Community activity autumn and winter 2015

Two seasons have passed since my last posting. Following are some of the photograph highlights in photographs I've taken over from late summer to spring.

Dr Vandana Shiva visited our gardens in February - an internationally renowned agricultural activist from India.

Dr Vandana Shiva  (photo by Sally Tagg)

"Shiva, along with a growing army of supporters, argues that the prevailing model of industrial agriculture, heavily reliant on chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fossil fuels, and a seemingly limitless supply of cheap water, places an unacceptable burden on the Earth’s resources. She promotes, as most knowledgeable farmers do, more diversity in crops, greater care for the soil, and more support for people who work the land every day."  an extract from "Seeds of Doubt - An activist's controversial crusade against genetically modified crops" by Michael Specter The New Yorker

This is what Dr Shiva wrote about our gardens in our visitors book:

"This is my vision for the world - biodiversity in gardens everywhere - thank you"
 Dr Vandana Shiva

Jerusalem Artichokes Helianthus tuberosus

In March our Jerusalem artichokes (aka Sunchokes) were reaching for the sky and produced many tubers that we have been selling at the Grey Lynn market over winter with our last lot dug and sold in the first week of September.  They are a good earner at $6 per kilo sold in 500g lots in Trevors newspaper containers.

As these plants can end up falling everywhere in strong winds like their cousins the sunflowers they are grown in a solid block to be self supporting.

Runner beans still growing up the sunflower stalks in the  Three Sisters Planting on
St Patricks Day 17 March.

 

The three sisters planting area worked really well this year.  Sunflowers seedlings were planted as an edging around the area, and inside we planted out corn seedlings to be used as the support poles for the runner beans.  In between the rows of corn we planted summer squash. The success of this planting scheme relies on timing of planting the corn and the beans and having enough moisture over the growing season.  Because of the Heroic Garden Tour in early February this area was kept watered.

Monarch Butterflies Danaus plexippus

There is always a lot of insect activity at the gardens.  I was lucky enough one day to catch on camera two Monarch butterflies mating.

In March some exquisite fungi appeared on the wood chip paths with lots of tiny flies appearing.

In May I was pleased to see that the beans and sunflower stalks were left to rot down - to sustain the microbial food web that is the strength of our soils. A weed appeared in abundance and no one seemed to know what it was.

Both Sinead and myself have been busy over these months completing an organic horticulture course. One of my major assignments was to identify 20 plants. I decided to make my plant identification project on edible weeds that can be found in most New Zealand gardens and it was an opportunity to find out just what this weed is.  The idea to have this theme came from Sinead because she asked me to walk around the gardens and show her what weeds she could eat to supplement her garden grown salad vegetables.

Gallant Soldier Galinsoga parviflora

 "Our mystery weed is an annual called Galinsoga parviflora from the Asteraceae (daisy) family. It was named after an 18th Century Spanish physician and parviflora is latin for small flowers. and to make it easier to remember it's common name is"Gallant Soldier" which is a lot easier to remember....and it did do the work of a soldier guarding the soil by laying an armour to prevent evaporation of the soil moisture in between crops.
It may be thought of as a weed here but overseas it is a valued potherb. It originates as the name suggests from South America and is known as Guascas in Columbia and is an essential ingredient in Bogata chicken and potato stew/soup (ajiaco).
Use the leaves especially of young plants and even stems and flowers in salads, smoothies, or cooked. It's mild in flavour but is high in calcium, vitamin A, magnesium, potassium and zinc. It is astringent in its action and ean be used to help clot the blood of cuts and wounds....and if you can't find a dock or plantain Galinsoga can be used to neutralize the sting of nettles."
Soil Beneath/Edible Weeds - Plant Identification

If you are interested in learning more about weeds you can eat go the above link and to my food blog www.Jeannieskitchen.me/Mahuru Goddess of Spring Weed Salads

Kumara  Ipomoea batatas is one member of the plant family
Convolvulaceae, that we like to grow.

This year we grew for the first time kumara red and orange varieties and it was very successful.   We usually sell 10% of our community produce at the Grey Lynn Farmers Market and the kumara was a popular item and we received much needed funds from the sales to pay for the planting and refurbishment of our Food Forest...but that story is for another posting.

  On May 10th we harvested the swollen edible roots
and everyone at the community work day got an allocation of tubers.

That same day we treated to a Spanish influenced shared lunch when Corinne made a most delicious paella on site in our garden shed with a gas ring and paella dish.

We have sensational shared lunches every month at the end of a couple of hours hard labour in the community plots but this lunch must be acknowledged as the best ever.

Curly Endive Cichorium endivia

Another plant that we tried for the first time this year is Curly Endive - a plant popular in Europe and it was Corinne who told me how it is used on a thin pizza base in Spain. I followed her instructions and was so pleased with the outcome I wrote about it in my Jeannie's Kitchen blog My Curly Endive Favourite - Pizza de la endibia.  We have taken whole plants to the market over the winter and the response has been good with our last plants harvested this week to make room for planting our potatoes. We will definitely grow Endive again for next winter's market when there is a shortage of plants to sell.

Foreground is perpetual beet, centre Bulls Blood beetroot, and background Cavolo Nero kale
have been harvested regularly over the winter months.

Richard Mains told me that there hasn't been frosts in Auckland like we had this winter for over 20 years. 

 Bev and I experienced two tough frosts both on Sunday mornings making harvesting for the market finger tingling.  On the 12th of July it was a particularly hard frost - we wondered what would pick and still look okay when I got to the market.  Kale turned out the supreme winner - it laughed at the frosts and picking while cold was easy as the leaves just snapped off.  

So the next vegetable to step up will be the broad beans later in spring.  Broad Beans are hardy and have not looked back from the unexpected winter frosts. 

Young Broad Beans Vicia faba as at  27 July 2015

The same beans on 20th of August 2015 now in flower

John, one of our most knowledgeable gardeners told me an interesting fact about growing broad beans. I purchased some dwarf beans this year and was telling him that they are not that dwarf. John tells me the height depends on how early or late you plant the bean seeds. He planted his beans later than I did and his plants at about 60 cm are in full bloom.  The earlier you plant the beans the more time the plant has to put on vegetative growth and height.  They need the change of light and temperature of spring to trigger the flowering. 

The same beans on 2 September have gained height but no sign
of bean pods as yet

John is my plot neighbour and I have learn't so much from just watching his planting regime. Next post I will focus on some of the wonderful vegetable specimens that plot holders have grown over autumn and winter.

Now it starts to get exciting at the gardens with the emergence of spring.  It is forecast to be a colder than usual spring but that doesn't worry the poppies in Rosie's plot.  The bees and other beneficial insects in the gardens will be looking forward to a wider diversity of flowers over the next few weeks.

3 rows of 3 varieties of Maori potatoes planted on 11 September 2015- I caught up with the final
stage of planting the chitted seed potatoes saved from last year's harvest. The planting team: John,
Sarah, Sinead and Corinne.

Our first post winter work day included planting three rows of Maori potatoes. We are planting them first as they do take longer to mature than the more modern new potato varieties.