True Garlic Seeds

garlic_seeds

Dr. Ivan Buddenhagen just sent me the 4 bulbs of garlic and the 121 seeds you see in the picture above.  I’m really excited about this.  He’s been working for years developing garlic varieties that produce real seed — without human intervention!

Collecting real seeds from garlic plants has always been theoretically possible, but a lot of work.  It’s always been a lot more practical to just grow garlic from cloves, with the resulting plant being a genetic clone of it’s parent.  In fact, this is how we’ve been growing garlic for centuries, meaning the plants have more or less ‘forgotten’, through evolution, how to produce seeds.  Dr. Buddenhagen has succeeded in bringing back this trait, meaning it’s now possible and practical to breed new garlic varieties.  In the picture above, you see 4 of his new varieties.

In my case, here in western Europe, garlic rust is a serious problem.  Together with others, I’ve been looking for years for a resistant variety.  This sheds a whole new light on this search effort.  Now, hopefully, I can work with a population of garlic plants exchanging DNA and reproducing sexually.  I understand these plants need a long season to develop seeds, and of course the rust may still kill my plants before I have a chance to gather seed, but now there’s hope…

Physalis peruviana (Cape Gooseberry) in Europe

I was recently approached by someone working on a PhD, who is looking for any information on Cape Gooseberry cultivation in Europe.  Does anyone have any historical information?  Is anyone aware of any farmers growing it now in Europe?  He’s looking for any sort of leads or contacts on the subject.

Black Salsify

You read it here first!

I think Black Salsify will be the next ‘powerfood’ in the US.  Already, the number of people searching for information about it and ending up on this blog is way up.

It’s best prepared peeled, cut into bit sized pieces and steamed in a small amount of water for a few minutes until tender.  You can test it with a fork.  Some people eat it unpeeled, and in any case it’s not necessary to remove all the peel, 70-80% is good enough.  To prevent browning put the cut pieces in acidulated water (water with a little lemon juice or vinegar added), until ready to cook.

Black Salsify has a sap like substance that’s difficult to remove from your hands.  To make cleanup easier afterwords, rub a little cooking oil on your hands before you begin.

Serve black salsify with a pat of butter on top, and salt and pepper to taste.  It’s nice on a bed of quinoa, which is how we often have it!

The taste is often compared to oysters, and it’s sometimes called the oyster plant.