Wandering Through Gardens of Time

WHAT'S COOKING

If you could time travel to the early to mid-1800s, what kind of things would you expect to find growing in their produce gardens and what kind food would you expect to eat?

In the What’s Cooking segment, this is exactly what we’re doing; time travelling back to early colonists days in Australia and having a peek at what happened in those kitchens and kitchen gardens.
Let’s find out by listening to the podcast;
I'm talking with Jacqui Newling, Gastronomer from Sydney Living Museums.

Would you have guessed that an alligator pear is an avocado?
Or that eggplants, tomatoes, artichokes and other heritage vegies were grown on a regular basis?
Tomatoes were initially not commonly grown but staples such as beans, potatoes and cabbages were the staples in most kitchen gardens.
Pickling and preserving were high on the cook’s to do list when all the produce comes ripe at once.
Salt and vinegar were the main preserving ingredients back then and unlike today, sugar wasn't used at all, the reason being sugar was expensive.
Pickling was in 100% vinegar, but they also used spices to make condiments like Brinjal pickles and Picalilli.
Fermenting vegies such as cabbage was common practise as was storing root vegetables in sand and keeping them in a cool environment such as a cellar.
Wealthier households that could afford sugar were able to make sweet jams and cordials.
Back then of course there was no global trade so once the tomatoes had finished for the season, the early colonists cook wouldn’t be able to get them unless they had been preserved.
If you have any questions about early colonists kitchen gardens or have some information you’d like to share, why not email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

VEGETABLE HEROES

This weeks Vegetable Hero is Roselle plant or botanically-Hibiscus sabdariffa. Being a hibiscus it belongs to the Malvaceae family of plants that mostly originate in tropical Africa. 
Roselle plants some say comes from India but others say Roselle comes from West Africa.
Roselle plant was originally introduced in Malaysia more than three 1,000 years ago.
Did you know that in 1892, there were 2 factories producing roselle jam in Queensland, Australia, and exporting considerable quantities to Europe. This was a short-lived enterprise not going much past 1909.
Roselle grows in a wide variety of climates because it’s very adaptable, possibly weedy even. 
It grows well in dry climates right through to tropical climates. The only drawback is that the growing season is 5 months, so you need to start this weekend.
Why grow Roselle plants?

Well the Roselle plant looks nice with its green leaves that have red stems and red veins and the flowers are deep red hibiscus like; but the fleshy red calyx-the part underneath the flower is excellent in making jams, sauces, cordials, in fact it’s the main ingredient in a herbal tea called Red Zinger.
Roselle seed is a little hard to find unless you look in seed saver networks, organic growers, certainly you’ll find them at organic markets where there is a seed stand.
Nurseries will have seedlings in late spring early summer if they carry unusual plants.
Seeds remain viable for a good long time but soak the small hard triangular seeds in warm water to help speed up germination.
Don’t drown them, just a saucer of water overnight will do.
Roselles need a very warm soil to germinate, preferably over 25°C.

In tropical areas, they sow the Roselle seed in early spring.
In the Northern Territory the seed is sown during the early wet season as Roselle is a short day-length plant and needs 12–12 ½ hours of daylight to flower.
In NSW areas and more southern areas of Australia this would be as late as October early November outside.
Some years the soil might take even longer to warm up.
So gardeners in cooler areas need to start seed indoors using a small bottom-heat unit, or the top of the water heater.
Cover the seed with 12mm of fine soil or seed raising mix.
tip:Roselle plants begin to crop when they’re 3 months old.
I’ve read that 3-4 plants will give you enough fruit to make jam or tea, but I’m not sure how much jam and tea that might be, so you could trial it with just a couple of plants because they take a bit of room.
Too much for the veggie garden so go for the flower bed or flower pot.
Now it grows to 1 ½ metres so a big pot will be good.
There is more than one flush of seed pods, but the trick is to remove the first flush because the second is much bigger and better..
You’ll now the Roselle bud is ready when they easily come away from the bush, usually 3 weeks after the flowers have finished when the pod is 2-3 cms across.

Keep them well watered but it must drain away reasonably quickly because Roselle plants are prone to root rot
Roselle plants are weedy in the Northern Territory and Western Australia-but aren’t a problem anywhere else.
If you are going to go for growing this plant, here’s a tip: When the fruits are about the size of a walnut, about 20 days after flowering, you need to separate the seeds from the inflated and ripened outer fleshy casings or the calyces- or fleshy part.
Roselle fruits are best prepared for use by washing, then making an incision around the tough base of the calyx below the bracts to free and remove it with the seed capsule attached.
The calyces are then ready to be used in jams or teas or whatever.

They may even be chopped and added to fruit salads.
Use an apple corer-from kitchen shops.
By the way the young shoots and leaves can be eaten raw or cooked as a vegetable.
To make Roselle tea-
The dried red calyx is used for tea and it is an important ingredient in the commercial Red Zinger, Hibiscus and Fruit teas.

The tea is very similar in flavour to rose hips and high in vitamin C. To make it, strip off the red calyx (the fleshy cover surrounding the seed pod) and dry it in a solar drier or a slow oven until crisp.
Only two small pieces are needed per cup.

Try mixing it with dried lemongrass or lemon verbena and dried organic orange peel for a wonderful herb tea that is also good chilled.
Why is it good for you? 
Roselle hips contain a very good source of Vitamin C, and is rich in Calcium and Magnesium. vitamin A, and amino acids.
Also Roselle is rich in anthocyanins , essential minerals and vitamins. 

Roselle is very low in Cholesterol and Sodium, and is a good source of Vitamin A, Vitamins B1 and B2, Niacin, Iron and Potassium.
Anthocyanins are water-soluble flavonoid pigments, which are responsible for the red, blue and purple colours in many fruits and vegetables.

AND THAT WAS OUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT FOR TODAY! 

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Continuing with the series on best fit gardening.
Today we’re looking focal points in the garden?
Good garden design has some sort of focal point; something to draw our gaze instead of just randomly looking at a scene but not focussing on anything in particular.
Perhaps a focal point like the fountain in this picture?

Focal points are some plant, whether it’s a tree or a shrub a water feature or a statue, that draws the eye and gives the garden some sense of design.
How do you know what to choose, especially these days when we have smaller gardens?
Let’s find out; I'm talking with garden designer Peter Nixon from www.paradisusgl.peternixon.com.au


The small trees mentioned were Plumeria pudica-the evergreen Frangipani, Synadenium grantii rubra or red south African mild bush; Alberta magna-the Natal Flame Bush for cool temperate to warm temperate regions or don’t go past the double flowering Crabapple-Malus ionensis plena.
If you have any questions about growing small trees for focal points or have a suggestion why not write in or email me at www.realworldgardener.com

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Happy Wanderer: Native Sarsparilla: Hardenbergia violacea cultivars.
Pea flowers are very attractive and gardeners certainly love their sweet peas.
What about other times of the year?
Yes there’s the pea flowers on your vegie plants like peas and beans but they’re all the same and not that showy.
What you need is something that has lots and lots of flowers all over the bush or climber, so spectacular that everyone who visits wants to grow one themselves.
Let’s find out about them and the many different cultivars by listening to the podcast.. I'm talking with Karen Smith, editor www.hortjournal.com.au and Jeremy Critchley owner of www.thegreengallery.com.au


There’s also Hardenbergia violacea Flat White™ and Carpet Royale™ which are fast growing, heavy flowering, shallow rooted plants with long trailing stems forming a dense mat, and unlike most other varieties of Hardenbergia will not climb allowing them to be used in a variety of positions in the garden.

They have large glossy leaves and are available in two different flower colours, white and mauve.





Once established, they have low water and maintenance requirements.Hardenbergia violacea Flat White and Carpet Royale are fast growing, heavy flowering, shallow rooted plants with long trailing stems forming a dense mat, and unlike most other varieties of Hardenbergia will not climb allowing them to be used in a variety of positions in the garden.
They have large glossy leaves and are available in two different flower colours, white and mauve. Once established, they have low water and maintenance requirements.
A full sun to part shade position is preferred in a wide range of soil types including clay or sand however these cultivars will grow best in an enriched well drained acid soil on a raised bed with a pH of 5.5 to 6.0.
They only have a low frost tolerance when young and can get significant leaf damage but will become hardier with age.

The Early Days of Gardening and Electric Blue Hues

WHAT'S COOKING

Imagine if you didn’t have a stove, fridge, or not too many shops to buy your groceries or bread.
What would you do?
That’s what life was like for the early colonists of Australia.


Elizabeth Farm

Rouse Hill Historic House

Growing your own veg, and being self-sufficient, would’ve been a priority wouldn’t it?
Did you know that Garden Island, now a navy base, was named for the kitchen garden established there by the crew of the Sirius?
Perhaps you would work out to make Damper but could your make your own bread?
What rising agent would you use?
Let’s find out. Talking with Gastronomer Jacquie Newling from Sydney Living Museums.

You might have thought that it cooking with ‘bush foods’ or ‘bush tucker’ was something new that chefs in classy restaurants are keen to try.
But no, early colonists embraced native produce, adapting local ingredients to their tastes and cooking techniques.
Also, early colonists were given a weekly ration of 5.5 Kg of flour.Certainly enough to make a stand 600g loaf of bread.Colonists could make their own either ‘hearth’ or damper-style bread, either in hot ashes or in a Dutch oven, or take their flour to the public bake-house.
Many householders settled for ‘soda’ bread, using bi-carbonate of soda as the rising agent, and added buttermilk for extra flavour because baking soda was available at least from the 1820s,
f you have any questions life in the early 1800’s, or have some information you’d like to share, why not email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.


VEGETABLE HEROES

Parsley-Petroselinum crispum is, by far the most commonly mentioned herb in recipes all over the world.
Parsley’s name comes from two Greek words Petrose meaning rock; beause it grows on rocky cliffs and old stonewalls in the Mediterranean; and selenium an ancient name for celery-so one can think of it as “rock celery”.
We all know what Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) looks like.
That bright green, biennial herb that is very common in Middle Eastern, European, and Australian cooking.
Parsley comes in two forms, curly leaf and Italian or flat leaf.

Curly leaf parsley is often used as a garnish but many people think flat leaf parsley has a stronger flavour but I find it hard to tell the difference.
However, scientific evidence shows that from chemical analysis, flat leaf parsley has much higher levels of essential oil, so it must be true.

Myths and Legends?
Did you know that both types of Parsley were around and used by ancient Romans in the fourth century BC?
Something you might not have known is that the Ancient Greeks crowned winners of major sporting events with wreaths of parsley.
There’s an old wives’ tale that says you could bring about the demise of an enemy by plucking a sprig of parsley while speaking his (her?) name.


In Medieval times revellers placed it on their tables and around their necks to absorb food odours.
It was also used as a poison antidote.
Parsley was introduced into England from the Mediterranean, where it originally grew wild, in the 16th century and in The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, Peter Rabbit “ate some lettuce and some broad beans, then some radishes, and then, feeling rather sick, he went to look for some parsley.”

Growing Parsley

Parsley seeds are slow to germinate.
I’ve heard that the reason for the slow and unreliable germination of parsley is that the seed goes nine times to the Devil and back before coming up.
The un-germinated seeds are the ones that the Devil keeps for himself.
Here’s a tip to help with germination- To give them a jump start try soaking them in water for 24 hours before planting. Parsley seeds should be planted in a shallow trench and covered over with a 1.2 cm layer of fine soil.
I find Parsley sows itself if you let a couple of plants go to seed.


Another reason for letting it go to seed, especially for organic gardeners, is that the flowers of Parsley attract beneficial insects like parasitic wasps and predatory lacewings.
These are the bugs that eat the troublemaker bugs in the garden.
Parsley needs full sun, but will cope with a little shade.
It likes well drained soil that’s got some organic matter like cow manure or garden compost mixed in with it.
It will grow in pots or containers, but because it has a large tap root when it matures, you’ll need to pull it out and start again every couple of years because it’ll have used up the potting mix by then.
Parsley may be cut from the stalks any time after the leaves are fully formed.
Cut the outside leaves and stems, but allow the inner stems to grow so that there is a continuous production of new leaves.
Why Is it Good for You?
Parsley has many health benefits.
It has dietary calcium, iron, riboflavin, thiamine, carotenes, ascorbic acid, and vitamin A.1 and vitamin C and folic acid.
It’s also good for blood pressure, the heart and stomach, and for pain relief. Arthritic aches and pains are supposed to be relieved by taking parsley.
Parsley is mildly laxative –but I haven’t found out how much of it you need to eat for this to work.
Make a hot poultice of Parsley to relieve insect bites and stings.
Parsley is a natural breath freshener.
If you chew on a few sprigs of Parsley it’s supposed to reduce the odour of garlic breath.
This is thanks to parsley’s high chlorophyll levels.
AND THAT WAS OUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT FOR TODAY!  

DESIGN ELEMENTS

How do you hide that Boundary Fence when there’s not much room to plant anything?
Plus, you’ve got to stop the neighbours from peering into your house from the second storey.
Questions like that are being asked all over the country and we’ll try to solve that and other problems in this series of Best Fit Gardening.
Talking with Garden Designer Peter Nixon. Let's find out more....
Peter's suggestions are Pavonia coccinea "Shooting Star', a sub-tropical free standing, scarlet flowering evergreen shrub growing to 2.4m.For a warm temperate bamboo, Peter's choice is Drepanostachus falcatum or Blue Bamboo non-invasive clump forming growing to 3m with feathery foliage and ultra fine stems or culms.

Blue Bamboo

Pavonia coccinea Shooting Star

There are many types of Bamboo that fit into small spaces and only spread 1 ½ metres.There’s also many different heights, some only grow to 3 or 4 metres, some to 6 metres and some reach for the sky at 8 plus metres.



For cooler climates, don't go past Magnolia " Kay Paris" -ginger flock backed ornamental leaves, lemon scented large white flowering and growing to 4 metres high and 1 metre wide if left untrimmed.for cool climates you could also choose Choisya ternata or Mexican Orange Blossom.

If you have any questions about hiding the boundary fence or have a suggestion why not write in or email me 

 

 PLANT OF THE WEEK

Talking with the Plant Panel; Karen Smith editor of www.hortjournal.com.au and Jeremy Critchley owner www.thegreengallery.com.au

Do you love blue flowers? If so you’ll love this next plant,

Lobelia spp.is usually sold as an attractive annual herb but there are new varieties that are biennial or even perennial.
Lobelia it’s an easy-to-grow, carefree plant that prefers cooler climates but grows all through the summertime.

Butterfly like blue flowers smother the plant for many months.

Flower colour is the brightest of brilliant blue.
It flowers so much it will be still going right through until the first frost.
Did I mention that the flowers are really, really blue so let’s find out what it is…

Lobelia species are native to North America, South America and Southern Africa There are many selections of Lobelia erinus grown in gardens around the world and growing lobelia is an asset to the garden.
Lobelia erinus from which Lucia Dark Blue is bred and selected is South African in origin.
'Lucia' Dark Blue

Location is the key to success with Lobelias.

They need a well draining garden bed or container in full sun to part shade for some of the day.

Keep the soils evenly moist and mulch to conserve moisture and keep the soil cooler.

Once plants are established a regular but diluted liquid feeding programme every two weeks or so is beneficial.

Insect pests and other diseases are not a serious problem.

A light prune when plants are beginning to look a bit sad together with an application of a balanced fertilizer will promote new growth and another crop of flowers.