Wild garden

[SatanicFlatIron]

A few years ago I dug a 3x2m square in the condominium garden and populated it with wild plants that I enjoyed recognizing in nature and transplanting. Not being protected I had some "intrusions" from some elderly people (poisoning, unwanted pruning...), but now fortunately I managed to get a space that, having a net and a high step, should be more difficult to reach the problem is that it is 100% in the shade, and therefore this year too no vegetables. So I recovered a lot of herb seeds from the cellar and today I sowed them in the various sectors. Many are old seeds, so I don't know what will come out. The funny thing about wild plants is that I never have to water them, they are completely autonomous, and often die and then grow back the following years. Pesticide-free cultivation.

This is the old space, where I left only the flowering laurel (unfortunately pruned to make it "beautiful", it was a powerful 3m monster after 5 years ) and the helichrysum.

This is the new spartan space (lol it looks like it came out of a war), where I transplanted these wild ones along the edges: three-cornered garlic (Allium triquetrum), golden wild strawberries, wild garlic (Allium ursinum), garden star-of-Bethlehem, lemon balm, sorrel, wild fennel; and these non-wild ones: valerian, savory, 4yo arctic basil, parsley, tatsoi, mizuna.

I also sowed these wild ones: perennial wall-rocket, a wild garlic collected in Montenegro, marigold, tassel grape hyacinth, black caraway, vine garlic (Allium vineale), witch's garlic (Allium carinatum), red poppy, milk thistle, borage; and these non-wild ones: red chicory, coriander, dill, red shiso.

Finally, here are some photos of the garden and wild herbs from past years: green and black wood sorrel, Aquilegia vulgaris, blue and pink borage flowers, garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), ragged-robin, purslane, Jupiter's sage, wild thyme.

Some species are reborn, others are unsuitable and just passing through, others are preyed upon by insects. It's always very nice to see what comes out the following year.

For now the new wild garden is very bare, but I trust that it will be populated in the next few months. I use almost all the herbs in the kitchen, if you also collect them do not hesitate to post your recipes and advice

 

[CaneDog]

That's awesome, SF! You have some cool plants in there. It looks like the soil quality is pretty good too.

I hope the intruders stay away now!

 

[SatanicFlatIron]

It looks like the soil quality is pretty good too

Thanks! A few years ago I started throwing in the soil from the pots of the previous year's chili peppers, with the roots removed, instead of throwing it away. The soil underneath is terrible, basically moss, rocks and clay although some native plants like wild garlic seem to like it

 

[hmartin]

Love the macro bee photo!

 

[Tinkerbelle]

I love your wild garden and have serious envy - keep posting pics

 

[SatanicFlatIron]

Many thanks! It will take a while before I have some plants.

In the meantime I'll post this: pasta with wild fennel (a typical Calabrian dish, with some twists).

Dissolve the anchovies in olive oil and chili powder (red and yellow annuum and aji limon).

Chop the three-cornered garlic (Allium triquetrum), the wild fennel and some sour apple.
Brown slightly with raisins and breadcrumbs.

Cook the spaghetti "al dente" (ALWAYS 2 minutes less than the indicated time!) and garnish with breadcrumbs, fresh apple and the wild garlic flowers.

 

[Tinkerbelle]

wow looks and sounds delicious, can I come over for dinner?

 

[CaneDog]

Looks fantastic. Save me a seat too!

 

[SatanicFlatIron]

You are all always welcome!

All the plants have stabilized and started to grow

flowers on the wild strawberries

three-cornered garlic in full bloom (these are just outside the garden, they grow everywhere)

and this... looks like a fig... I ask fig experts @CaneDog and @NJChilehead what it is. I didn't expect there to be a fig there , and I fear that as it grows it could cause problems (mainly: the usual old man cutting it or starting to spray things on and around it). At the same time I would hate to eliminate it

 

[CaneDog]

and this... looks like a fig...

Wow, it sure does! - not that I'm any fig expert What an unexpected surprise. Your little garden's really becoming something neat.

 

[NJChilehead]

Wow, it sure does! - not that I'm any fig expert What an unexpected surprise. Your little garden's really becoming something neat.

Same here, definitely not an expert, but it sure does look like a Ficus!

 

[SatanicFlatIron]

Let's do some magic with wild garlic

One part fermented with criolla sella and green annuum. After 5 days the pH dropped to 4.3, they are already excellent pickles, but I'm waiting for it to drop below 4 to put them in the fridge.
I ferment in an old-school way (semi-open environment), but always with a weight on top

The other part went into the pan with fennel sausage, chicory catalogna and brasileira tres lobos (typical dish of the Apulia and Lazio regions, but with some twists). Once ready it is a complete dish, balanced between sweet and bitter, but it can also be put in a sandwich, or used for a pasta. In this case I used organic whole wheat fusilli (you can see the quality of the pasta by the fact that it is rough).

Since I had the energy to ferment, I'm trying to make sauerruben with red beets. Actually I wanted red turnips, but strangely in Italy they both call them "rape rosse" so I made a mistake when purchasing. No problem, I try to ferment everything anyway I used some pimenta da Neyde to give an extra kick to the flavor. The evolution of the texture is very nice to see, we will see the flavor