Category: Featured Plant

This plant seems to go by at least a few names, as well as being closely related to some other species. This is Allium victoralis, commonly called the Victory Onion. It’s a wild growing plant, in the same family as leeks and garlic.

This particular variety is native to Kemerovo, Siberia, although also apparently grows on some Norwegian islands as well. I got this plant together with a similar plant originating from Spain a few months ago from Søren. Both plants are growing away happily in pots on my roof.

There are a few leaves missing from this picture, they went into yesterday’s lunch… Normally the plants have three leaves each. The taste is very nice, garlicky and hot. I understand this plant, when pickled, is considered a delicacy in Russia that rivals caviar.

It’s strange that it’s already sent up flower stalks! Does anyone know if that’s normal?

It’s snowing here!

First it snowed on Easter, which is a little unusual especially since it seemed like such a warm winter until now, but the snow has just kept coming and is starting to accumulate. They were even salting the roads here last night.

Some parts of my garden are under water at the moment. My potatoes are already in, so I’m a little worried about them being submerged for several days now. I planted them in trenches, which now have several centimeters of water on the bottoms.

I’ve already planted out some lettuce, and it’s taken a bit of a beating. I think some of it may survive. I’ve also set some tomatoes out in my unheated greenhouse, and they seem fine. Nighttime temperatures have been down to -4C.

I’ve been trying to harden some more plants ready to go out soon. It’s been a challenge to find a time during the day when it’s not snowing! Even though the daytime temps are above freezing, the snow lands on the plants and damages the leaves.

After more than a month of waiting, my asparagus seeds finally started to germinate. They are truly some of the most unimpressive sprouts I have ever seen!

I’m growing two kinds of asparagus this year, Mary Washington from purchased seeds and wild asparagus from seeds Gintoino sent me.

Most people probably prefer to grow asparagus from crowns, but I can’t easily buy these around here. While I can sometimes find them, they are almost always unnamed varieties, possibly F1 hybrids, and I prefer to know what I’m growing.

If I thought waiting a month to see the first sprouts was a long time, I still have a lot longer to go. If you start with crowns you always first have to wait one year without harvesting, and the second year you can only harvest lightly. It’s only the third year you get a more or less normal harvest. But this is when you grow from crowns, and since I am starting with seeds, I’ll have to wait an extra year.

Starting with seeds I have a choice if I plant the seedlings out into a prepared asparagus bed, or grow them closer in a normal bed in order to grow crowns for transplanting. I haven’t decided which I will do yet, as I’m not sure how much garden space I’ll have.

Lost Crops of the Incas: Little-Known Plants of the Andes w …
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These days everyone takes potatoes for granted. In many parts of the world, especially Europe, potatoes are very popular and regularly feature prominently in meals. The potato is the forth most cultivated crop after rice, wheat and corn. The potato was introduced to Europe, from it’s native Peru in the Andes mountains of South America around 1700, and quickly became one of the most important crops in the world.

Just like the potato, there is suddenly a realization that many plants commonly grown in this region have the potential for cultivation as commercial crops elsewhere in the world. Listed below are several I plan to grow in my garden this year.

I’d like to thank Frank van Keirsbilck, a Belgian member of the Seed Savers Exchange, who not only gave me some yacón tubers for my garden this year but also agreed to let me use his pictures for this post. All the pictures you see below are his and of plants he is growing. He said he may put together his own blog, so hopefully we will see more from his garden.

Mashua (also called Añu)

This plant is a member of the nasturtium, and has very peppery tasting roots. It is commonly cooked into stews, where it loses it’s harsh flavor and becomes sweet. I grew this last year in a container, but got a poor crop. I will try it again this year in the garden. Lieven, who gave me this tuber, reported a very substantial crop last year.

Ulluco

This plant is considered to be one of the most promising for commercial production. In many parts of South American these colorful tubers are sold in markets and stores. The pictures above are of solid colored tubers, but some varieties have stripes or splotches of different colors. Most of the tubers I’ve seen have been very brightly colored.

These are supposed to taste very good just eaten raw as a snack or part of a meal. They can also be cooked and eaten similar to a potato. The leaves can be eaten like spinach.

Viruses are apparently a major issue for commercial cultivation of this crop. Efforts are under way to try to produce some virus free planting stock which is expected to be significantly more productive than what is now available.

One of the major issues concerning growing attempts in northern Europe now is no one really knows the best way to cultivate this plant in the local climate. Except for being very vulnerable to frost, they are apparently grown similar to a potato. They are day length sensitive, and produce most of their tubers in October or November when there is often frost in our area.

Growing this plant promises to be a challenge.

At the time of this post, Real Seeds in the UK were offering ulluco tubers as an experimental plant for people wishing to give it a try. Apparently Frank, the person who let me use these pictures was one of the sources where Real Seeds got their tubers from.

I have found some references on the Internet suggesting planting time is important for this crop. A study in New Zealand suggested planting closer to the summer solstice was preferred to an early planting. I also came across a UK grower who suggested starting it indoors under lights, then planting it out later.

I will divide my tubers in three groups. The first has already been planted out. The second is potted and growing indoors under a light. The third is still in storage. I will plant out these latter groups in several weeks.

Oca

Oca can be boiled, baked, fried, mixed fresh with salads, or pickled in vinegar. Cultivation is reported to be very easy, but viruses are also an issue in this crop which could impact commercial yields. According to the book mentioned above, the commercial importance of this crop is second only to the potato in it’s native Andes.

I have some Oca tubers both from my friend Lieven as well as from Real Seeds in the UK.

Yacón

You can see some pictures of this plant on Søren’s blog.

This plant is related to the dahlia, and produces large tubers which store well. These tubers can be cooked, but most people say they are best eaten raw. They are very sweet, and are very high in inulin similar to Jerusalem Artichokes. This gives them a nice sweet flavor, but can also cause flatulence in some people.

Inulin can also be converted easily to ethanol, making this plant a possibly interesting source for biofuel for use in cars.

Plants normally produce heavy yields, often 10-20 Kg per plant. Many people who grow lost Incan crops report this to be one of the most rewarding for the home garden.

Tarwi

This plant is a variety of Lupin, and is supposed to be one of the most attractive lost Incan crops.

Similar in nutritional composition as soy beans, this plant provides a good source of protein. It can be prepared in many of the same ways as soy beans and also just eaten by itself as a snack, especially when the seeds are in their fresh mature state. The seeds contain bitter alkaloids making them initially inedible, but these alkaloids are water soluble and can be removed with several days of soaking and rinsing with water.

This plant is nitrogen fixing, and so is useful as a green manure crop.

I have ordered some Tarwi from a Seed Savers Exchange member living in Peru, which I expect to arrive in time for planting this year.

Quinoa

I have been eating and enjoying quinoa for years now. Also called Incan rice, it is cooked exactly the same as normal rice and is an excellent substitute in many dishes.

When you purchase commercial quinoa, it is usually treated in order to remove it’s bitter alkaloids. When you grow it your own garden, you need to do this yourself by soaking it in water overnight and thoroughly rinsing before using.

I have purchased some Rainbow quinoa from Real Seeds for planting this year.

This is the same seed tray from my post of a few days ago.

The peppers in front are not quite ready, but the tomatoes in the back have started to form their first set of true leaves and so are ready for transplant. Next to the the tray is one of my standard transplanting containers full of ordinary potting soil.

After gently prying out what I think is one of the best tomato seedlings from the tray with an ordinary table knife, this is what it looks like next to the pot.

Notice the roots are very small and underdeveloped. The seedling itself is also nearly the same height as the container.

This container is about the right size to make a hole all the way down to the bottom with something like a pencil or chopstick, then insert the seedling into the hole gently with your finger. In this case, planting to the depth of the cotyledons is good. Then it looks like this:

Tomatoes have the ability to grow roots from any part of the plant that is buried. By transplanting it unusually deep like this, it helps the plant which would otherwise have a very weak root system develop a much stronger one. Tomatoes will actually benefit from having this done a number of times, but twice is a reasonable number. I’ll do it a second time when I transplant it out a final time into the garden.

If you have a problem with the seedling being spindly and fragile when doing this, it probably hasn’t been getting enough light. With a healthy seedling this is very easy to do.