What interesting or unusual edible plants have you grown

[demi]

Google is your friend (but only if you spell it musmula).

You're absolutely right, DND - they're medlars.

Mike

EDIT: I envisage the birth of the "Ish Multi-Dictionary of Little-Known Thingies" coming up. Find anything edible in a dozen languages.

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardening/Grow-Yo ... ---medlars

musmuli is plural and is the word i was told when i asked what they were. The 'i' on the end makes it plural, the 'a' is female and singular. Grate, medlars, i will go look them up. They're quite nice, might try to make jam from them, but separating the flesh from the stones would be time consuming.

Just looked, yes that's them.

[Gra]

Yes reading James Wong thought asparagus peas were his most important discovery instanly stopped me off buying the book.
This year I grew kudoo, a Bangladeshi climbing marrow. They can be long and thin, when they can also be called laow, but mine were pumpkin sized and pear shape. They can be grown outside in a warm sheltered spot but I grew mine in the polytunnel. They grow straight up but then spread out, so can be grown on a pergola type structure or wires at roof level and then the fruits hang down. The skin is tough, but the flesh tastes like a marrow but a bit firmer, towards a squash or pumpkin. I'll grow again because it seems like an efficient use of space, hanging over the path in the polytunnel.
Our neighbour on the allotments grew some chickpeas, but the mice ate them all before they were ripe and the fox or rats dug up our sweet potatoes soon after they were planted!

[Teadrinking]

I know someone who grows kudoo specifically for it's shading properties in a polytunnel so up and over a pergola so she can use the space beneath for growing spinach and other things that like to bolt in a tunnel in the summer months. V worthwhile and they're bleeding expensive to buy!

[Odsox]

I know someone who grows kudoo specifically for it's shading properties in a polytunnel

I achieve the same result with a grape vine in my tunnel and is (to my mind) probably a tastier alternative.

[marshlander]

I agree asparagus peas look pretty but not worth growing. Had some success with sweet potatoes both last year and this but not a huge yield given the greenhouse space they took. Crystal cucumbers were nice, and cape gooseberries.
Grow quite a range of heritage tomatoes and much prefer the big beefsteaks. Stevia/sweet leaf yes still grow and use to replace some of the sugar in pies etc.
I have grown purple french beans, they're easier to find and pick but no taste diff. Yin yang beans I still grow, good dual purpose french bean/haricot. Grew a yellow wax bean but good runner beans take some beating.
When I first grew barlotti beans they got lots of oos and ahs but they're run of the mill nowadays. Tomatillos huge crop but regular toms just as good - I think most of the ended up in chutney.
Grew chickpeas last year for the first time. Once again, not worth the space they took up.
Good King Henry I've grown for ever, tasty early shoots. Grown several crossed berries over the years.
We had a medlar at our old house, very pretty spring flowers -made jelly from fruit. Grew it as not commonly seen. Gave up on Goji Berries last year after fussing over them for several years and no return. Started growing a mulberry til I realized how big it would grow so I passed it on to a friend starting a big orchard.

In the end we rely on the old tried and tested stalwarts.

I'm interested in your Daubenton Kale too.

Look at http://www.amishlandseeds.com/index.htm for something different.

[Skippy]

Make life easy for yourself, Skippy - use parsnips for your re-enactments.
.

That idea has crossed our minds and I'd be happy to do it , I can eat them 'till they come out of my ears , but it's surprising how many people will eat carrots but won't touch parsnips. It's a pity really as the "season" starts , for us at least, on palm sunday and a few small over wintered parsnips would fit in fine.
We mainly cover the latter part of the fifteeth century and we have some sources for carrots of the period although medieavel writers always need to be read with the salt pot in the wings. Of course there is also the ego thing. Sad but true with re-enactors things do make us happy if we have something as authentic as possible even if it involves more trouble and cost and ends up looking no different to a more modern day replacement. For example there is a guy who re-enacts a German Luffwaffe officer and carries about a letter in his wallet. It hardly ever comes out but he has gone to the trouble of using period paper and ink and even to make sure it was written by a woman as the letter portrays a letter from the officers "wife". So maybe I should give the carrots another go , ho hum.

Pete

[Thomzo]

Grate, medlars, i will go look them up. They're quite nice, might try to make jam from them, but separating the flesh from the stones would be time consuming.

Just looked, yes that's them.

Demi - Medlar jelly is dead easy. Just chop up the whole fruit and boil in water. Then strain off the flesh, leaving the liquid. Add sugar and boil until set.

You will, however, need to let the fruit ripen off the tree (it's called bletting). Pick the fruit and put it somewhere dry and dark for a couple of months. A bit like storing apples. They're ready when they're about half brown and soft. You want some that are still firm for the pectin, otherwise they won't set.

Zoe

[mrsflibble]

does cultivating wild garlic count?

[GeorgeSalt]

does cultivating wild garlic count?

Probably.. and in that case I've a couple of horseradish plants foraged last year from the verge of the track down to the allotments that I will be cultivating in tall pots this year.

[diggernotdreamer]

wild garlic is delicious, I have just planted some down the bottom of my meadow, I really look forward to to the lovely fresh flavour in salad and pesto so in answer to your question, wild garlic defo does count and should be cultivated more in my humble opinion

[sleepyowl]

Grew salsify was disappointed, they are fiddly, not much flavour & not very appealing to the eye

[Annemieke]

My perennial lettuce is just coming up. I sowed it at least ten years ago, have tried to dig it up, moved it a few times but it is perennial indeed: every spring, there they are. I much prefer the lambs' lettuce/corn salad for eating, which has self-sown in my garden for years. If you're interested in the lettuce, come and get a piece!
Annemieke Wigmore, Somerset UK: http://thoughtforfood-aw.blogspot.com

[wulf]

I've got a medlar (Mespilus germanica ' Nottingham') growing at the front; harvests have been on the small side so far but I'm hopeful it will give me a bit more as the tree matures.

I think my favourite unusual edible is Giant Tree Spinach (Chenopodium giganteum). It grows 6'-8' tall over a season and has a gorgeous purple tinge on the young leaves. The leaves can be picked as required and cook up like spinach. At the end of the season, you can leave the plants in, where they provide vertical height, visual interest (and both perches and feeding for the birds). Last year, we even grew sweet peas up the support provided by a clump of tree spinach from the previous year.


Chenopodium giganteum by basswulf, on Flickr

Tastewise, I don't think it will convince a spinach fanatic; it doesn't have the emerald green colour and has an earthier taste. However, for a long season stalwart with a variety of roles, it definitely has a place in my garden and I think it deserves to be more popular.

Wulf

[Annemieke]

Sounds well worth getting. Where did you buy the seeds?
Annemieke, Somerset UK: http://thoughtforfood-aw.blogspot.com

[GeorgeSalt]

I've found some on Ebay.. I suspect 250 seeds will be 240 too many, I'll see how they go and maybe we can play pass-the-packet round the forum..