GARDENING IN PARADISE
JENNY’S TROPICAL GARDENING
Nasturtium leaves and flowers are edible
Longans are really tasty fruits and easily grown.
Lotus plants and flowers are edible
Sunflower petals and leaves can add beautiful colour to a dish and are edible.
Page 10 Cassowary Coast Independent News, Thursday, February 6, 2020
HAPPY New Year to all!! I wish everyone a fantastic year of gardening and I hope my articles help along the way. I have not had my computer to be able to get this article in last month, so this month I shall do one article now and one at the end of the month, as usual. I wish to say a huge thanks to all who call in to see me at Mitre 10 Garden Centre, Tully and thank me for my articles...I love to try to help others with their gardening and I can only say that I also never stop learning! Longan trees are fruiting now and I love them! These trees can grow to 12 metres but can be trimmed to a height to make the fruits more easily harvested. They really thrive in the tropics and they produce clusters of intermixed creamy white male and female flowers which are followed by the prolific panicles of round, leathery brown skinned fruits. These fruits are smaller than a lychee and have a large seed surrounded by a fleshy edible aril. The seed is seen through the flesh when the fruit is peeled and this has given them the common name of dragon’s eye. Their crisp skin is easy to peel and they taste great! Longans may also be dried or frozen. They have a very different taste to the lychee but I love them. They are very important in the Chinese New Year and consuming them suggests ‘starting anew’. They are eaten after a meal as a refreshing palate cleanser. I have already started planting my vegetable seeds, even though many say it is too hot yet. I grow many vegetables all year but we went away for a few weeks at Christmas and New Year, so I left my beds fallow and when we returned, I weeded, fertilised and topped them with mulch, and I planted many seeds on the weekend. We love the taste of home-grown vegetables and it is good to know that they have not had any chemicals sprayed on them. I put stakes into my beds wherever there are plants growing that are badly affected by pests and put a foam or cardboard cup on top of the stake to prevent the nets ripping and spread the mosquito nets over them and tuck around the plants. This is a great time to start preparing your garden beds for the coming vegetable growing season if you have not already done so. I love to cut pieces from many plants, such as cordylines, crotons, coleus, etc at this time of year as I find they can be put straight into the garden and with all the rainfall, they strike easily....it is an easy way to multiply our favourite plants. I love to learn about and let others know about edible flowers. It amazes me how many there are and the look so attractive on the plate! Always make sure that any flowers you wish to add
to your dishes have had no sprays on them and wash the flower, remove stamens, pistils and any leaf-like sepals at the base of the flower. Pollen can cause problems for some who are allergic to it. There is a huge list of edible flowers including marigolds, dandelions, rosemary, sage, daylilies, lavender, zucchini, hibiscus, sunflower seeds, impatiens, pansies, phlox, roses geraniums, and many more. All parts of a lotus plant are edible! I have been too reluctant to eat mine as I love the plant and flowers, but I have sometimes used the beautiful leaves as a serving dish. Daylily flowers, tuber and roots, can also be eaten and their tubers can be cooked like a boiled potato and the buds used as a garnish or steamed, or battered and fried. Their flowers are rich in vitamin A. I have printed sheets of all edible flowers so please call in to ask me for one when I am at work, on Monday, Wednesday or Friday mornings. I know we don’t want to use our flowers for eating all the time but they are great to use when entertaining! Enjoy your gardening! Until next month,
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