Category: Posts

My first Heliconia …

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Anyone who lives in the tropics will think this event is quite ho-hum, but for me it’s quite exciting.  For the past three weeks I’ve been watching the development of my very first sub-tropical heliconia flower.

I had begun to give up hope of mine ever flowering, but finally here it is, helped no doubt by the unusually long warm autumn we are having.

Resident insect
Resident Helicona insect

Last night the temperature dropped to 6C, so I don’t like my chances of seeing the remaining heliconias open, but I’m very happy with my very first flower.

More Heliconias to come?
More Heliconias to come?

And there are some other sub-tropical plants blooming at the moment – the Cat’s Whiskers, Brazilian Cloak, Champagne Ginger and the ever crazy Costa Rican Butterfly vine.  Not bad considering Winter officially starts in only six days!

Crazy Costa Ricans
Champagne Ginger
Cat’s Whiskers
Costa Rican Butterfly vine flowers
Brazilian Cloak flower

Badly behaving bamboo …

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Even the best behaved bamboo can get a bit out of control if you turn your back on it.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a “before” photo, so when I say that this is a Slender Weaver’s Bamboo after I cut down 56 monstrous canes ( yes, I counted) you’ll get an idea of just how enthusiastically it was growing.

More than 3 stories high!
More than 3 stories high!

Most of them were pruned with my trusty Fiskars loppers (the Finns certainly know how to make strong, quality cutting tools) but some of the internal canes were so compacted that I had to attack them with an electric grinder! This left the base looking somewhat unattractive.

The ugly result of pruning
The ugly result of pruning

I’ve mentioned before that I have become rather fond of bromeliads, and here’s another reason why …

Looking better with bromeliads
Happy Buddha ?
View from balcony

All I had to do was chop some bromeliads out of an overgrown clump and rescue a rather dejected looking Buddha from under a tree, and voila, no more ugly stumps.

Nowhere to hang my hat …

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My new found obsession is just a little bit out of control …

The rack by the back door where I used to hang my sunhats and gardening accessories is now loaded with eucalyptus leaves (and the occasional hitch hiker) waiting for a dyeing experiment.

No space for my hats
No space for my hats

 

Stick insect - coming or going
Stick insect – coming or going?

I’ve yet to organise a gas bottle for my barbeque so that I can simmer my cauldrons outside, hence my dyeing experiments are still taking place in my kitchen. Which makes it look somewhat like an amateurish meth lab (not that I’d know what one looked like!).

My amateur meth lab!
My amateur meth lab!

I’m forever stopping and staring at trees, trying to work out if the leaves hold any dyeing potential.  I’m keen to try some Eucalyptus citriodora leaves from a tree in my garden, but it poses a bit of a problem, as the lowest leaves are ever so slightly out of reach.

Slightly out of reach
Slightly out of reach

I’ll just have to wait for a storm to send a branch crashing to the ground. In the meantime I’ve been having fun with Lemon Myrtle leaves, and various unidentified eucalypts.

Lilly Pilly t-shirt
Detail from Lilly Pilly t-shirt

One experiment produced a colour akin to radioactive urine (not that I’d know what that looks like either!).

Radioactive urine.jpg

I was tempted to call it a disaster and throw it out, but the results on bamboo fabric and an op shop men’s singlet were really rather wonderful shades of soft smoky lemon.

Eucalyptus t-shirt and bamboo fabric
Detail Eucalyptus t-shirt

Anyway,  I need my kitchen back and I’m way behind on garden jobs, so today I dismantle the meth lab for a couple of weeks.  Watch this space for more alchemy.

Green Mango or Papaya Salad

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Add to the salad
Mix the salad
Green Mango Salad

This is a quick version of a Green Mango salad, it’s not strictly traditional, and I haven’t included any hot chillies but of course you can add to taste.

If you don’t have some of the Asian herbs, substitute with the local version.You could also use your own choice of Asian dressing and bulk the salad up with some rocket or salad greens. As I said, it’s not strictly traditional but it’s very tasty. It serves four as a side dish, or two as a vegetarian meal.

Green Mango or Papaya Salad Recipe

Dressing:

60 ml white vinegar
50 g caster sugar (or less)
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
120 ml olive oil

Salad:

1 wombok (Chinese) cabbage or 2 bags of bean shoots
handful of coriander
handful of Thai basil
handful of Vietnamese mint
1 large red capsicum – julienned
2 green mangoes or a large green papaya – they must be green and very hard

Suggested garnish:

2 fresh limes – cut into quarters
handful roast shallots
handful chopped roast peanuts
handful chopped spring onions
young banana leaves to line the bowl

 

Make the dressing beforehand

Make the dressing by combining all ingredients in a saucepan. Stir well over low heat until the sugar has dissolved.  Set aside to cool and then put it in a jar or bottle.  This makes more than enough for one salad.

Make the salad

Finely shred the wombok cabbage, stopping a bit before you get to the base which can be quite tough. Place in a very large bowl (not the one you are going to serve it in).

Peel and julienne the mango or green papaya. If you have a julienne tool, use it, otherwise try the Asian way but put a towel over your hand just to be safe!

Place all the salad ingredients in the large bowl, cover and set aside until you are ready to serve.

Just before serving, shake up the salad dressing and pour half over the salad. Mix the salad well with your hands and then taste.  Add more dressing if necessary, but the salad should only be lightly coated with dressing.  Transfer to a large serving bowl lined with banana leaves and add the garnish.  Serve immediately.