Being able to assemble fresh and interesting salads makes you really appreciate growing your own. We had a sunny midwinter day recently where we bucked the easy routine of bread (home made sourdough of course!) and cheese for lunch and had a freshly picked salad.
Read More
Like so many edibles that are hard to come by in the shops and best freshly picked, growing shungiku is rewarding for the home gardener. The Japanese call it shungiku, and some call it chop suey herb. Even though ‘edible chrysanthemum’ is a good general description, it’s actually been moved out of the genus Chrysanthemum and is now officially Glebionis coronaria. This tasty and unusual little vegetable is worth growing to spice up seasonal meals. I used to get it occasionally from my market vendor in Sydney, so thought I’d give growing it…
Read More
If you have the right climate and a sunny well drained spot, growing turmeric might be worth a try. It is a relative of ginger, and grows to a similarly attractive clump of lush leaves, which die down in Winter to leave a crown of tasty rhizomes.
Read More
Lablab, dolichos, hyacinth bean, this bean has a multitude of names, which indicate how widely grown it is. Lablab beans grow on a sprawling vine and will be handy here for covering slopes productively. The foliage is good fodder, and apparently will come again if you slash it back to use as a green manure. It gets the name hyacinth bean from the pink flower spikes, which are edible and good in a salad.
Read More