March 2020 Kitchen Garden Guide

 

It seems that autumn has arrived, with few tomatoes ripening but lots of fabulous beans and no bushfires in our area. The paddocks that have had hay cut are green again, with the cool summer and frequent showers. We have a lot to be grateful for, here in southern Tasmania.

Alliums

Onions, garlic, shallots, potato onions, walking onions, leeks, elephant garlic, chives and garlic chives are all alliums and have been grown for thousands of years, in many parts of the world. Alliums all have day length requirements; some preferring shortening days, some lengthening days, some a little more flexible. In autumn we sow and plant those that prefer or will tolerate shortening days to get them started then lengthening days to finish off (towards next summer). These include garlic, shallots, potato onions, elephant garlic and walking onions. I have talked about growing garlic previously, in many of these garden guides so now it is the turn for the other alliums that suitable to plant now.

I went to the Koonya Garlic Festival last weekend and heard an excellent talk by Tino, all about alliums and am totally enthused. I have never grown regular onions as one seed produces only one onion and it seems a lot of work, when onions are so cheap. So now I am going to grow shallots and potato onions, that, like garlic, can be grown from a clove and produce a head or cluster of themselves and which are quite expensive to buy for eating. And I will again grow elephant garlic (really a type of garlicky leek), to harvest at the leek stage, before forming bulbs, as at that stage they have thick, long, white shanks of the most incredible flavour; the longest white shank of any leek I have ever grown. I don’t like the bulbs but let a few go to seed and form the underground bulbs and bulblets, for replanting and also for the beauty of the allium flowers.

Steve Solomon suggests, in his book “Growing Vegetables South of Australia” putting shallots (and late garlic varieties) in the fridge for a month, starting early to mid March, before planting out in April, as this breaks their dormancy so readying them into faster sprouting once planted out and gives them plenty of shortening days to grow a good set of leaves before they start bulbing up in spring.

Potato onions grow clusters of small onions underground and can be excellent keepers like shallots but have a stronger oniony flavour than shallots. They can be used for eating or pickling and I do so love pickled onions!

Give all alliums a friable, fertile soil with good drainage, adding lime, if necessary, to about neutral or slightly alkaline, but definitely not acidic. Peter Cundall uses fire ash in place of lime and digs in old sheep manure and biochar.

Steve says that shallots can manage a heavier soil because they form at the soil surface, unlike garlic and potato onions and elephant garlic which grow deeper. He recommends planting shallots 30cms apart with 45 cms between rows.

Where do we source shallots, potato onions and elephant garlic? Shallots should be available from a local greengrocer (it is too late for shallots to grow from seed for autumn sowing but you can sow in early spring, for a summer crop). Look for potato onions and elephant garlic at markets and online crop swap facebook pages.

Edible Flowers and seeds

Almost everything that has been growing over summer is striving to reproduce before winter. Many of the flowers and seeds are not only edible but actually delicious. My favourite is probably the yellow flowers and developing seeds of Florence Fennel (not the wild fennel, as I find that too strong and the seeds too coarse). Don’t rip your summer vegetables out before exploring their second and third edible crops, such as the flowers and seeds! Save the dried seeds of lettuce, shungiku, French sorrel, Florence fennel, rainbow chard etc, to sow again, as they are adapting to your garden. This is very important as our climate changes.

Society garlic makes a pretty, edible border and survives very dry soil. Right now the little pink flowers are blooming and make a wonderful, garlicky addition to salads. Garlic chive flowers are white and grow on tall stalks, which are both pretty and deliciously garlicky.

The Cosmos in my garden are flowering, producing masses of bright, edible flowers. I also have had amaranth and shiso, both providing an abundance of delicious red and green leaves all summer. Now the long, magnificent tassels of the red amaranth are breath taking and soon will be laden with the tiny amaranth seeds, which are a so-called superfood that is expensive to buy but so easy to grow!

Pumpkin vine care

The single, little, pumpkin plant (of the Peter Cundall variety) I got from someone has rambled far and wide, at break-neck speed, flowering with both male and female flowers very quickly. Consequently, since it has 6 well-formed pumpkins now, I have cut off all the long leaders beyond those pumpkins. Six is more than enough for the plant to put energy into developing and maturing. I will remove all future flowers and long growth. I may give it some Charlie Carp liquid feed too. Now is the time to plan what to put there next, when it is harvested later in April or even May….. perhaps broad beans.

 

 

Sow in March	Plant out now
Beetroot Salsify Burdock Tas. swede Carrot Parsnip Spinach Broad beans Daikon radish Asian vegetables Coriander, pennyroyal, cress   Put shallots and late garlic into the fridge for a month, to break dormancy. Take cuttings of Evergreen herbs such as rosemary and sage	Good sized European brassicas (it is too late for punnets)      Spring onions Chives Elephant garlic, potato onions Lettuce Spinach Celery Silver beet     Spring bulbs (ixias, daffodils etc) Water well.   Evergreen shrubs and trees (only after we get a good rain. Otherwise hold off until April)