2019 Kitchen Garden Guide

 

Hooray for rain; the sound of it on a tin roof at night, the approach of it across the hills and waterways, the feel of it on my face when I pop out to feed the chooks and the comfort it brings to gardeners and their gardens, from the worms and microbes to towering trees. Rain in autumn means everything is going to be ok.

Autumn is a wonderful time for harvesting mushrooms, kale, French sorrel, salad leaves, early broccoli, rainbow chard, bok choy, wasabi greens, the last of our summer vegetables, the first of the edible, winter weeds and a myriad of fabulous apples, pears and quinces. Many kitchens are bulging at the seams with preserves. Bring on winter and cosy nights by the fire with some home-made cassis and quince paste served with a delicious, local cheese.

The many moods of compost making

I recently attended two fabulous and innovative sessions which included information on making the most of compost preparation. One of these was at Government House in Hobart where the compost maker, Jimmy, took us through current thinking which challenges the aerobic, or lasagne, heap we are all familiar with. Fermenting, which is anaerobic, as a way of preserving food and increasing its available nutrients is on everyone’s lips, so to speak. But fermenting is also useful for improving the diversity and numbers of microbes in our compost. Here are his guidelines.

Gather your ingredients as usual. Green (leaves etc), brown (hay, dry leaves etc), high nitrogen (fresh manure/ seed meal).

Spread all green material in a thin layer, spraying with fine mist of low concentration compost microbes (available locally). Then spread all the brown/carbon thinly on top and spray another fine mist on as much material as you can, but without wetting it too much. The material is actually fairly dry on the whole but seeded up with microbes across as wide a surface area as possible. The microbes inhabit and colonise that film of moisture on the organic matter as he understands it, and the greater the concentration and diversity of microbes the greater the water retention will be, it will create and hold on to moisture as the fermentation happens.

Then spread horse or other manure and he also adds some neutrog seamungus. If they have some food scraps from the bokashi bin in the kitchen he will throw them on too. This is only small volume but could do way more if they get more from kitchen.

 

The ratio he works to is normally 3 Brown (carbon): 2 Green: 1 High Nitrogen - the idea being a higher carbon makes the biology of the compost more fungal dominated.

 

He sometimes ends up with more like a 3:3:1 which is good too - probably tips the compost to a more bacterial dominance. 

 

Once all material is spread out thinly (300mm ish deep) and sprayed/inoculated, I push it all together in a heap so it's all mixed thoroughly. Compress it down as much as you can, cover it with a tarp and secure it down. It can be turned anytime after a couple of weeks. At first turn I spread the pile out and re-apply EM in 50% less concentration. 

 

He finds that one turn at 3-4 weeks then another in another 3-4 then take off cover and in a couple of weeks its ready to go and full of worms.

How I pickle olives:

So many people have asked me so here is the answer….

3 kg black olives, firm but black all over (I have never done it with green)

3 Tbl salt

12 Tbl olive oil

600mls white / cider vinegar

1.25 litres water ( boiled and cooled)

optional : 1 clove garlic / jar

1 small red chilli (or less)/ jar

dried oregano or other herbs

 

After picking, wash then slit each olive on 1 or 2 sides (depending on how big the olives are. If small, omit this step). Place in a large, ceramic bowl and cover with ordinary tap water. Try an olive, so you know what you are starting with. It will be shockingly bitter!

Change the water daily for 10 - 14 days, until you can bite into one and not spit it out in disgust! It should still have flavour but not be unbearably bitter nor bland. Strain.

Sterilise some jars (I find 3kg olives makes about 12 medium jars). Place olives into jars. Putting in some / all / none of the optional  ingredients as you go. (I usually don't use any now because I prefer the real olive flavour)

Mix the boiled water, vinegar, salt and olive oil in a bowl. Pour into the jars making sure you cover the olives completely. Put on well-fitting lids.

Wait at least 2 weeks before starting to eat. You will find the flavour changes with time - some people prefer them with the 'fresh' taste you get after 2 weeks, others prefer the more mellow flavour after 6 months or more.

They should be stored in a cupboard but when you open a jar put it in the fridge if your kitchen is hot. I always put open jars in the fridge in summer or they go mouldy, but I never do in winter as I eat them pretty fast and I don't use huge jars.

 

 

Sow in the garden now	Plant in the garden now
Broad beans Bok Choy Mustard greens esp. frilly Miners’ lettuce Corn salad (mache) Shungiku (edible, Japanese Chrysanthemum) Radishes Salad and spring onions Coriander Chervil  Stinging nettles (for teas and pestos all winter)	Leek bulbils Garlic cloves Seedlings of Asian veg. Flower bulbs Sow in the hothouse to plant out: Lettuces Kales Broccoli raab Red onions Sow to stay in the hothouse or outside in frost-free areas: Sugar snap peas