Snow covers the Eco Garden

The first daffodil of the season

carries on regardless.

The winter rose 

(Helleborus orientalis)

doesn't mind snow.

Snow started falling over the Eco-Garden (and the rest of coastal Canterbury) on Sunday afternoon, and when we woke up on Monday morning there was a thick covering on the lawn, paths and garden beds. It snowed on and off all day on Monday and the snow was still there (and all over the hills) this morning.

Here are a few pictures to show how different the garden looks with a white coverlet. 

 Looking south-west through the rose arch.

The main garden path and the lawn merge under the snow.

 

The kiwifruit pergola outlined 

with snow.

 Looking south-east in the morning sun.

Studying eco-gardening

Ecology and organics lecturer Roddy Hale explains 

worm farming beside the BHU worm farms

I am short on time to blog (and garden) at present because I have a temporary job (this semester only) teaching Environmental Policy 302 at Lincoln University. But imagine my surprise (and delight) on discovering that some of my students are keen eco-gardeners. They let me know that the Campus Greens were organising a visit to the organic gardens at the Biological Husbandry Unit (adjacent to the university), and last Wednesday I went along to learn what was happening there.

Our tour guide was Roddy Hale, who teaches ecology and organics at Lincoln. At our first stop on the tour he showed us the worm farms and explained the finer points of worm farming. He also pointed out a pile of compost nearby with a sign saying that it is not to be used until further notice, and told us the sad story behind it. It was brought in to the gardens as certified organic compost – and it killed the tomato plants that were grown in it. Roddy got his students to do an assay of the compost and found that it contained miniscule amounts of a weedkiller which is commonly used on lawns. The amounts were below those required for organic certification (which are very small indeed) and yet it was still enough to harm the plants. This is a good lesson in why it is better to make one's own compost, since even the best commercial composts may be contaminated. 

  

Bailey does a sunflower impression. 

(He said it was not one of his best.)

 Despite this setback with the tomatoes, the rest of the gardens did well this year. A few autumn crops were still growing in the open ground, and in one of the tunnel houses brassicas were flourishing. This tunnel house is a (highly successful) experiment by Organic Training College student Ilan Egoz. Simply by stacking large black drums filled with water along the south wall of the tunnel house he was able to raise the temperature of this tunnel house 4-5 degrees above that of the drum-less one beside it,  plus keep it frost-free. (In my much smaller glasshouse in the Eco-Garden I use 50 litre black plastic containers stacked on the south wall to get the same result.) 

These very cheap and easy 

water-filled drums are enough to keep the plastic tunnel-house frost-free 

and 4-5 degrees warmer than

a tunnel without such drums.

 Our next stop was a trial of different kinds of non-chemically treated but still durable strainer posts for use in vineyards (an interesting discussion on the energy embedded in posts ensued), and then we moved on to the apple orchard, where there is a good collection of heirloom apple varieties. Only one tree had many left on it – the appropriately named Tydeman's Late Orange. In the packing shed at the end of our visit there were big boxes of late apples, which are sold on campus on Fridays, along with other organic produce.

The Organic Training College based at the BHU runs NZQA courses in organic growing, but the site is also used by amateur gardeners who want to keep this little piece of organic paradise fulfilling its mission in teaching, learning and producing good food. 

 Shannon and Aran enjoy the sun at the end of the tour

The beautiful 'not a beech'

 The roble beech (Nothfagus obliqua) from South America, 

with its 'autumn' leaves on in mid-July in the Eco Garden.

 Yesterday was so warm and sunny in Port Levy that I baked an Onion and Cheddar Pie (recipe coming) and we went down to the little beach at the head of the harbour (only there when the tide is out), spread out the picnic rug, and picnicked on pie followed by mandarins.

When I got back to the garden I noticed how pretty the remaining leaves of the roblé tree (Nothofagus obliqua) were looking in the full sun. I also wondered about why they were still on the tree in July, when almost all the other deciduous trees are totally bare. It may not be good news, since a bit of book and Web research into the genus Nothofagus shows that most of the species in this genus prefer it cold, and are very reluctant reproducers if they are over-heated.

What will climate change mean for these great mountain trees, which are the dominant vegetation in mountain forests in southern South America, southern New Zealand and southern Australia, and are also found in the high mountains of Papua New Guinea. They have already suffered so much from logging that they have been pushed back into the most rugged mountain lands, and few people in their countries of origin really appreciate what great trees they are.

The generic name means 'false beech', so called because they were originally thought to be part of the Fagus or 'true' beech genus, but were later reclassified when the differences between these (deciduous) northern hemisphere trees and their (mostly evergreen) southern hemisphere cousins were properly recognised. Read all about the New Zealand beeches and see more pictures on the Te Ara site.

I have two New Zealand beech trees (N. fusca/red beech/tawhairaunui and N. menziesii/silver beech/tawhai) and two exotic ones (N. obliqua/roblé from South America and N.cunninghamii/myrtle beech from Australia) in my little mixed woodland. The red beech and the roblé were planted in 2003 and have grown 5-6 metres in that time, which I think is pretty good going. I would have more of this lovely genus if I had the room, but they need space to go outwards as well as upwards, and I want to squeeze a few other favourites in this space as well. 

The New Zealand flora contains more striking trees than the beech, such as the kauri and the cabbage tree, but to my eyes nothing can beat the tawhairaunui/red beech for solid yet graceful beauty.

The tawhairaunui planted in 2003 is now too big to photograph the whole tree close up.

The myrtle beech planted in 2007 is still getting ready for its growth spurt.

Thai-Style Pumpkin Soup

 Some of the raw ingredients for Thai-Style Pumpkin Soup -

pumpkin, lime, lemongrass and (optional) kaffir lime leaves.

At last! (as promised in my Ugly Pumpkin post in March) the recipe for Thai-Style Pumpkin Soup. It is a smooth but not thick soup - ideal for sipping from a mug.
Key ingredients to give it a Thai flavour are coconut cream, limes and lemongrass. We'll never be able to grow coconuts in New Zealand, but limes are possible in open ground in most coastal parts of the North Island, and in sheltered places and large pots in the South Island. Lemongrass likes lots of warmth and water - I grow mine in a pot year round, in the glasshouse. It can be grown outside in frost-free places in the North Island. Kaffir lime leaves I also grow in a pot in a sheltered place, and pick and crush a leaf from time to time just to enjoy the intense lime fragrance. Kaffir lime leaves can be used in South-East Asian dishes in the way bay leaves are used in European cookery - to flavour the dish while it is cooking and be removed before service.

I was first served this soup while on a meditation retreat at the beautiful Sangsurya Retreat in Byron Bay, New South Wales. Having checked with the cook that I had guessed the ingredients correctly, when I got home I went hunting for a recipe on the web, and found one on the Kin Jay Festival blog. The Kin Jay festival is a ten day vegetarian festival held annually in Phuket in southern Thailand in October. The Kin Jay blog has some seriously delicious recipes for healthy foods. The recipe for the soup (which I have adapted slightly), says about it:

" Pumpkin has a particular affinity with coconut cream, and so is superb in coconut-based curries and soups like this one. Pumpkin and Coconut Cream Vegetarian Thai Soup is menu for vegetarian and most famous of Thailand, it’s easy for cooking and delicious. And then use in period Kin Jay festival. That is good idea for Vegan.''

Judging by the requests for the recipe I got when I served this soup as part of a pre-concert dinner for two choirs recently, I can say that is a good idea for non-vegans as well. Enjoy!

THAI-STYLE PUMPKIN SOUP

Ingredients

6 cups pumpkin, peeled and cut into small cubes

(or 4 cups pumpkin, 2 cups sweet potato) (c. 900g total)

2 cups water

small piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped

1 T lemongrass, finely chopped

2 spring onions, white parts only, finely chopped

2 cups (1x 400 ml can) coconut cream

1 t salt

¼ t white pepper

freshly squeezed juice of 2 limes (or more, to taste)

finely grated lime zest OR 2 fresh kaffir limes leaves, finely shredded

Method

In a large saucepan combine the pumpkin, water, ginger and lemongrass.

Simmer until the pumpkin is soft – around 15 minutes. Add the spring onions and cook briefly.

Transfer the soup to a food processor or blender and blend until a smooth puree.

Add half the coconut cream and blend again.

Return to a clean pot.

Add half of the remaining coconut cream.

Season with salt and pepper, and reheat without allowing the soup to boil.

Add the lime juice and stir in.

Taste and adjust the seasoning and add more lime juice if desired.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls, make a swirl with the remaining coconut cream on the top of each bowl, and garnish with the lime zest or shredded kaffir lime leaf.