Tag Archives: Udo

The Many Uses of Udo

September 29, 2016 Stephen Barstow 1 Comment

For the first time freely available is my article in Permaculture Magazine about my largest and most exciting vegetable Udo (Aralia cordata)! See the link near the bottom of the page and please subscribe here, they do a great job, but need our support! Go to https://www.permaculture.co.uk/subscribe…………….

To witness the underground cultivation of Udo in large caverns under Tokyo (mentioned in the article) was one of the reasons for embarking on a study tour of Japan with Naturplanteskolen in Denmark in Spring 2016, and during the visit we discovered that you can have one more layer in a forest garden……..

About to descend for the first time into Udo heaven; picture courtesy of Naturplanteskolen

In the coldest spring ever in 2015 in my area, udo grew better than ever, whilst traditional farmers were struggling to sow and plant!

The Permaculture Magazine article: is an excerpt from my book Around the World in 80 plants (to buy the book please follow this link: http://www.green-shopping.co.uk/books/pp/around-the-world-in-80-plants.html

Download (PDF, 216KB)

Here’s a FB album by Naturplanteskolen of the underground Udo tour!
https://www.facebook.com/naturplanteskolen.dk/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1517532741605972

Thanks to Tei Kobayashi who acted as interpreter and liasing with the local authorities, to Ken Minatoya in the Netherlands who also initially called the city clerks for me and Joan Bailey for helping out, accompanying us on the visit and also for writing a local article, see here http://metropolisjapan.com/more-than-cherry-blossoms

I will write more about this visit as well as my other encounters with Udo in Japan as soon as I can!!

Annuals, Edimentals, Perennials

Garden pictures 24th-25th September 2016

September 27, 2016 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

A collection of pictures from last weekend in the garden!

Eristalis pertinax (Gulfotdroneflue, a hoverfly) on late flowering Heracleum hybrid.

First Jerusalem Artichokes in bud from Paolo Gaiardelli’s 1st generation hybrids

Sonchus kirkii from New Zealand, the original perennial sow thistle used by the Maori! See my book!

Perennial buckwheat, Fagopyrum dibotrys in flower

Perennial buckwheat, Fagopyrum dibotrys edible top shoots

Old man’s beard, Clematis vitalba, young shoots are edible cooked

3 of my Begonias currently in flower and all are edible

Tar spot on Norwegian maple, Rhytisma spp.

Udo (Aralia cordata), my largest vegetable, heavy with fruit!

Elderberry Samnor, one of the new early hardy high yielding cultivars..

Allium angulosum with secondary flowers…

Pink flowered perennial chicory is a beauty!

Aster yomena, one of the species eaten (young shoots) in the Far East, flowering for the first time!

Silphium integrifolium (Wholeleaf rosinweed): Only used medicinally as far as I can see. Some species in this genus are used as a chewing gum..

Urtica gracilis (Slender nettle or California nettle) in flower

Ferns, Perennials

16 days later

June 1, 2016 Stephen Barstow 2 Comments

The rate of growth of Udo (Aralia cordata) from Japan is phenomenal in cool spring weather, even outgrowing Hablitzia tamnoides (Caucasian spinach)!
The first picture was taken by Christian Odberger during my permaveggies course and just two weeks later the plant is taller than me! The view is or less the same and the apple tree at the back is now in full bloom! The fern is ostrich fern.

P1600135 — My garden helper Lorna from Belfast!

Edimentals, Nursery, Perennials

Naturplanteskolen looking good!

May 26, 2016 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

I’ve had a couple of meetings in Copenhagen over the last couple of days and I visited Naturplanteskolen again. The nursery was looking really good and plants had grown dramatically since I gave the course there only 3 weeks ago!

Fruit, Grafting

Bonus Day 4 Permaveggies grafting course

May 18, 2016 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

It wasn’t planned at all (the best things aren’t), but our Swedish guests Christian Odberger and Dante Hellstrøm stayed over until Monday evening to dig up a few (!) must-have plants from my garden. Our “camper” Berit Børte also accepted the offer to stay over until Monday. Christian had brought grafting material with him and kindly volunteered to do a grafting course for us, so here are the pictures of Christian, Berit and my garden helper Lorna from Belfast grafting some 6 varieties of apple on to a wild apple tree, the seeds of which I collected at Warsash (on the solent), Hampshire UK some 13-14 years ago!! AND it was a beautiful afternoon too! See also http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=4617

P1590640 — Lorna taking notes next to my Udo (you can almost see it grow at this time of year!) and ostrich ferns

P1590659 — We discovered that Rheum palmatum, ornamental rhubarb, has a pleasant taste, less acid than common rhubarb!

Perennials

The Wild Greens of Korea

February 4, 2016 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

There are still many undiscovered (in the west) perennial edibles in the Far East. I’m therefore now concentrating mainly on that area in this quest. This spring I will travel for 3 weeks in Japan as part of this work. Another “country” with a rich diversity of food plants is Korea. With help from my Norwegian / Korean friend Misoni Sandvik whom I mention in my book, and who is on her own quest to find and grow wild herbs she remembers foraging when she was a child in South Korea, I’ve received two books from Korea today entitled “The Wild Greens of Korea” and “The Medicinal Herb of Korea”. There’s often a diffuse boundary between food and medicine in Korea, so the second book is also relevant, including plants like Aralia cordata (Udo)!

P1510912 — Aster scaber (Korean Asters), the plant that lead to Misoni contacting me as related in my book, a plant she was looking for that I had on my seed list!

Berries

Berries 17th October 2015

October 17, 2015 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

Sambucus nigra cultivars “Samyl” and “Samnor” – Ripe elderberries were impossible here until these new Danish cultivars arrived…ripe even in a bad summer!

Otherwise: Aralia cordata (Udo) and Aralia californica berries ready to harvest for trading seed…..

P1490607 — Aralia cordata has collapsed under its own weight next to Ostrich Fern

Dandelions, Leafy greens, Onions, Perennials, Tempura, Tubers

Perennial vegetable tempura

September 17, 2015 Stephen Barstow 1 Comment

April 2014 and Yngvil (aka Ms. Saladdy) was helping out in my garden, her practical experience for her education to become a gardener! I’ll let her tell her own story of the wonderful diverse tempura we made together on that day using perennial veggies!

..includes ostrich fern, blanched lovage, Udo, perennial kale, moss-leaved dandelion, Allium victorialis, nettles, Aster scaber, scorzonera shoots, Campanula latifolia, Oca, Myrrhis, Allium scorodoprasum, garlic, Allium ursinum, Ligularia fischeri (first time), sea kale, Primula veris “Red Strain”, Rumex acetosa, Alliaria petiolata and a few others…

Edimentals !