WHAT????...edible fuschia berries?????

[Kier]

I successfully grew yacon last year had a lot of large long tubers , just dug them up and threw them away , tried boiling/ roasting , bit like eating a raw potato and that's after cooking
not that I'm trying to put anyone off, just my opinion

[vixylix]

I'm tempted to try these... T&Ms catalogue says they taste like cherries but without the stone. I was a bit put off by the price tag though. If I see a bargain version anywhere I'll volunteer to be chief taster!

[chrisdb]

I'm tempted to try these... T&Ms catalogue says they taste like cherries but without the stone. I was a bit put off by the price tag though. If I see a bargain version anywhere I'll volunteer to be chief taster!

At least they can't be worse than this T&M introduction:

'Egg and Chips' hybrid plant goes on sale in Britain - Telegraph

What were they thinking? "Let's give a potato plant the most heat loving top half possible!" So... do you grow it outside and get no aubergines and few potatoes as the top sits there sullenly in the indifferent British summer, or do you use up a quarter of your greenhouse with a huge pot for the potatoes?

At least with tomtatoes there's a good chance of getting something from both top and bottom outside. Still far more expensive than some seed potatoes and tomato seeds, though.

[mothhawk]

There's a difference between edible and nice to eat.
I have tasted them, but wouldn't bother again unless food was short
Tried jam, but it got thrown away.
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...-jam_4501.html

I agree about the taste, very bland. I really wouldn't bother unless I was desperately hungry, and I'm a person who plucks young hawthorn leaves and buds from the hedgerows to munch when I'm out for a walk.

[DannyK]

At least they can't be worse than this T&M introduction:

'Egg and Chips' hybrid plant goes on sale in Britain - Telegraph

What were they thinking? "Let's give a potato plant the most heat loving top half possible!" So... do you grow it outside and get no aubergines and few potatoes as the top sits there sullenly in the indifferent British summer, or do you use up a quarter of your greenhouse with a huge pot for the potatoes?

At least with tomtatoes there's a good chance of getting something from both top and bottom outside. Still far more expensive than some seed potatoes and tomato seeds, though.

You forgot to mention -"The plants are being sold in 9cm pots for £14,99 each.."!!!!!!

All the fuchsia berries I've ever tasted have been bland.

[Invicta]

Chrisdb
Have tried yew berries, sweet, gooey lacking the acid balance of most berries so no great gourmet experience. When trying I held the fruit in my lips with my mouth pointing vertically down and very gently sucked. This way the seed would have fallen to the ground in case of a slip. think my main motive was for the look of horror on my brother's face as I did it.

[AkionTotocha]

I have also nibbled Yew red parts (Areoles? lololol...) and it really isn't worth it. They're just sweet and snotty. If they had an actual flavour it might be worth the risk. But they don't, so it's not.

All Fuchsia berries are edible, but as they're bred and hybridised for their flowers no one really considers the flavour until you can charge £15 for it. If any of your Fuchsias make berries, wait until they ripen completely and have a try. You can always spit it out and rinse your mouth out (but they're still edible, just spit them out because you don't feel comfortable trying them) if it's one you like, it's worth keeping them, and if it's not you still have the nice flowers.

Suttons have (had?) a much better looking 'edible' (sweet/pleasantly flavoured/higher chance of setting fruit) Fuchsia than the T&M one called "Gummiberry" - at least imo the flowers look prettier.

And as far as I'm aware all Dahlias are edible too. Based on the breeding history they all will be unless you grow them in funky irradiated soil. (It's one way to keep off the slugs, right? ) since they were brought across for food crops. Although, like Fuchsias, being bred for floral displays means the flavour is either great or meh. Its the tubers you eat, so if you have a lot of them at the end of the season you could peel one and cook it, then see how it tastes. If it's delicious, and you like the flowers, then it's a perfect crop for the vegetable patch too (Cut flowers and potatoes?!)

But don't eat anything you're not 100% sure on. I've never encountered Borage before, and I think I have one that's seeded under the paving slab and won't come out. I'm 99% sure it's Borage (Long tap root based on a clone I found in the border, smells like cucumbers, covered in fluffy spines that spike when you grab it. Bright blue flowers -one is pink-) but the flower shape doesn't quite match so I don't quite trust it. Hence, it hasn't gone in my mouth. Don't risk your health, unless you're 100% sure it's a Dahlia or a Fuchsia

[Nicos]

*** ^^^^^^^ good warning there!

[Kier]

I think I will give this one a miss, got plenty to do anyway , everything is so early already pulling rubarb

[Nicos]

Really? Oh wow!

[stevejohnson53]

Is there a " Bacon butty plant" or even "Bacon & Egg plant"? - Now that would be handy, save me a fortune in bottled gas....

Steve

[chrisdb]

A ll Fuchsia berries are edible, but as they're bred and hybridised for their flowers no one really considers the flavour until you can charge £15 for it. If any of your Fuchsias make berries, wait until they ripen completely and have a try. You can always spit it out and rinse your mouth out (but they're still edible, just spit them out because you don't feel comfortable trying them) if it's one you like, it's worth keeping them, and if it's not you still have the nice flowers.

As I mentioned earlier, I actually have found that at least one variety gives me an itcy throat that I'm pretty sure is a mild allergic reaction. The 'bad' variety is Globosa, which is the only hardy fuchsia (F. magellanica) I've tried. I've had more luck with non-hardy fuchsias, so maybe there's a difference between species?

[Sarico]

I received last weeks me of that fuchsia berry from t&m. I bought them when in offer so not that expensive. So if you can wait till I get some I let you know. If nice definitely get some cutting from it.

[AkionTotocha]

As I mentioned earlier, I actually have found that at least one variety gives me an itcy throat that I'm pretty sure is a mild allergic reaction. The 'bad' variety is Globosa, which is the only hardy fuchsia (F. magellanica) I've tried. I've had more luck with non-hardy fuchsias, so maybe there's a difference between species?

I get histamine itchiness in my mouth and throat when I eat packaged mackerel, fresh lychees, out of season kiwi fruit and ripe but not over ripe avocados. However at other times, or in other circumstances I can consume these foods perfectly fine. Frozen, or sushi grade mackerel gives me no issues, tinned lychees or lychees that are washed in between peeling and being eaten. In season Kiwi fruit and overripe avocados can all be eaten in excess. The fundamental issue with these foods isn't their toxicity as much as it's my own body's interpretation of the harmless chemicals within.

So, whilst all fuchsias produce edible fruit and flowers, your body could be allergic to the chemicals in the hardy variations that make them frost tolerant. Or, it could be that the berry you ate wasn't overripe, as a lot of ripe fruit causes itchiness for me but not when overripe.

I'm allergic to a lot of things though, and have severe hay fever for at least half of the year. My histamines have a hair trigger reaction to a lot of harmless things, much to my annoyance.

Now that you know you have this potential reaction it might be worth staying away from hardy kinds, or ...just doing what I do and taking a hay fever tablet half an hour before you want to eat something that itches.

(Though I think the consensus is that most of the hardy kinds aren't worth the time it takes to pick them)

[4390evans]

Fuchsia Berry - Fuchsia Plants - Thompson & Morgan