Could you contact the produce persons in your grocery stores, and see if
they can obtain them for you? You might find one that has that capibility.
Once you have the tubors in your possession, you should be able to grow your
own "slips" from them, to plant later.

Dwayne

"sw" wrote in message
...
A friend's description of these (in short, delicious and easy to grow
even in Dunedin (South Island, very wet climate)) has left me wondering
whether they'd be worth trying in Britain. Googling reveals an
alternative name is 'oca', _Oxalis crenata_,[1] and that they originated
in South America.

Has anyone tried growing them here? Are the tubers available?


regards
sarah



[1] Presumably a relative of that 'orrible pink thing...

--
Waist deep, neck deep
We'll be drowning before too long
We're neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the damned fools keep yelling to push on

Dwayne wrote:

Could you contact the produce persons in your grocery stores, and see if
they can obtain them for you? You might find one that has that capibility.
Once you have the tubors in your possession, you should be able to grow your
own "slips" from them, to plant later.

Possibly, although I'd have to find a store selling *seriously* exotic
vegetables :-) I could also investigate the possibility of airmailing a
half dozen tubers from NZ, but I wondered whether anyone had already
tried to grow the things.
I'm a vegetable novice; even if I acquired some I'd probably kill the
resultant plants...

regards
sarah


--
Waist deep, neck deep
We'll be drowning before too long
We're neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the damned fools keep yelling to push on

Dwayne wrote:

Could you contact the produce persons in your grocery stores, and see if
they can obtain them for you? You might find one that has that capibility.
Once you have the tubors in your possession, you should be able to grow your
own "slips" from them, to plant later.

Possibly, although I'd have to find a store selling *seriously* exotic
vegetables :-) I could also investigate the possibility of airmailing a
half dozen tubers from NZ, but I wondered whether anyone had already
tried to grow the things.
I'm a vegetable novice; even if I acquired some I'd probably kill the
resultant plants...

regards
sarah


--
Waist deep, neck deep
We'll be drowning before too long
We're neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the damned fools keep yelling to push on

In article ,
sw wrote:
A friend's description of these (in short, delicious and easy to grow
even in Dunedin (South Island, very wet climate)) has left me wondering
whether they'd be worth trying in Britain. Googling reveals an
alternative name is 'oca', _Oxalis crenata_,[1] and that they originated
in South America.

Has anyone tried growing them here? Are the tubers available?

I am trying them this year, mainly in my polytunnel. I know them
under the name oca, Oxalis tuberosum, but you know what names are.

Incidentally, Dunedin isn't all that wet, but does have a very similar
climate to the south of England. For real wet, try Fjordland :-)

I can't remember where I got them from, but it was posted on this
group some 6-12 months back. They were pricey.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
sw wrote:
A friend's description of these (in short, delicious and easy to grow
even in Dunedin (South Island, very wet climate)) has left me wondering
whether they'd be worth trying in Britain. Googling reveals an
alternative name is 'oca', _Oxalis crenata_,[1] and that they originated
in South America.

Has anyone tried growing them here? Are the tubers available?

I am trying them this year, mainly in my polytunnel. I know them
under the name oca, Oxalis tuberosum, but you know what names are.

Incidentally, Dunedin isn't all that wet, but does have a very similar
climate to the south of England. For real wet, try Fjordland :-)

I can't remember where I got them from, but it was posted on this
group some 6-12 months back. They were pricey.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Dwayne wrote:

Could you contact the produce persons in your grocery stores, and see if
they can obtain them for you? You might find one that has that capibility.
Once you have the tubors in your possession, you should be able to grow your
own "slips" from them, to plant later.

Possibly, although I'd have to find a store selling *seriously* exotic
vegetables :-) I could also investigate the possibility of airmailing a
half dozen tubers from NZ, but I wondered whether anyone had already
tried to grow the things.
I'm a vegetable novice; even if I acquired some I'd probably kill the
resultant plants...

regards
sarah


--
Waist deep, neck deep
We'll be drowning before too long
We're neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the damned fools keep yelling to push on

Dwayne wrote:

Could you contact the produce persons in your grocery stores, and see if
they can obtain them for you? You might find one that has that capibility.
Once you have the tubors in your possession, you should be able to grow your
own "slips" from them, to plant later.

Possibly, although I'd have to find a store selling *seriously* exotic
vegetables :-) I could also investigate the possibility of airmailing a
half dozen tubers from NZ, but I wondered whether anyone had already
tried to grow the things.
I'm a vegetable novice; even if I acquired some I'd probably kill the
resultant plants...

regards
sarah


--
Waist deep, neck deep
We'll be drowning before too long
We're neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the damned fools keep yelling to push on

In article ,
sw wrote:
A friend's description of these (in short, delicious and easy to grow
even in Dunedin (South Island, very wet climate)) has left me wondering
whether they'd be worth trying in Britain. Googling reveals an
alternative name is 'oca', _Oxalis crenata_,[1] and that they originated
in South America.

Has anyone tried growing them here? Are the tubers available?

I am trying them this year, mainly in my polytunnel. I know them
under the name oca, Oxalis tuberosum, but you know what names are.

Incidentally, Dunedin isn't all that wet, but does have a very similar
climate to the south of England. For real wet, try Fjordland :-)

I can't remember where I got them from, but it was posted on this
group some 6-12 months back. They were pricey.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
sw wrote:
A friend's description of these (in short, delicious and easy to grow
even in Dunedin (South Island, very wet climate)) has left me wondering
whether they'd be worth trying in Britain. Googling reveals an
alternative name is 'oca', _Oxalis crenata_,[1] and that they originated
in South America.

Has anyone tried growing them here? Are the tubers available?

I am trying them this year, mainly in my polytunnel. I know them
under the name oca, Oxalis tuberosum, but you know what names are.

Incidentally, Dunedin isn't all that wet, but does have a very similar
climate to the south of England. For real wet, try Fjordland :-)

I can't remember where I got them from, but it was posted on this
group some 6-12 months back. They were pricey.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick Maclaren wrote:

In article ,
sw wrote:
A friend's description of these (in short, delicious and easy to grow
even in Dunedin (South Island, very wet climate)) has left me wondering
whether they'd be worth trying in Britain. Googling reveals an
alternative name is 'oca', _Oxalis crenata_,[1] and that they originated
in South America.

Has anyone tried growing them here? Are the tubers available?

I am trying them this year, mainly in my polytunnel. I know them
under the name oca, Oxalis tuberosum, but you know what names are.

Incidentally, Dunedin isn't all that wet, but does have a very similar
climate to the south of England. For real wet, try Fjordland :-)

I can't remember where I got them from, but it was posted on this
group some 6-12 months back. They were pricey.

The ones Nick is describing, O. tuberosum are available from from future
foods and other good suppliers. They grow fine in London, not very big
though.

See useful suppliers at:
http://www.geocities.com/j_warham/Horticultural.html


Yes website is terrible... I know I know;-) Update is somewhere in the
pipline.. SOmetime... Maybe... When I get around to it;-)
//
J

How easy is it for you to get sweet potatoes? You might practice on them
first and when you have done it successfully, try it on the yams. Sweet
potatoes need a long growing season, which I dont have. However, I have
learned that the big ones arent nearly as good tasting as the smaller ones.
I dig them in October before the first frost, and make the best of what I
get. Both sizes last in the celler for a long time (I still have 18 that I
grew last year, and this is the end of June).

If you are interested in trying, contact me and I will let you know what I
was told to do to get them started.

Dwayne


"sw" wrote in message
...
Dwayne wrote:

Could you contact the produce persons in your grocery stores, and see if
they can obtain them for you? You might find one that has that
capibility.
Once you have the tubors in your possession, you should be able to grow
your
own "slips" from them, to plant later.

Possibly, although I'd have to find a store selling *seriously* exotic
vegetables :-) I could also investigate the possibility of airmailing a
half dozen tubers from NZ, but I wondered whether anyone had already
tried to grow the things.
I'm a vegetable novice; even if I acquired some I'd probably kill the
resultant plants...

regards
sarah


--
Waist deep, neck deep
We'll be drowning before too long
We're neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the damned fools keep yelling to push on

In article ,
"Dwayne" writes:
| How easy is it for you to get sweet potatoes? You might practice on them
| first and when you have done it successfully, try it on the yams. Sweet
| potatoes need a long growing season, which I dont have. However, I have
| learned that the big ones arent nearly as good tasting as the smaller ones.

Eh? Since the small, orange ones have replaced the large, whitish ones
in the UK, I have virtually stopped eating them! The former are sickly
sweet, with a slightly slimy texture, much like butternut squash. The
latter are less sweet and much more floury.

| I dig them in October before the first frost, and make the best of what I
| get. Both sizes last in the celler for a long time (I still have 18 that I
| grew last year, and this is the end of June).

Where is that? You would have a job doing that in the UK, because
they have 0-100 days growing season, depending on locality. It
isn't the frost that is the issue, but the coldness of the days.

We have trouble even with the hardier squashes, in many years.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick Maclaren wrote:

In article ,
"Dwayne" writes:

[-]

| I dig them in October before the first frost, and make the best of what I
| get. Both sizes last in the celler for a long time (I still have 18 that I
| grew last year, and this is the end of June).

Where is that? You would have a job doing that in the UK, because
they have 0-100 days growing season, depending on locality. It
isn't the frost that is the issue, but the coldness of the days.

We have trouble even with the hardier squashes, in many years.

I am fascinated by the differing performances of my assortment of
peppers.

regards
sarah



--
Waist deep, neck deep
We'll be drowning before too long
We're neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the damned fools keep yelling to push on