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

[ronm]

Lesley, apparently seed can be germinated but both nigra and alba are always grafted onto seedling rootstock. As far as I can ascertain from the silk  guys! Hope this helps.

[fermi de Sousa]

http://permaculturenursery.com/Stephen_Hablitzia_Article.pdf

... 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 )

That sounds an interesting spinach.
will post pic of Basella alba when I get a chance!
cheers
fermi

[John85]

Ron
You don't need to live in the tropics to have a good crop of fruit from Morus nigra.I know a old tree in a garden close to Brussels that produces a lot of fruit.May be there are different clones.But even without fruit it  is a beautiful tree that doesn't need a lot of space.

[ronm]

Agreed John. We have one in our garden. Beautiful foliage colours. We cropped for the first time last year,

[Hoy]

Ron
You don't need to live in the tropics to have a good crop of fruit from Morus nigra.I know a old tree in a garden close to Brussels that produces a lot of fruit.May be there are different clones.But even without fruit it  is a beautiful tree that doesn't need a lot of space.

I've tasted mulberries (both nigra and alba) grown in Norway. Although it is some years ago I remember the berries as tasty.

[fermi de Sousa]

This is the Basella alba "Malabar Spinach" which we got as "Climbing Spinach" from a local nursery.
The glutinous nature of the uncooked leaf makes it less attractive for raw salads but I still like it as a substitute for cooked spinach.


cheers
fermi

[Stephenb]

Fermi: Re-Basella -  Is it perennial with you? I hadn't realised it was perennial before last year and I have two plants growing in pots I'm trying to overwinter. One is dead.

I have to grow mine indoors here, and they produce a useful amount of leaf pot-grown..

[Stephenb]

Morus alba is hardy up here. I have two plants which are about 10 years old from seed, so maybe they will start producing in the next couple of years.... Morus alba tatarica is often said to be the most hardy, but it didn't make it here.

Below are a few pictures, including some more unusual ones:

1. Morus australis (Korean Mulberry) Lund Botanical Garden, Southern Sweden
2. Morus cathayensis, Hilliers Arboretum, UK
3. Morus alba nigrobacca (Black White Mulberry) Copenhagen
4. Morus yeddoensis (Leiden, Belgium) - can't find this species anywhere
5. Morus nigra   Copenhagen
6. Morus alba with single fruit just north of here Frosta, Norway

And look at these wonderful Shahtoot Mulberries (shame they aren't very hardy)

[Hoy]

Morus alba is hardy up here. I have two plants which are about 10 years old from seed, so maybe they will start producing in the next couple of years.... Morus alba tatarica is often said to be the most hardy, but it didn't make it here.

Stephen, once I thought of planting Morus in my garden - however, I  decided they get too big so I planted Sequioa and Sequoiadendron instead

[Lesley Cox]

 

[Lesley Cox]

I have a small (60cms) Morus nigra but I'll be lucky to have fruit in my lifetime I suppose. The main complaint of the people I know who grow it is that the birds, having gorged on the fruit, then fly over the clothesline dropping what birds drop and staining the washing.

Here are the ones I've been eating from the market. When I took the picture they looked totally black but my camera is playing up and it was also a very bright day on Saturday.

[Lesley Cox]

Here are a few other things I bought on Saturday

The Louisa plum is my favourite. It has a wonderful sweet flavour, very juicy and is sweet right to the free stone. Many other plums are very sour at their centres.

[ronm]

That is some seriously good looking produce Lesley.  . And very healthy with it!

[ronm]

I'm thinking the plums are probably best as they are, but this sounds good too. .

http://sourdough.com/forum/plum-tart-alsacienne

[Lesley Cox]

It does indeed Ron. I'm Manager of Otago Farmers' Market www.otagofarmersmarket.org.nz and have been there for the whole of its 9 year life (we'll be 9 next Saturday). I started as a plant vendor then in the winter when many of my little plants, dwarf bulbs, primulas and others were underground and I had a break for a couple of months, the Manager's job came up and I figured I could do it as well as anyone since I knew the market intimately. 22 applicants and they picked me. It is owned/run by a charitable trust and is generally accfepted as being the best in New Zealand and one of the best in the world. We have many visitors from all over the world who say they've never been to a better market. Last Saturday we had the American TV Co CBS filming for a cooking programme to be shown in the USA. We have a mobile kitchen on site with a resident chef (she trained with Jamie Oliver) and she uses market produce of course.

Now I buy all my fruit, vegs, meat, eggs there (except bananas and oranges which we don't have - only Otago crops - and kumeras, sweet potatoes to you) cheese except hard, cheddar types and much of my bread as well.