Edging Around The Garden with Allspice and Potatoes and a Camellia Or Two

A spice that causes confusion in the Spice it Up segment; Something that grows in the dark in Vegetable Heroes the garden path is finished, now to edge it, in Design Elements; and what Camellias make a favourites’ list in Plant of the week.

SPICE IT UP

Allspice: Pimento doica

Have you ever put the wrong ingredient into something you’ve cooked?

Perhaps it was just the wrong spice and the flavour wasn’t so good which left you wondering “what went wrong?”

Allspice can cause confusion, so let’s clear it up now.
I'm talking with Ian Hemphill from www.herbies.com.au

 Now you know not to mix up Allspice with Mixed Spice or even pimento. Allspice is an individual spice whereas mixed spice is a combination of spices mainly for sweet dishes.

Pimento doica

• The actual spice is a berry from the allspice tree.
• Ian tried to grow it on the north coast of NSW but was unsuccessful. Winters were too cold.
• You can try to grow it but I would recommend erecting a 3-sided shelter out of heavy-duty shade cloth, to surround the young tree.

Allspice has a fruity background note, but it has an aroma that is similar to Basil because both have the volatile oil eugenol present in them.

• Basil is the tomato herb, and allspice is the tomato spice.

The leaf has an extract taken from it and used in an astringent called 'bay rum." It has nothing to do with the drink called rum, but is used after shaving in a barber shop.

If you have any questions either for me or for Ian, drop us a line to realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

VEGETABLE HEROES

Potatoes or Solanum tuberosum

Did you know that potatoes were the first vegetable to be grown in space?

The potato is a member of the nightshade or Solanaceae family and its leaves are poisonous.

• Here’s something to think about when storing your potatoes.
• A potato left too long in the light will begin to turn green.
• The green skin contains a substance called solanine which can cause the potato to taste bitter and green potatoes can upset the stomach, so don’t try them.

How to grow potatoes

Always grow potatoes from Certified Seed Potatoes from reputable suppliers.

Yes it is possible to simply buy some from a specialist green grocer and keep them for seed, or use leftover potato peelings.

• What’s wrong with that?
• You run the risk of introducing diseases such as Potato Virus Y, Potato Blight or Potato cyst Nematode.
• If you use leftovers or buy from supermarkets or green grocers.
• You might think it’s only a small risk, but once you get potato blight into your soil, it’s their forever. No chemical will shift it.

When to plant

Potatoes can be planted now all over Australia, in temperate and sub-tropical districts, August to October is the best time, in arid areas August until December is your best time,

In cool temperate zones, September through to January is your best time so cooler areas have a bit of extra time to order some of the more unusual varieties before they grow in the ground.

• How about Cranberry Red?

  

  Purple Congo potato

• Cranberry Red has red skin and red flesh, great in salads, for boiling and baking.  These stay red, even after cooking.
• Potato Sapphire that has purple skin and purple flesh? Purple Sapphire I’m sure is sold also as Purple Congo, is perfect for mashing, boiling and roasting, and yes, it stays purple after cooking.
• Royal Blue. Potato Royal Blue is oblong, with purple skin and dark yellow flesh.

If you’re buying through mail order or online, you have until the end of August to buy them. After that, they’re not available.

How To Grow Your Potatoes?

• To grow your Potatoes-put seedling potatoes into a trench in as deep and rich a soil as you can get.
• Plenty of compost and manures please.
• And as they grow pile the earth up around them.
• You will need to hill the rows or potato container several times until the potatoes have flowered.
• You need to do this to stop the greening of tubers and also protect them from potato moth.
• Also, hilling up the soil and mulch will give you more potatoes as they tend to form on roots near the surface.

Hilling potatoes

• That means, as you pile up the soil, you get new roots, and more potatoes....Chicken manure or blood and bone should be dug through the bed as potatoes need a lot of phosphorus but not too much nitrogen.  Too much nitrogen will mean lots of leaves rather than potatoes.
• Keep the water up and but only water moderately as potatoes will rot in soil that is too wet.
• They can also get a fungus growing inside them if the soil’s too wet. When you cut them open, they’ll have grey patches inside which actually do taste mouldy. Euwwww!
• You can add fish emulsion and seaweed extract when you’re watering too.
• Potatoes can also be grown in your black compost bin if you’re not using it for compost.
• Plant the seed potatoes at the bottom, let them grow to about 50cm,( so with your ruler that’s  almost 2 x ruler heights) then, over the top and add 8cm of soil, let them grow a little more, add some more soil, and so on, in the end a stack of potatoes.

Harvesting

• Pick your potatoes when the vine has died down to the ground, that’s if you want the most potatoes, but they can be harvested from when the first baby potatoes are formed. 
  

The lower leaves should be turning yellow – this happens about 3 to 4 weeks after flowering.

If you plan to store your potatoes, cut off the foliage and let the potatoes rest in the ground for 3-4 weeks to allow the skin to 'set', they keep longer this way. Store in a dark, cool, well ventilated spot.

LIST OF VARIETIES AND THEIR USES:

Roasting Potatoes include: Arran, Royal Blue, Cara, Celine, Desiree, Maxine, Picasso, Ruby Lou, Romano, King Edward, Kondor, Maris Piper, Stemster and Valor.

For Chip Potatoes try: Nadine, Kestrel, King Edward, Desiree, Kennebec.

For Boiling Potatoes try: Nadine, Dutch Cream Kestrel, Desiree, King Edward.

For Mashing Potatoes try: Kestrel, Nadine, King Edward, Tasmanian Pinkeye.

For Salad Potatoes try: Nicola, Tasmanian Pinkeye, Ponfine.

Why are potatoes good for you? 😀

The potato is densely packed with nutrients. The Irish couldn’t be wrong could they?

A medium potato provides vitamin C, potassium, vitamin B6 and trace amounts of thiamin, riboflavin, folate, niacin, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, and zinc.

Potatoes are known as the foods people crave when they are stressed. 

Why? because the carbs in potatoes (about 26%) help make space for tryptophan with a smooth passage into the brain.

This, in turn, boosts the serotonin level in the brain.

High serotonin levels help boost your mood and help you feel calm.

To preserve these nutrients it is important to peel the potato just prior to cooking and not leave

THAT WAS YOUR VEGETABLE HERO FOR TODAY

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Create a Garden Edge:

How do you create a garden edge for your lovely path that you created to keep those plants from growing into it?
There’s a few different ways it seems and some more labour intensive than others.
Let’s find out..
I'm talking with Landscape Designer, and, Director of Urban Meadows Jason Cornish.

Steel edges look great and are relatively easy to install. Some even interlock and have spikes that anchor them into the ground.
The cheap way is to use those second hand bricks left and dig a trench and put them straight in.

• Of course there’s always a better way of doing that same job and that’s to lay down sand and mortar so that the bricks won’t move if your lawnmower knocks them.

Brick edging can look amateur if not done correctly.

If you have any questions for me or for Jason, write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com

PLANT OF THE WEEK:

Choosing Camellias
Are you a fan of camellias?
Perhaps you’ve never thought of growing them?
You may be surprised to learn that they are a plant that can put up with a lot of neglect and still manage to flower magnificently during winter.
Let’s find out what are some favourites.
I'm talking with Jeremy Critchley of www.thegreengallery.com.au and Karen Smith editor of www.hortjournal.com.au

Camellia 'Lovelight'

Camellias mentioned:
Camellia japonica Lovelight: pure white with boss of yellow stamens.

Camellia japonica WH Davies Descanso: pale pink, anemonoflora type

Camellia Betty Cuthbert: Pink double

Camellia japonica Dona de Freitas de Magales-pale purple
 If you’re wanting to add to camellias in your garden, now’s the time to look around for ones you really like.
Don’t just settle for what’s in one nursery. Go online to see what else can be gotten for that extra special camellia.

Bell Peppers and Allspice

REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm 2RRR 88.5fm Sydney and Across Australia on the Community Radio Network. www.realworldgardener.com
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Spice It Up

with Ian Hemphill from www.herbies.com.au

The name Allspice is because the flavour makes you think that you’re tasting nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. Did you know that the fruit and leaf oil are also used in men’s toiletries? Ever heard of “Old Spice, I used to buy that for my father for his birthday when I was going to school. Any men’s fragrance that contains the word ‘Spice’ apparently has some allspice oil in it.
You can buy this tree online from a Fruit Tree nursery in NSW that has just about every exotic tree around. Just remember it’s not drought or frost tolerant. They will also send you a mail order catalog for free if you ring or write to them www.daleysfruit.com.au
I’ll put the link to the nursery on my website. By Phone:  (02) 9034 4626 
By Fax: (02) 66 322 585 By Mail: P O Box 154, Kyogle NSW 2474
Allspice is mainly grown in Jamaica and for some reason, no-one has be able to successfully grow it much as a plantation crop, anywhere else. That’s a pity because the bark and leaves are very aromatic.
So what is Allspice exactly and why is it so difficult to grow? Let’s find out…

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Vegetable Heroes:

• This weeks Vegetable Hero is the Capsicum or botanically-Caspicum annuum or Bell Pepper if you’re from the Northern Hemisphere, and Pimento if you’re from Spain.
• Also sometimes called Sweet pepper so as not to be confused with those ones that have lots of bite. Capsicum is also from the Solanaceae or Night shade family that also has tomatoes.  
•  In Cool temperate districts, you have September and October to sow seeds of Capsium.
• If you live in arid, sub-tropical and temperate zones around Australia, sow seeds only to the end of September because of the long lead up time before the capsicum is ready to eat.  After that time put in seedlings  until December. 
• Arid zones however have the added bonus of planting direct into the garden from November until April. Also Sub-tropical areas can plant direct into the garden from December until February. So you guys win again.
• If you’re planting into an existing vegetable garden I urge you to consider crop rotation.. you’ll be planting your capsicums where you last had lettuces, spinach, and parsley, in other words leafy vegetables.
• The capsicum plant is a medium sized bush between ½ -1 metre tall. All capsicum seeds need higher temperatures than tomatoes to germinate-in the 23⁰C to 28⁰C range. Capsicum seeds can be difficult to germinateI suggest soaking them in a seaweed solution for a few hours. A saucer will do, you don't need to drown them , also  seedlings grow slowly. The other drawback is that it takes 11-13 weeks or  about 3 months from when you put in the seedlings to when the capsicum is ready to eat.
• The colour can be green, red, yellow, orange and more rarely, white and purple or chocolate brown, depending on when you pick them. No matter what type of capsicum you grow they like it hot.  
• Capsicum plants prefer moist but not wet soil. Water them regularly in the hot, dry summer. Add mulch around the peppers to keep down weeds, and to hold in the moisture. As the capsicums fruits start to grow, switch over to a fertilizer higher in Phosphorous and Potassium. Tip: Capsicums are self pollinators. Occasionally, they will cross pollinate from pollen carried by bees or other insects. If you save the seeds from the crop, there is the possibility of cross pollination if you plant hot chillies and sweet capsicums too close. Don't worry though, as it will not affect the fruit of this year's crop, but will show up in the genetics of the seeds, if you save them.
• Pests:    Several insects enjoy your pepper plants. Spider mites and aphids are the most common. I've had this happen, and the capsicums grew anyway. You’ll know when these have been around because the leaves of the capsicum will become deformed. Generally that’s too late to spray with anything. However, there is a natural spray derived from potassium soap or Natrasoap from Yates. By the way, these plants just like tomatoes are favoured by the Qld fruit fly, so if you had that problem in your garden last year, you’ll need to  start putting up fruit fly lures to indicate if they’ve arrived in your garden yet. Then, if they have, there is a pheromone spray that is an organic control of fruit fly. Organic control is ecolure from www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au

Design Elements:

with Louise McDaid from Eden Gardens.

You’ve decided to makeover your potted garden one way or another, now how do you put them together? Grouping the pots differently will give you a different look. Trying adding or subtracting just one or two pots to see if it looks better. Another tip, is to change the plant that’s in the pot altogether and next week the Potted Garden discusses different plants for different pots. You can’t go wrong if you listen into Design Elements’ Potted Garden Series. Find out more.....   Podcast Powered By Podbean

 

  Plant of the Week:

with Sabina Fielding-Smith  

• Flannel Fowers-Actinotus helianthi. You'll see them now in bushland around Sydney. Actinotus helianthi "Federation Star" is NSW's floral emblem.
• Flannel flowers Actinotus helianthi are shallow rooted plants with relatively brittle stems that need excellent drainage as well as protection from strong winds to avoid stem breakage. Keep them flowering all season with a tip prune.
• Older leaves on lower areas of stems will naturally die off and stay attached to the plant during the cooler months of the year.
• Flannel flowers can be grown in either full sun or partial shade and tolerate light frost once established. If you don't have good drainange and you want to grow these flowers considera  raised bed. For example, at the Australian Botanic Garden, Mount Annan, flannel flowers have been successfully grown in a mix of 40% coarse sand, 40% well composted pine bark and 20% loam. A moderately acid soil mix with a pH of 5.0 to 6.0 is the ideal.
• Species of Actinotus are particularly sensitive to root disturbanceso don't be tempted to  tease out the roots during transplanting into the garden bed or large pot. Recommended plant spacing is 0.5 to 1.0 m.
• In humid areas, as with all grey, hairy leaved plants, Botrytis or fungal rot, attacks the lower leaves. Keep plenty of air circulating around the plants and remove any dead or fungus affected leaves. Avoid wetting the leaves when watering. Fertiliser your flannel flowers with a liquid food for natives.