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Gardening resources and tips, etc.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Stokey Sue » Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:29 am

I’ve not heard of tomatillos being toxic either, as ZC says most of the noise on the internet seems to be from people with no expertise, just urban myth

New Zealanders round here are obsessed with the things, and in NZ they are a common farm and garden crop so I searched NZ sites and found nothing about toxicity; similarly the official USDA sites mention tomatillos as a way of increasing the variety of fruit and veg and a good source of vitamin C
https://snaped.fns.usda.gov/seasonal-pr ... tomatillos

Clivia, that’s the word Suffs!

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby PatsyMFagan » Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:32 am

I only know Clivia as very different looking (indoor ?) plant .... :oops: :roll:

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Badger's Mate » Wed Sep 15, 2021 10:06 am

The 'toxic tomatillo trope' was something I'd not heard of either. Having just looked at a few sites online it does seem to be nonsense.

Tomatoes were known as 'wolf peaches' and regarded with deep suspicion when they were a novelty. Maybe some folk in the States regard anything Mexican as dodgy, not even a wall can keep them out. I'm sure a mistrust of 'foreign muck' isn't exclusively the preserve of our parents' or grandparents' generations. We regularly eat plant parts containing small amounts of toxic stuff; I read somewhere years ago that onions and nutmeg contained traces of hallucinogens, never mind the obvious ones like rhubarb and spinach or members of the Solanaceae. Lots of plants are defended by chemicals to deter grazing, if these are distasteful we either don't eat them or breed them out to low concentrations.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Suffs » Wed Sep 15, 2021 10:32 am

Tomatoes were regarded as poisonous when they first came to the UK
I suspect that at some time they’d been confused with the fruits of their cousins the potato plant … especially as many of the early types were the ‘potato-leaves’ type of tomato.

Afraid the K name was applied to several of the ‘lesser’ S African lilies … because they were garden varieties of the more ‘refined’ hothouse versions.

The garden plant we knew as Schiziostylis had its name changed to Hesperantha coccinea a while back. It’s sometimes called the Crimson or Red Flag Lily and the Scarlet River Lily… but of course they’re not all red.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby KeenCook2 » Wed Sep 15, 2021 12:25 pm

Interesting - I recall from my macrobiotic days that tomatoes and I think potatoes were frowned upon, also aubergines? I think it was mid-late 70s I got into all that. Brown rice, brown rice and more brown rice, with tamari ( :lol: Sue)

I also remember an extremely heated thread on the old BBC board about the K word - it was news to me, I'd led such a sheltered life :D and at that point I'd not even heard of the unfortunately named limes! Limes were just limes and that was it!

Ha, re "Frozen North" BM, I guess E Herts isn't quite north of Watford Gap - which defines the frozen north for some of us towny/surrey/southerners :lol: :lol:

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Earthmaiden » Wed Sep 15, 2021 12:35 pm

I believe that in some circles that nightshade vegetables (of which tomatillos are one) are still frowned upon but in others, the claims that were made against them have been dispelled (easy to look up if you can be bothered!)

I can't keep up with modern language faux pas either :oops:. I'd feel awful offending others but am reminded of ex MIL when she was in her 90s using what was, by then, the most awful language in public in front of the wrong people - in her heyday it would have been acceptable. I always fear I might end up like that :? :?.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Suffs » Wed Sep 15, 2021 2:12 pm

A friend who used to eat with us quite regularly had a problem with any veg from the solanum family as they seemed to exacerbate her rheumatoid arthritis quite badly … I used to enjoy the challenge of producing a variety of three course meal for her and other guests with no potatoes, tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, chillies etc.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Earthmaiden » Wed Sep 15, 2021 2:43 pm

That's interesting Suffs. it really is true for some then and not something that should be dismissed.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Stokey Sue » Wed Sep 15, 2021 3:50 pm

Earthmaiden wrote:That's interesting Suffs. it really is true for some then and not something that should be dismissed.


Sample of one proves nothing except one sane person believed its

The Arthritis Foundation says it's not likely to be true
http://blog.arthritis.org/living-with-a ... arthritis/

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby KeenCook2 » Wed Sep 15, 2021 3:57 pm

As a Rheumatoid Arthritis sufferer since my mid-20s, I can safely say that I've never been affected by any members of the solanum family!

As friends on here will know, it is a completely different matter for MSG, which I avoid at all cost!

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby scullion » Wed Sep 15, 2021 4:35 pm

KeenCook2 wrote:
Ha, re "Frozen North" BM, I guess E Herts isn't quite north of Watford Gap - which defines the frozen north for some of us towny/surrey/southerners :lol: :lol:

i think it's rather a good way south of watford gap - which is nearer birmingham and close to a village in nottinghamshire, also called watford.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Suffs » Wed Sep 15, 2021 4:59 pm

Interesting … she was a published research biologist and had carried out pretty extensive dietary exclusion tests (overseen by a dietitian in Oxford) over several years to come up with a diet that enabled her to resume the guided hikes in the back of beyond in various countries, that she regarded as holidays. She was a very tough cookie and didn’t suffer fools gladly … she eventually left her UK life to live and work in Southern France and we lost touch … (I really couldn’t be doing with her new chap :shock:)..

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby KeenCook2 » Wed Sep 15, 2021 5:41 pm

scullion wrote:i think it's rather a good way south of watford gap - which is nearer birmingham and close to a village in nottinghamshire, also called watford.


That's interesting, scully, I never knew there actually was a village of the same name, although when I was trekking up and down the country as a jobbing muso we often met up at Watford Gap to share cars - one of us would park there and pick up the car on the way back.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby slimpersoninside » Fri Sep 17, 2021 8:51 pm

We're trying to get our daughters garden into better order. It's been left to fend for itself for a few years and there are a few things in the border that have got a bit out of hand and untidy.
Neither I nor hubby are big on gardening (both born & bred in flats) so knowledge is in short supply ;) .
The first thing I think we need to do is try and identify the plants that are there and hopefully work out how to get them in better order.

So, can anyone identify any of the following please.

IMG_20200522_122347513-800x600.jpg
Number 1
IMG_20200522_122347513-800x600.jpg (140.78 KiB) Viewed 2776 times


IMG_20200522_122333475-800x600.jpg
Number 2
IMG_20200522_122333475-800x600.jpg (152.74 KiB) Viewed 2776 times


IMG_20200522_122330031-800x600.jpg
Number 3
IMG_20200522_122330031-800x600.jpg (125.98 KiB) Viewed 2776 times

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby slimpersoninside » Fri Sep 17, 2021 8:54 pm

One more, it didn't fit on the original post

IMG_20200522_122314018_HDR-800x600-800x600.jpg
Number 4. The light green one in the front
IMG_20200522_122314018_HDR-800x600-800x600.jpg (113.91 KiB) Viewed 2775 times


Thank you.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Stokey Sue » Fri Sep 17, 2021 10:20 pm

Nice big garden, I can’t obviously identify anything

If any of you has a smartphone can I suggest getting a plant identification app? Not so you don’t have to ask us, but for instant results, and conveniently a good one should record the answers for you, or at least be able to repeat the search easily

https://youhadmeatgardening.com/best-pl ... ation-app/

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Suffs » Fri Sep 17, 2021 11:17 pm

I don’t have a lot of faith in plant ID apps … on the GW forum we frequently come across misidentifications by apps. Just five minutes ago I identified a plant on the GW forum which several apps had said was all sorts of things … it’s nothing more obscure than a hebe.

Posting photos on the Gardeners World online forum is the best way to get a firm ID … but I’m afraid we’d need clearer photos than those … we need at the very least to be able to see three or four leaves on a twig pretty clearly.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby slimpersoninside » Sat Sep 18, 2021 10:38 am

Thanks Sue, I'm not really much of an app person but will get hubby to look into them.

Thanks Suffs, I did wonder if the photos would need to be better. I shall try and pop over this week and get some better ones. Hubby is the photographer so will set him the task, he's been after a bit of a project - not sure this is what he meant though ;) . I've just been using my phone camera for a few snaps, it's not got a great camera.

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Suffs » Sat Sep 18, 2021 11:13 am

Take a look on here to see the sort of pics needed etc. https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussions :)

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Re: Gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby PatsyMFagan » Sat Sep 18, 2021 11:18 am

I think the one with the white flowers is Spiraea Arguta'Bridal Wreath' and the light (lime?) green one (with pink flowers? ) could be Spiraea Japonica ... so if you google them, you should be able to confirm

As Suffs said, we need clearer photos...

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