My own edible/herb/veggie project (work in progress)

[Rev]

Ive been pulling out and reviving my older interets in 'ethnobotany' as it applies to culinary and medicianl as well as food crop species lately

Im in a better climate now rather than a rainshadow and things are going berkers

Im also going a little mad with the seed shopping

what im looking to do is to screen multiple varieties of plants so that i end up with a suite of varieties one or more of each species that love it in this location

this requires trialling, but also sourcing the raw germplasm to test, and it generates a significant amount of surplus of varieties not suited to here that might be better elsewhere

as one moves in ill prob relegate the old one to the discontinued bin. If you think it suits u better contact me if u need it

so im going to list the varieties im settling on as successes, the ones im looking for and the varieties i tested that didnt work

I hope it gives some satisfaction and if you can help me out with seed ill do my best to assit u

a lot of these things are in the ground now so therell be seed at the end of their growing season

I stayed with a friend in Geraldton some years ago who runs a seed business and dryland farm. By the same appraoch a cornucopia of varieties and foods were developed and in fact if you let what you can grow dictate the cuisine then it gets very interesting. The climate here suggests a morrocan/chinese/mexican/Indian fusion - not a bad selection really

Keepers

A

Amaranth - Large chinese whiteleaf. Short day lime green heavy producer. Black seeded

Asparagus

ARGENTUIL (n/a) Heirloom gourmet French heirloom white type for blanching. Purple tips when matured witha very sweet taste. Produces 2 years from seed.

B

Bala (Sida cordifolia) refreshing Tea

Barley(hordeum vulgare) popping type

Basil

Green O basilicum

Dark Opal basil O basilicum

Holy/Tulsi O sanctum

Camphor O kilimandscharicum

Bean, Broad (Vicia faba)

Peruvian emerald

Bean french Dwarf green

Brown beauty

Brown Beauty, a good hot weather variety produces an abundant crop for about three weeks.

http://www.edenseeds.com.au/pics/thumb/V_B...BrownBeauty.jpg

Bean climber

Black valentine

Rich traditional black bean texture and taste but even plumper and creamier than your average "turtle" bean.

Black Valentine works as a hearty pot bean, in chilis and stews and of even as an ingredient in cold salads.

Boxthorn,chinese

edible leaves as spinach and in stir fries.heart tonic

C

Carrot

chantenay

nantes

Capsicum - Topepo

Small red heart shaped fruit. Thick sweet fruit.3cm x 4cm.

Chilli (C annuum)

Yellow siam

Mrs Mars

Cayenne

Chilaca brown

Ancho/poblano

Tabasco

Jalapeno

serrano

Chilli (C frutescens)

Habanero,orange

Cairns wild 'pequin'

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)

Crowdu butter pea

African black eye

China black eye

China black

Chinese broccoli ( (Brassica oleracea cv. group Chinese Kale))

Chamomile, German

Autumn planting

Cucumber

African horned - Cucumis metuliferus

pick green and fine for use in tabouleh salads. quite seedy but virtually a wild plant and unkillable.

GIANT RUSSIAN cucumber

Vigorous heavy bearing vine, acid-free fruits crisp and sweet even when mature when it turns from yellow to orange brown and measures 200mm by 125mm. Resistance to mildew, can store for several months.

http://www.edenseeds.com.au/pics/thumb/V_C...iantRussian.jpg

Cucumber - West Indian Gherkin (cucumis anguria)

Produces green 5cm diameter fruits, spiny on outside, sweet and juicy when young. Used for pickling. Eat fresh.

http://www.edenseeds.com.au/pics/thumb/V_C...dianGherkin.jpg

Coriader - leaf variety

D

E

F

G

Garlic chives - Gai lan (flowering) strain

Garlic

Gourds - small mixed

Grapefruit

Ginger, brazilian

H

I

J

K

L

Leek 'sleekleek'

Leek "perrennial bunching'

Luffa "gomaos giant" - From gomaos garden, a truly fine variety giving large robust luffas

M

Mulberry "dwarf red shahtoot"

Mulberry "white"

Mulberry "hicks fancy"

N

O

Onion "gladalan'

Opuntia - various spineless and low spine hybrids

Ive eaten the fruit which is good but the nopalitos are pretty good too! deskinned and cut in stris they taste like (slightly slimy) green beans. spice accordingly.

P

Pomegranate "Elcite"

Pomegrante "rosa vera"

Parsley

triple curl

shahi (persian)

Belgia white (root parsley)

Pea

sugarsnap

Telephone

Peppermint (mentha piperita)

Pumpkin (C maxima)

Jarrahdale

Queensland blue

Pumpkin (C moschata)

Sunset

jap

Butternut

Q

R

Rosella (Hibiscus sabadariffa)

fleshy calyx used in herbal T - eg red zinger. high Vit c content. 5 month growing warm season

Rockmelon

S

Sage (salvia offcinalis)

with black tea as a beverage

Silverbeet

"Lucullus"

"fordhook giant"

Sorghum - red popping

squash - pimply

T

Tobacco

N tabacum - cigar type tobacco

N maritimum (?) local native

Tomatillo -Purple

Tomato

Black russian

Lemon boy

mortgage lifter

Cherry tomato

various

Turmeric

V

Vetiver grass. aromatic oil in roots and source of mulch

W

Watermelon - unknown volunteer

Withania indian ginseng

white sge - salvia apiana

X

Y

Z

Zuchinii - black open pollinated

wanted

C

Calabash gourds all types (lagenaria sp.)

Chilli

Mulatto

Aji - C baccatum types

K

Korila

P

Pumpkin (C moschata)

Chirimen - Japanese variety.This is a special and tasty Japanese variety of pumpkin with a green, warty skin and yellow, moist flesh. The flat, globe-shaped, ribbed fruit can reach 8" in diameter. Harvest when fruit reaches 6"-8" in diameter.

S

Soybean

green bean/ edamame types

discontinued use

A

B

Bean french green

"Strike" - some seeds left

C

Capsicum - California Wonder

Sweet fruit, cube shaped 10cm, bell type, heavy producer use green or red, high in Vitamin C.

Cucumber - Green Gem Organic Seeds

Good slicing variety, fruit dark green to 20cm long, white flesh and mildew resistant.

D

E

[ 05. April 2005, 22:47: Message edited by: Rev ]

[smogs]

that cucumber looks great... like an alien blimp or something.

i have some dark purple climbing beans that do well. They go green when you cook them tho.

pm me if u want them

[apothecary]

Great list.

I also have some amaranth growing at home, but it is the globe variety.

I am waiting for them to finish seeding, then will send some to T (or maybe just bring them up when I go up that way).

Would you like some also?

Nonetheless, very inspirational list. Are they all plants that must be planted in spring? I'd love to play catchups with you if some of those are winter crops.

Also, do you need lots of sun or do most of those do okay in shade?

[waterdragon]

i've had to plant a lot more leafy greens because of the expanding poultry collection. i feed them silver beet, rocket, chinese cabbage, lettuce types, king savoy cabbage, turnip tops and any spare vegies/fruit. the bonus is that now i have a lot more greens for us humanoids to eat as well.

[Rev]

Thanks smogs but ive tried that and other climbing P vulgaris before and none perform very well in the dry windy or wet heat. Ill hold back till i find a local strain.

What i use instead is the snake bean (Vigna unguiculata sesquipedalis), it loves summer conditions and is very hardy. And the dwarf french beans are a good quick autumn and spring crop to fit in either end.

Ive tried to keep the list to whats in the ground NOW

if you include whats in transit or whats sitting as seed ready to go in then the list is a whole heap bigger

I just ordred a range of stuff from here

http://www.nativeseeds.org/v2/cat.php?catID=1

heirllom native american types - all sorts

many are fine with AQIS too like amaranths or watermelons for example

winter growing here is limited by frost and drought

spring starts a little late and is dry and hot till late january

hence my growing season is split in 4

1. Late summer till the frost (begginning of calendar winter).

By far the biggetrs growout and whn i do te majority of all varieties as the rain is with me

its time for all the high waer use plants and all the tender plants. Its also the time to grow broad cast edible or green manure crops

2. Irrigated winter crops, Frost hardy and minimal water crops mostly essential for the kitchen eg Leek, some brassicas, pop barley, broad beans, peas etc. They have to cope with dry warm days and dry cold nights with repeated frosts

3. Spring irrigated crops. again essential things for the table or just thainsg that get deep roots fast and can survive on occassional rain and the odd bucket of greywater. They have to deal with intense dry or humid daytime heat

eg vine squash, pumpkins, corn, beans, rosella, sweet potato, chilli, mollokhea

4. perennial deep rooted plants and fruit trees

drought and frost hardy plants eg Mulberries, pomegranates, asparagus.

In the dead of winter and the dead of summer i wont be planting anything

[ 05. April 2005, 22:36: Message edited by: Rev ]

[Andrew]

Hi Rev,Whats your opinion on the black russian tomato?I,ve grown it before and while I was impressed with it its vigourous growth,I found the flavour less than impressive(yuk)and would definetly not grow them again.

[Prophet]

I have a rare variety of leaf amaranth called Greek Amaranth which i collected when i was in Greece. Very large plants which grow up to 2 metres high with green stems and leaves and green arching flower stems and dark purple/black seeds. They are very strong growing plants and much better tasting than other amaranth (you can eat the stems as well). They have a pic of what the plants look like at this site http://www.seedsofchange.com/garden_center...S11024&q=+greek

[ 07. April 2005, 15:47: Message edited by: Prophet ]

[Prophet]

I have grown Black Russian tomato. I found them quite tasty but they are acidic. Yellow Pear i think is a good variety of tomato since they have very vigorous growth and they are heat and disease resistant and acid free. The fruits are quite small (not as small as cherry) but what they lack in size they make up for in flavour and yield.