Innholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2017 i Grow to Eat

What’s to like about pumpkins? The dense, orange flesh is delicious and nutritious when roasted or steamed, especially varieties like ‘Wit Boer’, ‘Queensland Blue’, ‘Turk’s Turban’, ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Musquee De Provence’ (the real big daddy). They store very well, lasting up to three months. As one plant produces an average of eight fruit, and each fruit makes up several meals, planting a pumpkin is worth considering. What pumpkins need Space, space, space (up to 12m2), full sun, deep, wellcomposted and manured soil where they are to be sown (called planting stations), plenty of water, and liquid fertiliser every 2-3 weeks after the first flower buds appear. Pumpkins for the patio? There is only one mini-pumpkin available, aptly named ‘Jack Be Little’. It produces at least eight minipumpkins (7-10cm in diameter)…

Start the new season by including easy-to-grow veggies that need very little attention, aren’t bothered by pests or diseases and are quick, high yielders. With that success under your belt, it's less discouraging when later plantings of tomatoes get white fly, brinjals drop their flowers and wasps sting the squashes! Easy vegetables to start with are Swiss chard, beetroot and radishes, peas or bush beans and lettuce. All are cool-season crops, except bush beans, which can be grown throughout summer. Work out the bed space Once you have drawn up your list, work out how much of each crop to grow and in which beds they will do best. Here's a suggestion that makes the best use of a small growing space and grows a range of vegetables using succession…

Artichokes with dipping sauce Preparing an artichoke 1. Remove the bottom leaves near the stem. 1. Cut off about a third of the top leaves with a sharp knife. 2. Cut the spines off each leaf using kitchen scissors. 3. Cut off the outer layer of the stem using a paring knife or a peeler, and trim the stem. 4. Rinse the artichoke in cold running water to get rid of any dirt trapped between the leaves. 5. Rub all cut surfaces with lemon juice to prevent them from going brown. Cooking artichokes Steam the artichokes for 20 – 45 minutes, depending on the size. Test every so often to see if they are soft. They are ready when you can easily pull off a leaf. Serve with a dipping…

1 litre freshly squeezed lemon juice 850g sugar 2-3 thinly sliced raw beetroot Dissolve the sugar in the lemon juice over a low heat. Be careful as sugar can boil quite quickly. Allow the syrup to thicken slightly, then turn off the heat and place the beetroot in the syrup. Allow to stand and cool while the beetroot stains the syrup pink. Pour into sterilised bottles. The cordial can be kept in the fridge for up to five months. Serving suggestions This is delightfully refreshing on a hot summer´s day diluted in still or sparkling water with a few blocks of ice. The dilution ratio is a personal taste – rather start with less and add more according to personal taste. This is also a fabulous addition to a gin…

Rhubarb is a strange plant; it's grown in the vegetable garden, eaten as a fruit, and possesses medicinal properties, which entitles it to be a herb. It is also fairly easy to grow, which makes it a good plant for gardeners who want to try something different. The best way to start growing rhubarb is by dividing the roots of established plants, which you may be able to do if you have friends or family who have plants. I am lucky in that my parents have always grown rhubarb. Small plants are also available from the herb stands in garden centres. It can be sown from seed, but it takes much longer for the plants to become established. It's a tough plant and will thrive even in the face of…

Don’t waste your money buying readymade labels for your garden. Here are a few upcycling options: • Plastic cool-drink bottles and yoghurt containers make good plant labels. Cut them up with a sharp pair of scissors and make a sharp point at one end to stick into the ground. Alternatively, cut rectangles or squares, poke holes through the top and bottom in the middle, and thread an old sosatie stick through it. Write on the label with a permanent marker. Remember that these labels can be used over and over again. • Yoghurt lids glued or nailed onto pieces of wood. • Plastic teaspoons and forks or ice cream sticks. • Painted stones. Two simple methods of drip irrigation Did you know that only two out of 100 drops of…

As people seek a more sustainable lifestyle, it has become popular to keep chickens at home, not only for their daily supply of fresh eggs but also to keep as pets. Chickens make great companions and quickly become part of the family. Another reason to keep chickens is their vital contribution to the success of your veggie garden. They will keep it fertilised, aerate the soil with their constant scratching, and eat bugs that may damage your crops as they move around the garden. For the budding entrepreneur, a small free-range business may be attractive when you consider that you can collect an average of 300 eggs per chicken per year. If you decide you don’t want chickens running rampant around your garden (or being hunted by your dogs), a…

Serves 5 as a starter 10 freshly picked pumpkin flowers (Use the male flowers with the long stems, and thin out the female flowers that produce fruit, if you have too many pumpkins. This helps to give strength to the pumpkin vines that are already growing and producing pumpkins.) 200g rice (brown, red or white rice) 400ml water 1 tablespoon coconut oil 1 onion, thinly diced 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1 green, red or yellow pepper, diced into small blocks Bunch of fresh parsley or coriander, finely chopped 1 teaspoon cinnamon ¼ teaspoon nutmeg Salt and pepper to taste To make the rice filling Sauté the onion in the coconut oil. Once translucent, add the garlic. Stir in the cinnamon and nutmeg, and then the rice. This attaches flavour to…

Radishes are a quick and easy spring crop, and there is a new Asian variety that is just as easy to grow but looks completely different. It is creamy-white, and much larger, rather like a type of stubby carrot, anything from 25 – 80cm long. The other difference is that it has a mild, sweet radish flavour, unlike the more peppery pink and white radish that is commonly grown. Daikon (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus) is a variety of radish that means ‘big root’ in Japanese. It's a common ingredient in kimchi, the fermented vegetable dish that is a staple of Korean cuisine, but that is by no means its only culinary application. The crisp and juicy texture makes it a great addition to salads – thinly sliced, cubed or grated.…

If you can supply a few spacious containers and the vegetables get enough sunlight, water and nutrients, there’s no reason why you can’t treat yourself to home-grown edibles that are crunchy fresh and in season. Advantages • You can eat organic food for less money. • You can spend time getting fresh air with a new hobby that will also reduce your stress and tension levels. • You can reduce waste, as you pick only what you need and there is no packaging to dump. 4 WAYS TO FAST-TRACK YOUR HARVEST 1. If you’re still a rookie at veggie growing but are keen to give it a try, don’t fall into the trap of immediately trying to grow everything you can think of! Make a concise list of what you…

'Cheyenne Spirit' lifts the spirit The purple cone flower (Echinacea purpurescens) has been used for ages to treat colds, sores, earache, bladder infections and many other ailments. Tinctures and creams containing echinacea compounds are nowadays widely available in chemists and health shops. But it's the hybrid 'Cheyenne Spirit', with its coneflowers in a multitude of cream and sunset shades, that you should plant in your sensory herb patch to please your soul. to grow • It's a deciduous perennial and is frost tolerant. • Plant in full sun in sandy, well-composted soil. • Coneflowers are at their best from midsummer to early autumn and are excellent for cutting. USES Sprinkle the flower petals over summer salads and in your bath water, as echinaceas are kind to the skin. If not,…

Peanuts are a good novelty plant to grow as they sprout and grow very quickly. They do, however, have a long growing season, taking between 100 – 130 days to mature. Containers are the perfect way to grow these pretty plants, and it can be done in a similar way to potatoes. What you need 2 plastic pots Potting soil Raw (not roasted) peanuts in their shells Tools: angle grinder with a cutting disc, pencil and ruler What you do 1. Measure and mark three ‘windows’ on one pot, leaving a frame at the base and the top with three supports to keep the pot in one piece. 2. Cut out the ‘windows’ with an angle grinder 3. Place the cut pot into the other pot and get ready for…

What you need: SA pine cutting list: 2 x 2000mm x 70mm x 45mm (sides of base) 2 x 1250mm x 70mm x 45mm (front and back of base) 4 x 470mm x 22mm x 22mm (brace) 4 x 286mm x 44mm x 44mm (runner support) 4 x 286mm x 19mm x 19mm (runner) 2 x 515mm x 44mm x 22mm (stopper) 2 x 908mm x 44mm x 44mm (back frame upright) 2 x 430mm x 44mm x 44mm (back frame cross) 2 x 908mm x 44mm x 44mm (front frame upright) 1 x 500mm x 44mm x 44mm (front frame cross) 2 x 740mm x 35mm x 35mm (door upright) 2 x 425mm x 35mm x 35mm (door top and bottom) 1 x 840mm x 190mm x 18mm plyboard…

AVOID FEAST AND FAMINE A glut of tomatoes happens to everyone, but it is ideal to have a constant supply of veggies throughout the season. Succession planting is simply sowing plants at regular intervals so that the harvest is staggered. This guide may be helpful: ll Bush beans: sow every 10 days ll Beetroot: every 4 weeks ll Carrots: every 3 weeks ll Cucumbers: sow a second crop 6 weeks after the first ll Sweetcorn/mealies: every 2 weeks ll Radishes: every 10 days ll Tomatoes: every 3-4 weeks PINCH YOUR CUCUMBERS It’s not necessary to trellis cucumbers, even if space is limited. Pinch the growing tip once the plant has developed six leaves and this will encourage it to bush. The side shoots can also be pinched and this will…

Growing The secret of good celery is to produce ‘soft’ stems, which are more edible, with a milder taste and crunchier yet juicy texture. If celery stems are tough and thin it could be the variety, but is more likely to be the result of insufficient water, lack of food or too much sun. Celery grows best in morning sun, in moist, fertile soil that has been well composted. It can also be grown in containers in well-enriched potting soil. Water regularly and mulch; the soil should not dry out, especially in containers. Fertilise twice a month (or weekly at half strength) with a nitrogenrich liquid feed. Seed sowing tips Sow seed into trays and cover until plants germinate, within 10 – 20 days. When seedlings show three true leaves,…

As a vegetable, globe artichokes (Cynara scolymus) are considered a gourmet delicacy. As a garden plant, the spiky silvery green foliage is striking and unusually beautiful. But as a herb or vegetable, would you guess that it is one of the most effective and far-reaching natural liver tonics that one can grow? The most effective part of the plant is its leaves, which are bitter and contain cynarin, which protects the liver against infections and stimulates its detoxifying action against toxins, like alcohol. A simple age-old Mediterranean recipe uses fresh artichoke leaf juice combined with water as a liver tonic. Using the leaves medicinally For medicinal uses, artichoke leaves should be picked before the plant flowers. The leaves can be dried or used fresh as an infusion or juiced. A…

Tomatoes are the most popular crop among home gardeners, mainly because nothing beats the taste of tomatoes that ripened on the plant, but also because they’re healthier too, if grown organically. Tomatoes grow easily, but they are not easy to grow successfully. White fly, bollworm, early blight, late blight, blossom end rot, wilting diseases, split fruit and yellowing leaves are among the problems that afflict tomatoes and affect their yield. Getting the basics right certainly makes a difference. Fertile soil, proper spacing for good air circulation, crop rotation, and regular watering should produce healthy tomatoes that will better withstand pest damage and be less susceptible to disease. But that may not be enough, especially as weather conditions always play a role. According to Johan Gerber, agricultural scientist and writer of…

French tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) is a frost-hardy perennial with narrow green leaves that have an anise flavour. It grows about 40cm high and wide, and needs to be replanted every few years as the plants lose their vigour over time. Tarragon will thrive in deeply dug, wellcomposted soil in full sun and does well with a deep weekly watering (twice a week in very hot weather). It sends up plumes of delicious branches that can be cut frequently. It will die down in winter and by late winter you should cut any remaining branches back to ground level and then cover the area with compost and water well. Tiny, succulent buds of new growth will soon appear. Now is the time to dig out the edges of the clump, carefully,…

Manure is usually something that we think of as smelly, albeit useful for our garden, but difficult to obtain from a reliable source, especially if you live in the big city. Added to this, there’s the problem of using manure that may come from animals that have been inoculated with hormones and antibiotics, which is not going to be very good for your organic vegetable garden. Which is why it’s time to take a look at green manures. According to Gardening Know How, 'Green manure is a term used to describe specific plant or crop varieties that are grown and turned into the soil to improve its overall quality'. This is a wonderful dual benefit, for a plant to be both useful as a growing crop, and as a manure…