Mas du Diable

Kale, Black Tuscan

Kale, Borecole or Colwort, Brassica oleracea var. acephala
Cruciferae [Brassicaceae] commonly known as the mustard family

Cavolo Nero growing 2007

A Lacinated kale also referred to as Nero di Toscano, Cavolo Nero, palm or dinosaur kale. This is one of my all time favourite winter greens and to my mind one of the best winter greens you can grow. A hardy plant that, like most Kales, produces lush leaves during the cooler months, growing sweeter after frosts. The leaves of this variety are long and blistered, with the crinkled edges turning inward. The leaves are a dark green that get darker, almost black, the colder it gets.

Nero di Toscana Precoce in December sun 2009

Origin Kales are non heading cabbages and one of the oldest forms of cultivated brassica. It is often described as primitive possibly because it is little changed and most closely related to the wild brassica ancestor whose origins appear to be the eastern Mediterranean regions. It is thought to have been used as a food crop as early as 2000 B.C and known to have been cultivated in Europe, by the early Greeks and later Romans, and then spread to other parts of the World. Today Kales represent a species of leafy greens with a great deal of diversity. This variety is from Italy where it was developed in Tuscany, probably during the 18th century. Vilmorin in 1885 describes the Italian Cavolo Nero as being similar if not the same as a variety known as Chou Palmier (palm cabbage) grown in France at that time, but described as tall and not going to flower until its third year.
Propagation Sow in a seed bed in mid to late spring and plant out in summer 6-8 weeks later. Choose a cloudy or rainy day or provide temporary shade for the first week, if the weather is hot, to give the young plants a chance to settle. Plant deeply right up to the first leaves to provide good support. Plant in rows or blocks at a spacing of 30-45cm apart for large plants or 20cm for smaller ones. Care hoe between plants and provide ground cover with an organic mulch to retain moisture and liquid feed in spring to encourage fresh growth. Note I’ve grown this Kale here for the last 5 years and some years it performs much better than others probably to do with the dry heat but it is most badly affected by delaying planting out (I’ve sometimes delayed more than a whole month waiting for a dull day to transplant but I think it is better to plant out even when conditions are not good and provide shade and moisture than delay and leave it in the seedbed too long, this years Kale did not get planted until mid September and it is pretty stunted). I would generally aim to get winter brassicas planted in July and certainly before mid August. For those in cooler climates this kale should do very well.

Tuscan Kale growing January 2005

Crop These kales are hardy up to at least minus 10c (15F) and stand a long time ready to crop, over 5 months in my garden, from late Autumn right through heavy winters to early spring. Harvesting discard any older yellowing leaves (these won’t taste good) and pick leaves as needed by pulling downwards against the stem. Flower spikes that are sent up in spring, if caught at the right moment, make delicious though small spring sprouting-broccoli-like greens.

Leaves of Nero di Toscana Kale

In the Kitchen
Absolutely delicious simply steamed, pan fried with garlic, boiled then seasoned with butter. It is a versatile green and can be added to soups such as Ribollita or cooked in sauces such as Indonesian pepper sauce. These kales are hardy and stand a long time ready to crop, over 5 months in my garden, from late Autumn right through heavy winters to early spring. Flower spikes are sent up in spring and, if caught at the right moment, make delicious spring sprouting-broccoli-like greens.

Note People often advocate eating this kale raw, personally I don’t like it. I think its flavour is enhanced by a brief cooking of as little as 3 minutes, just until the green intensifies.

February 9, 2010
Categories: A-Z Edibles, Brassicas, Variety Files . . Author: Laura . Comments: 1 Comment

Choosing a raised bed system

There are many ways of growing vegetables; in fields, beds, trenches, flooded areas, sunken beds, rows, vertically, square foot beds, grow bags boxes and pots, even in nutrient rich water.

Building East to West raised beds in the Potager

In our area people generally rotivate their land each spring and plant the vegetable gardens out in rows like a mini version of field cultivation. I followed the local way in our first year here but found that our light stony soil was non the better for it; the nutrients and humus I added were just getting washed away during the torrential rains in autumn. So now I prefer a raised bed system; for our sloping growing land with soil that is light, shallow and stony over rock, a raised bed system is what works for us.

Strawberry bed with a mulch of pine needles to increase acidity and to mimic a woodland floor

Benefits of using a raised bed system

Soil depth is increased as mulches are applied each year
Soil does not get compacted because it is not being walked on
Soil is kept aerated and weeded by hoeing the top few inches
Soil structure is improved by keeping it undisturbed (digging light soil just turns it to dust).
Soil fertility can be improved as and where needed and in rotation
Water is conserved by tailoring irrigation to the needs of the crops in each bed
Planning and rotating the growing area is easier because beds are fixed
Easier to provide specific soil requirements for plants with special needs.
On a sloping site a raised bed can level the growing area
Work is reduced by digging soil only once and thereafter leaving it alone
Taller edges can be made to protect and support some plants
It just looks tidy! when i go down to the kitchen gardens it is easy to walk between the beds and harvest what i need.

For us the benefits of a raised bed system outweigh the downsides. Raised beds are less suitable to the light sandy soil and dry conditions we have here, as raised beds have a tendency to dry out faster. However, the fact that the beds won’t be dug over again helps to maintain the soils structure and by top dressing with muck and compost twice a season and mulching in summer we are able to increase the fertility and water retention of the soil making it less prone to drying out in the long term. The bed edges also help to protect the top soil from being whipped away by the long, dry summer winds.

Raised beds in the veg patch (one end woven)

Edging the beds
I did try to just visually mark the bed boundaries because I wanted to be able to change the layout each year but I found that the top dressings and nutrients got washed away in the heavy rains. The higher the planting areas got and the lower the paths got the more got washed away and the growing areas became smaller in time. So I ended up edging the beds.

Ours are not the smartest looking beds, most are edged with whatever i can get my hands on; old planks, the round end bits of trees left over from milling, flat stones, I even tried making some woven edges – far too pretty for my garden, rather pointless and they only lasted a single season but they did look cute (see pic above). I have learned to just make the best use of what I have around without causing myself extra work.

Adapting growing methods to climate and land
We live in a mountainous area which has unfortunately been given over to the mono-culture of pine trees but it would have been covered in a mixed deciduous forest with shrub and low growing plants. This year I plan to start fencing off some new areas of land to try growing edibles in a more natural forest-like way. No fixed beds just a layering of planting that will mirror the way plants grow in nature with trees, bushes, climbers, perennials and annuals (if they self seed) all taking their place. I want to see for myself which is more productive and uses the least water; the permaculture way as advocated by Bill Mollison or the fixed bed intensive growing the way i do it now. Gardening is about adapting and being open to find out what works for each piece of land and climate see Kate’s picture of some clever irrigated sunken vegetable beds in India @ Hills and Plain.

Revised and adapted from my original post 26/3/2007

February 5, 2010
Categories: Growing Techniques, Manual, Soil Fertility . . Author: Laura . Comments: 4 Comments

Chayotes

Chayote, also called Vegetable Pear, Choko or Chow Chow

Sechium edule. Cucurbitaceae

I love trying new vegetables and I am always happy to find plants that will grow productively in the blistering heat of our polytunnel in summer, but chayotes turned out to be one of the best edibles I’ve grown.

Chayote is not something I had grown or even tasted before 2008 but Hermine, who runs an organic goat farm near me, gave me two chayotes. The idea was that I could eat one to see what it tasted like and plant the other, but as they both started to sprout I planted both and just hoped that they would taste good at harvest time. The vegetables turned out to surprisingly good, crisp and delicious, almost better than a courgette or a cucumber in some ways; the flesh is denser and crisper, with a light subtle taste and smooth texture that makes them very versatile in the kitchen.

Origin Its origins are Mesoamerican although how far back it goes is a mystery because, unlike many other vegetables, there have been no remains; fibres, seed or skin found to date its cultivation or use. It was however recorded by the early Spanish invaders as a food consumed by the Aztecs.

Use Most parts of the chayote are edible; the starchy tuberous parts of the roots are used like potatoes, the shoots as a pot herb, the young leaves as spinach or as a medicinal tea, the fruit as a vegetable and the nutty stones inside the fruit are prized by cooks. When young the fruit can be eaten whole but as they get bigger it is best to remove the skins as these can get a bit tough. They are equally delicious raw or cooked and go well with nutty, hot, salty, spicy or sour flavours. I particularly like to cook them with coconut, lentils, peanuts, tomatoes, chilli and citrus. Lovely grated raw, sliced in salads, stir-fried, lightly boiled, baked, candied, pickled, pureed, mashed or added to soups, curries and stews. I’ve still have lots of experimenting to do with this vegetable in the kitchen but so far it really is a winner.

: Chayote sprouting

: Planting a sprouted chayote

: Chayote planted

: Baby Chayote

: Chayote Flower

: Chayote Harvest

Propagation Chayote are propogated from the whole fruits. Keep some fruits back each season and plant as many as required. In spring plant the chayotes on their sides with the thin end facing slightly upwards nearer the surface, cover with soil, water in then add a layer of mulch to protect from any late frosts and retain moisture.

Site and Soil As with other cucurbits Chayote will grow best in rich soil. Plant the whole fruit in stations prepared with good rich planting mix. I use a mixture of manure, woodash, leaf mould and garden compost.

Care Keep moist and provide a climbing frame for the plants to grow on. Pinch out and tie up plants as they grow.

HarvestFruit are ready to harvest 4 -6 months after planting.

Pests & Diseases keep an eye on them as with any cucurbits undercover, they will be prone to red spider mite and powdery mildew. I also had a problem with mealy bug in the polytunnel which affected the chayote plants badly.

Lunar Planting
I have found that cucurbits sown one or two days before a full moon have a higher germination rate and crop more vigorously. I planted the second of the two chayotes on the 19th March two days before a full moon. The first I planted a couple of weeks earlier.

Sources and links for more information
wikipedia gives a good breakdown of the many names for this plant around the world.
R. Lira Saade (National Herbarium of Mexico, Mexico City) writes about Chayote as a neglected crop describing its botany, history, culture and uses in her article New Crop Chayote
Chayote is posted as a Plant of the week on Killer Plants

January 23, 2010
Categories: A-Z Edibles, Cucurbits, Plant Profiles . . Author: Laura . Comments: 9 Comments

Chilli, Lemon Drop

Lemon Drop pods freshly harvested

Chilli, Capsicum baccatum, Lemon Drop

An Aji variety from Brazil or, according to the Chilliman, its origin is Peru where it is known as ‘Kellu Uchu’. Citrus-flavoured hot lemon yellow chilli pepper. Some sources list this variety as C.chinense but Kokopelli list it as C.baccatum which matches its botanical characteristics.

Chilli Pepper, Lemon Drop Growing

Plants Beautiful arching plants grow to 2-3ft in height. A very productive variety the spreading branches are quickly laden with fruit. The flowers are white star with green markings on the inner petals.

Pods The bright yellow, crinkled, cone-shaped fruits are about 4cm long and 1cm wide and mature from green to yellow. Some sources say in 100 days from transplant but the strain I grow have pods to harvest 3 months from sowing.

Flavour This is a truly unique flavoured chilli with a real sharp and distinct citrus flavour.

Heat A hot chilli Lemon Drop. According to Kokopelli this chilli has a Scoville rating in the 5,000 to 15,000 range making it Heat Level 6 but I think it is hotter and more likely Heat level 7/8. As with most chillis the actual heat of each pod will be affected by the growing conditions.

Use A fantastic chilli adds both heat and citrus tones to all kinds of cooked dishes. Dries well and the Lemon Drop pods make a wonderful and very hot powder.

Lemon Drop Chilli Seed Processing

Seed Saving

Pods have very few seeds sometimes as few as 15. Saving seeds from hot chilli peppers can be painfull, the heat from these chillis burns through gloves and irritates the hands. I find if the chilis are first dried then the stalk end can be broken off and the seeds can be shaken out of the capsules without touching them.

Growing Log

2007 I grew these as a seed Guardian for Association Kokopelli Sown March 17 (20 seeds) in a 13cm pot of sterlised seed compost covered with vermiculite then placed in an electric heated propagator. Pricked Out April 9 (6 plants) to 7cm pots of sterlised seed compost. Hardened off in unheated polytunnel (12c-30c). Planted Out May 20 6 plants in a single row. Productive from June 20 to November 6 outdoors. Planted 45cm apart. Note these plants have a wide spread and should be spaced 60-75cm apart

2009 Sown Jan 11 (10 seeds)

Note this variety log is part of a series on my favourite varieties; the pick of the crop and the ones that I will continue to grow and save seeds of. I like to keep good records for the varieties I maintain seeds for. See my other variety files

January 23, 2010
Categories: A-Z Edibles, Capsicum, Seed Saving, Variety Files . . Author: Laura . Comments: 1 Comment

Edible Pumpkin Seeds

I love eating pumpkin seeds but it is a real trial to extract edible seeds from regular pumpkins because most seeds have a thick second skin or hull. The seeds need to be extracted, dried and then hulled which is very fiddly and time consuming.

Pumpkin Lady Godiva

I tried growing a variety of pumpkin called Retzer Olkurbis or Lady Godiva because it has hulless seeds. The flesh was a real disappointment and had little culinary value, being watery and tasteless, but the seeds were lovely and hulless.

Pumpkin, Lady Godiva

Getting the seeds from this pumpkin is really easy you simply dig the seeds out with your hands, wash them well, drain and lay out to dry. They taste great as they are or even better dry roasted with soy sauce as a delicious snack or crispy extra in a salad.

A word of warning

The seeds seem prone to sprouting whilst still inside the pumpkins, perhaps because they have no hull. So I find it best not to store this variety and harvest the seeds as soon as the pumpkins are cured. Another thing is that this pumpkin is often described as having hundreds of seeds. I did not find that myself when I grew Retzer Olkurbis. As you can see from the picture this pumpkin does not have many seeds at all.

In the end I am not sure it is worth dedicating the pumpkin patch to this variety. I don’t want to eat the pumpkins only the seeds and lots of them so perhaps I should stick to varieties I like eating and put up with the fiddly chore of getting the seeds out of their hulls.

I’d be interested if anyone else has grown pumpkins or other cucurbits for their edible seeds.

January 23, 2010
Categories: A-Z Edibles, Cucurbits . . Author: Laura . Comments: 2 Comments

Chile de Arbol

Capsicum Annuum, Chilli de Arbol

Chilli, Capsicum Annuum, de Arbol also known as Tree Chilli

Origin Oaxaca and Jalisco states in Mexico. According to the chilli database these chillis are sometimes called pico de pajaro (bird beak) or cola de rata (rat tail).
Plants are extremely vigorous, growing into 5ft tall plants in a single season, hence the name, which in Spanish means tree like.
Fruit are slender pointed chillis, 1cm wide and 7-10cm long they mature from light green to dark red and are mild to reasonably hot. Thin fleshed they dry well and make lovely wreaths or ‘Ristras’.
Flavour: The de arbol has a sharp, distinctive flavour that develops further when the dried pods are roasted in a frying pan for a few minutes.

Heat Hot 7/10
Use: This chilli is predominantly used to make hot sauces, in Mexico they are fried whole with black beans or roasted until very crisp. These peppers make a good chilli powder after being dried or roasted. The ground powder is delicious sprinkled on fruit or fresh raw veg salads

Seed Source I got the seeds in a swap.

MDD Growing Log

2009 grew extremely well in an unheated polytunnel producing loads of chillis right through the season. Plants need serious staking, they reached over 6ft in my polytunnel. Outdoors the plants also produced a good crop, quick to ripen. A useful easy to grow chilli.

January 19, 2010
Categories: A-Z Edibles, Capsicum, Variety Files . . Author: Laura . Comments: Leave a Comment

Best Preserving Tomatoes

In 2008 I grew a selection of tomatoes for preserving because I wanted to see if there was anything better than my usual favourite, San Marzano. Now that I am thinking about what varieties to grow this year it’s a good time to review my little trial.

A selection of cooking and preserving tomatoes

Tomatoes make some of the most useful and delicious preserves for winter, things like: passata, coulis de tomate, tomato concentrate, pastes and sauces and of course dried tomatoes so I like to grow plenty of tomatoes to conserve. With any comparison it is worth bearing in mind the criteria; I am looking for tomatoes that produce in abundance, with dense, dryish flesh, few seeds, easy to peel/process, with good colour and of course flavour; I want intense deep flavours when cooked or dried. Here’s what I found.

The standard bearer - San Marzano II, 2008

San Marzano

Large, 10cm long, blocky plum shaped, red tomatoes, with dry flesh and few seeds. The fruit is almost hollow with only two seed cavities and dry flesh, which makes it excellent for drying and great for bottling whole.
The tomatoes are easy to peel once scalded, when cooked the tomato flavour intensifies and so does the colour so they are great for sauces and passata. I find the plants are best grown as double cordons (that is with two stems trained up a hefty metal pole). Plants are robust and will stand up well to high temperatures and strong winds but San Marzano tomatoes really don’t like to get too dry at the roots and are prone to blossom end rot if there is too much moisture fluctuation, so they do need an extra bit of care to grow well. San Marzano are prolific producing huge vines of long red plum tomatoes over a long period, typically in my garden from July right up until the first frosts so even if dry spells affect them early on in the season they will still carry on and produce good fruit later on. Verdict Still top of the pile in my opinion as an all round conserving tomato, particularly for passata, drying and bottling. If I could only grow one variety for conserving it would be this one. If you raise them carefully they are a great, if not the best, conserving tomato.

Roma VF

The other classic conserving tomato is Roma, popular with the canning industry and I can understand why, it is so easy to process and tastes great. It is a wonderful deep red, plump plum tomato with a little point on the blossom end. The tomatoes are thin skinned, with thick juicy flesh and a deep rich tomatoey taste. Plants are very productive, I grew six plants, which produced buckets of fruit. This variety of Roma is a determinate one and the bulk of the crop was ready to harvest at the same time, which can be useful if you want to do your conserving in one big batch. It was also pretty resilient and had no problem with blossom end rot when San Marzano was affected.Verdict Roma really came out as contender because the tomatoes were actually better than San Marzano for flavour and texture when cooked but the messy sprawling growth habit and short cropping season meant that San Marzano would win out in my garden. However I think growing both is ideal for my purposes, a big crop of tomatoes for preserving in quantity as well as a steady supply over 4 months. Perhaps a double row; with San Marzano at the back and these shorter plants on the front of a south facing row.

Cornu Des Andes

Now this tomato was a real surpsrise, producing great big pointy pepper shaped tomatoes with solid meaty flesh, good taste and easy to peel once scalded. I found it was able to withstand dry / wet fluctuations (a real problem with the summer we had in 2008) and seems to be less prone to blossom-end-rot than San Marzano. However the big downside was that it was not an abundant producer and produced only a small number of fruits. Plants were frail in comparison to San Marzano with thin straggly stems that needed lots of support. Individual fruits are larger and meatier than San Marzano, so 1 or 2 fruits were enough for most dishes, but the plants sadly did not produce very many fruits. NB I only grew 2 plants in this trial so it is a limited sample from which to draw any firm conclusions. Verdict All in all I loved Cornu Des Andes despite its low productivity, it had great flavour and a wonderful dense, smooth texture. It really is a superb cooking and conserving tomato. I’ll definitely grow it again and maintain the seeds. Hopefully I will be able to select the seeds over the years to develop a more robust and productive strain in the future because I’ll want more of these little beauties.

Oroma

Very disappointed with this variety. I chose it from the Kokopelli seed catalogue because it said the variety is easy to peel which would be an advantage for a conserving or cooking tomato, however I found it impossible to peel untreated and no easier than Cornu des Andes or Roma VF and in fact I found it more difficult to peel than San Marzano, once scalded. The tomatoes are a slender plum, pale red with poor mealy flesh. The plants are determinate and in my garden they sprawled about the place and were a mess in no time. It provided a fairly meagre crop compared to the others in this trial. All can be forgiven for a tasty tomato but this one failed even that and had no particularly distinguishing taste. All in all a pretty poor show. With so many other great tomatoes I won’t even give this one a second go.

Principe Borghese

This was the biggest disappointment of my trial of 2008. I had such high hopes for this tomato because every reference I’ve found for it claims it as the best variety for drying. Sadly, in my experience, nothing could be have been further from the truth and any one of the other tomatoes I tried drying made a better sun-dried tomato than these did. The skins are so thick, the flesh was thin and watery and there are so many seeds in these small tomatoes that by the time they are fully dried they are actually difficult to eat; a tough almost inedible morsel that tastes of very little because all that is left is skin and seeds. Nasty!
On the plus side the plants are prolific and produce big bunches of small, deep red fruit, plum shaped with a point on the blossom end and lots of them, however the determinate habit also means that if left alone the plants get a bit wild for my liking and end up spilling over neighbouring crops. I ended up taking out some of the side shoots to calm the things down.
Verdict I don’t want to reject this tomato on the basis of only one season’s growth but I did give it a fair chance with six plants, and frankly I don’t want to grow lots of useless tomatoes. I got the seeds in a swap so it may be there are better strains out there and I could give this variety another go with another batch of seeds if anyone has seeds they can recommend trying. As it stands I think they are really too small, seedy and tough skinned to be a good conserving tomato, they make terrible sun-dried tomatoes and are not well flavoured enough as a salad tomato. They do have one advantage however and that is that the tough skins mean they store well and seem to last a really long time, particularly if left on the vine. I also tried freezing this variety, which worked quite well, you still have the skins and seeds to deal with, but they provide a useful winter soup or stew ingredient.

Porter

I grew an old variety from Texas called Porter in 2007 because I was looking for tomatoes that could stand dessert conditions. I ended up with a few ‘volunteers’ turn up in the potager 2008, which made for a useful comparison when looking for the best conserving tomatoes in my trial. The fruits are of a similar shape and size to Principe Borghese but are a dark pink colour with dense flesh and fewer seeds.
Verdict These tomatoes can work as a sauce tomato as they have thin skins and less seeds and can easily be put through a passata machine or sieve to make a fairly decent, though less red passata, particularly if roasted first. In comparison however, they really are not as good as San Marzano, Roma or Cornu Des Andes for cooking nor as good as some of the cherry or olive types for eating fresh. However, the big plus for Porter in my garden is that they are robust, prolific and will stand high temperatures, dry conditions and even neglect and still crop well. So I think it is worth carrying the seeds forward and growing them every few years to keep the supply going.

A few others worth a mention
Not strictly conserving tomatoes but I found that the juicier beefsteak tomatoes: Double Rich and Cuostrallee also make particularly good chutneys and sauces.

Read more about making tomato paste and preserving tomatoes on my recipes site, Cevenol Kitchen.

January 14, 2010
Categories: A-Z Edibles, Planning, Tomatoes . . Author: Laura . Comments: Leave a Comment

Pepper, Doux D’Espagne

Capsicum Annuum Pepper, Doux D'Espagne Harvest

A long, sweet tapering pepper, also known as Sweet Spanish Mammoth, an heirloom pepper, which dates back to 1859 according to Thomas Etty.

I first grew this pepper in 2006 and it did so well, providing huge crops of delicious sweet peppers, that I have grown it each year since. I usually grow 6-12 plants, because I make a lot of pepper preserves, but if I was just growing it for eating fresh I would probably only need 3 to 6 plants.

So far this pepper has seen off all competition, Big Banana an F1 that struggled to produce fruit in a dry season, Red Goats Horn (Corno di Torro) not nearly as meaty or tasty, and Buran nice but not much of a crop. Doux D’Espagne is my favourite so far and the sweet red pepper to measure others by. It really is outstanding, great in the kitchen and a prolific and reliable cropper. Green the fruit are delicious sweet and crisp with a hint of aniseed in the taste, once matured to red they are sweet and packed with flavour. They are delicious raw and make a wonderful Red Pepper Paste, or Roast Pepper Salad and contribute bulk to hot Harissa.

The plants are robust and grow fairly tall, 3-5 foot depending on the season, with lots of mid to dark green foliage. The white flowers set green fruits that mature to red fairly early and crop until the first frost. The peppers are huge, 20cm long, 3 sided, tapered and smooth. The flesh is thick, crisp and juicy. A great all purpose sweet red pepper, I haven’t found anything to beat it yet, though I do still keep trying.

Overwintering
I have had success growing this variety as a perennial in my unheated polytunnel. It survived and cropped for three seasons before I had to remove the huge plant when the polytunnel had an overhaul and clean out in 2008.

Seed Source My original seed source was a French commercial seed company Gondian but I now harvest and save my own seed.
MDD Growing Log
2006 S:Feb 3 Set out 16 plants May 15, brilliant crop outdoors from early August, pest free. Block planted, mulched with straw they seemed to really like that
2007 S: March 26 Set out 6 plants May 20, excellent crop
2008 S: April 7 Set out 6 plants July 4, cropped ok but not enough time to mature and fully crop as in previous years
2009 S March 5. Pricked out 12 plants April 20. Set out 8 plants May 31. Great crop but would have benefitted from moving schedule forward 1 month as in 2006.

Endangered Seed Status
According to the Canadian Seeds of Diversity Heritage Plants Database this pepper is an endangered one as few seed companies carry it and it is not maintained in the US or Canadian gene bank.
However I have found several companies that carry seeds: Thomas Etty, UK, Vilmorin, FR, Gondian. FR

Original Posted 7/2/2009

January 12, 2010
Categories: Capsicum, Variety Files . . Author: Laura . Comments: 2 Comments

Aubergine, Szechuan

Solanum Melongena. Aubergine var. Szechuan

A Chinese aubergine, collected by Joy Larkom in Chengdu, Szechuan province, in 1994. This variety is now kept by the Heritage Seed Library, which is where I got my original seeds from.

Aubergine, Szechuan flowers

I first grew this variety of aubergine in 2008 and I was immediately impressed with it. After only one season this little beauty was already a favourite and one of the best tasting aubergines I’ve grown. Despite the cold wet season of 2008, the plants grew well and cropped over a long period from late July right through until the first frost in November. The aubergine fruits are smallish, about 15-18cm long, and slender to a tapering round point. The fruits are pale as they come out of the stalk and mature to a lovely dark purple while retaining a pale almost white to lime green flashing at the stalk end. The flesh is white, smooth, is slow to turn seedy and has a perfect texture. The prize is really in the taste, a gastronomic delight of almost sweet flesh with a lovely aubergine flavour that does not get bitter.

Aubergine, Szechuan growing

My Growing Log
2008 S Feb 13 in heat good germination from 9 seeds. Raised & planted 6 plants out May 2nd. Harvest from July 26 to Mid November. Isolated and harvested seed.
2009 S Feb 18 in heat from seed saved the previous year. Good germination. Pricked out 4 plants April 20. Planted 1 plant as a bench mark against which to measure the other 5 varieties I grew that year. Cropped really well right up until December and produced the best aubergines of the season see Aubergine Harvest 2009.

original post 6/2/2009 updated

January 12, 2010
Categories: A-Z Edibles, Aubergines, Variety Files . . Author: Laura . Comments: 1 Comment

Growing Oriental Greens

Oriental greens or Chinese brassicas really deserve their place in my kitchen garden and I think they deserve to be more widely grown. These leafy vegetables are fast growing, versatile and nutritious, easy to cultivate and taste delicious.

This group of plants have done particularly well in our unheated polytunnel, providing a fantastic winter to spring food source. I am keen to experiment with more oriental leaves but here are some of my favourites so far.

Pak Choi at the baby leaf stage, January 2008

Pak Choi or Bok Choy Brassica rapa var chinensis
This delightful vegetable has crisp, juicy stalks with a light, but lovely, flavour and only a hint of mustard.
Known to have been cultivated in China, since the 5th century, there are many variations of this old vegetable; ranging in height from 10cm to 60cm, leaves can be the classic spoon shaped or thin stemmed, the leaves are pale to dark green and the stalks range from white to green. Quick growing, pak choi can be picked at the baby stage in 4 weeks, mature stage in 5-8 weeks and can be cut to grow again for a second or more harvest. In the kitchen it can be stir-fried, added to soups, used in salads, pickled, steamed or boiled and dressed as a side vegetable or cooked salad. The flowering shoots are also edible and are used like broccoli.
Varieties: Canton Dwarf is the one I seed save and grow. Short spoon shape with crisp white stems. Green Revolution small spoon shape with light green crisp stems, Mei Qing Choi small spoon shape with crisp light green stems.

Rosette pak choi, Yukina February 2008 undercover

Tatsoi or Rosette pak choi Brassica rapa var rosularis
A loose-heading prostrate rosette plant with dark green, almost black, crinkled leaves and crisp white to yellowy green stems. It has slightly mustardy leaves and a strong brassica flavour. Given enough room and cool conditions the plants will form beautiful wide prostrate rosettes, as the weather starts to warm in spring the leaves tend to grow upright. The whole plant may be harvested at once or the leaves can be picked continuously for several weeks. It can also be cut to grow again for a second or more harvest. In the kitchen it can be stir fried, used in soups or lightly boiled then dressed and served at room temperature as a side vegetable or salad. It has a more robust flavour than Pak Choi and can take a strong dressing.
Varieties: Yukina yellowy pale green stems and dark green slightly crinkled leaves. Tah Tsai a very old variety from China, pale green stems and dark green slightly crinkled leaves.

Chinese Cabbage, Green Tower February 2007 undercover

Chinese Cabbage Brassica rapa var pekinensis
Sometimes known as Chinese leaves, there are two main types of Chinese cabbage; a tall loose hearting leaf variety and a tall cylindrical cabbage where the leaves fold in to form a dense head. Both have wide white ribs and pale green leaves. The second variety is the one most commonly found in supermarkets. Be carefull when buying chinese cabbage seeds I’ve found that often the picture or desciption may be of the more commonly known dense form even though the variety is a loose heading form.
Varieties: Michili has an elongated loose semi-heading shape that resembles romaine lettuce with light green leaves with broad white ribs. Green Tower a loose heading variety.

Image Mizuna showing its clump form and beautiful serrated leaves February 2008 undercover

Mizuna Brassica rapa var nipposinica or var japonica
Mizuna has green serrated leaves on slender white stems, the leaves are delicate enough to eat raw and have a slightly pungent mustardy flavour. The plants are very forgiving and vigorous. Mizuna will grow on poorer soils, is cold resistant and of all the oriental brassicas it can cope best with the hot dry conditions of our summers. It is quick to mature and picking can start in as little as 8 weeks. Normally, with good spacing the plant will form bushy clumps but it can also be closely spaced and cut young to regrow after cutting.
In the kitchen Leaves and stems can be used raw in salads and make a great addition to a mixed winter leaf salad. They are also great cooked; lightly boiled & dressed to serve at room temperature as a side vegetable, or cooked in stir-fries or soups, the young flowering stems can be used like broccoli. In Japan Mizuna is salt pickled.

PLANNING A HARVEST
Lush oriental brassicas perform best in cooler weather preferring temperatures between 15-20 Celsius. These are my sowing dates according to how they grow best here at Mas du Diable. They can be sown in cell trays and transplanted or sown directly and thinned out. Mature plants will not stand long before bolting so i find it best to sow in succession and to grow small amounts at a time for harvesting between November and April. Seed catalogues often suggest sowing oriental brassicas in April-May but they simply will not stand the temperatures in mid summer here so I grow them as follows.

Vegetable	Sow	Harvest	Spacing
Mizuna	March April Sept-Oct (Oct-Nov)	April-May May-June Nov-Dec (Jan-March)	Sow direct 1cm deep or in cells and TP 10-15 cm apart Rows 25-35cm apart.
Tatsoi	(Jan) Sept-Oct Oct (Nov)	Mar-April Oct-Nov (Nov-Dec) (Jan-March)	Sow direct 1cm deep or in cells and TP 45cm apart for rosette 15-30cm blocks for CCA Rows 45cm apart.
Pak Choi	(January) Sept-Oct (November)	March-April Oct – Dec (Jan-March)	TP Sow direct 1cm deep or in cells and TP 15cm apart. Rows 20-40cm apart.
Chinese Cabbage	Sept-Oct (Oct-Nov)	Nov-Dec (Jan-March)	Sow direct 1.5cm deep or TP to 25cm apart.Rows 30cm apart.

Key ( ) means sown/grown undercover. CCA means cut & come again TP means Transplant

Note I have tried Komatsuna and Choy Sum but neither performed well and I was not that keen on eating them either, but perhaps I should give them another go now that I have a polytunnel and know how to get the best from other plants in the same family.

Further Reading
Oriental Vegetables; The Complete Guide for the Gardening Cook Joy Larkom

Original post 9/3/2008: Oriental Brassicas

January 10, 2010
Categories: A-Z Edibles, Leaf, Propagation, Undercover . . Author: Laura . Comments: 2 Comments

Sign up for pots by email

Seed Suppliers

Blogroll

Resources