[Swing Swang]

ok - so I'm lucky enough to find myself on Crete. From a veg point of view the diet is absolutely amazing. Loads of foraging goes on and some of the field greens have wonderful flavours. I think that 'vita' is amaranthus but should be getting some seeds from the wife of the restaurant owner, I haven't got a clue what 'goula' is - but I've been given some plants which Ill photograph once back in the uk, And also stmanagathi which I know is Cichorium spinosum and which has a great bitter taste. Maria from the garden centre gave me a plant and implied that it grows all the year round (not sure if that actually means that it is frost hardy though). So does anyone have any experience of growing any ofThese? Opinions before iFly back would be interesting.

Regards.

SS

[mumofstig]

'vlita' is amaranth Greek's also eat black nightshade stifno(not the berries obviously)with the vlita to balance the flavours. it's good with saltfish. There is also a plant Mirona that looks like parsley, but tastes quite different -kind of aromatic
and you are right about the amaranth  

[sarajane]

If you enjoy the starter they have in Crete  'Greek Big Beans', you could grow those.  I came back with a kilo to cook with,and planted a few last year. I bought them loose from a local shop over there.  They grow like runners but just leave them on the plant till the end of autumn, dry them then cook them.  Delish with a tomato sauce.

[Spud Spencer]

You can grow stamnagathi in the UK. It's best to sow in a tray and prick out seedlings into modules before planting out or plant straight into the ground, as germination for stamnagathi seed (available in many garden centres etc in Greece from various seed companies) can be erratic. Sowing it this way you can plant a neat row or two. Best to sow the seeds in June, which means that you avoid the plant's tendency to flower in early summer and you get a sturdy tap root established before winter, which will help the plant survive until Spring. The leaves die back and reappear around April. You can take several harvests in the growing season (Spring to early winter). You cut the whole rosette growing out of the tap root and it will grow back (frequently as many rosettes growing out of a single large taproot). If you let a few plants to flower you will also get the characteristic spines, pretty blue flowers, and lots of new seed for the next season. I have plants without any winter protection coming up for the third year now. It helps to grow them in a raised bed though for ease of weeding and for telling the plants apart easily from native weeds. Myroni is chervil and it is also very easy to grow; you can have chervil all winter from one sowing in August. Radikia (the various rosette-leaved chicories eaten widely in Greece throughout the winter) are also easy to grow (and can give several harvests) but they don't survive the winter without protection in the UK climate.