Real World Gardener Podcasts

 KITCHEN GARDEN SEGMENT  on REAL WORLD GARDENER radio show Scientific Name: Rungia klossii Common name: Mushroom plant Family: Acanthaceae Origin: New Guinea   Rungia klossii is an evergreen Perennial growing to 0.6 m x 0.6 m at a medium rate. Soils: Suitable for: light or sandy, medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils.    Habitat: Mushroom plant can grow in semi-shade  but not full sun in an Australian summer. It prefers dry or moist soil if grown in the ground otherwise growing in a pot is very successful. Description:The shiny mid green have a yellowish mid-rib.  The elliptic leaves are arranged in pairs with adjacent pairs perpendicular to one another (decussate leaf arrangement mush like in a hydrangea). Flowers: Blue flowers that appear in a cluster in ideal positions. proteins. Harvesting: The Mushroom plant can be harvested all year round,  but the best is to harvest during the active growth period to provide a bushy growth. Uses: In the kitchen it's used in salads, soups and wok dishes, a small cooki

 KITCHEN GARDEN Beans and More Beans What is your favourite warm season vegetable or are there too many to choose from? Top of the list for many a gardener is the humble bean, because in warm weather, they’re so easy to germinate. In fact my bean crop was directly sown on a Monday and they were up by Thursday. But how do you get a continuous crop of beans? Corinne mentions bush beans, but we're not talking some sort of wild bean that grows on a bush, in fact bush beans is another name for dwarf beans.   More along the style of French beans such as butter beans or Cherokee Wax butter beans. Scientifically beans are Phaselous vulgaris which covers just about every type of bean seed that you can buy. Dwarf or bush beans grow into a small, bushy shape, usually 60cm tall or less and don't need staking. This year I planted my bean seeds closer together than normal on using the premise that if we had a run of cloudy days and they started to climb, they would support each other. This season we did have lots of

 KITCHEN GARDEN Is Vietnamese mint really a mint? Scientific Name: Persicaria odorata Common Name:Vietnamese mint Family: Polygonaceae True mints botanically speaking have wide spreading underground rhizomes with erect, square and branching stems. The leaves are opposite each other on those square stems, with clusters of small tubular flowers. Ture mints are also in the Lamiaceae family. So what do we make of Vietnamese mint? Perhaps you saw it in the herb section of the garden centre and mistook it to be just like any other mint. Not exactly a real mint and it's also in the same family as rhubarb and buckwheat; the Polygonaceae family. Traditionally, Vietnamese mint is used a lot in Asian cuisine. If you've ever had a laksa, you've probably eaten some Vietnamese mint.   What does it look like? It looks similar but different to traditional mint, plus it's a creeping herbaceous perennial. The leaves are very narrow and angular looking often with a chestnut-coloured rounded marking across the dark green leaf.

 THE GOOD EARTH How to Grow and Use Yacon: Peruvian Ground Apple Scientific Name: Smallanthus sonchifolius Common Name: Yacon, Peruvian ground apple Family: Asteraceae-same as daisies and sunflowers. Plant Height & Width: 1.5m x 0.5m   If you look at the flowers they are like much smaller versions of sunflowers. Here’s a tuber that tastes similar to a nashi pear, looks something like sweet potato on the outside, and the sugars from it aren’t absorbed by the body. Not only that, the tubers contain a lot of juice, and the sugars that make it sweet is not absorbed by the body so you can't put on the kilos! How good is that?   Then there’s the fact that it’s easy to grow, and has small flowers that resemble sunflowers and you just can’t buy it from the supermarket or fruit and veg store.   Yacon plant growing in Margaret's garden How to Grow Yacon from Tubers? Yacon has two types of tubers unlike ginger or turmeric. The tubers that you plant are attached to the main stem and are much smaller and pinkish in

 TALKING FLOWERS Seasonality of Flowers Vegetables have their season when they’re available fresh and not just out of the cold room where they’ve been for 6 months or more. What about flowers? Many people forget that flowers have their seasons too, after all there are plenty of flowers available all year round. Hellebores-a winter flower  Why is that important?  It's the same as for vegetables and fruit, if it's not the current season for the flowers, then they're most likely imported. If I asked you what’s the best time of year to buy peonies would you know?   What about roses, is there a best time? Have a look at the below suggestions to realise what is actually in season.   Winter Flowers Orchids, Vanda, Dendrobium, Cymbidium, Phaleanopsis, Hellebores. Jonquils, Daffodils, Tulips, Hyacinths, Daphne (pictured.) Spring Flowers Stephanotis Peonies are an October flower. Roses, Ranunculus, Australian wildflowers-Waratahs, Ericas, Geraldton Wax; Cherry Blossoms, Magnolias Summer Flowers Roses, Sunflowers

 SPICE IT UP Furikake: Japanese seasoning Isn't it time you enlivened your tastes buds with something you've never tried before? This next spice isn’t just one spice on it’s on but several spices or a blend of spices that are just right for Japanese food or any other food for that matter. Furikake is a traditional Japanese seasoning that is sprinkled on cooked food. In some ways like shichimi togarashi seasoning, furikake seasoning has not only toasted sesame seeds in it but also black sesame seeds that combine to give you a delectable nutty flavour. But wait, will it have monosodium glutamate I hear you ask as so often spice blends in Asian cuisine do? Well, here’s the thing, with 50 years of sourcing and mixing spice blends, Ian Hemphill is just the man to find a substitute for MSG without compromising the flavour of just such a spice blend Fuikake also has the combination of  salt, nori flakes or nagi, to add that classic Japanese profile when it comes to flavour. Also orange peel, Sichuan pepper and Aust

 KITCHEN GARDEN Leaf Celery Scientific Name:Apium graveolens var. secalinum Plant family: Apiaceae Common Name: Parcel   A relatively uncommon or even unkown herb or vegetable. Parcel stems from the idea that it looks like parsley but tastes like celery. Leaf celery is a biennial plant growing to 60cm in height. Biennial simply means that leaf celery grows vegetatively during the first year and fruits (seeds) and dies  at the end of the second year. Leaf celery could be classified as a herb because the leaves are used just as much as the stalks in cooking.   Personally I wouldn't be without my leaf celery because it's a great substitute for the harder to grow culinary celery.  I use it for making sugo, the tradition Italian tomato base for a lot of traditional dishes such as lasagne and bolognese. Sugo For Sure-How to Make it Sugo is made by first finely chopping onion, celery and carrot that frying for a few minutes until softer.  Then adding the garlic and tomatoes to make a tomato base for any Italian

 SPICE IT UP Know Your Cardamoms. There are many budding chefs and cooks that use heaps of spices in their recipes going by the success of cooking shows on television. Green and brown cardamom pods Indian, Asian and Mexican cooking particularly calls for a wide selection of these different spices.   Some spices though come in a variety of  grades, colours and uses making it possible for the unsuspecting cook to make a blunder. This may not necessarily result in a vast difference in the final flavour, but it can make your creation not as 'flavoursome' as it should be. Brown Chinese Cardamom Brown (black) Indian cardamom (right)   Would you say you ever used cardamom pods or cardamom? Did you know that there are different coloured cardamoms? Cardamom pods are one such spice that comes a variety of colours and suit different cuisines.     So if you think there’s just the one, you may have been doing your recipes and cooking a disservice. So which one should you use? Ian Hemphill says the default cardamo

 TALKING FLOWERS    Tips on Choosing the Freshest Flowers Do you regularly buy a bunch of fresh flowers to brighten up your home? Do you find that no matter which ones you buy, you just can't seem to get them to last past a few days, but friends regularly boast about how their flowers last for over a week? Sometimes I cringe when I see a bunch of flowers outside some supermarkets because I know what signs to look for that tell me whether or not they’re really fresh. But could you tell how fresh a bunch of flowers are when you see them for sale? Some of the top tips are Keep your flowers away from the fresh bowl of fruit. The reason is because fruit, particularly ripe bananas give off ethylene which hastens the demise of your fresh flowers.  If you think about it, placing a firm pear next to a banana in the fruit bowl, makes it soften up really quickly. Feel the stems to see if they’re fresh and not slimy. Slimy stems stems means they've been sitting around for more than a few day. If you can't feel th

TALKING FLOWERS Dried Flowers and How To Do Them Did you know that dried flowers are back in fashion? Perhaps, like me you thought that never went out of fashion, but do you dry your own on do you buy dried flower arrangements?   No prizes for guessing that those brightly coloured flowers are actually bleached in vats of bleach first, then because all the pigmentation (chlorophyll) has been removed it is practically falling apart.   The next step, the foliage is plasticised and dyed. Not something you want to display in your home   The process behind these dyed flowers is incredibly toxic and is usually down outside Australia. Dry Your Own. Some Australia flowers dry naturally in full colour such as golden everlasting, Australian paper daisy (Rhodanthe chlorocephela) , Billy Buttons (Pycnosorus globosus). Billy Buttons-dried by hanging upside down Dried Rhodanthe sp. Surprises Did you know that you could even dry your dahlia flowers? Choose the more tightly formed varieties with darker colours perfor

 KITCHEN GARDEN Tricks with Horseradish My father was a big fan of this vegetable or perhaps it should be called a herb? He loved it grated on various meats, ‘clears out the sinuses' he always exclaimed. Not too many gardeners are familiar with horseradish and even though it's a perennial vegetable that's easy to grow.

 TALKING FLOWERS Sustainable Floristry Have you ever thought about what happens to the tons of flowers that are sold around Australia for weddings, funerals, special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries?  Hydrangea flowers for sale Perhaps some of the lucky recipients might compost them when they're finished or at least throw in the in the green waste bin, but what of the others? Did you know that approximately 10% of flowers that are sold in Australia are imported from overseas? May not sound like much but do you know if the flowers you buy, are they imported or locally grown and does it matter?   A lot of flowers that are past their use by date end up in landfill, which I suppose means that they might decompose there but what of the mountains of wrapping, floral foam and other packing that the flowers come with?   According to the Sustainable Floristry Network "Excess packaging, plastic props, floral foam, and exotic blooms flown halfway around the globe are rationalised away because that’s what clie

Root Knot Nematodes:Control So if you have correctly identified that your plants are affected by root knot nematodes, what can be done about it? Remember, they look different to nitrogen fixing nodules on roots of plants. tomato nematode Controlling nematodes 1.Cultural Control by rotating your plants-nematodes only survive 1 year in the soil. 2.Growing plants that help reduce nematode numbers Asparagus, peanut plants, Corn, Garlic, marigolds. 3.Biofumigants such as green manure crops, especially     Mustard plants release isothyocyanates. 4. Neem Oil drench   5. Beneficial Nematodes EcoGrow supply beneficial nematodes.    6 Chytosan-prawn shells-effective on nematodes. Listen to the podcast to find out more. Your host  of Real World Gardener, Marianne is talking with Steve McGrane, agriculturist and horticulturist. Part 2 is when  we tackle the many, many ways you have to control the bad nematode, namely root knot nematodes. If you have any questions you can email us Realworldgardener@gmail.c

 PLANT DOCTOR Nematodes part 1: the backstory Did you know that there are 1,000,000 species of nematodes that have been identified?  Nematodes live in our environment and although microscopic, unsurprisingly, are related to earthworms  The majority of nematodes aren't plant or crop destructors. However, the few that attack the cell walls of plants can cause serious damage from which the plant/crop usually doesn't recover. Then there's the problem of identifying what's going on with plants that are affected by nematodes. Have you ever had plants that seem to wilt despite you watering them religiously?  What they look like Nematodes are a round worm but because they are unable to be seen by the naked eye, I would describe them as thread like with a large head and mouth. Arm yourself with a magnifying glass and have a look at the roots of plants that you suspect have been attacked by nematodes. You should be able to see them then.   Coffee tree nematode   If nematodes are on your plants the symptoms ra

 PLANT DOCTOR     Germinating Native Seed Australian plants have evolved over thousands of years to respond to a variety of climatic extremes, from fires, to droughts to floods as well as being grazed by native animals.   Wattle seeds need boiling water treatment Such a long, long time  for plants to evolve as well as being isolated from the rest of the world has meant that a high diversity of flora abounds, so that it would be unusual to think that everything grows the same way. Australian plants have developed various  adaptations so that the seeds of which can grow in the most suitable environment for that species of plant to survive.  A suitable environment often means seeds don't germinate until a bushfire removes competing plants giving the seeds more access to sunlight and nutrients. Then they only have a short window to germinate.  The hard seed coat is therefore a protective layer that allows the seed to stay dormant for great lengths of time, even years before germination.   So how do plants kee

PLANT DOCTOR Pruning Native Plants For some reason, many gardeners have been reluctant to prune their native plants, thinking that if they did, those plants might never recover or worse, just drop dead.   Then there’s the gardener that’s reluctant to prune something that they’ve just planted because after all, they paid good money for that plant, so why should I cut off the top third as soon as I plant it?  Seems counter intuitive doesn’t it? If we look back at when native gardens first started to be in vogue in the 70's, this might have been true of many of the cultivars that were grown back then.   Plus, there was the theory that native gardens should be somewhat wild and untamed, much like they are in the bush.  Grevillea 'Lollipops' photo M Cannon All this did was result in a messy looking 'wild' garden which fell out of favour rather quickly, although not quick enough for some.   Grevillea 'Superb' photo M Cannon Fast forward to the 21st century, and by now, many native plants have been selectively

 TALKING FLOWERS Tips For Longer Lasting Flowers in the Vase Flowers are so uplifting and whilst they’re lovely in the garden, in the home, you’ve got them to enjoy for longer. After all, you’re not watching your flowers that are in the garden for very long. There are plenty of 'old wives tales', and just plain outright myths about  what to do to your flowers to make them last past 3 days in the vase.  Ever heard of putting a copper penny in the vase water? Well it's sounds like it could work but in reality, it doesn't do anything for the flowers. What about dissolving an aspirin in the water? That's sheer nonsense. So how can you make the most of your cut flowers? I'm talking with Nadine Brown, florist, floral designer and educator of www.wildflorastudio.com.au who shares her tried and true tips from over thirty years of experience in the flower business. Some of those tips you may have heard before on my Real World Gardener program and one of them is that flowers are ethylene sensitive. That means f

Climber Shrubs This design series that covers everything from mixed shrub borders, sub-shrubs, climbers, hero trees to best garden bromeliads but use plants that are non-general lines.I have to say, Peter Nixon, RWG’s contributor for this series, focuses largely on what he calls cool sub-tropical garden or ‘cool sub-trops’ which he refers to often.Don’t be put off if you live in a different climate because often plants adapt to a variety of climatic conditions and are worth a try. Hibiscus geranioides Climber shrubs-what are they and how could I use them as 'garden fixes’ in my cool subtrops garden ? In fact if you were search for the term climber-shrub, you would be hard pressed to find it on the internet. Seems like a contradiction because climbers need support to climb whilst shrubs are free standing. But what about those plants that climb over themselves to form a sort of mounding shrub? Some of these types of shrubs are self-striking which might be called suckering. Insta examples from Peter Nixon  Juan

 DESIGN ELEMENTS Climber Heroes This design series is about plants that are categorised as non-general lines. Every week I’ve been saying that were talking about plants that you won’t necessarily find in your big box store or possibly even in your nursery so you may have to search for them. These plants are so worthwhile that because they provide year round interest with their foliage colour, texture and contrast, not just their flowers. Today perhaps some climbers fit the bill Peter refers to cool sub-tropical garden or ‘cool sub-trops’ which means that overnight winter temperatures are down to about 5 degrees. Don’t be put off if you live in a different climate because often plants adapt to a variety of climatic conditions and are worth a try. Peter mentioned these climbers Hoya carnosa Conomorpha fragrans often called climbing frangipani although it has nothing to do with the frangipani genus-Plumeria. The flower does look similar to the frangipani flower and are highly scented.vigorous habit requir

 DESIGN ELEMENTS Bright Shade Planting This design series is about plants that are categorised as non-general lines, in other words, plants that are not production grown that then become available in several different sized pots. This series is also about year round interest in the garden even when plants are not in flower. Imagine opening the back door to look at a sea of just green with no distinguishing features! A tad boring don't you think? Instead, think of plants with different sized and shaped leaves, that might also have contrasting colours. Plants we mention in this series, you won’t necessarily find in your big box store or possibly even in your nursery so you may have to search for them. These plants are so worthwhile that because they provide year round interest with their foliage colour, texture and contrast, not just their flowers.   So you’ve got some shady areas that’s under trees. This spot is usually thick with the roots of the trees so will be difficult to plant anything there that will