Innholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2019 i Grow to Eat

Perfectly natural beginnings "So you live on a farm? That’s awesome!“ I often get this response when people find out where I live, to which I reply, “Yes it is, but it does have its challenges!” That said, the plethora of life lessons and joy I get to experience make all the trials worthwhile. Farm life evokes all sorts of connotations: an idyllic lifestyle, fresh air, working with the soil, animals, cute babies, comfort food, evening fires, picking your own, granny’s baking, biltong, open spaces, sunsets, and so on. My husband, Ian, and I have lived together on the farm Albertvale, in the quaint village of Bedford in the Eastern Cape, for the past 35 years. Over the years we have experienced all of the above, along with so much…

While gently shovelling mounds of popcorn into your mouth during a thrilling movie, a question may cross your mind – could I grow my own popcorn? Sure, you can go to any grocery store and buy a bag of popcorn kernels for R15, but where’s the fun in that? Although it’s a bit more effort than a quick trip to the shop, growing your own popcorn can be a rewarding experience. Besides being able to boast that the copious amounts of popcorn you’re sharing with your friends came from your own garden, home-grown popcorn actually has more flavour, and the many varieties to choose from can add extra dimensions of colour and taste. Step 1: Make sure it’s popcorn Not every type of corn can be popped. Regular mielies will…

Summer sees a proliferation of red spider mites on a host of different crops and ornamentals in the garden, but primarily on beans, tomatoes and cucurbits such as cucumbers, squashes and melons. They breed and spread rapidly, are difficult to detect and require perseverance and persistence to control them once they have established themselves. Look out for telltale signs of infestation – discolouration of the upper leaf surface, lack of new growth, and plants looking dull and lacklustre. Spider mites puncture and suck the plant, leaving yellow or white stippling that discolours in time to make the leaves look dusty. In high populations you will notice visible webs covering the plants. Spider mites are very tiny and difficult to see with the naked eye. An easy way to test for…

1 Use raised beds My garden comprises 32 raised beds. Raised beds compensate for the clay soil of my garden, and they help my back out when I’m working in my ‘farm’. Converting to raised beds has been the best choice we ever made! 2 Natural remedies Look out for flowers like artemisia, lavender, feverfew, tansy, yarrow and soapwort. We cut these constantly to strew on beds to repel insects. I have found making sprays from the organic books a pain and prefer the ‘chop and drop’ or strewing method. This means spreading the clippings over or around plants and letting them exude their smells. 3 Respond to change The climate is changing, water is precious, so garden in a water-wise way. Install rainwater tanks, learn to love the hardier…

With over 40 varieties in the range, RAW ensures that your veggie garden is a work of modern (and edible) art, with beauties such as the rainbow beetroot, zebra tomato and mardi gras beans. Our seeds are perfect for container gardens or small-space growing and consist of non-GMO and Heirloom varieties. Who needs to keep up with the Joneses when they’re trying to keep up with you? Eating healthy can be expensive and time-consuming when it comes to shopping. At RAW, we believe in the unique nature and contribution of every herb and veggie garden to suit different demands, so from the gardener who wants to spice things up with some serious chili to the aspiring chef who cooks and experiments with different herbs at every meal, RAW offers a…

The trusty tomato is a household staple and doesn’t necessarily scream ‘exotic’. However, there is one tomato that stands out from the rest – the tree tomato or tamarillo (Cyphomandra betaceae). The name ‘tree tomato’ may cause some confusion as the fruits look like tomatoes but definitely do not taste like them, and have a flavour profile so difficult to pinpoint that ‘tamarillo flavour’ is really the only way to describe it. This small tree hails from South America and although its fruits are lesser known than the typical tomato, it is no less tasty. This is one of those unknown plants that can’t really be put into words, but you can easily experience it for yourself with these growing tips. Growing and care The tree tomato thrives in warmer…

While most herbs can be used in baking, there are some that are particularly useful for biscuits to give them a unique flavour. Grow some of these in your garden for quick access to fresh herbs to add to your next biscuit dough. Saving the seed and drying your herbs works well with biscuit doughs too. Dill and fennel For a spicy and distinctive biscuit, dill and fennel tick all the boxes. Use the leaves and the seeds in the dough, and sprinkle seeds on top before baking. Plant dill in a sunny spot protected from the wind in rich, well-draining soil. It needs lots of water in hot weather to prevent it from going to seed too quickly, but is a hardy, frost-tolerant annual. Plant from spring to mid-summer.…

Along with blueberries and gooseberries, brambles such as blackberries and raspberries are firm South African favourites, and they make great security barriers. They can be used either as fresh fruit or for processing to be used in desserts, juices, yogurts, drinks and jams. Brambles such as raspberries, blackberries and tayberries develop their best flavours when allowed to ripen before picking. However, once ripe the berries become soft, bruise easily and start to lose their firmness and flavour. This creates a market advantage for local growers that can provide local customers with high quality fresh fruit. The term ‘brambles’ refers to blackberries or raspberries, which have edible fruit produced by many species in the Rubus genus within the Rosaceae family. There are two main sub-genera, called Ideobatus (raspberries) and Eubatus (blackberries).…

Our garden and we have recovered from our pumpkin peril, as discussed last issue. After clearing the mess we sat down and drew up plans for each area in the garden, which we will unveil to you one at a time. The first area that we started with was one that is very close to our hearts and our ethos here at Grow to Eat – the pollinator garden. Our veggie garden is divided into four quadrants, as well as a couple of incidental areas, so we decided to dedicate one of these quadrants to our pollinators. What we tried to do here is to plant a selection of plants that are both edible and a source of pollen and nectar for the various bee and butterfly species that frequent…

When you come across a pungent, sinus-clearing vegetable, it probably hails from the Allium genus. That description doesn’t necessarily conjure up images of a delicious meal, but Allium plants are some of the most commonly used vegetables in South African cooking. Onions and garlic are two household staples, with leeks, chives and spring onions also forming part of this genus. The versatility of these plants makes them a number one choice for vegetable gardens and guarantees you will be able to enjoy the fruits (or in this case, veggies) of your labour regularly Onions Thankfully onions are typically as easy to grow as they are to eat, although some patience is required as the whole process takes about 4 – 7 months. When sowing seeds, sow in rows with 15cm…

Flowers are often only touted for their beauty in colour and smell, but nasturtiums bring so much more to the table – specifically your dinner table. While Michelin-star chefs across the world toss nasturtiums into their salads and wedding planners use them to embellish cakes, the average person utters – ‘you can eat flowers?’ Indeed you can, and if you haven’t started yet you are missing out. GROWING Nasturtiums are easy to plant and grow rapidly, so they are ideal for beginners and for gardening with children. They grow well in pots and can also be used as a colourful groundcover. The seeds should be planted in well-draining, moist soil. They will still grow in partial shade but the best way to yield as many flowers as possible is to…

With its feathery, blue-green leaves and clusters of yellow flowers in summer, dill (Anethum graveolens) is an elegant, 1m-high feature plant for the herb, veggie and flower garden. The large, showy flowers attract many beneficial insects, such as tiny wasps and flies that prey on aphids. For this reason dill is often planted alongside lettuce, cabbage, cucumbers, cauliflower and onions – not to mention roses, which also benefit from its aphid-attracting qualities. Growing dill Being a hardy, frost-tolerant annual, it can be planted any time between spring and midsummer. It prefers a sunny position that’s protected from the wind, and also rich, well-drained soil. Don’t let the plant dry out in mid-summer, or else it will run to seed very quickly. Parts used The fresh leaves are picked throughout the…

When it comes to safe pest control, Mother Nature leads the way… We always say, “You are what you eat”, and most of us think we’re being healthy when we eat five servings of fruit and veg a day. But do we really know what we’re eating? When we buy a punnet of plums or a bag of kale from the supermarket, do we know what they were sprayed with while growing or after they were picked? No we don’t, which is the real benefit of eating plants you planted, nurtured and harvested in your own garden – you can control what goes onto them, and therefore what goes into your body. This is why we all need to be talking more about biological control, or ‘biologicals’. Simply explained, biological…