June 2015 Kitchen Garden Guide

 A garden in your kitchen

For health, variety, taste, texture and the pure joy of it, I love growing sprouts; especially during winter when nights draw in early and a trip to the vegetable garden for a late picking can be a dark, cold and wet experience.

Seeds are dormant; waiting patiently for the right conditions to burst into life. At that moment of germination, evolution has enabled extraordinary changes to occur inside the seed, similar to the transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly. Energy stored by the seed is put to work, creating elements that were seemingly not there before, like the wings of the butterfly that were absent in the caterpillar. In seeds, enzymes are activated and go into production making root cells that, in the soil, reach down to attach the seed to the earth and extract nutrients to start the growth of the top of the plant.

All gardeners know how attractive the first shoots of our sown crops are to every animal and many insects; munching off newly emerged seedlings as they shoot out above the soil!! Sprouted seeds are equally good for us humans and every opportunity should be seized to eat home grown sprouts as soon as the first evidence of a shoot has appeared as this is the stage when the seed has created the most nutrients to see itself succeed in life.

Seeds brought into Australia have been irradiated and are dead. They are not food, have lost most of their nutrients and will never sprout. You must use organic seeds for sprouting or, at the very least, Australian-grown seeds.

I use a layered sprouter so I can add layers day by day, ensuring one tray of sprouts is always at hand for my lunch. My favourite things to sprout are chick peas, red lentils, green lentils, mung beans and fenugreek. I eat a tray of one of them every day, mixed with salad greens and my wonderful ginger carrot fermented pickle. Because of the protein, enzymes and vitamins in this lunch, I am energized for the afternoon and never feel drowsy. If I crave a hot lunch, I simply sprinkle the tray of sprouts over some soup when I serve it (so as not to overheat them and kill the enzymes, which are very heat sensitive).

I also sprout seeds such as rye, spelt, quinoa and barley for adding to my home made sourdough bread and for steaming in place of rice, for example, or adding to stews at the last minute.

Sprouts are a powerhouse of nutrition and a delight to have growing in your kitchen all year round. Don’t use them as a condiment to just add beauty to a dish, make them the main player and feel your body sing!

Outside in June

I adore the feel of really crisp air on my face; the white air we get here on a very frosty, early morning dash to bring in more firewood, that makes your cheeks glow and covers your hair in fine droplets.

Gardening in the cold is a challenge, as gloves get wet, fingers go numb and too much clothing makes jobs awkward. However, if the sun is out, even a very cold day becomes glorious and a few minutes pruning or doing other outdoor work warms your insides as nothing else can. It is a tonic. As you rest on your spade, close your eyes, face the sun and let the rays activate the capillaries beneath your eyelids.

It is a great time to prepare beds for spring by trampling down weeds and grasses, sprinkling a layer of lime, throwing over some vegetable scraps and sheep manure or Tasmanian blood and bone then covering thickly with wet paper or cardboard. On top of that go generous amounts of compost or grass clippings or even tree prunings that include a lot of leaves. Lastly, cover with thick but fluffed-up straw (best) or hay from a mostly weed-free source. Leave for 3 months, or longer if you like.

If you leave it for longer, pay attention to weeds emerging from the hay etc and also remove any now-denuded branches from the prunings. Plant well-grown seedlings directly into this, without digging it at all, in spring or sow big seeds like beans once frost is past. (Small seeds need a fine tilth to get going. Raking to a fine tilth is one of my favourite activities!).

 

Books for winter reading The Enzyme Factor (Hiromi Shinya). Amazingly useful info. Bitter (Jennifer McLagan) The history of bitter vegetables, herbs and drinks plus recipes and health information. How to Grow and Use Sprouts (Isabel Shipard) Growing Vegetables South of Australia  (Steve Solomon) May 2015 edition now out. Totally revised.

 

 

Winter herbs for health and flavour Do you love pesto and lament the end of fresh basil from your garden? Well I make a wonderful pesto with chervil and almonds / rocket and pistachios / parsley and walnuts. There are so many lovely herbs that either grow and thrive only in winter or continue to hold their colour and flavour even in winter. The former includes the slightly aniseed chervil, with its pretty, soft ferny leaves which I grow as a block and clip by the handful, with scissors. Also in this category is coriander with its robust flavour and growth habit. Rocket is a favourite at the Cygnet Community Garden. Parsley is a fabulous winter herb, readily self-sows and is useful all through winter in meals and as a wonderful source of vitamin C, in our climate where oranges are rare in our gardens.

 

 

Seeds to sow in June Sow in the garden: Broad beans Salad and spring onions Shallots Chives English spinach Radishes Plant out Garlic Asparagus crowns Divide rhubarb Winter herbs Winter flower annuals Globe artichokes Sunchokes Bulbs

Sow in trays: Brassicas Artichokes Coriander Chervil Lettuce Rocket Asian greens Jobs for June Prune deciduous trees for growth except cherries and apricots. (Prune for shaping after fruiting in late summer/ early autumn) Lime and mulch the dripline of fruit trees with anything you have, including seaweed. Collect seaweed (especially kelp) after winter storms and cover your asparagus patch with it. Brassicas also love it. Wonderful added to your compost too.