Oikos sent out a new newsletter today. Lots of new food plants, including some new cultivars of dandelion!

http://myemail.constantcontact...

Wow man....I was looking around on the rest of that site. Some really awesome stuff. Chufa (Tiger Almond) is a tuber that grows like clumps of grass. It's root is ground to make horchata. http://goo.gl/S3y2M

dandelion is being studied for its ability to trigger apoptosis (suicide) of cancer cells.

Im searching Oikos for medlar trees. I wonder if they grow in my zone, and do I want one or two?

I had to go to their website to find it. They still don't say if its appropriate for my zone.

http://oikostreecrops.com/stor...

According to the entry at PFAF, it is hardy to zone 6.

http://www.pfaf.org/user/plant...

Buying Chufa.

its hardy, but how far south can you grow it. Also need chilling requirement. Maybe they don't know since its not widely grown.

Looking for low chilling requirements...I have a local source that may have fruits that do well in your zone hazelnut.. .www.rsigrowers.com specializing in low chill root stocks.

I am guessing that the Medlar doesn't require chill hours to bear. You should contact Oikos and ask; I'm sure they can confirm.

Thanks Milkmood. I decided to check out some of the graft specialists for this area, but I found that they mostly specialize in a limited group of fruit trees. Joyce Neighbors for example, has been collecting and propagating Alabama antique apple trees. Ill keep looking.

I did find an article about medlars here:

http://www.rootsimple.com/2010...

According to the article, they wont grow in L.A. but they have been grown by the Dave Wilson Nursery (California). As someone in the comments said, the best thing to do is try one and see if it grows. Sometimes finding the right microclimate can take you out of your zone!

Recipe for dandelion greens:

http://healinggourmet.com/Reci...

Should be receiving my Oikos order within the hour. Can't wait.

What all did you order? I hope you take photos, if you own a camera. I've never ordered from them and I'd love to see what the order looks like.

I ordered a Southern Pecan (Sacred Forest Southern Improved) sapling... stated 6-12", but it's about 16".

I ordered 1 hops (no strain specified, though there are hundreds), they sent 2.

I also ordered a 25 pack of tiger almond (Cyperus esculentus var. sativa) tubers. They're a lot smaller than I expected.

Everything came in moist and green (the hops and pecan have leaves). Roots well handled in shipping. Came UPS, took 5 days from Michigan which was a bit of a concern coming to Phoenix, but it all looks pretty good.

I already stuck the pecan and hops in pots, so I'll get pics in the AM.

Pics as promised.

Chufa aka Tiger Almond (cyperus esculentus var. sativus)



Hops (humulus lupulus var. unknown). Two pots. The near pot stayed supple overnight, the far pot with 5-6 vines seems to have not taken to a happy transplant yet. Nursing.



Southern Pecan (carya illinoensis var. florida) 'Sacred Forest'

Added pic of Chufa bulbs to database

Also added the Southern Pecan 'Sacred Forest', which wasn't in there. Once approved, I'll add the pic to that too.

Those Chufas look nice. It doesn't look good for that one hop vine but fortunately you have two of them. They can be aggressive plants, easy to grow!