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1/3/2014

Perennial Plant Profiles

21 Comments

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PictureHablitzia tamnoides, Caucasian spinach
We can think of at least 180 great forest garden & perennial crops for cold climate Sweden.  Want to hear about them? Over the course of the next year we will profile 5 a week on the blog. Perennial plants and crops offer a low energy, oil & resource input based foundation for future-proof agricultures. By default if an agriculture is to be called regenerative the bottom line is that it must be soil building, not soil depleting. Relentless deep tillage & poor soil husbandry (wifery?!) contributes to the majority of the 24 billion tons of topsoil lost every year on planet water.  We are going to be focused on holistic polyculture grazing and perennial production at ridgedale over most of the site as this represents the most effective way to restore our degraded landscape, produce high value produce and ensure the future resource base we are managing holistically for in our decision making. 

Picture
Genus Hablitzia 
Species tamnoides
Common Name Caucasian spinach
Form herbaceous
Habit clumping
Origin Europe
Light part
Moisture mesic 
Edible greens, shoots

Hablitzia tamnoides, the sole species in the genus Hablitzia, is a herbaceous perennial plant, native to the Caucasus region. It is in the family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Betoideae, related to Beta, but unlike that genus, is a vine, climbing to 3 m or more tall in summer.

Stephen Barstow, a local expert on perennial plants (whose book is coming out soon) wrote; 

Hablitzia tamnoides is a woodland climber from the Caucasus region that has in recent years become one of the most sought after vegetables amongst permaculturists and enthusiasts of forest gardening. However, until just a few years ago it was a rather obscure plant grown by a few botanical gardens in Europe and a handful of Scandinavian gardeners; that this plant should be one of the most productive and tasty vegetables would certainly have seemed unlikely. Why should this plant be “discovered” in Scandinavia? Well, the plant was originally introduced to gardens in Finland, Sweden and Norway as an attractive climber around 1870. It took only a few years for people to discover that the leaves were also edible. The plant never became very popular, but was grown in some of the biggest manor house gardens of the day. 

We have not so far been able to find any reference to the use of Hablitzia as a wild edible in its home territory in the Caucasus, although this may be because there have been few studies of wild food traditions in this region. Relic plants from the original plantings have survived to this day in particular in Finland and Sweden witnessing its hardiness. Thanks to the efforts mainly of Leena Linden at the University of Helsinki, seed has been collected from several of these surviving plants and deposited at the Nordic Genetic Resource Centre in Alnarp, Sweden (Nordgen). 

Hablitzia tamnoides is found particularly in spruce and beech woods in its native environment, among rocks and in ravines and along rivers. Hablitzia is named in honour of Carl Ludwig Hablizl, a naturalist from the 18th century who was also vice-governor in the Crimea. The epithet tamnoides refers to its resemblance to Black Bryony (Tamus communis), a native found in southern England and further south in Europe. Black Bryony is also a climber and its leaves are very similar in appearance to Hablitzia. In antiquity, the young shoots of Tamus were apparently preferred to asparagus and they are still used today in various spring dishes in several Mediterranean countries (they should, however, be cooked) 

My oldest plant is now 8-9 years old and produces over 100 good tasting shoots very early in spring and these can be cut at about 5-10cm (later just the tips of the shoots are used), this stimulating the plant to produce more shoots. I’ve harvested 2 or 3 times before I let the plant get on with its life. It has an incredible growth rate early in the year, climbing to 3m in just a few weeks. I have grown many perennial edibles here and I know no other edible which is anywhere near as productive so early in the season. Use the young shoots in all dishes for which one would have used spinach – in soups, pies, pizza, indian and oriental dishes etc., it’s also great in spring mixed salads. 

In Sweden the plant is called Rankspenat, whereas here in Norway it is Stjernemelde. In Finland, look for köynnöspinaatit and Kaukaasia Ronimalts i Estonia. Caucasian spinach was the English name adopted in an article I wrote for Permaculture Magazine a few years ago (see http://www.hagegal.info/innlegg/media-diverse-store-filer/media-stephen-h.php), but Scandinavian spinach and climbing spinach have also been used. I have also grown wild-sourced seed (from Georgia) and the plants are quite different from the Scandinavian type with smaller flowers, red, not green stems, they seem less hardy and seed seems more difficult to germinate. Perhaps this variety may turn out to be better adapted to milder climates? It certainly seems that the Scandinavian type has adapted over time to our climate. Search for this species in the most important reference works on edible plants (e.g. Ken Fern’s Plants for a Future and Stephen Facciola’s Cornucopia II: A Sourcebook of Edible Plants) and you won’t find it! Neither is it currently listed by the comprehensive Royal Horticultural Society’s Plant Finder (www.rhs.org.uk/rhsplantfinder/plantfinder.asp) nor is it in The European Garden Flora (with 17,000 taxa). Plants and seed are now offered by various seed saver organizations including the Norwegian Seed Savers (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_131302060257210&ap=1) and I’ve listed seed at Seed Savers Exchange in the US for the last couple of years. 

It is also soon to be available as plants in European nurseries as I’ve supplied seed to several over the last couple of years. Although Hablitzia doesn’t have large showy flowers it is in my experience definitely a plant that gets noticed, so I also classify it as an edimental (edible ornamental). Botanically, Hablitzia belongs to the Goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae) and is the only species in its genus (monotypic). It is therefore related to other well known vegetables such as beetroot, swiss chard, spinach, and garden orach (Atriplex hortensis), to the South American grain crop, quinoa (Chenopodiun quinoa), and the herb epazote or wormseed (Chenopodium ambrosioides) used in Mexican cuisine. Good King Henry (Chenopodium bonus-henricus) is also frequently cultivated as a spinach plant in herb gardens and wild collected in Mediterranean countries, but it is poor in comparison with Hablitzia in its usefulness (productivity) as a spinach plant and tastes too strong for my liking. 

Finally, there are a number of wild herbs and weeds which have long been used for food, such as fat hen (Chenopodium album) familiar to gardeners, sea beet and hastate orache (Atriplex hastata), both commonly found near the sea. I hope that members share their experiences and pictures here so that we can collectively get a better picture of how well Hablitzia grows in different climates.

OUR FRIENDS AT PFAF HAVE AN AMAZING DATABASE OF SPECIES (UK BASED);

However, Hablitzia tamnoides is missing!

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21 Comments
Annie link
1/3/2014 05:11:32 pm

Great! Am excited to follow these posts. Thank you--

Reply
Annie link
1/3/2014 05:15:04 pm

ps-- would love to be informed by email of the new posts in this series, is there a button somewhere that I am missing? Thanks :)

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Christer
2/3/2014 12:31:12 am

I want tö fill my garden with plants like these.

Reply
Robert
19/12/2015 10:16:10 am

Hi, I was wondering if you know of any UK suppliers of your Norwegian seedstock? I am intrigued at the idea that the species has adapted and changed in response to the local climate. Alternatively do you sell these? Many thanks.

Reply
Steve Medved
31/3/2016 09:26:15 am

Hi,
I've germinated a dozen Hablitzia tamnoides seeds, purchased from FEDCO SEED in the USA. They don't have much information about further growing of the seedlings. I've unsuccessfully searched the web for this. Can you direct me to where I can get this help on transplanting, trellising, spacing, seed saving, other better varieties,
etc. I live in Putney, Vermont Zone 5.
Thanks for you help.
Steve Medved

Reply
Judy Pierpont
11/8/2017 01:09:12 pm

Would you let me know if you have found answers to the questions in your post? I have the same ones. I successfully germinated and grew out 50 seedlings from my FEDCO seeds. A week ago I planted out 30 of them along the inside of my wire garden fence at a 2' spacing. Most are in partial shade, meaning shade some part of the day from plant matter on the other side of the fence. I'm in Ithaca, New York, probably the same zone as Putney, maybe a bit colder, but surely changing. Thanks.

Reply
Nicole
17/6/2019 01:05:27 pm

I am also looking for this info.

Lidia tindle
8/12/2016 04:16:12 am

Just come across this site in an email David Susuki Foundation, my spelling might be wrong on Susuki - thats in Canada. I'm in the UK north east cold winters. I'm really interested in a lot of the plants you are using and wonder if the seeds are available in England. Lidia

Reply
Jay Wilson
13/2/2017 12:22:47 am

Hi Lidia, not sure if you've managed to source this yet but Incredible Vegetables at Ashburton supply seeds - http://www.incrediblevegetables.co.uk/product-category/hablitzia-tamnoides/. I live in North East Scotland and am going to give it a go.

Reply
Peter
30/1/2017 09:20:49 am

I want to cultivate Hablitzia tamnoides in my garden in eastern Germany, but I have some questions:

1.) Soil:
What soil-pH does this plant like: alkaline (9-8), neutral (around 7), light acidic (6-5), or more acidic (around 4, like potting soil for blueberries and rhododendron)? Does Hablitzia tamnoides grow on soil with much lime, or just a little bit lime, or is it lime-intolerant?
Can Hablitzia tamnoides grow on waterlogged (clay) soil, or does it need a well-drained soil or even a sandy / gravely soil? Does it prefer humus-rich and nitrogen-rich soil, or does it prefer to grow on poorer soils?
Is Hablitzia tamnoides a shallow-rooting or deep-rooting plant? Should I cover the soil surface around the plant with mulch?

2.) Light:
Does Hablitzia tamnoides need full sun (e.g. in front of a south wall), or will it grow better in light shade, in partial shade (ca. 4-6 hours sun a day, e.g. in front of a east/west wall), or in deeper shade (in front of a north wall / under a dense tree)?

3.) Winter hardiness:
In some winters we have -24 °C (-11,2 °F), sometimes without a snow cover. Should the roots be protected (e.g. with leaves and fir/spruce branches) from frost during winter?

4.) Heat and drought tolerance:
How tolerant is Hablitzia tamnoides to heat and drought? Does it need (much) watering during longer hot and dry periods?
Is the wild variety from the Caucasus / Georgia more heat-tolerant than the cultivated variety from Scandinavia?

5.) Companion planting / mixed cropping:
Can I use Hablitzia tamnoides in companion planting / mixed cropping? If yes: with which neighbours can I combine Hablitzia tamnoides?
Which plants should NOT be combined with Hablitzia tamnoides (I assume that it should not be combined with other Chenopodiaceae / Amaranthaceae like spinach, beetroot, chard, Good-King-Henry).

Reply
rhonda meserole
9/8/2017 02:23:13 pm

Hi Peter,

Did anyone answer your questions? I want to put my Caucasian mountain spinach seeds in the ground this September in upstate New York zone 3 and would appreciate more information on the best growing conditions of this wonderful sounding vegetable.

Reply
Nicole
16/5/2019 10:14:13 pm

I am also in zone 3 and would really like to find out if anyone has had success growing these in similar conditions.

Peter
25/4/2020 06:39:39 am

I successfully grow Hablitzia tamnoides in my garden for 3 years. I bought seeds from the wild variety of Hablitzia tamnoides on eBay. The mother plants are growing in Poland (winters in Poland are colder than in Eastern Germany, so I can be sure that these plants will survive winters in Eastern Germany). The seller told me that he got his original seeds or plants from southern Caucasus, Georgia.

My garden soil is neutral with a little bit lime (pH around 7) to light acidic (pH 6).
In a place with heavy, compressed clay soil, one Hablitzia plant died after a period with very much rain.
Plants in humus-rich and nitrogen-rich soil grow better than plants in places with poorer soil (more sandy soil).

The wild form of Hablitzia tamnoides (seeds originally from southern Caucasus region, Georgia) seem to be deep-rooting, because they survive drought periods for up to 3 weeks without watering.
Younger plants should be watered more frequently during drought periods, especially in hot summer months.
I frequently cover the soil surface around the plants with some mulch (leaves or grass) to lower evaporation.

Hablitzia tamnoides grows in full sun, but in a climate with long, hot, dry summers and on drier (sandy) soils, plants growing in light shade or in partial shade look better.
The plants do not like too much heat like in front of a south wall, in these places much leaves turned yellow und died in summer.
Hablitzia tamnoides seems to be a typical plant of forest edges: Plants grow well when you plant them near trees or larger bushes. They grow best in places where they have some shade from south to south-west in the hottest hours in summer.

But Hablitzia tamnoides does not grow so well when planted directly at a trunk or under a tree or bush that has a dense crown and/or has shallow roots.
When you have a tree or bush, plant Hablitzia tamnoides near the throughfall (but not the south side, because its too sunny and hot in summer), so it gets more rain.

Hablitzia tamnoides grow also in places with deeper shade (like north of a dense cypress/thuja hedge or north of a building; but not too close to the hedge or wall so Hablitzia gets enough rain), but the harvest will be lower.

Hablitzia tamnoides survived winters with -24 °C without a snow cover, but I protected plants and surrounding soil with some leaves and fir/spruce branches to avoid the soil, from drying out (I have no possibility to water the garden during winter. In winter 2018, we had 4 weeks frost with strong winds, no snow cover and almost no precipitation, some bushes and even smaller trees like apple trees died from the drought, not from the frost).

The wild variety of Hablitzia tamnoides from southern Caucasus (Georgia) tolerated heat up to 43 °C, but I watered the plants once a week with at least 20 to 40 Litres of water per square metre in semi-shady areas, in sunnier places even more).
I recommend to use a rain gauge (pluviometer) in your garden: When the scale shows less than 10 Litres per square metre, you should water your plants because a rainfall less than 10 Litres per square metre will just moisten the top 10 to 20 cm of your soil, but deeper soil is often very dry. During longer hot and dry periods, water not every day or every few days, but ca. 1 time a week and with much water per area (e. g., an older apple tree needs more than 100 Litres water per week when temperature is 30 °C or higher and the is no rain or just few rain).

Hablitzia tamnoides grows well in the neighbourhood of strawberries, Apios americana, Hog Peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata), clover, catsfoot (Glechoma hederacea), dandelions, stinging nettles, deep-rooting plants like grape vine and roses.
From larger shrubs or bushes, I kept a distance of at least 40 cm.

Hablitzia tamnoides does not grow well under shallow-rooting bushes and trees like lilacs and birches.
Near lilacs, several Hablitzia plants died over the last years in a half-shady place with sandy, relatively dry soil.
Hablitzia tamnoides also does not grow well when high grass is growing too close.

I often use pulled-out or cut grass, clover or dandelions as mulch cover around Hablitzia tamnoides plants.
As Hablitzia tamnoides seems to be a forest-edge-plant, I cover the soil around my plants with fallen leaves in autumn. This attracts earth worms that are fertilising the soil near the plants and keep the soil loose.

christina
28/5/2019 03:35:06 pm

i would love to try this but am in northern California, zone 8 - is there anyone who has tried it in a warmer area? please share any info you have - i plan to scatter the seed, sun & shade, winter & summer & see what happens....
any of them make it, i am in love! thanks so much

Reply
Johann Kuntz
18/11/2020 03:33:55 pm

Hi Christina, I'm in Washington State in zone 8a. So far my <a href="https://johannsgarden.square.site/product/hablitzia-tamnoides-spinach-vine/57">Hablitzia</a> has been doing well here. Did you end up scattering seed? I grew out a large batch. They seemed to struggle at first in the starter tray, but once I got them into bigger pots with more fertile soil they really started doing well. I'm thinking with their ability to grow so fast they could be heavy feeders. If you want to try planting out one year old seedlings with lots of buds already forming for next year's crop let me know. I have a small nursery in Washington that is mostly local focused, but I can ship within the country.

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Marie de viron
8/7/2019 09:15:44 am

J'ai fait germer quelques graines en pot l'année dernière. J'ai repiqué les plants dans mon potager et ils font jusqu'à 3 mètres. J'attends avec impatience le printemps prochain pour goûter les pousses. (Belgique)

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Michelle
24/4/2020 06:45:15 pm

I've tried to germinate these three times and I keep failing. The first time I germinated them in cool conditions (below 70F, similar conditions to broccoli germination) and they died from damping off. The second time I tried them direct sown, in late winter. Some germinated but they were immediately eaten by animals. Third try I started in warm conditions (~80F) and they wilted and are now dying from damping off. I've used sterilized soil each time except for direct sowing. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd really like to grow this plant. I live in USDA zone 5, Iowa, USA.

Reply
Peter
25/4/2020 05:29:11 am

Hablitzia tamnoides seeds need cool temperatures to germinate. I had success in germinating seeds using a fridge with +4 to +5 °C (+39 to +41 °F). I sowed the seeds on the surface of sand in a tray with holes in the bottom for good drainage (put a saucer underneath to catch excess water).
I pressed the seeds on the surface and did NOT cover them with sand or soil. I wetted the tray with the seeds using a water spray bottle (one that creates fine mist, so the seeds are not washed away), then I covered the tray with a transparent plastic film with many tiny holes for air exchange. Every 2 to 3 days, I checked if the surface was dry. If this was the case, I wetted the surface with the water spray bottle.
The first seeds germinated after ca. 2 weeks. I pricked out seedlings in small pots with sandy potting soil with low nutrient content ("sowing soil") and put the pots in a bright but not too sunny place with room temperature. Be careful with watering, the roots of seedlings and young plants will quickly rot if the soil is too wet.

I put the tray with the rest of the seeds (which had not germinated yet) into the fridge and kept it moist. Almost all of the rest of the seeds germinated in week 3, some even in week 4 in the fridge.

After the last frosts in spring, I put the pots with the young plants on the balcony to harden the plants.
After some weeks, I planted the plants into the garden at a semi-shade place with humous but well-drained soil. Keep the soil moist but not too wet.
If you have poor soil, mix mature compost soil with the upper 10 to 20 cm of your garden soil.
Hablitzia tamnoides will not grow well in pure sandy or gravelly soils or in heavy clay soils or compressed soils.
I kept a distance of at least 30 to 40 cm between the Hablitzia tamnoides plants.
I protected each plant with a slug protection ring (they look like these: https://gardenup.com.au/images/stories/virtuemart/product/18616%20-%20slug%20protection%20ring%20in-situ2.jpg ).

In a second attempt, I tried to germinate Hablitzia tamnoides seeds in a cool cellar room near a window with light.
The cellar room had the problem that temperature fluctuations (ca. +4 to +14 °C, that are +39 to +57 °F) were higher than in the fridge. So only ca. 50 % of all seeds germinated, and the germination period was longer (3 weeks up to 2 months).

Reply
Marie de viron
25/4/2020 02:27:02 am

I live in Belguim. I saw some seeds in a pot and left then outside a winter. At spring time, I saw one or two leaves. I transplantated in the vegetables garden and it grew up fast. I got small white flowers. This spring, I cut delicious sprouts from the bush and left some that are growing. Hope the bush enlargers rapidely.

Reply
Michelle link
11/3/2022 12:00:59 am

Great Article! Thank you for sharing this is very informative post, and looking forward to the latest one.

Reply
liana link
20/10/2022 01:16:17 am

thanks for info

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