Enough Water for Watercress?

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Liz

In the last few years I was in the UK before coming home to Australia I reckon the sales of watercress there probably quadrupled – everyone it seemed to be eating it.  I suspect this probably coincided with some study or other revealing a fabulous health benefit (and there are a fair few attributed to it) you get from eating it .   I can’t remember the details of the study but I do know that I love its flavour and the pepperiness it adds to a salad.

How I grow it

As I mentioned in a previous post on self seeding watercress comes up everywhere in my garden, I think I must have put a plant with seeds into the compost and I’ve been merrily spreading it around the garden ever since.

   

Watercress grows easily from seed, so if you have yet to establish it in your garden all you need to do is sow some seed in normal potting or seed raising mix and wait for germination.  You could sow seed direct but the seed is extremely small so I find it easier to control in seed trays or pots.  Seedlings can be planted out at any point.  Watercress can be relocated very easily, it sends down roots from its stems as it spreads so once you have a plant established it is easy to cut a bit off and replant it anywhere you want it to grow without disturbing the original plant.

In the photo below you can see the plants white roots – as long as these are retained it can survive in a glass of water until you either use or replant it.

Despite its name and what you may occasionally read, watercress grows well in normal soil (rather than in water) as long as its watered pretty regularly.  It struggles a bit in my Melbourne garden in summer but it seems pretty happy for the rest of the year.

As watercress spreads you do need to give it a bit of room.  If growing it in containers I would recommend growing it in something like a polystyrene fruit box which will give it a bit of space to grow into.

How I use it:

I tend to use watercress almost exclusively in salads although it also makes a nice soup.  My favourite is a variation on Rocket, Pear & Parmesan where the watercress replaces the rocket.

Watercress, Pear and Parmesan Salad

  • A bunch of watercress, picked over
  • A pear thinly sliced
  • 50g shaved parmesan

Watercress needs to be picked over before serving (I tend to discard the biggest stems although these are edible), the roots also need to be washed thoroughly as its easy to serve a bit of left over dirt with your lunch.

Dress the salad with a vinegarette:

  • One measure white wine vinegar
  • half a measure Dijon mustard
  • Four measures extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

*For a salad for one a measure equates to a teaspoon – increase the amount for a larger salad.

In the above picture I have also added some finely sliced spring onion, radish and avocado to the salad as I needed to use them up.  They went well with the other ingredients.

 

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Posted in Autumn Planting, Greens - Lettuce, Spinach, Beets, Herbs & Spices, Spring Harvesting, Spring Planting, Winter Harvesting, Winter Planting | Tagged , | 5 Comments

A petulant child? – Growing Coriander

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Liz

I like living in Melbourne, I like living in Melbourne’s suburbs, they are; friendly, feel safe,  have a down to earth vibe and are vibrant.  What’s not to like?  Well coriander doesn’t seem to see it that way.  Instead it refuses to germinate, gets itself eaten by slugs and snails,  decides to go to seed instead of producing leaves, yellows and dies for no reason and basically behaves like a petulant child.  Frankly I’m not impressed!!!!  Having said all that I am very excited as I do currently have some nice healthy plants in my garden which are doing what they should do – that is produce leaves at a rate greater than I want to eat them.

How I grow it:

The simple answer to this is probably fairly unsuccessfully – however there are some things that have worked.  When I want to sow seeds then I try and start sowing in mid Autumn and then sow them fortnightly from then on until everything I sow bolts so quickly it is no longer worth attempting (this seems to start happening about mid Spring).

In general the plants that seem to grow best are Autumn planted (or sown) which means they get to do their main growing in winter.  The cold seems to inhibit their desire to go to seed.  I have had more success buying seedlings than sowing seed.  By buying seedlings I have avoided both germination issues and the really young stage when my plants often get eaten by slugs etc.  Buying seedlings hasn’t been foulproof – they can still bolt before you want them to, some still die for no apparent reason but it does seem easier than sowing seed.

I do get the occasional coriander plant self seeding which is nice but obviously can’t be relied upon if you want regular crops.

I have grown coriander successfully in pots – as it does like a bit of room, I have had most success with pots that are at least 20cm in diameter – one plant per pot.

Coriander grows happily in both sun and shade as long as the shade is well lit.    I have parts of my main bed which the sun doesn’t reach in winter (due to being near the house) but gets lots of light and the coriander likes it here – it copes less well planted under my tamarillo where the shade is a lot deeper.

  

I currently have about 10 plants scattered throughout the garden and in pots and I plan to plant another punnet of seedlings within the next week or two.  When these plants look like going to seed I will cut the emerging flower heads out of about half to try and encourage more leaf production – the remainder I will leave to go to seed – both for the bee attracting qualities and for the seed itself which I also use in cooking.  If I plan to collect seed to replant then I will collect it from the last plant to start to flower as this is the characteristic I most value.  I do use the roots to make curry paste – if I have a lot of plants then when some look like bolting I will often harvest those plants for roots and then start again with new seedlings.

I do wish coriander was a bit easier – I love using it and the plants themselves are attractive so I will persevere and perhaps one day perfect its cultivation.  In the meantime if anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated.

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Silverbeet filo triangles

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Liz

Herbs aside my garden is a bit sparse at the moment in terms of harvestable crops – the main saving grace is my silverbeet which is working really hard to keep up with the rate I am using it.

Here is a recipe that is often done with spinach that I think works brilliantly with silverbeet/chard.  (For information on the differences between silverbeet/chard and spinach see my earlier post called: Is it Spinach, Is it Silver beet, Is it Chard?)

I think there are very few recipes that don’t work with silverbeet/chard instead of spinach.  The only times when I would only use spinach are those where the spinach isn’t cooked, or when you need the velvety texture that only spinach brings.  Otherwise I tend to view the two plants as fairly interchangeable.  They don’t taste the same, its just that the flavour is similar enough that the same ingredients work well with both.  Also both are leaves and so the same cooking techniques work well for both.  Silverbeet is usually slower to cook than spinach though so you do sometimes have to adjust some cooking times accordingly.

Silverbeet & Feta Triangles

  • A small bunch of silver beet (About 8 biggish leaves) finely chopped
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 1 egg
  • 100g feta
  • Pepper
  • Filo pastry
  • Melted Butter

Cook silver beet (I usually steam mine) and squeeze out excess moisture.  Saute onion until soft.  Mix in silver beet.  Cool.  Mix in remaining ingredients to form filling.

Heat oven to 190 degrees.

To make each parcel take a large sheet of filo pastry and cut it lengthways into long strips approximately 8 – 10 cm across (you usually get 3 strips out of each sheet but this will depend on the size of the original pastry).  How long they will be will vary according to brand of filo pastry – the one I use is just under 45cm long.

Keep the remaining filo under a tea towel as it drys out quickly.

Brush the edges of the strip with melted butter.  Place a teaspoonful of mixture at the end of the strip in the middle of the pastry, as shown below.

       

Take one of the bottom corners and fold it over the filling to form a small triangle.

 

Fold that triangle upwards and continue forming triangles until you reach the top of your filo strip.  Brush the top with melted butter and place onto a baking tray.

Repeat until you have used all your filling.

Cook for about 15 minutes in 190 degree over, or until golden brown.

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Radishes

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Liz

Radishes are one of those things that I think it can be quite hard to get truly passionate about.  Tomatoes – well the ‘love apple’ moniker says it all, chillies have fire, eggplants are tactile, broccoli is good for you and so it goes on until you get to radishes and well hmmmmm.  (The same thing happens when you get to turnips – they just aren’t a romantic vegetable to grow….)  But radishes do have a lot to recommend them.  They are quick to grow, relatively trouble free and have a mellow kind of heat that can bring a warming accent to a salad.  Plus they come in loads of colours not to mention shapes and sizes.

How I grow them:

I have found radishes super easy to grow.  I usually sow seed from a so called Radish mix which gives me a mixture of sizes, shapes, textures and colours.  I have to say I tend to prefer the traditional French varieties – like the ones pictured above but I also enjoy Daikon (known as Mouli in India) occasionally – although I sometimes find its size a little overwhelming (they can get very large indeed).  The other reason I like the smaller varieties is that I tend to grow them as a quick crop between rows of other things – for instances between rows of broccoli or cauliflower.  The smaller varieties are usually ready at the right time to be picked and allow the slower crops more room.

You can sow radish seed at any time of the year in a temperate climate like Melbourne’s and they tend to germinate pretty quickly – usually in under a week – making them great crops for kids to grow.  I sow seed direct and then thin at the seedling stage at a point when I can see which varieties I am thinning out.  This means I have a good variety at harvest time.

Radishes grow more quickly in the warmer months so the time it takes them to mature seems to vary considerably throughout the year.  I do tend to pick them reasonably small as they do have a tendency to get a bit woody in the middle if you leave them too long.

On the pest front they are reasonably troublefree.  As a brassica the cabbage white butterflies show occasional interest – but they seem to prefer caulis and broccoli.  Seedlings should be protected from slugs and snails and the only other issue I’ve had is mice having the occasional nibble – at least I’m presuming its mice.  The photo below shows the damage.  I guess it could be a bird but I’ve never seen one having a go…..

How I use them:

I use radishes primarily raw in salads – usually in salads like the one in my post on lettuces: http://suburbantomato.com/2011/05/lettuce-sing/.  Last week I made a really enjoyable salad along those lines using the harvest below – you could almost pretend it was spring…..

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Posted in Autumn Harvesting, Autumn Planting, Brassicas, Spring Harvesting, Spring Planting, Summer Harvesting, Summer Planting, Winter Harvesting, Winter Planting | Tagged | 2 Comments

My favourite beetroot salad

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Liz

This is my favourite beetroot salad.  I love the combination of sweet roasted beetroot against the saltiness of feta – it works really well and the mint gives it an added dimension.  Its so good that I’ve included a couple of minor variations so you’ll never tire of it.

Beetroot, Mint & Feta Salad

  • 3 medium to large Beetroot
  • 100g feta
  • A bunch of mint

Dressing/Marinade:

  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • Juice of an orange
  • 4 tablespoons of olive oil.

Wrap the beetroot in foil and roast for about an hour at 190 degrees.  The time will depend on the size of the beetroot.  They are ready when a skewer goes through them easily.

Make the dressing/marinade by mixing the vinegar, orange juice and oil.  Add a little salt and the orange rind if you are making the variation below.

When the beetroot are cooked leave them in foil for about 10 minutes to cool slightly and then while they are still warm peel them and put into dressing.   Leave until they are
cool and the dressing has permeated the beetroot.

To serve remove the beetroot from the dressing and placed onto a serving platter, mix through the mint, spoon over some or all of the dressing to taste and finally crumble on the feta.

Variations:

Beetroot, Orange and Mint Salad

Add grated rind of an orange to the dressing.

Omit feta and increase the seasoning to compensate.

Beetroot, Orange, Mint and Feta Salad

Add both the grated rind of orange to the dressing and crumble feta over the top.  I think this works better if you are using one of the stronger fetas as I think the orange tends to dominate if you have one of the smoother and creamier styles of feta.

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