FIONNA HILL
THE PONSONBY GARDENER This year I have planted California Purple Turban garlic from Cheviot. They’ve sold out this year but for the future contact theport@amuri.net. I hear The Port are great gardeners and I expect this crop to be good. Chives and Garlic Chives are day length sensitive and become dormant in winter. Sow them from spring through to late summer. Garlic chives make a beautiful microgreen to use as a garnish too. The little black seed remains on the fine stem and looks beautiful although they take ages to grow. photography: Bannockburn Floriculture
And for some onion eye candy rather than tears, ornamental alliums are beautiful and will make a stunning addition to the flower garden. Bannockburn Floriculture sells bulbs and cut flowers and has an impressive range. The gorgeous one in the photograph is Allium Purple Sensation, an easily grown one for the length of New Zealand. Check out their website: Suppliers: Kings Seeds www.kingsseeds.co.nz; Bannockburn Floriculture www.foxtail.co.nz; Franchi Sementi italianseedspronto@ihug.co.nz; Garlic theport@amuri.net (FIONNA HILL) PN This is Allium Purple Sensation an easily grown one for the length of the country, also great colour.
GROWING ONIONS MY ATTEMPTS AT GROWING ONIONS HAVE BEEN MISERABLE BUT I HAVE given it another go this year. July in Ponsonby is not too late to plant onions, garlic and shallots. Although it’s preferable to direct sow onion seed I’ve almost missed the boat again and will sow in trays and plant them out in September. Space the tiny seeds two cms apart in seed raising mix in a shallow tray. Rotate your crops and keep onions away from beans. When transplanting seedlings from trays, separate them carefully, use a pencil or chopstick to make holes in the soil and drop the long roots in gently. Press soil firmly around the stem. Keep the earth moist. I’m not growing brown onions for general use as I prefer to buy them – they’re seldom costly and I’m short on garden space. But I have a few other favourites. I brought seed of Onion Rosso Lunga di Firenze back from Great Dixter (the garden has a super shop) in England and it was one of my few packets of seeds that was allowed past customs so they took on an important role. They’re narrow, 10 cm long, red onions with a mild taste and are apparently good grilled or eaten raw in salads. Italian Seeds Pronto in New Zealand import these Franchi Sementi seeds (still a family company since 1783), bringing a flavour of Italy to New Zealand gardeners. A colleague grows gorgeous tiny ‘squashed’ onions - Borettana (Allium cepa) - Kings Seeds sell these. I’ve seen them pickled in Italy. Franchi sell Onion Piatta di Bergamo seed which is different to the Kings Borettana. The difference is that they come from two different locations in Northern Italy. Piatta is from the original seed grown in Bergamo; it is also flat but pinkish red and slightly larger. I’ve grown shallots but someone stole the whole bulbs and tops from my garden so I’m having another try. They’re a relative of the onion. They’re sweeter and milder than onions, and great to have on hand in the vege bin. They tend to be more expensive than onions to buy as edibles. Plant shallots keeping the tops a little above the ground. I’ve put food cans that have had both ends removed around mine until their roots are well anchored into the soil - otherwise birds call by and peck around flicking the bulbs out of the earth. Remove the tins and draw away the soil surrounding the bulbs when their roots have taken hold. They’re like garlic and form clusters of offsets. Once harvested they’ll store for six months. I have a pretty Society Garlic Tulbaghia violacea, in my edibles garden although it’s not an Allium but a lily. But its smell is definitely garlicky. It has variegated stems and long stemmed pretty purple flowers. There is a tradition of eating it but it is reported to cause stomach problems and some modern nutritionists advise against consumption. Mine’s purely decorative. Rakkyo bulbs I bought in a farmers market in New Plymouth. It’s also known as Chinese onion, Chinese scallion, Japanese scallion, and Oriental onion. Its Allium chinense and is native to China. It has a mild fresh taste. In Japanese cuisine it is eaten with sushi (to balance the saltiness of soy sauce that the sushi is sometimes dipped in).
112 PONSONBY NEWS+ July 2012
PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)