The Diggers seed giveaway was a great success and Food Legends vegetable seeds have been sent to Barbara Allen, of Page, Katherine Anderson, of Narrabundah, Pamela Blackwell, of Higgins, Ping Block, of Bruce, Karen Davis, of Deakin, Judith James, of Kambah, Dorothy Kish, of Bruce, Elly McGuinness, of Wanniassa, Anna Roberts, of Curtin, Lynette Stewart, of Belconnen, Chandra Thambyah, of Latham and Maggie Yeo, of Farrer.
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Our favourite entry came from Karen Davis who requested heirloom mix carrots for her "fur baby Clyde". Following my query if Clyde was a rabbit, I received a photo of 11-month-old French bulldog Clyde eating his regular nightly carrot.
Barbara Allan also asked for the carrot seeds because she has just pulled the last of the previous season's bumper carrot crop so has room for a more "exotic" mix. She wants to try and replicate Pialligo Estate's "brilliant carrot platters".
We asked executive chef at Pialligo Estate, Darren Perryman, for the special carrot recipe. The last of this season's carrots were just being pulled and the harvest was 500kg. Peter Anderson, horticulturist at Pialligo Estate, is about to sow more carrot seed on site.
All of Pialligo Estate's heritage seeds including tomatoes and Broccoli Romanesco come from Ace and the good thing about the carrots is that the seed is supplied on a big paper tape, well spaced, to the carrots grow long, strong and straight. As Perryman says, he is very particular about the look of the carrots on the plate. The recipe is below.
Water wise
Rain in Canberra at last and, as gardeners and home cooks, we must use water wisely. Brett Yeats of Yarralumla welcomed ACT Parks and Conservation service manager, Brett McNamara, to a full St James Uniting Church hall in Curtin for the Spiral Group a fortnight ago. McNamara spoke about The Art of Nature through the decade-long Craft ACT artist-in-residence program in Namadgi National Park. The artists stay in the restored 1920s Gudgenby Ready-Cut cottage (which is also available through bookings on air bnb, loo out the back).
However McNamara's major message was about water, "the precious life of the rain drop" and the importance of our catchment as 80 per cent of our water comes from the mountains. Presenting McNamara with a thank you bottle of wine (water to wine?), fifth-generation Canberran, Sara, of Curtin, said she uses a bucket to catch the cold water in the shower before it runs hot and uses that on her garden. I have a two-litre milk bottle on my kitchen bench to collect rinsing water. My potted cumquat, lemon tree and alpine strawberries outside the kitchen door, thrive on it.
Some of us at the talk remembered the Mt Franklin Chalet. It was built in 1937-38 for the Canberra Alpine Club. A few of us spent one weekend, c. 1969, cleaning and using black polish on the vast wood-burning cast iron stove which apparently came from the Prime Minister's Lodge in 1957. After the chalet burnt down in the 2003 fires, the doors of the stove were stolen.
It was not only superb for roasting and baking but also kept the chalet warm at night when we slept in bunks upstairs. Gluhwein helped too, of course. The loo was a dark walk from the stables door into NSW to protect the water catchment.
Pialligo Estate honey-roasted carrots with labneh
Ingredients
1 bunch heritage Dutch carrots
300g Greek yoghurt
50g pistachio dukkah
1 tbsp grain mustard
20ml olive oil
50ml honey
salt and pepper
Method
Take the yoghurt and place in a clean tea towel and tied up and hang overnight to remove all the whey and create labneh. Wash and peel the carrots, place in an ovenproof pan and add the mustard, olive oil, honey and salt and pepper. Roast in a preheated oven at 180C until tender. Smear the labneh on the plate and place the carrots on top. Sprinkle with dukkah and the rest of the sauce your have created in the pan, and serve.
