A touch of spice …
Well before we embarked on our Tasmanian adventure, we would grind Tasmanian pepperberries onto our cucumber raita when we had homemade curry nights in Brisbane. Cath and I would then oooh and aaah over the beautiful purple colour that would stain the surface of the raita as the pepper interacted with the yoghurt. Our sons would invariably roll their eyes and emit groans of derision. But the hype is all well founded. The Tasmanian pepperberry or mountain pepper (Tasmannia lanceolata) is a rare spice that is native to Tasmania. It looks very much like regular black pepper (piper nigrum), which originates in Southern India, but they are completely different plants with different flavours and aromas. The Aboriginal people of Tasmania, the Palawa, recognised the medicinal qualities of the pepperberry and recent research has found that it possesses antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties. Early European settlers used it for flavouring their food and there is even a suggestion that the plant was taken to Cornwall in the early 1900s and used in the production of “Cornish pepper”. The story, however, appears to be an apocryphal one as I couldn’t find a reliable source to confirm it.
So it was with some reverence that we returned from a tree-buying expedition in the Coal River region, just north of Hobart, with 10 precious tube-stock specimens of Tasmannia lanceolata. They are dioecious – individual plants are either male or female – so it is important to have a proper balance of male and female plants for successful pollination and hence berry production. We went for 2 male and 8 female plants given the current recommendation is about 5 females to 1 male. We then planted them along the fence line behind the veggie patch. Hopefully they will thrive and provide us with even more colourful cucumber raita!
The place that we bought the plants from specialises in Tasmanian native plants. More importantly they have a good knowledge of growing conditions in most areas of southern Tasmania, so they can recommend native trees that suit the soil type and micro-climate not only in the Huon Valley in general, but particularly around Franklin where we are based. So, what started as a trip to buy the pepperberries ended up with us bringing home 52 native trees, which included blue gums, blackwood, leatherwood, dogwood, sassafras, white peppermint gums and silver gums. We are going to be planting things for the foreseeable future!
It has been really cold the last few mornings, with heavy frosts announcing the arrival of winter. With the wind chill factor taken into account, the Bureau of Meteorology has suggested `feels like' temperatures of -5 and -6 degrees Celsius on successive mornings. This kind of chill together with thick morning fog has made the shorter days even shorter and thus not conducive to making significant progress. The one positive has been that when the sun eventually comes out, what is left of the day turns out to be beautiful and bright.
Knut finding an illicit cosy spot
One positive development is that we have started the construction of our new compost bins. These will be located in the top paddock just outside the fenced area of the veggie patch. This project allowed Cath to try out her birthday present from late last month, namely, a very impressive battery operated DeWalt circular saw.
Finally, some big news to end on … today we collected our very first freshly laid egg from our hens. These hens were hatched in an incubator, emerged in October last year and have been pampered her since. At this point, therefore, this single offering qualifies as the world’s most expensive egg …
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