By Beatrice Hawkins
It’s rained!! I’ve had the mower out and cut my grass! Oh how I enjoyed doing that and now, with the forecast of more rain to come, I am planting runners in the patches laid bare by the dry.
How quickly the landscape is transformed with the addition of a few days of good rain. Over the 10 day period I recorded in excess of 100 ml. I know there were heavier and lighter recordings in various parts of our region but overall it was really worthwhile and gratefully received. Certainly not enough to break the drought or fill our water storages, however, we hope the forecasters have it right and we will receive more to follow up shortly. I can hear storms birds calling each morning and evening so maybe they know something we don’t. I hadn’t heard them for quite some time until shortly before this rain.
Unfortunately, as is often the case, there is a down side and harvesting has been delayed in some areas and the quality of the crops downgraded. What a gamble farming is and how grateful we should be that there are people out there who are willing to take the risk and produce the ingredients that grace our tables each day.
Recently I visited a garden that showed just what can be done when you have access to a secure water supply. The extensive vegetable garden supplied the needs of three families with a surplus to be shared with friends and neighbours. There is nothing quite like the taste of freshly pulled carrots. When I was first married carrots were always sold in bunches with their tops still on and the flavour was so much better than the ones available today.
I had someone ask me recently was it worth growing vegetables as they can be purchased so conveniently and cheaply from stores. They obviously had never been gardeners and tasted the difference between freshly picked produce and that of vegetables and fruit that, even given the best efforts of commercial growers, is often many days old by the time it reaches the point of sale.
We are so fortunate in this country with our diverse climate regions, that we can have a wide range of produce all year round. With cold store and transport, seasonality has become a thing of the past.
With a home garden however, this is restored, and vegetables and fruit in your own area is once again governed by the seasons and the flavour of freshly picked, seasonal, produce is something to be relished.
I have also seen pomegranates in flower in many places lately. Almost everywhere I have lived, from coastal areas to tablelands and western plains, I have known the beauty of these hardy shrubs. The fruit is cultivated commercially now when earlier it was only grown as a decorative garden ornamental covered in bright red flowers in late spring and summer, followed by the interesting and child attracting red fruit!
They seem to be very easy to grow and the dwarf varieties available lend themselves to large pots and would be a great addition to any landscape. They are not fussy to soil type apparently and will grow in heavy clay or light sandy soil in full sun. They like water in the spring but are very dry tolerant and can even tolerate wet feet occasionally! Like most plants they do prefer good conditions and thrive on a yearly application of well rotted animal manure or compost. Pruning in winter will help keep them in shape but as they produce fruit on old wood, don’t go to hard.
The fruit has become trendy lately with the seeds traditionally used as a garnish in a variety of Middle Eastern recipes and the juice available in many refrigeration sections of supermarkets. The juice can be made into a sweet syrup called grenadine that is used to flavour drinks, cakes, ice cream and baked apples. The seeds are also dried and used as a flavouring.
As long as they are protected from late frosts, when the fresh growth is evident, they are extremely cold tolerant and actually require cold winters to produce fruit. Conversely they like long, hot and dry summers. The fruit improves in flavour after picking but be sure to remove all the skin when using as it is tough, dry and bitter. The flowers and rind are used as a red dye and, from experience with children getting it on their clothes, is a very good and permanent colour!
While its name, punica granatum, translates as “seeded apple” it is in fact a true berry! Complicated plant with an identity crisis!!
It is one of the oldest cultivated fruit trees in the world and can be traced back to the 7th century BC. It is mentioned many times in the Bible and Greek mythology.
As it appears to be so easy to grow, is so decorative with its bright green, glossy leaves in spring, bright red flowers in late spring and summer followed by the interesting fruit that take 5 to 7 months to mature, it is a shrub that deserves a spot, providing continuing interest, in most gardens. A plant for all seasons and reasons!!
*This is an old article that has been digitised so our readers have access to our full catalogue.
