Lots of new plants!

I need an excuse to get in out of the sun. It's 28 degrees out there, and the garden fairies are playing in a tub of water. It's just too hot to linger on the nursery gravel getting out plants. So while I cool down, I'll write you a list of what plants are coming to market tomorrow. I'm not sure yet what fresh produce I'll gather, I'm waiting for the promised South-Westerly change before I harvest, but you'll find mint, chives, thyme, lemon verbena (great for infusing into icecreams..), kaffir lime leaves, wild rocket and many more tasty treats for you kitchen on our table.

Garden fairy with her dinner.

Some of these plants are available in limited numbers, so please let me know if you'd like something put aside for you.

Food plants:
Red and black currants

Alpine strawberries

'Temptation' strawberry Fragaria x ananassa An almost runnerless variety, said to bear tasty, heart shaped fruit all Summer, through to the first frost. You might even get an Autumn crop if you get these babies planted soon!

Angelica archangelica. This is the Angelica for culinary purposes. A few stems cooked with rhubarb reduces the amount of sugar you need and adds a lovely grassy, floral flavour. Biennial, produces a big crown the first year, and a huge halo of wonderful green, beneficial-insect-supporting flowers in the second.

Salad burnett, a great little green. Use the slightly astringent, cucumbery new leaves in salads or yoghurt dips.

Garlic chives

Chives

Perennial Spring onion. This Spring onion forms a clump which you can pull individual stems from as needed. I also collect the seed from it and grow baby Spring onions from them, or use the flower buds in a salad.
Variegated society garlic. Garlic flavour without the bad breath! Very ornamental, and lovely pink edible flowers too.
Roman chamomile This article is wonderful!
Dianthus, edible petals. Hardy, pretty perrenial. Remove the white end of the petal before adding to salads, cakes, drinks....

White borage, gorgeous edible flowers, and young foliage edible too. Self seeding annual, great bee plant.

Oregano, common and Golden Curly oregano. Greek on the way soon....

Marjoram

Italian parsley

Sea celery. A Tassie native, more reminiscent of parsley than celery, wonderful anywhere you'd use parsley, but perhaps a little saltier and earthier.

Lovage

Culantro, Mexican coriander/ saw leaf coriander/ Thai parsley. Annual. Grow this one in shade for lush growth. Used in curries or larp in Asia, or in salsas in Mexico.

Lemon balm, variegated form.

Sage, Common and Purple.

Warrigal greens.

French sorrel, wonderful Spring green, should be in every garden to add a lemony punch to salads, soups and sauces. Easy to grow, may die back in Winter when it can be divided and replanted.

Red shiso, self seeding annual, used to colour Japanese pickles, tiny new leaves and flowers in salads.

Laksa/Vietnamese mint

Mitsuba

Mints-All mints can become invasive. Plant them in a well composted garden or a good quality potting mix and either let them have their head and enjoy their rampant nature, or confine them in pots. You can cut the bottom from a good sized pot or bucket and bury this in the garden to keep them tame. Or a well watered pot in sun or part shade will do nicely!

Pineapple mint

Moroccan spearmint

Peppermint

Variegated ginger mint

Apple mint

Basil mint

Thyme

Globe artichoke, French Purple
Comfrey

Horseradish

Pineapple sage

Cossack pineapple. Low growing hardy annual, producing sweet, pineappley fruit that are covered in a papery husk. Great garden lolly for the little kids, or dinner party exotica for the big kids.

Tomatillo, purple Last chance to get these in. Tomato like plants produce copious amounts of savoury fruits for South American inspired salads and sauces.

Potted strawberries, Red Gauntlet and Fraise des Bois-Alexandria variety, with fruit on if I can keep the kids away!

Tassie plants:
Lemon bottle brush  Callistemon pallidus
White dogwood Pomaderris apetala
Bluebottle daisy Lagenophora stipitata
White flag iris Diplarrena moraea
Blanket leaf Bedfordia salicina
Creeping everlasting Helichrysum scorpioides
Silver Banksia Banksia marginata
Yellow everlasting, Ozothamnus obcordatus
Sagg, Lomandra longifolia


I'm sure that I've missed a few, and there are even more delicious plants in the works. And if there's anything you want please let me know, I love finding new plants and, when possible, would be happy to try and track down and propagate any edibles you might wish for!


We'll be at the Tas Farm Gate from 9 till 1 this Sunday, the 9th of January.