Gardening with Shear Frost Diamonds

TOOL TIME

Do you use a whipper snipper for just about every edging job in your garden?

Hedge Shears

Are you happy with the results?
Whipper snippers aren’t so good for areas where you’ve got lots of low growing plants that have crept over your lawn.
If these plants get whippered-snippered back, not only does it look ugly, but sometimes these plants do recover that well.
The same with electric trimmers. They tend to tear.
So what’s the alternative?
Hedge shears, Grass shears, Topiary shears.
Straight blades or wavy blades.
Which is best to use for you?
Let’s find out hedge and grass shears. I'm talking with Tony Mattson, General Manager of Cut Above Tools. www.cutabovetools.com.au



Edging Shears

Grass Shears

There's no difference in weight between straight and wavy blades.
However, if you try and cut branches that are too big or hard for the shears, then you risk bending the blades or putting them out of alignment.

Try and work out what your purpose is and what you're trying to cut. You might need those long handled loppers for the tougher parts of the job.

Blades' length vary from 20 - 25 cm (8 - 10 inches,) any longer than that is not efficient.
By investing in quality tools, you’re likely to have less fatigue, fewer breakdowns and longer tool life.

When choosing the type of hedge shears you want, think about how much you'll use them, where you'll use them, who will be using them, and, of course, how much you can spend on them.
There’s no need to use your hedge shears to cut your lawn edges; for that your need grass shears or edging shears because these are perfect for lawn edges.


If you have any questions about hedge or grass shears, or have some information to share, drop us a line to realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

VEGETABLE HEROES

Do you like to try to grow new plants you’ve never heard of before in your garden?
Well here’s one for you, Cardamom (Elletaria Cardamomum) is a member of the Zingiberaceae or ginger family.

Cardamom has been long used for medicinal purposes and even today Cardamom is the world’s third most-valuable spice by weight (after saffron and vanilla).
Did you know that Cleopatra is said to have found the scent so enticing that she had the palace scented with cardamom smoke when Marc Anthony came to visit?
Ancient Greeks and Romans used cardamom in foods as well as for Medicines and perfumes.
In the New Testament which was largely written in Greek "amooman" appears in reference to the aromatic plant cardamom.
The word means blameless without reproach.
Around 200 years ago, most of the world's supply was sourced from wild plants found in rainforests of the Western Ghats in Southern India.
These wild plants covered the whole region  which was named the Cardamom Hills, a name that remains to this day.
Cardamom seed is a staple seasoning in Indian and Middle Eastern cuisines, in which it is used to flavour meat, vegetables, baked goods, coffee and other Cardamom is a perennial (means it won’t grow a trunk or turn into a tree) with tall simple canes or stems that grow out of rhizomes.
It’s native to the shady forests of India, Ceylon and Malaysia.
Today it is grown mainly on plantations in Guatemala and India
The tall plants, grown on these plantations in flower for eight or nine months of the year.
Each pod, or capsule, ripens slowly, but must be picked when it is three-quarters ripe.
After harvest, the pods are washed and dried and the colour of the pod depends on how it’d dried.
White pods have been dried for many days in the sun leaving them bleached.
Green pods have been dried for one day and night in a heated room.
The flower spikes produce white or pale green flowers that produce green pod capsules that contain 10 to 20 seeds.
These seeds are small black and sticky.
The best quality cardamom seeds are ripe, hard and dark brown in colour.
 The seeds have to be hand picked which is why it’s one of the most expensive spices.
The pod itself is not the spice but the three seeds inside each pod, that are considered the spice.
If you go online to look how to grow Cardamom, you’ll find information that tells you that it’s difficult to grow.
I dare say this information is written by people in the America or England.
I beg to differ, it’s easy to grow in especially in temperate climates, although I haven’t seen any seed pods on mine or on the plant in the Sydney Botanic gardens. Maybe they’re both too young because it takes 4 years for plants growing in plantations to produces flowers and pods.
What does it look like?


Cardamom plant

A low-growing, leafy tropical plant to about 2 metres, which grows on the jungle floor in the wild: Cardamoms have smooth dark green sword shaped leaves on long stalks, which are spicily scented when bruised.
Growing Cardamom-
Cardamom is a tough plant and drought tolerant as well if you grow
it in the right spot.
So-get a rhizome because the cardamom you buy from the spice section of your supermarket has been dried, and won’t ever germinate.
True to its original habitat, cardamom prefers humous rich  soil, filtered light and room to grow.  
You can grow it in a pot if you really  must, but over summer it will get pot-bound, and refuse to flower, so you must keep dividing the plant and passing it out to friends (a great gift, by the way).
Even if your plant doesn’t flower you will have a huge supply of fragrant leaves, which is just as good to have as the spice.
From winter to middle of summer feed your plant with fish emulsion.
Cardamom doesn’t like chilly weather, so move your plant indoors in Autumn as soon as the temperature drops below 5 ⁰ C.
It grows into quite a big plant so too big for a sunny windowsill, but a sunny spot indoors or on the verandah in cooler climates will work especially if you mist it
periodically, or shower it in the bathtub from time to time.
In the wild, cardamom gets a lot of rain;  so a potted cardamom also needs plenty of moisture, but it won’t tolerate poor drainage, which can cause the rhizomes to rot.
Usually trouble free but if plants are too cold their leaves turn brown.
In that case move it to a warmer place, then cut off the brown leaves cut because they often regrow although this can take a long time.
Keep the plant fairly dry while it’s recovering.
If the leaves develop brown tips at any time (even if the plant is kept warm) it is a sign of overwatering.
By the way, Cardamom makes quite a dense clump, a bit like Strelitzia or Bird of Paradise plants.
You might find if it gets quite big, that  it’s quite difficult to dig out if you no longer what the plant in that situation.
What do you do with it?

Cardmomo pods-green.

The leaves don't smell the same as the seeds, but can be used to wrap around fish, rice or vegetables to add flavour during cooking.
The long stalks are useful to tie the leaves together to make a neat parcel of food. The cardamom pods sold for cooking are picked when unripe so the seeds will not grow if you try to sow them
Cardamom seeds lose their flavor quickly when ground so buy them whole whenever possible.
Green pods are superior to white pods for flavour.
Green cardamom has a subtle to sweet fragrance.
Why is it good for you?
Cardamom helps digestion and helps if you’ve got stomach cramps.
It’s a good stimulant and beneficial for those suffering from flatulence and gas.
Cardamom also helps in cleansing the body as it has detoxifying properties.
It improves blood circulation , enhances appetite and provides relief from acidity in the stomach. It’s used in the cure of halitosis or bad breath.
If you are lucky enough to have access to a cardomom plant, the leaves also have a cinnamon fragrance and are ideal for wrapping small parcels of meat and rice for steaming.
These are best wrapped and steamed the day before you want to use them, then  stored in the refrigerator over night and re-warmed up in a steamer just prior to serving. The mild cinnamon-pine flavour will permeate the contents adding a subtle aroma - perfect for coconut rice.
AND THAT WAS YOUR VEGETABLE HERO FOR TODAY?

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Hard Surfaces for Outdoor Dining

Formal outdoor settings photo M Cannon

This garden series with Garden Designer Peter Nixon, is all about garden challenges thrown at us mostly by nature but also due to a situation in your garden that you might need to fix.
Today’s garden challenge is for those areas in your garden where you want to put outdoor dining table and chairs.
For your dining setting you'll probably have chairs and a table, but you don't want them to sink into the soil.
If you don't want formality because it will be at odds with your planting, then you need to consider the alternatives that will be outlined in the podcast.
Let’s find out. I'm talking with Peter Nixon, garden designer www.peternixon.com.au


Peter suggested using salt textured concrete that’s really just concrete that’s finished with a different finish and doesn’t appear as a hard surface.

Informal setting for outdoor dining. photo M Cannon

While the concrete surface is not set, you can also use coloured oxides and then either some pebbles, or press any large leaf onto the concrete as a stencil.
Push the pebbles into the hard surface with a rubber mallet so they don’t become a trip hazard.
Then use edging material to create a channel around the edges and into that plant mini mondo grass.
If you have any questions about what hard surface to have in your garden, or have some information to share, write in realworldgardener@gmail.com

PLANT OF THE WEEK

New Euphorbias:Euphorbia Diamond Frost
Euphorbia Stardust Pink Glitter and Euphorbia Stardust White Sparkle.
Some of you may know Euphorbias in the perennial border.
Did you know that the variation within this genus is amazing, some people might even say awesome.
From low-growing garden weeds called petty spurge to giant, cactus-like succulents.

Euphorbia Diamond Frost

Segue to an annual called Gypsophila or baby’s breath. What do they have in common with several newish cultivars of Euphorbia for your garden
Let’s find out …I'm talking with the Plant Panel; Karen Smith editor of Hort Journal magazine, and Jeremy Critchley wholesale nursery owner www.thegreengallery.com.au

The petals are actually small and dainty like baby’s breath, but there are so many of them that the leaves are scarcely visible.
These new delicate looking but tough, high impact Euphorbia plants flower every day of the year in warmer climates.

Euphorbia Diamond Frost

Stardust is more compact than Diamond Frost and is ideal for patio pots and garden borders in full sun positions.

Heat and drought tolerant, a truly low maintenance plant.

Euphorbias all produce a mostly white latex which they oozes out of the stems when cut, and this sap is often toxic.

If you have any questions about growing Euphorbia white Stardust or Pink Stardust why not write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com

  

 

All About Cardamom

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

Spice it Up

with Ian Hemphill from www.herbies.com.au
Is Cardamom one of the spices in your cupboard?
If not have you ever wondered how to use cardamom?
Did you know that Cardamom is used in Indian, Middle Eastern and even Scandinavian cooking? The Scandinavians use Cardamom in baking.
Listen to this.
For those living in warmer climates, you can grow your own Cardamom. Cardamom is a perennial shrub up to four metres high with very long leaves.

The flowers are small, yellow with purple tips.
As Ian suggests, if you only want a pinch of Cardamom, use the pre-ground spice.
The flavour is less strong, but cracking open the pods, scraping out the seeds, and grinding them up can be a pain when we need more than a pinch of the spice.
If you have any questions about Cardamom, or any spice or herb, why not drop us a line. Or send in a photo to realworldgardener@gmail.com or by post to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675, and I’ll send you a copy of the Garden Guardians in return..

Vegetable Heroes:

Herb-Celery Leaf , Leaf Celery or Chinese Celery.
Leaf celery is also called Cutting Celery, Parcel, Smallage, Zwolsche Krul, and German celery.
Celery Leaf is botanically-(Apium graveolens var. secalinum).

Did you think there was only the celery with the stalks?
Maybe you’ve heard of Celeriac, well that’s a type of Celery too, but instead of stalks, it’s a bulbous root.
Well, there’s also a type of Celery that’s all leaf and nothing much else.
Before you say, I chuck the leaves away from the stalk celery, I say, hang on, this one tastes a bit better than those.
Celery Leaf looks similar to parsley but tastes similar but slightly better than regular stalk celery!
Some say it tastes a little stronger than stalk celery or celeriac.
Leaf Celery has been around for a long time and was in fact used by the ancient Romans as a medicinal herb.
Supposedly, Celery seed has been used for around 3000 years as a seasoning for food.
Did you know that crushed celery seeds are steam distilled to make celery oil?
This oil is used for flavouring sauces, meats, liqueurs, perfumes, cosmetics and soaps.
The reason I’m talking about Celery seed I’ll get to a little later.
Some gardeners have run out of room in their veggie bed already-full of tomatoes, Basil and whatnot.
Never fear, Leaf Celery will grow in pots because it’s a compact plant that only gets to around 20 – 25 cm.

If you live in a cool temperate district, container veggies can be moved under cover during winter.
Leaf Celery is a darker green with thin stalks and leaves that look like a cross between the Italian Parsley and the Curley Parsley.
Celery leaf is perfect for container gardens because it’s a cut and come again plant and is great used as a herb in stews, dressings and salads.
When to plant:
In cool temperate districts, Spring and Summer are your sowing times, in temperate and sub-tropical zones, you have from Spring right through to Autumn, in arid areas, the only time you can’t really sow it is in summer, and tropical districts win the jackpot, because they can sow it all year round.
How to grow:
From putting the seed into the ground or pot, it’ll take around 2-3 months.
Like most veggies, Leaf Celery needs full sun but can do alright in part shade in soil that’s not too dry.
You can start them off in punnets if you like because they don’t mind being transplanted.
Keep in mind, Leaf Celery isn’t frost tolerant.
Sow  the very fine seeds thinly, and only 5mm (1/4”) deep.
Be careful not to cover the fine seeds too much because they need light to germinate.
TIP:
For fine seeds I tend to use a light cover of vermiculite which I then mist to make moist.
They can be slow to germinate taking up to 21 days at 10⁰C-18⁰C, so be patient.
In warmer areas, seedlings should emerge in 1-2 weeks.
Once the seeds have germinated it’s a good idea to thin them out around 30cm (12”) apart.
TIP: number 1: Don’t let them dry out.
TIP: number 2:-If you believe in companion planting, then leaf Celery is supposed to be an insect repellent for cabbage white butterfly.
Try planting some around your Brassicas like Broccoli, Cauli, and Cabbage.
TIP: number 3 and now for the Celery Seed.
If you leave your Celery leaf over winter, the plant will bolt to seed in Spring.
What can you do with that?
Apart from replanting fresh seed, the seeds are actually edible.
Ever heard of Celery salt?
What you can also do is grind it up in your mortar and pestle with a little sea salt. Better than from the supermarket shelf.
Plus you can enjoy the dainty white umbels of flowers.
After a couple of months, pick leaves as you need them to put in soups, stews, stocks and sauces.
A few leaves go well in salads with a strong blue cheese or some or cured meats.
Why is it good for you?
The leaves are brimming with five times more magnesium and calcium than the stalks.
They're also a rich source of vitamin C and antioxidant’
The good thing is Leaf Celery is low in carbs, and has even a small amount of fibre

AND THAT WAS OUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT FOR TODAY!

Design Elements

with guest landscape designer Charlie Albone

The inaugural Australian Garden show, showcased quite a few less garden designers than you would’ve seen at Chelsea.
By comparison, it was a small affair, but you have to start somewhere even if you aspire to be something a lot bigger.
I spoke to some of the garden designers to see what inspired their designs.Here’s a landscape designer from Melbourne.
I must apologize for the wind noise because the interview was done at the actual location. Listen to these inspiring thoughts

The silver Lady fern is Blechnum gibbum ‘silver lady’ that loves shade but not frost. Sometimes called the dwarf tree fern.
Gibbum is native to the islands in the South Pacific, including New Caledonia, Fiji and Hawaii. Did you know that this fern’s root systems are often used to produce a substrate for growing orchids. There you go orchid lovers.
If you have any questions about this week’s Design Elements, send it our email address, or just post it.