Aronia berries

MoneySeeker1

Can't figure out the reason for the fact that my aronia bush produced loads of berries last year and literally every single one vanished just as they got ripe and I couldnt get any for myself to eat.

This year - same bush/same garden - and loads of berries again and they're ripe again - and literally not one single one seems to have vanished.

The only difference between last year and this year that I can see is last year we were all getting on with our Lives and this year I'm trapped in Lockdown and therefore around my home so much more courtesy of my missing social life (ie keeping an eye on my home). 

Are birds that selective that one year they literally take the lot and the next year (and I swear there's a lot more birds around than there was last year) and they literally don't take one?

Thinks: I guess I could sell those berries this year - as they haven't vanished (as they're quite expensive to buy - hence why I was thinking of doing so last year......).

Farway

Maybe the birds having tried them last year decided they don't like them?

Joke BTW

Davesnave

They're expensive to buy because they're a minority interest crop. Being dead easy to grow and propagate, the supply matches the demand. Not really the sort of thing to sprinkle on your breakfast IMO. Maybe, like Farway says, the birds agree.

MoneySeeker1

They are noticeably improved by being stewed I've found. 

Still not figured it out - as they've been ripe for some days now and none seemed to have gone - other than what I've picked - thankfully.

Davesnave

MoneySeeker1 said:

They are noticeably improved by being stewed I've found.

Glad to hear it. I don't think stewing will save my achochas though. Small things, a bit larger than a cucamelon, largely empty save for half a dozen unpalatable black seeds. No wonder the Incas died out.

Farway

Davesnave said:

MoneySeeker1 said:

They are noticeably improved by being stewed I've found.

Glad to hear it. I don't think stewing will save my achochas though. Small things, a bit larger than a cucamelon, largely empty save for half a dozen unpalatable black seeds. No wonder the Incas died out.

I had to Google them, stuffed & baked seems the answer, expect them to appear on Jamie any day now

MoneySeeker1

That had me googling too - and promptly thinking "I could probably get the gist if it was in Italian - but I think that's Spanish - oh well....." Unusual - so I'd be interested too....

Next on the "something a bit different" front and I've just had through perennial wall rocket seeds (ie Diplotaxis tenuifolia) seeds. Since the pack is in German and it's a language I don't speak and can't get the gist of (unlike Italian - which I don't speak, but it doesnt seem to matter too much to understanding it) I got googling - and I can't manage to find any info. on planting (including likely germination time) other than it seems to like the autumn and it's perennial (well - yes - that's why I bought it - as I like things to be perennial, rather than annual).

I'm guessing that I plant some seeds now - and it should only be a matter of weeks? Let's hope it's more successful than my Turkish Rocket (which has produced precisely one seedling - and I do hope the slugs don't find that one....) or my wild lettuce (which did absolutely nothing).

Purslane - grown from seed and looks like it should do okay. Burdock - grown from seed and looks like it should do okay.

Davesnave

Farway said:

Davesnave said:

MoneySeeker1 said:

They are noticeably improved by being stewed I've found.

Glad to hear it. I don't think stewing will save my achochas though. Small things, a bit larger than a cucamelon, largely empty save for half a dozen unpalatable black seeds. No wonder the Incas died out.

I had to Google them, stuffed & baked seems the answer, expect them to appear on Jamie any day now

I stuffed them this afternoon, onto the compost heap!

I grew the small ones, which are too small to stuff. In fact, unless you get them when only about 2cm long, they go over, become woody and the seeds turn black. This seems to happen in a matter of a day or two. Even at the peak of perfection they are nothing to write home about.

The larger ones I will probably leave for more adventurous cooks, who like stuffing etc. These guys are going on the list with oca, which is another underwhelming S American crop, for me at any rate.

MoneySeeker1

I like oca personally - but that's another thing that didn't seem to work out for me this year. Will try again some time.

Meanwhile - I've got mashua growing and the plant itself is going ballistic - which I assume means I'll get quite a few tubers come the end of this year.

From another corner of the globe - I did manage to get some edamame beans to germinate - and the plants are looking pretty healthy - so fingers crossed - as I've found it literally impossible to buy organic edamame beans of any description in this area. Hence growing my own.

Think I'm beginning to get the hang of Caucasian Spinach and, hopefully, it'll start going everywhere (as per promise) come next year. Only had limited amounts so far.

Basically - if it's unusual and there's any chance it might grow in a small garden in Wales - I'm interested in giving it a try.

Davesnave

Yes, I like Oca, and if they cropped properly on my soil I'd grow them, but in the polytunnel and outdoors they have been pretty useless. It's the same with many unusual veg; they are either marginal in production or underwhelming in taste, which is why they're unusual. Generations of expert gardeners have already worked out what grows well in the UK, so it's probably best if those with small plots keep the experimentation limited to one or two things a year and focus most of their efforts on tried & tested fruit and veg, which is expensive or harder to find in shops.

MoneySeeker1

I follow the logic of that - but I personally don't see the point of growing "basics" (eg potatoes, onions, carrots, etc) in only a small plot. Those things are easy enough/cheap enough to buy and there's no difficulty in getting them even in a more rural location (ie with way restricted food choices compared to what I'm used to personally).

Definitely in the "food is a much more reliable source of pleasure etc than people are" school of thought. One can take precautions to protect yourself against things getting to your food - like sticking up protective netting over it or, as per yesterday, thinking "Agh! I can see a group of caterpillars on my watercress" and steeling myself to duly remove/stomp on them (admission time - I don't carefully relocate them to a sacrificial plant nearby - I just belt them one!).

Hence the unusual stuff - to make sure I can get stuff that is barely/if at all available here. 

The other thing I'm conscious of is that  one of Britain's national top foragers showed me years ago that he grows some "wild edibles" in his garden and hence I grow some of them too - as that's one way to get stuff that's had to learn to "beat off predators" over the centuries - and ensure it hasn't been ruined by nearby chemical use, dogs, heavy traffic, etc, etc. I figure that, since it can manage to "look after itself" in the wild (if left alone by humans and dogs) then it won't take much care in my garden (unlike some of our cossetted pampered modern-day plants).