Mullumbimby Living Earth Festival 2013

'These Boots are Made for Planting'

If you had ventured into our little town of Mullumbimby on the 1st of September this year you probably would have felt that not only spring was in the air but a real sense of hope (believe me, after the election result a week later we need it - for the first time since 1931 we have no Science Minister and one woman on the front bench - and that's just for starters)!  

Our community came together to put on an amazing celebration of all that is important to us as human beings: family, food security, mutual co-operation, sharing, music, wisdom of the elders, dance, fun and beauty - enough to put a smile on your face from ear to ear - the Mullumbimby Living Earth Festival for 2013 held in our Community Garden.

The program for the day was awesome - in the true sense of the word in that it inspired 'awe'.  How on earth was this going to be pulled off?  To say that what was planned was ambitious would be putting it mildly -  I saw a lot of very tired and harassed Committee members in the week prior to the event.  Needless to say the day was a huge success and, I could tell from all the comments that I received, that everybody went away feeling so glad that we live in this place where these things matter - where we can share, celebrate, be grateful and keep on learning.

It's was absolutely wonderful to see families and friends, young and old, walking around with shining, smiley faces. As Jerry Coleby Williams said to me (ABC Gardening TV presenter) "This place is more than just a garden; it's a sustainable food source, a seed bank, a source of wisdom and ideas - and the heart and soul of this community".

Program for the Festival

The day started with a very colourful and noisy street parade through Mullumbimby and my prize for the best 'float' (wheelbarrow) went to Rasa Dover from the Byron Hinterland Seed Savers for her spectacular effort as a seed fairy.  Rasa's work with Seed Savers epitomizes the tireless hours that countless volunteers put in for the mutual benefit of the whole community.  (If you are interested in seed saving/sharing you should get yourself a copy of the Seed Savers Manual by locals Jude and Michele Fanton - it's a treasure trove of wisdom, inspiration and knowledge)

My contribution was to be a workshop for children and the young at heart.  For two months I had collection points around the place for folk to drop off their old boots.  The idea was to fill them with potting mix and then plant them up with herbs.  I liked the whole concept of recycling old boots and using them as planters for something you could then eat - and the fact that they take up very little space - even folk with just a balcony or small courtyard can do this.  (Got old olive oil cans that you don't know what to do with - click here)

Everyone can grow herbs - people have been growing them for thousands of years and they are an important part of many cultures for their aromatic flavours and aromas as well as their nutritional and medicinal qualities. (Parsley is one of the most nutritious plants we have - click here to find out more)

A handful of fresh herbs on top of a meal often has more nutritional value in vitamins and minerals than the rest of the meal put together.

I have to give a special thank you to the following people for giving me support and helping to make the day such a success: Mullum Rural Co-op - for collecting boots and supplying potting mix; Byron Herb Nursery for all the plants; Sue Nelson at Mitre 10 for collecting boots for me and all the other folk who dropped off boots and last, but by no means least, - my family.  In all, we planted out and folk took home about 70 boots.  Well done!

“The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers and cities; but to know someone who thinks and feels with us, and who, though distant, is close to us in spirit, this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden.” 

 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Peach Cake

Peach Cake

While many of my readers are hunkering down for the winter we, in Australia, are in the early days of summer - although you wouldn't know it because it is very dry and hot already - it has barely rained for four months and spring was a dream I had one night.

It does mean, though, a great season for stone fruit and I picked up a whole boxful of peach and nectarine 'seconds' for $4 yesterday.  As I had some unexpected little people for afternoon tea I thought I would make this quick and easy cake.

You don't have to use peaches - you can use apples, pears, rhubarb, plums, berries, apricots in fact, any kind of fresh fruit.

200 gm butter
1 1/2 cups soft brown sugar
4 eggs
2 cups wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups sliced fruit (peaches)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (almonds/pistachios/pecans/hazelnuts)
1 tbs honey

1.  Preheat oven to 160oC
2.  Grease a 22cm spring-form pan and line the bottom with baking paper
3.  Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy
4.  Add the eggs one at time, adding a couple of spoonfuls of flour before the last egg (this stops it from curdling).
5.  Fold in the flour and baking powder.
6.  Pour into cake tin and cover with sliced fruit
7.  Top with chopped nuts and drizzle with honey

Bake for 1 hour, or until cooked (skewer comes out clean).  Serve however you like.  We had it with homemade yoghurt.

That is a very big piece, for such a little girl!

Adenium obesum : Desert Rose

Desert Rose (Adenium obesum, Apocynacea)

This is the start of what is going to be a wonderful journey for me, and I hope for you too.  The truly amazing, and incredibly diverse plant world often leaves me awestruck at the sheer beauty and the fantastic adaptiveness of plants that helps them to survive in every climate and  place on this planet - from harsh mountainous regions, to coastal sand dunes, tropical rainforests and all points of the compass in between.

My husband was given this plant as a present (and I have been looking after it for a few years now!).  While not paying it much attention for most of the year, you certainly can't ignore it in early summer when it puts on this fantastic floral display with clusters of pink/red tubular flowers with a white throat.  When it is not flowering, it is still such a quirky, interesting plant and worth having if you live in a warm, frost-free area.

WHAT:  Adenium obesum - its botanic name actually tells us a lot about it, while its common name 'Desert Rose' is quite misleading because while it does originate from desert areas, they are not the dry and arid kind - and is certainly not related to the rose.  When my son was asking me what it was called the other day, even he said "So you would think that it doesn't need much water, but I first saw them growing really well in Bali - the tropics"?  Adeniums are hardy succulents which are more related to Alamandas, Oleanders and Frangipanis than the rose.  They have that typical, white sap common to all the plants in this family of Apocynacea.

WHERE: Named after the former British Colony of Aden (now South Yemen) -  south of the Sahara in tropical and sub-tropical Africa and Arabia are it's natural territory - hence Adeniums also finding a very happy home in sub-tropical Australia, where I live, and places like Bali.  The obesum bit refers to its fat, swollen base - which make them a very attractive, sculptured pot specimen.  The fat belly, in common with a lot of succulents, is for storing water through naturally dry periods - that's why it doesn't need too much watering in the winter - the driest months where it comes from.

HOW:  Their origins also tell you a lot about how to look after them.  They require frost free, little watering in the winter, protection from harsh weather and regular watering in the summer - typical tropical weather - and they like to be warm.  They make a fine specimen garden plant - just make sure you give them a free-draining soil.

POTS:  If you are going to plant them in a pot, make sure that you don't bury any part of its fat belly - it will probably rot if you do and you will miss seeing it's belly getting fatter as it grows! While they can get to 2m in the garden, they will stay smaller in pots and have a very interesting bonsai look about them.

PROPAGATING:  Now this is where it gets really interesting.  Plants grown from cuttings tend to be a bit straggly looking and Adeniums are generally grown from seed.  I was thrilled to see that my plant (well, my husbands') had set two long seed pods last year and I was filled with anticipation as to what was going to happen next.  After what seemed an eternity, they finally split open and revealed the most fairy-like seeds, with a silken tutu at each end.

They were almost impossible to photograph as the slightest puff would set them floating in the air.  They were just so enchanting, and incredible beautiful.  I had a happy few moments flitting around trying to round them up!

Adenium obesum seed

This story is to be continued as I have planted them, and they have sprouted.  Like all children, they will be versions of the parents but not identical - I may get a white one or an all red one - and, I might finally get to have a plant of my own!

Citrus: When and how to Feed

Potted oranges and lemons

I once read a survey in an Australian landscaping magazine that listed the top five things you could expect to find in the average Aussie backyard - they were: a barbecue; a Hill's Hoist (washing line); a dunny (outside toilet); a dog and a lemon tree.

It tells you a lot about Australians and their way of life - and that gardening is not top of their list!  However, I'm fortunate that my life as a horticulturist in Australia has been full of gardens and wonderful gardeners, and their passion for citrus trees is evident (not just the lone self seeded bush lemon tree!).  Citrus are always top of the clients' 'must have' list and questions about citrus always outnumber any other gardening questions.

In previous posts about citrus I have discussed pruning and planting, caterpillars on citrus and how to deal with common pests (scale, sooty mould and aphids).

Lastly, I'm going to tell you how to recognize nutritional deficiencies in your citrus trees and what their feeding requirements are.  When it comes to giving citrus tender loving care there are a few basic principles - one of the most important is adequate nutrition - CITRUS ARE HEAVY FEEDERS.

WHEN:  Citrus have very shallow surface-feeding roots and require fertilizing three times a year in July, November and March.  This is particularly important in areas of heavy rainfall where the soil rapidly becomes depleted of nutrients.  That's why it is also important to mulch them out to the drip-line to minimize soil run off and help maintain the nutrients in the soil.

DON'T feed the soil while they are in flower otherwise you will have a lot of leaves and no fruit.

DON'T OVERFEED - especially with nitrogen or you will end up with a lot of overlarge and thick-skinned fruit.

WHAT:  Citrus are heavy fruiters and take up a lot of the essential macro and micro nutrients out of the soil - they require the lot LITTLE and OFTEN.  Potassium (potash) is essential for flowering and fruiting and a natural constituent of seaweed - that's why regular feeding with a compost tea, that contains seaweed, or a seaweed concentrate is a good option for citrus.  I would recommend the following mixed with 4.5L water for the three times a year feeding regime.  Water in this mix around the drip-line of the tree - that is where the feeder roots are.

• 3 tbs seaweed concentrate
• 1 tsp trace elements
• 2 tsp iron chelates

HOW:  Signs and symptoms of common nutrient deficiency:

Iron - a common deficiency in citrus with dieback of the new growth and intra-veinal mottling of the leaves.

Iron deficiency of citrus leaves

Nitrogen - Overall pale yellow leaves and lack of vigour.  This is not to be mistaken for 'winter yellowing' where some of the leaves will turn yellow in the winter because the nitrogen in the soil is unavailable to the plant in cold and dry soils.  The leaves will turn green again with the spring rains.

Nitrogen deficiency of citrus

Zinc - Yellow tipping of leaves.

Copper - Dieback and dry patches inside fruit.

Manganese - Intra-veinal mottling and lumpiness of leaves

Magnesium - Very common and similar in look to iron deficiency ending up with a triangular patch of green at the base of the leaves leaving the rest yellow.

A NOTE ABOUT CITRUS IN POTS:  Citrus have always made fantastic pot plants and have been grown this way for hundreds of years with large green house conservatories or 'orangeries' a part of a lot of the stately homes of Europe, where the potted citrus would be wheeled inside to overwinter.

The roots of citrus in pots cannot go foraging for water and nutrients and require particular attention to keep them looking as healthy as the orange tree in the above photo.  Enough water, but not too much and the right kind of food, but not too much.  I would still recommend the above recipe three times a year with extra monthly waterings of a weak compost tea or worm juice drink.

SUMMARY OF CITRUS CARE:

• Choose an open and sunny spot to plant them - out of the wind.
• Mulch out to the drip-line.
• Feed regularly - not forgetting the essential trace elements.
• Prune to shape regularly.
• Ensure they are getting adequate water - particularly when the fruit is setting - dry plants mean dry fruit.

Feta Cheese: Making Your Own!

Homemade feta marinated in olive oil

With a good source of fresh milk I have recently been venturing into the wonderful world of home cheese making - something I have always wanted to do but thought it would really be too complicated to try at home - not so.  This is apart from the fact that I adore cheese and one of the joys of traveling is getting to try new varieties.

People talk about the romance of the vine and wine making, but I think there's a lot in the romance of the 'rind' - cheese-making - the sources of milk from a wide variety of landscapes, the family traditions, recipes and love that goes into the making of cheese.  Where would a good Greek salad be without a big slab of feta cheese on top of a glistening bowl of tomatoes, cucumbers and olives, drizzled with local olive oil and sprinkled with herbs?

This all started with making my own yoghurt, and from that labneh and ricotta. So when I saw this recipe for home-made feta by Matthew Evans, that included raw yoghurt, my eyes lit up. It does take a while, but you don't have to watch it all the time - it's really about the alchemy of beneficial bacteria (as in yoghurt making) which do take a bit of time to work but, believe me, the end result is worth it.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: A thermometer - just a simple one with a prong that clips onto the edge of the saucepan.  Sterile implements and bowls - this is where a dishwasher comes into its own - everything gets washed thoroughly and then heated while they are drying. Clean piece of muslin (cheesecloth) or use a brand-new Chux.

3 litres unhomogenised milk
1 1/2 tbsp live natural yoghurt
1/8  tsp rennet OR 3 junket tablets whisked into 150ml boiled then cooled water 
2 tbsp salt

NOTE:  Matthew Evans states that he had varying success using junket tablets, but I found they worked just fine - as you can see!.  The only way I could lay my hands on rennet was by ordering it on line and I just couldn't wait however, junket  - being an old fashioned milk coagulating desserty thing, is readily available in my country town mini-supermarket.  I remember in my Domestic Science classes at school having to make junket as part of an 'invalid meal' - like yoghurt, it's easy to digest.

1.  Heat the milk in a large saucepan over a low flame until it reaches 32C.  You need to keep it as close to this temperature for about an hour so put straight away into an Esky or insulated bag.  Put a wad of newspaper on the bottom because it the pan will be hot, then zip it up.

2.  After one hour, add the yoghurt and whisk it through the milk.  Put the lid on your pot again and zip it up for another hour.

3. Whisk the rennet or junket mixture to the milk and then stop the milk from moving with a large spoon (you need the milk mix to be completely still while the rennet is working).  Cover again and leave for 8-12 hours, or overnight.  Do not disturb during this time.

4.  Once the curds are set, use a long knife to cut the curds into squares and leave to sit for ten minutes.

5.  Line a colander with a layer of muslin leaving enough to cover the top of the cheese, drain the curds through it and wrap the cheesecloth over the top.

6.  Put a plate on top that will cover most of the cheese and top with about 1kg of weight - I used a couple of cans of tomatoes. Stand back in the saucepan on top of an inverted little dish so that your cheese is sitting up above the strained whey. Refrigerate and leave for 24 hours.

7.  To make the brine solution, mix together the salt with 1 litre of water and stir to dissolve.  Cut the cheese into squares, place in sterilized jars, top up with the brine and leave for a day or two before using.  Will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge.

NOTE:  Brining the cheese 'hardens' it up and gives it that distinctive feta characteristics.  If you want a softer, milder cheese, strain from the brine after a couple of hours and keep by covering in olive oil.  You can also add some lemon peel/garlic/herbs/chillies etc. - I just love marinated feta for breakfast and lunch and then add to salads for dinner.  Ideally, I would have marinated this in a lighter olive oil, but the extra virgin was all I had - it just gives a stronger taste.

This cheese left unbrined is very similar to Greek manouri cheese. I had a delcious salad of this on the island of Skopelos (where they made the film Mumma Mia). The cheese was grilled until lightly golden and then placed on a bed of wild rocket and cherry tomatoes with a dressing of reduced balsamic.  At home in Mullumbimby, all I had to do was put on 'Dancing Queen', eat some of this yummy cheese and I was right back there.

NOTE: This is a very economical cheese to make at home.  3 litres of milk made 800g of feta.

Anybody reconize this church?

Simple Pleasures: Ruby Wax and Seneca

Being yourself - the art of being happy in your own skin.  A pelican amongst the gulls and terns at Belongil Estuary

I recently went to a show in Byron with Ruby Wax - the New York comedian who lives in London.  She was talking about her new book 'Sane New World' - an account of her experiences of being born into a dysfunctional family, being diagnosed with depression after the birth of her third child, having lived with it for most of her life, and how she learned to deal with it.  She dealt with it by allowing herself to be diagnosed and then trying to understand it - she has just completed a course at Oxford University where she studied neural plasticity - how the brain works and suggests we can rewire it to help us function in a better way - it's apparently not all in our DNA .

“A man’s as miserable as he thinks he is.” Seneca

She prefaced her talk, in the usual way, by having a dig at the Byron Bay audience - (apparently we are all perceived to be hippy-trippy, crystal gazing, new agers - amongst other things).  She then proceeded to talk about how she turned her life around by learning about mindfulness - being in the moment and about how we should: realize that the acquisition of wealth and 'stuff' won't give us peace and contentment,  stop and actually listen to our children,  not try to do twenty things at once and be aware of the here and now etc. etc.  It seemed to me that most of the audience were thinking the same as me "No wonder you're depressed if you've only just worked that out"   Why did she think we have chosen to be HERE rather than THERE?

“For many men, the acquisition of wealth does not end their troubles, it only changes them.”*

Welcome Swallows on the beach at New Brighton trying to teach us about fun, family and being playful

We all have difficult times in our life and there is not always a hand reaching out to stop us stumbling or pick us up when we fall,  so we really have to learn ways of helping ourselves - for me that's engaging with nature, being active (having a swim!) and finding the pleasure in small things, because sometimes I could easily just pull the covers over and try to blot out the difficult bits.  It's at times like that I go back to Seneca - the Roman philosopher who lived over 2,000 years ago during the reign of Nero, who ended up forcing Seneca to take his own life when he fell out of favour (and we think our leaders can be self-serving, greedy nincompoops!).  I really got to know about Seneca from the marvelous series 'The Consolations of Philosophy', by modern-day philosopher Alain de Botton.  Seneca's main message is that we are in charge of our own happiness and if the way we are running our life is making us unhappy - then change it.  Be brave - it will make you more resilient.

“There is no person so severely punished, as those who subject themselves to the whip of their own remorse.” Seneca

JUST A LITTLE STORY:  When I was growing up my mother was constantly on the latest fad diet - grapefruit, Pritikin, Weight Watchers, liquid dinners in a can, pills etc. etc.  The garage was also full of discarded 'diet aids' - a belted fat wobbler that you strapped around you, turned on and then fell in a heap of laughter (that burnt up a few calories - the fat wobbler did nothing!), special mats and rolling 'things' for doing stomach crunches, a medicine ball that nearly knocked her teeth out and the piece de la resistance 'the scuba suit' - as my father dubbed it.  This was flesh-coloured, rubber corset with little holes all over it that my brother and I had to help her get zipped into - don't ask!.  This was supposed to make her sweat, while running around the house with the vacuum cleaner, and bingo the pounds would drop off.  Of course, she didn't loose an ounce.  The unzipping of this corset of torture was at least fun to watch - she looked like she was in the final stages of some fatal disease; bright pink, sweaty with little pimples all over her where her flesh had been forced through the corset holes!
Mum thought there there was a magic answer to all of this.  What she didn't want to do was CHANGE - eat less and exercise.

“As long as you live, keep learning how to live" Seneca

Mindfulness - a big lesson from a little tern

“He that does good to another does good also to himself.”Seneca

I hope you have somewhere to go when your mind is full - somewhere to empty it.  I go to the beach!

Rainbow bee eater

This flock of the most incredibly beautiful rainbow bee eaters had made their very tenuous homes at the high water mark at South Golden Beach, which will probably be eroded into the sea at the next storm or king tide (about ten metres of beach have been lost this year).  This nesting site was also only about 20 m away from the dog walking strip - I hope their owners are mindful.  It was going for this walk on the beach yesterday that made me want to share these beautiful creatures with you - simple pleasures - and Mr Seneca.

Rainbow Bee Eater at home, South Golden Beach, NSW

“Life’s like a play: it’s not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters.”Seneca

*Lucius Seneca, philosopher, statesman, educator and dramatist 4BC-65AD

PS My mother was never fat, she just thought she was.  My parents aged in the 80's.  Maybe swimming is in the DNA?

Broad Bean Salad

The mainstay of my garden during the late winter and early spring has been broad beans - I just love them.  I love the way they look in my garden and I love the way they taste.

The plants are about 2 metres high, full of delicately blushed flowers and abuzz with pollinators.  It's a strange thing, but they were flowering for a full month before the pollinators came and the pods started setting.  Maybe the pollen/ovum have to reach a certain maturity before the bees start humming and are attracted to them - a bit like puberty?

Broad beans (or fava beans) are one of the oldest cultivated plants dating back 5,000 BC in Greece and the Mediterranean and you find them popping up there as dips, salads and cooked with other vegetables - like artichokes which are flourishing in the garden at the same time as broad beans.  This is an extremely adaptable salad, but this is how  have been making it for the past few weeks - and it's delicious!

1 bunch watercress, washed (you can use rocket or small salad leaves instead)

1 cup shelled and steamed fresh broad beans.

1 avocado, cubed

1/2 cup shaved fennel (optional - put some chopped dill in as a substitute if you don't have fennel)

1/4 cup toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

1 tbs diced preserved lemon

2 tbs shaved pecorino (or parmesan) - put this on after the dressing

A light dressing made from e.v. olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice with salt and black peppper.

NOTE:  When the broad beans are young you can use them freshly steamed without peeling them again.  However, once they look grey and leathery when cooked you have to peel them again to reveal a luscious green bean underneath.  This salad contains a mixture of both peeled and unpeeled.

FOR TIPS on how to grow beans and for other yummy recipes from my Greek friend Despina - go to this link

Edible Hedges

Calamondin - a fantastic dense bush in the citrus family with fruit that makes the best marmalade and candied fruits.

Not all of us have acreage and maximizing your garden space can sometimes be a challenge - but also a lot of fun when you let your ideas evolve and then just take off - especially when you realize you can have a hedge and eat it too!  Hedges make a softer option to fencing and walls with an infinite number of plants and combinations to choose from that create a beautiful green and productive boundary to your garden.  Just think of your hedge as part of your food garden!

The Feijoa is a very underused hedging plant - it has attractive contrasting silver/grey foliage, beautiful flowers and sweet, tasty fruit.  It is also very easy to grow and tolerant of a wide range of conditions.

This topic started with a question from a lady browsing my plant stall yesterday "Did I have any hedging plants"?  When I discovered that she was living on a suburban block with limited space I suggested that she think about using edible plants for the hedge - well, her face was like a light bulb coming on.  After she had said "Well, my husband won't like it, but I think it's a wonderful idea" she asked me the loaded question "What do you suggest?".  I hate to think that I may responsible for some local marital rift, but here goes!

NOTE:  This list is suitable for anyone living in the tropics/sub-tropics.  I'm afraid you will have to do your own research for other areas.  I have deliberately excluded many plants that may be a wonderful food source but are invasive and can present 'weed' problems. A lot of plants do have the ability to seed/sucker/spread (like elderberry and curry leaf tree) but you just have be a responsible gardener and try and keep it contained within your patch.

The Lemon Myrtle (an Australian native) is gaining popularity as a versatile bush tucker plant - I just love to use it for making a very refreshing tea.  It's a compact small tree that is ideal for hedging with clouds of creamy-white flowers in early summer.

NOTE ABOUT ROSES:  I'm a sucker for roses!  There is nothing quite like the romance, fragrance and sight of roses blooming in the garden and the delight of a vase of freshly picked roses for the table.  Roses for the sub-tropics you might say, but there are plenty of wonderful varieties coming on the market all the time that have been bred for specific conditions.  Two David Austin roses meet that criteria Jude the Obscure - a beautiful apricot shrub rose, and Papa Meilland - a wonderful deep crimson tea rose rose, just perfect for making rose petal jam and ice cream.  And, don't forget about the old fashioned rugosa roses for including in your hedge - extremely hardy with wonderful bright red hips for making jams and syrups.

Jude the Obscure - a wonderfully fragrant shrub rose for the sub-tropics

A NATIVE HEDGE:  There is absolutely no reason why lots of varieties of flowering and fruiting natives cannot be incorporated into your hedge to provide habitat and food source for local fauna.  You will just have to consult your native nursery for a complete list of suitable local species.  I would not be without the grevilleas, melaleucas, leptospermums, lomandras and hakeas in my garden for attracting the wonderful array of birds that visit daily.

The Australian natives from the list below are the Midyim Berry, Finger Lime,  Lemon and Aniseed Myrtles.

Scarlet honeyeater having a feast from my grevillea hedge (this is 'Robyn Gordon')

THE DWARF OPTION:  Bear in mind that many of the fruit trees now available for the home garden have been grafted to create dwarf varieties - which means that you can have just about anything you your heart desires!

PRUNING AND SHAPING:  If you have limited space your hedge will need regular pruning to reduce its width and height - it's better to start this regime when the plant is young to encourage dense growth.  Espalier - or training plants so that they create a vertical flat shape - has long been a method used by gardeners to grow fruit trees and hedges in limited spaces.  Plants from the list below that would be suitable are; all the citrus, bay, curry leaf tree, elderberry, feijoa, roses, tea camellia and hibiscus.

Jaboticaba - an unusual small tree that does well in the sub-tropics with delicious, nutritious fruit - it flowers and fruits up the stem (this is cauliflorie!)

Common Name	Botanical Name	Height	Features
Acerola Cherry	Malpighia emarginata	2m	Fruit
Aloe Vera	Aloe vera	<.5m	Border/leaves/medicinal
Avacado (dwarf)	Persica americana	2m	Fruit
Babaco	Carica pentagona	3m	Fruit/preserves
Basil (perennial)	Ocimum sp.	.5m	Border/leaves
Bay Tree	Laurus nobilis	1m	Border/leaves
Calamondin	Citrofortunella microcarpa	>2m	Fruit/flowers
Cape Gooseberry	Physalis peruviana	1m	Border/fruit
Carambola	Averrhoa carambola	>3m	Fruit
Casana	Cyphomandra cajanumensis	2-3m	Yellow tamarillo
Cassava	Manihot esculenta	1.5m	Leaves/tuber
Chlli	Capsicum sp.	>1m	Border/fruit
Comfrey	Symphytum officinale	.5m	Border/leaves
Cumquat	Fortunella margarita 'Nagami'	2m	Fruit/fresh/preserves
Curry Leaf Tree	Murraya koenigii	>2m	Leaves/Asian cooking
Dragon Fruit	Hylocereus sp.	1m	Fruit
Elderberry	Sambucus nigra	2m	Berries/flowers
Feijoa	Feijoa sellowiana	1.5m	Fruit/preserves
Finger Lime	Citrus australasica	1-2m	Fruit/seimi-shade
Galangal	Alpinia galanga	1.5m	Rhizome/leaves/Asian
Jaboticaba	Myrciara cauliflora	3m	Fruit
Kaffir Lime	Citrus hystrix	>2m	Leaves/fruit
Kei Apple	Dovyalis caffra	3m	Fruit
Lemon (dwarf)	Citrus limon	2-3m	Fruit/flowers
Lemon Grass	Cymbopogon citrates	>1m	Border/tea/Asian food
Lemon Myrtle	Backhousia citriodora	3m	Bush tucker/tea
Lemon Verbena	Aloysia citriodora	1m	Border/leaves/medicinal
Lime	Citrus aurantifolia	2.5m	Fruit/flowers
Mandarin (dwarf)	Citrus reticulata	2-3m	Fruit/flowers
Mango (dwarf)	Mangifera indica	2m	Fruit/preserves
Midyim Berry	Austromyrtus dulcis	2m	Shrub/fruit
Natal Plum	Carissa grandiflora	3-4m	Fruit
Paw Paw/Papaya	Carica papaya	3m	Fruit/preserves
Pomegranate	Punica granatum var. 'Nana'	2m	Fruit/flowers
Red Hibiscus	Hibiscus rosa-sinensis	>2m	Flowers/tea
Rose	Rosa sp.	>1.5m	Flowers/preserves
Rosella	Hibiscus sabdariffa	1.5m	Shrub/desserts/jellies
Rosemary	Rosmarinus officianalis	>1m	Leaves/flowers/herb
Scented Geraniums	Pelargonium sp.	>1m	Leaves/Medicinal
Tamarillo	Solanum betaceum	2m	Fruit
Tea	Camellia sinensis	2m	Tea/deserts
Yacon	Polimnia soncifolia	1.5m	Tuber

TALL SKINNIES:  These are the plants that don't take up much room and fit in between other plants; yacon (this dies down in the winter), paw paw, tamarillo, casana and babaco.

ASIAN COOKING BORDER (for the semi-shade):  This is a useful list as just about everything else requires sun - although I have found that most of the citrus on this list will fruit quite happily with some shade; curry leaf tree, lime, paw paw, galangal, kaffir lime, chilli (taller bushes like long red and lantern chillies) with a front border of turmeric (also dies down in the winter.  The value of having your own galangal, turmeric and ginger, for that matter, is that you can pick - or should I say dig - as required.

Golly, gosh - I forgot the pineapple Ananas comosus - happily doing its own thing in my Asian food hedgery.  To cultivate, simply plant the green top from the fruit of a pineapple and watch it grow - takes 2-3 years to fruit but is worth it - no pineapple you have ever eaten will taste like a home grown one.

(I can feel that this is one of those topics where I am going to wake up in the middle of the night and remember plants I should have put on the list - the Cape Gooseberry did it to me last night!)

Pumpkin Fritters

Pumpkin Fritters

I think I am lucky - I know not everyone enjoys cooking, but I love it when 5 o'clock comes around, I put the music on, have a look around the garden to see what we have to eat and then get in the kitchen to remind myself what I have in the fridge - and then start cooking!  It certainly wasn't always so enjoyable when I was working full time and had the family's schedule taking precedent over my limited time - we ended up eating out and having take-away far too often, but I have always found cooking to be perhaps the only creative thing that I may have done that day and, best of all - you then get to eat it.

This recipe for Pumpkin Fritters is one of those really versatile dishes than you can eat as part of a mezze plate or add a hearty salad to make a really wholesome, cheap and easy meal.  This is really a Greek dish, which I first enjoyed on the island of Folegandros, but it is something I have had many times since traveling around Greece - just dressed up in a different ways.

Folegandros - one of the southern-most islands in the Cyclades and the perfect spot to sit in the evening and have a glass of something cold and share a plate of these pumpkin fritters.

Pumpkin Fritters
1kg pumpkin, grated (I use my food processor to do this - it has a grating plate and saves your knuckles!)
1/2 cup chopped spring onions or chives
1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup chopped mint
1 egg
1 cup plain flour
Salt and pepper
Olive oil for frying

1.  Combine all ingredients together and season.
2.  Heat oil in large pan.  Mould pumpkin mix into patties (make them bite-size for a party platter and larger if you are having them for dinner) and fry for 3-4 minutes until golden on each side.  Serve immediately.  I'm not a 'deep fried' kind of a girl, but you can cook these in little oil and they are really quite delicious.

TOP TIP:  For chilli freaks, like me, serve with a sambal of chopped green chilli, fish sauce, soya sauce, lime juice and sugar.  For that traditional Greek flavour, serve with yoghurt and chopped mint - you can add some grated fresh ginger to it for a little zing!

Heaven!

Folegandros is a very dry, rocky thyme covered island with soaring cliffs and is often quite windswept but fortunately not when we were there - as you can see - not a ripple.  We were also fortunate to stumble upon this deserted and just lovely hotel.  We were desperate to bolt from the one we had booked on-line - which would have been OK if it had not been full with a Swedish wedding party determined to party hard about 20 hours a day!.  

The main town or Chora of Folegandros is a very sleepy and charming place - no cars with a town square circled by tiny houses built into the Venetian fortifications which dates from the 13th century.  We walked up the winding pathway you can see above the hotel, to the church at the top.  This is built on the site of an ancient Greek (dated BC) temple to the goddess ARTEMIS with pieces of marble columns and statues just lying around the churchyard or randomly incorporated into the walls of the church. It also contains a precious silver Icon saved by fishermen from marauding pirates. That's one of the other things I love about traveling around Greece - it is always full of unexpected and interesting surprises.

We had some marvelous food on Folegandros including a memorable kind of fish stew with fennel, a rabbit stew STIFADO with onions, cloves, bay leaves and juniper berries, STOFURNO - aubergine fried with potatoes and baked with tomatoes cummin, parsley and feta AND - I can still taste it now - homemade rose petal jam for breakfast with crusty bread and a fresh curd cheese. (This is making me hungry!!)

TOP TIP:  Instead of pumpkin you can use grated, uncooked sweet potato or zucchini (with excess liquid squeezed out).  If you are using zucchini - add some crumbled feta for extra taste.

For an ITALIAN twist you can use cooked kale CAVOLO NERO - again squeezing out any excess liquid.  Omit the mint and parsley and add 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese instead - this is a traditional recipe from my Italian friend Christina.

I never thought that my dusty collection of travel diaries would prove to be such a valuable

memory bank (mostly about food!) and contain such useful and fascinating information - like this for example:

Something that may help you on your travels in Greece from the Lonely Planet Greek phrase-book 2006 - on dating:

1.  O thee mu! - Oh my God!

2.  Si gha re ghoi! - Easy Tiger!

3.  Min ansihis tha to kano monos! - Don't worry, I'll do it myself!

(Fortunately I have to say that, so far, I haven't needed any of these!)

Prince Charles and the Importance of Meadows

Great Dixter meadow with wild orchids

What do you think Prince Charles gave his mother to celebrate the jubilee of her coronation?  No, not a set of gold plated steak knives, a couple of corgi pups or a foot massage, but a network of coronation meadows -  a scheme to return a meadow to each county in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and then encourage them to multiply.  When I read this, my heart just soared.

This ambitious project by HRH Prince of Wales aims to turn back the tide that has seen 7 million acres of flowery meadows lost in the UK in my lifetime.  Britain now has 2% of it's meadows remaining - the same scary figure of 2% that Australia has remaining of it's once mighty rainforests.

I started becoming interested in the whole thing about meadows when I went to Great Dixter, Sussex, last year - where the Lloyd family have been dedicated to creating wild meadows on their property for the past 100 years - bucking the trend at their wholesale destruction.  My interest was also fueled by my sister-in-law and her husband who tried to create a meadow in their garden and failed dismally - they had been TOO diligent in caring for their soil.  The secret to a successful meadow is that it has to GROW ON IMPOVERISHED SOIL- untreated and unfertilized as old soils would be.  Wildflowers and grasses are not adapted to 'rich' soils and will not flourish.

WHY ARE WILD MEADOWS IMPORTANT:

• Flowery and grassy secrets are not lost to us forever.
• Animals and insects attracted to these plants do not die out either.
• They are beautiful.
  
  
  

The old apple orchard and meadow at the entrance to Great Dixter

AND HERE'S SOMETHING UNEXPECTED TO GET YOU EVEN MORE EXCITED! What do you think folk in the country did with their livestock when they were sick, before the age of VETS? They put them in the hospital meadow - a patch of ground that was rarely grazed but left full of wild greens, grasses, herbs and other flowering plants - plants with medicinal and nutritional qualities that had the power to heal!

'I know a bank where the wild thyme blows

Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows'

-so said Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

I am sure that wherever you live in the world there is a meadow, a lawn, an old sports field or a patch of waste ground, that is just waiting to be re-born!  Do you have an orchard that you are forever mowing - let it go wild - slash it a couple of times a year and see what pops up and what difference these wildflowers and grasses makes to the variety of birds, butterflies and insects they attract.  Just don't SPRAY with any pesticides, herbicides, feritilizers and agricultural chemicals - you could also help it along the way by broadcasting a special wildflower mix that you can get from a reputable seed supplier (Green Harvest/Eden Seeds/Diggers Seeds).

The really serious meadow maker has a task ahead of them - the top few centimetres of soil have to be scraped off (this also gets rid of the exotic weeds and grasses) and then oversown with more friendly species native to the area.  What a worthwhile project though - just think how beautiful it will be??!!  And, just think of the butterflies??!!

Anyone that knows me also knows that I am a bit of a fan of Prince Charles (and no, I don't like the way he treated his wife, the late Princess Diana). However, he doesn't have to stick his head up to talk about important but, let's face it, not very trendy issues like organic gardening, composting, sustainable housing, holistic health, multi-faith dialogues, architecture that feeds the soul etc. etc. - but he does.  He could, like his forefathers before him, just spend his time hunting, shooting, fishing and fornicating - but no!  For example, he has spent the past 30 years at his home Highgrove recreating a meadow, where once there were acres of mown lawn, and making the whole place sustainable and if you want to see how he did it go to this short clip on YouTube and be inspired.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

MESSAGE ON A T-SHIRT seen worn by a lady of my generation:

Let's Eat Grandma

Let's Eat, Grandma

Commas Save Lives!