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What a wonderful March meeting we had in the gardens of Karen and Julie at their fabulous home in Dungay! The sun shone and the garden was truly a picture as we sat under the shade of the huge camphor trees, overlooking the valley. Karen and Julie’s garden is amazing in the variety of fruiting and ornamental trees and the general abundance of flowering plants that surround their home. Karen refers to their home as The Farm – however she did say that many friends and family who come to visit call it The Resort – and I gotta agree with them! Tim gave a great talk on fingerlimes including helpful hints and tips on how best to grow them and there were fingerlimes for everyone to take home and experiment with, courtesy of Karen and Julie. Kevin and Merle brought along some of their famous pie melons for us all to make jam. I’ve got one sitting in the cellar which I hope to turn into jam very soon. If it works there will be some jars on the swap table at the April meeting and also some to enter into this year’s Murwillumbah Show. You may remember from the November newsletter that I put the challenge out for us all to enter at least 3 categories this year – this will be one category for me! This month’s bouquet goes to Pam Payne for her tireless work in putting together our fantastic newsletter every month. I know that I am not alone in looking forward to seeing the newsletter arrive each month with each edition jam packed full of great stories and hints and tips contributed by our members. Thanks Pam – and everyone who contributes every month. Fantastic job! This month’s Plot picture is one taken in the wonderful vege gardens at Fair Harvest that Tim and I visited on our trip to WA a few weeks ago. Fair Harvest is an inspirational permaculture farm in the Margaret River run by Jodie Lane and Do Perez who welcomed us so warmly when we turned up to have a wander thru the farm. Read more in the newsletter in On the Road about Fair Harvest and our trip to the West. The April meeting is at Cousin Lynn O’Hara’s home at Northstar in Hastings Point where we will be able to also enjoy a visit to Seascape – the shell and marine museum at Northstar. The entry fee to Seascape will be covered by the Club so I do hope you can make it to what will be a very interesting and informative afternoon. I’m off to 3 days of Blues Fest this Easter so hope you all enjoy the Easter break and I look forward to seeing you at Northstar. Fran O’Hara

March saw Tim and I take a trip over to the West – starting in Perth and then moving down to the beautiful Margaret River for some R&R and serious food and wine consumption! We took a day out whilst in Perth to visit Rottnest Island. This was a full day trip, that was a little $$ but well worth it. We took the fast ferry from Perth, via Fremantle to Rottnest with the ferry trip itself of just over an hour being a lovely way to see Perth, Fremantle and

surrounds from the water. On arrival at Rottnest (Rotty to the locals) we boarded our Eco

Express for a 90 minute full circumference tour of the island. During the tour we stopped into the many inlets to see seals at play as well as ospreys with their nests perched precariously on the rocks and pied cormorants sunning themselves. Then it was onto our hire bikes for a cycle around Rotty – which is the best way to see the island. Rotty is 11kms long, 4 kms wide and they reckon it takes around 3½ hours to cycle around (a fact I wasn’t about to

test!). Along the way we saw a few of the island’s natives: cute little quokkas that go about their business without a care for the many tourists who stop to take their picture (like me). A dip in the cool,

clear waters of Pinky Beach (see above) was on my agenda as Tim went off for a cycle to the Wadjemup Lighthouse and gunnery in the middle of the island. Then it was back onto the ferry for the trip back to Perth. The Friday afternoon sailors were out in force as we got closer to Perth and why not – the day was perfect for it! Then it was off to the Margaret River for our food and wine festival! Our first stop was Voyager Estate for lunch. A stroll around the magnificent standard gardens hardly took away

any of the guilt and calories from the 3 course lunch we

enjoyed. It was, however, a lovely way to spend some time promenading around the rose garden and admiring the immaculately clipped hedging (I reckon they must use nail clippers on some of them!).

Margaret River is renowned for its cheese, olive oil,

chocolate, breweries and of course its food and wine – and we our best to try many of them! Many of the larger vineyards have fantastic restaurants attached to them where you can sample the local cuisine with a glass of something of your choosing – like Cullens where much of the produce is sourced from their own organic kitchen gardens. We made a point of visiting the biodynamic and/or organic vineyards of Settlers Ridge, Peacetree and Cullens – and we can attest to a seriously good meal being had there.

We did also enjoy the natural beauty that this region is famous for – making the time to take a tour of the Jewel Cave (breathtaking!), taking a stop in Hamelin Bay to say g’day to the friendly stingrays that swim in the shallows and will actually come up to you for a pat, and enjoying a drive

through the majestic Boranup Karri forest. A coffee stop in Cowaramup with its quirky cows lining the streets and the park was some light relief too. A definite highlight of our visit to the Margaret River was a stop in at Fair Harvest. Fair Harvest is a permaculture farm located within Margaret River as mentioned in my Plot piece. Jodie and Do are passionate food growers who aim to inspire and enable people to grow their own produce. They host weekly swap meetings for locals and have recently renovated their old farm shed to provide an ideal venue for workshops

and local events. On our arrival Jodie gave us a laminated card to read as we self-toured the farm. We started at the aquaponics bed and marvelled at the lush veges growing in it, and

then moved onto the vege patch. Given that WA gets its rain in winter, the top 4 beds of the vege garden are irrigated in the summer while the rest of the garden is used for hardy perennials or winter annuals. The bathtubs dotted around the garden are home to hundreds of worms who work hard to convert the kitchen scraps into worm wee for fertilising the gardens. The citrus orchard is irrigated by the compost shower and is also home to the ducks, geese and chickens that do their bit

by fertilising as they control the pests and mow the grass! They also have a deciduous orchard with almonds, nectarines, apples, pears and other fruits which is netted to protect the fruit from the hungry parrots. I have never seen such healthy looking and laden apple and pear trees anywhere as I saw here. Fair Harvest also offer B&B – with a difference – you get to stay in a wonderfully decked out tee pee set in amongst the gardens – complete with its own compost toilet and rainwater shower! As we wandered back to the main area we passed the straw bale seating recently created during a workshop. Back inside we were lucky to enjoy freshly baked muffins with our coffee and have a yarn with Jodie and her family who had come for a visit to celebrate Jodie’s niece’s 3rd birthday. We left Fair Harvest inspired and reinvigorated, and thoroughly recommend a visit to anyone who is in the region. Find out more about Fair Harvest by visiting their website fairharvest.com.au. Then as quickly as it began our holiday was over and we were back home to reality, with the weeds, long grass and endless tasks that seemed to multiply in our 9 day absence! Such is life eh?

The March meeting was held at the Tomewin Road property of Karen Mottershead, a beautiful situation with views over countryside to Murwillumbah. This property is home to an orchard of finger limes, maintained and looked after by Tim O’Hara, our in-house finger lime specialist. Tim discussed the cultivation and culinary uses of finger limes, with many questions from members. Finger limes are local native trees, growing from Lismore northwards, and there are many different varieties and colours. Confusion may arise when in different places, different names are used for the same varieties. Flavours are also distinctive among varieties, though all are citrusy. Tim showed a bowl of fruit of different colours, ranging from yellow and green to red and black. The darker skins normally

have longer-lasting fruit, and skin colour doesn’t reflect the colour of the fruit inside – for example, a black skinned fruit could be green or pink inside. As well, the skin colour can change, for example from black to red, over a couple of weeks. Lighter coloured skins do seem to suffer from end rot. The fruit don’t last long, but can be frozen. When growing finger limes, treat them the same as other citrus trees, feeding in late winter-early spring with Nutrigold or Dynamic Lifter. Being an under-storey plant, they enjoy some protection from the afternoon sun. In Karen’s orchard, lemon aspen, ti- trees and Davidson Plums provide shelter for the finger limes. Though they need plenty of water, especially when fruit is setting, they don’t like wet feet, so the soil should be free draining and mounded up if necessary. They can be

grown in pots, but will need to be well fed and, as the roots extend to 500-600 mm, the pot should be large enough to accommodate them easily. Tim is experimenting with espaliered trees. They normally grow 2 ½ metres high by 2 metres wide, and the vicious thorns scratch both the fruit and the harvester, so by espaliering this scratching should be alleviated. It’s best to buy grafted trees, which should start fruiting in 3

to 4 years. Self-seeded trees are very spindly, with fine leaves and small fruit, and are viciously spiky. To tell when the fruit are ripe, they should come away easily when the fruit are turned on the stem. They need to ripen properly to change colour and it’s best to leave them a while to see if the fruit does change colour.

As for pests, finger limes are not too bad. The worst pest will be the spine citrus bug, a triangular shape with horns, which pierces the fruit. Tim hasn’t seen citrus gall wasp or leaf miner, though there are stink bugs; and borers can cause problems. Eco oil and pyrethrum based sprays may be used. Tim explained that as the industry is still very young, growers and researchers are still learning and still finding out the problems. He would welcome any experiences of members that may be of interest.

The big question of which way to cut the fruit was raised - horizontally or longitudinally? Cut length-wise it has great eye appeal and is often used this way for culinary photo-shoots. The caviar-like pulp is great on sea-food or as a side with curry; squeeze it into Coronas or mix it into ice-cream, and use it in salads or salad dressings. Commercially grown fruit is exported overseas; in Europe it sells for $45 per kilo, of which the grower receives $30-$33. Locally, finger limes sell for $20-$25 per kilo. After Tim’s talk, Karen gave a brief outline of her 4-5 year experiences on the property, starting from being a complete novice to now growing a wide range of tropical and temperate fruit trees for household use, and developing the gardens to include a rose garden, terraced vegetable and herb gardens, and turning a weed-filled gully into a frangipani paradise. Jean Nuttall

Q – What should I plant now in the vege garden?

Brassicas – these take four months to mature, so they should be planted now so that they’re well-grown before the hot weather starts again.

Legumes

Root veges – carrots, parsnips, potatoes, turnip, beetroot Garlic, onions

Cucurbits with the important exceptions of watermelon, rockmelon and pumpkin. Jean Nuttall

cooking and eating with Di Morrison

shan tofu salad

Traditional Shan tofu is made from chickpea flour and not soybeans. It is

very popular in Burma served cold in cubes as a salad with a sauce, deep fried and served with a tamarind or

chilli sauce as a hot snack and even sliced into long strips as a noodle

base for soup. This recipe is from Naomi Duguid, a

Canadian writer and food anthropologist I travelled with in Burma recently. IT IS VERY EASY TO MAKE AND

GREAT FOR VEGETARIANS. I loved the many different salads in Burma and this tofu salad ranks highly. It is fresh

and clean with a jelly like consistency and highly nutritious. You can make the tofu a day or two before and dress it when ready.

FOR THE TOFU

2 cups chickpea flour 6 cups water

2 tsp. salt oil for dish.

1. Grease one or two ceramic or glass bowls at least 3cm deep.

2. Whisk flour and salt with 2 cups of water until very smooth. A stick blender is useful.

3. Boil remaining 4 cups of water and slowly whisk in the chickpea mixture stirring with a

wooden spoon. 4. Lower the heat and keep stirring until the mixture thickens and has a glossy sheen.

About 3-4 minutes.

5. Pour into greased bowls, let cool and refridgerate. 6. leave for 4 or more hours for the salad or frying so it can be thinly sliced.

Note : Some Burmese cooks add turmeric for health and colour.

FOR THE SALAD

500g Shan tofu 6-8 Makrut lime leaves, very finely sliced .... or sprigs of coriander

2 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

Dressing

1 tsp. finely chopped garlic 2 tsp. soy sauce

2 tbsp. rice vinegar 1 tbsp. shallot oil .... the leftover oil from frying shallots

salt to taste 1. Slice tofu finely

2. Mix most of the dressing ingredients, with most of the lime leaf shreds and sesame

seeds and gently toss with tofu. 3. Decorate with remaining lime slivers and sesame seeds. You could add slivers of

chilli , young ginger or crispy fried shallots if you wish.

4. Serve at room temperature.

Brush turkey At dusk he penetrates our yard flopping over fences, scavenging, stalking rails with stilted legs, giant lizard feet, Yellow wreathed, and red. Undertaker bird, living on the fringe, target for the stones of boys. Absurd in flight, he blunders into trees

too big to perch, a feathered sack made for ground not air, user of what’s there, scratcher of the mound. Nana Ollerenshaw from Hinterland Times February 2013

Contributor: Julia Hancock

I have been lucky to receive my first ever jam melon, generously given to me by Merle and Kevin on a recent visit to their bountiful property. Weighing in at almost twelve kilos, it was initially an intimidating piece of fruit, and not knowing how to tackle it, I casually mentioned my acquisition to some of the older folk at the Aged Care facility where I work. One sharp ninety year old had kept her mother's heavily bound and yellowed recipe book, and within a few minutes presented me with two tattered newspaper clippings detailing how to deal with my prize. Although the melon itself is as tasteless as a raw choko, it takes on the flavours of whatever is then added, and is excellent for bulking up jams, jellies and fruit pies. Forgive the imperial measurements, but I thought I'd share the recipes as I found them. MELON AND LEMON JELLY Take 15 lbs. of pie melon, peel off skin, cut up melon, leaving seeds in, cover melon with 3lb crystal sugar and leave stand overnight. Cut up 12 lemons, including skins, and leaving in seeds, cover with boiling water and stand overnight. In the morning, pour water off lemons in to melon, and boil until melon is tender, then strain, after which add a cup of sugar to a cup of liquid, then again boil. When it comes to the boil, add a pinch of salt and one teaspoon of cream of tartar to make it clear, then boil briskly until it jellies ( about three quarters of an hour), skimming same during such boiling. MELON JAM

Take 7lb of ripe melon (weighed after cutting up), 5 large oranges, 12 small lemons. Cut the melon into small squares, 1/2 in. thick. Allow 1lb of sugar to each 1lb of

melon. Spread the melon in a large basin, sprinkle over it about 1lb of sugar and let it

stand all night. Next morning, put the fruit in the pan and let it boil gently in the syrup which has formed from the melon and sugar until the fruit is quite soft. Add the rest of the sugar gradually and the strained juice of the oranges and lemons. Boil for 15 or 20 minutes after the rest of the sugar is on. Footnote - this is one of the few jam recipes where no added water is required, the syrup formed from the sugar and melon steeped overnight is enough to boil all the fruit in. I intend to add some glace ginger to the mix. Melon and ginger jam was once a favourite, bought in tins in any supermarket. Now a thing of the past I would imagine. Philip Wilson

What a wonderful time of the year for the garden. Not too hot, and still lovely and moist to plant things. Here’s what to do now.

Rejuvenate washed out soils with a solution of seaweed fertilizer every fortnight for the next month or so.

Asian vegies will power away if grown now. They need plenty of soluble fertilizer to put on lots of fresh green leaves.

Have you got a neglected hedge? If so, give it a bit of TLC – a light haircut and the removal of damaged wood will spruce it up considerably, then a boost of blood and bone will ensure long-term food is available to the plants.

Aphids are back with a vengeance, so check citrus trees and remove the critters pronto.

Put in lots of lovely leeks – they are so expensive to buy but are easy peasy to grow. They like lime to be dig into their soil before planting.

It’s not too late to sow sweet peas. They are one of the best cut flowers for colour and perfume and although their season is short it’s well worth going to the effort of growing a few. Rodents are starting to come into houses and outbuildings now. Make sure any bait you put down is kept well away from native and domestic animals. Deadhead roses so the blooms that are still coming on take centre stage.

Slippery paths and driveways can be extremely dangerous – why not borrow the club’s pressure sprayer and give your place a good autumn cleanup.

Look out for gorgeous ginkgos as they come into their autumn buttery-yellow foliage. They’re not grown nearly enough here in the Tweed so if you’ve got room you might like to put this beautiful maidenhair fern tree in a prominent position in your back yard. Dahlias have put on an outstanding autumn show this year and are expected to continue to flower until the first frosts. Think about putting some into your flower garden next year.

Recent storms are likely to have blown a lot of debris into our gutters around the house. Chose a dry day to get up the ladder, making sure there’s someone nearby to keep an eye on you as you do this tiresome task. At last the rate of growth on our lawns has begun to slow somewhat over the last couple of weeks but it’s still a good idea to keep the grass short so any weed seed heads in the turf aren’t given the chance to ripen. Julia Hancock

Coriander has been found in Egyptian tombs. It is

mentioned in the book of Exodus, "The people of Israel

called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed

and tasted like wafers made with honey" (Exodus 16:31). PP

Shen Nong's Cannon of Herbs.

Shen Nong is thought to have lived between the 27th and 25th centuries BC. No one knows for sure whether or not he actually existed, but stories over time have

bestowed upon him legend status and titles such as "fire emperor" "red emperor," " heavenly husbandman" and

"divine farmer." He contributed to Chinese medicine with his extensive knowledge of herbs, which he acquired by tasting them in order to distinguish those with medicinal value from poisonous ones.

Later in the Han Dynasty (206 BC- 220 AD), a book called the Shennong Bencaojing (Shen Nong's Cannon of Herbs) , was written. While this book's authorship is

attributed to Shennong, it actually was written by several anonymous authors who wished to honour him. It is considered the earliest complete pharmacopeia reference and lists an astonishing 365 Chinese medicines. Even today, this book is still used by

Chinese medicine physicians because of the detailed knowledge it contains. Shen Nong’s “Canon of Herbs” states that “if one consumes tea for long enough, the body gains

in strength and the mind in keenness”. PP

Cobblers pegs (aka farmer’s friend) are the most commonly-grown

vegetable in sub-Saharan Africa? Philip Wilson

Anise Myrtle (Syzygium Anisatum) leaf is

one of the highest sources of the compound anethole which gives it the aniseed flavour and aroma. Anethole is also used as a flavour masking agent,

expectorant, sedative and stimulant in cough medicines. Plants containing anethole (such as anise myrtle) have

traditionally been used with weight loss, lactation and stomach complaints. PP

YOUR COMMITTEE 2012-2013 President: Fran O’Hara Vice president: Julia Hancock Secretary: Philip Wilson (minutes) Treasurer: Lorraine Lintern Membership and library: Kate Botham Newsletter editor: Pamela Payne

Members: Don Capner, Di Morrison, Lynn O’Hara

Philip and Richard hosted the March meeting in their beautiful Tyalgum garden and despite the threat of rain we had a record turnout. Philip’s main interest is in sub-tropical fruit trees and he has got an interesting collection of those plus plenty of gorgeous

ornamental plants. The topics of the conversation included: Kevin complained (as did we all) that it’s been too wet and there hasn’t been enough sun for

anything to thrive in the vegetable garden.

Gloria seems to be doing alright on her hill and has zucchini starting to flower as well as healthy broccoli.

Ehurle’s only success is his dwarf ‘Banjo’ beans. Lorraine’s pumpkins are happening and she’s growing massive cucumbers. She has the ‘Giant Russian’ type which has orange skin. Lorraine asked how to use bitter melon. The young plants can be used in stir fries and the fruit can be made into jam. It’s one of nature’s superfoods and is reputed to be beneficial to diabetics.

Tony is growing gourds that he intends to decorate. Desiree was inspired by our visit to David Stratton in February to plant up six straw bale

gardens but later abandoned the idea and broke them up into biscuits to cover the whole of her vegie patch. When that’s rotted down she’ll plant into that.

Helen’s rosellas continue to be the only things that are currently thriving. Sue is still picking snake beans. She brought along a mystery plant that she purchased as

arrowroot, but the group didn’t seem to think it was.

Jenny’s Ceylon spinach is enjoying the wet. Her white choko is more vigorous than the regular green kind. The underground rhizome is the tastiest bit of the whole plant. Young choko leaves and stems can be used in stir fries.

Jean announced that Des Cecil at the Mur’bah Farmers’ Market had little ‘Acorn’ zucchini that were deliciously nutty. She’s sourced an Eden Seeds variety called ‘Ronde de Nice’ which is similar.

Gwen has renovated her vegie patch after two years of neglect. The soil is good and $50 worth of seedlings later it’s looking really great.

Ida is very pleased with her pomegranate which is 30 years old but has only just produced fruit this year. White cockatoos are taking all her pecan nuts.

Dot brought the pepper vine (Piper nigrum) to show us. She’s moving to Ocean Shores having sold her Tyalgum property. She’s looking for ideas – she’s planning to get rid of the lawn and have a no-dig garden.

Gisela’s garlic isn’t growing – the advice was that she planted it in the wrong time of the year. It should be put in the fridge now and planted out in a couple of weeks time.

Lyn’s only success is wing beans. Diana was celebrating her first good crop of tamarillos, which she eats

with the fruit of monster. She’s still picking trombocchinis. She got her hands on some free pallets which she’s converted into a series of compost bins.

Jenni has 12 pumpkins on her vine and her Chinese water spinach is fantastic.

Paul’s gardening activities have been non-existent and his grass is up to his knees, but he has had fabulous cherry tomatoes, lots of mangoes and cucumbers. His avocado tree has grown 30cm in two weeks due to the rain. He had a good crop of peanuts this year.

Joanne had good figs for some years but now fungi are decimating the trees. Fungi grow on borer-damaged wood. Cut out infected growth.

Grant has beans like triffids and his basil and lemon balm have gone berserk. Lemon balm is a good mozzie repellent if you rub the leaves on your skin. He’s had the best crop of

avocados for 20 years. He makes ‘tea’ with weeds to

destroy them – simply leave them in a bin covered with water

for a few months until you can no longer bear the smell.

Bill is growing good butter beans and red okra as well as superior ‘Jap’ pumpkin.

Philip and Richard are growing Blue Java bananas. This is a cold tolerant cultivar known for its sweet aromatic fruit which is

said to have an ice cream like consistency and flavour reminiscent of vanilla. Blue Java bananas can grow to a height of 15 feet to 20 feet.

They are cold tolerant and wind resistant. because of their strong pseudostems and root systems. The leaves are silvery

green in colour. . The fruit are 7 to 9 inches in length and exhibit a characteristic silvery blue colour when unripe. The fruit turn a pale yellow when ripe, with white creamy flesh. They bloom

around 15 to 24 months after planting and can be harvested after 115 to 150 days. P.P.

We now have our own, infinitely collectable,

pottery mugs. They will be given as gifts to guest speakers and, thanks to the generosity of potter John Gillson, sold to members at only $10.00 each.

You can visit John in his gallery and studio - The Old Butcher Shop Gallery, 1402 Numinbah Rd Chillingham, where

he also sells a splendid array of bowls, vases, teapots … (If you haven’t yet met

John, you have certainly met his parents: UGC members Ehurle and Rosemary

Gillsen.) The mugs were the excellent idea of

Lorraine Lintern who has also organised signature mugs for the Uki

Residents Association. They have been selling them at the Uki Market

Bazaar and, not at all surprisingly, Lorraine reports that they have

been very popular. PP

NEXT MEETINGS

main meeting

April

Saturday 27 2pm

Lyn O’Hara 02 6676 3077

285 Northstar Resort, Coast

Road Hastings Point

Swaps: cacti and succulents

Activity: Seascape

food group

April

Tuesday 9 9.30am

Diana Eriksen

02 6672 7407

Tomewin Road Dungay

Food group date changes Please amend your calendars with the following food group venue alterations. June 11 – Helen Fleming, 42 Doon Doon Road, Midginbil ph. 02 6679 7336 August 13 – Joanne and Paul Nelson, Possum Manor, 477 Pinnacle Road, Tyalgum, ph. 02 6679 3052. Julia Hancock

Window envelope recycling If anyone would like to give me their used window envelopes I’ve found a good use for them. Julia Hancock

Bundanoon Garden Ramble: 26-27 October, 9.30 to 4.30

For more information: www.bundanoongardenramble.org.au

Heartfelt thanks to everyone who has contributed to this newsletter and to David for being the snail-mail-person. Contributions are always very welcome. A handy hint? An interesting fact? Or something longer? The deadline is the Saturday of the general meeting.

Happy gardening Pamela