In 2014, wildlife biologist John Brickhill moved to Canberra from Griffith NSW where he had worked with the National Parks and Wildlife Service for 38 years. He had lived for decades on a twenty hectare bush block and, on old crop land, he planted hundreds of trees and shrubs but fruit trees were thwarted by birds, wallabies and ten years of drought.
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The house he bought in Latham has a large block and backs onto the Umbagong Regional Park which contains Ginninderra Creek. The garden, which has bushland views, had a large white mulberry and small black mulberry trees, an espaliered apple, six nectarines and two apricot trees as well as a chook run with small hen house.
John has added to the orchard in the chook run with two plum trees, two apples, two peach trees and a nectarine on dwarfing rootstocks. He has four Isa Brown hens purchased from Country Cacklers at Jamison Trash-n-Treasure markets. The new fruit trees are to provide shade for the hens and they can eat the fallen fruit. The plan is to net this whole area to exclude larger birds and possums.
Roaming around the garden in all their plump beauty are two Buff Orpington hens that were raised from eggs by John's daughters.
The raised vegetable garden is impressive. In one bed are rows of cabbage, cauliflower and purple sprouting broccoli, silver beet and pak choy ready for harvesting. Rocket, mizuna and Italian parsley seeds have been broadcast under nectarine trees.
The bountiful crops attest to the perfect compost made using the three slatted box method. John uses fallen leaves from his garden and the neighbours and wild pigeon droppings bagged at a local roosting site. The garden beds also get sheep manure and, recently, John learnt the value of stable waste as garden mulch and a gift bag of alpaca manure from the Bungendore district sits in pride of place on his deck.
During April, John planted Monaro purple seed garlic which has started shooting. The garlic came from Hazelwood farm near Braidwood which is run by Sarah and Wayne Merriman who also sell at Braidwood Farmers Market. Last year's garlic from Jamison market and was the Tasmanian purple longneck variety which John harvested it before Christmas and made into garlic plaits.
Summer sowing of butternut pumpkin seed produced three plants each with eight fruit ready for harvest. John roast the pumpkin seeds at 150C for 20 minutes to make a nutty-tasting snack.
The first of this autumn's butternuts was used to make pumpkin gnocchi, a simple recipe devised by John after adapting a number of recipes online. To accompany the gnocchi, John serves his red sauce made to his own recipe, developed over the years for vegetarian members of his family.
Butternut Gnocchi
1kg butternut pumpkin (about half a medium sized one, stalk end)
3 cups plain flour, and more for rolling out gnocchi
Peel and cut pumpkin into 2cm cubes and steam until soft. Mash and leave until warm.
Add flour, and mix into pumpkin, creating a dough. Take one tbsp dough and roll out on a floured board/bench, creating a 'snake" about 1.5cm thick. (Children love to help here!) Using a floured knife, cut into 1.5cm lengths. Drop dough into large pot of salted boiling water, and when gnocchi rises to the surface, cook for another minute, them remove with a slotted spoon. Serve with a red sauce and parmesan cheese.
John's Vegetarian Red Sauce
1 onion
quarter cup red lentils
half cup red wine
half cup water
800g crushed/chopped tomatoes
140g tomato paste
5 cloves garlic
2 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped
1 tbsp thyme, finely chopped
about 20 fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
quarter cup olive oil
salt and pepper
Chop onion and simmer gently olive oil until translucent, in medium-large pot. Add sweet potato, lentils, red wine, tomatoes, tomato paste, water, garlic, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper. Bring to boil, simmer for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in basil and spoon over gnocchi. (Makes enough for 6 small-medium servings).
Giveaway results
The winner of our giveaway (Kitchen Garden April 11) for copies of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Leftovers and Mark Diacono's Fruit was Anne McHenry of Torrens. We had suggestions for honey plum cake, banana cake, fruit pie, fruit to top a teacake and, from Helen Stevens of Reid for Dust Bin Soup adapted from a recipe originally found on the inside back cover of the 40th edition of The Goulburn Cookery Book compiled by Mrs Forster Rutledge in 1899.
Dust Bin Soup is made from soft peel from root vegetables, tops of onions, green tops of celery, outside leaves of cabbage, rinds of cheese and bacon plus bread crusts, oven crisped, as croutons. We are sure Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall would approve.
The winner of The Bee Friendly Garden was Ryan Keenan of Braddon who is putting in a Flow Hive. To attract bees, readers suggested lemongrass, Salvia 'Cambridge Blue', dill, rosemary, coriander, lavender, citrus trees, and mint to deter ants.
Susan Parsons is a Canberra writer.
