November 20, 2018 by Ronni Martin

Sweet Potato Recipes

Sweet Potato

Ipomea batatas

Tandoori chickpea stuffed sweet potatoes
Sweet potato pudding
Honey roasted sweet potatoes

Sweet potato is a vigorous ground cover vine which produces tubers at the leaf nodes. It prefers sandy, well – drained soil in sun or part-shade in the tropics or sub-tropics. Avoid high-nitrogen fertilisers, as they will promote leaf rather than tuber growth. Sweet potato is propagated by cuttings planted directly into the ground. Sweet potato flesh and skin colour varies from white to red to orange depending on the variety.

Sweet potatoes can be cooked in most ways that potatoes are – sliced and fried like chips, boiled, mashed or baked. The young growing tips can be stir fried or steamed as greens.

Serving size: 1/2 medium sized sweet potato (75 g)

In a serving size (unpeeled):

Energy 216 kJ
Protein 2 g
Fat 0.1 g
Carbs 11.8 g
Fiber 1.9 g
Vitamin A 575 µg
Vitamin C 1 mg
Iron 4 mg
Calcium 7 mg

Health Benefits

Supports eye health
Improves gut health
Regulates muscle contraction
Relives stress and anxiety

Storage: Sweet potatoes shouldn’t be kept in the fridge, because the exposure to cold temperatures “will produce a hard center and unpleasant taste.” Instead, keep your sweet potatoes at room temperature in a cool, dry, and well-ventilated place.

Tandoori Chickpea Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients

Tandoori Chickpeas
3 cups cooked chickpeas
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sweet potatoes
4 medium sized sweet potatoes (preferably the same size and shape for even cooking time)
1 Tbs tahini
¼ cup unsweetened plant – based milk (e.g. soy, rice, almond)
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp ginger powder
¼ tsp salt
2 cups washed and chopped leafy greens (e.g. silverbeet, spinach, kale)
Optional: chopped coriander, for serving
Tahini lime sauce
⅓ cup tahini
¼ cup water
2 tablespoons lime juice
½ teaspoon salt
1 small clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon maple syrup
Method
1. Preheat oven to 190°C
2. Clean the sweet potatoes and prick a few times with a fork.
3. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper, place the sweet potatoes on one tray and put it in the oven. Roast sweet potatoes.
4. Toss all the ‘tandoori chickpea’ ingredients together in a bowl until the spices are well dispersed. Place them on the second baking tray and put it in the oven. Cook for 45 mins, or until tender to prick with a fork.
5. Roast chickpeas for 30-35 mins, stirring half way through.
6. Meanwhile, whisk together all ingredients for the tahini lime sauce in a small bowl. Then bring a small saucepan of water to boil and gently steam or boil leafy greens and drain.
7. Once the sweet potatoes have cooled slightly, cut them in half (lengthwise), and gently scoop out the flesh, being careful not to pierce the skin.
8. Transfer sweet potato flesh to a large bowl and mash with the ‘sweet potato’ ingredients, then stir through the leafy greens.
9. Transfer the sweet potato skins to a plate. Scoop the mashed potato mixture back into the skins. Top with the roasted chickpeas. Drizzle with tahini sauce and sprinkle with chopped coriander if desired.

Sweet Potato Pudding

From NSCF Share Cookbook, Page 57

Ingredients

6 medium sized sweet potatoes
900 ml coconut milk
4 Tbs sugar

Method
Peel and dice sweet potatoes.
Heat coconut milk and stir in the sugar until it dissolves.
Add diced sweet potato and bring to the boil, stirring regularly.
Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the sweet potato is tender.
Serve either warm or chilled.
Note: Leave out the sugar to make a side dish for curry.

Quick and easy recipe!

Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients

2 medium sweet potatoes, cubed
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp honey

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)
Melt the butter and combine with honey, oil and salt
Coat the sweet potatoes with the butter mixture
Spread potatoes on a baking sheet
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until tender
Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes
Serve

August 2, 2018 by Ronni Martin

Bushfoods for permaculture gardens and farms in the sub-tropics

Adding local bush foods to your garden can add new flavours to your diet while sustaining wildlife as well. There is a native plant to fill almost every purpose from food to fiber to timber, and they come in all growth forms from vines to giant trees. The lists below will help you to find a useful local plant suited to our climate and landscape.

There are many reasons to include bush foods in your garden design. Local native plants are easier to look after than exotic plants as they are well adapted to local conditions of climate and soil. They’re also less susceptible to pests and diseases and can assist with pest control as they provide habitat for native insects and birds that feed on pests. Growing native plants attracts wildlife to your garden which gives you an added connection with your natural environment and helps to increase biodiversity. Bush foods can also be included in bush regeneration plantings to increase the productivity of native plantings on site.

Many local native plants have the bonus that they add different, interesting foods to your diet. Bush foods include spices like native pepper, vegetables like warrigal greens, fruit like native raspberry and nuts like macadamia. Learning about local bush foods acknowledges the way indigenous people lived in the environment, and this understanding promotes respect for the land.

On larger Permaculture properties bush foods have potential for being grown commercially. There is increasing demand for bush foods, with industry associations that are working to build markets for their products. Lemon myrtle, Davidson’s plum, macadamia nuts, and native limes are all grown in commercial quantities. Rosella and other bush food jams are often available at Farmers Markets.

Growing Requirements

Most of the plants listed below are rainforest species. They require well drained soil, with high levels of organic matter and will not tolerate long periods without moisture. Most will tolerate shade, but require sun for the best fruit or seed production.

Zone 1: Home garden

Common Name	*Botanical Name*	Growth Form	Uses
Flax lily	Dianella caerula	Hardy plant with strappy leaves, attractive flowers and fruits	Edible blue fruits
Native raspberry*	Rubus rosifolius var rosifolius	Prickly canes, suckers readily, full sun	fruit eaten fresh or in jam
Native Turmeric (Cape York Lily)	Curcuma australasica	Ginger-like plant, large leaves, attractive flowers	Rhizomes used like turmeric
Native violet	Viola hederacea	Low groundcover	Flowers and leaves edible
Nyullee (pigface)	Carpobrotus glaucesens	Succulent groundcover, full sun	‘Salty strawberry’ fruit
Rosella	Hibiscus sabdariffa	Annual shrub	Red calyx used in jams, teas, chutney
Scrambling lily	Geitonoplesium cymosum	Small vine, likes shade	Shoot eaten raw
Scurvy Weed	Commelina cyanea	Perennial prostrate herb with blue flowers	Leaves eaten raw or cooked
Spike rush (water chestnut)	Eleocharis dulcis	water rush that grows in water or boggy ground	Edible corms
Warrigal greens*	Tetragonia tetragonioides	annual groundcover, salt tolerant, sun or partial shade	Edible leaf (must be boiled first), used as a spinach

Zone 2: Home orchard

Aniseed myrtle*	Backhousia anisata	small to medium tree	aromatic leaves with aniseed flavour, used in teas
Bolwarra	Eupomatia laurina	Shrub	Edible fruit
Blue tongue	Melastoma affine	Shrub with mauve flowers	Grainy purple fruit
Burdekin plum*	Pleiogynum timorense	medium tree	Purple fruit in winter, eaten fresh or used in jams
Cedar Bay cherry*	Eugenia reinwardtiana	shrub, full sun	sweet, pink-red fruit eaten raw
Cinnamon myrtle*	Backhousia myrtifolia	shrub with white flowers	aromatic leaves for tea, spice
Davidson’s plum*	Davidsonia pruriens	small tree	Sour fruit used in jams, wine
Finger lime*	Citrus australasica	small tree, best in partial shade	small fruit (red, purple or green) used in drinks, marmalades,
Lemon aspen, common aspen*	Achronychia acidula	medium trees	lemon flavoured fruit, use in sauces, drinks
Lemon myrtle*	Backhousia citriodora	medium tree, hardy	aromatic leaves contain ‘citral’, used in teas, sauces, cosmetics
Lilli pillies	Syzygium spp.	small – medium trees	fruit used in jams, drinks, sauces
Lime berry	Glycosmis trifoliata	Shrub	small juicy pink fruits eaten fresh
Macadamia*	Macadamia integrifolia	Medium/large tree	edible nuts with high oil content
Midyim berry	Austromyrtis dulcis	low shrub, ground cover	small, speckled edible fruit
Millaa millaa vine	Eleagnus triflora	clumping vine	Small, tasty fruit, high in lycopene
Native ginger	Alpinia caerulea	attractive understorey shrub	spicy seeds, shoots edible, leaves used to wrap fish in coals
Native pepper*	Tasmannia lanceolata	shrub for cool, moist areas, with purple or white berries	dried leaves and seeds used as pepper
Native tamarind*	Diploglottis australis	Tall slender tree	Sour yellow fruit used for jams, drinks
Peanut tree	Sterculia quadrifida	small-medium tree, deciduous	Edible black seed in a decorative red pod
Riberry*	Syzygium luehmannii	small – medium tree, pink new foliage, white flowers, red fruit	fruit used in jams, drinks, sauces
Round lime*	Citrus australis	small to medium tree	round green fruit used in jams, drinks
Sandpaper fig	Ficus coronata	small trees	fleshy purple fruit, edible raw or in jams
Small leaved tamarind*	Diploglottis campbellii	medium tree, hardy, glossy green foliage	fruit with red, edible aril, used in jams, drinks
Walking stick palm	Linospadix monostachya	attractive understorey shrub	refreshing small red fruit
Zig zag vine	Melodorum leichhardtii	vine	Tangy ‘orange sherbet’ fruit

Zone 3: Commercial orchard

*Species marked with an asterisk in the lists above and below have commercial potential.

Zone 4: Windbreaks, Erosion control, Stock shelter belts

All the species listed above can be used, plus those in the table below.

Zone 5: Bush Regeneration areas

All the species listed above plus those in the table below.

Acacias (wattles)*	Acacia spp	fast-growing pioneers, small to large trees, add nitrogen to the soil	many have seed that is edible after roasting and grinding, used for coffee substitute, and in desserts
Black apple	Planchonella australis	large tree	edible fruit
Blue quandong	Elaeocarpus grandis	large tree	fruit used for drinks
Brown pine plum*	Podocarpus elatus	large tree	fruit used for jams, sauces
Bunya pine*	Araucaria bidwilli	large tree	edible nuts, boiled, roasted, dried, ground for flour
Cockspur vine	Maclura cochinchinensis	clumping, thorny vine	edible yellow or orange fruit
Kangaroo apple	Solanum aviculare	pioneer shrub	fruits edible in small amounts when completely ripe
Native grapes	Cissus antartica	vines	some have edible fruit
Native hibiscus	Hibiscus tiliaceus	pioneer, small flowering tree	flowers edible in salads or jam, leaves edible when boiled
Native mulberry	Pipturis argenteus	pioneer small tree	fruits edible
Native tamarind*	Diploglottis australis	medium-large tree	fruit with yellow aril used for jams, drinks

Further Reading

Tim Low (1988) Wild Food Plants of Australia, Angus and Robertson, Sydney

Cribb, AB & JW. (1974) Wild Food in Australia, Fontana Collins, Sydney

Online

Australian Native Foods and Botanicals – www.anfab.org.au

February 3, 2017 by Ronni Martin

Seasonal vegetable growing in the humid subtropics

South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales have a humid subtropical climate. Vegetables grow best when the temperature (including frost), day length, rainfall and humidity suit their needs. The number and type of pests and diseases also varies with the time of year.

The humid subtropics have three seasons, which are similar to the summers of other climates: a cool-temperate summer, a Mediterranean summer and a tropical summer. The exact timing of these seasons varies from year to year, depending on whether we are in drought or other climatic factors.

Cool temperate summer is in our late autumn and winter, from late March to early August. This season has cool mornings, warm days, and is humid and wet initially, then becoming dry.

Mediterranean summer is in our spring from mid-August to late November. This season has cool mornings initially, then becoming warm, warm to hot days with low humidity and low rainfall.

Tropical summer is in our summer and early autumn, from late November to late March. This season has warm to very hot nights and days with high humidity. Rainfall can be heavy, but there are also dry periods.

Planting guide for the 3 subtropical seasons

Plant group	Cool Temperate	Mediterranean	Tropical
Asteraceae	Lettuce, chicory, endive, Jerusalem Artichoke	Lettuce (non-hearting), sunflower	–
Alliums	Leeks, bunching onions, spring onion, garlic, onion	Bunching onion, spring onion, garlic chives	–
Brassicas	Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Asian greens, kohl rabi, kale, turnip, radish, rocket, mizuna	Bok choy Tatsoi rocket radish	–
Chenopods	Beetroot, silverbeet, spinach	Beetroot, silverbeet	–
Cucurbits	–	Pumpkin, zucchini, squash, cucumber, rockmelon, water melon, choko.	Pumpkin, rockmelon, water melon, bitter melon, gourd, luffa
Grasses	–	–	Maize, sweet corn
Legumes	French beans, snow peas, peas, broad beans	Climbing beans, French beans	Snake bean, hyacinth bean, mung bean, cow pea, soy bean, peanut, pigeon pea
Malvaceae	–	Rosella, hibiscus spinach	Okra, rosella, hibiscus spinach
Solanaceae	Potatoes tomatoes capsicum	Tomatoes, eggplant, capsicum	Cherry tomatoes, eggplant, capsicum
Umbelliferae	Carrots, celery coriander, parsnip, parsley, fennel	–	–
Various (tubers)	–	Sweet potato, yacon	Cassava, taro, yam, jicama, sweet potato
Various (greens)	–	–	Amaranth, kang kong. Brazil spinach, Ceylon Spinach, Egyptian spinach, Surinam spinach, Okinawa spinach,
Various (herbs)	Borage, winter tarragon	Basil, oregano, sage, thyme, mint, parsley, rosemary	Chilli, Vietnamese mint, ginger, turmeric, galangal

Propagation

Growth of seeds into seedlings can take from 2 to 6 weeks, depending on the time of year and the time that the seeds take to germinate. So seeds need to be sown about a month, on average, before the seedlings are planted in the garden.

Propagation for the three summers can begin from:

Cool Temperate – mid February
Mediterranean – mid July (with greenhouse or heating)
Tropical – early November