Most people into permaculture in Scandinavia know of Lars Westergaard’s nursery in Denmark as one of the best sources of a range of hard to get (and unique, from Lars’ own selection work) fruit and nut trees. Lars has been working with production of organic plants for many years and commercially since 2009. It seems much longer! He specialises in walnuts, heartnuts, hazel, sweet chestnut, peach, mulberries, figs, haskaps and many more! I’ve been wanting to visit for some years and an opportunity finally arose after I’d given a couple of courses near Copenhagen in August 2016. It was a pity that Lars was “distracted” by several customers during our visit, so we didn’t have too much time to talk together…..but I was impressed by what I saw. Thanks to Aiah Noack for taking me…and looking forward to his plants becoming available in Norway soon :)
Streptopus amplexifolius is a shade loving woodland plant known, amongst others, as twistedstalk, wild cucumber and watermelon berry and has an extensive wild range including North America, Europe and East Asia. It has been used traditionally by Native Americans for its edible spring cucumber flavoured shoots and the delicious berries are now in season and I’ve been dining on them recently! I’m saving the seed as I eat! Beware that they can be laxative in large quantities, but it’s unlikely you will be able to grow that many in your forest garden!
060916: Added pictures of Streptopus lanceolatus from Eastern North America and a comparison of the berries with amplexifolius!
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You can clearly see the characteristic twisted berry stalks in this shot!
The finishing touch to my breakfast!
I’ve tried this species from seed several times from different areas, but the only accession that has succeeded here originated at the Ringve Botanical Garden who kindly gave me this plant a few years ago.
Green transport…one of those plants is Streptopus amplexifolius :)
Streptopus amplexifolius in flower at the Ringve Botanical Garden
Seedlings..
The berries hang on the bushes long into the autumn
I was sent these seed in 2013, the plants originating from a wild population in Poland
Streptopus lanceolatus (syn S. roseus) also grows well in my garden
Streptopus lanceolatus (syn S. roseus) also grows well in my garden
Streptopus lanceolatus (syn S. roseus) on the left compared to S. amplexifolius
Streptopus lanceolatus (syn S. roseus)
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden
