Re: [gardeners] skirret
Margaret Lauterbach (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Thu, 09 Apr 1998 07:16:31 -0600
At 07:25 PM 4/8/98, you wrote:
>At 06:44 PM 4/8/98 -0600, you wrote:
>>Okay, I have seeds for skirret, a garden perennial root veggie. To call
>>them seeds is an exaggeration. They look like a pinch of soot. I know
>>you're supposed to mix fine seeds with sand for sowing, but I think these
>>skirret seeds could all cling to one grain of sand. Does anyone have an
>>alternative method of sowing such fine seeds? thanks very much, Margaret
>>
>>
>How about just shaking them out over the area you want to plant and then
>transplant when they get larger? Or don't they transplant well? And what
>the heck is skirret and what nation is it from?
>
>By the way, how long does it take for Chinese Yam to come up? I'm getting
>worried that the blankety-blank squirrels might have gotten them when
>Sleepy Dawg wasn't on duty.
>
>George
>
It takes quite a while, George. Stop watching the pot, and they'll come up
eventually.
Shake the skirret seeds? A pinch of soot will shake? It dumps, George. I
don't think they transplant well. It's a root vegetable, imported from
China a few centuries ago according to Vilmorin-Andrieux, and widely grown
in Europe a few centuries ago. It grows like dahlia roots, clustered and
growing down. The roots have a woody core that should be removed, but the
roots are supposedly sweet, and you can start new plants from cuttings.
they're used in the same ways as salsify and scorzonera. I just read the
complete Vilmorin report, though, and think I'll try to start them in the
greenhouse. Still don't know how to avoid dumping the seeds. Margaret