Gravenstein apples - juicy, crunchy, and ready now

Gravenstein All Red apples harvested today

One of the very first apples to grace the new season in New Zealand is the Gravenstein. It is so welcome after the three month 'apple gap' that stretches from October or November (when the last of the good-eating stored apples have gone, and the next season's apples are just small green golfballs on the trees) until February. That is, unless you have planted a Gravenstein (or its sport, the Gravenstein All Red) in which case you will have apples ready to eat now.

I became aware that the Gravenstein ripens early when I was only eight or nine years old, and used to camp out under our Gravenstein (one of five or six apple trees in our home orchard), waiting for windfalls. (I was not allowed to pick the apples without explicit permission.) The Gravenstein is a tart, juicy, crunchy apple, and is good for everything you can use an apple for, from dessert to cider.

It is believed to have originated in southern Denmark, and to be named for the castle of Graasten. In 2005 the Danish government named it the 'national apple' of Denmark. It used to be grown widely in California, but because it is not as easy to grow or harvest as the much duller Red Delicious apple it is now so rare that the Slow Food Movement in California has created a Sebastopol Gravenstein Presidium (the Slow Food Movement's name for a grower's group) to protect it. It is no longer a commercial apple in New Zealand either, but to my taste it is still a better apple than similar commercial apples like the Oratia Beauty. Hence it was one of the first apple trees I planted at Te Kaawa Valley Gardens, three and a half years ago, and it is now fruiting well.

Like most early apples is not a good keeper, so you have to enjoy it in season. The tree also needs a pollinator. Apart from these minor quibbles, it has no downsides, and well deserves its place in the home orchard for those who fret during the apple gap. 

Gravenstein All Red apple tree, planted August 2007 

Australian Native Plants in New Zealand

 Vera and Viv (indigenous Australian on his mother's side) 

beside the ancient totara in Montgomery Reserve, Banks Peninsula.

It's Australia Day, and I am taking a look at the indigenous on both sides of the Tasman. A very, very long time ago, before human beings existed, New Zealand and Australia were part of the same land mass, and shared the same flora. In Central Otago, on the banks of the Kawerau River, I have been shown fossil remnants of leaves which look very like the leaves of the casuarina trees which grow in Australia today. They were hiding in ancient sedimentary rocks, and that is probably where most of the plants species that New Zealand and Australia once shared still are today. However, we do still have some shared species, and quite a number of shared genera.

Among the former are the akeake, Dodonea viscosa (which has a very wide international distribution), some species of Pomaderris, and manuka (Leptospermum scoparium). The latter includes some very desirable trees, grasses and perennial plants. The Myoporum genus, which includes the NZ ngaio, Myoporum laetum, has a lot of Australian members, of which the common boobialla, Myoporum insulare, has somehow found its way to New Zealand. It has even been planted in public places (e.g. the beach front at Corsair Bay, Lyttelton Harbour), presumably in the mistaken belief that it was ngaio. Other Australian genera which are found here and may be easily confused with (and planted in mistake for) native plants include other Leptospermums, Sophora spp (the kowhai genus), Pittosporum spp., and tree ferns.

Sometimes, though, we might want to plant the Australian version of a native genus because it has particular attractions, such as Tasmanian 'blueberry' or 'flax lily', Dianella tasmanica, whose iridescent blue berries are much larger and more striking than those of our native turutu, D. intermedia. Similarly, some Australian members of the Wahlenbergia genus, such as W. gloriosa, have much larger and brighter flowers than the NZ species. The Australian beech trees (Nothofagus spp) are just as attractive as the NZ species, and one of them (N. gunnii) is a very desirable small deciduous tree.

In planning a garden which is 'native-friendly' a New Zealander might even want to include Australian plants which have only distant cousins in Aotearoa. Excellent choices in this regard are the nectar-producing members of the Myrtaceae family (which includes pohutakawa, rata and manuka) and all the Eucalyptus genus under its big leafy umbrella. These plants provide excellent sustenance for our nectar-feeding birds, such as bellbirds and tui, as do other Australian nectar-producing plants such as banskias, grevillias and bottlebrushes. For this reason I have kept on a bottlebrush bush in my garden, even though it is old and looks manky most of the year, because it is popular with bellbirds when it flowers. For the same reason I have planted one of the most attractive flowering gum trees, E. leucoxylon 'Rosea', as it provides nectar in late winter and early spring, when nectar from NZ native trees is in short supply.

Native plants from both sides of the Tasman can exist happily together in the Kiwi garden – but it helps to know their whakapapa to choose the right plant for the right reason.

Eucalyptus leucoxylon 'Rosea' 

in flower, late August 2010

Gherkins A-Growing & A-Jar

 Gherkins a-growing in my garden today

Gherkins are not essential vegetables. They are not high in nutrition or flavour, and yet the second characteristic is in their favour when it comes to making a good pickle, soaking up salt, vinegar, herbs and spices until they become tasty morsels to eat with cheese on a cracker or in a sandwich, or sliced into a potato or cauliflower salad.

They are also dead easy to grow from seed, and each plant will produce dozens of gherkins happily for some two months so long as as it is kept well-watered. They are spreaders, so if you are looking for an edible summer groundcover - consider the gherkin.

Gherkins are also known as pickling cucumbers, as reflects their use. Compared to regular cucumbers, they are smaller (even when full grown) and their skins are scratchy rather than smooth. They are also firmer, and less seedy.

One never sees them for sale in supermarkets, and nor are they commonly found in specialist greengrocers' shops or even farmers' markets. They don't keep well after picking (two-three days in the fridge is the maximum time to keep them before processing). So if you want gherkins free of the pesticides, preservatives, colourings, artificial sweeteners and other unnecessary ingredients found in the imported jars of gherkins on offer in supermarkets the only way is to grow and pickle your own.

I am still working on the best way to do this, starting with the standard Kiwi recipe in my Otago University Home Science School booklet on pickles and other preserves. This takes time, especially if you create the spiced vinegar the recommended way, by steeping the spices in the vinegar in a glass jar in a sunny spot for 10 days, AND also soak the gherkins in brine for 3 days before putting them in the spiced vinegar, AND then keep draining off the vinegar, bringing it to the boil, and returning it to the pickle jar(s) every day until the gherkins are 'a good colour'. (They don't tell you what a 'good' colour is for gherkins, so possibly mine are an awful colour.)

Today I branched out with an American cucumber pickle, 'Kosher Dills'. This involves using dill seeds, and whole heads of dill. Dill and cucumbers are a classic combination, and with good reason. I like them each separately, but think they are even better together.

I don't know why these dill pickles are kosher any more than I know what a good colour is - if anyone can help me out on this or other matters relating to pickling cucumbers I would be much obliged. Meanwhile, I will keep experimenting, and when I have optimised my recipes and methods I will gladly share them.

Gherkins a-jar, and 
awaiting processing.
The jar on the left
is completed and sealed;
the jar on the right
has just started its
getting to be a 'good colour'
process.

More Moorpark (apricots) please

 Apricot jam, bottled apricots and fresh Moorpark apricots

Our larger Moorpark apricot tree has produced about 10 kilograms of beautiful fruit this year, and we have been enjoying fresh apricots for breakfast and dessert for about three weeks. We had to pick most of the fruit a little under-ripe due to the plethora of avian apricot-appreciators in these parts. Fortunately these fruit are fine for making jam or bottling, and we could not have eaten 10kg of fresh fruit before it started to rot anyway.

I have grown other varieties of apricot, but none of them have ever cropped as heavily or as consistently as the Moorpark, which reliably produces a reasonable amount of good-sized fruit every year if it escapes late frosts and/or hailstorms at the critical pollination and fruit formation times. 

 Moorpark apricots from a Suffolk garden, photographed for 

'The Orchard and Fruit Garden A new Pomona of hardy and sub-tropical fruits'  (and supplemented with two from my garden).

I read what H. Denham (C.B.E., M.A., D.Sc. (Oxon) ) had to say on apricots in general and the Moorpark variety in particular in my beautifully-illustrated fruit book, The Orchard and Fruit Garden A new Pomona of hardy and sub-tropical fruits (edited by Edward Hyams and A.A. Jackson, Longmans, 1961). According to Dr Denham the Moorpark was first offered for sale under that name in England in 1788, although various experts believe it was in the country earlier and being grown under other names. It acquired its name from being grown on a country estate named Moor Park. I knew it was a very old variety from having seen it mentioned in one of Jane Austen's novels (no, I can't remember which one). Nor do I know who brought it to New Zealand, and when, but since it was so popular in England in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries I would guess it was an early import.

An apricot by any other name – and minus the history – might indeed taste as sweet as a fully-ripe Moorpark plucked straight from the tree, but knowing that I am growing a variety that has been known and loved by home gardeners for more than two centuries satisfies my heart as well as my tastebuds.

The Zucchini Files. # 1 - Zucchini Relish

Six jars of freshly-made Zucchini Relish - and still plenty of zucchini to go!

The varieties are 'Goldrush' and 'Cocozelle di Napoli'.

I can't think what possessed me to plant six zucchini plants for only two people - apart from the fact that they were so easy to grow from seed. They have been producing at the usual scary zucchini rate for a month now, and I am having to find or invent new recipes for them, as well as give them away.

Since the zucchini is a versatile as well as a pleasant vegetable, I am amassing lots of good ways to cook them, from curries to cakes, which I will share in this 'Zucchini Files' series.

First up is my Zucchini & Gherkin Relish recipe, which I developed to use up a zucchini glut, and the gherkins which had grown too large for pickling whole. They are not essential to the recipe, but they are nice, as are the peppers, which add contrasting colours.

This relish is good on crackers, with or without cheese, and in cheese sandwiches.

ZUCCHINI & GHERKIN RELISH

Ingredients:

1 kg  unpeeled courgettes, finely chopped

250-350g   raw gherkins, finely chopped

200 g   onions, finely chopped

4 T  salt

500 ml  cider vinegar

600 g   white sugar

½ T  celery seed

1 T   dill seed

1 T  dry mustard

1 T  turmeric

1 T  cornflour

½ t  cayenne pepper

1   green pepper, finely chopped (optional)

1   red pepper, finely chopped (optional)

Method:

1. Combine the chopped zucchini, gherkins and onions in a large bowl.

2. Sprinkle with the salt and leave to stand overnight.

3. Drain the juices that have collected in the bowl, then rinse the vegetables in cold water and drain them once more.

4. In a large pot combine the courgette and onion with the rest of the ingredients  and bring to the boil, stirring.

5. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 45 minutes until the mixture has reduced and thickened.

6. Sterilize some jars and spoon the relish into them while hot.

7. Cap the jars and seal them tightly; process them in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

(You can use regular half-litre preserving jars with screwbands for holding the relish, OR jars with metal lids that have previously held pickles or jams. In both cases keeping them submerged in simmering water for 10 minutes will improve their chances of making a vacuum seal, which means the preserve will keep much longer in a safe edible condition. If a vacuum seal does not form, reprocess the jar OR store the relish in the fridge and eat up it up first. )

Konini berries – ripening now

Konini berries at different stage of ripeness

There are very few native trees that are deciduous, and even fewer that have berries that are safe and delicious to eat. But one tree manages to combine the two – the kotukutuku or tree fuchsia (Fuchsia excorticata). The NZ tree fuchsia is also the largest fuchsia in the world. It has a further claim to specialness – it is able to produce hermaphroditic flowers with blue pollen. Blue pollen is most uncommon.

The flowers of the fuchsia are dark red and very small, which makes them easy to miss when the eye is more naturally drawn to the unusual peeling bark of the kotukutuku. The tree is continually shedding soft layers of bark, and in winter the new bark underneath is often a beautiful light green colour. For all its special features the kotukutuku deserves to be grown much more widely as a specimen tree in New Zealand gardens. It is especially suited to small gardens, as it takes a long time to get to its optimum height.  As well as being deciduous its open way of growing, and small soft leaves, ensure that it does not create too much shade.

 The peeling bark of the kotukutuku

At this time of year the berries of the kotukutuku (which have their own name – konini) are starting to ripen at sea level on Banks Peninsula. Berry-eating native birds (and some exotic birds) find them good eating – and so do I. They are not very big, but the ripe ones are sweet and flavoured (to my taste-buds, at least) a bit like Turkish Delight. Definitely worth a try – but do leave plenty for the birds.

How fast does my garden grow? January update

 Pumpkin and sweetcorn patch # 1 - close to harvest after 14 weeks growing.

A new patch of garden sown with onions, carrots, beetroot, dill, coriander and purple flowering snow peas, on the last day of 2010. Also edged with alternating lavender and thyme plants which I grew from seed. Pumpkin and sweetcorn patch # 1 is at the back of the right hand bed, # 2 at the front of the established bed on the left.

 The weather has been mainly warm to hot in the past month, rainfall for December was only a bit below average, and I have watered the vege garden first thing every other morning when it was not raining (with a large hand-held hose which sends water to the plants' roots, not their leaves). My reward includes sweetcorn plants with two or three cobs each, almost ready to harvest, and a big pumpkin, ditto. Plus LOTS of beans – Tiger dwarf beans, Painted Lady runner beans, Cherokee Wax butter beans. 

 My first full-sized pumpkin of the season. The variety is 'Australian Butter'.

 

 'Painted Lady' runner beans - my pick for most beautiful vegetable flower.

I made a 'Seven Beans Salad' from the beans, using the three kinds of fresh beans (lightly cooked until just tender), and a can of four bean mix. They were tossed in a vinaigrette dressing made with balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Also in the salad were torn basil leaves, a thinly-sliced small red onion, halved black olives, and blanched Goldrush zucchini slices. (I blanch the the whole zucchini in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then put it straight into cold water to cool before slicing it. It makes it just a little bit softer and nicer in a salad, to my taste. But I guess if you like crunchy vegetables – it doesn't.)