|
|
Post by ottawagardener on Jan 17, 2012 19:09:22 GMT -5
My experience with asparagus peas was that they were low yielding but pretty but some spot disease kept them from reaching their full potential in my new place. For me there were a bit of an "meh" crop.
|
|
|
|
Post by canadamike on Jan 17, 2012 23:12:04 GMT -5
They have never been very productive for me either, and I lived for 32 years in the same area as Ottawagardener.
They were pretty much a no no for me too, no time to loose on a crop that would not feed 2 mices.
As much as I love and cherish biodiversity, I need to eat too, and that is the purpose of my garden.
If I was living way south of here, I would try much harder growing them.
|
|
|
|
Post by stevil on Jan 21, 2012 5:08:06 GMT -5
I grew asparagus peas a few times about 40 years ago and am going to grow them again this year. From what I can find online, no one has developed any improved forms. However, a book suggests there may be some. Suzanne Ashworth, in Seed to Seed, seems to have mixed them up with the tropical ones (which I ate in Borneo as Four-Angled Beans), but does have the description and growing conditions correct. She wrote: "Asparagus pea, one of ten subspecies of Psophocarpus tetragonolobus, ........ the plants are unlikely to be blooming at the same time of in the same climate as winged bean ................. Asparagus peas are frost tolerant annuals that can be fall planted in temperate climates for early spring harvest ..........Members of the Seed Savers Exchange annually offer about 6 varieties of asparagus peas, and the Garden Seed Inventory lists sources for 10 varieties." I am not a member of SSE (and won't join since it is such a bother sending seeds into the U.S.) Can someone who is a member verify that there are different varieties of it? Hi Diane (W?): Good to see you here! I'm a member and don't recall ever having seen varieties anywhere. Last year there were 3 people listing Asparagus Pea in the Yearbook and 2 varieties of Asparagus Bean are also listed. Stephen |
|
|
|
Post by stevil on Jan 21, 2012 5:18:34 GMT -5
I've also done a historical search of the SSE Yearbooks and no varieties have ever been offered. It was first offered in 1984 by a John Wyncoll of Bolton, England..........
|
|
|
|
Post by stevil on Jan 21, 2012 5:27:46 GMT -5
Incidentally, in Cornucopia II, Asparagus Bean is the main name given to Vigna unguiculata ssp sesquipedalis (aka Yard-long Bean)! The latin name for Asparagus Bean is not given. However in the on-line searchable version it seems to be equated with Yard-long Bean (Vigna)
|
|
|
|
Post by blueadzuki on Jan 21, 2012 7:53:31 GMT -5
Also note that a lot of places that do offer aspagus pea still use the old name, Lotus tetragonolobus
|
|
|
|
Post by diane on Jan 21, 2012 10:28:24 GMT -5
Thank you for looking up that information.
I will try to get wild seeds from various places to see if some have longer or more numerous pods.
The perennial Lotus maritimus, which has yellow flowers and non-winged pods, is often offered in several of the alpine seed exchanges. I think I'll grow that one too, and cross them. Always good to have some perennial vegetables.
Diane W.
|
|
|
|
Post by diane on Feb 11, 2015 19:34:12 GMT -5
In 2013, GRIN very generously sent me seeds from Cyprus, Israel, Morocco and the Czech Republic. I also bought seeds
from Prairie Garden Seeds. I had no crop from the GRIN accessions, and only a couple of pods very late in the season
from the Saskatchewan seeds.
Last year I sowed the rest of the seeds and got no pods at all.
I did a lot better when I was a teenager. Has the climate changed that much in 60 years?
|
|
