Gloves will tear us apart

June 10, 2012 at 12:54 pm (Container gardens, Featured plants, Gardening - Basics)
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I try to propagate my own plants as much as I can. It’s usually cheaper than buying plants and it’s endlessly fascinating to watch the plants develop from seed or cuttings, or watch a grafted bud shoot away in the spring.

But for whatever reason, it’s not always possible, and we do sometimes have to buy plants, even if only to give ourselves some paterial to propagate from. To be accurate, buying seeds is buying plants anyway, just in their most compact and easily stored form!

French Sorrel in a pot: but there’s more than one plant in here.

I bought some herbs from a stall at a garden show some time ago, but I looked for pots that had multiple plants in them, so I got better value. You can see from the photos,the pot of French Sorrel (Rumex acetosa) I bought has more than a single plant in it,  leaves are emerging from more than one point.

French Sorrel divided showing numerous individual plants

I tipped out the pot and split the contents in half just by pulling them apart. I did break a few leaves, but that doesn’t really matter, they can be fed to the worms or thrown in a salad, depending on your preference. The important part is the individual stems, and as long as the roots are intact, the leaves will grow back.

Sorrel plants divided up

It’s a good idea when transplanting nursery grown or potted plants to remove all the potting mix from the roots, it forces the plant to grow roots into the surrounding soil and seek out nutrients and water, rather than staying in the comfortable surrounds of the potting mix with it’s ready supply of food, air and water. In this case I had to remove the potting mix to separate out the individual little plants.

Newly potted sorrel x17

There were more than 20 individual plants in the original pot I bought, but some were tiny, so I put them in the same container, and ended up with 17 pots of Sorrel from my initial purchase.

Sorrel is a perennial herb, which means it will naturally divide and continue to grow year after year. If clumps get too big, I can dig them up and divide them, and after a couple of weeks, I can plant these out in a row, or just share them around. It is quite happy in a container, too, just divide again when it gets too big. Sorrel is used all over the world as a fresh or cooked green, and has a delicious, slightly sour flavour. It is much used in French provincial cooking. Why not give it a try!

While you’re out there, see what joy division can give you. Look for plants with multiple stems emerging from the pot, especially herbaceous perennials like Sorrel, Globe Artichoke, Mint, Lovage and so many more. You are unlikely to harm the plant, just make sure each new section has roots and shoots or buds, and they will come good. Have fun!

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Growing the seeds of stuff

October 31, 2011 at 11:53 am (Agriculture, Community gardening, Featured plants, Fruit trees, Gardening - Basics, Pests and problems, Seed Saving)
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So much of what is written about growing food is based on commercial information. The methods of broadscale monocultures are scaled down to home gardens, based on the experience and research of commercial food production. But this may not be the best way to go about growing things in a local home garden.

Fruit trees are a good example of what I mean. In commercial orchards, trees are grown and maintained in a very uniform way. The aim is to get a large quantity of uniform fruit for market, ripening at the same time on multiple trees in plantations of dozens or hundreds of trees. The spraying, pruning, picking and processing of the fruit is streamlined to reduce costs to the grower. The trees all grow genetically identical fruit on selected rootstocks to reduce pest and disease problems. Such problems are concentrated by growing only one kind of plant in such mass plantings as orchards.

These problems for the most part do not apply to home growers. Further, the predictability of known varieties, those which are sold in bulk by supermarkets and grocers, are of benefit to mass production, allowing growers to systematically produce crops at set times of year. The existence of such monocultures are the main cause of chemical pesticide use in agriculture and horticulture. Large scale operations require mechanised simple solutions for economic reasons.

A bit less than a week's worth of seeds from my house, that's dozens of plants, right there.

When European settlers first arrived in Australia, they were forced to select and breed new varieties of plants and animals for the new conditions here. The climate, seasons and soils were so alien to their experience that varieties from “home” were not as predictable or productive as they were used to. Now faced with changes to climate, including temperature and weather patterns, we must begin to select new varieties that can cope with altered conditions.

Luckily for us, nature has a means of doing so quite easily: seeds. Every seed contains a variation on the genetics of it’s parent plant. Sexual reproduction in plants allows them to adapt to new environments and survive, and there is no reason home gardeners can’t take advantage of that natural adaptability. But the only way to do that is by letting those seeds grow. Existing plants can’t adapt to changed conditions in the same way their offsrping may be able to.

Many fruits we eat contain seeds, and there is no reason a home gardener can’t plant those seeds and grow new varieties of fruit which are unknown in the world. The vegetatively reproduced commercial varieties are well known to us for reasons of consumer preference, but mostly for shelf life, transportability, and ease of production by large scale growers. The price of fruit at market is influenced by season, but also by costs to the producers. Home gardeners, by having only one or two of a particular kind of fruit tree can avoid the broad scale pest and disease problems of the commercial growers, and by growing seedlings, could find new varieties with resistance to pests, diseases, or changed climatic conditions, such as lower water availability or reduced chilling periods.

Planting the seeds of the apples we eat, for example, will produce seedling apple trees. If we plant those seedlings in the ground, we find which are best suited to our actual soils and other conditions. The ones that thrive are evidently more suited to our specific location. Leaving them to mature and produce fruit will give us further information about their suitability for particular areas and seasons, and good record keeping will allow us to share that information with others. Finally, when the fruit appears, and admittedly this may be five or more years after planting seeds, we can pick it, and taste it, and decide whether it is an improvement on what we get in the supermarket.

In the vast majority of cases, if the fruit is not to our taste, or without some particular use, it can often be grafted with something more to our liking. The chances of it being radically different from the fruit we first took seeds from is very small, because of the way fruit is grown. The plants that pollinated the apple we bought are virtually identical, so the gene pool is quite small. But other features, such as disease tolerance, could make it a superior plant, even if the taste is exactly the same. But there is a chance it could taste better, be sweeter, have bigger fruit, ripen earlier or later, or any number of slight variations which may be improvements on the original. And no matter what, you get to name the new variety whatever you wish, as every seedling is a new variety, no matter how similar to it’s parents.

WARNING: May contain cases of nuts: I bought these for $10 from the local market, that's almost two hundred potential nut trees from a 1KG bag. To be precise, it's 129 Almonds, 23 Brazil nuts, 25 Hazelnuts, 15 Macadamias and 7 Walnuts. No prize for guessing what's the cheapest nut per kilo.

In the case of nuts, one of the major concerns for growers is uniformity of size, and that is one of the main reasons they grow selected varieties, so they know their harvest will be uniform. This carries over to processors, who often have machinery for shelling specific sizes. If the nuts aren’t the right siz, they won’t buy them. Most of the nuts in their shells on the retail market are “non uniform” for this reason. But if you’re going to sit around at Christmas with a nutcracker opening them by hand, what difference does it make to you?

There are restrictions as far as what will grow where. But when growing seedlings for basically no outlay, you can try whatever you want. Avocadoes and Macadamias grow quite happily in Melbourne, for example, but as far as I know, Brazil Nuts do not. There is no reason not to plant a few and see what happens, though. Sure, the frost might get to them, but then again, you may grow the first frost tolerant Brazil nut in the world. If it can be done, it won’t happen by sticking with the known varieties, that’s for sure, it needs seed-generated biodiversity for changes to happen, and those changes might be needed quite soon.

I’ve mentioned before that some of the most popular varieties, for example Granny Smith Apples, began as chance seedlings. If everyone with a garden grew a few seedling fruit trees, imagine how much genetic diversity would be cultivated in a single suburb, not to mention how much food could be produced. Sure, the tree you grow may not be your favourite orange, or pear, the walnuts your tree produces may be smaller than those in the shops, the mandarins might be seedier than you’d prefer, but surely it’s better than no food at all? And if it costs nothing, there’s nothing to lose.

So, keep your seeds in a paper bag, maybe even in the fridge, then plant them out in spring. Except Avocadoes which can go in any time, really, though they may not grow until the weather is warm. Give it a go. Even if you don’t have space for a Walnut tree, you could always sneak it in to the nature strip somewhere.

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The way things are goin’, they’re gonna crucifer me

July 27, 2011 at 12:18 pm (Featured plants, Gardening - Basics, Pests and problems, Planting calendar, Seed Saving)
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Someone asked me the other day if they could eat Broccolini leaves. They wanted to use them in a recipe, some kind of quiche-like tart which called for Kale to add some greenery. The answer was “Of course you can, they are the same thing”. Because ultimately, they are the same plant species. In south-western Europe, sometime in prehistory, people began to eat a plant now known as Brassica oleracea, a tough plant, tolerant of limestone soils and salt laden winds, which stores water in its fleshy leaves to cope with its harsh native habitat. The plant is a good source of vitamins, including vitamin C, and minerals, containing the highest levels of calcium among vegetable sources. The plant used to belong to the family Cruciferae, so called because of the cross-shaped flowers they all possess. The family name was changed relatively recently to Brassicaceae, and includes many edible plants, including Mustard, Turnips & Swedes, and Radishes, to name a few obvious examples.

A browse through the bounty of the Brassicaceae family, Choi Sum, Cauliflower and Daikon radish

But most surprising to me is the variety of “different” vegetables that are all contained within the species B. oleracea. The list includes many favourite, and commonly grown vegies, at least one of which most people would eat weekly, if not daily. Things like Kale, Collard Greens, Borecole, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, the misinterpreted Kohl Rabi, and the unfairly maligned Brussels Sprouts all spring from the same source. You can track the origin through their names, which mostly contain a variant of “Cole”. This also gives us the name of the ubiquitous coleslaw, derived from the name for cabbage salad: No cole, no coleslaw. Let me elaborate further by discussing each in detail.

Kale, Collards and Borecole

These plants are probably the most closely related to the original wild species, and are grown for their leaves. They are collectively grouped as B. oleracea var. Acephala, the varietal name indicating they have no head, as a cabbage does. Borecole comes from a  Dutch name, Boerenkool, meaning peasant’s cabbage, but genetically these plants are very closely related. This biennial plant (meaning it flowers in its second year of growth) is resistant to frost, and can grow to nearly two metres if left alone.

The currently fashionable Cavallo Nero is really just a variety of Kale. Once regarded as peasant food, now a gourmet vegetable. Some peasant labour is clearly needed in this community garden plot at the Collingwood Children's Farm.

The appearance of some varieties is quite ornamental, and they can easily be hidden amongst flowers in a more ornamental garden, though I am not sure who can justify the time, water, space and effort to grow plants purely for appearance. Some Kales are grown purely for ornamental purposes, and can be found more often in the florist than the greengrocer’s. They have frilly, feathered, brightly coloured purple and white leaves – almost forming Cabbage-like heads in some cases. These are still edible, though the flavour is not great. I suppose like most things, it depends how hungry you are.

One of the most common colour variations in Kale varieties, as well as the other Brassicas, is a purple hue, like this Purple Kale. It usually changes to a blueish colour when cooked.

Kale can be grown pretty much any time of year, and harvested throughout its life cycle. The plants will love a high nitrogen supply, and will probably do better if some liquid fertiliser is applied as they grow. Just remember that the leaves give the plant energy, so if you take them all, recovery will probably be slow, and you may shock the plant into flowering. But you can always cut back the flower heads and keep on gutsing the leaves.

Cabbage

The name Cabbage is possibly a corruption of the Latin for head, caput, referring to the growth of a large ball of leaves in the centre of the plant. This head has been selected over centuries, and is an important food in many parts of the world. In fact, despite being relatively low in energy content, they are high in vitamins and minerals, and remain one of the most grown vegetables. Highest production annually is in China, followed somewhat unsurprisingly by India then the Russian Federation. I have to admit the true Cabbages are among my least favourite of the species. I rarely buy them except with specific recipes in mind, while others I grow all the time or buy routinely, when in season.

The humble Cabbage, growing at the Collingwood Childrens' Farm community garden

There are a huge number of cultivated varieties of cabbage, in numerous shapes, colours and textures, but these are not to be confused with the Asian Cabbages which have often been bred from the related Turnip, or from Mustard. European Cabbages are commonly pickled, such as in sauerkraut, as well as being eaten fresh or cooked in a huge variety of dishes. There are varieties that may be grown all year round, and cut plants will often resprout smaller heads after the main head is removed. The most commonly eaten part is the tightly bound “head” of young, immature leaves, which make the plants compact compared with their close relatives. If left until their second year, a flower stalk will burst through the head, which by this time will be less than palatable, but still technically edible.

Keep sowing a few at a time to avoid a harvest season glut.

Cabbages grow in most places, they will tolerate frost, and grow best at cooler times of year. They like fertile soil in full sun, with plenty of compost and organic fertiliser. They may bolt in hot weather, so harvest as soon as they ready, and plant successively for a continuous supply. This applies to all the Brassicas mentioned here. A few every week is better than a dozen at once come harvest time.  They are ready to harvest in 7-14 weeks depending on the variety.

Broccoli

Broccoli, or more specifically B. oleracea var. Italica has been selected, initially in Italy about two thousand years ago, for the flowering stems of the plant. There are numerous varieties, as one would expect, the most common producing large branching flower heads that look like little trees. This similarity may make it easier to get little people to consume this vegetable, and is worth a try if you have trouble in that department. Sing the Lumberjack song while you eat, if it helps. The generally bluish plants are best grown through the winter as hot weather can make them bolt to seed. They will flower eventually if the heads are not harvested, though again most of the plant is edible anyway, including the flowering stems. They will handle frost, and to get the largest possible heads should be planted 40 – 60cm apart, though closer plants will produce smaller heads.

Broccoli can produce very large heads, like this 40cm monster at the Collingwood Children's Farm gardens. Closer planting means smaller heads, which is more useful for smaller households.

It is thought by some to be a cross between heading Cabbage and the Cauliflower, originally, and has been known in Southern Europe since before the Medicis, who took the plant from Italy to France in the 1500s. By the early 1600s it had made its way to England, and it was planted at Norfolk island as early as 1788, making it among the first vegetables from Europe to be grown in the colonies. There are Green and Purple Sprouting Calabrese varieties, which give a continuous supply of shoots after the main harvest, and there are Perennial varieties which can be kept going for months at a time by continuous harvesting of the side shoots.

Broccoflower like this example at the Queen Victoria Market, is an actual cross between Broccoli and Cauliflower, and has the same growing preferences as Broccoli.

Broccoli is probably my personal favourite of this species, and in the garden, they are not only easy to grow, but many varities produce side shoots after the main “head” is removed, providing ongoing broccoli feasts. Most people are aware the stalks are edible, though the larger they are, the tougher they get. I still use the thick main stalks in the kitchen, peeling away the fibrous outer layers of skin and chopping up the softer insides to use in soups and stews. I have even chopped and then frozen the stalks if I didn’t need them straight away. Delicious.

There's some debate about whether the fractal-patterned Romanesco Broccoli is a Cauliflower or a Broccoli, but it can be treated as either.

The vegetable known as Broccolini, Brocoletti or Baby Broccoli is generally the side shoots, developed after the main head is harvested, though some varieties of Broccoli have been selected specifically to provide these smaller shoots.

Cauliflower

The curds of the Cauliflower are the most eaten part of the plant, they grow much the same as for Cabbages, but tolerate less heat and frost. Heat particularly will break up the compact heads and induce flowering quickly, though of course they are still edible beyond this point. Again, a continuous planting will result in a  continuous supply at harvest. Despite being known in ancient times in the Middle East and North Africa, the Cauliflower didn’t make it to England until the 18th century. Though they were well known in Australia by the early 19th century. There are white, green and purple headed varieties available, so you can be creative with their planting, and they mature in 12-20 weeks, again doing best through the cooler part of the year.

Call me old fashioned, but sometimes I crave Cauliflower in Cheese sauce. Pakora are pretty good, too.

Kohl Rabi

Something of an oddity, the Kohl Rabi is sometimes known as the Turnip Rooted Cabbage, due to the swollen base of the plant. It is in fact the stem that swell, rather than the root, but the Kohl Rabi is treated as a root vegetable nonetheless. It is grown in cooler climates from Spring to Autumn, opposite seasons in warm places. But as it’s mid-winter here, it’s the only type of B. oleracea I could find neither growing nor in the market. The varietal name Gongylodes refers specifically to the “Cabbage Turnip”, if the common name is translated from the original German. Plants must be grown quickly to avoid the swollen stems becoming tough. Several purple tinged varieties are available, but only the skin is pigmented, the edible flesh inside the stem is white or yellowish. The vegetable has a mild cabbage flavour, not unlike Broccoli stems or cauliflower, and is commonly used in stews and soups similar to Turnips, though in North Africa and other places the leaves are commonly eaten also. These cultivars have only been known for a bit over five hundred years.

Brussels Sprouts

Possibly the most hated of Cabbages, the Brussels Sprout has a bad reputation especially among children. I say GOOD, that leaves more for me. The Brussels Sprout, or Choux de Bruxelles, was developed some time before the 13th century when the first records appear in Belgian market records. It didn’t make much headway in the English speaking world until a few centuries later later, and probably arrived in Australia late in the 19th century, but remaining obscure until after the Second World War. The plants do best in a cold climate, so are not really suited north of Sydney or along the coast, but are quite happy in Victoria and Tasmania. They were often included in traditional English Christmas dinners, mainly because they, along with Leeks (Allium ampeloprasum) are one of the few things left standing in the garden at that time of year. Many gardeners will insist that a good frost (or a snowfall) will improve their flavour, but in the cities of Australia, that occurrence is increasingly unlikely. They are planted in late Summer or Autumn, and harvested 12 – 20 weeks later, depending on the variety and the season. The plants need a fair amount of space, and grow quite tall, the sprouts themselves forming along the leaf axils, and may need staking especially in shallow or loose soils. Some popular old varieties to look for are Long Island Improved, an old standard non-hybrid variety, and Ruby Red, which as the name suggests will add some colour to the already interesting looking plants.

Not all that popular among inner city growers, probably because they take up a lot of space for a relatively long time. People still want to eat them, though, Brussels Sprouts for sale at the Richmond market with Broccolini

A particular pest: The Cabbage White Butterfly

I’ve already written about the major pest of this species, the prolific and devastating Cabbage White Butterfly (Pieris rapae). They can wipe out a crop of Brassicas in a couple of days, especially when young, and seem to be more of an issue than the other big garden pest snails and slugs.

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I started a choke, that started the whole world laughing

July 5, 2011 at 3:27 pm (Featured plants, Planting calendar)
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Everyone knows what Artichokes look like, right? Of course. They come in a jar marinated in oil and vinegar and garlic. If you look at my planting calendar you will see that in many parts of the country it’s the time of year for planting Artichokes, it’s also time to plant a couple of other things, which are known as Artichokes, but are quite different in almost every way.

Globe Artichokes (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus) are what we call the Artichokes known to us from Mediterranean cuisine. They are the flower buds of a perennial thistle, originally native to Southern Europe. They are easy to grow in most parts of Australia, though they may be susceptible to cold in some areas without protection during winter. The plants are attractive, and are sometimes incorporated in ornamental gardens just for their impressive spiny foliage and silvery appearance. But to be honest, they take up a huge amount of space, and produce a very meagre return, once a year. Basically, if you are have limited space, I’d give them a miss.

The single sad leaf of my Globe Artichoke. When it gets bigger, I will be forced to make a decision about whether it's worth the space.

I would not say the same of the terribly named Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus). I say terribly named, because neither part of that name is accurate. It is not from Jerusalem, and is almost exactly unlike an Artichoke. This relative of the Sunflower is originally from North America, where it can still be found growing wild throughout the warmer states like California. Though botanically it is in the same family as the true Artichoke, the daisy family (Asteraceae) the relationship is distant. The edible part of this plant is the tubers, which form in tight clumps around the base of the plants, and can be dug up in winter. While they are difficult to peel because of their knobbly shape, they are relatively flavourless, the starch-like texture being reminiscent of potatoes, and they can be used in much the same way.

In fact it is not starch, but inulin that is stored in the tubers, which is only partially digestible by the human digestive system, and is suitable for diabetic diets. It may also cause bloating and gas in some people, due to this lack of digestion. There is some interest in the crop being used to create ethanol fuel, too. Apparently, early Italian settlers in the US called the plant “Girasole”, which probably became corrupted to Jerusalem over time, and the flavour has been compared to Artichoke by more than one taster. Many people are trying to popularise the names “Sunchoke” and “Sunroot” as alternative names, to avoid confusion. The plants grow easily, and can be left in place without much trouble, though tuber size and quality does decline with time. Try planting them with a perennial climber, like a Runner Bean (Phaseolus coccineus) to maximise the vertical productivity, the tall Sunflower-like plants provide sturdy support, and provide much needed shade in summer.

Assorted shapes and sizes of Jerusalem Artichoke tubers, ready for planting. The green patches on these are not toxic like those on Potatoes.

The third plant I wanted to mention is the Chinese Artichoke (Stachys affinis). Presumably this picked up the Artichoke moniker because of the tubers it produces being compared to the Jerusalem Artichoke, though it’s a tenuous comparison. This plant is a member of the mint family (Lamiaceae), and closely related to the common ornamental Lamb’s Ears (Stachys byzantina). The crunchy tubers are commonly used in China and Japan, less so elsewhere. The leaves may be eaten, but usually only in emergencies. Again this plant can be pretty much left alone, and it’s unlikely every tuber will be found at harvest, so it will most likely spring up on its own year after year. I grew mine in a pot, so I could easily find them when the plant top died back.

A heap of tubers from one Chinese Artichoke plant. They are being stored in moist coco-peat to prevent them drying out.

Anyway, it’s the right time to plant any of these three plants, but as I said, unless you have heaps of space, I would avoid the Globe Artichokes, and possibly stick to the other two. But I do like perennials that don’t need replanting every year, it’s so much easier that way.

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Green-age wasteland

May 19, 2011 at 11:09 am (Container gardens, Featured plants, Fruit trees, Gardening - Basics, Seed Saving)
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A lot of people probably don’t realise, or at least don’t stop to consider, that when they buy fresh fruit and vegetables, they are often buying the means to generate more fresh fruit and vegetables. Every time you spit out pips of any fruit you eat, you are probably throwing away the means to grow whatever fruit is your fancy. Of course, most commercial fruit comes from carefully selected varieties, nursery propagated by grafting a well known variety on to disease resistant rootstock to grow in a large plantation which will produce uniform fruit of consistent quality under well known conditions at a predictable time of year. Any seed grown from such fruit will not be exactly the same, due to the wonders of sexual reproduction, and resulting natural genetic recombination. But then, why does that matter?

If you want a well known variety of fruit, and you can grow it in your garden, chances are it will be cheapest in the shops when your tree is laden with fruit. That’s how the market works. But if you have a tree in your garden that has different fruit to any other tree in the world, which is quite conceivable, then nobody else will have it for sale. Sure, it won’t be much different; after all, if you save a seed from an orchard grown fruit which was surrounded by genetically identical trees when it flowered, the gene pool is  small to begin with. But every now and then, random recombination combined with natural variation means something new and unusual will spring forth. It may have a different flavour, or colour, or more disease resistance, or better nutritional content, or prettier flowers, or larger fruit, or any other possible variation. The world renowned Granny Smith apple, for example, came from a seedling out of a compost heap in country New South Wales. And if you do get something worth spreading around, you obviously have the right to immortalise yourself, though I don’t think Maria Anne Smith referred to herself as “Granny”.

Some sorely neglected Citrus seedlings. You know how mechanics' cars are always falling apart?

Some fruit produce seeds that are poly-embryonic, meaning they are capable of growing more than one plant from each seed. In the case of Citrus species, one of the embryos is asexual, meaning it’s a clone of the parent plant, along with one or two “normal” embryos. I used to peel the seed coat off citrus pips and stick them in my mum’s indoor plants. They usually grew, but I never took it further than germinating them as a kid. There’s no way of knowing which of the seedlings is the clone, obviously, until they fruit, or you have a genetics lab handy. And seedling trees take longer to fruit than grafted, nursery propagated fruit trees, possibly up to seven years, as compared to two or three. But seedlings are free, and if after a few years waiting the fruit turns out to be not to your liking, you can always graft on something you do like. Even commercial trees have this done as consumer tastes change.

Sprouting Garlic cloves, ready for planting (pic courtesy of shonky photo, inc.)

Okay, so fruits are all good, but what about vegetables? In some cases, they are fruit anyway. Tomato, Pumpkin, Melon, Capsicum and Chilli seeds are easy to identify for example, and Eggplant too, though the seeds are a little harder to extract. But often we actually buy whole or almost whole plants. The onion family is the best example of this. Onion and garlic bulbs are basically dormant plants. Each individual clove of garlic is capable of producing a whole bulb of garlic if you stick it back in the ground. Just look for clove that are already starting to push out a leaf, and bury them pointy end up, just below the soil surface. Onions will regrow if planted, though not as deeply, and they usually just flower, which gives you a seed supply at least. Onions that have divided into separate bulbs may be able to become multiplier onions, this is where Shallots originally came from.

Look ma! Growing Garlic!

Leeks are also a whole plant, though they are usually trimmed of excess leaves and roots before they arrive at the market. But you can use the leek as normal in the kitchen, and then replant just the base, which will re-grow. Again, you may only end up with a flowering stalk, but they do look attractive, like pink pom-poms, and again, you will be able to collect plenty of seeds. Pretty much anything that comes with a root attached, for example bunched herbs, can be replanted and grown again, though the shock of harvest and transport may mean they simply flower quickly and produce seeds. But you may get some foliage, which is what you want from herbs, and at the very least you will get seeds.

Three leeks and a celery. Not pictured: Ted Danson

Whole bunches of celery can also be a source of planting material. I usually pull off the large outside stalks of celery until the pale, tiny leave in the centre are all that’s left attached to the base of the plant. That base can be planted either in the garden or in a pot, and will grow new leaves and roots, which may either be harvested, or left to produce seed for next year.

The pale, sickly looking celery heart. This was indeed a dark day for flash-free photography. Happily, the celery made a miraculous recovery (see above)

These are just a few examples of how your grocery basket can be a way of filling up your food garden as well as your fridge. If something looks like it will grow, give it a try, you never know your luck. I am currently eyeing a pineapple top in my compost bin. I will get back to you…

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Weeds don’t need no propagation

May 12, 2011 at 1:11 pm (Featured plants, Pests and problems, Problem weeds)
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When most people think of weeding the garden, they probably think about kneeling down and digging or pulling out the  grass and the various seedlings that have popped up in unwanted places between the plants they want to keep. The most useful working definition of a weed is a plant out of place. And it is worth removing them, as they rob nutrients and water from our crops, making them slower growing. Weeds can act as a harbour for pests and diseases, too.

But take a moment to look up, once in a while, and be aware that weeds are not just little plants to be pulled out. Most weeds are successful because they require little help in spreading themselves to new locations, and establishing themselves once they have a foothold. A walk down any suburban street will reveal gardens full of weeds, some of them quite large. In rental properties, it’s often referred to as an established garden, and while the description is technically correct, just because a garden is full of large plants does not mean anyone planned it that way.

Some impressively sized woody weeds in a garden. Sweet Pittosporum on the left, Cotoneaster on the right

Bear in mind, if a tree is capable of growing in a particular location, with no real care or maintenance, chances are something useful could take its place and be productive. Sure, in rental properties it may not be so easy, but it’s good to familiarise ourselves with what plants are weeds. Chances are, if the garden is full of weeds, nobody is really taking much notice, and you could remove and replace them without anyone batting an eyelid.

The photos here are all from the same property in Melbourne’s Northern suburbs. The three plants shown are among the most common woody weeds, but obviously they are not the only undesirables. Cotoneaster (pronounced Kuh-toe-knee-astuh) is a freely hybridising exotic species that is spread by birds, who feast on the bright red berries. Some varieties are grown for ornamental reasons, and the plants are attractive, but they are most definitely out of place, and can harbour pests and diseases of related plants, like Apples (Malus domestica) for example. It should also be pointed out that if one of these is surviving, an Apple tree would also have no trouble. Unlike the dense evergreen Cotoneaster, deciduous fruit trees will let in light in the winter, and provide shade in summer, so other plants can be grown beneath.

Cotoneaster is so common, it will be familiar to most people

The Mirror Bush (Coprosma repens) is another common weed, which many people leave alone for its shiny foliage, and quick growth. Originally from across the Tasman, this New Zealander has made itself at home in Australian conditions, and is highly invasive of native vegetation on pretty much any soil type. It seeds prolifically, and even after removal, seedlings may continue to appear for years. Again, it could easily be replaced with something useful, deciduous plants having the advantages mentioned earlier, but there are evergreen alternatives, like Citrusfruits, which would be a perfect replacement.

Mirror Bush is another often spotted urban dweller, but also highly invasive in bushland

The final rogue in the gallery today is a local. Sweet Pittosporum (Pittosporum undulatum) is native to the wet rainforests of Gippsland, but has broken fee and can now be found in gardens and disturbed locations all over the country. Again, this is spread by birds, and can grow into quite a large tree, relatively quickly. There is one in my mum’s garden I have been trying to get her to remove for years, though it does grant some privacy from the neighbours. It will invade bushland, displacing local species, and in urban settings can make quite a mess with its sticky fruits dropping on the ground.

The distinctive berries of the Sweet Pittosporum, a local kid gone bad.

These three plants, and many like them, are simply overgrown weeds. They take up valuable garden space, produce little of value, and are effectively markers showing where something you actually want could be growing. The chances anyone planted them on purpose are virtually zero, no matter how established they appear, and if that is the case, get rid of them and put in something good instead. The easiest way to get rid of a large tree is cut the top off through the main trunk, then paint the stump with undiluted glyphosate, the safest weed killer there is. It will be absorbed and kill the roots, so the tree won’t sprout back. Keep an eye out for further seedlings, though, as there will be a seed bank in the soil, waiting for the warmth and light you let in.

As for replacement trees, you can pick up bare rooted trees for $15 to $30 in the right season, which we are approaching. But if you want to curb your spending, there’s no reason you can’t grow things from seed. Remember that a grafted tree of a named variety from a nursery will fruit a year or so after planting, while a seedling may take five or more years to produce anything. Of course, whatever it may produce will be slightly different to anything you’re used to, but you do get to name the variety if it’s any good!

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Wade in the water

April 29, 2011 at 1:26 pm (Container gardens, Featured plants, Gardening - Basics, Pests and problems, Water Gardens)
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I have often commented that one of the major reasons, if not the single biggest reason, for failure in growing plants is forgetting to water them. There are ways around it, putting in irrigation systems, for example, or having timely reminders from people like me. But ultimately, if plants don’t get water, they don’t grow, but equally, if they get too much water, many plants will die of waterlogged roots.

Of course there are plants quite at home completely submerged in water. Plants originally developed in the oceans of the world, where they had no concern about water supplies, and had a completely different set of problems. Most of the useful water plants you might wish to grow are actually land plants that appear to have re-adapted to the aquatic lifestyle, but they all tolerate, and even thrive, sitting in a body of water.

One of my favourites is Vietnamese or Hot Mint (Persicaria odorata) which I have been growing for years. I originally started growing from a stem I took home wrapped in a moistened serviette from a Vietnamese restaurant. It’s still going, and I have divided and given out dozens of plants from that original stem. But I learnt the trick to keeping it alive is to have its pot sitting in water all the time. I first kept it in pot, in a bucket, then graduated to a “pond” which is actually an old deep shower base I found on the side of the road.

The shower-base-pond in my backyard. Vietnamese Mint and Kang Kong are at the back, Taro and Fool's Watercress toward the front. That's Lemongrass on the edge in a pot.

I have grown other things in my shower pond, including Water Chestnuts (Eleocharis dulcis), which I had planted in a large, flat basket so they could be lifted out easily for harvest. At the moment I have Kang Kong (Ipomoea aquatica) a relative of the Morning Glory Vine, which is used for its abundant leaves, Taro (Colocasia esculenta) which is grown for its tubers, stems and leaves, and so-called Fool’s Watercress (Apium nodiflorum) which is a kind of perennial edible plant closely related to Celery (A. graveolens).

I have also thrown in Duckweed (Lemna minor) and the native water fern Azolla (Azolla pinnata) which help soak up excess nutrients in the water, as well as shade it. They float on the surface, grow really fast, and can be scooped out and used as mulch in other parts of the garden to keep the nutrients cycling. The only real drawback in having standing water is that you will attract mosquitoes to your garden, and they will lay eggs in the water, and while I don’t personally seem to get bitten much, it’s not the most pleasant of things if you wish to spend time out there.

Some people recommend putting oil or kerosene on your pond to counter the little wrigglers. I would never use anything like that, especially when growing food plants in the pond. The best thing to do is get a couple of fish who will eat he larvae. Goldfish are not that great, but better than nothing, ask a local aquarium what they suggest, it will depend on where you live. Also, they tend to like stagnant water, so a little fountain or waterfall pump might just do the trick, a solar powered one would be ideal.

While it may be starting to cool down, it might be worth thinking about planning for the spring time, and certainly while plans are dormant is the best time to set them up for next year. And don’t think the plants I have mentioned are the only options, there are a heap more plants that will grow in a small pond, and anything that can hold water is a suitable container. I just pot the plants in ordinary potting mix (regular grade Australian Standard, of course) and plonk them in the water. Simple as that!

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Come up to the lab lab, and see what’s on the slab

March 10, 2011 at 9:32 am (Agriculture, Edible weeds, Featured plants, Seed Saving)
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I have been asked recently “What are some plants that look good in an ornamental-type garden, but also produce something edible?”. Well, to be honest, there’s no reason a useful garden cant be designed for looks from scratch. Any plant can be planted in any design, as long as it suits the style. That’s a lot to do with personal aesthetic preference, anyway, and the main problem is that many plants look somewhat less attractive after harvest. There are, for example, some highly ornamental forms of vegetables like Broccoli, the ‘Romanesco’ variety is particularly striking, with its “chaos-theory” fractal spirals within spirals. But once you chop it off to eat it, the attractiveness drops off pretty drastically.

Romanesco Broccoli looks amazing in the garden. Until you want to eat it, of course.

But I guess it’s my penchant for perennials that wins over every time. Maybe I am just a bit lazy, but planting things over and over again seems like a lot of effort, and I usually look for things that can be planted once, and either keep growing, grow back, or self seed without my interference. One such plant I have grown in my garden is possibly one of the most productive and useful crops known to agricultural science. It has many names, the Lab Lab Bean, Hyacinth Bean or Dolichos Bean, but scientifically it is known as Lablab purpureus. It is a leguminous twining climber, with attractive purple or pink flowers, and large green or purple pods. It can yield up to 10 tons per hectare of fodder or green manure when grown as a field crop, and can be made used for silage, which improves nutrition for animals by fermenting the cut material. It can produce anywhere up to 4 tons per hectare of green beans, which are edible, and copious amounts of dried seed. The dried seeds is edible, too, though if it’s not cooked properly in a couple of changes of water, can be mildly toxic. Then again so are a lot of plant parts we avoid, like green potatoes, so lets not get hung up on that aspect. Humans can eat the foliage, too, though we can pretty much eat anything green and non-toxic, I guess it’s a matter of taste.

Huge yields of beans, this was a single week's harvest from one vine.

The plant itself is drought tolerant, though obviously yields better with adequate water supplies, and after picking every bean I could see on my plant, a week later I harvested 1.1kg of green beans for eating. The flavour is like green bean, the texture may take some getting used, to, though. They are a bit tougher and more rubbery than they appear, and unfortunately do not have the snapping quality of the Snow Peas they look so much like. But I have used them in stir fries, casseroles, curries, pretty much anything that calls for a mixture of vegetables. I usually string them, and chop them up crossways in strips or squares. There is so little work in growing them, they could even be worth planting even if you never use the beans.

I planted this seed late last summer, but most of the growth is from this year. It stretches at least twice as far as you can see from this, in both directions

The vine is attractive, and fast growing, usually grown from seed, and selected varieties have purple colouration in the leaves and stems, adding to the visual appeal, and they do have attractive white, pink or purple pea flowers, arranged in spikes, looking something like a Hyacinth, though without the fragrance. They also improve the soil, adding nitrogen, and cover a fence or support very quickly. While they are supposed to be perennial only in the subtropics or warmer, I have had no problems keeping mine alive over winter. In fact, the seeds I planted were collected from another vine not too far from where I live in the inner suburbs of Melbourne, so I know it is happy here. Whether you grow this vine as an emergency food supply, which may be more important in the future, or just as a quick growing cover for a fence, it’s a useful plant to have, and will, if nothing else, keep potential weeds at bay.

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You say Tomato, I say Tomatillo

December 3, 2010 at 10:59 am (Edible weeds, Featured plants, Gardening - Basics)
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Tomatoes are the most widely home-grown vegetable, but as I have repeatedly pointed out, when something is in season locally, it’s also at its cheapest in the shops and at market. I also like growing things that are unusual and interesting, or rare, just because I am a contrary so-and-so. And that’s why I became interested in the genus Physalis.

Closely related to the Tomato in the family Solanaceae, Physalis species are found throughout the world, and include the ornamental Chinese Lanterns (Physalis alkengi) grown for it’s colourful red “fruit”. The entire genus produce their tomato-like fruit concealed in a papery husk, formed by expansion of the calyx, which tends to protect the fruit from insects and birds. The fruit predominantly ripen to an orange colour, though many are edible before then.

Cape Gooseberry plant that overwintered in a sheltered spot. Not the fruits alrady developing in their husks

The two most commonly grown species are the Tomatillo (Spanish for “little Tomato’) or Tomate verde (P. philadelphica) which is the primary ingredient in Mexican green salsa and mole. It is often replaced by green capsicum in countries where it’s less known. The fruit often swells and bursts out of the papery husk, and while it is used green, it does ripen to a darker yellow colour, but purple, red, and orange varieties my be found. The so called “Cape Gooseberry” (P. peruviana) has many common names, but is native to South America. Its widespread cultivation in South Africa in the 19th century gave rise to the most popular of these names. The fruit develops completely contained in the husk, and ripens to a rich golden colour, at which stage it is juicy and sweet. It is quite strongly flavoured, though I am sure it is a “love or hate” taste, which may need some acquiring.

The plants are varied in size, from prostrate forms, to tall plants to about 2 metres, though their brittle stems may require some support or protection, like tomatoes. The thrive when given sufficient water and fertiliser, but seem to be much tougher than their more cultivated cousins, and they will survive and produce some fruit with little attention. Once planted, they often self-seed and pop up year after year, and in many cases survive the mild winters of the urban environment, and may start producing again the following spring. They may even become a desirable weed, something you don’t plant every year, but have an abundance of.

Seeds of these were sold to me as "Cossack Pineapple" (P. pruinosa). It remains to be tasted if that description is accurate, but they look cool.

Definitely worth a try if you like unusual ingredients, and especially if you wish to replicate authentic Mexican cuisine, without resorting to imported canned ingredients.

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They came from beneath the earth!

November 26, 2010 at 2:50 pm (Edible weeds, Featured plants, Planting calendar)
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I like growing weird things. Things you don’t see in the grocer, or only very rarely. Why? Because when things are in season in the garden, they are at their cheapest in the shops, generally speaking. So to make the most of a garden plot, it’s best to use it to produce things you can’t buy. And also because some of them look really cool, and you can slip them into “ornamental” gardens too.

They look like bad costumes from a low budget Sci Fi, but really it means I should plant these before the sprouting stems get much longer.

These potato-like vegies are Oca, also known as New Zealand Yams (Oxalis tuberosa). They are related to the weed Soursob (Oxalis pes-caprae), which is obvious from the familiar three foiled leaves, and their  similar tuberous structure underground. The underground perennating organ is what makes the weedy species in this genera so problematic in gardens: pulling them out usually leaves behind parts which can re-grow.

Despite having been served Soursob in a very expensive restaurant, I am not convinced of it’s food value. Oca, on the other hand is a staple part of the diet in parts of New Zealand, and throughout Polynesia in the South Pacific. Despite the common name, and the prevalence in cultivation there, the plant is not native to New Zealand. Like a huge proportion of garden vegetables, this one is from the Americas, where wild relatives can be found growing in the Andes, and cultivated varieties are also widely grown.

They are easy to grow, probably easier than Potatoes, and will apparently grow in partial shade. Planted in spring, they require a shortening day length, and a frost free environment to set good sized tubers. They don’t seem to have many pests, and the bushy plants are sort of attractive, though could be mistaken for a weedy cousin by an untrained eye. Unlike Spuds, which must be kept out of the sun to prevent them producing toxic alkaloids, Oca tubers must be exposed to the sun after harvest in winter to make them edible. The light destroys oxalic acid in the skin, and greatly improves their flavour. They can be eaten raw, which is how they are favoured in Mexico, or cooked. You could substitute them for Potatoes in just about anything. I am off to put these little fellas in pots, and see how they go.

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