November in Annabel's Wanaka Garden

Although best known as a cookbook author and publisher, Annabel Langbein is also a highly experienced and knowledgeable gardener. She studied horticulture at Lincoln University and for many years has grown her family’s fresh produce in her gardens and orchards in Wanaka and Auckland. Her seasonal harvests are the inspiration for many of the inventive but easy recipes in her books and TV series.

Annabel Langbein's Gingered Bok Choy

Segue from winter into summer with Asian flavours. The distinctive flavours of ginger and sesame bring this simply prepared bok choy dish to life.

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 3-4 mins
Serves: 6 as a side

Ingredients

6 medium heads bok choy
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp finely grated ginger
¼ tsp salt
1 tbsp black sesame seeds (optional)

Method:

Cut bok choy into quarters lengthwise.
Place in a pot with sesame oil, ginger, salt and ¼ cup water.
Cover and cook over high heat until bok choy is wilted and just tender but still vibrantly green (about 3-4 minutes).
Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using.

Spring has been very unsettled this year down in our part of the world by the lake in Wanaka. One minute it’s hot enough to be in a T-shirt and the next we’re piling on triple layers, gloves and hats in the face of an icy Antarctic blast. I was dangerously lulled into a false sense of security about the weather a few weeks back. After such a mild winter, with everything about a month ahead in the garden, I was tempted to plant my tomatoes, eggplants, chillies and all those slow-growing summer crops early. Luckily, oh so luckily, I decided that planting before Labour Weekend in these parts was sheer madness. And sure enough, whammo, Jack Frost struck through, freezing the pipes and covering the whole garden in an icy chill. Luckily my frost-tender plants were still safely inside.

I have spent several wonderful days reveling in the first flush of spring. Everything is bursting into life – from the fat buds of my special peonies to the fruit set of cherries, plums and apricots and the amazing show of the Clematis montana.

There is so much energy in the air, I just want to get out there and plant. Luckily strawberry plants don’t mind the cold and now is best the time to get them into the ground. A strawberry plant will give about three good years of fruiting and then wane off (a bit like chickens really), so it’s a good idea to plant some new plants every year so you can ensure a good supply of sweet homegrown strawberries each season. The first season that strawberry plants are getting established you are supposed to take off the flowers so that the plant puts its energy into the root system, and then wait around for an autumn crop. But being the greedy person I am, I always find this hard to do. It just seems so counter-intuitive.

But if you have some other plants that are a season ahead and producing well, it’s not so hard to decapitate the flower heads of your new plantings. And if you give them a good water with Seasol to help their root systems establish you really help them to get the best start. At this time of year, to keep my Wanaka garden in the best shape for maximum produce, I keep feeding it with organic matter like sheep pellets and compost. And as the weather warms and the days get dryer, mulch is the key to conserving soil moisture.

Right now it’s a bit of a race against time to use up all the winter crops before they go to seed. I dug an awful lot of leeks last week. They are still fat and incredibly sweet, but in another week or two they will start putting all their energy into seeding and lose their sweetness – it starts with them getting a tough woody core. It’s already happened to my parsnips – I just didn’t get in there quick enough. In fact everything that has grown over the winter is now racing against the clock in the face of the lengthening days to procreate. The silverbeet and winter brassicas are going to seed, the carrots are all hairy, tough and horrid and even the beets are heading that way.

Come mid to late November, unless you are well organized, you will find that pickings are pretty lean. The best things to plant right now for November harvests are quick-growing Asian greens, such as bok choy, as well as spinach, coriander, radishes and salad. If you plant them as seedlings it’s just a matter of weeks before they’re ready to harvest. Thus in the simplest of ways you can create a fresh segue in your meals from winter into summer, with all sorts of lovely, light, fresh salads and Asian-inspired stir-fries. If you haven’t planted broad beans, snow peas and peas yet, it’s not too late. Get them in the ground now, along with some early-season potatoes like rocket, and weather willing you will be enjoying your first harvests by Christmas.

This weekend I can finally get my tomatoes, eggplants, peppers cucumbers and all those other tender plants into the ground. I can’t wait – just thinking about all those lovely summer barbecues and special sun-drenched flavours I am going to be able to enjoy in a few months’ time.

See you next month, for an update on how my Wanaka garden is progressing and some tips for getting the most from your garden on Christmas Day.

Annabel x