Kunzea pomifera (Muntries) Plants

The dark green patches are the Kunzea plants.

Kunzea pomifera (Muntries) out in the Mallee

The photo shows some of the Kunzea pomifera (Muntries), that grow in this area. There were acres of the plants. The green patches on the ground are patches of Muntries. Very few weeds grow in the patches, just the occasional grasses. There were still berries on the plants and they were sweet to eat. I was surprised that the birds had not got to them all.

Kunzea pomifera (Muntries)

A few weeks ago the local green grocer had a plate of Muntries for customers to sample. They had small punnets of the berries (like those in which strawberries are packed and sold) to sell. This is the first time I had seen them in the fresh fruit market. The berries were quite large compared to the ones I had picked out bush. I know some selecting had been done to find plants yielding larger fruits. The problem is that the sweet apple-like flavour was missing completely. I was not impressed with the larger fruit as they had a floury texture.

Why is it that people are content with a loss of flavour for the sake of larger fruit and therefore the economic advantages associated with handling? The same thing has been happening to tomatoes for years. It was certainly doing a diservice to what is a delicious small fruit.

There is another article I have written about Muntries here.

Carpobrotus rossii (Pig Face)

This is the flower of the succulent plant in the previous post. There were only a few isolated flowers on the plants near the nest. This is a useful plant. Not only is it useful and decorative in the garden, it is one of the bush tucker plants used by the local Aboriginal group. The leaves and fruits were used as a kind of relish to be eaten with meat. The juice from the leaves is also said to be an insect repellant. As with any new thing, a cautious test should be done before slathering one’s skin with the juice of an unknown plant.

I guess the same could be said for the plants in the Aloe family. Aloe Vera is good on a number of skin ailments but I am never sure which member of the species is the one to use.

Santalum acuminatum (Wild Peach, Quandong)

What a find today! Husband found this on his morning walk today. I knew that they grew up the hill but I thought it was too early for ripe fruit. It is a wonder they are still there with the number of people who drive past.

At a Christmas break up a couple of years ago, one of the Australian Plant Society members made a fabulous Wild Peach Pie, which we had with cream. What a treat.

These seem to be shrubby plants here and I think are suckering plants. They are parasitic and grasses are used as the host in the home garden situation. I did hear that in orchard situations with the extra water and fertiliser, hosts are not needed. I need to research this as I want to have a smalll grove of these. See more information here.

This interesting article by Annette Marner on the ABC caught my eye because of my interest in bush foods. (see previous blog entries).

South Australia‘s deserts, areas which have less than 250 mm of rain per year, still produce the most amazing fruits and food according to Joan Gibbs, lecturer in Ecology at the University Of South Australia Mawson Lakes. And planting these bush foods is helping to restore our damaged landscapes.

The desert banana has an interesting name given that it doesn’t taste like a banana or even look like one. It just happens to be curved!

Then there’s the wild fig (also known as pigface or Carpobrotus rossii) which, underneath it’s “bitter, salty rind”, actually tastes like strawberry. It’s a desert dessert delight, according to Joan.

Joan: “Bush tomato (Solanum spp.) has many species that can be used in conventional sauces and for eating. The most common tomato that is cultivated for business by many communities is Solanum centrale, which gives a farm-gate price of $35 per kilo, but requires specialist care and pruning in a horticultural farming system.

“The other big seller is quondong, Santalum acuminatum, which requires delicate care in planting out with its host plant, usually Acacia victoriae, an arid wattle shrub. In some soils, survival rates of young plants can be extremely low, and crops are not produced for four to six years, under irrigation.”

In the South East there is the bush fig, bush apple, wattleseed coffee and coastal currant.

Joan is passionate about restoring deserts and other landscapes damaged by grazing and agriculture. Since 1998 her Sustainable Environments Research Group “has investigated the potential for restoring cultural, Aboriginal landscapes on the Coorong, 200 km south-east of Adelaide”.

“We have planted over 4000 trees and bushfood plants to create habitat for wildlife in patterns that combine with culturally-appropriate landscapes.”

Joan says that Aboriginal people have used horticultural ecology with the desert plants for thousands of years.

“Aboriginal people cared for bushland which provided food, medicines and materials for livelihoods. Custodians of each region managed the bush according to laws and instructions passed on from previous custodians. Intricate systems of firing, cultivation and planting ensured continuous crops, albeit at a subsistence level.

“The challenge of current bushfood business for Aboriginal people is to research and develop production systems for their native bushfoods that will sustain livelihoods in the desert.

“The difficulty of achieving ecosystem restoration is many times greater than the ease with which they were destroyed. The methods of cultivating these bush plants are probably known to bush dwellers, requiring techniques very different to European-type farming.

“Bush horticulture would require the resources of current and traditional knowledge of caring for healthy landscapes if we were to produce enough food for wildlife, as well as humans.”

The plants are frost hardy and prefer a well composted soil and half to full shade. Definitely won’t cope with the high pH soil in the garden. Sounds like a pot specimen to me. They are usually grown from cuttings, but it is worth trying seed.

All parts of the plant have a hot flavour. I think the leaves are quite mild, but the flavour is very good. I still haven’t tried the dried berries yet but they are bound to be much hotter in flavour.

Included in the package was also a jar of Santalum accuminatum Quandong (Wild Peach) jam. This had a slightly tangy taste and I think is like marmalade in that it is better on toast rather than bread. I noticed that the ingredients included orange concentrate. There would be a number of recipes around for jam. However I do prefer the fruit in a pie. I remember one Australian Plant Society Christmas ‘Do’ very well!. One of the members brought along a large Quandong Pie to share, complete wth a container of cream. Pure decadence and absolutely delightful.

Years ago we had a tree when we were living in the north of South Australia. Being parasitic we were sure that its roots were attached to a very old grape vine which grew nearby. I remember many feasts when we could beat the birds to the fruit.

Friends in the mallee often had enough fruit from their tree to freeze it. Before Quandong Pie made its appearance in restaurants, Bev was supplying frozen fruit to a private concern in Adelaide. How they heard about the supply, I don’t know.

I was given a Sunshine Milk tin of dried fruit which had come from the upper north of the state. I thought that all my Christmases had come at once!

This a widespread large shrub or tree. It has small insignificant greenish flowers followed by large shiny red fruits. It grows widely in drier areas of the country. A host plant is needed when the plants are about twelve months old. Perennial grasses are often used.

It is not easy to propagate. Some say put the seed in a hessian bag with some peat and throw it behind the back shed and check it a few months later! Various methods are used. One that is supposed to work is to soak the kernal which has been removed from the hard shell, in a solution of household bleach for half an hour. Place the kernels in a plastic bag with moist wood shavings and keep cool and dark until germination takes place. Remove the sprouted kernels as soon as possible to individual pots.

It is a hardy plant which grows well in a variety of soils especially on alkaline soils. It also does well in exposed coastal positions and inland. It withstands dry periods and very high temperatures. Muntries responds well to pruning. A friend here takes a spade to the edges to confine the plant to the designated area.

The fruit was always a favourite with Aboriginal folk. Early settlers used the berries in pies. They also make a nice jelly along the lines of apple jelly. Recipes for apple jelly can be found in older cook books like the CWA Cookbook.

I remember a tale of woe from a friend who had been given a two litre container full of Muntries. She planned to make something nice from them after work. By the time she got home, the children had been home and found them. She was a very cross lady when I was told the story.