Samphire (Salicornia europaea) is one of the on-trend vegetables these days, being featured on fine dining menus and heralded by chefs on TV’s Masterchef and the Great British Menu.
Growing wild on salt water estuaries, it is only available for a few weeks of the year, harvesting is by foraging and its collection highly regulated. Commercial production appears to be from Israel or foraged in the UK and supply is unreliable. It sells for £15-£35 per kilo.
Due to my love of cooking and growing and the regular unavailability, along with the wish to reduce air miles and carbon footprint, I decided it must be possible to grow. Here I share my experiences of growing samphire over the past three years in a 6x3ft cold greenhouse in inland Somerset.
GROWING FROM SEED
Seeds are available from a number of seed companies. I tried for two years to germinate with no or limited success. What I did learn was that to germinate successfully the compost needs to be treated beforehand for at least one month with the watering mix used all year round.
This is per 5 litres of tap water or water butt water:
This story is from the March 2020 edition of Kitchen Garden.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 2020 edition of Kitchen Garden.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
SEPTEMBER SPECIALS
This month, with sweetcorn, figs and blackberries on the menu, Anna Cairns Pettigrew is not only serving up something sweet and something savoury, but all things scrumptious
FLAVOURSOME FRUIT AUTUMN RASPBERRIES
September - is it late summer or the start of autumn? David Patch ponders the question and says whatever the season, it's time to harvest autumn raspberries
SOW GREEN THIS AUTUMN
Covering the soil with a green manure in winter offers many benefits and this is a good time to sow hardy types, says KG editor Steve Ott
A HISTORICAL HAVEN OF FRUIT AND FLOWERS
KG's Martin Fish takes time out from his own plot to visit a walled garden in Lincolnshire which has been home to the same family for more than 400 years
RESTORING THE BALANCE
The phrase regenerative gardening is often heard in gardening circles, but what is it? Can it help you to grow better veg? Ecologist Becky Searle thinks so, and tells us why
WASTE NOT, WANT NOT
Garden Organic's Anton Rosenfeld shares his expertise on using compost made from green bin collections with handy tips on getting the right consistency and quality
Celebrating Organic September!
In this special section we bring you four great features aimed at improving your crops and allowing nature to thrive
SEEING RED
Do your tomatoes have a habit of remaining stubbornly green? Or perhaps you're lucky to enjoy lots of lovely fruits - just all at once. Either way, Benedict Vanheems is here with some top tips to ripen and process the nation's favourite summer staple
NEW KIDS ON THE BROCCOLI!
Rob Smith is talking broccoli this month with a review of the different types available and suggestions for some exciting new varieties to try
A NEW kitchen garden
Martin Fish is getting down to plenty of picking and planting on the garden veg plot, while Jill is rustling up something pepper-licking good!
