Elephant foot yam In 2013, I started growing Elephant Yam, Amorphophallus paeoniifolius. This tropical, forest margin-dwelling, winter herbaceous perennial root crop is native to India, SE Asia, New Guinea and Australia. Not content with being a curiously ornamental flower and a splendid houseplant, this is a pedigree native root crop – nutty-tasting and of high…
Category: Recipes
Paddy to Plate: Gardeners and Gourmets To Tour Vietnam, 2015
There is so much to learn about growing and preparing tropical food plants. What fascinates me is that many of the fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices growing in south east Asian food gardens also have medicinal purposes. Enter kakrol, a fruit somewhat resembling a startled pufferfish…
Surprisingly Nutritious Vegetable Damper Recipe
This damper recipe includes green pawpaw (Carica papaya) and Warrigal greens (Tetragonia tetragonioides), which are currently abundant in my garden. Both are self-sown crops. Served either as damper or used as a pizza base, this simple dish is surprisingly nutritious, especially if you use wholemeal flour. Please observe the kitchen chemistry notes.
Petal Power: Edible Flowers
Edible flowers have a long history of being grown for making dyes for food and fabrics, or as decorations for cakes, salads and garnishes. What’s surprising is how many commonly grown flowers are edible.
Cocoyam Recipes – Winter Open Day At Bellis, 2014
If you attended this winter open day, congratulations, you were part of gardening history. A record breaking number of guests – 3,229 – visited Brisbane’s thrifty sustainable house and garden. And what a jolly, generous, patient and enthusiastic bunch you proved to be. The very best Queensland has to offer. Best of all, there were…
Give a Tree Frog a home
We ran out of time on 4BC Radio’s talkback gardening programme this morning, and I was unable to answer this question. Q: when should I shorten my pawpaw and ‘cap’ the pruning wound?
Want Safer Streets, More Bees and Good Food? Grow Tamarind Trees, not African Tulip Trees
I’ve just made Dulce de Tamarindo from tamarind pods, a mouthwatering Mexican sweet that’s guaranteed to stimulate your tastebuds. What could link safer streets, more bees and good food? Here’s a blog on sustainable urban forest management. Let’s start with an end product before making the case to ‘grow me instead’. There is a greater demand…
Looking Back: Autumn Open Day at Bellis
An Open Day is a great way to get feedback from gardeners on what you’re growing and how you’re doing.
Seeking True Cardamom
Can’t find genuine cardamom plants, but want its fresh flavour in your cooking? Grow your own.
Book Review: Medicinal Plants in Australia
Australia is a massive pharmacy store, where some very useful plants grow in our streets, reserves and gardens.
Nettle, Anyone?
I like nettles, when they’re managed – and grown in full view.
Sumptuous Pomelo
At last weekend’s open day, Rosa, a gardening neighbour, gave me two pomelo fruit. So I had two opportunities: to grow my own tree and to make refreshing pomelo salad.
Jerry Coleby-Williams 