|
|
Post by cortona on Apr 17, 2010 14:18:55 GMT -5
i have read somewere that water chestnut is easy to grown also in little pond and is good flawored, i'm looking for it here in italy and probably i have finded a source but i need to waith until the next flower exposition to meet the vendor .
have anybody any tips or anybody have some corm to share?
thanks
Emanuele
|
|
|
|
Post by mnjrutherford on Apr 17, 2010 15:18:50 GMT -5
Excellent selection! I've never tried to grow it but it is available fresh in most Asian markets. I purchase it occasionally in cans. It's a round (ping pong ball size) "nut" that you peel, slice or dice, and add to various dishes. I particularly like it in stir fries. It does not have a lot of flavor, it has a TON of crunch. I look forward to hearing of your experience with this plant!
|
|
|
|
Post by blueadzuki on Apr 17, 2010 16:39:54 GMT -5
Around where I live, water chesnut can cover two very different plant's the "true" water chesnut Eleocharis dulcis which is the round one in the cans, and the water caltrop (Trapa bicornis, and other species) with its vaugely demoic looking horned fruits. Of the two I personally prefer the round one which is indeed crunchy, the Trapa is much starchier (more like a tree chesnut) . Ironically if this were fifty odd years ago, you'd proably find the Trapa types all over the place as they appernt a commony grown water crop over most of Europe and were stabilized in the wild in many places. however climate change an water pollution have made it rather scarce in recent years, so I have heard.
|
|
|
|
Post by raymondo on Apr 17, 2010 17:41:08 GMT -5
I quite like water chestnut raw. It has definite coconut tones to my palate. There is some growing in a pond nearby. I'll have to check to see if there are any corms there. Are they harvested in autumn?
|
|
|
|
Post by cortona on May 2, 2010 7:30:49 GMT -5
i think yes raymondo, autumn arvest and spring replant, if you in future have some corn to share i'm realy happy, i hope to find it in italy but is ard, aka commercialy unavaiable or similar.
yep the book were i find it talk about the coconut undertones and the crunchyness and this attract me a lot!:-)
Emanuele
|
|
|
|
Post by flowerpower on May 4, 2010 6:10:07 GMT -5
Around where I live, water chesnut can cover two very different plant's the "true" water chesnut Eleocharis dulcis which is the round one in the cans, and the water caltrop ( Trapa bicornis, and other species) with its vaugely demoic looking horned fruits. I had no idea they grew wild. I gotta check to see if they are established this far North. I think it would be cool to grow. |
|
|
|
Post by blueadzuki on May 4, 2010 8:53:29 GMT -5
Around where I live, water chesnut can cover two very different plant's the "true" water chesnut Eleocharis dulcis which is the round one in the cans, and the water caltrop ( Trapa bicornis, and other species) with its vaugely demoic looking horned fruits. I had no idea they grew wild. I gotta check to see if they are established this far North. I think it would be cool to grow. They are (or were) naturalized in Southern Europe (i.e. where cortona to whom the comment was directed is located) I have no idea if that applies to where we are living. That being said I'm fairly sure that Trapa bicornis (or at least its more wild relative, Trapa natans (smaller nuts four prongs instead of two) are native to our respective region (at least to my part) since I used to find large quanties of empy natans shells on some of the beaches on the Hudson (I'm talking though of at least 10-15 years ago) and they mist have come from somewhere However I'm not sure growing those is a really good idea, I think the USDA classifies T. natans as a pretty invasive water weed which can easily clogs waterways and the seed capsules hurt like hell when you accidentally step on them, worse on natans since the four spikes are set perpendicualrly so there one poking up no matter how the seed is stilling on the ground (or why its called the water caltrop) |
|
|
|
Post by bobinthebul on Sept 4, 2010 13:34:52 GMT -5
Trapa natans is a common plant ponds in N. Turkey, and it's known in Turkish as water chestnut as well (su kestanesi). I wish Eleocharis dulcis grew here! From what I've read on it, it requires around seven frost-free months to produce a crop, so we might just be able to pull it off here. If I could get the fresh tubers. Which I can't. But maybe if my friends from Singapore pay an early spring visit...
|
|
