Grow it yourself: garlic
Freshly harvested garlic is a very different proposition to the stuff that has been hanging about for ten months and has lost most of its potency. We are not, perhaps, served well by the traditional wisdom of planting on the shortest day and harvesting on the longest day. We prefer Kay Baxter’s advice and moved to autumn planting in order to get it in growth before it has to deal with the cold, sodden soils of a wet winter. You can even successionally sow from May to August to extend the harvest season. Fresh picked green garlic is delicious.
Garlic needs to be grown in full sun, in heavily worked, fertile soils. It is a greedy feeder and good drainage is critical. If you are organised, you can prepare the beds now and sow a quick green crop. Dig that green crop in two weeks before planting the garlic. This, allied to late autumn warmth, will give them a real kick start into growth.
Always plant only the biggest and the strongest cloves from the garlic bulb and never but never plant the cheap, imported Chinese stuff (wrong hemisphere so out of season, may be carrying virus which threatens the local strains of garlic and will have been chemically treated). If you follow Kay Baxter’s advice and plant at 10cm diagonal spacings, you can get 100 plants to the square metre. We prefer a wider spacing of up to 15cm in parallel rows. Cover the cloves with a couple of centimetres of soil. Keeping the area free of weeds stops competition but also keeps the soil well cultivated, thus helping with drainage in the wet months. Some gardeners liquid feed regularly. We don’t, but we mulch with compost which is effectively a form of slow release. It is important that the crop never dries out or it will stop growing so be particularly vigilant from November onwards. Garlic can be harvested as soon as the tips start to turn brown.
First published in the Waikato Times and reproduced here with their permission.
Grow it Yourself – oregano and marjorum
I am not alone in getting these plants confused. Marjoram is the sweeter, milder, softer option but they are all members of the origanum family and related to mint. Origanum vulgare is what is usually regarded as oregano while Origanum marjorana is marjoram (sometimes referred to as sweet marjoram). It also has smaller leaves. I grow both and tend to use them in tandem when cooking. It appears that in the wild and in harsher climates, oregano develops a much stronger taste and the flavour difference is marked. But in our soft and lush conditions, the flavours of both are very mild.
The relationship to mint gives a clue as to growth habits. These are clumping perennials, easily increased by division once established. In colder climates they are largely deciduous, but grown in a well cultivated garden border, I can harvest from them for most of the year. It is best to divide them in spring or summer when in full growth. If you are growing oregano for cooking, don’t succumb to buying the golden and variegated forms which lack the flavour. You can plant these herbs as ground cover in herbaceous borders though they can be so enthusiastic in growth they may swamp more retiring neighbours. They will grow happily in sun to part shade but the flavours will be intensified in harsher conditions – full sun and poorer soil. I have decided I am being too kind to my plants and am getting masses of lush leafy growth at the expense of flavour. Their Mediterranean origins are an indicator that they will take harder conditions. What is sold as Greek oregano is reputed to have the strongest flavour.
First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.
Grow it yourself: spinach
Silver beet and spinach are close relatives. Indeed, somebody very close to me claims they taste the same when cooked, which I can’t argue against because it is so long since I have eaten the former. Texturally, I much prefer the finer, softer leaves of spinach and will happily eat those. Spinach is a winter vegetable. It will continue growing in colder temperatures but as soon as the weather warms in spring, it will bolt to seed. It is not quite as amenable as silver beet to grow and while you can leave plants in the ground and just pick as much as you need, it does not have the same cut and come again characteristics.
Well cultivated, well drained soil rich in nitrogenous fertiliser and full sun are the keys. Spinach is usually direct sown from seed and most of us now know to pick the thinnings and eat them as micro greens in salads or stir fries. The final spacing is in the 10cm range. In the right conditions, it is a quick crop because it will mature within a couple of months and you may have been eating immature leaves all that time. Some gardeners like to sow successive crops every few weeks to ensure continued supply.
There are a number of different spinach varieties, including New Zealand spinach or kokihi which is a different plant altogether (though similar taste and texture) and is our one great contribution to the global world of vegetables. While most spinach are spinacia, it is Tetragonia expansa. We recommend shunning the heirloom strawberry spinach (Chenopodium foliosum), being of the opinion that the reason it has been around for over 400 years is because it seeds so freely it is nigh on impossible to eradicate once you have it. The leaves are pleasant enough but the so-called strawberry seed heads are not.
First published in the Waikato Times and reproduced here with their permission.
Grow it yourself: silver beet
Call it silver beet, chard or Swiss chard. It is what you start planting as space becomes available from now on to offer a reprieve from frozen peas in winter. In fact you can grow it pretty much any time of the year but there are more delicious crops to eat in summer. Some of us think there are more delicious crops to eat in autumn, winter and spring as well but it is the proven ease and reliability which has made silver beet such a longstanding vegetable garden staple. Some people even claim to like it.
Being a leafy green, silver beet likes lots of organic matter, nitrogen and water. This is a crop where you can dig in animal manures, preferably composted first (and definitely composted if it is poultry manure). Sow the seed and cover lightly to a depth of a couple of centimetres. You can eat the thinnings as fresh salad greens when young, achieving a final spacing of around 30 to 40cm per plant. Silver beet can be a handy plant for tucking into odd spaces instead of a uniform row. It will sit there for a long time until it bolts to seed in spring because usual practice is to harvest a few leaves as you need them, rather than picking the whole plant at once. It is that cut and come again ability in cool conditions that makes it so handy. Just don’t cut too much at once or you will weaken the plant.
The rainbow coloured chards with red, yellow and pink stems and leaf ribs may add a decorative element in the garden and to raw salads when young, but they taste no different to the usual white stemmed version and the colour disappears entirely if you do more than the lightest blanching. However, they may encourage children to take a more kindly attitude to what is essentially an obliging but utility vegetable which is dead easy to grow and high in iron.
First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.
Grow it Yourself – Broccoli
Ssh and I will make an admission. I am not keen at all on broccoli despite understanding that it is terribly good for me. There is just something about the taste and texture that does not appeal, though I concede it is acceptable in a creamy soup with blue cheese. But, it is a staple vegetable and so easy to grow that it is a mainstay for most vegetable gardeners. We avoid growing it over summer here because it is a magnet for white butterflies and we don’t want to have to spray it but as the cooler weather of autumn approaches, it is planting time again. The white butterflies peter out when cooler weather comes and in the interim, it is easier to keep small plants insect free.
If you start from seed, it is usual to sow it into small pots or a seed tray to get the plants growing strongly before planting them in the garden. Unless you have a huge family of voracious broccoli eaters, buying an occasional punnet of seedlings is the easy way to go. They need the usual well cultivated soil rich in humus and with plenty of sun. Being a leafy green, they also appreciate fertiliser. We prefer to give this through extensive use of compost (nature’s very own slow release fertiliser) and blood and bone or you can feed with any number of cheap and cheerful proprietary mixes if you prefer. Aim for one rich in nitrogen. Keep the water up to the plants if we get a dry spell – leafy plants need plenty of moisture. Allow about half a metre of space around each plant. It seems a lot when the plants are small but they need room to spread and they don’t appreciate competition from neighbours. Plant them a little deeper than they are in the seed pots to encourage them to develop more roots higher up the stem.
Broccoli is generally cold hardy and will hold in the ground in winter to enable you to harvest as little or as much as you want at a time. Plants may need protecting from birds while they get established.
First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.
Grow It Yourself: Cardoon
Cardoon stems resemble giant celery but only in looks
The edible cardoon is Cynara cardunculus and it is very closely related to the globe artichoke, though less well known. To be honest, it falls into the novelty class of vegetables, to be grown by those with plenty of space and a sense of curiosity though it is a sufficiently handsome plant to justify a place in the summer border. The flower is a good indication that it is a relative of the thistle – all belong to the asteracae family. Cardoon is native to the Mediterranean and North Africa and in the wild is a great deal pricklier than modern cultivated selections. Its homeland and its silver toned foliage both give a hint that it is a plant adapted to hotter, drier conditions though we have found it exists quite happily on the margins of the vegetable garden. It would benefit from being staked in our wetter climate. It is a perennial and reaches over 1.5m high and about a metre wide so it needs space.
Cardoon is a traditional vegetable in its homeland areas. Most commonly eaten are the leaf stems which are harvested in winter and early spring, before the plant sets flowers. These look a bit like celery and are always cooked before eating. The young flower buds are also eaten in southern Italy. I will admit that we have only tried eating it once and we parboiled it. It was not an exciting experience though it was perfectly acceptable in an anonymous green sort of way. I will try again this winter, using it braised and in soups. Its value may lie in giving a fresh alternative in late winter when other greens are sparse. It is also a source of natural, vegetarian rennet and some artisan cheese makers in this country have returned to this traditional usage.
First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.
Grow it Yourself – parsnips
Parsnips are not the most glamorous of vegetables, even less so when old and woody which is usually a sign of being dug too late. But I am very partial to a bit of roast parsnip and they add welcome variety in winter when veg can get a bit repetitive. We are doing a late sowing parsnip seed now for winter harvest. Others will have sown as early as last spring though they are not likely to harvest before winter. They will have considerably larger specimens by then, as long as they do not bolt to seed. From this you can take it that the timing is not critical. They take about four and half months to reach maturity so you can be eating them from July onwards if planting now. It is usual to leave them in the ground and dig as required. They go dormant over winter and frosts are said to enhance the flavour considerably.
The two critical issues are to use fresh seed (parsnip seed does not store well) and to avoid additional fertilisers. Nitrogenous fertilisers will encourage too much top, leafy growth and not enough root development. Fresh manures will cause forked and misshapen roots. Parsnips are a good option where you have taken out a heavily fertilised crop like leafy greens or even potatoes. Don’t add anything extra – there should be plenty of goodness left in the soil. Make sure the soil is well tilled and friable to allow the roots to grow straight. Seed is sown close to the surface and covered lightly. Once it has germinated and is growing away strongly, thin to at least 10cm apart in every direction to allow room to develop. Diseases are not usually an issue and while a few pests can attack parsnips (carrot fly, greenfly and wireworm), this is not usually a big problem.
First published in the Waikato Times and reproduced here with their permission.
Grow It Yourself: yams
Clearly an oxalis family member - the New Zealand yam
It is curious that what every New Zealander knows as a yam is only a yam in this country. Overseas, yams are an entirely different vegetable and our yams are called oka or oca. This does not matter unless you are using overseas growing instructions or recipes. Our yam is a member of the oxalis family – O. tuberosa – and we all know they are the reddish thumb-like, nubbly tubers that are delicious roasted but can be a pain to prepare if they are too small.
Our yams are a root vegetable from the highlands of South America. They are not difficult to grow but the yield rates can be disappointingly small. The best ever yams we saw were grown in a neighbour’s garden in Dunedin which is an indication that they are quite happy with cooler temperatures, though frost kills off the foliage. Grow them like a potato. Plant the tuber and as you see smaller nodules forming on the stems above ground, mound up the soil to encourage those nodules to develop into tubers. In warmer areas, they will grow all year and more or less naturalise if you allow them to (great if you are into one of the trendy food forests) but even so, they will appreciate a gift of compost mulch from time to time. They appear to be largely immune to pests and diseases but they do need good drainage.
Yams sweeten up if you leave them in the sun for a couple of days after harvest. Because they are thin skinned and don’t need peeling before cooking, they are vulnerable to damage during harvest and they don’t have the storage longevity of potatoes or kumaras. You can layer them in sawdust or newspaper if you want to hold them longer term.
First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.
Grow it Yourself (or not, in the case of American school lunch pizza)
Yes! Pizza. In honour of one of life’s bizarre rulings of 2011, that pizza counts as a vegetable serving. Here I was thinking that by definition, vegetables are edible plants that one grows but apparently not. Mass produced pizza with a smidgeon of a red substance which once, some time and distance past, had a debt to a tomato, can now officially count as a vegetable. One might not have been quite so surprised had the good gnomes of Brussels made a formal decree. It was the European Community, after all, that passed regulations on how bent a banana was permitted to be and they also addressed the perplexing issue of cucumbers. I can’t recall the details of that but I think it was probably on how far a cucumber was permitted to bend from a straight line. But it was the United States Congress, that fine law making body, which bowed to the pressures of the frozen food industry and reclassified pizza to enable it to remain as a healthy option (ie: counting as a serving of vegetable) on the menu of school lunches for American children.
Our diets in New Zealand may be far from perfect and we have a growing issue with obesity, but I think we have far too much respect for the Heart Foundation and the healthy tick to consider mass produced pizza as a healthy food choice. If you are worried about your weight, just ponder for a moment how many obese vegetarians you have met. I failed to come up with any. Certainly it is not common and while giving up eating meat may be a step too far for many (including me), doubling the fresh vegetable intake might be a good New Year’s resolution to make, along with trying to grow at least some at home.
First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.
Grow it yourself: basil
Was there life before basil? Surprisingly yes, but it probably amounted to soggy sliced tomatoes drowned in salt and fine white pepper with Maggi onion dip in place of pesto. Of all the herbs, nothing shouts summer like basil. In my opinion it is only worth eating fresh so it is very seasonal. It is not difficult to grow in rich vegetable garden conditions (the usual full sun and friable, fertile soils) but it won’t do much until summer is pretty much upon us because it needs warmth even to germinate – about 20 degrees of it. It is not too late to sow it now though you won’t get much to pick until late February. Enthusiasts start it earlier under cover and plant out into the garden as soon as temperatures rise sufficiently.
I see Kings Seeds now offer 17 different types of basil plus a gourmet blend for the indecisive. We have tried some different types but keep going back to the most common variety – Sweet Genovese, or its equivalent. To harvest, just keep picking leaves as required. Keeping the plants well watered encourages them to continue growing rather than bolting to seed early. Caterpillars can take a liking to the leaves but you can generally control these by hand.
The shortcut approach where time and equipment are a problem, is to buy the pot of smallest, least mature basil in the fruit and veg section of the supermarket and to repot these to a larger container with optimum conditions (good mix, full sun, plenty of water and liquid feed) and resist the temptation to start harvesting leaves immediately. The older pots of living herbs in the supermarket are leggy and stretched (reaching for the light) but if you get a fresh shipment they are sometimes a little more squat and juvenile. Elder Daughter used this approach to keep a year round supply going. Others recommend chopping up basil leaves, adding olive oil and freezing in ice cube trays. I have tried this but decided that I prefer to keep basil as a seasonal taste in summer, best picked with sun warmed leaves and eaten very fresh. Try it in a simple salad with slices of fresh, white mozzarella and ripe tomatoes – summer in a salad bowl.
First published in the Waikato Times and reproduced here with their permission.
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