Potato Experiments – Peter Cundall’s method revisited

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Liz

Last September I posted on my establishing a new bed in which the first crop was to be potatoes.  I decided to employ the method of potato growing detailed by Peter Cundall in that months Organic Gardener magazine.  I didn’t have quite the volume of either straw or manure that he suggested but otherwise I followed his technique.

     

This week I finished harvesting the potatoes.

From this bed which measures approximately 3 square metres I got about 5.5kg of Dutch Cream, 3kg of Pink Fir Apple and 3.5kg of Kipfler.  Although the yield wasn’t huge I was pretty happy with it as the potatoes will last us a fair while and over half of the bed was taken up by salad varieties which I find tend to have a smaller yields.

One thing I definitely noticed when harvesting was that the roots and the tubers spread throughout the straw part of the bed – they didn’t dig into the dirt below at all.  I think that if I had more straw to put on I could have got a bigger yield, equally applying more manure may have given them a bigger feed, as well as more  space to grow in to and thus made them more productive.

I noticed much the same thing with all my methods of growing potatoes this year – the tubers were located in places that the plant found easiest to reach.  In this bed it was in the straw above the seed potatoes, in the pots it was around the level in the pot where the initial seed potato was planted.  Ie if I planted at the bottom of the pot and then gradually topped up with potting mix while the plants grew the potatoes would mainly be in the bottom of the pot, equally if I planted near the top the potatoes would be predominantly in the top part of the pot.  This has got me thinking that the perfect method may be one that allows the easiest movement of roots over as large an area as possible.  For my next attempt, which will be in pots as I’ve run out of space in my beds, I plan to plant the seed potatoes in a layer of potting mix covering the bottom third of the pot then cover that with straw and then manure as per the Peter Cundall method above.  I’m hoping that by doing this I will be maximising the potatoes space for growing tubers, as well as food available to them.  Time will tell if it works or not.

So was the Peter Cundall method worth it?  Well from a financial perspective possibly not unless you have a nice cheap/free source of both straw and/or manure.  All together I spent about $70 on straw, manure and seed potatoes and I reckon the potatoes are worth about $45ish at current supermarket prices (for non organic produce).  I do now have a bed which is full of lovely organic matter and which is now happily supporting some lettuces and is about to support some beetroot, chard and celery so if you factor in the prices of those it may well break even at the very least.  If nothing else though I would pay a fair bit for having the pleasure of digging for potatoes – heaps of fun for me and the kids.

The other interesting thing I have discovered in this years potato growing is the benefit of growing Kipflers over other salad potatoes.  While Pink Fir Apple tastes great the yield is roughly similar and Kipfler has the advantage of being ready more quickly as well as sprouting much more easily, or it could be that it sprouts in warmer weather.  Whichever it is, the sprouting has meant I am able to replant Kipflers straight away whilst the others I am still waiting to grow shoots.  This may have implications for storing the potatoes but at the moment my aim is to be harvesting year round rather than storing for long periods.

Year round potatoes in Melbourne?  Can it be done?  So far I’ve managed December & January, with enough stored to cover February and my next potential crop is currently flowering so – so far so good.  Of course it is prime potato growing season now, from about May on is when it will get more difficult…..

Share
Posted in Potatoes, Summer Harvesting | Tagged | 24 Comments

A Summer of Salads – January

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Liz

When I read about Vegplotting’s 52 week salad challenge, the aim of which is to harvest or forage some salad leaves to eat every week of the year, I have to say I smugly thought no problem.  Then I looked round my garden and realised that almost all my lettuces were about to bolt.  And its this that I find the biggest difficulty growing salad leaves in Melbourne; the need to ensure sufficient succession plantings to cover all the plants that bolt during summer.  You’ll have a lovely looking lettuce and then all of a sudden it will be reaching for the skies.

 I find the easiest way to overcome this problem is to sow lettuce/salad mix seeds in seed trays once a month and then when they are ready pot them up into 10cm pots.  That way I tend to always have something decent sized plants to replace the bolting ones.

I planted out this tray of 15 plants last week and ever since have spent much energy trying to keep the blackbirds from kicking mulch all over their leaves.  They are really annoying at the moment, if they’re not kicking mulch all over the seedlings, they’re digging up the carrot seeds or eating the tomatoes.

Blackbirds aside this year has been good for salad leaves so far, my ongoing inability to grow iceberg lettuce notwithstanding all the varieties seem to be doing well.  So far this year I have been harvesting sorrel, mizuna, oakleaf, salad bowl, Cos and a range of lettuces that were simply called Lettuce Mix on the seed packet.

 

To compliment the salad leaves I have a good range of herbs, the following are currently of a harvest-able size: parsley, garlic chives, spring onions, mint, Vietnamese mint, perilla, Thai basil, basil, sage, tarragon, chervil, oregano, thyme, and lemongrass.

My aim in this 52 week salad challenge is not only to eat salad leaves each week (at the moment I’m eating them from the garden pretty much every day) but to come up with a dish each month in which salad leaves are an integral ingredient.  This week its a Chorizo, Haloumi & Potato salad which on the face of it doesn’t sound very leafy but the leaves sit beneath the salad mitigating the saltiness of the dish and cutting through its richness to ensure it remains fresh and delicious.

Potato, Haloumi & Chorizo on a bed of Salad leaves

  • 150g salad leaves
  • 500g salad potatoes (I used Kipfler)
  • 250g haloumi sliced into 3/4cm thick slices
  • 1 chorizo sausage (enough to give 4 people a few bits each) slice into serving pieces.
  • 50g mixed herbs (I used spring onion, parsley, basil and chervil but any soft herbs would be nice) finely chopped
  • juice of half lemon
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • Extra olive oil for frying the chorizo & haloumi.
  • salt & pepper

Boil the potatoes whole with skins on.  While they are cooking prepare the dressing by mixing together the herbs, lemon juice & olive oil.  Season the dressing with salt & pepper.  Set aside 1/4 of the dressing and put 3/4 of it into a large bowl. Once the potatoes are cooked let them cool enough to be able to handle them and then slice in bite size pieces and immediately place them into the bowl with dressing.  Mix to coat all the pieces.

Thinly coat the bottom of a frypan with olive oil.  Once it is hot add the chorizo and fry on each side until it browns.  Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.  Add the haloumi, fry on each side until they are a golden brown.  Remove from pan.

To assemble the salad: place the salad leaves onto the plate, dress with a sprinkle of the reserved dressing.  place the potato salad, haloumi & chorizo on top.  Serve.

I particularly like this salad served with my Beetroot & Date Chutney, the sweetness of the chutney really compliments the saltiness of the haloumi in particular.

Share
Posted in Greens - Lettuce, Spinach, Beets, Recipes, Summer Harvesting | Tagged , , | 18 Comments

Crispy Fried Shallots

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Liz

OK so today I’m going to cheat a bit for my Thursday Kitchen Cupboard post.  But I’ve got a cold and I’ve had a busy week, the highlight of which was an evening at the Australian Open.  Lets go Lleyton, Lets go….and go he did straight out of the tournament – still he did a lot better than expected.  But I digress, my cheating is that today I’m not really posting a recipe – well it is a recipe but only of sorts, you see it only has two ingredients: Shallots & Oil, in my case sunflower oil.

I harvested quite a lot of shallots this year and as, Charmaine Sollomon (I think it was her) says; making Crispy Fried Shallots is like putting money in the bank.  I particularly like that concept and when you think about it its pretty true of all preserving – you are saving for a rainy day, or a wintery one anyway.

To make Crispy Fried Shallots:

Peel and slice the shallots.  I find they work best if the slices are about 3mm wide.  You want the shallots to be sliced as evenly as possible to ensure they all cook at the same rate.

Heat enough oil (I like using sunflower oil for these) to cover the base of a pan with about  1-2cm of oil.  You want the pan to be big enough to hold the shallots in a single layer across its base.

Fry the shallots until they go a deep golden brown (as in the picture below) I find they sometimes brown a bit more after being removed from the pan.   Remove from the oil and drain on Kitchen Paper.  You need to spread them out to drain otherwise they tend to stick together.

Once cool they can be stored in a sterilised airtight jar and used in a range of dishes.   Any that look a bit undercooked I eat immediately rather than storing.  I use them in fried rice, gado gado, curries, kedgeree, soups etc etc.  My kids (and me occasionally) are happy just eating them straight from the jar.

I have to admit being a bit confused as to how long they keep for.  I’ve certainly happily eaten them weeks after they have been made.   My mum’s seem to keep for months in an air tight jar in the cupboard.  I keep mine in airtight jar in the fridge (there’s more room in my fridge than there is the cupboard) and they last a good few weeks at the very least.  They are sold unrefrigerated in Asian grocers.  But most of the advice on the internet suggests they only last for a much shorter period – a matter of days.  Personally I’m not sure what there is in them that could go bad – the cooking removes the water content of the shallot hence the crispiness so all that’s left is oil and dry shallot.  I’d be interested to know what people think.

To see what others are making this week head on over to the Gardener of Eden for Thursday Kitchen Cupboard.

Share
Posted in Alliums - Onions, Leeks, Garlic, Recipes | Tagged , | 11 Comments

Top 5 – Salads to eat on Australia Day

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Liz

This Thursday is Australia Day.   Embarrassingly I came to write this post and I couldn’t remember what it actually commemorates.  I thought it was the anniversary of Federation but no, it is actually the anniversary of the First Fleet’s arrival in Sydney cove and the British proclamation of sovereignty over the Eastern part of what is now known as Australia.  The day is also called Invasion day by members of the indigenous community amongst others which actually makes a lot more sense now that I know what Australia Day is actually celebrating.

What makes Australia Day special to me though (and I suspect I may not be alone in this) is that it is a public holiday, in summer.  To me that means one thing:  Barbeques!  What does one take to a barbeque (other than meat that is)?  Salad.  So to celebrate Australia/Invasion Day this week’s Top 5 had to be salads, salads to eat on the Day.  Which is actually quite convenient because Vegplotting has launched a 52 week salad challenge and I felt it only appropriate that I join in.

1. Tabouleh

The onion harvest is in, the tomatoes are ripening, the new sowing of parsley is ready to harvest from, there are still lemons about and the mint is happily growing away.  There is probably no better time of the year to make Tabouleh.  And frankly how could anyone not want to make Tabouleh, today, tomorrow and certainly on Australia Day.

2. Beetroot & Feta

Green Dragonette has written a couple of posts recently about her memories of school dinners.  In Australia school dinners are very rare, what we have instead is Tuck Shops.  They are in pretty much every school, and pretty much every tuck shop has salad sandwiches on the menu (or they did in the 80s anyway).  Salad sandwiches at my school were almost always filled with: tomato, lettuce, cucumber, carrot, alafalfa and beetroot.  The presence of beetroot in these sandwiches, and also in pretty much any burger with the lot I’ve ever seen, means I’ve always viewed beetroot as a quintessentially Australian ingredient.  It is said that Melbourne is second only to Athens in terms of numbers of people with Greek heritage living in it, equally there are large communities of people with Turkish and Middle Eastern heritage who are an intrinsic part of Australia life.  So what could be better to team with the beetroot but a cheese which is hugely popular in the lands of their forefathers?

3. Pumpkin & Quinoa

When Australia plays sport at an international level they wear Green & Gold.  This salad has flecks of both so you could certainly eat it for that reason.  But I would eat it because of the pumpkin.  I don’t think there is anywhere on earth that eats more pumpkin in savoury dishes than Australia.  If we’re not making salads from it, we’re roasting it, if we’re not roasting it we’re making soup, if we’re not making soup then its scones, if its not scones its gnocchi and so on, and on, and on.  I used to have a theory that pumpkin is the reason why Australian’s are, on average, taller than the Brits – it has some sort of growth enhancing properties and if the Brits started eating Pumpkin they too could be taller.  This theory is of extremely dubious merit but I do quite like it.

4. Tomato Salad

I have cheated a bit in this post using recipes that I’d already posted.  But I haven’t posted a tomato salad before so here goes:  I am a bit of a purist when it comes to a good tomato salad.  I favour a fairly basic approach.  Cut the tomatoes into whatever shapes you fancy.  I tend to cut up the little ones and slice the big ones.  Sprinkle with salt and set aside for about 30 minutes.  Then dress with a really nice extra virgin olive oil (Australian of course – it is for Australia Day after all) and some torn basil leaves.  Serve.  The best thing to eat in the whole world and I think very appropriate for Australia day.  It pays homage to both our kitchen gardens and the huge contribution that people with Italian heritage, in particular, have made to our culinary history.  It is also very seasonal and best of all it tastes like summer so absolutely perfect.

5.  Potato Salad with Smoked Trout & Salsa Verde dressing

Potato Salad with Smoked Trout & Salsa Verde dressing

And finally what I think I will make on Australia Day.  Anyone who has read my Monday Harvest posts will be aware that I have a lot of potatoes at the moment.  In this I’m sure I can’t be alone.  What better to do with them than add some Smoked Trout, dress it with Salsa Verde and then head off to that Barbeque.

Note: It is hugely remiss of me not to include an Asian salad in this list.  Australia is geographically, after all, part of Asia (or Australiasia at least) and a great many Australian’s have Asian heritage.  Equally the contribution that Asia has made to modern Australian dining is huge.  With that in mind any Asian inspired salad would be wonderful to eat on Australia Day – its just that I haven’t posted any yet nor indeed made one to photograph this week so……cop-out I know but there you go.  I pledge to make, document and photograph an Asian (and by Asian I am talking predominantly about South-East Asia & China as those countries have had the biggest influence over Australian cuisine) salad in the next couple of weeks.

What would also be remiss of me would be to end this post without highlighting The New Goodlife’s wonderful Top 5 from last week: Favourite New Ingredients.  I’m off to buy some blueberries as per recommendations from my Top 5 Plants in Pots last week.

Share
Posted in Recipes, Top 5 | Tagged | 33 Comments

Monday Harvest

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Liz

Another week and another attempt to kill my tomatoes…My tomatoes were dying: browning foliage and no more growth.  I fed them about 10 days ago but it didn’t seem to have helped.  After I spent much time researching tomato diseases on the computer to no avail I went out to the tomatoes and this time had a quick feel of the soil – soaking wet.  I’ve been killing them with love it would seem… I stopped  watering for 5 days and the decline has been halted (or at least I think it has…).  I’m hoping they will recover and put on some more fruit…in the meantime I harvested these (and a few more that didn’t make the photo shoots):

   

I am harvesting the tomatoes a little early as, what I think is, mice are taking them if I leave them on the plant much longer.  I was looking forward to my first Black Cherry tomatoes when they suddenly disappeared off the vine.

The mice don’t seem interested in the cucumbers though which are producing well.  I am harvesting at a rate of one or two most days, occasionally more – like Wednesday when I made some more Bread & Butter Cucumbers.

This week has once again been the week of the potato.  I harvested the first lot of Pink Fir Apple potatoes – these grown in a 40cm tub.  I got about 1.5kg.  Interestingly the potatoes don’t have the little knobbly bits I normally associate with Pink Fir Apples, this despite the seed potatoes having them.  I also harvested another 650g of Pink Fir Apples from the main bed and they didn’t have the knobs either.  I made a lovely potato salad with some of the first batch and they were delicious but possibly slightly more floury than I would normally expect so perhaps they crossed with another variety?  I may have just overcooked them of course, or left them in the garden slightly too long….

 

I also harvested the tub of Dutch Cream potatoes which look superb but I’m yet to cook any of them.  I got 1.5kg from a 40cm tub which seems to be the optimum harvest from this size of pot in my growing conditions.

My most exciting harvest this week – for me anyway was parsley – I know it sounds a bit boring but I love it and I have only been able to cut the occasional sprig rather than a decent amount as my plants were a bit young.  They are now mature enough for a decent harvest though:

Actually all my herbs are doing well at the moment.  I dried some oregano this week, harvested the first of the garlic chive flowers, which I used in rice paper rolls along with some Thai Basil, Vietnamese mint and common mint.  My basil is producing pesto sized quantities, and the sage and lemon balm are both doing well.

 

My other harvests were primarily green – lots of salad leaves, green beans and celery which is now big enough to harvest the occasional stalk from.

 

When one harvest is never enough simply head over to Daphne’s Dandelions for harvests from around the world.

Share
Posted in Summer Harvesting | Tagged | 26 Comments