Kitchen Garden Forum

Dear Primrose,
do you mean sea cabbage or the sea kale? If you mean sea kale then this is indeed eaten but only in the spring time as forced shoots which are said to be best lightly boiled or steamed and served with butter or hollandaise sauce on top.
regards Sally Wright.

Sally, yes it is actually sea kale but all the locals call it sea cabbage for some reason. Certain,y at this time of year the leaves look as tough as old boots!

I can't abide broad beans. Young or old, they all taste of soap to me!

Apart from those, I have learned to love, or at least "quite like", most veg once I've grown them myself.

I agree that when the skins of broad beans go all grey and leathery they are pretty unappetising, even when freshly picked and cooked and few people have the time or patience to skin them . But if you like to have a mixed bean salad I suggest you try buying some frozen soya beans. They are very similar but slightly smaller and the outer skins stay delightfully green so they look much more appetising.

I don't like the earthy taste of the coloured varieties of swiss chard. I don't mind the white stemmed ones though.

Now that the oilseed rape has been harvested and the lost grain is growing in abundance if you pull plants that are around 4" to 6" tall and cook them. To me they are really tasty and take but a few moments to steam.
Plum Pudding,
Only the white stemmed chard is "Swiss Chard" all the others are simply a leaf beet and are not really chards at all.
I generally grow Swiss Chard to eat when it is very young sowing at about 1" apart down the row and start pulling complete plants at 4" just nipping the root off. Again it cooks very quickly steamed and with a knob of butter they melt in the mouth.
Sadly people seem determined to eat the hoary old leaves instead of putting then on the compost and pick the wonderful newer leaves that are really tender and very quick to regenerate.
To me no roast dinner is not complete without a roast Parsnip.
Who in their right mind would have roast beef without roast Parsnips and Horseradish sauce! Unthinkable! (to me that is)
I, howerver, an not fond of any hint of Anise in any vegetable of herb.
JB.