Oxalis tuberosa - Oca

Latin plant name Oxalis tuberosa Common plant name Oca Plant type Perennial herbaceous plant Size (meters) < 1m Distinguishing features The plant is not known in the wild, but populations of wild Oxalis species that bear smaller tubers are known from four areas of the central Andean region. Oca was introduced to Europe in 1830 as a competitor to the potato. Oca is cultivated primarily for its edible stem tuber, but the leaves and young shoots can be eaten as a green vegetable also. Andean communities have various methods to process and prepare tubers, and in Mexico oca is eaten raw with salt, lemon, and hot pepper. Oca is fairly high in oxalates, concentrated in the skin, and the bioavailability of oxalate appears to be similar to spinach. Oca is one of the important staple crops of the Andean highlands, due to its easy propagation, and tolerance for poor soil, high altitude and harsh climates. Oca needs a long growing season, and is day length dependent, forming tubers when the day length shortens in autumn (around March in the Andes). In addition, oca requires climates with average temperatures of approximately 10 to 12°C (range: 4°C to17°C) and average precipitation of 700 to 885 millimeters per year. In areas with harsh winter climates, early frosts may cut back the foliage before the tubers have a chance to form. In tropical areas where the days are unchanging in length, oca will not set a crop successfully.

Arbutus unedo - Strawberry tree

Latin plant name Arbutus unedo Common plant name Strawberry tree Plant type Evergreen shrub Size (meters) < 5 - 10 m Distinguishing features The leaves are dark green and glossy. The hermaphrodite flowers are white (rarely pale pink) The fruit is a red berry, 1–2 cm diameter, with a rough surface, maturing 12 months at the same time as the next flowering. The fruit is edible, though many people find it bland and meally; Grows well in limy soils. Arbutus unedo is widespread in the Mediterranean region, western France, western Ireland, southern Portugal and western Turkey. Its disjunct distribution, with an isolated relict population in southwestern Ireland, notably in Killarney, is a remnant of former broader distribution during the milder climate of the Atlantic period It is the symbol of Madrid city. It is the only plant that is native (it survived the ice age) to Ireland and not to the UK.

Gunnera

Latin plant name Gunnera Common plant name Gunnera Plant type Herbaceous flowering plant Size (meters) < 6 m Distinguishing features The stalks of G. tinctoria (nalcas), from Southern Chile and Argentina, are edible. Their principal use is fresh consumption, but also they are prepared in salads, liquor or marmalade. Leaves of this species are used in covering curanto (a traditional Chilean food). Gunnera perpensa is used as a source of traditional medicine in Southern Africa. In the British islands gunnera is used as a decoration plant in gardens.

Tilia cordata - Lime tree

Latin plant name Tila cordata Common plant name Lime tree Plant type Tree Size (meters) 20- 38 m Distinguishing features It is a deciduous tree growing to 20-38 m tall, with a trunk up to 1-2 m diameter. The leaves are alternately arranged, rounded to triangular-ovate, 3-8 cm long and broad, mostly hairless. The small yellow-green hermaphrodite flowers are produced in clusters of five to eleven in early summer and have a rich, heavy scent; the trees are much visited by bees. The fruit is a dry nut-like drupe 6–7 mm long and 4 mm broad, downy at first becoming smooth at maturity. It has a single seed. Buds are alternating boxing globes. A valuable monofloral honey is produced by bees using the trees. The young leaves can be eaten as a salad vegetable. The white, finely-grained wood is a classic choice for refined woodcarvings. It is native to France. They can be shapped.

Sambucus nigra - Black elder

Latin plant name Sambucus nigra Common plant name Black elder - Elderberry Plant type Shrub Size (meters) < 2 m Distinguishing features It is grown for the berries and the flowers that can be used for drinks (sambuca drink). The berries are edible after cooking and can be used to make jam, jelly, chutney and Pontack sauce. The fruit is a dark purple to black berry 3–5 mm diameter, produced in drooping clusters in the late autumn; they are an important food for many fruit-eating birds, notably Blackcaps. The flowers can be used to make an herbal tea as a remedy for inflammation caused by colds and fever. It has hollow stams  that can be used for stakes. The stams are opposite, not like the maple that are alternative. The shiitake mushrooms grow under the elders. It needs alcaline soils with lime and stones.

Laurus novelis - Bay laurel

Latin plant name Laurus novelis Common plant name Bay laurel Plant type Hedge evergreen shrub Size (meters) < 1,5 m Distinguishing features Dark ornamental leaves. Yellow flowers in spring followed by green and then black fruits. It is idea for shapping but needs to keep trimming it. Bay is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant. It is used to create single erect stems with ball-shaped, box-shaped or twisted crowns; also for low hedges. Laurel oil is a main ingredient, and the distinguishing characteristic of Aleppo soap. Aleppo soap is revered worldwide for its skin care properties. The plant is the source of several popular spices used in a wide variety of recipes, particularly among Mediterranean cuisines.

Rosa robosa - Japanese rose

Latin plant name Rosa rugosa Common plant name Japanese rose Plant type Woody flowering shrub Size (meters) < 1,5 m Distinguishing features Single pink flower nicely scented. They can be either cultivated or wild. They flower during the summer a flat flower and have continous flowering. Attractive red hips that can be used in jellies and drinks.

Ribes rubrum - Black, white and red currant

Latin plant name Ribes (nigra, glandulosum and rubrum) Common plant name Black, white and red currant Plant type Fruiting deciduos woody shrub Size (meters) < 1,5 m Distinguishing features Thornless stems. The flowers are inconspicuous yellow-green, in pendulous 4–8 cm racemes, maturing into bright red translucent edible berries about 8–12 mm diameter, with 3-10 berries on each raceme. With maturity, the tart flavour of redcurrant fruit is slightly greater than its blackcurrant relative, but with the same approximate sweetness. The albino variant of redcurrant, often referred to as white currant, has the same tart flavour but with greater sweetness. Although frequently cultivated for jams and cooked preparations, much like the white currant, it is often served raw or as a simple accompaniment in salads, garnishes, or drinks when in season. Deciduous plant.

Ribes uva-crispa - Gooseberry invicta

Latin plant name Ribes uva-crispa Common plant name Gooseberry invicta Plant type Fruiting woody shrub Size (meters) < 1,5 m Distinguishing features Thorny stems. Delicious edible green berries. Gooseberries are often used as an ingredient in desserts, such as pies, fools and crumbles. They are also used to flavour beverages such as sodas, flavoured waters, or milk, and can be made into fruit wines and teas. Gooseberries can be preserved in the form of jams, dried fruit, or as the primary or a secondary ingredient in pickling, or stored in sugar syrup. Deciduous plant.

Lonicera - Honeysuckle

Latin plant name Lonicera periclymenum Common plant name Honeysuckle (madreselva) Plant type Climbing shrub Size (meters) Up to several meters Distinguishing features Green leaves with corrugated cream tips. Blue winter flowers which nectar is edible. The flowers attract hummingbirds. The berries are mildly poisonous.

Tropaeolum - Nasturtium

Latin plant name Tropaeolum Common plant name Nasturtium Plant type Perennial herbaceous climbing plant Size (meters) Distinguishing features The leaves and the flowers are edible and are often used for salads. The unripe seeds can be used instead of capers, or dropped into vinager to create a condiment. It has orange-yellow flowers and nice round leaves. It has climbing habits and does not maintain a shape. Nastortiums need a free draining soil and some sun to be able to grow up properly.

Helianthus tuberosus - Jerusalem artichokes

Latin plant name Pteridium esculentum Common plant name Jerusalem artichokes Plant type Herbaceous perennial plant Size (meters) <1,5 - 3 m Distinguishing features It has opposite leaves on the lower part of the stem. The leaves have a rough, hairy texture The flowers are yellow, member of the daisy flower. The tubers are elongated and uneven, typically 7.5–10 centimetres. They are edible, a little bit tasteless. They need to be They will die during the winter and grow next year. It is hard to get rid of them. They are good to soften the soil.

In the garden we had some Jerusalmen artichokes. We cleared them and got the tuburs to plant for the next season.

Pteridium esculentum - Bracken

Latin plant name Pteridium esculentum Common plant name Bracken Plant type Bracken Size (meters) < 2 m Distinguishing features Pteridium esculentum is very quick to colonise disturbed areas and can outcompete other plants to form a dense understorey. It is often treated as a weed. It does create a more humid sheltered microclimate under its leaves and is food for a variety of native insects. It grows from creeping rhizomes, which are covered with reddish hair. From them arise single large roughly triangular fronds, which grow to 0.5–2 metres. In Japan and New Zeland they eat them.

Malus domestica - Apple tree

Latin plant name Malus domestica Common plant name Apple tree Plant type Deciduous fruit tree  Size (meters) <3-12 m Distinguishing -features The leaves are alternately arranged simple ovals, petiole with an acute tip, serrated margin and a slightly downy underside. Blossoms are produced in spring simultaneously with the budding of the leaves. The flowers are white with a pink tinge that gradually fades, five petaled. The fruit matures in autumn. The center of the fruit contains five carpels arranged in a five-point star, each carpel containing one to three seeds, called pips.

Courgettes

Courgettes are also called zucchini. 

In a culinary context, the courgette is treated as a vegetable, which means it is usually cooked and presented as a savory dish or accompaniment. Botanically, however, the zucchini is an immature fruit, being the swollen ovary of the zucchini flower.

Courgette is one of the easiest fruits to cultivate in temperate climates. As such, it has a reputation among home gardeners for overwhelming production. One good way to control over-abundance is to harvest the flowers, which are an expensive delicacy in markets because of the difficulty in storing and transporting them. The male flower is borne on the end of a stalk and is longer lived.

While easy to grow, courgettes, like all squash, requires plentiful bees for pollination. In areas of pollinator decline or high pesticide use, such as mosquito-spray districts, gardeners often experience fruit abortion, where the fruit begins to grow, then dries or rots. This is due to an insufficient number of pollen grains delivered to the female flower. It can be corrected by hand pollination or by increasing the bee population.

The courgettes need a neutral high rich organic soil. They need warmth and shelter so in Ireland it is a good option to plant them inside the polytunnel.

Corylus avellana - Hazel tree

Latin plant name Corylus avellana Common plant name Hazel tree Plant type Deciduous tree Size (meters) < 4m Distinguishing features They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins. The flowers are produced very early in spring before the leaves, and are monoecious, with single-sex catkins. The nuts of all hazels are edible. The Celts believed hazelnuts gave one wisdom and inspiration. There are numerous variations on an ancient tale that nine hazel trees grew around a sacred pool, dropping into the water nuts that were eaten by salmon (a fish sacred to Druids) which absorbed the wisdom. The number of spots on the salmon were said to indicate how many nuts they had eaten. A Druid teacher, in his bid to become omniscient, caught one of these special salmon and asked a student to cook the fish, but not to eat it. While he was cooking it, hot liquid from the cooking fish splashed onto the pupil's thumb, which he naturally sucked to cool, thereby absorbing the fish's wisdom. This boy was called Fionn Mac Cumhail (Fin McCool) and went on to become one of the most heroic leaders in Gaelic mythology. Hazel wood was used by the dowsers to identify sources of fresh water underground.