November news

News of the Month November 2017

A big article in the Advocate this month – a three page spread, no less! About the slow food movement, and its implications with wild food, Tasmania, and more

http://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/5033137/exploring-our-backyard/

We have hosted several garden tours this month, and many of our visitors have been amazed at the number of species we can grow and use.

“I can’t adequately express how inspired I am to grow more of these plants, with a goal to work up to a full meal of local pants regularly” LW “Fantastic and beautiful gorgeous place” AK “Thankyou for a wonderful and informative tour of your garden, we really did enjoy it” SL

What’s happening in the garden:

So many of the native plants are now in full bloom – the exquisite linum marginale is delighting with its sky blue – mauve delicate flowers. The native bluebells, Wahlenbergia spp are also showing their colours. Our rampant fruiting Macquarie vine (Muehlenbeckia gunnii) is promising a bumper crop being absolutely covered in flowers at the moment and keeping the native hoverflies working. The menthe australis growing under and through our linum patch was used this week to make the most delicious mint custard icecream!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lovely tuber plants, the arthropodium lilies, best identified by their common names and uncommon scents – chocolate and vanilla lilies are showing their lovely flowers. The bulbine lilies are also out in bloom. The tubers of the rushes, typha spp (cumbungi) and flag rush (phragmites australe) are at their best right now, crunchy and sweet.

Our native brassica, Barbarea australis or austral wintercress, is growing well in the vegie garden and being used in many stir fries. Cycnogeton procerum (Water ribbons) plants have sent up their flower stalks and the green seed is ready for picking and freezing for use later in the year. They’re great in stir fries, soups and stews – taste like a nutty pea.

The peppers have flowered, and are now busily putting on pretty new growth, Tasmania’s only native grevillia (Grevillia australis), the native waratah (best seen on a drive to Waratah) are in an abundance of bloom; as is the marvellous pigface – a wonderful harbinger of luscious summer fruit.

What a wonderful month!