Amaranth was one of the highlights of my garden last summer and it is time to start sowing it again so this is a timely heads up to anyone who hasn’t grown Amaranth before to give it a try. This plant has everything going for it, it is easy to propagate, doesn’t much care where [...]
Kale, Black Tuscan
Kale, Borecole or Colwort, Brassica oleracea var. acephala Cruciferae [Brassicaceae] commonly known as the mustard family 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. [...]
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 [...]
Chilli, Lemon Drop
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. Plants Beautiful arching plants grow to [...]
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. I tried growing a variety of pumpkin called Retzer Olkurbis [...]
Chile 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 [...]
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. Tomatoes make some of the most useful and [...]
Pepper, Doux D’Espagne
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, [...]
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. I first grew this variety of aubergine in 2008 and I was immediately impressed with it. After only one [...]
Chinese Greens
Also collectively referred to as, Oriental greens or Chinese brassicas, this group of plants really deserve their place in my kitchen garden and should be more widely grown. These leafy vegetables are fast growing, versatile and nutritious, easy to cultivate and taste delicious. This group of brassicas have done particularly well in our unheated polytunnel, [...]
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