Monday 31 March 2014

March is for... going nuts

This month has been a rough one in so many ways, sometimes it's hard just to keep all the pieces together. One bonus of working with plants is that they often force you to stop in your tracks and just wonder at the way they live and grow.

My first introduction to Bunya pines was from my enthusiastic Botany teacher at university, Geoff Burrows. Geoff is so knowledgeable and passionate about his work that you just can't help but get carried away in his excitement, and experience a true nerd moment. He studies Bunya pines (Araucaria bidwillii) among other things, and explained to us the interesting way that the seeds germinate, forming a tuber-like storage organ under the ground that can wait until the conditions are right for emergence. For this reason the seed is highly nutritious, requiring a fair amount of fuel for the sometimes long wait. What really made my ears prick up though, was his casual comment that the 'nuts' are absolutely delicious. You just have to wait until the tree is mature enough to produce seed, and dodge the falling cones in late summer when they come down.

No small feat, as they are usually at least the size of a human head or a football, and come crashing from the tops of the trees. Quite deadly! While working previously at a display garden nearby, I used to have my morning tea sitting under the big Bunyas- until the day I saw a smashed cone not far from where I usually sit and decided to move. They sure make an impression, often shattering when they hit the ground. They are like a giant pine cone, but more dense and solid, and break up into 'scales' that contain the seeds. Over my 4 years gardening there, I hopefully cut open many a seed, but they were always empty. The trees there were probably at least 15 years old, but didn't seem to be mature enough to form a proper nut.




After moving on to my current nursery job, one of the staff brought in a car boot full of Bunya cones collected by her husband from a local park. They were bigger than I was used to, and had a promising weight to them. Knowing we couldn't possibly propagate and sell so many of the pines, I took a couple home.


It takes a bit of work to get the nut out, but I found secateurs to be the best tool for the job, slicing open the scale and removing the shell. This is pretty easily cut in half, releasing the white, thumb-sized kernel inside. I couldn't help but eat one immediately, and the flavour was sweeter than I expected, a bit like a giant cashew. Afterwards I had a panicked moment of trying to remember if you were supposed to cook them before eating? I survived, and the wide world of the internet assured me I wouldn't be sick, but that they were even better to eat cooked. We roasted some at home, and found them to be quite filling and similar to roasted chestnuts, but a little tough. I've since seen recipes that call for boiling them first, before roasting, frying or pureeing them. I still have a little bowl of them left, so I'll have to give that a try next! In the past in the Bunya mountains of Queensland where they originate, local aboriginal tribes would time gatherings to make the most of the harvest, eating them fresh and cooked in fires.


 
It does surprise me that they're not eaten more widely or grown commercially nowadays, but I suppose that's due to the long time before a tree produces edible nuts, and the dangers of having a tree in your backyard or paddock. Perhaps one day we will have enough land to be able to grow a few, but for now I'll ration the ones I have left, and keep a close eye on those local parks...


 

Saturday 8 March 2014

Photo of the week - sitting pretty

Found this lovely little chap resting on my buddleja, and he was nice enough to hang around for a photo. Butterflies love buddlejas too, giving them their common name (butterfly bush) but I'm just not quick enough with the camera to share one with you just yet!