My new adventure with unusual fruit and veg

This year I will start a new adventure. I got a book about unusual fruit and vegetables as a Christmas present which got me very excited about trying to grow some new edible plants. Why grow endless rows of cabbages, onions and potatoes when you can buy this staple food cheaply at the supermarket. I thought it is probably a better use of space to mainly grow things which I cannot buy, things which taste much better when I grow them myself and things I like but which are expensive to buy such as a lot of the soft fruit.

I now made a list of unusual fruit and veg I will try this year. I will assess my success in autumn and  keep growing what worked well and what I like and replace other things which did not work or I did not like with new things.

There are some interesting annuals and tender perennials which I will try this year. I bought seeds of Asparagus pea which not only has pretty flowers but has edible pods as well. Oca is a tender tuber belonging to the Oxalis family which tastes similar to potatoes but with a more lemony flavour. It needs a long growing season and I hope the longer autumns we seem to get now will suit it. I will also try New Zealand spinach which is drought-resistant, an essential requirement on my allotment as we seem to get hotter and dryer summers. Chinese violet cress (Orychophragus violaceus) has edible leaves, flowers and stems and grows as a biennial. Litchi tomato (Solanum sisymbriifolium) is actually a fruit which is apparently quite tasty but also very prickly, so it needs to be harvested very carefully.

Chinese Artichoke tubers

Many of these unusual edibles are hardy perennials. Chinese artichoke (Stachys affinis) has edible tubers and pretty flowers in summer. The tubers can be lightly steamed and buttered and have a nutty flavour. Babington`s leek (Allium ampeloprasum) can be used as a perennial garlic, the leaves are edible as well. Hooker`s onion (Allium acuminatum) is a pretty allium with edible leaves, roots and flowers which taste of onions.

Earth chestnut (Bunium bulbocastanum) is grown for its tasty roots, Winter purslane (Claytonia perfoliata) and Scotch lovage (Ligusticum scoticum) have edible leaves, the former used in salads and the latter as a spice in soups and stews with a taste similar to lovage and celeriac.

These hardy perennials are quite easy to grow as you just have to plant them, keep them weed-free and harvest whenever it is convenient. 

Earth chestnut (Bunium bulbocastanum)

The Asian pear is planted

I will also try out some unusual hardy fruit such as Blue honeysuckle (Lonicera caerulea) which is also called honeyberry. I have eaten them in Germany years ago and they were delicious, large and juicy with a nice blueberry flavour. I was very disappointed when I bought a couple of plants here in the UK about 8 years ago, the berries were tiny and bitter. I now think what I bought as a honeyberry was actually the wild form, not a cultivar. I bought a proper cultivar 2 years ago and the berries were much better. I have now ordered a variety from Canada which I hope is comparable to what I have eaten in Germany.

Other new fruit I will try are Chilean guava (Ugni molinae) which is hardy down to -10 C, Nanking cherry (Prunus tomentosa) with fruit similar to sour cherries, just a bit sweeter, and Asian pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) which apparently tastes like a combination of pear and apple. All of these are planted now.

A variegated variety of Chilean guava (Ugni molinae)

I have now also ordered a Persimmon 'Nikitas Gift' which is completely winter-hardy and has apple-sized orange fruit which are quite sweet, a Japanese plum 'Satsuma' with dark red fruit and Carolina allspice (Calycanthus floridus) from which I can make a cinnamon-like spice.

I have already planted a Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) which I have grown from seed I collected on the Canary Islands. I love the fruit which look a bit like apricots and have an amazing flavour, like a pleasant blend of apricot, plum and cherry. I am not sure if it will ever fruit here in the UK but with its large hairy evergreen leaves it looks ornamental enough to warrant a place on my allotment even without the added bonus of fruit.

My new Loquat tree

There is also a nectarine planted on the allotment now which I have grown from a supermarket fruit. Unlike apples, plums and pears, nectarines and peaches come true from seed. It is a pretty little plant with a nice autumn colour, I might even get some fruit one day. I have also grown a pomegranate which will be planted in spring. Pomegranate grows as a small bush and has nice flowers. The plant is hardy down to about -5C but I will probably never have fruit here in the UK. But with climate change you don`t know what will happen in the future.

I will post regular updates over the next years about all the new fruit and veg I am growing, also taste tests and how hardy things are. So watch this space!

Update: The first report on oca and Chinese artichoke can be found here.

Sensitive stamens

Sparmannia africana (African linden tree)

It is well-known that some plants can move their leaves, such as Sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica) and Venus flytrap. But that some plants can move their stamens, this was new to me.

The stamens of these plants are sensitive to touch, when you lightly brush the flowers with a finger the stamens either move inwards towards the stylus (like in Mahonia) or outwards towards the petals (like in Sparmannia africana, also called African linden tree). This movement is quite quick and easy to see.

Mahonia flowers before touching with stamens near the petals

Mahonia flowers after touching, the stamens have moved inwards

The stamen movement is most likely aiding pollination by bringing the stamens (and with it the pollen) in better contact with visiting pollinators. Other plants with stamen movement are Berberis species, Opuntia and Helianthemum nummularium.

Helianthemum nummularium, another plant with sensitive stamens

 
 Watch this short video to see how it works.