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TOP & FLOP CROPS - A look at what did well and what didn’t in Lynda Hallinan’s garden.

Lynda Hallinan’s regular report card on the best and worst seasonal harvests from her Hunua vegetable garden – plus an unusual use for Jerusalem artichoke tubers.

an unseasonably warm midwinter, was rewarded with a premature crop of very skinny spears this year. Green asparagus varieties seem to shoot up earlier than their purple cousins. In my garden, the first purple spears don’t burst through until October. Asparagus is easy (and inexpensive) to raise from seed sown now, but you’ll need to care for the tiny fern-like plants in pots for a full year.

Radishes

In 2015, I trialled radishes for NZ Gardener and I have to say that the top croppers back then remain my favourites: ‘Salad Crunch’, whitetipped ‘French Breakfast’ and ‘Gentle Giant’. All are fast and flavoursome, with ‘Salad Crunch’ slightly spicier than ‘Gentle Giant’. Radishes relish the cool soil of spring but I really wish they were more useful in the kitchen. Although crunchy in raw salads and delicious in a fast, fresh pickle, I’m yet to find a cooked radish recipe that my tastebuds approve of, despite throwing them into stews (they taste a bit like turnips) and sauteing them in butter.

‘Lemonade’ citrus

In my citrus grove, the lemon tree borer beetle has destroyed both of my ‘Lemonade’ trees. They must be easier to burrow into than all the other varieties I grow. I’ve cut my losses and given them the chainsaw treatment.

Chickweed

Can a weed count as a top crop?

It does if you eat it, right? I don’t mind the first flush of annual edible weeds in spring, as they’re easily ploughed back in with a push hoe, but it irks me to lose all the tiny self-sown lettuces and rocket seedlings coming up at the same time. Common chickweed or kohukohu (Stellaria media) has invaded my parsley patch but, rather than weed it out, I’m ripping out fistfuls of both at the same time to make chimichurri sauce to serve with grilled halloumi or fish.

In spring I favour this Argentinian salsa, whereas in summer, I’ll make Italian basil pesto. Adding chickweed to a South American condiment is hardly authentic, given this weed’s Asian/European origins, but it doesn’t matter. I use perennial wild rocket too, if I have it.

To make chimichurri, finely chop 1 small red onion or plump shallot and mince 2-3 garlic cloves. Place in a small bowl with ¼ cup red or white wine vinegar and ½ cup olive oil. Strip the leaves off a few sprigs of fresh oregano, and finely chop. Finally, add up to 1 cup of very finely chopped green herbs, such as curly parsley, coriander or any edible weeds that take your fancy. Add 1 finely diced fresh red chilli for a kick and season with salt. Let the sauce sit for at least 15 minutes so the flavours mingle.

When the soil is cool in spring, radishes are one of those can’t-go-wrong crops. But come summer, mine tend to bolt to seed or grow hollow hearts.

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2021-09-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

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