Fermenting Veggies, Shore Birds, and Colourful Crotons.

What’s On The Show Today?
An Australian Shore bird the migrates thousands of kilometres each year to reach Australian shores. We’re up to something good for your health in Vegetable Heroes; continuing the series on mass planting with Garden Designer Peter Nixon in Design elements, and a fabulous multi-coloured leaved plant in Plant of the Week.

WILDLIFE IN FOCUS

Bar Tailed Godwit.

How well do you know Australian Shore birds?

Did you know that even though a bird is migratory, it’s considered an Australian bird because it spends quite a number of months on our shores? 

Even though it's a largish bird, weighing around 190g, flying thousands of kilometres from the breeding ground in Siberia and Norther Scandanavia to shores in Australia and New Zealand is no mean feat.
Did you know that when they’re in Australia they look quite different to what they do when they’re overseas.
So let’s find out more about the Bar Tailed Godwit .
I'm talking with Dr Holly Parsons from www.birdsinbackyards.org.au

You'll find these birds in Australia now, feeding up so that they can make that long journey back to their breeding ground in March-April. 

These birds will then head north, stopping off in Korea, China or Japan, ending up in Alaska which is their breeding ground.
Holly mentioned one bird that was tagged called E7
E7 was tracked as taking the longest non-stop flight of any bird, flying 11,500 kms from Alaska to New Zealand.

Sadly, thousands of Bar Tailed Godwits' don’t make it back because of the lack of places to stop to re-fuel.
So if you do see these birds along the shore, please don’t release you dog to chase them away.
If you have any questions about Bar Tailed Godwits why not email us realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

VEGETABLE HEROES

Fermenting Vegetables-it's easy.

From time to time I like to break up just growing a veggie and put in something about how to treat a problem in the veggie garden, or pick out a something different about a veggie.
Today, we’re going really different because I’m going to talk about how to ferment your veggies.
Fermenting vegetables is not only a way of preserving them, but it’s also really good for you because of the way the fermentation process works.
Did you know that fermentation is an ancient method of preserving food that’s been around for thousands of years? Ever heard of sauerkraut?
Yes, eating sauerkraut with meat actually helps you digest the meat.


So how does fermentation work?

Without getting too much into science here’s a quote from the book, Lacto-fermenting: The Easy & Healthy Way,
“Lacto-fermentation happens when natural starches and sugars found within vegetables and fruits are converted to lactic acid by the friendly bacteria lactobacilli. The term “lacto” in lacto-fermentation, refers to the production of lactic acid.
This acid is a natural preservative, inhibiting the growth of putrefying bacteria.
Of all the acids common to food preservation, lactic acid is the one most easily used by the body and does not cause over-acidifying effects.”
An anaerobic environment (without air), enhances the production of lactic acid and this is why fermenting kits were developed.

How do you ferment your vegetables then?

First you need to prepare the vegetables.There are several ways to prepare the vegetables for fermenting: grating, shredding, chopping, slicing, or leaving whole.
How you choose to prepare your vegetables is a personal choice, though some vegetables are better suited for leaving whole, while others ferment better when shredded or grated.
 Let’s talk about which food can be grated, usually by hand.

Grating is good for hard or crunchy vegetables, because grating creates the mnost surface area letting the salt penetrate the veggie more whickly and drawing out the moisture.

You really need to add brine to grated vegetables,

Brine is of course, salt and water.

What about slicing? 
Good veggies are the softer ones that can be sliced thickly although you can slice firm vegetables such as beetroot into thinner slices.
Chopping veggies is also good, but these take loner to ferment and also need more of that brine mixture. 

Candidates for this method are cauliflower, celery and carrot pieces.

What about whole vegetables? 

You can also ferment whole vegetables and I’m sure you would’ve heard of pickled gherkins and pickled cucumbers.
You can also ferment radishes, green beans and Brussel sprouts.

How do you actually ferment now that you’ve chopped, grated or sliced the vegetable?

Did you know that you can use salt, whey or a starter culture?
Salt is good because it stops the growth of undesirable microorganisms,
Starter cultures such as whey (brine from a previous ferment) or freeze-dried starter cultures can add bacteria to the culturing process to get things going more quickly.
But you ‘ll have to source them from somewhere.

In this segment, salt is the only method that will be covered because it’s by far the easiest.

Salt pulls out the moisture in food, denying bacteria the aqueous solution they need to live and grow.

Salt  also allows the natural bacteria that exist on the vegetables to do the fermenting. Only the desired salt-tolerant Lactobacilli strains will live and propagate.
Salt hardens the pectins in the vegetables, leaving them crunchy and enhancing the flavor. 

How Much Salt Then?
Use 1-3 tablespoons of our authentic, finely-ground Celtic Sea Salt per 950 mls or close enough to a litre of water to prepare brine for fermenting vegetables.
By the way if you want salt free fermentation you can use celery juice or seaweed, but they won’t prevent your vegetables from going mushy.

That’s the drawback of salt free fermentation.

Tip: make sure you get a good centimetre of juices sitting above the veggies…otherwise mould grows, ruining the whole lot. 

“Some lacto-fermented products may get bubbly, particularly the chutneys.

This is natural and no cause for concern.
And don’t get upset if little spots of white foam appear at the top of the pickling liquid.
They’re completely harmless and can be lifted off with a spoon.

The standard amount of salt to add is 3 tablespoons per 2 ¼ kilos of vegetables. 

Here’s a recipe for homemade sauerkraut. 

It uses just plain salt but there’s no need to add water.
1 medium cabbage, cored and shredded
1 tbls caraway seeds
2 tbls sea salt
Mix all ingredients in a sturdy bowl and pound with a wooden pounder or a meat hammer or just squeeze with your hands (this is actually very soothing and meditative) for about 10 minutes to release juices.
This takes a little work and some patience. Spoon into a mason jar and using the pounder or meat hammer press down until juices come to the top of the cabbage and cover it.
Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 3 days, make sure the room is not too hot or cold; it should be at comfortable room temperature.
Then transfer to cold storage.

Why is it good for you? 
Natural fermentation of foods has also been shown to preserve nutrients in food and break the food down to a more digestible form.
The probiotics created during the fermentation process, could explain the link between eating fermented foods and improved digestion.
THAT WAS YOUR VEGETABLE HERO FOR TODAY?

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Mass Planting for a Mediterranean Climate part 1
Groundcovers and small shrubs.
This series is all about mass planting but so you're garden won't be boring.

photo Louise McDaid Cloudhill Gardens

That means not just a sea of the same green and the same leaf shape and texture but a variety of colour interesting features.

There’s different levels, different leaf shape and textures and different colours of green to make your garden all that more interesting.

Warm temperate coast regions around Australia can look forward to these next plants.

Let’s find out about what they are.
I'm talking with Peter Nixon, landscape designer and Director of Paradisus garden design

.
Plants that are used to the sunny tropics may have a hard time in temperate winters s because often there’s rain, but weak sun, so plants can struggle.
Peter mentioned if you need weed suppression, something low but in semi-shade will suit Plectanthrus ciliatus, Carissa Desert Star with a dark green gloss leaf and starry perfumed flower or Acanthus mollis.
For sub-shrubs try Jasmin nitidum, which is a sub-shrub to about 1.2 metres and not invasive.
For difficult banks with a slope of 1:5, then go for Helichrysum petiolare Limelight, sometimes called Licorice plant.

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Crotons: Colourful leaves

Codiaeum variegatum
Flowers are great, but not all plants flower for a long time so it’s good to have a plant that has plenty of colour in its leaves in your garden or even inside your house as an indoor plant.
Plant breeders are having fun with the colours and sizes too, so you can soon buy the same plant but in the miniature form as well as the standard sized shrub form of 1 metre.
Let’s find out about this plant.

Crotons

I'm talking with the plant panel: Karen Smith, editor of Hort Journal www.hortjournal.com.au and Jeremy Critchley, The Green Gallery wholesale nursery owner. www.thegreengallery.com.au

A well-grown croton keeps its leaves all the way to the soil level, but the trick to this is to provide steady warmth. 

Even outside, crotons drop leaves after a cold night. 

These plants do alright after a hard prunes so if a croton becomes leggy, prune it back hard at the beginning of the growing season and move it outside. 

The plant will regrow from the cut part.

A tough plant in the right environment; often seen in old and neglected gardens in Qld

Also a great plant to grow indoors even if you do have the right climate to grow it outside.
Just remember not to overwater it and give it some slow or controlled release fertiliser at the beginning of the warmer season.
If you have any questions about growing Crotons, why not write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com

Daisies are Hip and Not Square

THE GOOD EARTH

with Margaret Mossakowska from www.mosshouse.com.au
Some people who have you believe that fermenting veggies is something new and trendy. They’re even calling it the “Art of Fermentation.”

Ingredients for fermenting

Before stoves and refrigerators, fermenting veggies allowed people to preserve food in a nutritional and safe way.
Think foods such as cheese, yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchee, olives, salami, jerky and even bread. And think beverages such as wine and beer, not to mention coffee and hot chocolate. All of these — and many more — are examples of fermented foods.
Well, really, it’s been done for thousands of years and is just going through a revival.
But why? Let’s find out about fermenting…

Fermenting vegetables is the new ‘in’thing because it’s a “live food, because they contain “living bacteria,” that in turn helps digest other foods in the digestive tract.
Fermented foods have a natural tart flavour because the sugars and carbohydrates have been broken down and used up during fermentation.
In the case of vegetables, they’re more digestible than raw ones and just about any raw vegetable can be safely fermented at home, if done properly.

Kim Chee preserves

Why not start with cabbage, daikon radishes, turnips, parsnips, cucumbers, okra, string beans and green tomatoes, as they’re good candidates for fermentation.
Margaret's Kimchee recipe
Red cabbage
Black Spanish radish
Carrot
Salt the grated  and finely sliced veggies first and leave overnight.
Next day, add slush made from onions garlic, chilli and ginger and pulverised in a food processer.
All you need to do now is put them in a crock or sterilised jars.
If you have any questions about fermenting vegetables from your garden, why not write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

VEGETABLE HEROES

Well it’s TIME FOR VEGETABLE HERO  CELTUCE
Sometimes I have unusual vegetables on this segment and this one’s pretty much unheard of by most gardeners.
'Celtuce' is a plant in the Lactuca (Lettuce) genus with a scientific name of Lactuca sativa var. asparagina.
The botanical name epithet for Celtuce (sativa) means 'having been cultivated'.
Celtuce is also known as Stem Lettuce, Asparagus Lettuce and Chinese Lettuce.
The name sound like it’s a cross between celery and lettuce but it’s just a variety of Lettuce grown for its romaine-like foliage and mainly for its thick, edible stem.
The stem grows 15 – 20cm  long and about 4 cm in diameter.
Celtuce can be cooked like broccoli and tastes like a cross between a mild summer squash and an artichoke.

growing celtuce

Some say the flavour is somewhat like a cucumber, yet different.
Sounds like you really need to make up your own mind on the taste.
Chinese, Stem or Asparagus Lettuce is a delicacy that’s made the menus of 5 star restaurants.
It could well be the new thing in vegetables.
Since it’s a cool weather crop, it should be planted from seed in Autumn, Winter, and early Spring, spaced at about 20cm in the row, and treated about like regular lettuce
Sow the seeds directly into the garden between in full sun. You should get around 80% germination rate.
Plant the seed ½ cm deep in rows about ½ a metre apart.
When plants are tall enough to use as leaf lettuce, thin them to about 20cm.
The outer leaves resemble loose leaf lettuce, but are a lighter green and can be used for salad.
If you pick the young leaves you can use them as lettuce.
These leaves are great eaten in salads at a young tender stage because as they get older, they become bitter and unpalatable rather quickly because of the formation of a milky sap.
Soon after the first outer leaves appear, a central stalk with tiny leaves at the top starts to elongate.
Allowed to grow, this flower stalk will reach 3-5cm in height.
 Tip: Keep the plant well watered.
It acts very much like regular lettuce bolting to seed.
The outer edges of the round stem contain the bitter milky sap.
When the stem is about 30 – 40 cm high, it should be cut off down into the leafy portion of the plant.
Before using be sure to peel the outer skin, and remove the portion containing the bitter sap.
What you’re left with is a soft, translucent green central core which is the edible part.
You can eat this fresh, sliced or diced into a salad.
In China, where it is grown in commercial quantities, the fleshy stem is cut into sections and cooked by broiling or stewing.
If you can grow lettuce then you can grow Celtuce successfully.
Many seed catalogues advertise seed for sale.
Celtuce grows better at higher temperatures than lettuce but the quality is better when grown during the cooler months.

Celtuce stems are ready when they measure around 2cm in diameter.
Chill the stems as soon as the leaves have been removed.
INTERESTING FACT: The celtuce - which is known as wosun in China, where it is a popular ingredient in many dishes - is a translucent green type of lettuce that can be sliced, roasted, pickled, pureed for sauces or used as a garnish, among many other uses.
Why is it good for you?
Celtuce is very low in Cholesterol.
Like most lettuce celtuce has no saturated fat; no sugar and is very high in calcium.
It’s very high in dietary fibre. High in iron. Very high in manganese.
It’s  also a good source of Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Folate, Magnesium, Potassium.
Not to mention that the sap contains lactucarium, which from a couple of weeks ago in the winter lettuce segment, it was mentioned that it has a very mild sedative effect if you eat it with your evening meal.
AND THAT WAS YOUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT FOR TODAY!

DESIGN ELEMENTS

with garden designer Peter Nixon
Starting from scratch garden series part 3 - Playing with plants
This series is all about starting a garden from scratch, in which case you now had done battle with the lawn or with a mass of weeds.
Alright now that you’ve decided to do something with that bare patch of lawn, you drawn a plan of the layout.
The next thing is think about what plants you might want to put into those beds.
Believe me, I know how hard it is to put off getting your first vegetables, herbs and other plants into the ground. 

Planting is fun

If you just start your garden with no substantial forethought, you’ll only end up wishing you had taken the time to really think out a few things. 
It’s  important to really consider what plants will work in your layout and purpose of your garden. 
Let’s find what plants you should start with..

Once you start digging your beds and establishing your paths, you won’t want to start over when you realize it would have been better if you’d just did it that other way.
For example if you want to grow veggies then long straight raised beds about a metre wide are easier to work with.
You’ll want your paths at least 1 ½ metres  wide so you can use a wheelbarrow or bucket or even just drag the hose around without creating havoc. 

Planting out your garden

Draw a basic overhead view and pencil in where you think things might go.
But if you're wanting a flower garden of some sort and if you’ve never had your own garden before, chances are you will be overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of variety in the plant world.
Take your time, don’t just buy the plants that are available at your garden centre.
There are garden clubs and plant societies that hold annual plant shows.
These may have a whole lot of different and less available plants that you might like.
Not to mention garden catalogs.

PLANT OF THE WEEK

with Jeremy Critchley of www.thegreengallery.com.au
 and Karen Smith, editor of www.hortjournal.com.au
They look a lot like daisies and they are in the Asteraceae family, along with Shasta daisies and zinnia. But when these African daisies were first introduced to the market, they had colouring we weren't used to seeing. Many of their centre disks looked as though they were coloured with metallic paint.
Jeremy grows 63 different colour variations in his nursery. Just imagine. Some are shades of colours and others are bi-colours.
Let's find out some more

                     

Botanical Bite
The daisy flower is not just a single flower but actually a cluster of much smaller flowers.
The "petals" or "sunrays" are individual strap-shaped sterile flowers called "ray florets", and the "central disk" is made of smaller circular shaped individual flowers called "disc florets"

Osteospermums are exceedingly drought tolerant and some varieties are self cleaning.
When they reach about 30 -40cm high they will become a bit leggy. At this stage give them a hard prune to about 10cm above the ground.

Osteospermum, or African daisies, and sometimes cape daisies.
Those of you who like marguerite daisies will love these daisies too.
There’s a Springstar range of cape daisies with names like Cardinal-a deep red, Magenta, Big Yellow, Cinnamon Orange Dark Pink and Kokoa-a dusky pink.
All of these have a white halo around the central disk.