On the plot - Italian vegetables
Why not try something new in the vegetable garden this year? Italian vegetables have grown in popularity in recent years faring well in the UK climate. There are three we’d recommend if you wish to dip your toe in the ‘l’aqua’.
Cima di rapa is the immature flower head of a turnip-like root, slightly resembling a fine broccoli. Normally as gardeners we’re trying to prevent vegetables from going to flower but in the case of cima di rapa that's just the thing we want to happen. Seeds can be purchased with varieties that produce their heads quicker or slower than others. 40- to 150-day varieties are available. They can be sown from March onwards. An Italian will tell you it’s the longer maturing ones that are said to have better flavour.
Agretti is an unusual vegetable that is useful as both a salad and a vegetable. Braised or raw and dressed with olive oil and garlic it can make a wonderful addition to seafood dishes. The flavour is grassy, some say bitter, with a juicy texture.
The seeds when sown fresh germinate readily. The plant itself looks like bushy chives though that’s where the similarity ends. It can be picked young but is best left to form a plant of around 30cm high.
Agretti is sometimes called Barba di Frate, sometimes Roscano, but by any other name would taste just as good.
Fagiola Lamon is a climbing borlotto bean that is traditionally used in Pasta e fagiola. With big seeds it is a simple bean to grow and should be grown up a wigwam of poles like runner beans - they’re just as tall! The wonderful red-speckled pods are incredibly attractive and can be eaten young as whole pods or left to mature enabling the seeds to be harvested. Straight from the plot the beans in their pods can be taaken to the kitchen ‘demi-sec’ - half dry - while older pods left on the plant can be harvested in autumn to provide dried beans for storing.
