I got caught up with the excitement of James Wongs' Homegrown Revolution and decided to give one or two of his 'exotics' a try. I bought Cucamelons, Tomatillos and Inca Berries. The greenhouse mouse has decided to give the Inca Berries a tasting session and the seedlings have disappeared - so I'm left with just the other two to experiment with.
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| Cucamelon seedlings |
They both have been very slow in making any progress, perhaps it hasn't been warm enough for them, so I'm not sure what the end result will be - James seems very confident that they are easy to grow - I'll keep you updated as to how they get on.
I seem to be going through an adventurous phase at the moment and have also bought Tayberry, Loganberry and Goji Berry bushes for the soft fruit garden. The plants are tiny at the moment so I have put them in containers till I figure out where they are going to go.
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| Tayberry |
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| Loganberry |
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| Goji Berry |
The Logan and Tay berry bushes look very similar - I have no idea what the fruit will taste like, my feeling is that is will be a bit sour - it says on the label that they will take a couple of years before they fruit - so I will have a long wait on my hands. As for the Goji berry I have just read that they grow like a weed given the right growing conditions, so I may well regret my purchase.
As you probably know if you read my other
blog I do like to let things self-seed in the flower garden because it gives for a more natural look to the borders. Well I also do the same with the herbs and things like parsley and chervil pop up all over the raised beds, which is great because it means I don't have to go to the trouble of sowing new seed every year.
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| curly parsley seedlings |
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| plain leaf parsley seedlings |
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Chervil
already flowering - it goes to seed very quickly |
Cuttings that I took last year of the three different types of sage are bulking out nicely and looking very healthy - not that I use that much sage when I am cooking - but it does look pretty good in the garden.
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Variegated sage
Purple sage
and Common sage |
These are all the different herbs that I have in the garden at the moment including hyssop, tarragon, lovage, sorrel, marjoram, oregano, chives, thyme - so really I have no excuse not to use them more when I am cooking, but I do find that I only use mint, thyme and parsley and occasionally basil when it is in season. I have a couple of pots of basil in the greenhouse, but it was pouring with rain so I couldn't be bothered to get wet just to take a photograph.
Are you trying anything new this year?
I seem to be going through an adventurous phase at the moment and have also bought Tayberry, Loganberry and Goji Berry bushes for the soft fruit garden. The plants are tiny at the moment so I have put them in containers till I figure out where they are going to go.
These are all the different herbs that I have in the garden at the moment including hyssop, tarragon, lovage, sorrel, marjoram, oregano, chives, thyme - so really I have no excuse not to use them more when I am cooking, but I do find that I only use mint, thyme and parsley and occasionally basil when it is in season. I have a couple of pots of basil in the greenhouse, but it was pouring with rain so I couldn't be bothered to get wet just to take a photograph. 
We're trying sweet potatoes in the hreenhouse.
ReplyDeleteI have leafed through James Wong's book and was surprised to see that we had quite a few of his 'exotic' plants. Our kiwi berry has flowered each year since we bought it and set fruit but then gone down with spider mite even outside so this year we are on the lookout for symptoms and are ready to act.
Watch that tayberry they are vicious plants.
Thanks for the tip about the tayberry Sue. Be interesting to see what sort of harvest you get from your sweet potatoes. Never heard of a kiwi berry.
DeleteIt's kiwi Issai Elaine - I just thought of it as a small kiwi but suddenly it is referred to as a kiwi berry - it's in James' book.
DeleteJust checked it out in the book - the kiwi berry looks just like a miniature kiwi fruit - have you managed to get 400 fruits yet?
DeleteSo far we have achieved the grand total of 0 courtesy of spider mites!
DeleteThe fruit is smooth skinned so you just eat the whole thing - if you actually crop any that is!
My first batch of cucamelon have mostly died off for no reason that is obvious to me. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a second batch. I've found the asparagus pea and fenugreek less of a problem. Hope yours work out for you Elaine. X
ReplyDeleteOh dear perhaps they aren't that easy to grow after all. Not sure if fenugreek is a herb or a spice will have to look it up.
DeleteMy goodness me, what a variety you have! Tayberries can taste really nice, we have some on the allotment. x
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how big the tayberries grow - I wonder if they are rampant like blackberries - I should have done my homework before I bought it - it was a bit of an impulse buy though
DeleteYes they are a bit like blackberries.
Deletelove your patchwork picture of herbs - that's how I'd like my herb garden to look! We have loganberries and they're delicious, not at all sour but like deeper tasting raspberries though you have to pick them when they're dark red almost purply, when if it was a raspberry you'd think it was overripe.
ReplyDeleteOo the loganberries sound delicious - pity I've got to wait a couple of years before I can try them.
DeleteMy loganberry fruited last year after planting & they taste lovely. More raspberry than blackberry in taste through they have the firmness of a blackberry. I don't think they were sour. I have yet to taste my tayberry but it will hopefully fruit this year.
ReplyDeleteWe shall have to compare notes once mine get going.
DeleteOh I will follow your progress with interest! I agree with you about sage - particularly purple sage which makes such a great ornamental shrub in the border. I love your photos of all the herbs!
ReplyDeleteThis year I am joining the revolution by trying sweet potatoes, oca, yacon and Japanese wineberries for the first time. So far, so good - they are all alive and nothing has eaten them... yet.
Never heard of yacon, something else I will have to look up - and I love the name wineberries, I wonder if it's because they taste like wine?
DeleteI am trying the Lovage & Chervil and a couple other "new" herbs this year. I use rosemary, basil, cilantro a lot. Sage for bringing beneficial insects.
ReplyDeleteThis year I also added Haskaps (honey berry) and Saskatoon berries to the garden. They tiny still, so may not have a taste till next.
I am always keen to grow something I have not and this year I trying Okra for a veg.
You sound as though you are quite adventurous in your garden too, although I have never heard of the berries you mention. I haven't grown okra either, goodness there is a lot of stuff out there that I have still to try - eventually
DeleteI was really intrigued by the Cucamelons and Tomatillos, so it will be very interesting to see how you get on with them.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck!
It will be interesting for me too Sammy - I do like a challenge
DeleteI grow tomatillo every year, usually between 2 and 4 of them. Dead easy once they get going. They grow far bigger fruits if planted in the soil (outdoors) but grow okay in a large pot but they can get top heavy and blow over in the wind. They need no feeding although I will occasionally give them a potassium based one and in a good year, I can harvest up to 10kg which I turn into spicy sauce and freeze for later in the year. This year, only 2 of the seeds emerged and they are really struggling in my little greenhouse. I've sown some more as I have promised a couple of plants to some friends.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info Dc mine are only small at the moment and the leaves look a little tender to plant out yet - but I'll let you know how I get on.
DeleteI must be doing something wrong with parsley. It's never self seeded and I've found them difficult to germinate from packets too. Any tips?
ReplyDeleteBuy a plant from a supermarket and put it in the ground - next year it will go to seed - leave it to flower and when the flower heads have dried it will drop seed all around the plant. Simples.
DeleteI love your mosaic of the different herbs and was interested to read that you let yours go to seed. Does this affect the flavour of the herbs through the season? We grew a tayberry when we had our cottage but this was in a large pot, I can remember the berry being quite large and delicious. I seem to be growing just the standard stuff this year, I think after last year's disastrous growing season I am a bit cautious. xx
ReplyDeleteThey tend to go to seed at the end of the season but I still pick from them and can't really tell the difference in flavour.
DeleteI'm happy with good old blackberries and raspberries, but it'll be interesting to see how you do with these hybrids.
ReplyDeleteAll those herbs look great. I just grow a few for show rather than culinary use, and would grow more if I had the space. Flighty xx
I just thought I would try something different for a change.
DeleteWow...You do have a lot going on in your garden.I love all your herbs,but like you I only use a few.I can't put them near the house as the mad german shepherd,9 months old Prince, would have them for a snack.He has already eaten my lovely water lily out of my pond/bath. I have a Tayberry, which grows up an archway,it is full of thorns,nearly worse than blackberries,but there is a type without thorns I thing. The taste is a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry.Good luck with all your new plants :)
ReplyDeleteWell with all the rain we have had over the past couple of days at least they have been well watered in.
DeleteSounds like we chose the same things to try growing from Homegrown Revolution! My cucamelons are pretty small too, the tomatillos are doing ok, and last time I looked the Inca berries were just coming through - but maybe I should check for mouse damage tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteHow funny that we chose the same three - we will have to compare notes later in the season.
DeleteI grow Tayberries, they're no different to Raspberries only the fruit is bigger. The only thing I'm growing differently this year are my onions; I left it too late to buy red sets, so have planted white.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to tasting them - eventually - the Tayberries that is - not the white onions!
DeleteFantastic selection of herbs you have! I need to branch out a bit more with herbs as I tend to stick to what I know. You might find loganberries to be a bit underwhelming. My parents bought some a couple years ago and found the fruit not very sweet. My mom said they were good for cooking/baking though.
ReplyDeleteWell at least I'll be able to mix them with other fruit - maybe for jam.
DeleteYour cucamelons are faring better than mine Elaine - only one has germinated! It is receiving extra tlc. I did not cover the seed as it is so small but maybe I should have done. I've also bought a tayberry this year which is sitting in a pot at the moment until it bulks out. My other new addition is the perennial Daubenton's Kale but have still to do a taste test :)
ReplyDeleteMine just don't seem to be growing - they are just sitting there doing nothing much.
DeleteMy tayberry is still in it's pot at the moment, I bought it as a small plant at the back end of last year, but it's already put on plenty of growth. I'll have to be careful that the thorns don't get me when I plant it out. You're being very adventurous this year with what you're growing, it certainly keeps the interest going when you try new things.
ReplyDeleteI like to give anything a go - if it doesn't work then I don't bother again.
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