Saturday 6th April, 2024
Hi
Make the most of harvest time
It would seem that our
quinces are coming ready and there are a lot of them. It begged the question of what to do with them apart from Quince paste and Jelly. Now I remember that I used to make a dessert, being Roasted quinces by Digby Law, that someone passed onto me and it was delicious but where was that recipe? A recollection seemed to think that I wrote the recipe into one of these emails and so I put the quest to our IT guy to find it and find it he did.
As he puts it "
Was back in the good old days of Covid alert levels, 25/04/20 and called Alert level 3." Of course if I had thought about it, it would have been written at the time that the quinces were ready and I was looking for things to do with them. To that end, and so we don't have to scroll through all the past emails and I don't lose the recipe again, Jan is going to add it to the what's cooking page for us all.
Roasted quinces.We have a few quince cultivars that will all make for quite a handsome garden tree. They fruit on spurs like pears, have very attractive blossoms in the spring and are looking quite stunning right now in the garden with large pale lemon fruit all over them. We pick them not only to make roasted quinces but also because they look really cool in a large bowl on the counter in the kitchen. Kind of like picking rose hips to have in a vase.
Quince Pineapple A most attractive fruiting tree with large pale green fruit. The skin is a soft yellow when ripe. The white flesh is aromatic with a taste that carries a hint of pineapple.
Quince Taihape This disease resistant Quince was developed from an old tree growing in the garden at the Brown Sugar Cafe Taihape. The aromatic fruit are a lovely lemon shade and highly ornamental.
Quince Van Dieman A reliable 'cropper' that produces large, yellow, attractive fruit that are ripe in autumn. Excellent for adding fragrance and piquancy to preserves and sauces.
Quince Smyrna This popular selection is from Turkey and fruits at a young age. Very large, pear shaped, golden yellow aromatic fruits with mild and tender flesh of excellent quality.
The other fruit that is ripening right now, and that I have to beat the wax eyes to (though I don't mind sharing), are the
Figs. I have a couple of varieties in the garden and one is
Brown turkey that has large fleshy amber figs which mine aren't and I think that is because not enough light is getting into the centre of the tree. The other is
Brunoro Black, a smaller fig that has very dark skin and quite rosy pink flesh. Currently I have been cooking them in a light syrup to have as a dessert with plain yoghurt or with muesli for breakfast and they are delicious.
I have been hankering though for a few years to dabble with dehydrating some of the fruit that we grow and so this year was the start and my first batch was my brown turkey figs. I'm not sure that I have quite got them right as they don't look anything like what one buys but perhaps that is because they were quite green-looking to start with. The other thing is that I'm not sure that I have them dried enough, but time will tell. I halved them as per a google search and it's amazing how these large fleshy fruits became quite diminutive. At this point they taste great.
The next batch in the dehydrator will be Brunoro black and again relying on Google which tells me that a quick blanch will soften the skins before they start being dried... I will find out.
Figs are pretty easy to grow and they fruit on new wood and in my experience quite late in the season as these are ripening now. Check out the figs that we have in stock here by following the link.
All the figs.
Last night's trial batch in the dehydrator was some apple slices. I used
Peasgood nonsuch as that's one of the apples in the orchard and these also are ready now. Quite tangy, but the result was flavoursome apple slices that I could use when I make my next batch of muesli or just eat as a snack.
In store and planting now
Garlic printanor and the large elephant kind.. Every year I miss out on the
Elephant garlic and so I have mine aside, I will also grab some printanor and when I get a moment get them into the ground. I have to dig it over and add some fert and organic matter as this year I want big cloves to harvest. I believe the secret is to keep them well fed and watered particularly as we move into the spring to keep the cloves growing. Once we hit the dry summer period it will be kind of obvious that they are nearly ready and then you need to stop the water and let them dry off.
I am going to see if I can keep Elephant garlic in a patch all year round and grow it so that I get more to harvest. It's delicious just roasted as a vege with other roast veges.
Peonies for the cooler spot in the garden. This perennial has the most stunning rose-like blooms in a range of colours. Tubers are in stock now while plants growing in containers are expected in early Spring and can be waitlisted.
Just arrived in: Beautiful and colourful
Who doesn't like Blue flowers?
I haven't seen these for a while but couldn't resist grabbing some of the Blue butterfly bushes to offer up here. Proper name is
Clerodendron Ugandense and these are just beautiful. I do have a soft spot for clear blue flowers as this colour is not often in flowers. Blue butterfly bush is named for it's blooms which are butterfly-like in shape, and borne above the plant in, of course, the prettiest of blues. Not overly fussy about where you plant it, it will cope with sun to semi shade though of course, like most plants, they don't like wet feet. Trim to keep bushy and the last tip is to plant where the frost can't reach it as it is a tad frost tender.
Plumbago Royal Cape is another shrub that has gorgeous blue flowers in abundance. Again not too fussy and can be grown in most average positions. Trim to keep bushy and if it gets too big. This is another that needs a sheltered position and some protection from frost, but it seems to me that as the climate here in the Tron is just a few degrees warmer in the winter it should be ok, otherwise look for the right microclimate.
Felicia Gold Sapphire. This one is as cute as a button with its classic daisy-like flowers of beautiful bright blue with a golden centre. A half-hardy style perennial that, if you protect it from the harsher side of a Waikato winter, will carry on and perform the following years.
Tibouchina blue moon. Glory bush is yet another plant with blueish blooms that doesn't like frost. If you can find a nice sunny, sheltered spot for it then it will reward you with abundant lilac-coloured flowers over summer and autumn.
Gordonton Art and Design Trail. This weekend 10 am to 4 pm Sat 6th and Sun 7th.
It's free and we have the trail maps here at the nursery, just enquire at the shop. Maps are also available from other venues in Gordonton. If you haven't seen any of Anthony's work then this is a great opportunity. So if you are at a loose end then grab a mate or two and have a day out.
Don't forget about our Autumn Sale. All Roses are still half price as we are going to need the space. For those that need Camellias the $42.99 grade are all now just $35.00. Great quality and condition and really good for almost instant hedges. There are also heaps of other plants on sale so come and check the place out. The garden is also looking good and worth a wander as well as looking at the art on your way past.
Lastly these weekends come around so fast and this one spells the end of daylight savings as we move deeper into the Autumn.
Have an awesome weekend and will catch up next week.
Cheers from us all at Wairere, Lloyd, Tony and the team.
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