It’s cold, snowing, and blowing, so I am doing what any sensible
gardener does in January – drooling over catalogues. Goodness, they are dangerous!
Two plants that have really caught my interest are a
kale-broccoli hybrid called Purple Peacock, originally developed by Wild Garden
Seed, but now available in many locations. Here is their description:
Sweet purple stems,
toothy red veined leaves that will make you think it’s Red Russian kale. Young
leaves are salad-rate, and mature leaves are as sweet as any lightly steamed
kale. Floret stems erupt first as loose heads of broccoli, followed by
prodigious side shoots. These are sweet and non-biting as raw “dippers” and
salad additions. This “eat everything brockali” comes from crosses between
‘Green Goliath’ broccoli and two kales. Farm Original Variety!
 |
| Purple Peacock - pic from http://www.wildgardenseed.com/product_info.php?products_id=185 |
What I like the most about this is that I have found that
broccoli takes up an inordinate amount of space in the garden for what you get
– but this clever plant means that you get to pick kale-like leaves AND harvest
broccoli all from the same space. I
can’t wait to try it. Plus, it’s very
decorative (although this is less a factor for me, since I usually keep
floating row covers on my garden all summer, which puts the kebosh on
“ornamental edibles”).
The second plant is the golden pea. I
have always stuck to peas that don’t need trellising in the past, and have been
happy with the yields, but there is something about the elegance of the unusual
golden pea pod in combination with the purple flowers that just made me
cave, despite its 6' growth. Plus, reviewers have mentioned the
productivity and the deliciousness of the peas.
 |
| Golden pea, picture from http://www.territorialseed.com/product/14308/214 |
So, now I need to
figure out a suitably elegant (and preferably DIY) trellis on which to train
them. I’m intrigued by the idea a willow
trellis (we have lots of shrubby willows up here in wetland areas, which I can
use).
This one is quite elegant:
 |
| http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/intro/0,,20296527,00.html |
 |
| http://www.growingwithplants.com/2010/04/spring-sprouts-in-living-color.html |
Here's another nice possibility
 |
| http://bosaverncommunityfarm.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html |
No comments:
Post a Comment