Asparagus Peas

One of my new experimental crops I'm trying for the first time this year are Asparagus Peas.  They have these lovely deep red blossoms that result in a very interesting looking peapod.

Researching on the web, they are a sort of poor man's asparagus as they are said to have a similar flavour and consistency and don't require a trench or a 3 year wait for the first harvest.  Just cook in butter with a little salt.  I'm not sure they taste like asparagus, but an interesting pod nevertheless.

Their seeds are sown directly in their growing position late May.  I planted them at the base of my peas so that I had something new to take over when the peas died back.

I've had a reasonable yield from them if compared to the pea harvests, but I think they are more suited to a larger plot than grown in a container.

However, in their favour, they have continued to crop when other harvests have dwindled in our not particularly disappointing British summer.

A very interesting novelty crop to experiment with as the pods look so interesting and the flowers so pretty.  It's always fun having something new to experiment with in the kitchen.

Maybe a good one to try with children as they can be sown outdoors, are quick to germinate and have their curious looking pods.

The virtues of growing Chard

 
I feel the need to extoll the virtues of chard as it is such a great vegetable for the hungry gap while you wait for the other crops to get started.

It looks good too.  Very lush looking leaves and if you invest in the "bright lights" variety http://www.organiccatalogue.com they even add beautiful coloured stems to the garden.  They can even be mixed in with the ornamentals for their richly coloured stems and their proud bouncy looking leaves.

They are a biennial and survive our cold winters.  So while nothing else is growing in the garden the chard will still be soldiering on.  They do prefer a sunny position but if you are short of space they will grow in the more shady areas of your growing space.

For the kitchen, the leaves can be eaten young (when about 2 inch long) in salads or they can be allowed to grow bigger and steamed a la spinach style.  In my container garden I am growing them in a rectangular trough and am going for eating them as a salad crop.  Every 3 days I have a fresh crop  of cut and come again leaves to make into a delicious salad - Now that's what I call reliable!!  And they are jam packed with lots and lots of vitamins, even more so if you eat them within minutes of picking.  I like to mix them with chopped salad onions.  I recently tried them in a fritatta and they worked really well (here's the recipe Fritatta with chard).

They grow incredibly happily in small containers making them a patio gardener's best friend.  Last year (the first time I sowed some seeds of chard) I grew them in a recycled portabello mushroom container and they are still growing strong (germination April 2010).  This was my first introduction to this eager lush vegetable and I have never been disappointed!

Working on the One Pot Pledge stand for Garden Organic a few weeks ago, children had the choice of potting up rocket or chard and the majority chose to pot the chard to take home with them.  So that just goes to show it's not just me, kids love it too!

Some chard recipes:
Chard and Calendula Salad
Chard Fritatta