As described in my previous post, I went to Vanuatu this year and it inspired me to grow Taro in Melbourne. Strictly speaking, I should say that it inspired me to grow it again as I had tried half-heartedly in 2009 without ever having eaten the final starchy product. I had bought a few corms at a green grocer's in Sydney Road and plonked them straight into a pot. They grew really well during last year's hot and humid summer and then promptly melted into greeny-brown sludge once a few cold nights arrived in autumn. Once back from Vanuatu I looked into this original pot and found that quite a few side-cormels had been produced. The original corm or bulb was about the size of a cricket ball, while the new cormels were golf-ball sized. I boiled a few up and they were fine. But it would be great to grow big sized taro in Melbourne too. And that is this growing season's quest.
We've had such a slow start to the growing season, but now after in one week of summer we've had warm, humid nights and hot and rainy days - perfect Taro weather. I've bitten the bullet and planted several Taro plants in the ground, in the expectation that we're going to have a wet summer.I hope so. Taro is such an attractive plant that I am happy for it to be in the garden no matter what it produces food-wise.
Oops...I don't have any recent shots of this year's Taro plants...coming up soon
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