From garden to table – an Egg and Chips update

I have finally dug up my Egg and Chips – a grafted aubergine and potato novelty plant from Thompson and Morgan. Nestled among the roots were around 750g of potatoes (above) - not quite as many as I’d hoped for, but still, for a newbie potato grower, a good crop - while the stem produced a lot of flowers, and four large aubergines. These were not at all bitter, and didn’t need salting. Three disappeared into moussaka, while the largest had pride of place on the table this evening, stuffed and baked according to this BBC recipe. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/lamb-stuffed_aubergines_99219

Delicious!

Growing potatoes

I’ve just harvested my first-ever crop of salad potatoes.

I hadn’t known what to expect. Three Jazzy seed potatoes were planted on the patio in March, each in a small black polythene bag (provided by Thompson and Morgan).  In mid-June, the foliage yellowed and died, so I cut it down. Then I emptied one of the bags and was delighted to discover that one potato had become about 20 of a size large enough to eat, plus a lot more that hadn't got much bigger than peas. The Thompson and Morgan website talks about 80 tubers from one seed potato, so maybe I didn’t water them enough. 

 Anyhow, there’s enough from that bag for several meals, and I have yet to investigate the two other containers.

More about Jazzy at:
http://www.thompson-morgan.com/vegetables/potatoes/second-early/potato-jazzy/t56501TM

£500 Reward for Gardeners

Have you spotted something unusual amongst the plants in your garden? Has something come up in a different shade or with different blooms or fragrance to what was expected? If so, you could be in for a windfall from Thompson and Morgan.
A few seasons back, a gardener in Suffolk noticed an unusually short and compact foxglove, with blooms appearing in whorls all around the stem. The seeds were sent to T and M, and now 'Primrose Carousel' (left) is available for everyone to enjoy.. 

The company says it will pay £500 or more for each new plant that makes it into their range. Among the successful plants which have emerged in this way are Marigold ‘Mr Majestic’ (above) and Nasturtium ‘Flame Thrower’ (below).

The company is also looking for new vegetables. One tomato now on sale, Sungella, emerged when a gardener tried  crossing the small-fruited, extra-sweet tomato Sungold with a larger type.

Details are on the Thompson and Morgan website, http://www.thompson-morgan.com/discover-new-plants
along with instructions on what to look for and how to cross-pollinate.

So keep a close eye on what emerges over the next few months. You could be on to a winner.

A genuine green carnation

It's always interesting to see what plant breeders have been working on, and these unusual flowers really caught my eye at a recent show. They’re actually carnations - ‘Green Trick’ (Dianthus barbatus) from Thompson and Morgan. The buds open into spheres the size of golf balls, and are said to last 4 – 6 weeks as a cut flower. New in the UK for 2012, they’d be great for flower arrangements and buttonholes. (Oscar would have gone wilde about them.)

http://www.thompson-morgan.com/