Letter From Down Under 6

New Zealand proved to be surprisingly interesting as regards heritage vegetables. And I quickly learnt my limits when it came to gorging kiwifruits. But I will never get used to calling oca "yam".

Kiwifruit pruning takes a while to master, but Marty Robinson was the man to teach us. We’d decided to see out the remaining days of winter in Northland, New Zealand’s “Winterless North” and took the opportunity to do some WWOOFing at Kerikeri Organics, run by Marty and his wife Tina.  In addition to hacking back the rampant growth, we learnt about “cracking” – realigning branches along the wires by a chiropractic-style manipulation - and the ratio of male to female plants required for effective pollination.  Part payment for our efforts came in the form of vegetables from the farm shop and as many organic kiwifruit as we could eat, which is surprisingly few after the first ten.

We borrowed the ute (pick-up truck) one day to visit nearby Waitangi, where, in 1840, the British and many Maori chiefs signed the Treaty which is regarded as the foundation stone of the nation of New Zealand.  Some Maoris believe that it has yet to be honoured properly by the Government.  The Whare Runanga (Maori meeting house) and Waka (war canoe) are elaborately carved and powerful affirmations of the vigour and vitality of Maori culture.  A waka full of Maori warriors with moko (facial tattoos) hurtling towards their enemies must have been a bloodcurdling sight.  The many Maoris who gave us lifts while in Northland, the Maori heartland, seemed to be a friendly and affable lot by comparison.

We also took the opportunity to visit the enormous Kauri trees in Waipoua Forest.  Extensively felled by the European settlers, Kauri (Agathis australis) covered huge areas of Northland.  Thankfully some big trees survive, including Tane Mahuta, New Zealand’s biggest tree, which can only be described as awesome, not for its height so much as for its huge cylindrical trunk.

With spring on its way, we headed back down to Auckland.  En route we stopped off at Kaiwaka in the Brynderwyn Hills, to meet Kay Baxter.  Kay runs Koanga Gardens, a trust whose aim is to collect and preserve New Zealand heirloom plants, particularly vegetables and make them available to the public along with records of their use. Kay believes these plants are “Taonga”, that is a national treasure and should be treated accordingly. After a brief tour of the gardens on a particularly wet and windy day, Kay took us down to the seed room, a converted dairy, to view her treasures.  If I had assumed that New Zealand was a bit of a desert when it came to the genetic diversity of its crops, I was clearly mistaken.  Among the varieties Kay offers are: Dalmatian Cabbage, brought over by Yugoslavians who harvested Kauri gum and one of the few cabbages that can be grown for seed in Northland’s humid climate – most varieties rot; the King George Bean, stolen from the King’s garden by a thieving gardener and brought to New Zealand by his descendants; Maori Corn (maize) from Hokianga, traditionally used to make Kaanga Pirau, a fermented product, involving dunking the cobs in water for a few weeks; various tomatoes adapted to the New Zealand climate and Maori squashes like the exotic sounding Kumikumi.

It was the potatoes, however, that really caught my eye.  Kay has a collection of about thirty varieties of “Riwai” or Maori potatoes of assorted colours and shapes.  Many appear to be andigena types – knobbly with deepset eyes and flecked skins.  Kay believes, as others do, that potatoes reached New Zealand prior to European colonisation. The mysterious Waitaha Nation, who supposedly established themselves on New Zealand over a thousand years ago, are credited with the introduction.  Strangely, one of the varieties with purple skin and white eyes is traditionally known as “Peruperu”, perhaps a reflection of its country of origin.  The possibility of a pre-European origin to the Riwai is being investigated by Graham Harris from the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand.  Other types included “Karoro” a spud that somewhat resembled Lumpers and was eaten by Maoris when collecting and preserving muttonbirds (sooty shearwaters). One variety I did recognise – the old HSL favourite Urenika, with purple skin and flesh.  This is considered by the Chatham Islanders to be a strongly “male” variety that impregnates other types and is grown apart to maintain varietal purity.

Kay also has several different varieties of “yams” as oca (Oxalis tuberosa) is known, somewhat confusingly, in New Zealand, as well as kumara, the sweet potato, in various colours.  These old varieties of kumara had specific purposes; Kay told me that the large pink variety she unearthed for us was fed specifically to young children, invalids and the elderly; another type was a sacred plant “Taputini” that was grown in baskets then moved up rivers and trails as an offering to the gods. Others have exceptional flavour “like particularly good roasted chestnuts” and all are heirlooms, recently received by Kay from gardeners in Northland.

Our next stop was the Auckland suburb of Avondale, famed for its large spiders, which featured in the film “Arachnophobia” and its Polynesian market.  We had come to see neither, but ended up encountering both.  No, our destination was King’s Seeds, run by Ross King, who we had met at the Diggers Camp-out in Australia. Ross has one of the largest ranges of flower, herb and vegetable seeds available in New Zealand, including heirlooms and his catalogue is well known and has a good reputation amongst the gardeners we met.  King’s Seeds also deals in essential oils and we spent a few pleasant and fragrant hours decanting these into 250 ml bottles.  As a commercial operation, Ross stocks seeds of the varieties which sell and this made for an interesting contrast with the non-profit organisations I've worked with.

With a population of around 3.5 million, the sales potential for home gardeners is much smaller than in Britain;  Ross, however, has found strength in diversity and continues to offer an excellent range.  For example, nearly 30 varieties of hot chillies and several heirloom tomatoes , including Garden Peach, Big Rainbow and Black Karim.  He also stocks a wide range of oriental vegetables and over ten different chicories, plus 25 lettuces.  He believes in offering the best of the old and new varieties and the bottom line is, those that sell well will remain in the catalogue, those that don’t, won’t.  Unhampered by restrictive EC legislation, the potential range of vegetables commercially available in New Zealand is much wider than in the UK.  King’s Seeds is doing New Zealand gardeners a great service by making such a wide selection available.

Economies of scale dictate that most of the seed Ross sells is produced by growers in Europe, Japan and the US and he and his wife Glenys have travelled widely to establish personal contacts with these companies.  He regaled us with tales about his travels and dealings with various companies and their somewhat eccentric owners. 

Copyright 1997

Letter From Down Under 3

I wonder when I'll next get to eat muntries chutney, wattleseed shortbread and bunya nuts? It's been far, far too long.  

Cann River, a dreary logging town on the Pacific Highway was a hitchhiker's nightmare.  We had begun to despair of ever escaping Victoria.  Then our luck changed, with a series of rides with a forester followed by an abalone poacher and finally an environmental protection officer, who took us straight to our destination - Candelo, New South Wales, a small town in the Bega Valley.

I wanted to learn more about indigenous food plants and how they are used, so it was fortuitous that we found ourselves staying with the appropriately named Jenny Garden.  Jenny is setting up a bush foods garden and education facility and has planted a wide variety of native food plants.  To date, Australia has only produced one crop of world importance - the delicious macadamia nut, but there are many others worthy of international attention. 

Jenny also acts as an agent for a commercial producer of bush food jams, chutneys and preserves.  When we were not tree planting, weeding or chasing errant cows up and down hills, we were able to indulge ourselves.  Quandong jam, muntries chutney, lemon aspen jelly - we managed to empty all of these jars.  Also on the menu were crushed seeds of the mountain pepper bush (hot) and wattleseed shortbread (which disappeared with remarkable rapidity).  It was good to discover, after 200 years of European settlement, a cuisine based on native food stuffs was developing.  Led by innovative restaurants and producers, the bush foods industry is now worth millions of dollars per annum and is expanding rapidly. It seems that the Australian staples of meat pies and fish and chips may yet get their come-uppance.  Some people have questioned the ethics of exploiting these traditional foods and aboriginal knowledge without consultation or adequate financial return to hard pressed indigenous Australians.

These native plants are, as you might expect, well adapted to Australia's climate and many will grow in areas unsuited to European crops.  The quandong (Santalum acuminatum) is a good example.  A bush or small tree producing tasty cherry sized fruits, it grows in dry inland areas with sparse rainfall.  The kernel is also edible with a high oil content and is a good source of protein.  The quandong is a root parasite that taps into the food and water supply of other species which aids its survival in a harsh climate. The selection and propagation of superior varieties is now under way and the Americans and Israelis are also interested in the commercial possibilities of this crop.

Wattleseed is also seen as an important food source of the future. Wattles (Acacia spp) are found throughout Australia and many (though not all) produce edible seeds which can be roasted and ground into a nutritious protein rich flour or used to make beverages.  Aboriginal communities are particularly prone to developing diabetes when traditional eating habits are superseded by western overprocessed and sugar-laden foods.  Wattleseed, a traditional aboriginal food stuff, seems to help reduce the incidence and severity of diabetes and could be harvested and processed on a commercial scale.

Among fruits and berries, one of the most highly regarded is the midyim (Austromyrtus dulcis).  The white fruits are speckled with purple and have a lovely sweet aromatic flavour.  Too bad that Jenny's bushes had yet to bear fruit.  There are many other closely related myrtle bush fruits known collectively as lillypillies, which produce tasty cherry sized fruits. We had our first taste at a scrumping session in the botanical gardens at Wagga Wagga, but that's another story.  Another well known fruit is the Davidson's plum (Davidsonia pruriens), a beautiful rainforest tree with large ginger haired pinnate leaves and bearing grape like clusters of damson sized fruit.  The pulp is particularly tangy and makes a wonderful jam. Once again Jenny's plant was not yet fruiting. 

Perhaps the most impressive nut tree is the bunya nut pine (Araucaria bidwillii).  A close relative of the monkey puzzle, it produces huge cones containing fat, leathery shelled nuts with a delicious starchy flavour. They are usually eaten after boiling or roasting.  They were an important aboriginal food source in parts of southern Queensland, but they will grow elsewhere and are certainly worthy of cultivation, although you wouldn't want the cannonball sized cones dropping on your head.  A few weeks later and further north we were treated to our first bunya nut feed and yes, they do taste good.  Not so impressive was the candlenut (Aleurites moluccana). We were warned by our host not to over indulge in this hard shelled oily nut due to its purgative properties, but to no avail - we spent a day feeling somewhat queasy and rather anxious. We have yet to try the red bopple nut (Hicksbeachia pinnatifolia), a close relative of the macadamia nut with a bright red husk and reckoned to be another commercial possibility.

What of vegetables?  Jenny mentioned the exotic sounding warrigal greens which she had growing in her garden.  When I saw the plant I instantly recognised that it was none other than New Zealand spinach (Tetragonia tetragonoides) whose seed pods floated over to New Zealand at some unknown date to be discovered by Captain Cook.  If only he had gone to Australia first, maybe we would be calling it Sydney spinach instead.

copyright  1997