Mushrooms But Not As You Know Them

 KITCHEN GARDEN SEGMENT  on REAL WORLD GARDENER radio show

Scientific Name: Rungia klossii

Common name: Mushroom plant

Family: Acanthaceae

Origin: New Guinea

Rungia klossii is an evergreen Perennial growing to 0.6 m x 0.6 m at a medium rate.

Soils: Suitable for: light or sandy, medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. 

Habitat: Mushroom plant can grow in semi-shade  but not full sun in an Australian summer. It prefers dry or moist soil if grown in the ground otherwise growing in a pot is very successful.

Mushroom plant Photo: M Cannon

Description:The shiny mid green have a yellowish mid-rib. 

The elliptic leaves are arranged in pairs with adjacent pairs perpendicular to one another (decussate leaf arrangement mush like in a hydrangea).

Flowers: Blue flowers that appear in a cluster in ideal positions.

proteins.
Harvesting: The Mushroom plant can be harvested all year round,  but the best is to harvest during the active growth period to provide a bushy growth.

Uses: In the kitchen it's used in salads, soups and wok dishes, a small cooking even increases the mushroom aroma.

Frosts: Low frosts are tolerated but lead to leaf loss. 

Fun fact: Higher in protein that actual mushrooms.

What is it exactly and why is it called mushroom plant.

Let's star with, how do you love your mushrooms?
In a risotto, sautéed with scrambled eggs, in soups or salads?
Perhaps you don’t like them at all.
Here’s a way to enjoy the taste without the texture and it’s all natural.

The leaves are somewhat stiff and lightly curled at the tip.

Yes, the leaves taste like mushrooms with a crispy texture and nothing more.  

So, let’s find out how and why, by listening to the podcast.

I am talking with Corinne Mossati, founder of the gourmantic garden.

/https://thegourmanticgarden.com/

Corinne's favourite use of the plant is finely chopped into salads for that burst of flavour.
Mushroom plant is a perennial that although it grows well in tropical and sub-tropical areas, it needs protection from frost in cooler climates.

The best way to grow it there is in a pot, which by the way, has served me well over the years.

If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

Bumper Crop of Bush Beans

 KITCHEN GARDEN

Beans and More Beans

What is your favourite warm season vegetable or are there too many to choose from?
Top of the list for many a gardener is the humble bean, because in warm weather, they’re so easy to germinate.
In fact my bean crop was directly sown on a Monday and they were up by Thursday.
But how do you get a continuous crop of beans?

Corinne mentions bush beans, but we're not talking some sort of wild bean that grows on a bush, in fact bush beans is another name for dwarf beans.

More along the style of French beans such as butter beans or Cherokee Wax butter beans.

Scientifically beans are Phaselous vulgaris which covers just about every type of bean seed that you can buy.

Dwarf or bush beans grow into a small, bushy shape, usually 60cm tall or less and don't need staking.

This year I planted my bean seeds closer together than normal on using the premise that if we had a run of cloudy days and they started to climb, they would support each other.
This season we did have lots of cloudy rainy, days, they didn't start to climb, but did in fact support each other at around 50-60cm.
The only tricky part was needing to carefully pick your way through the thicket of bean foliage to harvest the beans without breaking any branchlets.

Let’s find out more about tips and tricks with bush bean planting by listening to the podcast.
I’m speaking with Corinne Mossati founder of  https://thegourmanticgarden.com

TIP:

• Sow another crop in 6 weeks time after the first crop then the big tip is after the first harvest, apply a side dressing of blood ‘n’ bone.
• Beans should be ready to harvest as soon as 65 days or 9 weeks after planting

If you have any questions why not email us at realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

Vietnamese Mint No Ordinary Mint

 KITCHEN GARDEN

Is Vietnamese mint really a mint?

Scientific Name: Persicaria odorata

Common Name:Vietnamese mint

Family: Polygonaceae

True mints botanically speaking have wide spreading underground rhizomes with erect, square and branching stems.
The leaves are opposite each other on those square stems, with clusters of small tubular flowers.

Ture mints are also in the Lamiaceae family.

So what do we make of Vietnamese mint?
Perhaps you saw it in the herb section of the garden centre and mistook it to be just like any other mint.

Not exactly a real mint and it's also in the same family as rhubarb and buckwheat; the Polygonaceae family.

Traditionally, Vietnamese mint is used a lot in Asian cuisine. If you've ever had a laksa, you've probably eaten some Vietnamese mint.

What does it look like?

It looks similar but different to traditional mint, plus it's a creeping herbaceous perennial.

The leaves are very narrow and angular looking often with a chestnut-coloured rounded marking across the dark green leaf.

The flowers are quite different to min. Flowers are flat spikes of pale lavender if you're in a warm enough climate for it to flower.

Where and How to grow it.

• It can grow very well outside in summer in non-tropical parts of Australia.
• Vietnamese mint prefers part-sun and well-drained soil.
• For those areas with cool to cold winter, bring your Vietnamese mint indoors or under shelter as you would an indoor plant.
• It grows very well in pots but is frost tender.

Let’s find out how to use it in cooking by listening to the podcast.

I'm speaking with, Corinne Mossati
founder of the gourmantic garden website and blog. : https://thegourmanticgarden.com
 

Also sometimes called Vietnamese coriander and as Corinne mentioned you can make a dipping sauce or even try making pesto with it.

If you have any questions why not email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

Leaf Celery Better Than Celery

 KITCHEN GARDEN

Leaf Celery

Scientific Name:Apium graveolens var. secalinum

Plant family: Apiaceae

Common Name: Parcel

A relatively uncommon or even unkown herb or vegetable. Parcel stems from the idea that it looks like parsley but tastes like celery.

• Leaf celery is a biennial plant growing to 60cm in height.

Biennial simply means that leaf celery grows vegetatively during the first year and fruits (seeds) and dies  at the end of the second year.

Leaf celery could be classified as a herb because the leaves are used just as much as the stalks in cooking.

Personally I wouldn't be without my leaf celery because it's a great substitute for the harder to grow culinary celery. 

I use it for making sugo, the tradition Italian tomato base for a lot of traditional dishes such as lasagne and bolognese.

Sugo For Sure-How to Make it

Sugo is made by first finely chopping onion, celery and carrot that frying for a few minutes until softer. Then adding the garlic and tomatoes to make a tomato base for any Italian dish.

Leaf celery stalks in my garden

However, if you like munching on celery stalks, or using them in Waldorf salads, it's not a substitute in that instance. 

The stalks of leaf celery are much thinner and hollow and have a more pungent taste ( to my liking) that normal culinary celery.

This winter I have practically depleted my supply of leaf celery because of the number of soups, and slow cooked meals I have been preparing. It’s just a great flavouring herb.

Leaf celery in flower in my garden

Easy Peasy Celery Salt

Celery salt can also be made from the seeds. Simply let one plant go to flower and set seed. Then once dried in situ, collect the seeds and crush them.

• Corinne suggests dehydrating the leaves to make celery leaf salt.

Corinne Mossati, founder of  www.thegourmanticgarden.com

  has further suggestions.

• Chop the stems and leaves and make a compound celery butter.

We both recommend growing leaf celery as a cut and come again herb or vegetable and an alternative to the larger stalked celery.
Much easier to grow too.

So let’s find out more by listening to the podcast.



If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

Drinks and Tricks with Horseradish

 KITCHEN GARDEN

Tricks with Horseradish

My father was a big fan of this vegetable or perhaps it should be called a herb?
He loved it grated on various meats, ‘clears out the sinuses' he always exclaimed.

Not too many gardeners are familiar with horseradish and even though it's a perennial vegetable that's easy to grow.

• Perhaps because gardeners and others aren't too familiar with what you do with this, ahem root vegetable. 
• Well that's right,  horseradish is actually classified as a root vegetable even though you can use it as a seasoning and in drinks.

In drinks I hear you exclaim, what is it?

Growing horseradish

• Firstly, to grow horseradish, get yourself a crown or a plant from the herb section of your garden centre.
• Planting in late winter is perfect.
• Choose a sunny but permanent spot.
• Dig in plenty of of well rotted manures and compost.

TIP: Horseradish can takeover a garden bed left unattended for a few months. 

Grow it in a very large pot or keep it in a spot where it can't spread too easily.

USES

If you're grating horseradish, it loses its pungency fairly quickly, you can store it by making a horseradish cream or in vinegar.

• TIP: Corinne freezes the root in pieces. Then grate as needed.

Cocktails with horseradish.

If you’re into experimenting try grated horseradish in white sauce or in a savoury martini or even a bloody mary.
Infuse it in vodka to make a savoury gibson style martina.
Just flavor a cup of vodka with a small amount of grated horseradish for a few days to give it that extra kick.

For more details listen to the podcast.

I'm talking with Corinne Mossati founder of the gourmantic garden website 

If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

Lemon Verbena In All Its Deliciousness

 KITCHEN GARDEN  

LEMON VERBENA

Did you think that herbs were just for making tea?

Maybe not, but some herbs have endless uses, and this week I’m featuring the herb lemon verbena (Aloysia citriodora) that’s larger than you would expect to find in a herb garden so probably could fit into the back of a border but in a sunny location.

Lemon verbena photo M Cannon

• How would I describe the scent of lemon verbena?

I would say that lemon verbena has a bright, slightly sweet flavour with a strong hint of lemon.

The strong lemon scent of this herb is far less overpowering than the lemon flavor and fragrance of lemon balm, lemon thyme, lemon mint, and lemongrass.

What does it look like?

Lemon verbena is a vigorous growing deciduous shrub to 3 metres tall by 3 metres wide. 

The leaves are a lime green and lanceolate, and flowers appear in late spring until the end of summer almost. 

The flowers are white, quite small and appear in a panicle.

• My plant is quite an old plant that I prune each winter to about 1 metre off the ground.

How to use lemon verbena?

• As a flavouring in kombucha
• Add leaves to a sorbet or ice-cream when making
• Poach stone fruit in a sugar syrup with lemon verbena leaves
• Infuse lemon verbena leaves in olive oil or vinegar-250 ml of olive oil with 6 leaves or to taste
• Fish en papiotte with lemon verbena leaves

Corinne's Top Tip: 

Why not try  a gin and sonic with muddled lemon verbena. Made with half soda water and half tonic so less calories. 

Listen to the podcast.

Marianne is talking  Corinne Mossati, founder of   http://www.thegourmanticgarden.com

You can also follow Corinne for more delightful ideas on Instagram or subscribe to updates  http://www.thegourmanticgarden.com/subscribe/

Lacto Fermentation: Quick 'n Easy Guide

 KITCHEN GARDEN

LACTO-FERMENTATION

There are several ways to preserve food, these include freezing, drying, pickling and fermenting.

You may think that fermented foods are a recent trend, but in fact, fermenting food has been carried out for thousands of years.

Fermenting food is one way of preserving your ample supply of produce that's growing in your garden.

There are a few ways to ferment foods but lacto-fermentation is one of the easiest.

• The term lacto-fermentation is a scary one and belies how simple it really is. It's unbelievably quick and easy.

  

  Lacto fermented radish

  
  

So what is it?

Firstly the term wasn't derived for having to use milk in the process.

Lacto refers to the lactobacillus bacteria that does all the breaking down of the food.

Did you know that all vegetables are covered in the various strains of the good bacteria lactobacillus?

It does involve lactic acid in the process which is a good thing because lactic acid is a natural preservative.

• What about the bad bacteria?

No problem, the brine that you submerge your vegetables in kill them off, while the lactobacillus survives to do the preserving work.

Using the correct salt to water ratio in your brine will ensure the safety of your lacto-fermentation.

How do you do it?

You can lacto-ferment most produce in yur garden.

 Beans, carrots, beetroot, and Corinne's favourite is using stalks of chard, nasturtium seeds.

You need salt but not iodised or table salt. Table salt will make the ferment go bad because of it's additives.

• Use high quality sea-salt.

• 

  Photo: Corinne Mossati of Gourmantic Garden

  Non-chlorinated water, and no fluoride so will need to be filtered water.
• Kilner jar or a glass jar with a lid.
• Weights to submerge your ferment.
• BASIC RULE: Brine solution is 2-3% salt.  
• 2% brine:1 litre of water needs 20 grams of salt: 
  

Step by Step

1. Collect your dry ingredients and add them to a dry sterile fermentation jar.
2. Pour in the brine solution to cover the vegetables.
3. Add a ceramic weight on top to keep the vegetables below the liquid.
4. Burp the jar daily: this releases the gas.
5. It will take 2-3 weeks during the summer months.
6. Once it's ready, place it in the fridge to slow the ferment process.

Are you a chilli aficionado?

Perhaps you’re growing the world’s hottest chilli, Carolina Reaper or the second hottest, Ghost chilli?

But did you know that Carolina Reaper chilli is 200x hotter than a Jalapeno pepper?
But what do you do with all those chillies other than freeze them?

• Why not make a chilli lacto-fermeneted sauce?

Follow the above steps then once you think the chillies are done, drain the brine and add other flavouring ingredients.

Blitz in a food processor.

To find out more, listen to the podcast.

I'm talking with Corinne Mossati, founder of the http://www.thegourmanticgarden.com website.

If you have any questions you can email us Realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

Rose Geraniums Are Drinks' Stars

KITCHEN GARDEN

Rose Geranium 

Scientific name: Pelargonium graveolens

Family: Geraniaceae

Rose geranium leaves (photo Corinne Mossati)

 

Recentaly I talked with Corinne Mossati on Real World Gardener radio show, about rose geraniums.

Personally I’m a fan of scented plants whether it’s the flowers or the leaves.
I just love to inhale their perfume either by sniffing the flowers or touching the leaves.

This next plant, the rose geranium, is not just your ordinary scented geranium because of its many uses.

Sure you can get by just inhaling the perfume after crushing the leaves but why not think about it’s culinary uses, especially in festive drinks. 

First let's talk about the plant.

Rose geraniums are quick growing especially in the warmest months of the year.

Expect this to be a small bush of 1-2-1.5meters with leaves that are soft to the touch, slight hairy and deeply incised as pictured on the right. 

Rose geraniums grow best in full sun but can tolerate part shade. Also frost and drought tolerant.

Rose Geranium spritzer (photo Corinne Mossati)

Keep pruning the leaves to make your rose geranium plant into a tidy compact form, otherwise it will tend to flop over and sprawl a bit.

Don't throw away the cuttings or prunings as all geraniums root easily and quickly. 

Just cut a piece or stem of about 5cm long, first removing the bottom two-thirds of leaves. Pop this piece into seed raising mix in a small pot or you can even place cuttings in water.

Rooted cuttings soon grow into plants that make great gifts to give to friends.

But don't waste those leaves, because what better way to use them, than making a rose geranium syrup to pour over ice-cream or a rose geranium spritzer.

Start off with making a rose geranium syrup.

All you need is 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water and 1 cup of chopped rose geranium leaves.

I'm talking with Corinne Mossati, founder and editor of Gourmantic Garden and Cocktails and Bars  Corinne has provided the links to the recipes below.

Rose Geranium Syrup recipe http://www.cocktailsandbars.com/rose-geranium-syrup-recipe/

Rose Geranium Spritzer http://www.cocktailsandbars.com/rose-geranium-spritzer/

Let’s find out more by listening to the podcast.



If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

Small Space Gardening- Courtyard Style

SMALL SPACE GARDENING-COURTYARD STYLE

Modern day gardens are much smaller than they used to be.

Many gardeners and would be gardeners, hanker for a produce filled garden with as many different edibles  as befits their lifestyle.

If you you only have a small space such as a paved courtyard or even just a balcony, but don’t know what to do next, this next segment will spur you onto creating your own oasis, without digging up the stones or pavers. 

Be inspired

• Corinne has managed to squeeze in over 200 plants into a small paved courtyard-that doesn't even include duplicates of plants.
• A good start is with recycling crates from your local council, to give you an idea of what works for you. Alternatively, plant into lots of containers that can be moved around to follow the sun.Then venture into raised garden beds.

Making the right choice

• Before any planting, determine the movement of the sun in your small space and  and note down the hours of sunlight and shade in each part of your small space/courtyard.
• Choose those edibles that like all day full sun for those spots that get 6 hours plus of sunlight such as tomatoes.
• Leafy vegetables such as lettuce, rocket, Swiss chard and kale, don't mind a bit of shade throughout the day if your have only 3-4 hours of sunlight. 
• If you only have morning sun then choose vegetables such as carrots, celery, and dwarf beans.
• For those spots with morning shade and afternoon sun, the choice is climbing cucumbers, climbing peas and beans. 
  

Soil prep is key for Corinne.

• 

  Grow cucumbers on a lattice made of string.
  

   The raised garden beds are made up with homemade compost, worm castings and bought in compost and other organic material.

Think of vertical spaces

• Think about growing vines like cucumbers and zucchinis and even nasturtiums, vertically.
  

Let’s find out more by listening to the podcast.

 

I'm talking with Corinne Mossati drinks writer and founder of the gourmantic garden website. 

www.thegourmanticgarden.com 

Don’t be put off by lack of space you may have because no space is too small to have plants, even if it’s just herbs on the kitchen windowsill.

If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

The Hidden Talents of Nasturtiums

 Nasturtiums 

with Corinne Mossati

Quite often we gardener have flowering plants in the garden but never think about bringing them into the kitchen to make something.
They may be just fillers or self-seeders, but in this case, the nasturtium, has so many extra uses other than ornamental, you’ll be inspired to do something.

Germinating  Nasturtium Seeds.

Plant the seeds in moist well drained soil, keeping the soil moist but not waterlogged.
Corrine find germination takes between 14-21 days.

Why not try the Alaska variety with variegated leaves, or 'Black Velvet' with deep red flowers and dark leaves.

The one pictured is growing in my garden, is 'Cherry Rose.'

Eating Nasturtiums-Corinnes'tips:

Leaves taste peppery and are great for adding with other greens to salads.

Why no try drying the leaves and grind them to a powder. 

When combined with salt you have a condiment to flavour food or crust the rim of your margeurita cocktail glass!

Nasturtium flowers are edible too.

Use them as you would zucchini flowers.

Nasturtium seeds are edible, often referred to as 'poor man's capers.'

Let’s find out more, listen to the podcast.

I'm speaking with Corinne Mossati, drinks writer and founder of The Gourmantic Garden: http://www.thegourmanticgarden.com
and Cocktails & Bars: http://www.cocktailsandbars.com

Her website tagline & hashtag “Grow It. Eat It. Drink It.” sums up Corinne’s garden and we look forward to more segments with Corinne.

If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675