There are some things that I won't or can't grow at home, either because it is too hard, not cost effective or it just won't grow here in Australia. For some ingredients, that is a shame but for others it is just common sense.
I'd love to be able to grow Vanilla but it takes 9 years for the vines to get to the point of maturity and even then, as the only insect that can pollinate vanilla doesn't live here in Australia, you have to pollinate the flowers manually. It is a lot of work with a high probability of failure so I'll reluctantly buy my vanilla pods from the shop. They are very expensive but there is no alternative really.
Very much for the same reasons as for vanilla, it is just too hard.
I did think about trying to make my own sea salt from the beautiful sea water around Sydney but sanity prevailed. For now, I'll just buy Maldon sea salt.
By seed or bark spices I mean the spices that come from seeds (e.g. cumin, cloves, cardamom, mustard) or from bark (cinnamon and mace). There are some exceptions. I do grow some herbs that bolt to seeds and when they do I capture as many seeds as I can. I keep some for next years seed stock and the others I use in the kitchen as fresh spice. These are coriander dill, fennel and sometimes fenugreek. The others, I just buy in small quantities from the many asian grocers near to where we live.
Although I usually have a good ginger and galangal harvest, there isn't enough to last us through the year anyway, it wouldn't keep that long anyway. So, I buy this as needed. Having said that, as my turmeric crop is normally great and as it freezes really well, we don't need to buy any over the year and we have a constant supply of beautiful, yellow
This one is simple, it is just not cost effective to grow root vegetables. Potatoes, carrots, parsnips etc are generally good value so I'll leave this to the farmers. If I end up with enough garden space and more importantly time in the future, I'll rethink this but for now that is what I'll do.
Nah, I am good here, all grown at home!
I have probably missed a few, I'll update this post as I think of them.
Vanilla
I'd love to be able to grow Vanilla but it takes 9 years for the vines to get to the point of maturity and even then, as the only insect that can pollinate vanilla doesn't live here in Australia, you have to pollinate the flowers manually. It is a lot of work with a high probability of failure so I'll reluctantly buy my vanilla pods from the shop. They are very expensive but there is no alternative really.
Pepper
Very much for the same reasons as for vanilla, it is just too hard.
Salt
I did think about trying to make my own sea salt from the beautiful sea water around Sydney but sanity prevailed. For now, I'll just buy Maldon sea salt.
Saffron
I love this spice particularly for spanish cooking. It is very, very expensive and although it would be great to be able to produce this myself, the amount of work involved makes it completely impractical. Firstly, the type of Crocus from which saffron is derived doesn't grow very well where we live in Sydney and then the saffron must be harvested by hand from the stigmas of the crocus flowers. If I could, I would and then probably wouldn't need a day job as saffron is the most expensive spice in the world by weight.
Most Seed or Bark Spices
By seed or bark spices I mean the spices that come from seeds (e.g. cumin, cloves, cardamom, mustard) or from bark (cinnamon and mace). There are some exceptions. I do grow some herbs that bolt to seeds and when they do I capture as many seeds as I can. I keep some for next years seed stock and the others I use in the kitchen as fresh spice. These are coriander dill, fennel and sometimes fenugreek. The others, I just buy in small quantities from the many asian grocers near to where we live.
Root spice
Although I usually have a good ginger and galangal harvest, there isn't enough to last us through the year anyway, it wouldn't keep that long anyway. So, I buy this as needed. Having said that, as my turmeric crop is normally great and as it freezes really well, we don't need to buy any over the year and we have a constant supply of beautiful, yellow
Root Vegetables
This one is simple, it is just not cost effective to grow root vegetables. Potatoes, carrots, parsnips etc are generally good value so I'll leave this to the farmers. If I end up with enough garden space and more importantly time in the future, I'll rethink this but for now that is what I'll do.
Herbs
Nah, I am good here, all grown at home!
I have probably missed a few, I'll update this post as I think of them.
