James Wong's Homegrown Revolution

James Wong's new book is now out which is something of a celebration of growing your own produce. As this is usually an exotic/tropical garden blog you may be wondering why we would be reviewing a book about growing your own food. Well the reason is simple: James' book concentrates on unusual and exotic plants for crops, many of which would make excellent choices as ornamental plants for a tropical style garden, not just on the dinner table!

Decaisnea fargesii, we have grown this for a number
of years but never considered eating it

The book concentrates on 80 or so of the unusual, but edible plants that James has been growing in his own garden over the last couple of years, as he has personally grown and eaten these its his own experiences that come through rather than being a re-hash of other peoples knowledge. Not only that but many of the selections in the book are plants you would not normally consider eating (dahlias, daylilies, dandelions, plus lots of plants not beginning with the letter D as well, such as cannas and even ferns).

Each plant includes a how to guide, with tips and tricks on how to grow as well as harvest and eat the plants, plus a number of more detailed recipes through out the book.

Exotic plants and exotic food in one place... that's a combination I can certainly live with!!

Cucamelons (Melothria scabra)

One of several plants that I fancy adding to the garden next year are Cucamelons (Melothria scabra), a vine from Central America, with a number of fun common names including my personal favourite, the mouse melon. Cucamelons are a little hardier than cucumbers but still should only be planted after frosts have finished. They scramble and climb for up to 2 to 3 meters, and produce plenty of the small mouse melons in the photo. 

I must admit I didn't know that originally Dahlias, were first brought to the UK as a food plant, not for the large showy blooms we now know them for. They were cultivated by the Aztecs as a food plant for many years, and according to the book are still a popular food in Mexico even today. For eating them, James recommends growing the large "cactus" varieties you can get from any normal garden centre. These apparently produce much better tubers to eat. However as a word of caution, many years of breeding them for flowers has meant the taste have been neglected. Some have a Jerusalem artichoke kind of taste and others are simply "rather waters, bland and with a bitter taste".

As for eating there's a variety of ways of consuming dahlias, James suggests roasting them rather like parsnips. To be honest I think I'll stick to growing them for the flowers, but with so many other plants to try I'll give some of them a go.

As well as plants normally associated with their flowers there's also plenty of suggestions of plants more commonly eaten, such as sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas). We have grown these for their foliage before in the garden, and in fact there are a number of cultivars available for interesting foliage.

Another suggestion I think I will give a go next year is the Peruvian mint marigold (Tagetes minuta) which James likens the foliage to the look of marijuana (Cannabis), although I think there are a number of plants more closely resembling that particular 'weed'. However this does have a lovely form and foliage, and I think would look great in our garden next year. To eat this it can be chopped finely and use to accent the flavour of a tropical fruit salad. 

Tagetes minuta (image from Wikipedia)

Whilst the main theme of the book is about growing plants to eat I enjoyed this for the suggestions of interesting plants, many of which were new to me. Most of the plants are not just edible but also extremely ornamental, and being unusual as well would fit right into our garden. Well worth adding to your reading list even if you don't normally grow edible plants.
James Wong's Homegrown Revolution is available from all the usual book shops, but with it being the festive season we have two copies of his book to give away. 

To enter simply answer the following question:

Where did James train?

a) Kew Gardens

b) New York Botanical Garden

c) Singapore Botanic Garden

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Terms and conditions: This competition closes at 23.59 on 15 December 2012. Any entries received after this time will not be counted. Entrants must be UK residents aged 18 years or older to enter. By entering this competition you agree and consent to your name being published and by taking part in the competition, entrants are deemed to have read, understood and accepted all of the Terms and Conditions and agreed to be bound by them. The winner will be selected at random from the correct entries and will be announced here on the blog. Please make sure we are able to contact you if you do win, as we will need to arrange for your prize to be sent to you.