(Nick Maclaren) wrote in
:


In article ,
Victoria Clare writes:
| I'm wondering whether to give this a go this year. Chiltern has
| seed, and www.futurefoods.com has tubers.
|
| Is it worth growing? Anyone here growing it? The suppliers reckon
| it is mostly hardy, and as I am in Cornwall I could take the chance
| - but on the other hand my garden looks straight North to Dartmoor,
| and there was still frost on the lawn at lunchtime....

Unless it tastes a hell of a lot better than the tropical ones, no.

That excludes the problems that the claimed hardiness is for very
well-drained soil and probably low night temperatures only, and
that it may well need more heat and light to grow than we get.

I think they are growing it up near Holsworthy at the Plants For A Future
site there, and my soil is certainly well drained - better than muddy mid-
Devon anyway.

It may rain all the time here, but the drainage is impeccable, as you'd
expect next door to a gravel quarry. We get a lot of fog, but the ground
doesn't go soggy. Ferns love it...

You might like to have a go at Stachys affinis ("Chinese artichoke").
I tried it, and it isn't bad as a nibble, but doesn't like dry
summers.

Hmm, thanks. Will consider. Those roots do look alarmingly like maggots
tho!

Victoria