In the toad's garden

Red orach Atriplex hortensis rubra june 2003

Now Frøsamlerne seedlist 2008 is published. As usual there is many rare and interesting varieties, of wich the seeds have been saved by members of this danish seedsavers organisation. There are seven different orach to choose from, four of them old danish family heirlooms. Or what to say about a tomato like ”Kaptajnens gule bøf fra Brasilien”, which translates into “Captains yellow beefsteak from Brasil”. Who would ever know vegetables existed like østfrisisk palmekål (palmcabbage from northern Germany), runkelroe (Beta vulgaris var. alba, a mangelwurzel, where it’s the lower stem that is swollen) or eternal leek?
You can’t ask for what you don’t know 🙂

The list is in danish, but you will also find varieties with english names. To request seeds membership is needed. The annual memberfee is DKK 130,- (ca. 17.50 euro).

Red Russian Brassica napus

After work today I went out in the gray afternoon with my camera. I was fascinated by the play of water drops on kale leaves. Kale seem to be equipped with natures nano tecnology.

Red Russian is a different kale. The classic kale is deep green with curly leaves, whereas this variety has feathered leaves. Color is somewhat different, with a notable silvery shine. Taste is sweet, and raw leaves are crisp to the bite.

A villager probably regocnise the colors from the swedes/rutabagas. Red Russian belong to the same species, whereas most other kales belong to same species as cabbage. When saving seeds it’s important to isolate from swedes/rutabagas and from other kales of this species, like the russian, sibirian and baltic kales, as well as the north german scheerkohls.

As the name indicate, Red Russian originates in Russia. It was probably known before 1865. Vilmorin-Andrieux mention it under the synonym Ragged Jack in their illustrated book on the vegetable garden. Not all agree that Red Russian and Ragged Jack are synonyms, but many seedcompanies treat them as such. If not synonyms, they are probably difficult to tell apart.

Volunteers in my garden from seed spillage this summer after overwintered parent plants. Could any weed be better?

Read more about Brassica napus kale (Seed Ambassadors)

Now I have found pictures from 2006 and added them in the post:

Purple Fava Bean, one of my breeding projects

Red lungwort Pulmonaria rubra

Red lungwort can start flowering very early. Right now it’s only 10cm high. The bloom continue into june. As weather warms up the height of the lungwort increase until it’s knee high.
Red Lungwort originates in the balkan region.

Yacon crown in january

Patrick in the Netherlands asked how I store my yacon crowns.

The yacon crowns I have stored in peat in a jar in the bottom of an oldfashion cool larder next to the kitchen. Now looking to them I start to get worried. I have sprinkled them lightly with water on occasions to keep the peat slightly moist, but apparently it wasn’t good enough.

Now I have asked some experienced danish seedsavers also experimenting with yacon. One is in same troubles as I. But the other is much better at it. So what’s the art? Presumably they just had to be stored like dahlias, and my dahlias are doing well.

This is what she writes:
“I keep my (yacon) in wood dust above freezing point but cold – aprox. 3-4 Celcius. I do not sprinkle with water – they look OK. Some of the larger roots have started to dry out a little, but I believe they will survive. Our basement is humid. This is how dahlia is stored, and it should be same family.”

I don’t have a facility with a stable temperature around 4Celcius. The fridge might do, but it’s usually full. I need to find another solution. Then I think of what Rose Marie commented in my last post on yacon. Since winter until now has been very mild, I have now potted up the yacon crowns and put them out in the green house according to her advise. It’s a kind of russian roulette to my yacon crowns, I watch the weather forecast attentively every night. I have taken my precausions, trying to minimise the risk and slow it down when it comes. Pots are placed in green house directly on the ground to enable ground heat to travel up in the pots. Then I have covered with a double layer of bubblefoil (recycled). To increase the mass under the cover I’ve added a 2½litre flask of water, hopefully giving me more hours before frost are able to kill the yacon crowns.

Does someone else have experience storing yacon crowns?

Main building af Ørestad Mobile Eco-gardens

In the week-end I walked over to Ørestad, Copenhagens new-to-be neighborhood. Now at last I will have a look at the Mobile Eco-gardens!

To my surprise there was a lot to watch even in january. You are welcomed by this fine mainbuilding, a practical shed on wheels signaling the mobility of the gardens.

The gardens are very small (less than 15m2), probably suiting most unexperienced city gardeners. But obviosly many gets a nice experience and a crop of vegs and flowers to bring home.

Cabbage in Ørestad

This little cabbage plot is inresistible. More than one could grow larger cabbage and kale, but what a diversity in almost no space. And there have probably even been harvested cabbage and kale from this little lot.

A row of leeks

These are the largest leeks I found, most (largest?) of the row already harvested. Leek is very common in these small lots, along with many other vegs and herbs. Celery/celeriac, rosemary, fennel, cabbage and kale, parsley and all those I didn’t really notice.

Puddles between raised beds

Soil out here is very compact limerich clay. When saturated with water it almost doesn’t drain at all. It’s special to work such a heavy soil, but it can prove very fertile.

Ørestad Mobile Øko-haver(in danish)

Eranthis hyemalis. First winter aconite in flower this year.

To me the new year starts by the arrival of the first winter aconite. Now the very early winter- and springflowers start their discrete color explosion, sending many a gardener out looking for early signs of growth under trees and bushes.

Seed saving from winter aconite is simple, as they ripen their seeds well, seeds are easy to shake off when ripe. But some patience is needed, as it take some years to grow into flower. Don’t one have the patience, some tubers from a garden or nursery grow well. But the spreading carpet of winter aconites in bloom is best started from seeds. Winter aconite is bewilded here and there, but unlikely to become invasive.

It grows very nicely under decidous bushes and trees, only needing light from sprouting until may. Be carefull if using a hoe, as tubers grow very shallow, and are easily injured after leaves die down.

Sarah and Andrew from Seed Ambassadors plan to visit Romania soon. Read more in their bloghttp://www.seedambassadors.org/wp/?p=307