Super Herb!

Just thought I'd expand on an earlier post (Rau má) by quickly covering some of the health benefits of pennywort. As previously mentioned pennywort is a herb that can be used in salads, drinks or teas, either fresh or dried. 

It has been cultivated in many cultures for its medicinal qualities. Pennywort is known to be anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory. It contains high levels of vitamin B1, B2, B3, and B6. Common ailments that pennywort is known to alleviate are;

• Skin conditions
• Poor circulation
• Arthritis
• High blood sugar levels
• Varicose veins
• Fevers

It is also known to increase brain function (especially improving memory) and combat ageing. 

Relatively easy to grow, lots of health benefits, if not great taste. I reckon everyone should have a patch of this growing in their back yard!

Pick my own?

Something that I have looked forward to every summer for the past few years has been recreational fruit picking, also known as pick your own. The whole idea was new to me having been used to only growing produce then selling it at the market, but now the public can pick fresh produce off farms? I thought it was pretty cool. Next door to one of our farms is Naturipe Fruits Farm. They have strawberries, cherries, peaches, nectarines, and apricots, along with a variety of apples which are 'pick your own'. The owner moved into a house we had put up for rent and we became good friends. So during picking season I came down regularly and just observed and saw how things worked. There are more places in Bacchus Marsh with pick your own fruits which specialize in cherries and apples along with a raspberry and blackberry farm, which is not pick your own but awesome nevertheless. 

The thing that draws me to these places is the atmosphere that it creates. It is an incredibly family friendly environment and its nice to see families taking a day off to go pick fruit. Everyone's all cheerful and they are spending time out doors with their families which I think people don't do enough. That is why places like these are important, people can take their children out without having to worry about whats happening on the streets. Picnics are also nice when the weather gets hot as it is fronted by The Avenue of Honour and its great Dutch elms which provide plenty of shade. The picture below is of the rows of cherries down at Naturipe fruits. The floods ended the picking season early but my uncle and I were still able to pick about 30 kilos which was all free. The place was not accessible to vehicles or public for safety reasons. Safety is the last thing on my mind when it comes to cherries so I was entitled to as much as I could carry out on foot.

Making use of what was left after the rains came through

With Bacchus Marsh's rich heritage and continued preservation of historical buildings, going back before the 1951 Ballarat gold rush, the town is becoming a growing tourist destination which will only see the growth of recreational fruit farms.

The Avenue

Bacchus Marsh is a town about 50 kilometers west of Melbourne. The most renowned feature of the town, and the first thing visitors see is The Avenue of Honour. The Avenue is a plantation of dutch elms that serves as a tribute to locals who fought in World War I. The Avenue as it is seen today was originally planted on 10th of August 1918. This planting was made up of 281 trees which was linked to an earlier planting done in 1884 which has since been removed. The Avenue is approximately 3 kilometers long. 

I live a few kilometers outside the town center on a property over looking the town. Which means I see most of the Avenue. It has always been a large part of the landscape for me when I'm around outside.

I think of the Avenue as a living clock. I have never been one to keep track of time, using calenders with their days, months and seasons. Which probably reflects in my poor organisational skills.

The Avenue is like a calendar for me. The dutch elms are deciduous and whether they are naked, in bloom, losing their leaves or lush with green foliage, they always beautifully show the time of year.

My favourite season of the year would have to be Autumn. This is when the foliage becomes a nice golden colour, and starts to form a blanket on either sides of the road. There is also always a constant shower of leaves as they fall from the trees. A pleasure to drive through which will only get better in the near future when I get my hands on a 1970's Holden Premier :)

I think the government has done a good job in maintaining the Avenue. And hopefully it will out last me.

References

Bacchus Marsh Heritage Guide 2003, second edition, Bacchus Marsh and District Historical Society Inc, Bacchus Marsh.

Rau má

Pennywort (Centella asiatica) is a perennial herb that I have been growing in my garden for some years now. 

It is relatively easy to grow, and requires little to no maintenance to survive. It grows and spreads by sending out stolons which then develop adventitious roots at the nodes.  Because of this habit it should be grown in pots or divided beds because if left unchecked can become a weed. 

Pennywort can be grown in a range of soil types from clay to sandy. Thrives in moist humid conditions.Will require plenty of watering during warmer months to ensure  re-growth, assuming it will be harvested. I personally think saturating the soil once about once a week is better than daily watering. During winter pennywort will not die back if the soil is kept moist. I do not water or weed from about February to September and the plant does die back (about 30-40%) but never completely. This does have its drawbacks however. The mature leaves will be smaller and have a bitter taste but this doesn't bother me because I only harvest and make drinks during the summer (have no time during school/uni), so I completely neglect them during the school term. Some people with hot houses are able to have good harvests all year round, mine are grown in a garden bed on the south side of the house and undercover which means it cannot get watered via natural means (rain). 

Overall I reckon it is an awesomely easy herb to grow, you can look after it and it will thrive or you can neglect it for most of the year and it will not die. For me, it adds another flavour to summer aside from the usual lemonade or soft drink when the weather heats up. Below is just a quick guide to making a drink from pennywort.

The leaf and petiole of the plant is normally used fresh, in salads and drinks. Harvesting is simple. You could save yourself separating weeds from leaves during washing by picking them individually by hand. Or just run a knife horizontally near the surface of the soil and collect what ever has been cut. Weeds and other plants will need to be removed before processing. I use the second method because it is much quicker and the plant will not die if stolons are cut or completely uprooted. 

Leaves must be thoroughly washed to remove all dirt, bugs, etc. Leaves are then added to a blender with water. You could do any ratio and this will determine how concentrated the final product is. I just fill the blender with as much leaves as possible then fill with water so that it just covers the leaves. Blend unit you have a fine mush. Approximately 2-3 mins. The whole mixture is then sieved with the plant material being separated and thrown away (I just chuck mine back into the garden). The resulting juice is then consumed as it is, ice cubes are always nice. Make sure to refrigerate if not consumed within one day. Some people do not like the 'grassy' taste so sugar is often added. I try to lay off the sugar so add coconut juice instead which is more common in Vietnam. 

(picture of my pennywort bed will be up soon)

Fancy way to drink rau ma

Best way to drink rau ma

Pomegranate in Bacchus Marsh?

I have recently begun delving into the literature and research done on pomegranates in order to hopefully gain enough knowledge and, with time, experience to successfully grow them commercially here in Bacchus Marsh.

For this post I will give a very brief overview of the international and local markets for pomegranate.

Approximately 2,000,000 tonnes of pomegranate are produced every year globally. India is the largest producer, producing about half of the worlds pomegranate. Iran is second, producing about 700,000 tonnes. Other countries which have established markets for pomegranate are, Italy, Morocco and Turkey.

Australia has about 200 hectares planted which produce roughly 4000 - 5000 tonnes, more than half of this being produced in New South Wales. This is a very small amount compared to other countries and is not enough to meet the demand here. To fill the gap Australia imports about $500,000 worth of fresh pomegranate from California every year.

Whole pomegranate alongside a cut section

In Australia there is more demand for processed produced rather than fresh. This is because it is the flesh around the seed, also known as arils, which are the desirable part. This is less than 50% of the total   fruit mass and removing seeds from the fruit is somewhat tedious. Processed produce may include juices, molasses, and packaged arils which have already been removed from the fruit.

Packaged Arils

Australia's climate is unique in that it allows us to have a counter-seasonal ability when it comes to supplying overseas markets with fresh produce, especially east and southeast Asia. This means that when their climate is not suitable for growing pomegranates, ours is. This period is around March-April each year. Other counter-seasonal export markets already exist such as Chinese cabbage. Because of this ability it is foreseeable in the near future that we will have an established export market for pomegranate.

References

Lye, C 2008, Pomegranate Preliminary assessment of the potential for an Australian industry, publication No 08/153, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, viewed 26 May 2012,
<https://rirdc.infoservices.com.au/items/08-153>

PMG Agriculture 2009, Australia enters the pomegranate age, Perfection Fresh Australia, viewed 26 May 2012,
<http://www.royalpom.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=41:australia-enters-the-pomegranate-age&catid=11:media&Itemid=15>