Baklava -Mediterranean Nut Pastries

Strictly speaking, the heading should be Middle Eastern and Mediterranean nut pastries for you will find these tasty little filo pastry treats in every cake and coffee shop from North Africa, through all parts of the Arab speaking world,  Israel and around into Greece.  Migrants to our shores, from the old Ottoman empire, have brought  with them all kinds of fabulous food and baklava is one of them - unfortunately we usually get a poor version of it with, heaven forbid, peanuts!  In baklava's homelands they are always made with pistachios, walnuts and almonds - separately, or a mixture of any of the three.

Baklava is the generic term for these sweetmeats that come in all shapes and sizes, with local variations on the basic recipe - I just like making the cigar shaped ones based on a Greek recipe - they are easy to make, store and serve up. Their lemony tang takes the edge off the sweet syrup.  Baklava is actually a Farsi word (the Persian language of Iran and Afghanistan) for 'many leaves' and, if you have eaten them, you will know why.  Nuts and honey, along with a wide variety of vegetables and olive oil are also an integral part of the nutritious and healthy traditional Mediterranean diet.  

Ingredients

1 pack filo pastry, with the sheets cut in half.  Reseal the unused sheets and store in the fridge - they will keep for another couple of weeks and can be used to make cheese and spinach pie, more baklava or some tasty savoury triangles.  Filo pastry is very versatile.

300g mixed whole pistachios, walnuts and almonds that have been toasted in the oven on 180oC for ten minutes.

150 g butter, melted.

For the Syrup

200 ml water

1 stick cinnamon and 5 whole cloves

1 cup honey

Juice of one lemon

Method

1.  Turn oven on to 180oC and toast nuts

2.  Brush non-reactive baking dish 20 x 34cm with melted butter

3.  Pulse nuts in food processor until roughly chopped and size of large breadcrumbs.

NOTE: Don't over-pulse the nuts of they will go oily.

4.  Cut filo pastry in half.

5.  Brush top sheet of pastry with melted butter.  You will brush every subsequent sheet in the same way.

NOTE: Place the filo sheets on a dry bench, otherwise you will make the same mistake I made once and the bottom few sheets of pastry disintegrate before you get to them.

6.  Put one desertspoon of nuts in the middle of the bottom of the sheet - about 5cm from the edge of the sheet.  YOU WILL ONLY BE USING ONE SHEET AT A TIME.

7.  Fold up the bottom edge over the nuts.

8.  Fold the left side over the nuts, and then the right.  Roll up into a cigar shape and start placing them in your greased baking dish - seam side down.

9.  Pour over the remaining melted butter and you should have something that ends up looking like this.  Place in oven on 180oC for 20-25 minutes until puffed up and golden.

Dear reader, you are having the benefit of my previous 'experimental' batches of odd shaped baklavas that usually involved bits of nuts and filo all over the floor.  This is easy once you get the hang of it - I actually find it quite therapeutic - you just need a clear bench top, a clear head and a bit of time.

10.  While the pastries are baking, make the syrup.  Put all the ingredients together in a saucepan and simmer for about 20 minutes.

11.  When the pastries are cooked, strain the syrup over them.  When they are cool, I store them in sealed plastic boxes in the fridge.  They seem to keep until we have eaten them all - which is not very long!

My ten year old granddaughter, Leila, quickly mastering the art of baklava making

Bougatsa - another Greek filo pastry treat that I am mildly addicted to.  These are usually warm when you get them and filled with a lemony flavoured, sweet curd cheese called mizithra, similar to ricotta.

Amaranth - Top Plants

Amaranthus bicolour  variety 'Red Calaloo'
Amaranth, love-lies-bleeding, pigweed, spinach grass
CHENOPIDACEAE 

One of the things I really love about writing this blog is how much I learn - I just never know where a chance encounter with a plant, food or people is going to take me.  

The Balinese kitchen garden - amaranth growing in the foreground (also notice the yummy snake beans on the right)

Now take  Amaranth - such a useful plant for the subtropical kitchen garden, incredibly underused and virtually unknown in this part of the world.  I first encountered it in my Balinese kitchen garden where it was a staple crop and used by the locals in anything where 'greens' were needed.  They call it bayam.  I noticed then that it was very prolific and virtually unaffected by pests.

I have had the red/green leaved amaranth ('Red Calaloo') happily growing in my kitchen garden for the past few months surviving all the vagaries of Mullumbimby summer weather and pests.

FACT:  Amaranth is in the CHENOPIDACEAE family - it is not in the cabbage family (BRASSICACEAE) so does get affected by pests in that family e.g. caterpillar of the cabbage white butterfly (click here for more information).

Bunches of amaranth for sale in Sydney (Amaranth biclour 'Red Calaloo')

There is always a trigger that sends me up the garden path and makes me want to write a story about something.  With amaranth it was seeing big, beautiful bunches of it for sale in a shopping centre in Sydney (Randwick) - something I don't remember when I lived there - it was labelled as en choy.  I asked the shop assistant who mostly bought it and he said Greek and Asian people. 

Then I remembered that I had also seen it for sale in Greece where it is used as a substitute spinach and part of their horta (wild greens) repertoire.  The diet of the average Greek has changed, but grasses, weeds and leafy greens have always constituted a regular part of a native Greek's traditional daily meals.  There are many different varieties of amaranth and in Greece the green leaf kind (grown under dry conditions) is known as vliti and the red/green mottled variety (which needs wetter coditions) referred to as papagalos or "parrot" - the kind I have growing in my garden and the same for sale in Sydney.

Local vegetables for sale on the Greek Island of Ios - the black crate at the back is full of the green leaf amaranth (vliti)

WHY SHOULD WE BE PLANTING AMARANTH? Firstly, this is a summer vegetable that survives the wet and heat of summer when just about everything else has turned up its toes.  Secondly, it is extremely nutritious and versatile to cook with - think substitute for spinach. Lastly, as I have mentioned, it is largely unaffected by pests. 

DESCRIPTION

• Amaranth species are broad-leaved annuals, usually single stemmed, growing up to 2m in a season.
• They are grown for two main purposes; their protein-rich grain and nutritious leafy greens.
• Ornamental varieties are also grown for their showy plumes of flowers in shades of pink,scarlet, orange, yellow and purple (Prince of Wales Feather and Joesph's Coat)
• Propagate readily from seed sown in spring.
  
  Amaranth growing in my garden (also next to snake beans!)

CULTIVATION.  A very fast-growing, tough, easy-to-grow plant.

• Amaranth grows best in full sun and does not tolerate shade.
• There is a variety to suit every location, but Amaranth bicolour is best for the sub-tropics. Check with your local seed supplier to find the best one for your location.
• A.bicolour is not pH fussy but grows best in a lightly acid soil of 6.
• It is tolerant of heat and wet conditions, but not water logged soil.
• Grows best in soils that have been compost enriched and then mulched to prevent drying out.
  
  This red flowering variety of amaranth is often sold, around our way, as a food plant and while, undoubtedly, you could eat it - it is really best for feeding to the chooks.  It goes to seeds very quickly and produces little in the way of edible leaves.  You can't go past the 'Red Calaloo' for eating.

FOOD.  Both Leaves, young stalk and seeds of this plant can be used.

• Young stalks can be lightly cooked and are asparagus like in taste.
• Young leaves are either lightly steamed or stir-fried, and have a mild, spinach-like flavour - the leaves are added to curries in India. 
• In Greece leaves are used as a substitute for spinach in pies and fritters. With wild greens of any kind (horta) the traditional way to prepare them is to blanch the leaves in boiling water then toss them in olive oil, lemon juice, a little garlic and salt and pepper.
• I have no experience of cooking the seeds - I just know that chickens love the seeds heads and they always know what's good for them!  They are one of the most protein rich seeds so maybe that has something to do with it.

NUTRITION:

• The plants contain an unusual chemical called squalene (also found in shark's liver), which is a powerful antioxidant and has been used to boost the immune system and to treat hypertension, skin problems and metabolic disorders.
• Plants contain betalain, which give the plant much of its red colouring.  These powerful antioxidant compounds are fairly unusual in the plant world, and have significant nutritional benefits.
• The seeds are very high in proteins:15-18% and low in gluten They are also a good source of calcium, iron, phosphates and vitamin A.*

RECIPE:  Stir-fried amaranth with prawns and calamari. 5 minutes cooking time (30 minutes preparation!)

A bowl of vegetables from my kitchen garden - including amaranth

I always look forward to coming home after being away for a while and I am always hoping that I have something in the untended garden to either make a salad or a stir-fry with.  I was not disappointed - lots of lovely amaranth, snake beans, kale, capsicum and chillies.  Add some Thai basil, lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves and dinner was on it's way. Luckily my flight comes into Ballina, that has one of the few remaining seafood markets - and you just never know what the fishermen have pulled up.  A quick detour on my way home brought up some very cheap baby squid and green prawns - I was just not that happy that cleaning them was the first job I had to do when I walked in the door!

All cleaned - baby squid and green prawns

1 bunch amaranth, roughly chopped.

500g mixed fresh seafood - you could use firm, white fish. (I sliced the squid into circles/slices)

1 small brown onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed,

1 long red chilli, finely sliced (adjust to taste for hotness)

1 bunch snake beans, chopped into small pieces

1 stem lemongrass, white part only, finely sliced

small bunch kale, finely chopped

handful Thai basil leaves

4 kaffir lime leaves

1 tbs peanut oil

2 tbs fish sauce

2 tbs light soy sauce

1 tbs shaved palm sugar

1 tsp ground white pepper

juice of half a lime

1.  Heat oil in wok and add onion.  Stir for 1 minute.

2.  Make sure wok is very hot then add seafood and toss around for another minute.

3.  Add chopped vegetables, garlic, chilli, kaffir lime leaves and chopped lemon grass.  Toss for 1 minute.

4.  Add everything else , except lime juice, and toss for another minute.  Squeeze over lime juice just before serving.  Serve with rice.  Enough for 4

NOTE:  Stir-fry's are very flexible dishes - which is probably why thy are so popular.  You could swap the seafood for chicken and use any greens/beans/broccoli/cauliflower/snow peas/capsicum/carrots/bean sprouts/cashew nuts etc.

The name Amaranth comes from the Greek amaranthos (αμάρανθος) the "un-withering," or “fadeless” (flower). Associated since the most ancient times with the goddess of the hunt, Artemis (Diana) - I knew there had to be a reason why I was going up this particular garden path!

*Discovering Vegetables, Herbs, Spices, Dr. Susanna Lyle, CSIRO Publishing.2009

Red Cabbage Salad - Japanese Style

Tired of the same old salads?  Try this fresh and healthy Japanese style salad.  The red cabbage and dressing have to stay, but it is the kind of dish that's very adaptable to the inclusion of all sorts of other ingredients - like chopped green chilli, finely sliced cucumber, mint, coriander, crumbled seaweed sheets, pieces of barbecued corn sliced off the cob...................................................

Salad

2 cups finely shredded red cabbage. This is where a mandolin slicer comes into its own.  (You could use 1 cup of red and one of green Asian cabbage).

1 cup grated carrot.

1 cup bean sprouts.

1 tbs spring onions OR chives, finely sliced.

1 tbs sesame seeds, toasted.

1tbs pepitas, toasted.

(this time I also added a desert spoon of pickled ginger - optional)

Sauce

1/3 cup light olive oil

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbs tamari (or light soy sauce)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 rice wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste, freshly ground

1.  Lightly toast the sesame seeds and pepitas in a heavy based frying pan until they begin to pop - be careful not to let them burn.  Leave to cool.

2.  Mix all the salad ingredients together with the cooled, toasted seeds.

3.  Combine all the sauce ingredients and stir until the sugar has dissolved.

4.  Pour the sauce over the top of the salad when you are ready to serve.

We had this with some barbecued fish, steamed brown rice and my pineapple oil pickle.  Very, very yummy and healthy.

Ricotta Cheesecake-Italian Style

This is a fabulously easy recipe that  doesn't require a pastry or biscuit crust - it sort of makes one itself!  I use ricotta that I have either home made, or you can but in bulk at a very reasonable price - so it's a very economical dessert that is great with all kinds of summer fruit, and a real winner for holiday picnics and Christmas lunches.

It's a traditional recipe in the Italian repertoire, but you will find variations on this theme all over the Mediterranean from Sicily to San Sebastian to Santorini and Sardinia.  I had a variation on this for my birthday on the Greek Island of Skopelos in the wonderful Adrina Hotel - made with the local curd cheese - myzithra and decorated with callendula petals (now where was I?)

Ingredients
750 g ricotta
2 tbs Greek style yoghurt
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup plain flour
good pinch salt
2 tsp finely grated orange zest
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 eggs

Optional extras 1/3 cup sultanas that have been soaked in orange liqueur.
Flaked almonds, toasted to decorate

Method
1.  Preheat oven to 150oC
2.  Grease 23 cm springform pan and cover the bottom with non-stick baking paper (how on earth did we manage before this stuff was invented?).
3.  Lightly grease the base and sides of the pan with butter and roughly coat with a spoonful of flour - this helps to make the crust.  This is not an exact science and rough is fine!
4.  Cream ricotta in food processor until smooth.
5.  Add yoghurt, sugar, vanilla, flour, salt, citrus zest and eggs and 'whaz' (I think I've been watching too much Jamie Oliver?) until smooth - about 30 seconds.
6.  At this point you can fold in the alcohol soaked sultanas - this makes more of an 'adult' dessert. and decorate the top with toasted almond flakes - both optional.
7.  Pour into your prepared cake tin and bake in the oven for about an hour.  The top should be lightly golden and cake firm to touch.

This cake will normally rise quite a bit and then sink and crack - get ready for the rustic look!  Great with poached or fresh summer fruit and a little extra cream.  This has to be one of the easiest and yummiest cakes to make - enjoy.

Adrina (dreamer!) Hotel, Skopelos, Greece. Most fabulous place and great food in their restaurant.

Pineapple Oil Pickle

I am very fortunate to have Belinda Jeffery as a friend and neighbour - she is my 'go-to' cooking guru.  This recipe is from her wonderful cookbook 'The Country Cookbook'.  When I was commenting to her that the ingredients were redolent of southern Indian or Sri Lankan cuisine she said that she had, in fact, first tasted this in Sabah (north Borneo) and made by a Malay/Chinese cook in the house where she was staying - oh, the wonderful world of food and cooks!

This fantastic pineapple oil pickle is one that I have had dog-eared for a while in Belinda's book, just waiting for the pineapples to come into season again.  It is an extremely pungent and fragrant pickle and, if I could have bottled the aroma of it spreading through the house while I was making it, I think I would be a wealthy woman!

A jar of this would make a fantastic Christmas gift!

Ingredients

21/2 cups white vinegar

2 tsp fenugreek seeds

2 very large, very sweet pineapples

6 large or 10 medium cloves of garlic, peeled

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh ginger

1/2 cup cumin seed, freshly ground

1/2 cup coriander seed, freshly ground

21/2 cups light olive oil

2 tbs mixed black and yellow mustard seed

36 fresh curry leaves

11/2 tbs fennel seeds

1 tbs ground turmeric

1 tbs chilli flakes

350 g caster sugar

3-4 small red chillies (or more if you like it hot)

11/2 tbs sea salt flakes (or more to taste)

Bella and Kashmir's fantastic roadside stall with great homegrown and local produce - cheap and fresh.  It's pineapple pickle time!

Method

1.  Pour the vinegar into a food processor and stir in the fenugreek seeds.  Set aside while you prepare the pineapple.

2.  Sit a large colander over a bowl.  Peel and core pineapples and chop finely, scooping the chunks into the colander as you go.

3.  Place a plate over the top of chopped pineapple and weigh it down with something heavy (cans of tomatoes!).  Press down on the cans every so often and leave for 30 minutes or so.  Enjoy the strained juice while you're making the rest of the pickle - you don't need it for the pickle.

4. Add the garlic, ginger, cumin, and coriander to the vinegar mixture, and blend together until everything is well pureed.  Set it aside.

5.  In a large stainless steel pan heat the oil.  Add the mustard seeds, curry leaves, fennel seeds, turmeric and chilli flakes and stand back - there will be a lot of spitting and heady pungency rising up from the pan. 

6.  Carefully pour the pureed vinegar mixture into the pan - down the side of the pan is a good idea (you know the thing about adding fluids to hot oil - be careful!) - mix together and cook the mixture for a couple of minutes.

7.  Now add the the drained pineapple, sugar, chopped chilli and salt.  Increase the heat and bring the mixture to the boil, reduce the heat and let it bubble gently for about 30 minutes until the oil floats to the top. Scoop a little into a cup, let it cool and check for salt and chilli heat. 

8.  Remove from the heat and pour into hot, sterilized jars.  Make sure the oil covers the top of the pineapple in each jar.  Cover with a clean tea towel until cool.  Once they are completely cool, seal the jars tightly - will keep for 6 months or so in the fridge.  Improves with time and Belinda refers to the golden oil in this pickle as 'liquid gold'.

NOTE:  I had friends over for the dinner on Saturday and we had this pickle with duck salad and rice.  It was a huge hit and a whole jar disappeared on the left-over rice - just yummy!

Pasta Bake

Pasta Bake - this is a meal that will make the whole family happy.  I actually can't think of anyone that doesn't like pasta and this is a dish that you can expand if you suddenly find yourself not two for dinner, but six - this happens to me quite often!  I usually have some bolognese sauce in the freezer and you only need a portion for two to make a dish that will feed six to eight.  You will probably realize that these are the same ingredients for a traditional lasagne - this is just a bit quicker and easier to prepare.

I am currently in Sydney for the birth of grandchild number seven - a beautiful brother for two year old Taj and, of course, grandma is on cooking duties.  It's not always easy to find dishes that please the whole family but this is certainly one that is often requested - from tiny children to big people.

Two year olds love their new brothers' ears and pasta bake!

You will need three things:  A portion of bolognese sauce, some kind of tube pasta (I use penne) and some bechamel sauce.  There must be as many recipes for bolognese sauce as there are Italians, but this is mine.

BOLOGNESE SAUCE
500 g good quality minced beef (I actually prefer a mixture of pork and veal, but it's not always available,
 so beef will do).
1 large brown onion, peeled and chopped finely
1 stick celery, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 400 g can chopped Italian tomatoes
1 720 ml jar passata (pureed tomato)
2 bay leaves and one sprig fresh thyme
1 glass red wine (don't worry about giving alcohol to children as it cooks off - its just for flavour and colour)
3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
Seal salt and freshly ground black pepper

• Heat half the oil in a heavy bottomed, wide saucepan or casserole dish. 
• NOTE: This may seem like a lot of oil, but this is one of the keys to success of making a good bolognese.  It makes the sauce luxuriously thick that nicely coats any pasta.
• Cook the onion until just turning colour, remove from the pan.
• Now brown the mince until the juices have come out and then evaporated.
• Add the remainder of the oil and then celery, tomatoes, passata, garlic, herbs, wine and salt and pepper.
• Simmer slowly for at least 11/2 hours - the oil should rise to the surface. Give it a stir, every now and again, to prevent it sticking.
• NOTE: If you need to go out, you can cook it in the oven like a casserole - it actually takes on a richer flavour.
• NOTE:  This makes 3-4 portions for meals serving 2 people.  You will need one portion for the next step in this recipe and you can put the rest in the freezer for another day.

Bolognese sauce - enough for 3 meals, that has been cooking for about an hour and a half; penne on the boil and the bechamel sauce.

PASTA

• Heat your oven to 180oC
• Bring enough salted water to the boil to adequately cover the amount of pasta you need to cook - this will depend on how many people are coming to dinner. 
• Cook the pasta until al dente - chewy, but not sloppy.  Use a large saucepan or casserole dish that you can transfer to the oven - I'm saving you washing up here!
• 
  

BECHAMEL SAUCE
50 g butter, melted in a saucepan - be careful not to let it burn
1 tbs plain flour
500 ml fresh milk
salt and white peppper
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

• Add the flour to the melted butter and stir on a low heat until it makes one clump - this is called a roux.
• Take off the heat and whisk the milk into the roux.
• Return to the heat and cook until it thickens - should coat the back of your wooden spoon.
• Add the nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.

Penne with the bolognese sauce added and bechamel about to go!

ASSEMBLING THE PASTA BAKE

• Stir the bolognese sauce through the cooked pasta.
• NOTE: If you want it to even further add any of the following: another can of tomatoes, sliced mushrooms or pre-cooked grilled peppers.
• Pour the bechamel sauce over the top
• Sprinkle with parmesan cheese
• Cook in the conventional oven for 15-20 mins on 180oC then turn to grill part of oven to 'golden' the top for 5 minutes. 

Tasty, simple and nutritious meals for all the family - pasta bake

Propagating Cuttings

Making New Plants from Old - It's Fun, Free and Easy.

(Or, how to share your garden with everyone!)

When I was a child, just about every garden was made from other plants -  everything was propagated. The Aladdin's Cave of  21st century garden centres were not around and besides, folk just didn't have the money to buy lots of plants.  When family and friends came to visit they generally brought with them something special from their gardens - a prized plant; cuttings, bulbs and seeds - usually wrapped up in a piece of newspaper for my dad to nurture and perpetuate in our garden.  (The first thing these people would do on their next visit would be an inspection of their 'baby' to make sure my dad hadn't managed to kill it!  We had a lot of 'accidental deaths' with dahlias as my dad couldn't stand them!) )

The beautiful Gardenia magnifica - flowering in all its glory in my garden right now and struck from a bunch of flowers I received about ten years ago.  I have propagated about 5 of these bushes for my garden, and have made many more for friends and family - all from one bunch of flowers!

I seem to have morphed into my parents!  They have had a plant stall outside their place for years selling produce from their garden, and now I have one outside mine, mainly selling plants that have all been propagated from things in my garden.  I have come to realize that, actually, some of my favourite times in the garden are the hours I spend propagating - I find it very creative and deeply satisfying.

FACT:  First of all, a word about SEEDS v CUTTINGS.  SEEDS are the children of the plant and, like children, they will all be similar to the parents, but different - some more different than others.  With CUTTINGS you are getting an exact copy of the parent plant - like a clone. This is useful if you want the plant to look exactly the same as the parent plant OR if seeds are hard to come by - as with plants like camellias, gardenias and many other ornamental shrubs.

Semi-hardwood camellia cutting

STEP 1: Select the plant that you want to take cuttings from. Do this on the day that you are going to strike them as cuttings will always take better if they're really nice and fresh and from the healthiest, best material off the parent plant. I usually do this in the morning before the day gets too hot.

Camellia cutting prepared for planting - note the cut-off at the bottom just below the node. 

There are three types of cuttings:

• Soft wood cuttings, from stems that still bend and move (like my rosemary cuttings and the grevilleas pictured below)
• Semi-hardwood cuttings, from stems that are slightly firmer and stiffer (like gardenias and camellias)
• Hardwood cuttings, from stems off deciduous plants when they're completely dormant, generally taken in mid-winter (like roses and deciduous trees)
  
  Small-leaved grevillea cuttings.  This is a soft-wood cutting.

STEP 2: You will need the following:

• Propagating medium. You want a fine free-draining mix that will fit snuggly around the cuttings.  I use sieved soil, compost and some perlite/vermiculite.
• A really good, sharp pair of secateurs.
• Propagating hormone. Either hormone powder or the liquid or gel version, which is particularly good if the cutting is from a plant that bleeds sap as it seals the whole cut. You can even use honey. All these products help stimulate callous tissue that will then encourage the cutting to produce roots.
• A dibbler. This can be a pencil or a chopstick.
  
  Grevillea cuttings prepared for planting with two-thirds of the lower leaves removed

STEP 3:

• Make your cuttings about 15cm long, look for a node where the bud or a leaf scar was and make a clean cut just below it. A node is the spot that has the greatest concentration of growing cells - i.e. able to produce roots.
• Remove about two-thirds of the lower leaves by simply running your fingers down the stem.
• Pinch out any sappy, green growth at the top of the cutting and remove any flowers, fruit or seeds.
• You will end up with a cutting about 10cm long.
  
  Grevillea cuttings potted up

NOTE:  When you are propagating from cuttings you want the plant, initially, to put all its energy into making roots - not leaves, flowers or fruit.  That's the reason why most of the leaves are removed.

TOP TIP: If the leaves on a plant are really large - cut the leaves in half as it allows you to put more than one cutting in a pot. It also reduces transpiration of the cutting allowing it to put all its energy into producing roots.

Rosemary cuttings that have already taken root and are now ready to be potted up or planted directly into the garden.

STEP 4:

• The next step is to get the dibber and make a hole for the cutting in the propagating mix. You should never just push a cutting into the propagating mix as you may damage the cambium tissue, as well as push away any of the hormone product you have on the cutting.
• Once all the cuttings are in place, water them in well. In the coming weeks, make sure the pot is kept moist. This can sometimes be aided with either placing a plastic bag or drink bottle over the top of the cutting, creating a mini greenhouse.
• To work out if the cuttings have struck or grown roots, look at the bottom of the pot for root growth coming out of the drainage holes. If so, it's then time to plant them up into individual pots or even straight into the garden.

Rooted rosemary cuttings

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!