Forbidden Treasures and Blueberries Bursting with Goodness

SPICE IT UP

The spice that comes from a particular orchid native to Turkey and Persia, used to be sold at stalls in the streets of London, as a drink.
They called it Saloop or Salep.
It was even held in great repute in herbal medicine.
The best English Salep came from Oxfordshire, but the tubers were chiefly imported from the East. Before the war it was regularly sold by street merchants in Constantinople as a hot drink during the winter.
Now coffee has taken over. But wait, this spice, what happened to that?Let’s find out. I'm talking with Ian Hemphill from www.herbies.com.au





Salep tubers

Most of the Orchids native England have tuberous roots full of a highly nutritious starch-like substance, called Bassorin, of a sweetish taste and with a faint, pong.









Salep Ice-Cream

In the East, Salep is mostly obtained from Orchis morio, which grows best in chalky soils, but according to some sources it can be made just as well from O. mascula, the Early Purple Orchis, O. maculata and O. latifolia, which are more common.
Ian says a cheat's way of obtaining a similar flavour is to use Mastic Tears.
Cheats Salep Drink
Crush a few Mastic tears into some warm milk-say 1 cup.
To this add 1 teaspoon of cornflour.
Simmer until it thickens then pour into a cup and add some cinnamon and crushed pistachio nuts on top.
If you have any questions about where to buy Salep don durama icecream or the drink, drop us a line to realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

 

VEGETABLE HEROES

Rocket or Arugula and scientifically Eruca sativa.
Arugula was cultivated by the Romans and for some time was thought to have aphrodisiac properties. In fact, around the 13^th century, the Roman Catholic Church banned it from being grown in monastic gardens for this reason.
Arugula belongs to the Brassicaceae family along with Broccoli, Mustard greens, Kale and Cauliflower.
Did you know that the Romans grew and ate Arugula?
In fact the romans grew Arugula for both it's leaves and the seed.
The seed was used for flavouring oils. 
You might’ve heard Ian Hemphill from the spice It Up segment saying that most herbs were at some point used in aphrodisiac potions.
Rocket is no exception.
Rocket or Arugula seed has been used as an ingredient in aphrodisiac concoctions dating back to the first century, AD. (Cambridge World History of Food).
You won’t be surprised to know then that Arugula is native to the Mediterranean region.
The spicy leaves can be grown all year round but are best in cool weather. I’ve found that certain plants like Arugula or Rocket and Coriander just bolt to seed in summer and it’s pointless getting the varieties that are supposedly slow bolting, because they always bolt in temperate zones anyway.
The reason being is that long days and warm temperatures initiate flowering in this plant so you can’t fight nature.

Rocket or Arugula pops up in unexpected places.

WHEN TO SOW
In temperate and arid districts, you can sow Arugula seeds from August until November.
In cool temperate areas you have from September right through to November, but sub-tropical districts can sow Arugula or Rocket seeds from March right through til November. Lucky them.
Not recommended for tropical areas.
For those of you that have a soil thermometer and actually use it, the soil temperatures for germination should be between  4°C 14°C
Arugula prefers moist, fertile soil, pH 6.0-6.8 but will tolerate a wide pH range.
Arugula is best grown from seed and sow them a couple of weeks apart to have a continuous crop.
Tip: be brave let one or two plants go to seed so you have fresh seed for next season.

HOW TO SOW

Rocket self-seeds readily, although seed is sometimes slow to germinate. Tip: Soak seeds in tepid water with a splash of seaweed solution from Australia’s favourite seaweed company, for 6-8 hours before sowing.  . Seeds germinate in 5-7 days.
Sow the seeds in the garden bed, or in pots or troughs as Arugula is shallow rooted like all salad vegetables
Sow the seeds very shallow and keep the soil moist until seedlings emerge.
The plant grows to about 40cm high so thin out the seedlings so they’re 20cm apart.
Grow in full sun and water well.
Evenly moist soil will help slow bolting and if you don’t want your Rocket or Arugula to be too spicy, then don’t let the plant come under stress.
In warmer areas, it grow your rocket in partial shade because even when temps are in the mid 20’s, it starts to droop and yes, become stressed.
If the leaves start looking a bit different-starting  to become feathery, this means the plant is about to flower.

Once the flowers appear, the growing season is over.

Arugula tolerates some frost.
HINT:Sow seeds  2-3 weeks so that not everything’s is ready at once.
At this time of year rocket or Arugula is one of those plants that’s easy to grow so would suit your kids or gran kids if you’re trying to get them into gardening.
I’ve been growing the Wild Rocket in my garden and it seems to be hanging in quite well through all the rain and that cold temperate zones have experienced this winter.

Wild Rocket growing in the vegetable bed.

Wild rocket has more narrow leaves and the flavour is quite mild.

You can buy two types of Rocket, the regular as well as Arugula Pronto, which has larger soft leaves and a mild flavour from diggers.www.diggers.com.au  
Why is it good for you?
Rocket is rich source of certain phytochemicals.
Rocket is also a good source of folates, a 100g contains good levels of Vitamin C as well as B complex and vitamin A.
That same 100g of Rocket will give you 90% of your Vitamin K. Vitamin K is linked to bone and brain health.
Lastly, rocket is great as a salad vegetable or why not try making rocket pesto?
Something different.
AND THAT WAS OUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT

 

PLANT OF THE WEEK

with Karen Smith editor of Hort Journal magazine. www.hortjournal.com.au

BLUEBERRY BURST
Blueberries are the fruit of a shrub that belongs to the heath family includes cranberries, azaleas and rhododendrons.
They are sort of a bluey purple colour have a waxy ‘bloom’ that covers the surface serving as a protective coat.
Did you know that over half of Australia’s Blueberries are grown near Coffs Harbour?
Whenever this fruit is mentioned most people groan because they’d love to grow it but there’s been so many things that just don’t work for where you live.
There’s not enough winter chilling-not enough hours below 7⁰C, or the soil’s just wrong-pH or to clayey or too sandy.

In comes a small naturally dwarfing plant that has heaps of fruit, and  that you can grow in a pot and move it around , or you can grow it in the garden.

Let’s find out about this plant.


Blueberry Burst has been bred in Australia.
It has large fruit size and you’re supposed to get lots of fruit.
The growers say it’s early in season to flower and early to fruit.
What’s really great about it is that it’s an evergreen, so won’t drop its leaves.
Some say that the fruit can be as large as a one dollar coin.
Harvest time is stated to be August September for a cooler Melbourne garden. This is early and we’ll be interested to see how local home gardeners go.


Blueberry Burst is available from www.plantnet.com.au or from Bunnings stores and garden centres.
Mark Dann from Plant Net recommends that you plant your Blueberry Burst into a pot.

However should you try growing your Blueberries in the ground-SOIL STRUCTURE / AERATION  are very important when growing blueberries.
Blueberries have a very fine fibrousy root system, just like Azaleas,  and this root system needs a porous medium in which to grow, a bit like coarse sand from where they came from.
Careful soil preparation is needed if you want to grow them in the ground., you have to make a mound of soil and use lots of mulch. Apparently, growers in the US, use heaps of pine bark mulch to prevent compaction of the soils underneath for the growth and establishment of a healthy root system.

Rocketing up the Scale

REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm 2RRR 88.5fm Sydney, streaming live at www.2rrr.org.au and Across Australia on the Community Radio Network. www.realworldgardener.com
Real World Gardener is funded by the Community Broadcasting Foundation
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The complete CRN edition of RWG is available on http://www.cpod.org.au/ , just click on 2RRR to find this week’s edition. The new theme is sung by Harry Hughes from his album Songs of the Garden. You can hear samples of the album from the website www.songsofthegarden.com


PLANT DOCTOR

with Steve Falcioni from www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au
SCALE:This pest that attacks all manner of plants is tiny, really tiny, only 2-3mm long.
So, yes you’d need a good magnifying class to look at them.
The thing is, when they’re doing damage to your plant’s leaves and branches, they stay very still under a covering which is mostly impervious to anything that you spray on it.



Scale on Port Wine Magnolia

So what do you do? Listen to this…..
If you notice block stuff sticking to the leaves of your plants and ants going about their business as well, then you definitely have got some sort of scale happening.
Some scale insects (like soft scales) hatch from eggs, while others are born live.
They disperse to favourable sites on the leaf, settle down and start feeding. This dispersal stage is known as a ‘crawler’.
The juveniles then become sedentary, and start building their protective scale covers.
As we mentioned, targeting scale when they’re most vulnerable is the best method.
If you have any questions about the scale, or  even have a photo a problem on your plant, why not drop us a line to realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

VEGETABLE HEROES

Well it’s TIME FOR VEGETABLE HEROES Rocket or Arugula and scientifically Eruca sativa.
Arugula was cultivated by the Romans and for some time was thought to have aphrodisiac properties.
Did you know that, around the 13^th century, the Roman Catholic Church banned rocket from being grown in monastic gardens for this reason?
ROCKET is native to the Mediterranean region and belongs to the Brassicaceae family along with Broccoli, Mustard greens, Kale and Cauliflower.

Like its namesake, rocket is a fast growing annual green, with a mild peppery tasting leaf; the taste depends on how well you grow it.

The leaves are 10 – 20 cm long, serrated edges and what’s called deeply lobed-that is, not a complete simple looking leaf.

At the end of the growing season, they send up long stems-up to a metre, with small yellow or white flowers, that attract all those good bugs.

Torpedo shaped seed pods grow after those flowers have finished which blast seeds all over your veggie bed, to grow more rocket.

The spicy leaves can be grown all year round but are best in cool weather. I’ve found that certain plants like Arugula or Rocket and Coriander just bolt to seed in summer and it’s pointless getting the varieties that are supposedly slow bolting, because they always bolt in temperate zones anyway.

So why do some plants bolt to seed so fast in warmer weather?
The reason is that long days and warm temperatures initiate flowering in these plants so you can’t fight nature.

When To Sow?
In sub tropical, temperate and arid districts, you can sow Arugula seeds from March until November, in cool temperate areas, it’s also March until November, except for the winter months unless you have a greenhouse or even a mini-greenhouse.
For tropical districts the advice is don’t bother, it’s just too hot for rocket.
For those of you that have a soil thermometer and actually use it, the soil temperatures for germination should be between  4°C - 14°C
Soil temperature is usually a few degrees less than outside air temperature as a general rule.
Sowing Your Rocket-Arugula is best grown from seed and sow them a couple of weeks apart to have a continuous crop.
Rocket prefers to grow in full.
Sow seeds  every 2-3 weeks so that not everything’s is ready at once.

Tip:Be brave let one or two plants go to seed so you have fresh seed for next season.
Rocket self-seeds readily, although seed is sometimes slow to germinate.

Tip: If you’re having trouble getting rocket seeds to germinate, first soak them in tepid water with a splash of seaweed solution from Australia’s favourite seaweed company, for 6-8 hours before sowing.
Seeds should germinate in 5-7 days.
Sow the seeds in the garden bed, or in pots or troughs as Arugula is shallow rooted like all salad vegetables.
Keep the soil moist until seedlings emerge.
The plant grows to about 40cm high so thin out the seedlings so they’re 20cm apart.
You might get fungal problems in warmer areas if the plants are closer, but for others, crowded rocket plants doesn’t seem to do much damage.

If you do get unseasonally warm days after sowing your rocket seeds, keep up the watering.
Evenly moist soil will help slow bolting and if you don’t want your Rocket or Arugula to be too spicy, then don’t let the plant come under stress.
In warmer areas, it is best grown during winter or in partial shade.
Rocket or Arugula prefers moist, fertile soil, pH 6.0-6.8 but will tolerate a wide pH range.

Leaves gradually alter in appearance, to become feathery, indicating that the plant is about to flower. Once the flowers appear, the growing season is over.
Arugula tolerates some frost.
Having said all that, rocket or Arugula is one of those plants that’s easy to grow so would suit your kids or gran kids if you’re trying to get them into gardening.
I’ve been growing the Wild Rocket in my garden and it seems to be hanging in quite well over the years, self seeding here there and everywhere.
Wild rocket has more narrow leaves and the flavour is quite mild.
Some varieties of rocket for you to try -two types of Rocket, the regular as well as Arugula Pronto, which has larger soft leaves and a mild flavour.
Why is it good for you?
Rocket is rich source of certain phytochemicals thought to be important in preventing cancer cell growth.
Rocket is also a good source of folates, a 100g contains 24% of the daily allowance. Rocket also contains good levels of Vitamin C as well as B complex and vitamin A.
That same 100g of Rocket will give you 90% of your Vitamin K. Vitamin K is linked to bone and brain health.
Lastly, rocket is great as a salad vegetable or why not try making rocket pesto? Something different.

AND THAT WAS OUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT

DESIGN ELEMENTS

with landscape designer Louise McDaid


Easy Make Overs-paint your terracotta pots.
photo Real World Gardener

Easy Make Overs for your garden
Do watch those garden makeovers on telly?
Seems like that’s what gardening is all about according to the TV executives.
Who could be interested in just plants?
But, just in case you want to do an easy on your pocket makeover on your own garden and by yourself –no team of trades people to work 12 hours a day, then here’s just the thing.
Let’s find out what this is all about.



 

Whether you choose to hire a landscape designer or do it yourself, garden makeovers are an excellent creative outlet.
In fact, gardening is an excellent creative outlet in general don’t you think?
Gardens, whether they’re made over or have just evolved over the years, turn a house into a home.

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Zelkova serrata-Japanese Zelkova
Do you live in an area where deciduous trees give you great autumn colour?
Those turning leaves do give those brilliant, reds, yellows and oranges that make for a standout landscape that artists and photographers can’t resist.

Why not have a bit of this in your own backyard.
Zelkova serrata is native to Japan, Korea, eastern China and Taiwan.

Zelkova grows naturally in lowland forests with maple, beech and oak. 
Japanese Zelkova is deciduous growing to 18 metres high with a 15 metre spread.

Has some possibility as a substitute for the American (Ulmus americana) and English elm (Ulmus procera) because of its resistance to Dutch elm disease which has devastated the trees of the northern hemisphere.

For showy autumn colour - the green leaves turn yellow, copper, orange, or deep red to purplish-red. 
Young trees have smooth grey bark and as the tree ages, the bark peels to reveal orange or pink patches.

Zelkova can grow quite a large trunk of up to one metre or more in diameter. It has a moderate growth rate and likes a sunny exposure. Tolerates heat and strong winds. Moderately drought tolerant, though intolerant of waterlogged soils.

Wood from Zelkova serrata is very fine grained and highly valued in Japan. Wood from all species of Zelkova is used in cabinet making and inlay work.

Several distinctive cultivars have been developed including Z. serrata ‘Green Vase.’ A good tree for Australian gardens because of its fire retardant properties.
TIP:Transplants easily.
Zelkova is a funny name, but it’s in the list of Australia’s top ten trees according to the sponsor of last year’s winner of the Chelsea Flower Show. The won the overall best garden with their Australian Garden entry.
If you have the room, this tree is hardy and moderately fast growing. Why not give it a try?

Learn How to Grow Rocket says the Wise Boo Book Owl

REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm 2RRR 88.5fm Sydney and Across Australia on the Community Radio Network. www.realworldgardener.com
The complete CRN edition of RWG is available on http://www.cpod.org.au/ , just click on 2RRR to find this week’s edition.

Wildlife in Focus: with ecologist Sue Stevens.

 There is much myth and folklore about owls. Some are light- hearted like in the U.S.: if you hear an Owl-cry you must return the call, or else take off an item of clothing and put it on again inside-out!
 Boo Book Owls are found all round Australia, from forests to desert regions, but need hollows in trees to nest. We can help these birds if we realize that, in the environment, dead trees are as valuable as living ones, and they should be left for homes for wildlife.
Find out more about this wonderful with a rather nice call.

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Vegetable Heroes:

Rocket or Arugula and scientifically Eruca sativa.  Arugula belongs to the Brassicaceae family along with Broccoli, Mustard greens, Kale and Cauliflower. The spicy leaves can be grown all year round but are best in cool weather. I’ve found that certain plants like Arugula or Rocket and Coriander just bolt to seed in summer and it’s pointless getting the varieties that are supposedly slow bolting, because they always bolt in temperate zones anyway. The reason being is that long days and warm temperatures initiate flowering in this plant so you can’t fight nature. In temperate and arid districts, you can sow Arugula seeds from August until November, in cool temperate areas wait until September unless you have a greenhouse or even a mini-greenhouse, but sub-tropical districts can sow Arugula or Rocket seeds from March right through til November. Lucky them. For those of you that have a soil thermometer and actually use it, the soil temperatures for germination should be between  4°C 14°C Arugula is best grown from seed and sow them a couple of weeks apart to have a continuous crop, and be brave let one or two plants go to seed so you have fresh seed for next season. Sow the seeds very shallow and keep the soil moist until seedlings emerge. The plant grows to about 40cm high so thin out the seedlings so they’re 20cm apart. During the cooler months grow Rocket in full sun. In warmer districts, rocket will tolerate partial shade. Rocket also copes with light frost.  Rocket or Arugula is one of those plants that’s easy to grow so would suit your kids or gran kids if you’re trying to get them into gardening. I’ve been growing the Wild Rocket in my garden and it seems to be hanging in quite well through all the rain and cold temperate zones have experienced this winter. Wild rocket has more narrow leaves and the flavour is quite mild. Buy online from www.diggerseeds.com.au  or www.greenharvest.com.au

Design Elements: 

Over the last few weeks, Design Elements has been all about different ways of achieving structure in the garden. So far, it’s been about what is structure, and structure with hedges that some people find boring, but gardeners in Europe think otherwise. Then there’s been built structures, but today, can you achieve structure with everyday plants?  Let’s find out with garden designer Lesley Simpson..

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Plant of the Week:

Together with horticulturalist Sabina Fielding-Smith, we're talking about Camellias.If you want a large flower scented Camellia with fragrance there is only one. Camellia japonica “High Fragrance,”  bred in NZ in 1986. In the show I mentioned that I like to graft slow growing Camellias onto Camellia sasanqua root stock. June is the best time of year to do this in temperate zones, and you may just get away with it on colder districts.

Anyway, last year I grafted a Camellia reticulata "Red Crystal" onto Sasanqua stock and I’m pleased to report I have my first flower. It’s a brilliant crepe paper red with a huge central boss of yellow stamens. Just spectacular . There's a lot to be said about growing Camellias in the right conditions, that is, slightly acidic soil with plenty of humus. Most problems occur when the Camellia plant is not receiving it's requirements. In the last few years, Camellias around Australia have been attacked by Camellia T-mite. This occurred during the drier period and has persisted since. Preventative control is possible by spraying the Camellias, (after flowering) with horticultural oil.  There is also now a registered Neem Oil product from eco Organic Gardening. See their website. www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au/ Mature Camellias are reasonably drought tolerant, but that depends where you live. As a preference, Camellias like a bit of moisture at all times, but not soaking wet otherwise they'll develop root rot. Flower balling is another problem that can occur with multi-petalled varieties such as Camellia japonica W.H Davies. This often meanes that the flowers received direct sunlight after a heavy dew, causing the petals to fuse. Light coloured flowers, prefer dappled midday to afternoon sun. In the past, a mulch of cow manure was recommended, but after hearing about the toxicity and variability of some manure products, I don't recommend this. It seems that some manures contain a high content of salts which will stress the plants and also cause flower balling. Go easy on the manures and possibly stick to pelletised or synthetic fertilisers. Camellias in many neglected or older gardens appear to flower without any fertilising, so perhaps easing back on fertilising mature shrubs is a better alternative. If you need to prune your Camellias, wait until after flowering and no more than one-third off the top. If you’ve inherited a mature straggly Camellia, and I’ve seen this done at historic Camden House in southern Sydney, mature Camellias, including reticulatas were heavily pruned; even reduced to a bare frame!