Growing Tomatoes in Melbourne – Part 2 – Planting out

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Liz

In Melbourne the tradition is that you plant tomatoes on Cup Day.  My dad did it, my grand father, probably his before that and so on.  For the uninitiated Cup Day is the first Tuesday in November and is a public holiday celebrating the running of the Melbourne Cup horse race.  It is usually honoured by BBQs, visits to the TAB (betting shop) and tomato planting.  I however have broken with tradition.  I planted out the first of my tomato seedlings on Sunday – a full month early!  I’ve done it before too – planted out my tomatoes early (I have probably broken any number of traditions over the years as well but that is another story….) and it didn’t end badly at all.  Actually I think climate change may mean that we rethink when we plant things more generally.  Fortunately there is currently discussion about having a public holiday for the AFL (Aussie Rules Football) grand final which conveniently falls on the last Saturday of Sept or first in October depending on the year.  If this happens then the tradition of planting on a sporting related public holiday could be maintained which can only be a good thing surely….

Anyway my seedlings looked big enough and had been hardened off plus we’d just had loads of rain, so I went ahead and planted the first four (I also planted a store bought Tommy Toe donated by my next door neighbour about a fortnight ago but as I didn’t grow it from seed I’m not as interested in its progress – although I will still eat the produce….), Four was all I currently have space for.

From the seeds I sowed in July (Growing Tomatoes in Melbourne – Part 1)  I planted a Rouge DeMarmande, a Sweet F1 Hybrid Cherry, Black Krim and A Baby Red Pear.  All grow pretty big so I put in three stakes per plant to train their stalks up.  The stakes are about 30cm apart with roughly 60cm between plants.

                            

I arranged the pots next to stakes, I want to grow the cherrys where they can be easily reached by the kids, whereas the larger varieties are going in the middle of the bed where Mr almost 2 is less likely to pick them, take a bite and them throw them on the ground……

I dig holes deeper than I would normally to plant as I want to submerge a fair bit of the stalk so that it will grow roots and both give the plant more support and provide a stronger root structure.  Then the kids plant them, with me holding my breath as Mr almost 2 attempts to crush plant as he removes it from the pot.  The plant survives (I hope!).

Amazingly I remember to label them and water them in.

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Posted in Tomatoes | Tagged | 21 Comments

Monday Harvest – 3rd October 2011

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Liz

It was wet in Melbourne this week, very wet!  We had thunder, lightning, downpours, drizzle, rain and hail – you name it, if it comes from the sky and falls to earth we had it (accept for snow, but then we never have snow…).  As a result much of my harvesting consisted of mad dashes out to the veggie patch to quickly grab something to go into a meal.  I did photograph a few things though.  Broccoli, Beetroot leaves, garlic shoots (that my delightful son ‘helpfully’ liberated from the ground for me….) and coriander went into a stir fry to have with salmon.

Beetroot to make more room for my cabbages to grow and to go into rasam.

Celery to flavour stock.

And more celery for risotto.

Some leeks also for the risotto – note: beautiful worm which went back into the ground rather than into our rice.

And mint, yes I know that this mint is still connected to the plant and so is not harvested but I used a lot of mint this week (mainly in tea), and failed to photograph it, so I felt it should be represented.

Broccolli – 2 types: Purple Sprouting and Green Dragon.  Both were used in a pasta dish (with olives, chilli, bread crumbs and anchovies) and if I’m honest I couldn’t really discern any difference in flavour between the two varieties.

And finally to represent all the parsley I ate – 2 images of pretty much the same thing.  Two armed man.

And one armed man.

Actually my parsley is going to seed so I used less of it than usual, just in stock and salads.

For other Monday Harvests head over to Daphne’s Dandelions, you know you want to!

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Posted in Spring Harvesting | Tagged | 14 Comments

September – The Wrap Up

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Liz

We had a very wet end to September this year, of the 66mm that fell during the month 55 of those fell in the last couple of days, so basically I went from worried about a lack of rainfall to frankly being a bit sick of it all in a matter of hours.  The thunder and lightning was fun though.  What would be great now would be some warm weather to ensure some good growth and finally my monster cabbages may develop hearts.

The other winter crop I am still waiting on are my broad beans:

They are flowering beautifully and have set a few pods, and I did see some bees on them for the first time today so hopefully I will get a bumper crop.  Perhaps the bees were attracted by the orange, mandarin or the lavender all of which are flowering.

  

I can always tell its Spring by the leaves forming on the fig which is growing under the fence from next door.

Potatoes have yet to surface in my new potato bed but all the pots have sprouted.  (Post Script – since initially composing this yesterday some have come through) I am growing Kipfler, Pink Fir Apple, Cranberry Red & Dutch Cream in pots.  The tomato seedlings are also looking good and are almost ready for planting out

 

Of the plants I have been overwintering I have had reasonable results.  All my chilli plants got through winter OK and those that I have repotted have all put on new growth.

The capsicums look like they are still alive and one has the tiniest bit of new growth so I am reasonably hopeful.

Of the eggplants the lebanese one didn’t make it through but the two others might.  Both put of new growth but a lot of that new growth has subsequently died back on one of them (my adorably son destroyed the labels so I’m not sure what the remaining plants are).

 

I’m really pleased with my garlic this year.  Well so far anyway.

I’m pretty pleased with the garden at the moment.  I’m harvesting celery, lettuce, watercress, leeks, beetroot, the last of the broccoli (although I do have some immature plants in a side bed) heaps of herbs – chervil, coriander, dill, mint, oregano, and thyme.  The tarragon is regrowing (after being almost smothered last year) and the chives and garlic chives I transplanted from mum & dads are doing well.  I should soon have broad beans and cabbages.  The only negative (aside from the onions I posted about a few days ago) is that my parsley is bolting and I don’t have plants that are big enough to replace it just yet.  Oh for a warm October and lots more growth….

To see what I did in the garden this month click here: September 2011

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Posted in Planning | 3 Comments

Beetroot Rasam

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Liz

I’ve recently started harvesting my latest crop of beetroot.  Partially because its ready and partially to make more room for my purple cabbages which are getting really quite large….. My dad also grows beetroot, and he reckons his current batch is about to bolt.  As a result I have been cooking a fair bit of beetroot.  Of all the dishes I have made with beetroot recently this Beetroot Rasam would have to be my favourite.  It is quite a sweet soup, spicy but sweet.  It goes well with other vegetable curries and rice.   This recipe is adapted from a recipe by Chandra Padmanabhan from her book Southern Spice.  If you enjoy South Indian vegetarian cooking I would highly recommend either this or her previous book Dakshin.

Beetroot Rasam

  • 1 medium beetroot – cooked, peeled & mashed.
  • 2 tsp tamarind puree & 1.5 cups water (or a lime sized ball of tamarind soaked in 1.5 cups of water)
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar (or jaggery if you have it)
  • 2 tsp oil
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds – ground
  • 1/2 tsp asofeotida powder
  • 1/2 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tbspn dessicated coconut soaked in 1 tbspn hot water
  • Coriander leaves

Tempering

  • 2 tsp oil
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • one chilli sliced in half
  • 10 curry leaves

Heat the first lot of oil in a saucepan, add ground spices (coriander, cumin, fenugreek, asofeotida & chilli powder).  Add beetroot, sugar, tamarind & water and coconut.  Season with salt and cook for about 5-10 minutes (the beetroot should disintegrated into the soup).  In a small pan heat the oil for the tempered spices, when hot add spices & leaves.  When the mustard seeds begin to pop tip everything into the soup.  Garnish with coriander & serve with other vegetables & rice.

As mentioned previously this makes quite a sweet soup.  You may want to add less sugar or more tamarind to taste.

I’m sharing this recipe on Garden To Table over at Greenish Thumb – take a look at what else people are cooking from their gardens this week.

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Posted in Autumn Harvesting, Greens - Lettuce, Spinach, Beets, Recipes, Spring Harvesting, Summer Harvesting, Winter Harvesting | Tagged | 13 Comments

A Melbourne Grown Curry – Can it be done?

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Liz

I have a mission!  – To successfully grow all the ingredients for an Indian vegetable curry.

For this I figure at a minimum I need to grow:

  • Onions
  • Garlic
  • Ginger
  • Turmeric
  • Coriander (seed and leaf)
  • Cumin
  • Chilli
  • Tomatoes
  • Plus a vegetable to curry eg potatoes.

As I’ve sown more potatoes than you can poke a stick at, and plan on sowing more in a month or so, this part of the curry should not be a problem.  Even if all my potatoes fail I will just substitute eggplant or beans or anything that I do have when the other ingredients are ready.

Of the other ingredients Tomatoes, Garlic, Chilli and Coriander don’t present too many problems (although as I’ve mentioned before, Melbourne and Coriander usually don’t seem to like each other that much – however I have heaps in the garden at the moment so I am feeling confident!).  I have posted before on my attempts to grow Ginger and feel fairly optimistic that I can again achieve a large enough crop for a curry.  I have also attempted turmeric previously and whilst I didn’t really get much more than I planted I still think it would be sufficient for a meal.  This leaves cumin and most ridiculously onions.

Onions should and do grow well in Melbourne but I sowed mine late, and this is what they currently look like:

Which would be fine (if annoyingly slow) except they are growing right where I want to plant out these:

So the onions are going to have to be eaten as spring onions and the curry experiment may need to go on hold….or not…….as I do have these, planted in convenient location:

Shallots it is then to replace onions, which leaves cumin.

Cumin I really need to do some research on.  My first attempt to grow it entailed sowing some seed my mother had in her pantry (I usually sow seeds at my parents house – they entertain the kids whilst I play in their potting shed).  Interestingly what germinated, and I originally thought was cumin, actually turned out to be grass seed (well I’m pretty sure I grew grass not cumin…).  So either some got into the seed tray (and none of the others I sowed that day) or the cumin I bought had been adulterated with grass seed.  Which has actually got me thinking about how many other spices have been adulterated – perhaps I will sow some and see what pops up.

All this aside and I am no closer to growing any cumin.  So is there anyone out there who has successfully grown cumin, ideally in a temperate climate but frankly any info would be great at this point?  If not lets hope my spice supplier is more trustworthy than my mothers…..

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Posted in Alliums - Onions, Leeks, Garlic | Tagged | 7 Comments