Product Description
1928 Vintage Veg RHS offer
Whilst rifling through a 1928 Franchi Seed catalogue last season at HQ in Bergamo with Giampiero Franchi (the 7th descendent running the brand since 1783!), he said that people don’t appreciate some of these older varieties which are still commonly used in Italy, that we should re-introduce people and sing their praises. Its not only a question of lost flavours, but its important to keep these varieties going as so many have gone by the wayside, yet for the sake of biodiversity it is also important. So what WERE we growing here in 1928? Here are a few from that catalogue and they would all have been grown here at the time, even in those times there was a good trade of seed from Europe and from around the world. In fact, if you wanted to recreate a British walled kitchen garden from around that period and these varieties were not included, then it would not be a true representation.
CUCUMBER SENSATION – A Victorian variety which my 1929 Italian sowing manual suggests should be grown in Northern Italy which has a similar climate to the UK, very damp and of course much colder in the winter - “to have early cucumbers, its recommended to sow them in a glass covered frame with a hot-bed underneath”. A hot bed was made of straw, organic matter and compost which would decompose and heat up, so much so that steam could sometimes be see escaping. They could accelerate the production of certain vegetables by weeks in some cases. English cucumbers were particularly sought after and varieties such as Sensation were highly prized as Italian cucumbers are more closely related to melons and are more rustic and not as good quality.
PERPETUAL SPINACH – Aka ‘Erbucce’, perpetual spinach is the colloquial name given to green Swiss chard. My 1929 manual says “use only the leaves on this variety, like spinach, as the stalks do not develop like other chards”. The problem of course with spinach is that it bolts in the heat, which chard does not do, hence the ‘Perpetual’ nature of it. It is not as earthy as other Swiss chards either, remembering that chard is related closely to beetroot which is even more earthy in flavour, so you have a long season of large leaves you can use to replace spinach in your recipes.
ROUND RED ONION TROPEA – From Calabria, this variety is considered so sweet that it can almost be eaten like an apple. It was around the early to mid 1800’s that it started to be used outside of Calabria and it started also to be traded in other countries. It is the king of red onions without doubt, featured last year by Stanely Tucci in his excellent BBC2 series ‘Searching for Italy’ and previously by the Hairy Bikers in their Mediterranean Adventure series where they called it ‘the best onion in the world’. Sow in the spring for the autumn and the autumn for the spring in seed trays, transplanting the shoots outside like you would onion sets. Amongst other things, it will make a superb onion marmalade.
NEAPOLITAN FLAT LEAF PARSLEY – Larger leafed, good flavour, Parsley has been used since Roman times and before not only to enhance simple dishes, but to treat the digestive system and urinary system in particular. Many medicines of the time came from herbs and plants and some still do today, morphine and aspirin spring to mind. It has a long harvesting season as it tolerates cold well and is wonderful to use in both Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes. My family are from Piemonte and we use parsley most of all with chopped eggs with homemade golden yellow mayonnaise, or as ‘Salsa Verde’ a sauce made with cooked mashed egg yokes, chopped parsley, anchovy, garlic, stale bread, olive oil and vinegar and seasoning. This is often served as an accompaniment with meats and in omelettes.
Buy all 4 for ust £10 posted, a saving of £4.95
