from the garden + kitchen

November 2009:
Before leaving for the States in September we planted an all-organic, modest but intense and efficient vegetable garden, a small espaliered orchard of citrus and stone fruit under-planted with poppies, and indulged in some spring bulbs, and, with a determination to only water productive plants, we prayed for rain in our absence.

I have just been enjoying the fruits of labour from this my fifth vegetable garden.
Blessed by a Spring abundant in rain and spells of warmth whilst we were away travelling in America, we returned to vegetable plots that looked as if they had been overrun by triffids. Gardening for the first time in sandy soils on the Mornington Peninsula coast was a learning curve, but I’ve inherited the foundations of a vegetable plot from an earlier predecessor at this location. By all accounts he was an eccentric hermit who had the entire back garden under production and we have been constantly surprised by the generous consequences: lavishly self-seeding rainbow silverbeet (chard), continental parsley, meaty oakleaf lettuce and warrigal greens.

The initial investment in copious loads of local chicken manure, top soil and mushroom compost reaped a richness that has been feeding us and friends for some time: spinach, broadbeans, broccoli, lime green stemmed and succulent cauliflower, the said silverbeet and parsley, tatsoi, red pak choy, bok choy, mizuna, 5 varieties of rocket (seed bequeathed by friends), a variety of lettuces, romanesco, snow peas, cavolo nero (black tuscan kale) and radishes. I have always been a fan of the Diggers Club. Now nearly my neighbours, they provide not only inspiration with their wondrous Heronswood garden but also the seed mostly gleaned from heritage, non-mainstream and Seed Savers networks.

Cooking directly from the garden, knowing that the produce is organically raised, tasting the succulence and vitality of produce that has not travelled or been stored is one of life’s greatest pleasures.

The rewards in the kitchen have included:
· my favourite parsley salad, originally inspired by that wonderful chef Janni Kyritsis and now a weekly staple. Made with chopped olives, capers, Parmigianino, lemon zest and juice, diced cornichons, lots of EVOO and white pepper and optionally anchovies, preferably the white ones and or shallots
· endless variations of spanakopita made with a special home made phyllo pastry I pick up from Smith Street when in town
· stir fried greens most often flavoured with the holy trinity of garlic, ginger and chilli, moistened with miso and served over raw salad greens.
· Baby broadbeans, radishes and peas, a grazer’s delight, hardly make it to the kitchen but if they do are simply cooked in butter or olive oil or tossed with crisp pancetta.
· the cavolo nero, combined with phenomenally protein and mineral rich wild stinging nettles (carefully kept in check) that together bestow a powerful quotient of antioxidants.

Some basic tips

For a beautiful broth:
We often prepare a herb and spice based broth: a slow distillation of ginger, galangal, lemongrass, garlic, star anise, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, makrut lime leaves, that forms the basis for a variety of dishes: Asian style broth enriched by greens and rice noodles or quinoa, a poaching liquid for fish from the Bay, a richer soup with the addition of coconut milk.
The healthful garnish:
The nourishing “sprinkle” that garnishes almost every meal is made from unhulled sesame seeds and dried seaweed (wakame). The sesame seeds are soaked with sea salt overnight, then drained and dry roasted in a low oven until golden.
The wakame is blitzed in a blender until fine, the seeds added and just given a few seconds to combine.
Stored in airtight jars, this is an instant “super food”.

In preparation for Summer and the festive season, we have also undertaken a “cleanse”, enforcing the usual detox taboos on alcohol, wheat, sugar and coffee, and taking in lots of water and vegetable juices. If you feel inspired you can monitor our progress at Baxter’s diary on http://www.palateearth.com/

As I write the poppies have come into full bloom. I adore poppies: California, Flanders, Shirley, Himalayan, Iceland whatever, but have never succeeded in growing them in previous gardens. This winter with seed heads saved from several friends’ gardens, I mixed them with a good seed raising mix and liberally strewed them in the orchard. They have bloomed into a vast carpet in myriad shades of pink, cerise, lilac, vermillion and blood red, with gorgeous back blotches at the base of deeply ruffled petals and intricate stamens.
I am also reminded of the prevalent amnesia about the perilousness of the water supply. It has suddenly turned very dry and we need to remain vigilant about water conservation, the folly of green lawns, and the imperative for productive gardens. No amount of desalination plants or vast pipelines robbing the countryside should delude us into thinking there is a long term solution around the corner.

Last week a friend loaned me a documentary, “Juliette of the Herbs” made in 1998 as a tribute to Juliette de Bairacli Levy who died this year at 96. Born to a wealthy Jewish Egyptian Turkish family in Manchester before WWI, she left home to roam with the gypsies and nomads of the world after completing a university education. This is a lyrical and instructive portrait of a life lived attentively, intuitively, gleefully, profoundly, wisely. Juliette was an amazing herbalist with a special interest in animals and children. She created 10 Mediterranean-style gardens in her lifetime, all of which contained her most essential of healing herbs, rosemary and wormwood (from the Artemisia family). In the next phase of the garden I too intend to create a well-rounded culinary and medicinal herb garden.