( fromOrto Italiano ! , by Rick Gush , page 2 of 2 )
start an Italian Garden
Italy is a large and diverse body politic , and the typical methods of growing vegetable crops are likewise various .
Making an “ Italian ” garden in the United States is just a matter of selecting a few of the classical Italian crops that appeal to your taste , and any Italian garden will certainly be different from the neighbor ’ .
There are a heavy number of glasshouse and seeded player catalog in the United States that offer plant life and cum of Italian vegetable varieties . One of the best iswww.growitalian.comthat features seeds from the Franchi seed company in northern Italy , which is the dominant brand in Italian nurseries .
Another notable site iswww.italianseedandtool.com , where a very nice selection of Italian veggie seeds is uncommitted .
One more iswww.gourmetseed.com , which offer a huge choice of Italian varieties .
Italian Landscape Chic
Not all the fashionable flavoring plant in Italian culinary art come from the veggie garden .
olive , job , laurel , pine nuts and saffron are all authoritative feel in Italian cookery , and have these flavorer plants somewhere in the landscape is an Italian tradition . Any of these five plants can be easy grow in many expanse of the United States as well .
LaurelThe leaves from laurels , known as Laurus nobilis trees in the United States , are added to most soups and sauce , and because these trees are so widespread , the leaves are more often harvested than buy . Lauris noblis is the most unwashed coinage in Italy . In the western United States , the California bay Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ( Umbellularia californica ) has a similar flavor .
CapersCapers are another common Italian seasoning . While most Italians bribe their antic , those who are fortunate enough to have a few caper plant growing out of a rock bulwark somewhere will harvest the flower buds before they open up and heal them in vinegar or salt . Capers ( Capparis spinosa ) arise well in cheery , well - drained locations .
OlivesMaking your own preserved olives is laughably easy , if tedious . In most parts of the United States where olives originate , they are landscape painting trees , and the fruit is look at undesireable . More citizenry should reap this urban yield and apply it .
Pine nutsThe big cones can be intimidating when they come crashing down , but it ’s a definite treat to live near Pinus pinea , from which come most of the pine junkie in Italy . The statuesque Maritime pine are everywhere , and pine nut case are added to pastry dough detail , as well as being a central ingredient of pesto . Most of the scrubby pinon pine tree of the Unites States also make gracious pine screwball .
SaffronIn some arena of Italy , the saffron crocus crocus grows wild or almost wild , and gardeners in these areas can harvest the flyspeck stamen to make their own orange yellow flavoring . Saffron crocus ( Crocus sativus ) is not a wild coinage but the result of century of domesticated selection in the easterly Mediterranean . In the United States , orange yellow cultivation was common until recently among the Pennsylvania Dutch .
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This article first appear in the July / August 2009Hobby Farms .
