For anyone who read the last post in this series, it will be clear that this one is somewhat overdue, so apologies if anyone has been waiting for this installment (and yes, I do realise that writing about things we were eating in May as August draws to an end is a strange thing to be doing). You will be glad to hear that I have, at least, already started writing up the next, so it shouldn’t be too far…
I had planned for our next profile to feature two closely related, but quite different perennial, ‘Spinaceous plants’, to borrow a term from Webster and Parkes (1855), namely, Sea Beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima) and Caucasian Spinach (Hablitzia tamnoides). Looking back over our last post, I also realise that – with my characteristic and wildly off-the-mark expectations about how long it will take me to do something – I promised this piece would materialize about a month or so ago……
There are a lot of excellent blogs about online, but one that I particular like, and make a point of following, is the Backyard Larder (here). For about a year now, Alison Tindale, who runs the business with her husband Stewart, has been posting a monthly meal diary, showcasing the culinary virtues of some of the many perennial vegetables she grows and sells. Taking inspiration from Alison, I’d like to try out something similar on our blog. And if I…
Ordinarily our salads wouldn’t warrant a post – they might contain a couple of interesting plants, but other than that, nothing special. However, last month (it’s taken quite a while for me to get round to writing this up) we made one that is a little different. The picture above probably gives away what made this salad special, but let me give a bit of background. In parts of Continental Europe, particularly the more rural parts of Italy and Spain,…
Bladder Campion, or at least the Common Bladder Campion, Silene vulgaris, is a perennial herb with attractive, light-green leaves, occasionally flushed purple, and with a noticeable bloom, which gives them a glaucous appearance. Delicate white (or occasionally pink) flowers, with deeply notched petals, appear in Summer and into early Autumn, gently nodding at the top of its numerous, slender, branching stems. Once acquainted with these, they become instantly recognisable because the petals are attached, at the base, to a distinctive,…
Buck’s Horn Plantain, as it is most commonly known in the English-speaking world, or Plantago coronopus, as it is known to the international scientific community, is by most accounts an unassuming little herb. However, it has a long history of use both for food and medicine. Insofar as it falls into the former category, it is particularly esteemed in continental Europe, where it has been cultivated and collected from the wild for use as a vegetable for centuries. Despite this…