Pesto – more than basil
Pesto is usually associated with basil, and yes I agree, it’s a wonderful flavour, but you can also make pesto from all kinds of garden greens or better still, a wondrous blend.

Today in my foraging, I harvested three types of basil, parsley, rocket, welsh onions, society garlic, cranberry hibiscus and sorrel. I blended these together with some toasted ground sunflower seeds, the juice of a lime and some olive oil and created an amazingly simple, but superbly flavoured pesto that can be used for all kinds of things, such as:

• pasta (veggie spirals are great with this)
• bruschetta (it’s great on the organic wood-fired local sourdough bread)
• soup
• salad
• dip

Extend the harvest
Often when the basil is on, it’s on! Making pesto is a great way to appreciate this abundance. I typically make up a big batch, then freeze in an ice cube tray. It’s a great way to extend the basil harvest.

Super greens for the kids
Also, because you can include any number of leafy greens, it is actually a great way to get your kids to eat an enormous dose of very nourishing greens.

MY GARDEN PESTO RECIPE

Here’s what I use for a really lovely texture of smooth pesto. As you can see, it’s more of a ratio I am suggesting here rather than exact ingredients. There is huge flexibility in the types of greens. It varies soo widely between seasons and regions!

Ingredients

• 2 cups leaves from your garden (basil or mixed greens – garlic chives, welsh onion, rocket, parlsey, mizuna, kale, spinach, silverbeet, pumpkin, sorrel, cranberry hibiscus, Brazilian spinach, nasturtium, and ‘weeds’ too like chickweed … )

• 1 lime/lemon, juiced

• 1/4 cup raw or toasted ground seeds/nuts (I use a coffee grinder)

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 1/3 cup parmesan

NB: The leaves and flowers of the garlic chives replace the garlic in typical pesto recipes. It tastes great!

Method

Basically I just toss all the ingredients into a food processor and buzz until smooth, then spatula it all into a mason jar. It’s important to tap it down to ensure there are no air bubbles in the mix (will oxidise/go brown where there are bubbles) and I top it off with a little oil to keep it fresh. I store this in the fridge for about a week or two, but it doesn’t usually last that long though.  If you want to store it longer, it’s a good idea to freeze it.

The post Morag Gamble’s super pesto recipe using simple garden greens (8 mins) appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

This 9 minute film (click link below to watch) shows how to simply make a super delicious cold remedy from easy-to-grow plants in the garden.  I love that my medicine cabinet is in my kitchen garden surrounding my house and that I can just go outside and pluck fresh herbs and leaves with superb vitality to help sooth a cough and cold when I need it for me and my family.

There are so many great herbs to use in each climatic region.   Here at this time of year, some great ones are:

1. lemon myrtle
2. peppermint
3. menthol mint
4. oregano
5. sacred basil
6. turmeric
7. ginger

Today, I also added organic cinnamon and some raw honey to the blend – mmmm ….delicious and very soothing. Just what I need right now.

I’ve written about the brew I made yesterday and listed a few additional plants – lemon, orange peel, lemon balm, thyme. Each brew I make is slightly different which keeps it interesting.

What is your favourite cold remedy from your garden?

[DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor or natural therapist. The information in this blog post and the associated film is based on personal research, conversations with lots of knowledgeable people, and years of experimenting. Please make up your own mind about whether you think it is useful.]

The post My Medicinal Garden: 7 Super Plants For A Delicious Common Cold Remedy – Film #13 (9 mins) appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

The types of plants growing in there now in this winter garden are: many types of lettuce, rocket/arugula, coriander/cilantro, green mustard spinach, red mustard spinach, frilly mustard spinach, sacred basil, sorrel, cherry tomato, parsley, snow peas, garlic chives, fennel, carrots, Brazilian spinach, English Spinach, Welsh onions, ruby chard, curly kale, Mexican tarragon and broccoli – and more….

I plant more lettuces every couple of weeks so that I always have young tender leaves. I like them the best.

Mix of open hearted lettuces – just a leaf or two off each every day.

My instinct is that a diet of diverse plants, which all accumulate different vitamins and minerals in their leaves, has got to be a good thing. I just walk around picking a leaf of this and a leaf of that – and the salad tastes AMAZING!  I toss in a few legumes, and possibly some olives or fetta cheese , or tahini, sunflower seeds, cubed tofu and toasted sesame seeds…mmmm! Oh, and a slurp of apple cider vinegar.

I use the leaves and flowers of the garlic chives (Society Garlic)

Even in a series of small pots, you can grow so much salad –  using those self-watering milk bottle pots I mentioned last time is a super simple way to get started. There are just so many places we can grow things, even if we don’t have our own gardens – community garden … on the verge… at school …. at work … balcony … rooftop … courtyard …. windowbox ….?

Where do you grow your salad garden?
What is your favourite salad mix?

Brazilian spinach is an abundant perennial

Sacred basil – not only food and flavour, but habitat too.

If you live in the region, come and explore my garden with me during my Permaculture Life series of practical workshops – particularly The Simple and Abundant Garden session if you’re into the gardening side of things.

Registration and More Information

The post Grow Your Own Healthy Salad Garden – Simple, Diverse, Abundant appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

I filmed my talk about Incredible Edibles at the Kitchen Garden Stage of the incredibly popular Queensland Garden Expo on July 10. In this talk, I share my passion for and knowledge about some of my favourite plants and strategies. The plants I talk about here are also very helpful for verge gardeners, small-space gardeners, and community gardeners.

Congratulations and thank you to all the volunteers who set up the WONDERFUL edible demonstration gardens at the Expo with the verge garden theme – a huge effort!! It was great to ramble through it with Costa Georgiadis, Jerry Coleby-Williams and chat with old and new friends.

This recording is 42 mins.

FILMING NOTE: This is the first time I have tried to film my own talk (I usually have a helper) and of course, I forgot about the camera. At one stage I moved too close – oops – half a head.  A few minutes later I realise and move back again – please excuse this!

Take a look at my other short films:

In my award-winning garden, Crystal Waters Permaculture Village.

Film #2: Our Permaculture Life: Community Permaculture Garden (9 mins 30 secs)


At the Yandina Community Gardens – I’ll be teaching a Permaculture course there each Friday from 23 September.

In my award-winning garden, Crystal Waters Permaculture Village

The post Film #4: Incredible Edibles Talk with Morag Gamble at the QLD Garden Expo appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

In this 33 minute film, I take you on an in-depth guided tour of my edible landscape – the kitchen garden and food forest – sharing design ideas, permaculture strategies, and my low-input garden philosophy. I also show you how I integrate the 55 useful plants listed below into my garden system.

Many thanks to my brother Gregor, who came up from Melbourne to help me start creating films for my blog. This was our first film project together in 10 years and we had a great time making it.

Here’s the link to the film – the first video in my youtube channel where I upload films about our permaculture life each week

If you enjoyed that, take a look at my next short films:

Film #2: Our Permaculture Life: Community Permaculture Garden (9 mins 30 secs)
Film #3: How to Make Comfrey Tea with Morag Gamble (4 mins 52 secs)

Learn about Permaculture Gardening, Design and Teaching

If you want to find out even more about creating a resilient garden that is consciously designed to conserve water, enliven soils, create food forests and abundant kitchen gardens join me in  The Incredible Edible Garden online course.

Take it the next step and become a certified permaculture designer and permaculture teacher in my Permaculture Educators Program – a comprehensive online course.

The post My Permaculture Garden by Morag Gamble appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

At the moment, the bowl of mandarins on our table is always full.

Besides the Tahitian limes and some lemons, this mandarin is the first of the citrus to come on this season in my garden. We are now closely watching the blood oranges, navel oranges, ruby grapefruits, Buddha’s hand (citron), lemonades, and tangellos.

• the scent – the flowers have an incredible scent, but so do the ripe fruits. I love the smell when someone is opening a mandarin.  It’s easy to make a citrus room spray (I need another post for that one).
• the colour – orange is my favourite colour – a bright happy positive colour – some walls on the main house are mandarin orange.
• its abundance
• its hardiness
• its ease of growth
• the versatility of its fruit

7 Ways We Regularly Use Mandarin Fruit

Apart from just peeling and eating the mandarin fresh in the garden, we love them in:

1. fruit salad
2. juice – squeezed in a citrus juice – straight or blended with other citrus fruits such as orange and lemondade
3. salad – segments tossed in
4. salad dressing – add freshly squeezed juice
5. dinner – scatter segments on top of a stir fry
6. teas – dry the the peel and use in teas
7. baking – sugar-free mandarin and chocolate cake is delicious. I just toss an entire mandarin into the food processor while mixing up a sugar-free chocolate cake, or make mandarin poppy-seed muffins. Here is my recipe for  sugar-free choc-banana cake – just swap over the fruits.

There are of course just so many ways to use mandarins – too many ways to describe here. They freshen up breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Then there are many ways to preserve mandarin too – bottling, drying, jams and marmalades, sorbets.

5 Ways We Use the Mandarin Peel

1. Soup – toss in a little segment of peel while cooking
2. Rice and quinoa – add a small segment of peel to the cooking water
3. Tea – use by itself or as a blend with other teas or herbs.
4. Baking – grind up and add a lovely zesty flavour to many cakes, biscuits, muffins and icing
5. Homemade Chocolate – cacao, coconut butter, coconut oil, stevia and ground mandarin peel. Here’s the recipe:

Super-Easy Sugar-Free Mandarin Chocolate

• 100 grams raw cacao butter 
• 100 grams raw, extra virgin coconut oil
• 30grams cacao powder
• 4 drops stevia – or to taste
• 1 tspn ground mandarin peel

• Melt the cacao butter and coconut oil over a low heat.
• Just as it melts, add the cacao powder, mandarin peel and stevia and mix well.
• Pour into moulds – mini cupcake baking cups work well.
• Put it into the freezer to set.
• Store in an airtight container

Dried mandarin peel can also be used as: a gentle face scrub (grind dried mandarin, mix with honey, put on face for 5-10 minutes then wash off) even a moth repellent  (place dried peel in your cupboard).

Gifting Abundance

 

Our abundance – our Imperial Mandarin tree is now covered in fruit.

A Little Mandarin History

Did you know that the mandarin, citron and pomelo are the ancestors of most of the other citrus? Mandarins are the only sweet ones of these original citrus and therefore really important to the development of all the sweet citrus we have grown to love.

Mandarin was originally from Southeast Asia but has ended up around the world. It was highly prized in China and the bright golden glow has long been considered to be an auspicious symbol of good fortune and abundance. Originally mandarins were strictly reserved for royalty. Mandarin is actually named after the deep orange robes traditionally worn by Mandarins – high ranking Chinese officials of the Imperial Court. 

 

In 1805 a few mandarin trees were taken to England from China, and eventually they ended up here in Australia where they are now a prized fruit. 

 

A few of the Hickson Mandarins are starting to turn and will be mostly ready from June-August.

Planning for Mandarin Abundance

At our place, we love them so much, we planned our garden to have mandarins from May until October – the entire growing season.  To do this, I researched what mandarins were suited to my region and planted a few varieties to keep us in fruit throughout this time. We have:

Early Season Mandarins

• Imperial (May) is the first Mandarin to harvest each year in my garden. This is an old Australian variety from Sydney (circa 1890). It is a small-medium fruit that is easy to peel and has few seeds. We’ve been eating these for about two weeks already.

 

Mid Season Mandarins

• Hickson (June – August) is the very popular mid-season mandarin. It originated in Queensland in 1941. It has bright orange skin, is easy to peel later in the season when the skin becomes slightly puffy and loose.
• Emperor (June – August) is an excellent large fruit that is easy to peel and segment and has few seeds.

 

Late Season

• Honey Murcott (August – September) is an attractive medium-large fruit with excellent flavour.  It is sweet and great for juicing.

 

Plant Mandarins With Complementary Plants

To help Mandarins grow and to make the best use of space in my garden, I plant my fruit trees with a group of complementary plants. For example, underneath my Imperial Mandarin tree are:

 

• Sacred basil to attract bees.
• Aloe vera which likes the shade and can tolerate dry conditions.
• Comfrey to feed the plant and provide mulch.
• Brazilian spinach – which is shade tolerant, drought-hardy and works as a living mulch.

 

Growing Mandarins

For most of the year Mandarins can pretty much look after themselves, but here’s a couple of tips:

• When planting, prepare the hole with a good amount of chook manure and water it in well.
• Place mandarins where they can get at least 5 hours of sunlight. It’s often recommended that they have full sun, but I have observed that in these warmer parts, some of my healthiest looking citrus actually get a good deal of shade through the day.
• Mandarin plants are drought-hardy, but for good fruiting they do need water and well-drained soil. It’s better to water deeply less often. Make sure you keep up the moisture as the fruit is forming
• Give a really good feed twice a year in February and August. I use chook manure and compost. (pots need feeding every 6-8 weeks)

 

Mandarins for Small Gardens

If you have limited space but still would like a variety of mandarins, try:

• multi-grafted varieties – where a branch of a range of varieties is grafted onto a strong rootstock
• ‘duo’ planting – where you plant two fruit trees in the same hole. This is sometimes preferable to multi-grafted varieties that may end up having one dominant variety take over.
• grow your mandarin a large pot – preferably a dwarf variety, although being in a pot will ensure it remains dwarf anyway.

 

Enjoy the delicious flavours and juiciness of mandarin season!

 

Coming soon in my garden are the abundant ruby grapefruits which are starting to get yellow with red patches.

 

 

 

The post 12 Ways to Use Abundant Mandarins (fruit & peel) including Homemade Sugar-free Mandarin Chocolate appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

There is so much to say about lemongrass, but I think I’ll start with using it as a tea. Lemongrass tea is refreshing and healthy – both the leaves and culms can be used.  It is great by itself or blended with other herbs and spices.

I love this blend of Lemongrass tea – with Lemon Myrtle, tulsi with cinnamon, ginger, honey and coriander seed – here’s my recipe for this great coffee alternative.

I grow lots of tea plants in mt garden, but Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) would have to be one of my favourites, along with Rosella, Tulsi, Turmeric and Lemon Myrtle.

Lemongrass tea has so many positive benefits. The leaves contain antioxidants and are high in folic acid, vitamin C and vitamin B and many other active ingredients.  It helps to fight colds and build your immune system and offer relief from pain.

Lemongrass Tea is Uplifting

Lemongrass Tea Soothes Headaches

Lemongrass Tea Soothes Colds

Lemongrass Tea Aids Detox

Lemongrass Tea Helps Reduce Stomach Problems

Lemongrass Tea is Safe For Children

Sundried lemongrass from yesterday’s harvest. We have several kilograms in process.

Three of my favourite Lemongrass tea blends…

Lemongrass, Turmeric and Ginger Tea

This is a great blend for a daily immune boost. Sweetened with a bit of raw honey or stevia it makes a delicious drink – hot or cold. If I am feeling the need for a bit of a ‘pick me up’ I make enough in the morning so I can have a hot cup for breakfast then fill my water bottle and sip throughout the day.

Lemongrass and Tulsi Tea

Lemongrass tulsi tea is another superb combination. Tulsi, Sacred Basil, is an ancient Ayurvedic herb. Tulsi is energising and supports immune system health.

Lemongrass and Rosella Tea

I love the colour and fruity flavour combination of Lemongrass Rosella tea. It’s a healthy blend – Rosella is high in vitamin C and lemongrass helps fight colds.

The kids love this tea too.

About Lemongrass

Lemongrass, a native to Southeast Asia, grows into massive clumps here in my garden in the subtropics. One stalk planted quickly becomes 100. In the tropics and subtropics it is a perennial plant. It can be grown in cooler climates but may need to be brought inside during the winter.

In the garden, it helps to repel mosquitos  – when brushed past, the leaves release a lovely lemony scent.  When we brush cut a contour hedge of it, our whole garden smells amazing.

Growing Lemongrass

Just one clump provides most people with enough lemongrass for their tea needs. In warmer climates it is super easy to grow and propagate.

Simply start with one plant then keep dividing the clump and planting out more (or giving away plants).

You can also grow new plants from the stems you buy, as long as they still have their base on. Place these in a jar of water for a few days until new roots form then plant out or pot up.

I often give my lemongrass clumps a haircut to promote fresh new leaf growth – to make the most of the leaves before they brown-off somewhat during winter (we typically have a few frosts).  I just did this and have dried a lot for tea. Much more to do.  I have so much lemongrass, I am going to do a lot of chop and drop around the food forest to build organic matter.

For culinary uses, I harvest lemongrass at anytime. I just cut off a few leaves from each clump, and take a few side stems if I want to use the base.

The post Feel good: Fight Colds: Reduce Headaches: Build your Immune System – Grow Lemongrass appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

The fresh healthy foods eating straight from the garden bring so many health benefits, but so do the many herbs, flowers, fruits and weeds that can be used as refreshing and healing teas.

My edible lanscape wraps around the house – food, spices, teas and natural remedies always at hand.

Two of my favourite garden teas are Rosella and Lemon Myrtle, and Lemongrass and Peppermint. I love their colours, aroma and taste. Uplifting, refreshing and cleansing. 

Maia and Hugh enjoying a cup of iced rosella tea.

Here is a small selection of teas that can be made from plants in a permaculture garden, and a brief listing of just some of the benefits they can bring.  There are of course so many more healing herbs, flowers, fruits and roots – and so many more benefits from these plants…

Chamomile

Chickweed

Dandelion

Elderberry

Ginger root

Gota kola

Lavender

Lemon Balm

Lemon Myrtle – many benefits – said to relieve muscle cramps and spasms, rheumatism, headaches and fevers. The anti-oxidants in citral help boost the immune system. It is an refreshing and calming tea.

Lemon Myrtle – an Australian native tree.

Lemongrass cut for tea

Peppermint

Rosella bush

Strawberry leaves – the dried leaves make a great tea that is a tonic and tones up the body’s intestines and appetite. It cleanses the stomach and is good for eczema and to prevent night sweats.

Strawberry leaf

Mexican tarragon

Tulsi tea – also a bee attractor.

Thyme

The post 16 Mighty Homegrown Teas: The Healing Powers of Your Edible Garden appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

Our diversity garden includes flowers, herbs, vegetables, fruits, perennials, self-seeding annuals, natives, water, lots of worm towers, a moveable compost bin, lots of organic matter and thick mulch.

I like to think of it as a peaceful way of gardening – about being mindful and observant in the garden. I don’t do ‘pest management’. I don’t fight pests or disease. Instead I observe and work with nature to create a ‘cultivated ecology’ – an ecological balance in the garden that has resilience. 

I do not use any sprays or traps – natural or chemical.  Even natural sprays can harm beneficial insects which help to pollinate and keep pest insects under control. 

Without any spraying or ‘active’ methods of pest management, the vegetables in my garden look amazingly healthy and unaffected by pests. There is always lots of flowers (mostly seeding vegetables) that attract beneficial and predatory insects into the garden.

Instead I work to create healthy dynamic soil environment that supports healthy robust plants, and I invite many helpers into the garden that will help to keep the balance.

Small Insectiverous birds have declined in the cities. They are vulnerable to predation from the bigger birds that do well in the cities such as currawongs, noisy miners, butcherbirds.   Also in cities, there is less habitat for insects (their food) and often people spray insects (poisioning their food). Image: www.birdsqueensland.org.au

I feel that an important part of this approach is in the way I perceive the garden and the insects, and manage my expectations.  For example:

• I expect that there will be some damage. 
• I accept that various insects come in flushes. 
• I understand that things come back into balance in a healthy system even though there may be times of chaos and uncertainty. 
• I accept diversity and difference and hold a more flexible notion of what is ‘perfect’. Did you know that we waste up 40% of crops at the farm because they do not conform a certain aesthetic. This is beginning to change with the ‘ugly food movement’ – but who is to say it’s ‘ugly’. It is just natural!
• I am also quite certain that ‘holes cook well’.  For example, I cannot tell the slightest difference in taste between a silverbeet leaf with a whole in it and one without.

Holes cook well too!

My ‘do-nothing’ pest management approach is primarily about cultivating residence. My strategy includes:

1. Selecting plants well. By choosing plants that are seasonal, locally adapted and hardy they are more robust and resilient.
2. Planting at the right time. I do not expect plants to flourish in conditions that not conducive to their growth.
3. Keeping plants healthy. Healthy plants are more resilient to pests. I make sure the soil is healthy, that the soil fertility is maintained, the soil temperature kept relatively stable with mulch, and I maintain the organic matter in the soil to hold soil mositure and diminish the water stress of the plants.
4. Building healthy soil. Healthy soil nourishes the plants over time and supports their healthy development. Healthy plants are less prone to pest attack.
5. Watering deeply. As far as possible, I try to rely on rainfall to water the garden- setting up terraces, swales, and adding lots of organic matter and mulching thickly. When things are really dry, I will water but give the soil a big long soak. This encourages the plants to root deeply seeking out that deeply soaked water  – and nutrients. If plants are watered regularly with just a little bit, they form shallower roots. These plants are more vulnerable to heat, dry and pests because they are stressed. 
6. Perennialising plants. Where possible, I encourage plants to keep producing over a long period of time, just harvesting the edge leaves. The deeper and stronger root system they form makes them more resilient. Disturbing the soil less also helps to cultivate good soil structure.
7. Creating habitat for my helpers. Growing a diversity of plants helps to develop a cultivated ecology which provides homes for a range of species that become helpers. An example of this is insectiverous birds (there are many more that I will write about another time). I attract these little feathered helpers into my garden by providing protection from predators. This means cultivating dense bushes and layers of cover – such as native shrubs, sacred basil, dwarf fruit trees and plants like pelargonium. It is also essential to ensure a constant supply of water. Importantly too, is leaving materials and spaces for nests – not cleaning up too much. For more information: http://birds of queensland.org.au

Superb Fairy Wren (Image: www.birdsqueensland.org.au)

As well as supporting the ecological development of your edible landscape system, this approach gives you more time to sit back and relax, and ENJOY your garden.

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