We’re gonna need a bigger freezer … Photo: Helen Lynch.
The late March/early April tomato harvest has been absolutely stellar this year.
At the moment, we are bringing in baskets and baskets of delicious ripe tomatoes of every type we planted. The large yellow ones with pointy ends (oxheart type), which could be named if only the label was where it should be, have been late to develop but are now maturing at the rate of at least two a day. The globe and plumb types such as the green and yellow zebras, black krim and black russian have been producing consistently since late summer and are not stopping yet. The cherry tomato plants, to their credit, have just gone wild with ripening fruit.
Although we expect a late abundance of summer fruit in the Canberra, Braidwood, Goulburn and Yass areas, this season seems more productive much earlier than usual. It must be due to the waves of warm, clear, dry weather that a large part of the region experienced earlier in Autumn.
Whatever the cause, vegetable gardeners have to be very happy with the result. It means that freezers can be filled with bags of frozen tomatoes for use in winter soups and stews. Happily, we can start making tomato relishes, sauces and passatas to ensure that we get to enjoy that ambrosial fresh tomato flavour all winter.
Peppers are another summer fruit that has been a little slow to ripen but is now ripening well.
Chili, banana peppers and small capsicum are autumn treats we look forward to, and they will not disappoint us this season. The sweet chili jam has been made, and the remaining harvest is drying in a sunny spot in the sunroom.
If you are seed saving, put aside and dry one or two of the largest and most mature fruits. Cleanly remove the seeds from these fruits and place them on absorbent paper on a cake rack in a dry, sunny spot with good airflow. Move the seeds around on the paper every day or two and dry for a few weeks. This way, you can check that they are drying well and not becoming mouldy. Mould is the enemy! Once dry, place in an airtight jar, label and refrigerate. Refrigeration is great for keeping seeds fresh. A small bar fridge in the garden shed or garage should do the job if your kitchen fridge is always full.
Life’s better with a steady supply of homemade chili jam. Photo: Helen Lynch.
Planting can continue this month with seedlings of silverbeet or coloured chard, beetroot, Asian Greens, and the large brassica such as cabbage, cauli and broccoli.
One particular favourite to plant out now as seedlings are the winter European lettuces such as endive and radicchio. These have a slightly sharp, savoury taste often referred to as bitter. As such, they are wonderful to eat when the weather cools and you are looking for something to wake up the taste buds.
The bitter flavoured vegetables have many health benefits too. They enliven the digestive system, promote appetite and speed the flow of gastric juices, all of which benefit internal organ function. There are many varieties of both. Radicchio is a top favourite because most varieties have wonderful flashes of red colour.
Radicchio comes in heading and leafy varieties. Heading varieties can be just halved and grilled as well as used in a salad. Both can be steamed and stir fried as leafy “greens” too. Palla Rosa and Rossa de Treviso are two classic heading varieties that look absolutely beautiful in a conventional green salad. Chicory greens such as Catalogna for cooking and Italiko Rosso (red dandelion) for salads and cooking are also worth growing. These two will be hard to find as seedlings but you can start them now as seeds in a hot house. Be prepared to plant them out under frost mitigation fabrics or in a hot house. Growing from seed to harvest should take around 80 to 90 days.
Radicchio comes in heading and leafy varieties. Photo: Helen Lynch.
Endive is also a lovely winter green. While not as colourful as many others of the chicory family, it is nonetheless a deliciously refreshing addition to winter dishes.
Starting now as seedlings, they will mature to eating size in around 65 days. Curly endive (frisee in French) is the easiest to find as a seedling. The broad leafy type such as Escarole will be more difficult to track down, so it is best looked for at niche nurseries and seedling suppliers. All seeds propagated in April will do best in a hot house or other cold-weather seed-starting equipment (heat pads).
Despite the effort of finding good seedlings, both types of endive are well worth growing. They like cool weather, rich, well-manured or composted, friable soil with a 1/2 cup per square metre of lime/dolomite mix added, a complete fertiliser and around six hours of sun a day. While a few frosty mornings improve the flavour, too many consecutive frosts will slow growth right down and toughen the leaves, but if you can grow these under frost mitigation (cloche frames and frost protective agricultural fabric), they will do extremely well and remain soft-leafed.
Lastly, April is garlic planting season for the early and mid season family groups such as Turbans (Monaro or Tassi Purple) and Artichoke types which can be planted in late April early May (Italian Late, Australian White, Germidour). Plant in well-drained soil with compost, a complete fertiliser, and a small amount of added sulphur and a pinch of boron (Borax in the supermarket laundry section). We will, of course, plant some early season Turban garlic. Our preference is Monaro Purple, but the majority of our planting is mid and late-season garlics.
Test plantings from the late season garlic groups that did well for us last year – Marbled Purple Stripe, Porcelain – will be planted again this year as they grew really well and taste great. Our mid-season garlics are from Creole and the Artichoke. The search for garlic groups that cope well as our climate becomes more unpredictable never ends!
Bronwyn Richards and Helen Lynch run Wynlen House Artisan Village Farm and Learning Centre, a small village organic market garden in Braidwood, NSW. Since 2006 they have grown and sold fresh vegetables, eggs, preserves and garlic, and teach others to do the same.
