For Earth Day (today) I’ve created a feral fruit tree map. Unfortunately, my area is a little light on feral fruit but I will add to it when I find more during my walks around the neighbourhood. So far I’ve spotted a mulberry tree, errant passionfruit vines, quite a lot of lilly pilly trees and some warrigal greens (native spinach) – although not a fruit, these greens are very edible.

In case you’re not sure, feral fruit is basically any fruit you can glean from a public space like a park, by the road side or overhanging a fence. It’s not only free, but grown locally and chances are its organic. (more…)

Ever since I first read about Warrigal Greens or native spinach, I’ve been on the lookout for its green, semi succulent leaves.

Surprisingly, during my holiday last week, I found it growing all over the extremely rocky shores of Smiths Lake.  The leaves are quite fleshy and slightly arrow shaped with small raised bumps that help prevent the plant from drying out.

After identifying the plant online, I lightly blanched some leaves for about five minutes to make sure all the toxicity was removed. If eaten raw, the leaves and stems can be slightly toxic due to their high oxalate concentration. To remove these oxalates, blanching is recommended and make sure you discard the water after use.

Whilst cooking, the leaves released a strong smell of the salty lake they were growing next to but they tasted surprisingly bland like English Spinach only a little juicier. I think this plant would make a great addition to any recipe that requires spinach, not to mention my edible garden.

Warrigal Greens have quite a history, originally eaten by Australia’s aboriginals, then later by Captain Cook and his crew to stave off scurvy and now by restaurants as a native bush food ingredient.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take a sample for my own garden because I was heading up to Bellingen for a week after Smiths Lake. I really want to try and propagate this plant. Has anyone seen it growing wild in Sydney, if so where?

I love this book! Smart Permaculture Design is no ordinary gardening book. The author, Jenny Allen, has such a great way of writing. She tells an enticing story about her permaculture garden in Melaney, Queensland, while also teaching readers about permaculture principles and design.

Her words are poetic, dramatic and informative and she adds just enough spice to keep you drooling through her beautifully illustrated book. (more…)

One thing I love about having a garden is being able to grow food that I can’t usually buy.

I have just finished harvesting my first native finger lime crop. I bought the tree last year and keep it potted in a sunny spot in my backyard. Although the tree is tiny, I managed to harvest about 15 little finger limes.

Native finger limes are amazing fruit. They start off as long green fruits that look a bit like rough, scaly chillies – in fact my husband thought it was a chilli plant. When they are ready to eat, they turn a deep, dark orange-red colour.

Inside, the lime’s flesh looks like orange caviar (although pulps can range from white to pink, lime green and lemon – depending on the type of lime you have) and smells fresh and citrusy. It’s hard to describe the taste – they sort of taste like limes but with a fresher, more tart flavour. And the little balls of fruit just burst in your mouth.

I am still experimenting with them in terms of eating. So far I have spritzed them in sparkling mineral water and added them to fresh fruit salad but that’s about it. If anyone has any other ideas, then please let me know.

Early last year my friend Matt began his journey into the mythical world of growing garlic. Towards the end of last year I was able to sample some of his delicious and potent little cloves of garlicky goodness.

According to Matt, late February to early April is the best time for planting garlic in Sydney.

Taking Matt’s advice, I’ve held onto my bulbs from him until now - although I did eat about half … yum. I finally planted them today. My son helped by stuffing a clove into each hole I made in the soil. He then used his little watering can to moisten the soil.

Being 29 weeks pregnant, my belly and bad back are beginning to hamper my gardening abilities. Therefore, I’m winding up most of my garden beds for winter by heavily mulching them over and letting them rest.

However, I figure garlic will be pretty easy to grow over these months and won’t need much care or labour. The garlic now lives in the sunniest sections (during winter) of my garden.

Matt has kindly provided another update on his garlic expeditions - no doubt he has just planted some more garlic in his own garden. Read on for Matt’s update. (more…)

This time of year is pumpkin eating time in my house.

It’s the time when I harvest my mini pumpkin vines and the little, knobby, round, orange vegetables lie happily around our kitchen and balcony.

They are really easy to grow and perfect for smaller gardens that don’t have a lot of space. I usually plant a few seeds and keep a couple of the strongest seedlings alive.

I let the vines ramble about my herb and vegetable patches, plus let them climb up the back fence trellises. They probably only get up to about five metres long so are quite manageable. (more…)

Sorry for the lack of posts. I have been travelling a bit lately due to family commitments and not had much time to post. I am off again so may not be posting for a week or so.

In the meantime enjoy Treehugger’s article about solar cooking. Some of the ideas are pretty clever - maybe some of you have already hooked up similar projects?

Tanya Ha has updated and revised her book Greeniology. This book is a great resource for anyone wanting to live a better and greener life.

It is focused on Australia and New Zealand (there is also a Canadian version) and provides really useful and easy-to-understand information and tips about green: shopping, renovating, working, transport, babies, cooking and cleaning.

Information is also split into each area of the house such as the kitchen, living room, bathroom, laundry, bedroom, office, garage and garden.

Tanya takes the approach that you don’t have to think of yourself as a greenie to make a difference and the book provides tips on reducing your impact on the earth without cramping your lifestyle. (more…)

During winter our mandarin tree produced an incredible amount of delicious fruit. Although my son and I scoffed at least two mandarins a day, we still couldn’t eat them all and I ended up giving away bags of fruit to friends, neighbours and work mates. This was great because it’s really satisfying to be able to give away surplus food I have grown.

As spring arrived and the tree stopped producing fruit I picked the remaining mandarins and made delicious jam. It was my first attempt at such domesticity. (more…)