Here’s a few shots from Alys and “hard working” cameraman Simon on assignment in my garden on that wonderful visit in July 2010 when Malvik was showing off its best …I remember Alys saying that this must be paradise….
For the unusual vegetable enthusiast, the place to find seed are the alpine garden clubs’ seed exchanges: Scottish Rock Garden Club (SRGC), Alpine Garden Society (AGS) and the North American Rock Garden Society (NARGS) are the main international ones and each puts out a seed list of several thousand varieties donated by the members…by no means just alpine garden plants! I remember reading an article in the North American Herb Companion with a recommendation to source seed of unusual herbs from NARGS.
My SRGC seed arrived today and here they are, a mixed bunch including the yellow form of Kamchatka Lily (Fritillaria camschatensis “Aurea”), one I’ve been looking for for some time! You can probably read some of the names but there are Phyteumas, Ligularias, Alliums, Dahlias, Lilium, Polygonum macrophyllum, Agastache, Zanthoxylum simulans and Boehmeria…
While I was in London in December I met London Permaculture’s Stefan Geyer at St. Athan’s Hotel in London for a chat and it’s now available for all to hear on Stefan’s 21st Century Permaculture radio show live on Shoreditch radio:
Amongst other topics, we talked about the book, how I travelled the globe researching the world of edible plants (both for real and through reading foraging and ethnobotanical literature from all continents), talked about some of the best perennial vegetables like Udo from Japan and Korea (now sold on markets in London), Sea Kale (the most British of all vegetables?), Sea Kale’s giant sister from the Caucasus (Crambe cordifolia), how a popular vegetable was harvested from the chalk cliffs of England using ropes and was shot down from cliffs by a friend of Charles Darwin (Death Samphire), and how a famous UK garden may have the most productive food forest (forest garden) in the UK unbeknowns to the owner…
The Highgrove Food Forest!Blanched Crambe cordifolia, the so-called Ornamental Sea Kale is a high-yielding edimental from the Caucasus
Foraging Crithmum maritimum (Rock Samphire) from the crumbling chalk cliffs was a dangerous occupation (NB! I did mix this one up in the interview, referring to it as Marsh Samphire, Salicornia….to many a cheap imposter of the real Samphire!)
See also http://www.permaculture.co.uk/news/2001155978/stephen-barstow-permaculture-radio
Thanks very much to Joan Lambert Bailey for the nice remarks and great review! Yes, you’re absolutely right when you say “I am convinced this book is his way of sharing the fun” :) :) :)
Must check out your blog….never been to Japan and had planned to make the trip this spring but it wasn’t to be, highest on my places to visit….next spring :)
12, 13 and 14 in brackets indicates the harvesting year for the seed. Concerning seed quantity: as I don’t have many plants of each species, seed quantity is limited in most cases. Therefore, for some species you may only get a few seeds. Many species are harvested in my garden. Others are surplus from trade and purchase. OUT: Means out of stock.
An article in Trondheim’s newspaper in June 2014 about edible Trondheim including one of my diversity salads…
Artikkel fra Ukeadressa i juni om spiselig Trøndelag!!
….and if you hover your mouse above the picture of all the ingredients in the linked picture you will see that all the plant names come up (common names in Norwegian, plus latin names) Enjoy! http://www.thinglink.com/scene/536181539210264576
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden
