I have recently started reflecting on where the plants in our garden are originally from, because people often ask me the same question about myself. Most of our flowers, fruits, veggies and herbs in the garden are from other countries. I have started writing a series of blog posts to explore some of our favourite flowers and edibles we have grown over the years which are from overseas. In my previous blog post, I covered our favourite flowers in the garden which come from Mexico. In this post, I will focus on our favourite edibles which also come from Mexico. Avocados There are so many great edibles in our garden which are native to Mexico, but the avocado is at the top of my list. This is going back quite a few years, but I remember an economist in NZ saying that young people would never be able to buy a house if they kept spending $20 eating avocado on toast in cafes. I have never been to Mexico, so I have no idea if cafes serve avocado that way and how much it costs. Maybe a Mexican economist has said pretty much the same thing about their younger generation, even if he or she didn’t refer to eating out and avocados, which might not be as expensive over there. Back in 2017, we planted the first dwarf avocado variety made available in New Zealand, which is called Cleopatra. It is a Type B avocado. Cleopatra is supposed to be self-pollinating, but I also planted a semi-dwarf Type A variety called Esther. I’m really glad I did that because since then we have been getting much more fruit. Tomatoes Tomatoes are a staple in our summer garden. Large varieties such as Beefsteak haven’t performed well in recent years, due to shorter and cooler summers which start later every year. The plants need to be grown in the ground and take a long time to develop before fruit forms. After that they require a lot of sun in order to ripen as the fruits are large and take a long time to change from green to red. These days, I prefer growing cherry tomatoes that have been bred for container planting. The plants are short and bushy and the small fruits ripen quickly. We sometimes even harvest cherry tomatoes before Christmas, which is nice. Don’t let the compact size of the plants fool you. They are actually much more productive than tall cherry tomatoes grown in the ground, in my experience. Even despite the floods and cyclones last summer, we ended up having way too many and shared the surplus with friends. Peppers I usually grow peppers (capsicums) in 35 litre black containers in order to save ground space for root crops which require depth (such as potatoes and sweet potato) and crops which need room to sprawl (such as pumpkins and melons). I noticed that peppers actually grow much better in containers than in the ground in our garden anyway. Chillies While the Jalapeno comes to mind when thinking of Mexican cuisine, there are so many different chilli varieties that exist with varying levels of heat. I got to know a guy who lives on the North Shore that loves growing superhot chillies, because he came around to purchase some plants when I was running a nursery from home a number of years ago. He always shares weird and wonderful chilli seeds with me and I usually give him other veggie seeds to round out his garden. Some chilli growers like making sauces but we always freeze them and use them free flow as required in cooking. Potatoes Until I did some research, I didn’t realise that the potato was native to Mexico, but sometimes things are not quite where you think they’re from. I love growing potatoes. They are incredibly easy to grow and you can’t beat the flavour of homegrown spuds. Potatoes can be roughly divided into two groups, early and main varieties. As the name suggests, early varieties mature early in the season and are usually waxy in texture, making them ideal for boiling. They tend not to store that well. Main crop varieties take longer to mature and are often floury in texture, making them perfect for baking and roasting. My favourite early variety is Liseta and my favourite main variety is Summer Delight. That is the conclusion I came to after growing a lot of different varieties over the years and comparing their performance. Both Liseta and Summer Delight are high yielders and produce lots of large potatoes. They also have a fantastic flavour. But that is a matter of opinion. Other gardeners might disagree with me because they have had a different experience growing them or prefer other varieties. I’m not sure if those varieties are available overseas but I’m sure you will find something that suits local conditions, if your climate is suitable for growing potatoes. Sweet potatoes I didn’t realise sweet potatoes were native to Mexico either. We didn’t have a good harvest last summer due to cooler than usual temperatures and the floods and cyclones in Auckland. But the previous year, we had a bumper crop. I also wrote a blog post sharing my tips for growing kumara, which people can read if they are interested. If you follow the link, you can see a picture of our entire harvest at the top of the page. Corn I love the well-known Mexican dish esquites which requires corn. Unfortunately, it’s not something that I have great success growing in our garden. While cobs reached a decent size in some seasons, they were nowhere near as large as what you would find at the supermarket. Corn is pollinated by the wind. It needs to be planted in blocks rather than rows, otherwise pollination will be patchy and you might end up with lots of gaps in the cobs. Getting the spacing right can be a bit tricky. If you plant seedlings too far apart, they won’t be pollinated properly by the wind as they need to come into contact with one another. If you plant seedlings too close, the cobs will be quite small. Squash According to my research, squash is native to Central America and Mexico. Our favourite squash is the butternut, which has a wonderful flavour. Butternut squash is extremely versatile and can be prepared in so many different and tasty ways. One of our favourite dishes is stuffed butternuts. The picture below contains homegrown butternut that has been stuffed with feta cheese (a favourite) and herbs from the garden. Above that is some sweet potato, also from our garden. This was prepared by my mother. I am a terrible cook. The extent of my skills in the kitchen is limited to making avocado on toast. Although this post was dedicated to edibles that are native to Mexico, I really love marigolds which also originate from Mexico and I covered in my previous post. I wanted to finish this post by sharing a photo of one of my favourite varieties which is called French Vanilla. Marigolds are a great companion plant in the veggie garden and are thought to help keep pests away from edibles. I grew these ones in a plastic trough. You can’t see them in the photo as they are too little, but I planted climbing beans (also grown from seed) along the fence line which the trellis is attached to and they complement each other nicely.
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A couple of days before we went into lockdown in August last year, I had my laptop sent away for repairs. I only got it back three months later, which meant that I could not write any blog posts. While it is a long time ago now, I would really like to share a report on our spring and early summer garden. Everything went really well. It only went downhill in summer, but that is the subject of another post! Miner's lettuce A firm favourite in our spring garden is miner’s lettuce. In September, I prepare a small area by mixing in a bit of compost and garden fertiliser. I then sprinkle a 10g packet of seeds and cover lightly with soil. At this time of the year, it is not usually necessary for me to keep the area moist as it rains a lot. The leaves are tender and delicious. We harvest them as we need them. At the end of spring, it runs to seed and if left there, the plants will happily self-seed the following season. NZ Spinach Another favourite in our garden is NZ Spinach. I sowed our plants from seed over the summer and planted them out in autumn. NZ Spinach is difficult to get established but once it takes off it spreads and ends up growing in a bit of a bush. We pick the leaves for our daily green smoothies. The leaves can also be steamed as with any other spinach Sprouting broccoli In July, I planted quite a few punnets of mini brassicas that I purchased from Roger’s, including broccoli. After we harvested the main head, I left the plant in the ground and side-shoots began to form. This kept us with a constant supply of broccoli all spring, right up until mid-December when the plants started going to seed and I needed the space for the dahlias. Potatoes Last spring, I grew two varieties. I always grow Liseta, an early variety which matures in 70-80 days. I also grow Summer Delight, a main crop potato which matures in around 120 days and stores very well. We had a really good crop and have been enjoying eating potatoes from our garden right up until February. Broad beans We had an incredibly good crop last year. We ended up freezing lots. To freeze broad beans, shell and blanch them first. Strawberries Awapuni very kindly gave me two mega bundles of strawberries to grow in our garden. There were two varieties, Camarosa and Ventana. Each bundle contained 50 plants. They were honestly the best strawberries that we have ever eaten and I have been growing strawberries for many years now. I highly recommend Awapuni’s plants! Avocados We planted a Cleopatra dwarf avocado tree in 2017 and it cropped for the first time last spring. We harvested about 60 avocados which was a great result. Iceland poppies I grew Iceland poppies for the first time last year in a garden bed alongside our driveway. I was very inspired by the displays that I have seen in council gardens. Ours did not disappoint and we had a beautiful display in spring. Early summer poppies Every year, a number of different kinds of single and peony poppies self-seed merrily in the garden. Last year, we had a spectacular display. Tulips Last year, Bulbs Direct kindly gave me a number of different tulips to grow in our garden. We had the most magnificent display in late winter and early spring. Here are some of my favourites. Roses Our roses always look their best in spring and last year they put on a spectacular display. Here are some of our favourites. Bedding plants
Here are some photos of our bedding plants in early spring Every spring I look forward to planting potatoes. This rather humble crop is one of my favourites. For starters, it is hard to beat freshly dug new potatoes on Christmas day. This is possible if potatoes are planted by September at the latest in New Zealand. Another reason why I find growing potatoes so appealing is because they are rather easy to grow. I will outline my top tips for success later in this post.
This year, I am planting three varieties: Liseta, Jersey Benne and Agria. Liseta is an early crop variety which matures in just 70 days. It is supposed to be a very high yielder and was commended for this in a potato trial carried out by the New Zealand Gardener Magazine several years ago. Jersey Benne is also an early crop variety of potato which matures in around 90 days. It remains a firm favourite on the Christmas dinner table in New Zealand and I have always planted this variety ever since I started gardening about five years ago. Early varieties of potato such as Liseta and Jersey Benne have waxy skins and are ideal for boiling. Agria is a main crop of potato which matures in approximately 100-120 days. This variety is ideal for roasting as the flesh is more floury than early varieties such as Liseta and Jersey Benne. Perfect for hot chips! A variety which I am very fond of but which I am unfortunately not growing this year in the interests of space is Heather. An early-main variety, Heather is a prolific cropper and the soft-skinned potatoes are perfect for boiling and for making potato salads. Another popular main crop variety is Rua. Like Agria, the floury flesh is perfect for baking or roasting. I highly recommend using certified seed potatoes rather than relying on planting odd potatoes that have accidentally started sprouting at the bottom of an old bag at the bottom of the pantry. While the latter will probably produce potatoes, certified seed potatoes are preferable in the interests of avoiding diseases in the ground. If certified seed potatoes are used, then the resulting crop will come true to type. Potatoes can be grown in a number of ways, including in trenches in the ground, in containers or in tyres. Having experimented over the years, I have found that the traditional method of digging trenches and burying potatoes in the ground is the most successful way of growing spuds. Container grown potatoes produced a pitiful yield. I have not tried growing them in tyres. Start by mixing compost and sheep pellets generously into the area where you intend to grow potatoes. Dig a trench in the ground three times as deep as the seed potatoes you are planting. Work in some potato food fertiliser to give your spuds an instant growth boost. Line a row of potatoes in the trench, spacing each potato approximately 30 cm apart. Cover the trench with soil. The key to growing potatoes successfully is to continue to mound the potatoes (i.e. cover around the tops of the potatoes with soil). This is essential to ensuring that the potatoes do not turn green and therefore toxic to consume. This occurs when potatoes come into contact with the sun. My advice is to mound potatoes as they grow. Be careful not to break the tops of the potatoes as you do so. About a week or two from the time they are due to be harvested, you can ‘bandicoot’ some potatoes for a meal. This is also a good way to test whether the spuds are on target for their due date. You need only use your hands. Gently scrape soil away from the sides of a few potatoes. You should be able to feel potatoes as you do this. Very carefully separate them from the mother plant, if they are not already loose. To harvest potatoes, I recommend using a fork rather than a spade. Work slowly and carefully. Start by digging about 30cm from the tops of potatoes, gently working your way inwards. Don’t worry if you spear a few along the way. Put these ones aside for cooking first, the others can be consumed later. I always use a willow basket with a handle when I harvest potatoes. If stored properly, potatoes can last much longer. We always store potatoes in a dark place in old hessian sacks, which prolongs their life. Try to remember not to grow potatoes in the same place the following year in order to prevent diseases. It is also helpful to avoid growing tomatoes, eggplants, capsicums and chillis (which are in the same horticultural family is potatoes) in the same location the following year for the same reason. |
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