Non alpines: other types of gardening: growing veg.etc for instance

[Lesley Cox]

What a beautiful way to grow the apricot, and conveniently to hand too.

I'm thrilled to see my new little cherry tree is packed with buds. It's a variety called Lapin and I eat lots from the market in season so it will be great to have some at home. I suppose I'll have to throw a cloth of some kind over it to keep birds off.

[Maggi Young]

Yesterday a friend showed me this nice sight which I want to share with other forumists

Apricots in the Stubaital/Tyrol

- called 'Marillen' in Austria

I must show this photo to Ian... he will be full of envy, he loves apricots.

What a practical way to grow the tree, as well as looking very good there is all the warmth from the house wall to help the fruits.... and there are plenty fruits!  very nice

[Maggi Young]

What is the sweetest tomato variety?Not only the cherry type but also the big ones please.

John, I have asked everyone I can think of what they think is the sweetest and  none  of them can agree! Usually they spend a lot of time saying that the varieites one sees most often for sale as plants are no good, only  good for yield. Or that the "new" types are tasteless... there's lots of that sort of talk but no-one is committing to telling me what a real sweet favourite is!
I haven't grown any myself in a very long time, so I'm no help!

[Lesley Cox]

John, I can't help with the question either but in the summer I have a vendor at my Farmers' Market who sells old or "heritage" tomatoes which are hugely popular. He can't grow enough to satisfy the demand. If you like I could buy a few and send you the seeds. I know that 'Black Krim' is very popular but others as well.

[John85]

As Palustris suggested,I went to A4A and most gardeners seem to agree that Sungold is very sweet.Unfortunately it is a hybrid and the seeds are very expensive but a non hybrid form is for sale in Canada.I hope it 'll find his way to Europe soon.
For "normal sized" sweet varieties I have got some suggested but they are not for sale on this side of the pound.
Maggi even if your friends don't agree can you tell us what they suggested please.
Lesley, thank you for your offer.That is very very kind.But I feel a little guilty .So much trouble for you!!!

[Lesley Cox]

No trouble John, I buy them anyway. Just a matter of eating them and spitting out a few seeds. (I'll wash them before sending. )

[Stephenb]

For some reason I haven't previously posted about my favorite perennial vegetable/ edimental (edible ornamental), a woodlander from the Caucasus which was introduced to Europe and cultivated as an ornamental in the 19th century, was quite popular for some years and some people even discovered it was a good spring edible. It died out of fashion in the early 20th century, but individual plants have actually survived from that time in Scandinavia and we have collected material from some 10 locations in Norway, Sweden, Estonia and Finland, now preserved in the Nordic Seed Bank. It was resurrected from anonymity by Swedish author Lena Israelsson around 10 or so years ago. She sent me some seed and I was so impressed by its vigour, taste, productivity and edimentality that I wrote about it a few years ago, for the first time in English as an edible plant:

http://permaculturenursery.com/Stephen_Hablitzia_Article.pdf

Since that article, it has been pleasing to see its fame spreading around the world and it is now being offered by at least one nursery in the UK and a couple in the US, but not as yet in the RHS Plant Finder.  I have personally sent seed to some 200 people around the world as I've been the only source of seed it seems... Sergey Banketov from the Caucasus has kindly collected wild seed for me on a couple of occasions and the wild plants were distinct from the Scandinavian material.   Summer 2010, BBCs Alys Fowler visited me and my old growth Hablitzia (wow!) for 3 days researching her latest book that was published in the autumn (Thrifty Forager) and in that she profiles this plant in a chapter from my garden entitled ”The Modern Monk” (that's me apparently )

Well, what prompted this is that up here in the frozen wastelands, Hablitzia, the Caucasian Spinach,  is one of the few plants that can be foraged in mid-winter and I added a few tasty shoots to a salad at the weekend. Here is the root mound of my now 10-year old plant with some 200 shoots. Incidentally, it has never been fertilised and continues to grow in vigour, despite the fact that I pick it (cut and come again) from early April to mid-May. It then quickly climbs to some 4m during the early summer... It is the sole species of its genus and belongs to the Amaranthaceae (was Chenopodiaceae).  

[ronm]

John, I'll jump off the fence and say that the sweetest tomato by far is 'Sungold'. Available from my good friends at T&M.

[Diane Whitehead]

There is no need to be subjective about which tomato is sweetest.

Some fruit growers, particularly grape growers, use some sort of
gizmo to measure the sweetness of the fruit.

Of course, sweetness alone won't make a good-tasting tomato. I
was disappointed in so many tropical fruits that were only sweet,
with no counterbalancing acid or other flavours.

[ronm]

Great post Diane. .
The question was the sweetest and if T&M are willing to give you your money back if you find its not, then I'll bet the legal tests have been done, and it is. .
I don't believe its the best variety by far however, and we stopped growing it two years ago for the very reasons you mention

[ronm]

Lesley, I think you'll find they are Morus niger as the fruit of Morus alba is very insipid and not worth growing. We fruited M.niger for the first time last year, ( we planted the tree 6 years ago ) and thought the fruit was worth the wait , but compared to other fast growing fruits, berries etc., probably money can be spent better elsewhere. In Taiwan we had Morus growing in the neighbours garden, probably decades old trees. Never went short of fruit pies!! .

[Diane Whitehead]

Stephen,

I enjoyed your article.  I'm surprised at the seed crop failures mentioned
in it, because your photo shows a plant that must have enough seeds for
an entire allotment garden.

[Lesley Cox]

You are probably right Ron, about the species of mulberry fruit at the market. I had some the other day and they were delicious, and large. Isn't M albus the one grown to feed silkworms?

I have some seed of old tomato vars for John85 but as yet he hasn't sent me an address I can send them.

Incidentally, the seed from the mulberries won't germinate. Why is that? I was told it wouldn't but decided it would for me. But it won't.

[ronm]

I'm pretty sure that the Bombyx mori, the Mulberry Silkworm will take both species of Mulberry Lesley, but I think ( ) the white is the quickest grower and therefore was the plant of choice for the silk farms. I stand to be corrected however. If you had large fruit it is almost certainly M.nigra. They taste lovely don't they, like nothing else, but unless you are in the tropics the yield is not too good.
I have a large amount of lit on the subject and will get back to you on the seed issue, although I think it is an issue of vegetative propagation leading to sterilisation. I will confirm ( or not!)

[Stephenb]

Stephen,

I enjoyed your article.  I'm surprised at the seed crop failures mentioned
in it, because your photo shows a plant that must have enough seeds for
an entire allotment garden.

It seemed to be self-incompatible...I now have several plants in a different part of the garden and there are masses of seeds and they self-seed en-masse