Growers and suppliers of edible plants and produce for kitchens and kitchen gardens. We garden using biological methods and local and recycled inputs, and we seek out old and unusual varieties. Find us at Salamanca Market, Salamanca Place, Hobart, every Saturday, 7:30-3pm.
Pretty artichokes. We have green globes ready to eat and French purple ready to plant. A stunning, hardy thing to have in the garden and scrumptious in the kitchen!
French sorrel, green globe artichokes and big garden fairy!
Come and see us tomorrow, Sunday the 28th on November, in the Melville St outdoor carpark from 9 to 1 at the Tas Farm Gate Market.
I've been a terrible nursery person. I rant and rave about provenance, about knowing the what, how, who of everything, and now I've blown it. I have two trays of lovely, healthy, sturdy, heirloom tomato plants, without labels! Oh no, the shame and horror of it, I won't be able to raise my head among my nursery friends again. I've raised these lovely babies, but can't, in good conscience, take a stab in the dark and sell them as one thing when they may well be another. If I had enough cultivated ground I'd plant them here, but 50+ tomato plants already in the ground is enough for me to stake, prune, talk to and harvest, not to mention all the other goodies that are waiting for their spot in the garden. So, if I bring them down to the market on Sunday will anyone be game enough to buy them (at a generous discount of course!) and see what becomes of them? C'mon, take a gamble, tasty tomatoes will come of it whatever happens, but will they be black, cream, pink red or stripey, large, small or plum tomatoes? Only one way to find out!
I also have some lovely labelled tomato plants for those who know what they want, they are looking great, and right now is a perfect time to get them in. The varieties I'll have are:
BLACK ZEBRA Heirloom. Purple mahogany coloured fruit to 4cm across with green-orange vertical stripes. Dark, firm flesh, with rich, smoky sweet flavour.
BRANDYWINE American Amish heirloom. Large, pink skinned, flattened, globular fruit. Reputed to have the best flavour.
DEBARAO Small, red, egg shaped fruit with smooth skin to 4cm across and excellent flavour.
LEICESTER JONES Bred in Tassie 25 years ago. Large pink, ridged fruit. Excellent flavour, good for Tassie conditions.
SNOW WHITE Ivory fruit ripening to a pale yellow/cream, low acid.
SOLDACKI Polish heirloom dating prior to 1900. Large, dark pink, flattened fruit with thin skin to 500g. Flesh is firm, deliciously sweet & low in acid.
STUPICE Czechoslavakian heirloom, cold tolerant, with abundant sweet 2-3inch red fruit. Hardy, delicious and productive. *Our most productive here so far, early and cold tolerant.
THAI PINK EGG Originating from Thailand & is today the most widely produced tomato in Thailand. Small, pink coloured, 'cherry' type fruit; 3-5cm long, or size of bantam egg. Changes from milky white with slight pink colour when young to darker pink as it matures. Plant 60-90cm. Hardy, disease resistant & resistant to cracking.
Bush variety - GEORGE (I don't know its real name, but George deserves a plant named after him!)
Fat, scrumptious field type, from George the market gardener near Margate, seed scavenged from a sauce tomato.
And then, tomatillos!!!
Tomatillo, green variety, still ripening in June last year!
Have you ever come across tomatillos? I had a vague notion that they existed, but until growing them last Summer I had no idea of how wonderful they were. They are related to tomatoes, but the fruit are wrapped in a papery husk, or calyx. The variety I grew last year were green when ripe, but I'm also growing a purple variety this year. And they are brilliant, a completely new food for me, that was delicious and moorish from first bite. I guarantee that once you've tried them you'll be wanting some every year. We used them to make a green, lightly spiced sauce that we poached chicken in, and finished with toasted pumpkin seeds (see the recipe here). Raw they make a great salsa and I know that's only the tip of the iceberg. Due to an incident with a brushcutter last season, we went from having four plants to one in seconds, but the survivor yielded at lest 5 kg of fruit! A few market customers have shared their great ideas on how to utilise this wonderful fruit, it seems to be a bit of a club, tomatillo eaters, and the rest of the human species. So come and join the clique. I'll have plants of both green and purple varieties at the market this Sunday, and fruit at the market for your kitchen, when the weather decides it's time.....maybe mid-January? And if we're really in luck the South American culantro will be the new discovery for me this year and we can make a truly authentic salsa, or at least a Tasmanian approximation of one.
Tomatillo seedling, I can't wait!
Pretty flower, pity about the slug damage.
While I was wandering the internet looking for interesting tomatillo facts I read this unintended ad for chemical free farming:
Plants of P. ixocarpa were grown in the greenhouse in 1986 with seeds from a single fruit. Seeds were germinated in petri plates with wet filter paper. The plantlets were transferred to 7.5 cm pots and placed in the greenhouse. When plants reached 4 or 5 leaves (4 weeks), they were transplanted to the field. The field was ploughed twice at 25-30 cm deep, fertilized with 50 kg/ha 15-15-15 (NPK) and covered with black plastic mulch before transplanting. Rows were 120 cm apart with 60 cm between plants. Tomatillo plants were transplanted to the field on June 6, June 25, July 15, and August 1. Insecticide was applied at 15 day intervals. The first harvest was made after 6 weeks and harvesting continued at 10 day intervals for a total of seven harvests during the plant cycle. The estimated yield was 13,450 kg/ha. There was variation between plants in size, leaf shape, fruit size and shape, and yield. Fruit damage by lepidopterous insects was severe, probably reducing the yield by 20 to 30%. No major diseases were observed.
Yuck, that's no way to grow food! Black plastic, fake fertiliser and pesitcides. Nope, what they needed was diversity. The little critters below are hoverflies whose babies devour pests like aphids, and then grow up to be dainty, efficient, little pollinators. In this picture they are pollinating my rat tailed radishes, for which I am very grateful!
Hoverflies
We germinated our seeds in composted pinebark mixed with sand, and grown in a re-used -plastic covered rabbit hutch, before planting into a garden bed enriched with our compost, a lick of chook poo and mulching with mushroom compost. Our garden is a mix of different things, the bed the tomatillos were in also boasted some lovely Mexican marigolds for herbal teas, Winter and Summer savoury, tuberous chervil, wild rocket and rainbow chard. This diversity helps to prevent the type of infestation the plants in the trial seemed to suffer from. Pests can build up in phenomenal numbers when given a banquet of their favourite foods, with out the presence of other plants and animals that may keep the pests in check. And contact pesticides aren't that effective at killing animals that complete much of their lifecycle safely hidden inside fruit. But they will kill beneficial creatures like our friends the hoverflies. And besides, who cares about a few caterpillars? (Unless it's half a one sticking out of your bitten salad sanger!) If all things are in balance on your plot you should be able to enjoy the fruits of your labour with minimal out breaks of pests and grub holes, and who would be without butterflies?
So come on down to the Tas Farm Gate this Sunday from 9 til 1 and see what's on offer! Broad beans and strawberries are on my shopping list.
This has nothing to do with food plants, but isn't it delightful! The Sky Lily Herpolirion novae-zelandie is usually found in high country where it forms dense mats covered in these amazing sky-coloured flowers every Spring. Here it is in a pot outside my back door where it makes me smile every morning!! See my friends at Plants of Tasmania Nursery if you fancy one for your place.
NEWSFLASH: Sadly, due to a wet weather forecast, this trip is postponed until January. I'll let you know when the new date is settled upon. Until then, take photos, press flowers, and save up your questions for the day!
This Saturday the Kingborough and Huon councils are hosting a native plant identification field trip to Cockle Creek for their residents. I am going along to chat about all of the treasures we find there and share some tips on how to identify them for yourself. It is a great place to go plant hunting, plants of the rainforest and the seaside cohabiting in a most fetching manner. So if you're a resident of one of those council areas and fancy coming along to learn, heckle or enjoy the Spring wildflowers see the flier below.
Hi Folks
Have you ever wondered “What is that beautiful flower/plant”?
There will be a Native Plant identification walk at Cockle Creek on Saturday November 27th to inspire and teach any interested people about local native plants.
Transport will be provided with pick up from Kingston at 8.15pm outside the Kingborough Council Offices. The bus will then travel to Huonville for pick up at Huon Valley Council (rear car park) at 9.00am.
It is expected that the bus will return to Huonville at around 3.30pm and to Kingston at 4.15pm.
Seats on the bus must be booked though Jocelyn Scopes (contact details below). People are welcome to bring their own transport if all spots on the bus are booked up. Please meet the bus at the places above.
I just flicked on the computer as we were about to prepare lunch, when a lovely distraction popped onto my screen. One of the delightful cup cake ladies from the market wrote about her post-market feast, and that is also for me, one of the best things about the market.
Drive home, cuddle the family, unload the car, water the plants, then.......aaah. Flop onto the couch and give the biggest garden fairy her first ever fresh oyster, and a few for us, along with a couple of slices of amazing bread, and a hunk of robust cheese. Although sometimes I am guilty of coming home with quite a full belly, what with blueberry cheesecakes, cannoli and the hamper my Mum turns up with.
But, Michelle's post was so in sync with what Elsie and I were about to have for lunch I just had to share. I am no photographer, and Elsie is 5 and snaffled the camera when she got wind that I was taking pictures of lunch. See if you can guess which pictures were taken by the 5 year old!
Her lunch is a little more 'garden' than market, but she loves Companion spelt toast soldiers!
She collected her own eggs, carrots and miners lettuce, chose the elephant ensemble and then scoffed the lot!
Then there was mine. Olive oil from a couple I have chatted with during the market, with juicy, wet Campania garlic softened in it, before adding this morning's eggs, some wild rocket (which is from our garden, but I do take plants and cut greens to market for those of you who like some kick in your lunch) and some of the Bruny cheese we didn't polish off the night before.
First of the season! Wet garlic dancing in Penna Valley olive oil, waiting for some eggs.
And lovely, young (Masterchef) Jack has two of my rhubarb plants in his garden now, how can a fellow of such great taste fail! Go Tassie!!
I believe that if we can make eating a celebration, a ritual of enjoying family, friends, produce and the comforting sensation of a full belly, that good health and happiness will follow. Sitting down together to enjoy something prepared with love, (which is sadly never in the recipe, but is THE most important seasoning) will create a feeling of satisfaction that can never be found in a microwaved thingumy scoffed in front of the tv. And thus satisfied, we may find that the allure of the chips and chocolate lurking in the pantry is lessened, that our kiddies learn to talk with us, have respect for food that will lead to healthier eating habits, and to use their cutlery, (well I'm still hoping for that one....).
For us, part of that celebration of food is to let the garden fairies help gather and prepare what they are to eat, and to make food look as good as it tastes, because we all taste with our eyes, before our mouths. And flowers are not only a delight to the eye, but each flower has its own unique flavour and texture.
So today we have fossicked about in the garden and put together some of our favourite dinner decorations for tomorrow's market. And, without further ado, here they are!
Pretty in purple
Shungiku and mustard flowers
We are also bringing down our ever growing selection of herb and edible plant seedlings, tomato seedlings and those of the wonderful tomatillo, as well as some lovely Tasmanian native plants and many other delights for your garden or kitchen. Bring your brolly to the 'gate from 9am til 1 this Sunday, the 14th of November, and come and say hi!
Dolly bush, Cassinia acueleata. A wonderful Tasmanian plant that is pretty,
fast growing and a great food source for beneficial insects.
Our 'patch'. It was, perhaps a hundred years ago, dry sclerophyll bushland. I like to imagine it was full of old White Peppermints with big clumps of Sagg underneath, and seasonal treasures, like Dolly Bush, Blackeyed Susan and Spreading Wattle popping up with their brilliant finery to herald a change in the seasons.
After someone cleared the 'scrub' it was then a cow paddock, and probably not a great one with its poorly draining, easily compacted soil. Its most recent history is as a chook paddock that has frustrated my attempts to grow food, due to hungry wildlife and short hoses in hot Summers. But now it's fenced, has water nearby and has been cultivated. Things are going well!
The fuzz
But (and isn't there always a 'but') now 100 years worth of paddock weeds are thanking us for our tilling and the Spring rain, and germinating like hairs on a brushtails tail. And being the noble organic gardeners we are, there will be no quick spray to brown this green fuzz, nor will we take the Utopian path and let the weeds and our crops co-exist, as our little carrot seedlings won't stand a chance against these brutal colonisers. Hoeing is proving detrimental to my spinal column, and this is also made more difficult by the fact that it won't stop raining, and hoeing wet soil is not only difficult but it can ruin the structure of your soil. Like over-mixing a sponge cake batter, the soil will collapse and become compacted. And the no-dig method, great for a small plot, would cost us thousands in manure. But we will not be defeated, and inspired by Barbara Kingsolver (what a book!) and Mr H (writer, gatherer, gardener and vegetable eater, on my favourite blog) we will use a combination of all of the chemical free options available to us, and we shall feed ourselves, and hopefully you as well!
The spuds
The tomatoes have been planted in the hothouse, potatoes are planted everywhere. The girls have started their 'kiddy garden' (lots of sunflowers there I think!) and we will soon cultivate some ground to grow some fabulous, nutritious, curious and, most of all, delicious food plants. And, adjacent to all of this productive land, we will foster the landscape of my imagining.
I've collected seed and cuttings from the remnant 'scrub' we have on our block, and hope to plant out an echo of what was once here. This will have far more advantages than just that of feeding my romantic notions of one-ness with Nature. Diverse plantings can host a huge number of beneficial organisms. Ants will live among the gum trees and venture out to collect root feeding grubs, and leaf eating caterpillars. Flowering plants will attract hover flies and native wasps that cunningly lay their eggs on aphid babies, then the eggs hatch and the larvae devour the undesirable garden guest. Thick, prickly scrub and tussocks will provide homes for wrens and their feathered kin who feast on insects and boost the spirit of a weary gardener. I've even heard a theory that dense vegetation, especially Banksias, favours ringtail possums who do far less damage that their brushtailed friends. The trees I put in will absorb a teensy portion of the carbon emissions I create on the way to market, and most of all my family and I will feel as though we're trying to do right by the land that is supporting and sheltering us.
Fruit salad sage and Mount Wellington. What a brilliant work place!
Good weeds. For the first time ever we saw an Australian Admiral butterfly here
whose caterpillars feed on Nettles. What a great 'weed'!
And it is also a wonderful thing in the kitchen.
We'll be at the Tas Farm Gate market next Sunday, the 14th of November, where we will have loads of tomato plants, herb seedlings and Tassie treasures, including the beautiful and hardy White Flag Iris. So come on down, taste some wonderful oysters, scoff an amazing cannoli with chocolate custard and say hi!
There aren't many Hobartians who aren't able to walk out of their door and be in amongst the gum trees within 20 minutes or so, even if some of you have a massive Forest Road (or similar) stitch by the time you do! This proximity brings with it, blessings, trials and responsibilities.
White peppermint, Eucalyptus pulchella
Blessings: Please forgive the religious tone of this verb, but blessed we are! If you've been reading this blog, and at the risk of sounding like a raging hippy, you'd have picked up on my veneration of Nature. And Hobart is wrapped right up in it. Knocklofty, Wellington Park, Waterworks, the Queen's Domain, Lambert Park.... the list goes on! Before my conversion to the green side, nothing healed my spirit and my lungs, after a long day breathing bleach and perming solution, like a stroll with my dog through Knocklofty or Wellington Park. Clean air, a parade of flowers and seeds through the seasons, and exchanging friendly nods with others seeking the same 'forest time'.
These walks offer a great demonstration of diversity. Mudstone, sandstone, dolerite. North, East, South and West facing slopes. Silver, white and black peppermint gums and their kin Stringybarks, White Gums, Blue Gums. Whoa! Better stop there before I get to listing everything and run out of room here. But you get the picture! In a relatively small area, Hobart has some wonderful, diverse forest for us to enjoy. But sadly this is shrinking. Developments, with smaller blocks and bigger houses doesn't leave much room for the local non-human inhabitants to make their homes. But here at Provenance Growers we've hatched a plan to help you bring Nature back down those slopes and into your gardens. This last few weeks I have been potting up little, tiny seedlings, grown here, from seed collected with permits, from Knocklofty, Lambert Park, South Hobart and the Queen's Domain. These should be ready for your garden in a couple of months. (See the list below.)
Trials: There are some things that make living near the bush a little less wonderful. These are, for me at least, furry and slithery animals and fire.
White peppermint, Eucalyptus pulchella, flower buds
Furry animals are a mixed blessing. Who isn't enchanted by the cute face, and fluffy charm of the brushtail possum (okay, I know there are a few who aren't...)? And wallabies and pademelons are so cute, that even though we're surrounded by them, the garden fairies and I are still excited when we find a little pawprint in the mud outside, and measure the length of the hops by jumping ourselves. But when they find the veggie patch, or any other plant that we're nurturing, they think nothing of helping themselves. But there are tricks that we can use to get around their thieving ways. Secure fencing, perhaps electrified or floppy topped, and protecting individual plants with wire, bags and stakes and other such devices are conventional ways of living with these creatures, but there are other tricks (never fail safe mind you) that I've discovered by chance. I've planted zucchinis and pumpkins in vulnerable areas in the past and by planting a big ring of them I've found they protect more tender plants from predation by encircling them with their prickly leaves. I've also heard of another gardener using nettles as an effective barrier, and I just found a lovely sprouting broccoli plant nestled among the borage where the other plants from that batch have all been nibbled into broccoli bonsais! There are other things like smelly spray deterrents and browse resistant plants, not to mention a tasty spaghetti Wallanaise for the hard willed gardener.
Snakes make me especially nervous. With two small garden fairies and a buffet of frogs for snakes in our garden, the odds of a close encounter are high. There's not much you can do but let the dog in the garden before the kids to frighten them away, and put the little ones in gumboots and jeans and teach them to stamp feet and open their eyes. If you scalp your land and lose the snake habitat you'll also lose out on welcome visitors like wrens, bluetongues and skinks. Apparently most negative snake encounters are with snakes moving from one place to another, removing habitat won't stop them passing through.
Prickly beauty, Pultenaea juniperina.
Pretty, hardy, great habitat,
but quite flamable, use with caution!
Fire is another thing that makes living with our landscape a challenge. In promoting native plants in the suburbs, I was reminded of my responsibility to promote fire safe gardening by the Hobart City Council's bushland fire officer. This is a hard one, all gardens can burn, and you can't have a great garden with no mulch, which can also burn. My gardening collegues and I often discuss fire safe gardening and have lots of different ideas. Come and have a chat with me at Tas Farm Gate, or my friends at Plants of Tasmania Nursery. We will all offer different ideas, and we will all tell you that these are our thoughts only, not an officially rattified way to prevent fire. There is an official document here at Tasmania Fire Service although this brochure has limited (and some, perhaps a little odd) low flamability choices.
Here we have the veggie garden to the North, the direction from which fire is most likely to come. All of the garden beds against the house are mulched with gravel. And I would always encourage gardeners in fire prone areas to avoid planting an avenue of garden beds that can lead a fire right to your house. But I dread, each summer, the ring of chainsaws and brushcutters, as animal homes are destroyed in our efforts to make our own safer. By raking up, and burning every leaf that falls, and removing all of the understorey, we end up with impoverished soil, and put local wildlife under stress. Yesterday this echidna turned up on my sisters drive in Howrah. I bet it didn't want to be on concrete, and I suspect loss of habitat has pushed this poor creature, along with countless, unseen others, into the 'burbs , where it is unlikely to have a peaceful life.
Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.
As for responsibilities, I'll let you make up your own mind, but I can't resist a chance to mention the roaming of cats into gardens that people, like me, are gardening for wildlife and the heartache in watching the local native hens lose four of their five chicks this month to a sneaky black creature, that should live next door, not here!! And the escape of weeds and foreign native species into adjacent bushland. Last week a friend and I saw, on Strickland Avenue, at least three introduced Australian native plants that had self seeded and were marching into the bush that is quite beautiful, and probably better off, without them.
There are a number of wonderful 'care' groups and council run programs for those who want to get involved with looking after their local patch, and learning about what grows and lives in them. I have the good fortune to know Bruce from the Friends of Knocklofty Bushcare Group. He recently gave me a wonderful tour of Knocklofty, pointing out his favourite plants, his least favourite weed incursions, and talking about the fantastic work they have done in the reserve. I left this great walk even more inspired to grow a beautiful selection of local plants for you to plant in your gardens. So here they are!
Knocklofty:
Eucalyptus pulchella, White Peppermint
Banksia marginata, Silver Banksia
Acacia verticillata, Prickly Moses
Ozothamnus ferrigineus, Tree Everlasting
Cassinia acueleata, Dolly Bush
Allocasuarina littoralis, Bulloak
Ozothamnus obcordatus, Yellow Everlastingbush
Olearia viscosa, Viscid Daisybush
Stylidium dilitatum, Trigger Plant
Microlaena stipoides, Weeping Grass
Queen's Domain:
Allocasuarina verticillata, Drooping Sheoak
Stylidium dilitatum, Trigger Plant
Poa labillardiere, Tussock Grass
Themeda australis, Kangaroo Grass
South Hobart:
Bedfordia salicina, Blanket Leaf
Eucalyptus tenuiramis, Silver Peppermint
Leptospermum scoparium, Common Tea Tree
Allocasuarina monilifera, Necklace Sheoak
Sandy Bay, Lambert Park:
Eucalyptus pulchella, White Peppermint
Allocasuarina littoralis, Bulloak
Dodonea viscosa, Hop Bush
When these plants are ready to enter the world I'll add descriptions for each plant, and there are still more varieties germinating as we speak, I'll keep you updated!
We'll be at Salamanca this Saturday, the 30th of October and at Tas Farm Gate this Sunday, the 31st of October, then the 7th and the 21st of November. We'd love to see you there!
Prickly Moses, Acacia verticillata. Pretty, hardy and wonderful habitat.
It was a HUGE tomato seedling day today, hopefully the precursor to a huge tomato Summer! Down at the Farm Gate's first birthday market, I was one of at least three stallholders who were selling loads of different varieties of tomato seedlings. Most of the varieties I had for sale I have not grown in my garden before. The ones I have grown are previously are Stupice, (pronounced stoo-peach-ka) and George. The others are new for me, so any one who wants to share their experiences growing these would be appreciated!
One visitor to my stall bought some Black Cherry saying they were her favourite last season, which is great to hear. So, please share your thoughts and opinions with us, be they culinary or horticultural, and we can learn together and maybe find Tassie's ultimate tomatoes! And remember Mr Cundall's attempts to dispel the 'show day is sow day' myth, with warnings of possible late frosts. Think about potting your plants on and keeping them on a protected sunny veranda out of frosts for planting out in a couple of weeks. Or like me, clatter out in your party shoes after a lovely night out, and tuck your babies in with a blanket (or some straw or bracken fronds) when you sniff a whiff of frost in the air!
This is why you don't plant tomatoes at Neika, in October!
So here are the varieties I have grown, mostly grown from seed from Phoenix Seed and The Lost Seed, and I sincerely thank them for their noble efforts to give us variety like this to enjoy!
Staking varieties:
BLACK CHERRY
Heirloom. Rare, dark mahogany coloured fruit resembling large grapes to 3 cm across, produced in trusses on tall vigorous bush. Sweet, juicy flesh with a rich, smoky flavour. High yields. 60 days.
BLACK ZEBRA
Heirloom. Purple mahogany coloured fruit to 4cm across with green-orange vertical stripes. Dark, firm flesh, with rich, smoky sweet flavour. 70-85 days.
DEBARAO
Small, red, egg shaped fruit with smooth skin to 4cm across and excellent flavour. 95 days.
SNOW WHITE
Ivory fruit ripening to a pale yellow - cream colour upon maturity. Very sweet with no acid. High yields. 55-75 days.
SOLDACKI
Polish heirloom dating prior to 1900. Dark pink, flattened fruit with thin skin to 500g. Flesh is firm & low in acid. 75 days.
STUPICE
Czechoslovakian heirloom, cold tolerant, with abundant sweet 2-3inch red fruit. Hardy, delicious and productive. *Our most productive here, early and cold tolerant.
THAI PINK EGG
The most widely produced tomato in Thailand. Small, pink coloured, 'cherry' type fruit; 3-5cm long, or size of bantam egg. Changes from milky white with slight pink colour when young to darker pink as it matures. Plant 60-90cm. Hardy, disease resistant & resistant to cracking. High yields. 55-65 days.
LEICESTER JONES- Tassie bred by a naturopath 25 years ago. Large pink, ridged fruit, good for Tassie.
BRANDYWINE -American Amish. Large pinkish red, flattened, globular fruit.
GEORGE (that’s not its real name, but I couldn’t understand George through his thick accent when he told me!) Fat field type, from George near Margate, seed scavenged from a sauce tomato. This is a bush variety, I use up-turned pots to keep the fruiting branches off the ground.
The other exciting thing happening here is the birth of many babies (plants that is!) from the bushland surrounding Hobart. This week I hope to finish potting up the first batch of seedlings of local native plants, grown from seed collected in the Hobart surrounds. There is everything from grasses to trees and lots of pretty, shrubby things in between! They should be ready for planting early in the new year. Keep watching this space for a complete list later this week.
And now for some completely off topic photos of things that made us at Provenance happy today!
Sugarbaby watermelon. Maybe this is the year??
The only native hen chick left, out of five that hatched near our dam, due to the presence of an evil black cat. Grr!
Don't put all your eggs in one t-shirt!
One of the egg donors, Dickadee (that's what happens when garden fairies name the chooks!).
We'll be at Salamanca this Saturday, the 30th of October, and back at Tas Farm Gate on Sunday the 7th of November. Please let me know if you want anything brought along!
Please click on any of the images for a better view.
Last week I got to live out a little fantasy and play Nigella (without any gratuitous fluttering of the mascara) with some new friends, a gathering of like-minded horticulturalists. I intended to share some off-the-beaten-track type of edibles, and decided that the Nigella method would be a good way to add context to what might otherwise have been an unappetizing parade of greens and weeds. Taking inspiration from my tame chef, I grabbed a huge plate, knocked the snow from the borage flowers, pulled a few edible weeds, and in a completely random and opportunistic manner, came up with this salad. (Arranged, as is my wont, in plant family groups).
First I attempted a stumbling outline of my thoughts on the food we were to eat, which I'll try and make more succinct here.
Diversity is key. Without access to your own plot it can be difficult to find and afford to eat a wide variety of foods. Here, we walk out the back door and gather up to 20 different green things, from herbs to salad greens in the back wilderness. Much of it is self sown, some of it is what is often called 'weeds'. I am no nutritionist, but it seems to make sense to me that eating a wide variety of foods, as fresh as possible, is the best way to nourish our bodies.
Environment is one of our other big motivators. We enjoy breathing, so we want to take care of our planet. Every little thing we harvest means a little less fossil fuel, a little less packaging and a little less time in the supermarket neon, being tempted to buy more stuff we don't need.
Reducing waste. If you waste less you save money and work, and lessen your load on the environment. And you can find some taste sensations along the way! Just look at the weeds and bolting plants below.
French sorrel
POLYGONACEAE:
Red dock. I mostly use this because it is stunning to look at. It is slightly astringent, but young leaves are tender and mildly flavoured. See the picture at the top of the page, it's the leaf with the rather fetching maroon veins.
French sorrel. Spring is the time to enjoy this zingy green. The newly shot, tangy leaves are wonderful straight from the garden. Later in the season they can become a little intense and are delicious cooked into a tasty, but mildly ugly, khaki coloured sauce or soup.
BRASSICACEAE: I used 3 edible weeds from the cabbage family, and some, often discarded, buds and flowers from bolting rocket and mustard greens, and a most noble representative of the family, wasabi leaves.
Shepherd's purse
Shepherd's purse. The young leaves of this plant were described by another new friend as 'agreeably hairy'. The leaves have a robust flavour, but are not challenging like some of their cousins.
Landcress. If shepherd's purse is mild, this treasure occupies the other end of the scale. It is earthy, pungent and hot. But young leaves are crisp and juicy with a pleasant kick. One of the salad eaters there suggested leaving pungent leaves to soak in cool water to leach out some of the kick. Something to try for the next salad!
Flickweed, Cardamine sp.
Flickweed. The bane of the nurseryman and the tidy gardener's life, this little weed has the ability to launch its tiny seeds great distances with its little, spring-loaded seed capsules. But when it is young and lush, the tips of flowering stems and unripe seed pods are pretty on the plate, and pleasant to eat. But don't plant any on purpose, you'll regret it!
Wasabi. As well as the famous paste made from the grated rhizome of the plant, wasabi leaves and stems are delicious. Juicy and with a wonderful whisper of wasabi kick. More wasabi talk here!
Rocket buds and flowers
Rocket and mustard flowers and buds. Often when crops are bolting we yank them out. But this shortens our harvest, and we miss out on the pleasure of a floral feast! Right now, before aphids strike, they are a delight to nibble on, as you wander about in the garden deciding which job to tackle next. Rocket flowers are faintly rockety and sweet, and have more texture than you'd imagine. Very nice!
CHENOPODIACEAE:
Orach seedlings
Purple orach sprouts: Many plants have naturalised in my garden, and one I really get good use from is the purple orach. It is self sown from seedlings planted a few years ago. It germinates in early Spring and is tasty right from its very tiny beginning. Our salad tonight included the thinnings from my patch, normally discarded, but if gathered carefully, it is easy to pinch off dirty roots and rinse and eat the whole, tiny, pretty plant. As it grows, young leaves and tips can be enjoyed raw, older leaves can be briefly cooked, and flower buds are great quickly blanched, or wilted in garlicy, herby butter.
APIACEAE:
Mitsuba, or Japanese parsley. This is a lovely, mild, slightly astringent herb. Apparently used in Japan in savoury custards (which I've found is a great way to get to know the flavours of any new herb) and mild broths, cooked very briefly. Choose young, shiny leaves for your salad and throw them in whole.
PORTULACACEAE:
Miners lettuce
Miners lettuce. My kids and I love it, chooks can eat, it will put on a wonderful show of teensy edible, white flowers, encircled by a leaf to bring some glamour to the Spring barbecue table, and it comes up in Winter to feed us salad hungry gardeners. It's also reputed to have saved Californian gold miners from scurvy. Nutritious, delightfully pretty, juicy and refreshing, what more could you ask?
ASTERACEAE
Shungiku. This one I grew for the first time last Summer, and it has obligingly self seeded and given me a few lovely plants that have stood all Winter. The leaves have a savoury, almost meaty flavour and a feathery appearance. It's on the top left of my lunch plate, at the top of the page. Yum!
CARYOPHYLLACEAE
Chickweed. This one, I must admit, has been relished by the chooks, but ignored by me until I was influenced by the worlds very best restaurant, Noma in Copenhagen, and a team of local chefs at Garagisteshttp://www.garagistes.com.au/ in Hobart who are putting all manner of wonderful, edible plants on their plates. I hope Food Tourist don't mind me linking to their inspiring site! It's the one with the tiny white flowers on the right of my salad plate.
I scattered our plate of greens with flowers, pineapple sage and borage, and the tips of young pea plants, to transform a salad into a celebration of Spring! And the dressing. I used the magic trick of adding freshly ground pepperberries to an acid, in this case Meyer lemon juice and apple cider vinegar, and watching it turn pink! We shook this up in a jar with some salt and olive oil and bruised leaves of lemon-scented savoury, and drizzled it all over my big pile of weeds.
Pepper berries and lemon juice
I'll be at the Australian Plant Society's show at the City Hall, celebrating 'the joy of native plants' this weekend, from the 8th to the 10th of October, and then at Tas Farm Gate on Sunday the 24th of October with lots of the tasty things above, as cut greens for the table, and plants for your patch, so come on down for a chat about your garden.
Please let us know your thoughts, your favourite greens, or some you'd like to try, and we'll see what we can do for you. It's great to hear from you! And there is a post on local Hobart plants on the way......lots of them are sprouting up in the hothouse, ready to green our urban spaces!
