Another year, another pile of zucchinis on the kitchen bench. It must be summer. Despite poor rainfall and a slow start for the tomatoes, the garden is producing enough for something to either be the basis of or to add to a meal every day. Though it is possible to tire of blue kale. That is until fermented, when it transforms into a tasty addition to the simplest of bread and cheese lunches. The year of ferments spills into 2014 with the anticipation of fermentation workshops with Sandor Katz in February.
Creativity with salads is the order of the day and the use of edible flowers provides taste sensations as their pure essence can transform the most mundane of leaves. Our original potato plantings went feral and thanks to our compost every garden bed has produced potatoes in surprising places and quantities. You can’t beat the deliciousness of a freshly dug and steamed potato.
It has been an excellent year for cherries and, once protected from chooks and other birds, provided the plump type that pops nicely in your mouth. I have equally high hopes for my recently planted sour cherry in future. Cherries are high in anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds, making them popular for treatment of the pain of gout and arthritis. They have an affinity for vanilla and cinnamon in cooking, lending themselves readily to many fruit based desserts and cakes and can be frozen or preserved, in alcohol being a popular choice.
Similar optimism exists for the walnut we have planted in place of one of our ancient mulberries that has fallen, connected by a thread of root, like a tooth waiting to be removed, we have propped it up and hope it will re-sprout.
Who would have thought that warragul greens and marigolds could spread the way they have? The marigolds attracting many bees and useful insects into the garden and are an all round medicinal plant with their antiseptic and healing properties and their edible flowers, which when dried make a very good digestive tea and eyewash.
Despite the watering system, the below average rainfall shows the garden beds to be quite dry below the surface when digging deep to prepare the soil for the next planting. Water really is the limiting resource. With predictions of a dry time ahead this year, it is prudent to plan for further improvements in water holding capacity of the soil, watering regimes and efficient mulches.
The past year has been fruitful in The Backyard Pharmacy. Thanks to planting and soil enrichment lessons aplenty we now have a better understanding of the garden’s cycles and capacity. The groundwork continues and we look forward to the seasons ahead.
