Favourite Corner - Spring 2014. Gunsteling Hoekie - Lente 2014

I can't believe it's been a year since I last did a "favourite corner" post. How time flies, hey. This time my post will be more focused on a favourite shrub than an actual favourite corner, but the shrub is in a corner, so what the hell...

Japanese Quince/Blomkweper

Chaenomeles japonica is normally grown as an ornamental plant due to its beautiful orange-red to bright-red flowers. They also produce small quinces. Yes, they are perfectly edible. James Wong filled my head with mini-quinces and rumptopf about a year ago now. The rumptopf is still outstanding, as the mini-quinces are still very much outstanding too. 

I must be honest; I have no idea how long this little shrub will take to fruit. I just hope it's not seven years or an equally ridiculous amount of time. Even worse - I hope it's not a "Speciosa" flowering hybrid which doesn't produce fruit. The horror! That's the thing with most South African nurseries: the plants are not properly named and the naming might sometimes even be a bit dodgy. Oh well, let's just hope for the best.

Botanical name: CHAENOMELES JAPONICA

Common name: Japanese Quince/Flowering Quince

Volksnaam: Blomkweper

Native to: Japan

Date planted/sowed: June 2013

Ease to grow: Extremely easy to grow

Costs: The shrub was a gift but costs around R85.00, plus compost of around R10.00/bag

Notes: Grows well in shady spots, but doesn't flower or produce fruit as well

Foreign Friday. Volksvreemde Vrydag

Cucamelon/Mexikaanse Suur Komkommertjies (Melothria scabra)

Due to the space limitations of my backyard vegetable patch runner vegetables and fruit like squash, pumpkins, melons, watermelons and cucumbers were never an option. That's until I read about cucamelons on the ever-creative James Wong's site. I read that they resembled miniature watermelons (and therefore were also known as Mouse Melons) and tasted like a mixture between cucumber and lime. Interesting.

Furthermore, they could be grown on trellises, and were apparently rampant growers as well. Sounded like a good deal to me! After quite an extensive search I sourced a few seeds from the online site Organic Seeds for a very reasonable price.

The seeds went into a large container filled with compost and manure enriched potting soil. I planted them middle September, and by the end of September virtually all of the seeds had germinated. At first the plants seem to be slow growers, but after they started to form their first tendrils, they shot up virtually over night. By mid-November, my cucamelons looked like this:

Cucamelons, with chives and peppers as companions

By December I wanted to cry in frustration. The same cucamelon forest that looked so promising initially, looked terrible. I made a mistake many novice gardeners do; I planted them in the wrong location. The cucamelons trail up directly against a north-facing wall, and the sun ruthlessly burned all the top leaves and new growth. Most of the dainty yellow flowers simply fell off  due to the radiating heat. NO!!!

Sun damage to cucamelon bushes/Sonskade aan my arme Mexikaanse Suur Komkommertjies

On Christmas Day 2013, therefore, I was very glad to see at least one cucamelon developing. Even if only to taste them and see whether I would give them a go again next year.

Small cucamelon developing

It's now early January 2014 and my first cucamlon harvest came in. A measly three, but a harvest nonetheless. Note to self; never plant cucamelons, or any trailing vegetable or fruit for that matter, directly against a north-facing wall!

Thee little cucamelons/Drie Mexikaanse Suur Komkommertjies

And the verdict? They taste surprisingly refreshing and have a lovely crunchy texture. I would say much more cucumber than lime, but way crunchier. I will definitely plant these mini-cucumbers again! Have you planted anything exotic recently?

Botanical Name: MELOTHRIA SCABRA
Common Name: Cucamelon, Mexican Sour Gherkin/Cucumber, Mouse Melon
Volksnaam: Mexikaanse Suur Komkommertjie
Native to: Mexico and central America
Date planted/sowed: Mid-September
Ease to grow: Grows easily, but requires sun and something to climb over
Costs: R20.00 for a packet of 15 seeds
Notes: Plant away from a wall receiving full sun, and space farther apart (15cm or more)

 

Foreign Friday. Volksvreemde Vrydag

Pepino/Boomspanspek (Solanum muricatum) 

After James Wong's Homegrown Revolution bug bit, I couldn't wait to try out foreign-sounding and strange-looking fruit and veg in my own urban garden. My backyard veg patch might be in an South African town, but luckily we have an Oceanic, almost sub-tropical climate with a decent annual rainfall. Perfect conditions for growing most fruit and veg; even the most exotic of exotic edibles.

One of the first exotic fruits I planted was a Pepino. As I referred to in my post about creating beds, I received it from a work friend. She gave me two big plants and a very small one I could split from the mother plant. I was told the plants would adapt quickly, grow fast and sprawl over a big area if not controlled. Immediately after planting them, one plant looked better than the other and the smallest one had only a small chance, I thought. That's before we had a horrible berg wind. After that unfortunate occurrence, the healthy-looking plant died despite my best efforts to save it. In the long run though, the other plant flourished and the small one survived as well.

Pepino/Boomspanspek

Luckily the same lady who so kindly gave me the plants brought a ripe fruit along as well. When it is still unripe the fruit is greenish with light purple stripes. The stripes get darker and the green turns yellow when ripe. Don't expect a delicious rockmelon taste though! It tastes somewhat bland; like a cucumberish wintermelon. Very refreshing though, and much like a cucumber, it tastes like pure summer to me   :-)

Pepino flower and fruit/Boomspanspek blom en vruggie

A Pepino is part of the nightshade family, to which a tomato and potato belongs too. A fact quickly made apparent by the striking similarities between the aforementioned plants' flowers. I am still amazed how quickly my Pepino produced its first small fruit. This after bringing it back from the verge of death just a few short months earlier! I am suitably impressed, and very chuffed! Now I can't wait to get a harvest big enough to try making some Pepino Chutney or sauces yum...

Solanum muricatum fruit/vruggie

Botanical Name: SOLANUM MURICATUM
Common Name: Pepino, Pepino Dulce, Fruit Salad Plant
Volksnaam: Pepino, Boomspanspek
Native to: Peru, Colombia and other neighbouring Andean countries
Date planted/sowed: Planted 12 June 2013 (winter)
Ease to grow: Very easy to grow but needs sufficient water and rich, composted soil
Costs: no input costs
Notes: Produces first fruit within 4 months of planting

South African Container Gardening. Kleinskaalse tuinmaak in die Tuinroete

The one problem all backyard farmers and urban gardeners share is surely the lack of space. While I would love to plant an orchard of apple trees, another of various peaches, a few exotics like loquats and avocados, space; or the lack thereof, simply makes this impossible. Oh, and the mother, who is filled with dread at any mention of planting a new tree! Not only do I face space problems as far as fruit trees go, but also for smaller shrubs and even vegetables. My backyard is tiny, so there's only so much lawn I can take out, and most of the front yard is outside the boundary wall. I can't plant vegetables there, because I want to actually harvest some for myself...

What to do?

The answer most obviously lies in container gardening. Filling every container I already own, and getting new ones made by the father. Sulke pragtige hout bakke; hoe trots is ek!

The first thing I planted in a container was a Cape gooseberry I received as a gift from a colleague. I added two smaller ones in the same plastic container. So far so good. It's just that the area I had it in earlier was too windy in winter and too sunny in summer. Note to self; choose a sheltered spot for Cape gooseberries.

Cape Gooseberries in plastic container/Appelliefies in plastiese houer

The next thing to go into a container were herbs. My family isn't big into "volksvreemde kruie" (strange herbs) so I went for curly and flat-leaf parsley. The same container got a pest-repellant marigold in and a strawberry plant or two. I was quite chuffed with the arrangement, although the parsley grew so rampantly, it kind of overshadowed the strawberries:

Parsley and Strawberry container plus Nasturtiums

Kappertjie bak en Pietersielie plus Aarbei bak in agtergrond

Next I had to beg and plead and go down on my knees for quite a few weeks with the father. You see, he promised me a few wooden containers, but none was forthcoming. After a little bit more irritating pleading I got my way... and three amazing containers! In the first one I sowed cucamelons, as recommended by James Wong. I also sowed chives, but have had no success with them so far. The cucamelons only took  3 weeks to germinate, and the germination rate was quite good as well. Maybe I don't have the right technique for chives yet? I decided on yarrow as the companion plant to repel pests. Two out of the three has come on beautifully:

Yarrow and cucamelons at back/Duisendblad plante en Mexikaanse Suurkomkommertjies

The smallest container would get a few more herbs I thought, but in the end I settled on a comfrey plant, garden mint and a small sowing of Pak Choi. The reasoning behind this combination was that garden mint would be quite useful in summer drinks, and pak choi is apparently a hardy lettuce-like Asian vegetable. It can grow in much warmer conditions than plain lettuce, without bolting or dying. Comfrey is a gardener's best friend, according to some blogs I've read, especially African Aussie. This is because it puts valuable nitrogen back into the soil. So I had to plant at least one:

Pak Choi sowed in front, garden mint left and comfrey right/Tuinment links en Smeerwortel regs

The medium-sized container was a toss-up. At first I wanted to plant some sweet potato slips there, but then I planted those in our front garden. The plan changed to lettuce and green peppers, but our backyard would be too hot and sunny in summer for the former, so I settled on potatoes. Originally I wanted to plant my potatoes in tyre staggers, but after reading horrifying stories about heavy metals leeching into the soil, and therefore into my beautiful homegrown tatties, this plan was abandoned. Now I had to fit 6 potatoes in one smallish container. Lets hope it works:

The Potato Container/Die Aartappelbak

Last but not least was a flat, wooden container the granny and I revitalised. Although it gets mostly shade our thyme seems to do well in it, but since I also bought normal lettuce the green peppers that filled the rest of the container had to go. We also turned the container around, so the thyme would get most sun, and the lettuce very little. Out with the old, and in with the new. Hope this experiment pays of...

Thyme in the background and Lettuce to the front/Tiemie en Blaarslaai

I'm very keen on seeing whether this type of gardening produces good results. I guess it's a waiting game now...

The Inspiration. Die Inspirasie

Once upon a time long, long ago, when I was still in primary school I already had a garden of my own. I guess my parents inspired me, since they are the most passionate gardeners ever! Since those days in the mid-90s gardening has always been a passion, albeit a neglected one after high school.

Then, about five months ago I watched a programme called 'Grow Your Own Drugs' by James Wong on satellite TV. He was so enthusiastic about his subject matter that I started to read up about him and his campaign.

Which, in turn, got me to clap my hands in glee at the idea behind his "Homegrown Revolution". My head was filled with all the wonderful and exotic edibles I could grow right here in my yard on the Garden Route in South Africa. And so the bug bit...

I wanted to plant a Japanese Quince, so I got one, all the way from a nursery in Bloemfontein:

Japanese Quince or Flowering Quince/Japanese Kweper of Blomkweper (Chaenomeles japonica)

Since James (Wong, that is) made such a beautiful-looking Rumtopf with the mini-quinces and Chilean Guavas, my next plan of action was to get myself one of those. Unfortunately, I didn't have any success in finding even one Chilean Guava (Ugni molinae) in South Africa. In the end I settled for a species more familiar to me:

Cherry or Strawberry Guava/Aarbeikoejawel (Psidium cattleianum)

 The Cherry Guava, as it is known in this neck of the woods, is classified as an invasive species in the RSA, especially in the humid sub-tropical provinces, so be careful before planting it though! They tend to fruit profusely and easily. The small tree had three guavas when I got it already. Oh boy; beware of fruit-flies though, as they adore these delicious dark-red to purple fruits just as much as we do. Pick them when they are just slightly red, and let them ripen completely indoors.

The other exotic recommended by James Wong I just had to have was a Physalis peruviana, or two, or three. He refers to them as 'Inca Berries', but over here in South Africa we call them Cape Gooseberries or Appelliefies. I simply love the Afrikaans name 'Appelliefie', which means something like "little love-apple". It is just as adorable as the fruit itself. Although they are not indigenous they are widely known and grown, sometimes popping up left, right and centre on own accord. It was quite easy to source four small plants, of which the biggest one was a gift from a colleague:

Cape Gooseberry or Inca Berry/Appelliefie (Physalis peruviana)

Well, a boy's gotta start somewhere I guess! With these exotic fruit planted and the gardening bug firmly entrenched, I just couldn't wait to get started with the vegetable patch :-)