eaten it in France (Soon now maybe!) but you can do the very same treatment to Endive and Radicchio
and Radicchio Treviso can be treated this way during the winter months like Chicory Witloof and makes a very welcome break in the middle of the winter. R. Treviso does not make tight chicons and is loose leaved which is an advantage in some ways because you can pick individual leaves instead of a whole chicon.
With the blanching I use an upturned black bucket and make sure there is no possibility of light getting in. Normally put a few slug pellets (organic of course) around on the ground under the bucket then slightly mound up soil around the bucket sufficient only to make up for any irregularities in the soil that could admit light. A far more palatable plant than if unblanched. Give the plant a really good drink before carrying out the blanching procedure and then water only outside the bucket thereafter.
JB.

[Nature's Babe]

Thank you for the tips Johnboy, nice to see your posts again.

[Johnboy]

Hi NB,
I am off again tomorrow afternoon until 30th September and this time to France for a well earned rest. No phone, no television and no computer!
Bliss!
JB.

[Nature's Babe]

Hope you enjoy you holiday Johnboy, my brother lives in france, Aquitaine

[alan refail]

Just remembered another perennial. Wild rocket (diplotaxis species) definitely not Salad rocket/roquette/arugula (Eruca sativa).

If grown outside, given a bit of protection in the hardest winter weather, it will produce new leaf in the spring.

[Nature's Babe]

I think we might be in for another hard winter Alan.

[ken]

I appreciate that this started off as a request for ideas for unusual perennial veg, but thought I would add this, which qualifies for thinking outside the box. We went to Wisley yesterday where the veg dept seems to be in experimental mode. They are having a go at growing sweet potatoes, lemon grass, wasabi (Japanese horseradish), chick peas and lentils outside. Wasabi sounds tricky - in Japan it is grown in gravelly streams and takes three years to reach commercial harvesting size. At Wisley they are growing it in a black sack with a foot of gravel in the bottom. Chick peas and lentils apparently require 200 frost-free days, which can only mean starting them off in Feb/March in a frost-free environment, and not planting out until late May.

[Nature's Babe]

Hi Ken, that sounds a wonderful outing. A lot of this started with immigrants trying out their own plants and seeds on their allotments here, many of those plants have gradually adapted to our shorter cooler growing season. Garden organic have a new garden for these exotics too. I think leeks and runner beans etc will take a lot of beating but variety is the spice of life, our restaurants are pretty multicultural, looks like our gardens could be too soon.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/gardening/20 ... alse.shtml

[Westi]

I grew chick peas last year just in a spare bed (just planted some peas from the health food shop) and they grew well outside. You only get 2 peas per pod so need a lot but were actually nice to munch on raw. Got excited and planted more thinking I would dry them only to find mice got the lot! Did find the stash though when my lottie neighbour planted his potatoes this year!

Westi

[Nature's Babe]

Hi Westi, sorry that you got robbed, do they taste similar to peas raw? My peas often don't make it to the saucepan either, delicious raw.