Alan's Garden Blog

Aunty Coriander is to me as important as old Basil. Obviously a must for asian dishes but can give anything a lift. I struggled getting enough of a harvest because it will go to seed in a flash. After having to buy bunches it finally dawned on me: that was the way to grow it.

I buy my seed in bulk from the Chinese grocer and plant about a dozen in each hole. This gives me a good supply although it doesn’t stay in the ground long enough to develop the beautiful roots required in some receipes.

I am flat out at the moment building gardens but thought I would show some photos of a couple of plants that do well in my gardens. I bought the eggplants as established seedlings but almost always use seeds for the carrots. Occasionally if I see a punnet stacked with carrots I snap It up. Just wash (swirl around) the seedlings in a bucket of water to separate them. I can get fifty carrots out of a punnet this way. Yes, I know I’m tight.

I just love Uncle Basil. It will go with so many dishes and is worth a try to left any meal out of the ho hum brigade. I start with an established plant as soon as the frost is finished and then grow from seed. We also have a Thai Basil which I don’t like as much but it gives us an alternative in winter.

I am certainly no expert on citrus but I can tell you that the Tahitian Lime my daughter planted about five years ago has been just brilliant. She was reacting to having to pay a dollar each for limes to put in her Corona.

It has been prolific but best of all gives us limes almost all year round. I give it plenty of water and some sulphate of potash occasionally. I have pruned it severely a couple of times but that was more about keeping it to a manageable size. The pruning did not bother it at all. So if you are looking for a lime to grow in a temperate area like Toowoomba the Tahitian is the way to go.

At last it’s starting to warm up. I have been getting my gardens ready for spring. I planted some ‘green manure’ a while ago and have dug that in and added some good compost with plenty of worms.