Plant views: The Asparagus Pea (Tetragonolobus)
The asparagus pea is a decorative and unusual vegetable you don’t often see. For some reason very few people seem to be growing it in their edible gardens. Why is a mystery to me. The asparagus pea is also called the winged pea because the seed pods sport wing-like ridges that run the length of the roughly two to three-inch long edible pods on four sides. The Latin name, Tetragonolobus purpurea, refers to these four-lobed seed pods and the deep scarlet, pea-type flowers produced by the plant.
Asparagus peas rarely reach more than 10 inches tall and can spread two feet wide. Thought to originally have been native to northern Africa and naturalized all over the Mediterranean region, they like plenty of sun and thrive remarkably well under hot, dry sun or warm humid conditions. They also accept soils less rich than most vegetables.
One of the most decorative vegetables with its brilliant colored little flowers, the asparagus pea shows off well in flower gardens as well as decorating vegetable gardens. Crop the pods as they develop. Serve them steamed, boiled, fried, stir-fried and used in just about any recipe that calls for beans or peas. They have a faint asparagus flavor. Mature peas have been used as a coffee substitute and the cheerful, red flowers are edible, too.
Since asparagus peas aren’t all that well known, you are not likely to find them as started plants. But you can buy seeds. They germinate easily. They do best with a long growth season. In low or no frost areas they can be planted in the autumn and will grow very slowly over the winter. They can also be planted in the early spring. Being in the legume (pea) family, their roots will help enrich your soil with nitrogen. Crop them while they are small – less than two inches – while they are tender. Pods that grow too large and tough can still offer seeds to be used like any other dried pea or bean.
Decorative, tasty and nutritious, the asparagus pea is a fun addition to the edible garden and deserves to be grown more often. You will also find these unusual vegetables referred to as ‘winged peas’ or listed as Lotus tetragonolobus.
Grow Tomatoes Decoratively
Just because tomatoes may be one of the top favorites for home vegetable growers, just because home grown tomatoes taste better than store bought, just because tomatoes are much healthier without commercial chemicals and are much fresher when cropped from the garden — these are not the only reasons to grow tomatoes. You can grow tomatoes decoratively to add color and texture to your garden — vegetable garden or flower garden. You can cover an unsightly shed or block an undesirable view with tall vines. You can decorate a balcony or patio with ornamental containers filled with these colorful fruits. (Yes, tomatoes are indeed “fruits”.) Clothe naked stairways with hanging pots or fringe the edge of an overhang with cascading tomatoes. You can even grow tomatoes upside-down as a space saver or conversation piece. Because tomato plants can grow in so many habits – climbing, trailing or bushy — the ways to grow them decoratively are limited only by your imagination.
There are many ways to design with tomatoes in containers or directly in the soil. In addition to where you grow your tomatoes, you can make them more decorative by how you grow them. Put them in ornate cages of twisted, painted metal wires or accent a tropical or Asian garden theme by building cages with bamboo sticks into geometric shapes. Set tomato plants into colorful ceramic pots or march them along a long wall planter held in place by rocks or patterned bricks. Edge a balcony with gaily colored troughs filled with tomato plants or spill them out of window boxes.
Tomatoes themselves can be decorative. There are so many sizes, shapes, colors and forms that you can paint your own pictures with the fruits you are growing. Consider ‘Banana’, ‘Golden Egg’ or ‘Hartman’s Yellow Gooseberry’ for brilliant yellow tomatoes in different shapes. Look for ‘Hawaiian Pineapple’, ‘Dixie Golden Giant’, and ‘Tangerine’ for oranges and ‘Dutchman’, ‘Mortgage Lifter’, and ‘Soldacki’ for examples of pink tomatoes. Or try ‘Black Cherry”, Black Krim’, or ‘Black Brandywine’ for deep purples. Then, of course, there are lists upon lists of red tomatoes to choose from. Some of the heirloom tomatoes come with stripes, speckles, swirls or blends of multiple colors. Drape cascading tomatoes, stake tall eight-footers and create hedges with medium-sized plants.
Tomatoes can mingle in the flower garden, too. Tall ones can form a backdrop for blooms and ornamental foliage in your favorite garden bed. Mixing vegetables in with flowers and shrubs can be made artistic and will supply edibles for people who don’t have room or simply don’t want to have a separate vegetable garden. Herbs and tomatoes make fine companions so you can also add herbs tot he flower garden or pop in some tomato plants into the herb garden.
The herb garden can be a comfy home for tomato plants, too. Basil is a favorite companion of the tomato both in the kitchen and in the ground. The height and breadth of tomato plants can complement the smaller growing chives, thymes, oreganos and majorams whereas the colorful flowers of rosemary, lavender, borage and so many others will harmonize with the yellow tomato blossoms to cheer up an herb garden.
Growing your own plants will reward you with tomatoes that will far surpass the generic mass-market tomatoes in flavor and nutrition. And you may even become a culinary expert as you discover the wide variety of flavors that come with the different looks of your tomatoes.
Tomatoes are easy to grow in pots or in the garden itself. If you haven’t started your favorite varieties from seed during the winter, you’ll still find an exciting selection in retail centers. So, have fun growing tomatoes this year. And grow them decoratively in whatever space you choose.
How to grow edible onions (Allium)
Bulb onions (Allium cepa) are easy to grow and are a great crop to plant in the vegetable garden. These are the common round onions we know from the grocery store as opposed to non-bulb onions like scallions or leeks. Scallions, ‘bunching onions’, or ‘green onions’ are those long thin onions that do not form big bulbs at the root. And leeks grow tall with big flat green leaves and an elongated white stem that is the prime part for use in cooking. There are a number of other onion plants you can also grow that form small bulbs or even stay tiny and form clusters like chives. Onions are tasty and healthy foods that do not take up a lot of space in the vegetable garden. All kinds grow well in the Southern California area if they are given reasonably rich soil and plenty of water. Here are some tips on how to plant onions in the vegetable garden.
Onions are usually planted in the spring or autumn. They are commonly started by one of three methods: seed, seedlings or sets (for bulb onions). You can actually plant them during the winter in any of these forms, too, if you live in a mild winter climate.
Seeds of bulb-forming onions do best in an area with a long summer like ours because they have time to form good-sized globes. This is the most inexpensive way to plant them. Seed them in rows and thin them to about one plant for each 4″. Unlike some other parts of the country, we don’t have a problem with the onion fly here. You can choose from many different varieties of reds, yellows and whites. The standard yellow varieties will produce onions with the longest storage capabilities.
Seeds are also easy to grow for other types of onions. Leeks (Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum) are best started in a small area where the seedlings can all reach 4 – 8” tall before being transplanted. The best way to transplant leeks is to trim the roots of the seedlings and drop each plant in a 6 – 8” hole made by a dibbler or other stick-like tool. Do not fill in the hole with soil, but do water the young plants in. The hole will help blanch the stems as the leek seedlings grow bigger and fill in the space.
If you buy young plants of any kind of onion to transplant from pots or 6-packs or you start your seeds indoors, planting instructions are pretty much guided by the same rules as seeding directly in the ground. Plant them about 4 – 6″ apart in rows. Leeks can also be grown at the same spacing, but they will be easier to dig when ready if you leave a little more space between plants or larger spaces between rows so you have more room to insert the shovel. For all onions transplants other than the leek, plant just the rooted base, leaving the long thin grass-like tops free of soil. In Southern California, autumn is the best time to plant seeds since you want them to be strong enough to over-winter and have a long season to grow. Spring is the best time for transplants. But you can also plant either at any time of the year, though the cooler seasons are better than in the heat, especially in the hot, inland areas.
Planting from sets is probably the most universally easy and safe way to grow dry bulb onions. You can buy the little bulbs (that were grown from seed already) from garden centers in autumn, winter and spring. These, too, should be spaced in rows at 4″ – 6″ intervals. Just press the very bottom of the bulb into the soil: don’t bury it. You may have to replant some little onions occasionally as they can get dislodged by birds.
Plant your bulb onions, leeks and scallions in rich soil and full sun and make sure they get regular water. Onions are easily grown and a great staple of the home vegetable garden. I like to inter-plant my bulb-forming onions with lettuce since the lettuce will be cropped by the time the weather starts to warm and the bulbs begin to swell. This way I get more growing out of a limited space. Scallions make nice border plants in the vegetable garden. If you don’t harvest all your scallions or green onions, the remaining plants will form clumps and can be grown on from one year to the next.
Although I haven’t seen it mentioned elsewhere, leeks that go to seed (flower) or bolt before you can crop them are also best left in the ground. The flower shoot that grows up inside the long stem will ruin the leek texture so I’d advise not cropping the plant at all. If you let the blooming leek remain and die back in the summer, you will get one or more plants sprouting for next year. The second year’s leeks will likely be a bit thinner, but will still be great for cropping and eating – so long as you harvest them before they start flower spike formation.
You may also want to plant chives. The regular chive has a pretty pink flower and makes a decorative, low profile plant. The garlic chive has a flat leaf and taller panicles of white flowers that are very decorative in the garden. Both types of onion chive offer leaves to be snipped for salads or cooking during most of the year except the in middle of the winter when clumps of the miniature bulbs die back into dormancy.
These are the most common kinds of onion to grow in the garden. They are heavy feeders and like lots of organics dug into the soil and regular feeding. Give them full sun and they will grow easily with little likelihood of pest damage. You can also try some other members of the onion family like Egyptian or Walking Onions, pearl onions, Italian round onions, shallots and garlic. All are easy, tasty, nourishing and fun to grow!
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