Festive Flowers, Basil and Cucumbers

What’s on the show today?

Plenty tips about growing and cooking with Basil in the Spice It Up segment with herb and spice guru Ian Hemphill,; get those cucumbers growing in Vegetable Heroes; Festive red flowers but are they in Plant of the Week and which fence for your garden in Design Elements?

SPICE IT UP

Basil: Ocimum basilicum

At one stage the Greeks and Romans believed the most potent basil could only be grown if you sowed the seed while ranting and swearing.

Basil

Maybe that’s why the French say semer le baslic (sowing basil) means to rant.
Well I hope you don’t have to swear and rant to get your Basil seeds to germinate, just have your pencils at the ready if you want to know how to grow, use and store
I'm talking with Ian Hemphill from www.herbies.com.au

Herbs take on a different flavour when they're dried, because they lose their top notes.

Dried herbs are best added at the beginning of cooking so that they have time to infuse the dish with their flavour.

Fresh herbs on the other hand, need to be added at the very last minute so that their flavour doesn't disappear in cooking.

If you live in arid or sub-tropical regions you can sow Basil in late august in a mini greenhouse or indoors, but otherwise you can sow right through to December which is the best time to sow Basil seeds.
The seeds are best planted at soil temperatures between 18°C and 35°C
For something different when not try sowing cinnamon Basil or Lemon Basil or even Holy Basil, that is the true sacred basil that is grown in houses, home gardens and near temples all over India.…
If you have any questions about Basil either for me or Ian, why not email us realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675 

VEGETABLE HEROES

Cucumbers or Cucumis sativus..

Cucumbers just love the hot weather, so they’ll germinate and grow quickly at this time of the year.

Cucumbers are a member of the gourd or cucurbit family and have been grown for 4000 years!

Did cucumber start off in India?

No-one’s really sure.

Who Ate Cucumbers Throughout History?

Some pretty famous people have been known to be fans of cucumbers, even cucumber pickles.

• Take, Julius Ceasar, he ate them everyday, Cleopatra, thought cucumber pickles helped her skin complexion, and other pickle lovers included George Washington and Queen Elizabeth 1.
• Would you have thought that Cucumbers are one of the world’s favourite vegetables?
• I would’ve said the tomato, but there you go.
• When is the best time to grow some cucumbers?
• Cucumber plants do best in all types of temperate and tropical areas and generally need temperatures between 15-33°C.
• Cucumbers are happiest when the average temperatures are around 21⁰C
• For this reason, they are native to many regions of the world.
• Sow the seeds of Cucumber in late Spring and early Summer for cool temperate districts, spring and summer for arid and temperate zones districts, from August until March in sub-tropical areas.

  

  Cucumber seedlings on the right

• Only the cooler months for tropical areas-so April until August unless you’re inland.

And where can you grow these delicious cucumbers?

You need to pick a sunny, well-drained spot, because Cucumbers are a subtropical plant, that needs full sun.

Cucumbers also want a decent amount of growing space in your garden. If you’re short on space, try growing them up vertically on a trellis or even on some netting, perhaps a tomato trellis?

In fact, growing up a trellis would be a great way to avoid all the mildews and moulds that cucumbers are prone to in still humid weather.

There’s also a number of dwarf varieties if you’d like to grow your cucumbers in pots.

• Try Mini White- one of the most popular. The 10 cm long fruit and is best picked when young. Gives you lots of fruit per plant and it’s burpless  
• Or you could try Cucumber Mini Muncher as well.
• You’ll need to go to a seed mail order place for those, or if you’re in Adelaide, go to the shop in the Botanic Gardens.

The best thing is that Cucumbers aren’t picky about soils.

However, do you find your Cucumber seeds sometimes don’t germinate?

They’re big seeds but if you’re raising them in punnets and the seed raising mix dries out, then the seed most like has dried up as well;

• and if you keep it too wet, then the seed rots.
• If this keeps happening, try using another type of seed raising mix, or even some good quality potting mix and try again.
• What cucumbers like is soil that’s well-draining and has a pH of around 6.5.
• Add in plenty of organic compost and fertilisers like chook poo or cow manure.
• When your seeds have germinated, pick out the strongest couple and throw away the others so you don’t get overcrowding.
• When your cucumber has gotten going, water it  regularly at the base of the plant, that way the leaves stay dry and you lessen the chances of the leaves getting the white powdery stuff growing on them, powdery mildew disease.

What is Powdery Mildew?

Advanced stages of disease.

• Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that is spread by spores carried by the wind.
• Look for white to grey fungal deposits on the leaves and stems of your cucumbers. As the mildew spreads, the leaves become brittle then start to die off.
• There are some types of cucumbers that resist this disease for a time anyway.
• You can also try a natural fungicide. 1 part whole milk to 10 parts water, and spray in the cool of the day.
• Better still apply eco Fungicide from www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au 

Don’t forget to feed your cucumber plants every couple of weeks with a soluble plant food.

There’s so many now on the market, an some come with seaweed added into them as well.

Who out there hasn’t tried a cucumber that’s tasted bitter?

• I’m sure some time in your life, that’s happened hasn’t it?
• There’s seems to be a few theories for bitterness in cucumbers
• One theory is that the bitterness is caused early in the plant’s development by terpenoid compounds that give a bitter flavour to the entire plant.
• Usually the bitterness accumulates at the stem and below the surface of the skin of the cucumber.

  

  Cucumber Biet Alpha

• According to this theory it’s a genetic problem.
• Newer cucumber hybrids seem to have fewer problems with bitterness.
• I’ve always thought it to be the result of Cucurbitacin.
• Found in most cucumber plants, Cucurbitacin causes fruit to taste bitter.
• Cucurbitacin levels increase when a plant is under stress, and can make the fruit taste really bitter.
• The concentration of these compounds varies from plant to plant, fruit to fruit, and even within the individual fruit itself.
• Did you know that the ability to taste detect bitterness or cucurbitacins also varies from person to person.
• Even insects have varying preferences for cucurbitacins- the compounds attract cucumber beetles but repel other insects, such as aphids and spider mites.
• Anyway, it proves that you shouldn’t stress out your cucumbers!
• By the way, if you do get a bitter cucumber, peel it and cut of the ends by about 2.5cm, that’s where the bitterness concentrated.

Cucumber Flowers

Just like zucchinis, cucumbers have separate male and female flowers. 

Cucumber flowers

Male flowers come out at first, but don’t worry too much because the female flowers will arrive soon after. 

Cucumbers should be ready at about 50-60 days and picking fruit often stimulates more to start growing. 

When to Pick?

Some of you probably have realised that if you pick your cucumbers when they’re quite small, this is when they’re at their sweetest.

Twist the cucumbers off the plant or cut the stalk just above the cucumber tip.

They keep for 7-10 days in the fridge then the start to look like something that came from outer space…green and slimy

Why are they good for you?

Cucumbers have lots of Vitamins C but why you should eat them is because the silica in cucumber is an essential component of healthy connective tissue, you know, like muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and bone.

Cucumbers have some dietary fibre and Cucumber juice is often recommended as a source of silica to improve the complexion and health of the skin, plus cucumber's high water content makes it naturally hydrating—a must for glowing skin.

AND THAT WAS OUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT FOR TODAY

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Poinsettia: Euphorbia pulcherrima

Poinsettia plant’s leaves were used by the Aztecs to make red dye and the plants’ milky white sap was also used to treat fevers.
Great for festive decorations and considered a must have at certain times of the year.
The bloke that this plant was named after also founded the Smithsonian Institute in America.
Let’s find out..

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

Unless you've purchased a "Princettia" Poinsettia which is a genuine dwarf cultivar, the others will grow much taller if planted out.

The species Poinsettia, will grow to over 3 metres tall in the garden.

Those that are sold at Christmas time have been sprayed with a dwarfing compound.

Princettia Poinsettia

Did you know that also that the American Congress honoured Joel Poinsett by declaring December 12th as National Poinsettia Day which commemorates the date of his death in 1851.
Poinsettias can be grown south of Brisbane right down to Coff's Harbour, and north of Brisbane they will grow as far as the land extends, although they can be difficult to grow in frost prone areas west of the coast.
They can also be grown in warm parts of South Australia and in Western Australia's coastal regions, particularly in the north.
If you have any questions about growing Poinsettias, why not write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Which Fence Style For Your Home?

What type of fence have you got and does it need replacing?
Paling fences seem to be de rigour, but there’s no need to settle for that because you’ll be looking at it for a long time.
What are the things you should consider though before deciding on a fence?
Let’s find out.
I'm talking with Lesley Simpson garden designer.


Just goes to show that you don’t have to be limited with the type of fence that you can have for your garden?
If you’re stuck with a grey looking paling fence, you can always zhoosh it up with some bamboo screening.

Princettias and Autumn in Japan

DESIGN ELEMENTS

 Vegetable Garden Series part 3-the planting stage.
Living in a particular place in Australia means that you have a particular climate and also means that if you’re into gardening that you need to know which climatatic zone you are in.
Some books suggest different zones to what you think you are in and in can be a bit confusing .
But it’s important to newbie gardeners to know what climate zone they’re in because it determines the type of garden you’ll have and the plants that you’ll grow.
We’re going through a few basics in this next segments so let’s find out.

Private vegetable garden of Lyn Woods in Ulverston Tasmania

I'm talking with Glenice Buck, landscape designer and consulting arborist.


If you’re new to gardening then concentrate on what does well in your area.
Check the Bureau of Meteorology, local gardening groups and local newspapers to build a better picture of your local area.

In Australia we have 4 very broad climatic zones …

Hot tropics/subntropics

Cool Temperate

Arid areas

Hot Temperate

Very broad zones and then within these zones there are microclimates dependent on elevation and proximity to the coast. 

The higher you are the cooler the temperatures and the coast will keep temps more moderate – not as extreme.

These do get broken down into semi arid/arid climates, dry temperate and so on .

Of course every garden has its own microclimate depending if you live in a valley or on a hilltop.

How are vegetable classified or divided up?

Vegetables are basically divided into warm season and cool season

Warm season crops grow best when average temperatures 20 degrees

Cool season crops – best grown below 20 degrees

What are some examples?

Warm season

Tomatoes, sweet corn, French and runner beans capsicum, eggplant, cucumber,

 Cool season

Cabbage broccoli fennel cauliflower, asparagus, Brussels sprouts spinach, and peas.

If you have any questions about designing a veggie garden, write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com

VEGETABLE HEROES

Aubergines or Eggplants

This weeks Vegetable Hero is eggplants, aubergines to some and Solanum melongena to botanists.
Did you think that eggplant was a vegetable or a Fruit?
Yes, the eggplant is botanically a fruit, although the plant is used almost exclusively as a vegetable.
The eggplant is, or Solanum melongena, a member of the nightshade family closely related to the tomato and potato.

When you hear the words the night shade family you often think of “deadly”, and the reason for this is that the leaves and flowers of plants in the nightshade family are often poisonous.
So don’t forget that you can only use the “fruit” from this plant, which is the eggplant.

Did you know that the first eggplants to reach Europe during the Middle Ages were actually a rare white species, with oval fruits that closely resemble a hen’s egg?
No surprise that they began calling it eggplant even when other colours became popular.

The eggplant was once known as the “love apple” in England because it was thought to possess aphrodisiac properties. 

Without fail, everytime I hear that, I think that most vegetables and herbs were at one time considered an aphrodisiac at some point in history!

The eggplant is native to India and eastern Asia, and has been around for ages.

.Japan even has a proverb about eggplant:
“The happiest omen for a New Year is first Mount Fuji, then the falcon, and lastly eggplant.”
A Basic Guide for Growing Eggplants 
Eggplant is a short lived perennial plant that is usually grown as an annual. Eggplants grow best when the temperatures are at least 250C or above.
Eggplants or aubergines particularly resent frost and so far my plants from previous years never survive the cold and I have to start all over again.

Eggplant seeds/seedlings can be planted in Spring to Autumn in tropical areas, Spring to early Summer in temperate zones, October to January in arid areas and September through to December in cool climates.

Tip for cool temperate zones: A bit late for this year but next year but next year plan to start your seeds 8 to 10 weeks before your last frost date.
That will allow your plants enough time to become sturdy.
Eggplants have to have full sunlight or they simply won’t grow well.
Any spot that gets about six to eight hours of full sun (meaning no shady plants or structures nearby to block the sun) would do well.
Give your eggplants a reasonable amount of space-each eggplant seedling should be spaced a minimum of 40cms apart from one another.
You’ll probably have only room for a couple to see how you go.
Mix some pelleted chicken manure, or blood’n bone and compost in with the soil before planting your eggplants.

Eggplant flower

The seedlings don’t need to be planted too far into the ground. Just enough so that the soil covers the roots is fine. 

After the seedlings have been transplanted, give them a little water and leave them to grow.

TIP:Don’t overwater your eggplants as they are susceptible to root rot.
Research the different types of eggplant before choosing the species you want to plant, as some of the larger varieties will require a stake to help lend support as they fruit.
Make sure to add a little mulch to the top of the soil to help keep moisture in the soil.
Good idea for areas that get quite warm or are prone to drought.
Ready for picking in about sixty days, you should notice the fruit popping up on your eggplants.
As eggplants are the tastiest when they are young, most people prefer to pick them when they are about one third of their potential size.
When you pick your eggplant fruit is really up to you. As soon as the “skin” of the fruit is glossy, it is typically ready to be picked.
If the skin has turned brown then you’ve waited too long to pick the fruit.
They come in many colours besides the purple variety, there are white and yellow varieties, and a dwarf species whose fruits grow only three or four inches long. 

Why not try ROSA BIANCA?

Vigorous Italian heirloom variety, heaps of fruit that are rosy lavender and white heavy teardrop shaped fruit with a mild flavour.

How about TURKISH ORANGE?

Beautiful red-orange fruit, round to 7.5cm, lots of fruit in 65-85 days.

For cooler districts, why not try the funny soundying UDUMALAPET

Yellow-green teardrop shaped fruit with vibrant lavender stripes, best eaten small at 8cm.

A peculiar variety called the snake eggplant produces narrow, elongated fruits up to a foot in length with their ends curled up like a serpent’s tongue.
Why is it good for you?

Eggplant is a very good source of dietary fibre, potassium, manganese, copper and thiamin (vitamin B1). It is also a good source of vitamin B6, folate, magnesium and niacin. Eggplant also contains phytonutrients such as nasunin and chlorogenic acid.

They are an excellent food to aid in weight loss, being low in calories and fat. Eggplant is a nutrient dense food, which will help you feel full, and there are only 20 calories in one cup in eggplants.

,. Go the eggplant.

AND THAT WAS OUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT FOR TODAY!

FEATURE INTERVIEW

Autumn in a Japanese Garden and Ephemeral Plants

In Australia, only some parts of the country have defined seasons.

In other parts, sometimes it feels like there are only two season, slipping from winter to summer, cold to hot, wet to dry.

In Japan, there are definite seasons, and they are celebrated not by just visiting the spectacular parks and gardens, but by the food that is consumed by the Japanese.

Every thought of eating a fried maple leaf?

Chantelle Leenstra in Japan (Own photo)

That's only some of the delights on offer when visiting Japan in Autumn.

I'm talking with Chantelle Leenstra, Prinicpla of Garden Atelier, Garden Designer and Public Speaker about her recent trip to see Autumn in Japan.

Not all areas of Australia have defined seasons.
However, if you want to celebrate a change of seasons you can grow plants which only flower in specific times here are some of our suggestions.
For cool temperate districts, Japanese Maples and Cherry Blossoms, Nerines, Oriental Lilies, and Tree Dahlias.

Golden chalice vine

For temperate gardens, Day Lilies,Golden Chalice vine (Solandra maxima), Canary Creeper(Senecio timoides)and Snake vines,( Hibbertia Scandens) plus Golden Rain tree (Koelreutaria paniculata.)
Tropical zones: Poinciana tree, and Frangipanis. Check out the facebook page of the Frangipani Society of Australia.

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Poinsettias Princettia
This next plant’s leaves was used by the Aztecs to make red dye and the plants’ milky white  sap  was also used to treat fevers.

Poinsettia Princettia Soft Pink

For some reason this next plant is considered a must have at certain times of the year.
The bloke that this plant was named after also founded the Smithsonian Institute in America.
What is it? Let’s find out..
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

The ponsettias that you see for sale have been tricked into flowering in the summer months when they would prefer to flower when nights are long and days are short.

In America they're cheap as chips with plants selling for $US1 on 'Black Friday."

Here in Australia, plant growers have to provide a greenhouse with thick block out curtains to provide that 12 hours of darkness Poinsettias need to initiate flowering.

Then for the 'old school" varieties, they need to be sprayed with a dwarfing compound which is quite toxic, requiring the nurseryman/woman to suit up in protective clothing.

With all that extra effort, Poinsettias are that much more expensive to buy here.

Did you know that also in America Congress honor red Joel Poinsett by declaring December 12th as National Poinsettia Day which commemorates the date of his death in 1851.
Poinsettias can be grown south of Brisbane right down to Coff's Harbour, and north of Brisbane they will grow as far as the land extends, although they can be difficult to grow in frost prone areas west of the coast.
They can also be grown in warm parts of South Australia and in Western Australia's coastal regions, particularly in the north.
If you have any questions about growing Poinsettias, why not write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com