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Grow & eat
Lost crop of the Incas
Posted by: Adam Pasco, 11 July 2007, 08.58AM
At last my achocha have been planted... later than I wanted, but time has been against me and I didn't fancy getting soaked in a July deluge! (Call this global warming?). I love the way unusual crops, like achocha, always get visitors to my garden talking. It's claimed to be a 'Lost Crop of the Incas', although whether anyone can prove this I don't know.
My seed comes from the Heritage Seed Library, a collection of unusual, old and heritage vegetable seeds run by Garden Organic. Members can choose six packets of seeds from the collection each year, and a couple of years ago achocha caught my eye. This unusual rampant climber, with the Latin name of Cyclanthera pedata, is unlike anything I've ever grown.
Sown in 7cm pots of compost in my warm greenhouse in April the seeds germinated readily, sending up long shoots carrying tendrils that catch onto anything close-by for support. Achocha isn't hardy so I waited until conditions had warmed up before planting out at the base of my fence and fan-trained plum. It forms quite a thicket, with stems growing 3-4m long by the end of summer, so it does need a bit of space. Tiny white flowers will form on the stems that developed into fat green pods. Picked small I throw the whole pod into stir fries, but when they grow larger I split them in half and remove their hard black seeds.
Achocha doesn't have a very distinctive flavour but does add a satisfying crunch to Thai and Chinese dishes. I cook it lightly, in the same way I do pak choi or other oriental greens. It's intriguing to know exactly where some of the crops we grow come from. I've certainly been getting more adventurous with my crop selection, both in the greenhouse and outside. Family favourites always take priority, which for my family include the widest range of salad leaves possible; lettuce, spinach, pak choi, mizuna, beetroot, watercress, parsley and chives, as well as tomatoes, beans, courgettes and new potatoes. Although I've tried growing them, I haven't had much success with either sweet potatoes or soya beans, but this is probably more to do with weather conditions than my gardening prowess (honestly!). Still, it's always worth trying something new. Perhaps my rooted pineapple top will soon produce fruit too!
Comments
Toni Lee McCulloch
24 July 2007, 09.07AM
Alison Mortimer
24 July 2007, 01.02PM
Bernadette kerbey
01 August 2007, 06.07PM
Adam Pasco
03 August 2007, 12.56PM
Ken Wright
09 September 2007, 11.12PM
Jose Heraud
16 November 2007, 02.06AM
Manuela Maeder
09 March 2008, 02.32PM
cannyatton
19 April 2008, 06.38PM
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