Bush Foods

This spectacular flower is the red and green kangaroo paw Anigozanthos manglesii. It's the floral emblem of Western Australia and this one is growing in a pot in my garden.









When the first European settlers arrived here in Western Australia they brought with them a lot of ideas on how to 'improve' the country. With the pretence that Australia was terra nullius or a land that belonged to no-one, they tried to wrestle the land and indigenous people into a European mould. Very belatedly there has been recognition that the indigenous population possessed a rich culture. They had been using firestick farming for thousands of generations and they still have much knowledge to share. We can't go back and alter what happened but we can acknowledge and learn from them and one way would be to acknowledge that this is not Europe. I know - who'd have guessed that a continent on the opposite of the globe might not work in the same way as that the colonists came from. It was a belief fuelled by extraordinary arrogance and ignorance I suspect.

Well the world turns and we learn. Which is why these days like many others I'm very interested in growing indigenous food plants along with those that have been imported from the Mediterranean climes which are so similar to our own. There was a time when this was difficult. With the exception of macadamia nuts very little notice was taken of local food crops. In fact in many places they were deliberately pulled out to provide growing space for exotics and while this still happens to a degree people are becoming more aware of bush tucker and how to use it.

And it's not only gardeners who are interested. Flavourings like lemon myrtle, finger limes and pepperberry as well as foods like quandongs, riberries, warrigal greens and wattleseed are only a few of the native plants making their way to restaurants and specialist suppliers. I've discovered a couple of nurseries that specialise in edible bush plants nearby and I've plans to go on a wander and stock up on some of the more unusual ones but in truth I don't have to go all that far. When I was at my local Bunnings store recently I discovered a section devoted to some of the more commonly used species. I didn't buy anything that day - I needed to go home and prepare some beds for planting - but I've convinced Pisces that we need to go back. Who knows what treasures I may find there. I'll let you know when I've had a look around.

If you're wondering why the kangaroo paw image, it's because I read recently that it was a food staple  for the local Noongar people before colonisation. I haven't been able to find out how they used it  yet but I will be continuing my journey of discovering how to use bush tucker and when I find out you'll be the first to know.

A-Z Blog Challenge: K is for Kangaroo Paws

No, not the furry paws attached to Australia's iconic kangaroo. Kangaroo paws also are native Western Australian wildflowers which are now grown all over the world. They are visually stunning with their vivid colours and flower for long periods making them popular with gardeners. The tall ones in particular are outstanding as cut flowers. See.

                                               

Kangaroo paws in the wild come in a variety of sizes from dainty little catspaws to others up to two metres in height. Those grown in gardens are usually hybrids developed from Anigozanthos flavidius, the yellow kangaroo paw (which is endemic to the south west of Western Australia) crossed with other tall varieties or with the smaller and shorter lived catspaws to produce numerous colours ranging from pale to strong yellows through to many shades of orange and on to reds which range from light and bright to deeper colours like burgundy. There's even a lavender coloured one.

There is one other closely related species of kangaroo paw, also endemic to the South West. This is the black kangaroo paw, Macropidia fulginosa, which has stunning green and black flowers, but it is harder to grow and difficult to propagate so is less widely grown in the garden.

It's quite extraordinary how the kangaroo paw has become such a widely grown plant. When I was growing up when you said kangaroo paw you most likely meant the Western Australian State floral emblem, Anigozanthos manglesii or the red and green kangaroo paw which only grew in the bush. and is still my favourite. Anyone who went bushwalking knew there were other kinds but most weren't as spectacular. When I was a child a favourite family picnic place was bushland surrounding an abandoned gravel pit. Just over the road from it was a cleared paddock on a hillside. I don't know what it was used for because I never saw animals grazing there but every spring the whole hillside would burst into red and green as the kangaroo paws flowered. Sadly it has all been ploughed up now and with that the rhizomes of the kangaroo paws have been destroyed.

You can read more about growing kangaroo paws here. I recently planted some Anigozanthos manglesii in a pot. My fingers are crossed that they'll survive the ink disease that has wiped out all my previous attempts to grow them and which they are notorious for getting and that I'll get some flowers. If I do I'll post them.