Allspice and Cloves but Not With Beans

We start with allspice and cloves, similar but different, how? That’s in the spice it up segment, growing beans in Vegetable Heroes; a new series called ‘so you think you need a landscaper part 2, with Peter Nixon in Design elements and buttons on stalks in plant of the week.

SPICE IT UP

Allspice vs Cloves

How well do you know your spices?
Would you think for instance, that allspice and mixed spice are the same?

Pimenta doica_allspice tree with berries.

Would cloves be a good substitute to save you running to the store, if you ran out?
Let’s find out.  I'm talking with Ian Hemphill from www.herbies.com.au 

Even the Spaniards were confused with the allspice berry when they invaded Jamaica, thinking it was a type of pepper.  Probably why the allspice tree is Pimento doica.

• The allspice berries  are picked when they're green and put out to dry in the sun.

Allspice and cloves

The heat of the sun activates the enzyme which turns the berries dark brown.

At night, the berries are heaped into a pile and covered with a tarpaulin.

The next day they are spread out in the sun again. 

This process is repeated over three to four days, by the end of which time, a volatile oil develops called eugenol.

It turns out that allspice and basil, also have a lot in common, because both contain the essential oil eugenol. 

That means both are perfect partners in tomato dishes.

• But it also turns out you can use allspice instead of mixedspice but at 1/3 of the quantity because it’s much stronger. 
• The clove tree is Syzygium aromaticum. The unopened flower bud is the clove.

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

VEGETABLE HEROES

Beans: Phaseolus vulgaris

Do you love your beans?

Did you know that beans have been an important part of the human diet for thousands of years?

• Beans are a legume in the Faboidea or the pea family.

Scarlet runner beans

So you would think that beans are easy to grow but for whatever reason, some people find them challenging to germinate.

• You may already know that as well as other legumes, beans have nitrogen fixing nodules on their roots. Yep, that’s right, the roots make nitrogen out of the air and deposit it into the soil.
• Lightning storms are even better for that reason because they convert nitrogen into ammonium ions which is what plants need before they can take it up.

Green beans, either climbing or dwarf, are also called string beans and snap beans.

Dwarf beans are very quick growing and may be sown every three or four weeks from spring to give a succession of pickings throughout summer. They’re handy for filling in any gaps and perfect for tubs and window boxes.

Green beans can be yellow

• Green beans generally have smooth, slender pods.
• Runner beans tend to have slightly coarser pods and continue cropping a few weeks later than string beans.

Then there are the beans exclusive to warmer climates including soya beans, lima beans, and the appropriately named yard-long beans!

How To Grow

To grow beans you need up to four months of warm weather.

In subtropical climates beans can be grown almost all year.

For temperate and arid zones, mid-spring through to late summer are the best times to plant.

In colder districts, beans, don’t like the cold at all and they certainly don’t like frost.

You have until the end of summer, certainly you wouldn’t be expecting any cold snaps now.

Tropical districts, once again, need to wait until the winter months to sow beans.

For those gardeners having trouble getting beans to germinate, beans are best planted at soil temperatures between 16°C and 30°C.

If the temperature is colder , you probably will strike out.

How to Sow and Grow Your Beans

• Drop in two seeds per hole, so they fall about 2cm apart, and 5cm deep.
• Cover with soil, seed raising mix, or compost. Grown this way the beans will mostly shade out competing weeds and 'self-mulch'.
• An important fact about growing beans is that they need well-drained soils with a pH between 6.5 and 7.0 and are sensitive to deficiencies or high levels of minerals in the soil-especially climbing beans.

  

  Bean plants can self mulch if planted closely.

How To Water Your Beans

When growing green beans, keep the soil moist.

A good rule of thumb is to put a finger in the dirt and if the dirt is dry up to the first knuckle, then it needs about an inch of water.

Keep your beans watered and watch for vegetable bugs and green caterpillars

• TIP: Pods won’t set at temperatures above 27⁰ C.

Did you know that if you pick the beans as soon as they’re ready, you’ll get new flowers?

If you neglect your bean plants and let your beans get large and stringy, flowering will slow right down, and you probably won’t get any more beans from your plants.

• Tip: To have beans all summer long, plant more seed as soon as the previous planting starts to flower.

Beans do poorly in very wet or humid tropical climates because they get bacterial and fungal diseases.

Go easy on the fertiliser or you’ll get lots of leaves and no beans.

When are beans ready pick I hear you ask?

Usually in about 10-12 weeks.

• Pick them when they are about as thick as a pencil, smaller if you want a better, tender taste.

Dragons Tongue beans

 Why are they good for you?

Green Beans are a good source of vitamin C and also contain calcium, magnesium, zinc and Vitamin A. But, the most important nutritional fact for beans is that they provide a major source of soluble fibre, great for lowering cholesterol.

Also is a source of folate .

Some varieties of the dwarf  beans are

Brown Beauty-flat pods

Dwarf Snake Beans-ready in 11 weeks.

Windsor Delight has long pods of about 15cm.

Blue Lake Climbing, long pods again but they’re round this time.

So happy bean growing gardeners!

THAT WAS YOUR VEGETABLE HERO FOR TODAY

Grow the Flowers, Cut the Flowers

What’s On The Show Today?

Do we really need floristry tools in Tool Time? Not all beans are the same in Vegetable Heroes: Pincushions are go in Plant of the week, a flower that signifies beauty and strength in Talking Flowers.

TOOL TIME

Floristry Tools for the Home Gardener.
Do you love cutting flowers from your garden to bring inside?
Sure, why not especially if you have a flower garden.

But wait, are secateurs what we’re supposed to use to cut these flowers or is there something better?
Let’s find out all about which tools you could be using for your cut flowers….
I'm talking with Tony Mattson, general manager of www.cutabovetools.com.au

When it comes to florist cutting tools, there are a number of different tools for different jobs. 

Scissors are good for occasionally cutting flowers, but if you've got a few then you'll be better off with Snips.

Silver series 90mm snips from Cut Above Tools

Snips are good because you're only using your hand to close the snips onto the flower stem.

The spring in the snips returns them to the open position so you're not straining your hand as much.

Usually the blades of good quality snips are stronger than scissors too so your'e less likely to put them out of alignment if the stem is a little bit tougher than you expected.

Don't forget the role of secateurs in cutting those harder stems of Proteas, Waratahs, Camellias and Viburnums.
Using the right tool for the job is crucial to getting high quality arrangements.
The quality of these tools determines how much of the stem is left on your flower, how many thorns are left on a rose, and how neat your final packaging is cut.
If you have any questions about floristry tools, then why not email us realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

VEGETABLE HEROES

BEAN or Phaseolus vulgaris which is latin for the Common Bean.

Do you love your beans?
Did you know that beans have been an important part of the human diet for thousands of years?
Beans have been eaten by people for so long that they have worked their way in to everyday expressions.

Have you said
“He’s full of beans when you’re describing somebody with a lot of energy?”
Perhaps you wanted someone to spill the beans –tell you a secret or the truth?

Bean pods can be green, yellow, purple, or speckled with red; they can be flat, round and a yard long.

Beans are what’s called a legume in the Faboidea or the pea family.
Beans Make Their Own Nitrogen!

Growing beans is pretty easy and I would say essential in a veggie garden because beans, as well as other legumes, have nitrogen fixing nodules on their roots.
Yep, that’s right, the roots make nitrogen out of the air and deposit it into the soil.
Lightning storms are even better for that reason because they convert nitrogen into ammonium ions.
Bean varieties originated from different places or countries.

Green bean originated from Central and East Asia, North-eastern Africa and the Mediterranean.
Would you believe that beans are supposed to have been grown in ancient Peru from around 500 B.C?

Bean varieties such as green beans, French bean and long bean have been planted for their fruits or pods for vegetables in many regions in the world since 6,000 years ago

When to Sow Beans

• Beans, either climbing or Dwarf Beans, are sometimes called Green beans are also called string beans and snap beans. 
• To grow beans you need up to four months of warm weather. 
• In subtropical climates beans can be grown almost all year. 
• For temperate and arid zones, mid-spring through to late summer are the best times to plant. 
• In colder districts, beans, don’t like the cold at all and they certainly don’t like frost. You have until the end of summer, certainly you wouldn’t be expecting any cold snaps now. 
• Tropical districts, once again, need to wait until the winter months to sow beans.

String beans

• Beans are best planted at soil temperatures between 16°C and 30°C so planting them from now on is ideal. 
• Sow your bean seeds about 2.5cm deep or depending on the size of the bean I guess. 
• Sow your beans, either climbing or dwarf beans either in rows or just scatter so the seed are 5-10cm apart (don't worry about the odd ones which are closer). 
• Cover with soil, potting mix, or compost and firm down with the back of a spade or rake. 
• Grown this way the beans will mostly shade out competing weeds and 'self-mulch'. 

An important fact about growing beans is that they need well-drained soils with a pH between 6.5 and 7.0 and are sensitive to deficiencies or high levels of minerals in the soil-especially climbing beans.

So make sure you spread some chook poo or cow manure before sowing your bean seeds.

TIP: When growing green beans, keep the soil moist.

A good rule of thumb is to put a finger in the dirt and if the dirt is dry up to the first knuckle, then it needs about an inch of water.

Keep your beans watered and watch for vegetable bugs and green caterpillars
Pods won’t set at temperatures above 27° C.
Why are my dwarf beans climbing? 
This is a question I get asked often.

• The answer is like all vegies, beans need a sunny spot and dwarf varieties grow taller than expected due to environmental factors 
• In fact, dwarf beans can have a peculiar reaction to insufficient sunlight: they can start to turn into climbers. 
• That's because all beans were originally climbers and given half a chance, dwarf beans will head skywards, especially if they don’t think they’re getting enough sunlight. 
• Another possible reason is that your soil is just too good and contains heaps of nitrogen which makes plants put on lots of vegetative growth. 
• Just nip out the top growing point to begin with, at the height you would like your beans to be. 

Erect a sturdy trellis for your bean plants.

Fertilising Your Beans
Beans make their own Nitrogen so don’t use fertilisers that are high in this particular macro nutrient.
Use only those fertilisers where the N ( Nitrogen) in the NPK (Nitrogen:Phosphorus: Potassium) ratio is smaller compared to the other numbers.
This is usually somewhere on the back of packets.
For example Thrive Complete Fertiliser has a NPK ratio of 5: 7: 4 compared with say something like Cow Manure which contains about 3 percent nitrogen, 2 percent phosphorus, and 1 percent potassium (3-2-1NPK). 
TIP: Did you know that if you pick the beans as soon as they’re ready, you’ll get new flowers? 

If you neglect your bean plants and let your beans get large and stringy, flowering will slow right down and you probably won’t get any more beans from your plants.

Tip: To have beans all summer long, plant more seed as soon as the previous planting starts to flower.

Protect against snails and slugs by laying down straw or sugar cane mulch and sprinkling coffee grounds around the edge of the veggie bed.
Slugs and snails will completely destroy newly sprouted beans.
Beans do poorly in very wet or humid tropical climates because they get bacterial and fungal diseases.
Go easy on the fertiliser or you’ll get lots of leaves and no beans.
When picking your beans, pick times when your plants are dry.
Working with beans when the leaves are wet tends to spread any diseases.
When are beans ready pick I hear you ask? 
Usually in about 10-12 weeks.

TIP:Pick them when they are about as thick as a pencil, smaller if you want a better, tender taste. 
Why are they good for you? Green Beans are a good source of vitamin C and also contain calcium, magnesium, zinc and Vitamin A. But, the most important nutritional fact for beans is that they provide a major source of soluble fibre, wand we all need what that's good for.
Also is a source of folate .

Some varieties of the dwarf beans are Brown Beauty-flat pods
Dwarf Snake Beans-ready in 11 weeks.
Windsor Delight has long pods of about 15cm.
Blue Lake Climbing, long pods again but they’re round this time.
Dragons Tongue beans

Scarlet Runner Beans

Lazy Housewives Bean???

THAT WAS YOUR VEGETABLE HERO FOR TODAY

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Pincushion Flower

Scabiosa columbaria hybrids
Have you ever wanted more butterflies to come into your garden?

Pincushion Flower

Well here’s a plant with plenty of nectar to get you started.
Nectar rich flowers isn’t all what butterflies need.
They need a flower that’s like a landing pad so they can have a bit of a rest while the sipping on the nectar. 

Let’s find out about this plant.
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

Scabiosa or Pincushion flowers belong to the Honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae.

Easy to grow and spread.

As young plants they are a bit sensitive to over watering, but as mature plants, they can cope with frost and take some heat.
Pincushion flowers do best in full sun but well-drained soil is a must!
Those with heavy soils should grow these flowers in a raised bed. 

The flowers are on long stems of around 30 cm.

The foliage which is a pale green, makes a small mound around 20 cm

Jeremy recommends the Bliss Bomb series which have intense lavender blue flowers.

 You can also buy deep maroon pincushion flowers but they are harder to get.

Remember: if you try to grow them in clay soils, they won't last until the next season, preferring to grow in more free draining soils.

These plants can last for a few years in the garden before you need to replace them, much like Shasta daisies.

TOP TIP

You can try cutting them back to increase their longevity.

The best thing is that these flowers are drought-tolerant, once they are established and will bloom from spring until the first frost.
Best of all they also make great cut flowers lasting for up to 10 days in the vase.
If you have any questions about growing Scabiosa or Pincushion flowers, why not write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com

TALKING FLOWERS

Dendrobium or Singapore Orchid

Don't be confused because we're not talking about Australia's Dendrobium, but the ones that florists prefer.

These florists' orchids are also called Dendrobiums.

These orchids grow from a pseudobulb and are largely epiphytic or lithophytic, preferring high humidity to grow outdoors.

Keep in mind, these orchids don't like temperatures below 15 C

Native to Southeast Asia, the genus dendrobium is one of the largest of all orchid groups from the Orchidaceae family.

There are about 1,200 individual species, and they grow in a variety of climates, from hot, wet lowlands to high-altitude, colder mountains. 

Growers usually divide dendrobiums into groups based on their growing conditions.

I'm talking with flower therapist and florist Mercedes Sarmini of www.flowersbymercedes.com.au

Recorded live during the radio broadcast of Real World Gardener , all about Dendrobiums.

Basil, Beans and Bridal Wreaths

SPICE IT UP

Basil Ocimum basilicum



At one stage Greeks and Romans believed the most potent basil could only be grown if you sowed the seed while ranting and swearing. This custom is mirrored in the French language where 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 Basil in the next segment.
I'm talking with Ian Hemphill from www.herbies.com.au

If you live in arid or sub-tropical regions you can sow Basil in late august in a mini greenhouse or indoors, but otherwise everywhere else, for everyone else, October, right through to January is the best time to sow Basil seeds. 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.

To dry Basil the air needs to be as humid free as possible. If you're able to grow Basil in cooler weather:Spring or Autumn, you have a better change of drying your Basil without it going black first.
Another method is to layer the leaves in a jar filled with olive oil. The oil excludes air getting to the leaves and turning them black.

If you have any questions about growing Basil 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 week’s Vegetable Hero is the BEAN or Phaseolus vulgaris which is latin for the Common Bean.
Do you love your beans?
Did you know that beans have been an important part of the human diet for thousands of years?
Beans have been eaten by people for so long that they have worked their way in to everyday expressions.
Have you said "He’s full of beans when you’re describing somebody with a lot of energy? "
Perhaps you wanted someone to "spill the beans" –tell you a secret or the truth?
Bean pods can be green, yellow, purple, or speckled with red; they can be flat, round and a yard long.
Beans are what’s called a legume in the Faboidea or the pea family.
Growing beans is pretty easy and I would say essential in a veggie garden because beans, as well as other legumes, have nitrogen fixing nodules on their roots.
Yep, that’s right, the roots make nitrogen out of the air and deposit it into the soil.
Lightning storms are even better for that reason because they convert nitrogen into ammonium ions.
Would you believe that beans are supposed to have been grown in ancient Peru from around 500 B.C?
French beans appeared about 8,000 years ago with its origin from Latin American, Mexico, Peru and Colombia.

Green beans

Bean varieties such as green beans, French bean and long bean have been planted for their fruits or pods for vegetables in many regions in the world since 6,000 years ago
Spanish explorers took the green bean back to Europe in the 16th century and introduced it there.
From there were spread to many other parts of the world by Spanish and Portuguese traders.
Beans, either climbing or Dwarf Beans, are sometimes called Green beans are also called string beans and snap beans.

When to grow your beans
To grow beans you need up to four months of warm weather.
In subtropical climates beans can be grown almost all year.
For temperate and arid zones, mid-spring through to late summer are the best times to plant.
In colder districts, beans, don’t like the cold at all and they certainly don’t like frost. You have until the end of summer, certainly you wouldn’t be expecting any cold snaps now.
Tropical districts, once again, need to wait until the winter months to sow beans.
How to grow your beans
Beans are best planted at soil temperatures between 16°C and 30°C so planting them from now on is ideal. Beans are easy to grow, and each year I teach hundreds of schoolchildren to sow bean seeds.
Schoolkids just love to see those bean seeds grow so it’s a great way to get your kids or grankids started in the vegetable garden.
Sow your bean seeds about 2.5cm deep or depending on the size of the bean I guess.
Sow your beans, either climbing or dwarf beans either in rows or just scatter so the seed are 5-10cm apart (don't worry about the odd ones which are closer).
Cover with soil, potting mix, or compost and firm down with the back of a spade or rake.
Grown this way the beans will mostly shade out competing weeds and 'self-mulch'.
An important fact about growing beans is that they need well-drained soils with a pH between 6.5 and 7.0 and are sensitive to deficiencies or high levels of minerals in the soil-especially climbing beans.
So make sure you spread some chook poo or cow manure before sowing your bean seeds.
When growing green beans, keep the soil moist.
A good rule of thumb is to put a finger in the dirt and if the dirt is dry up to the first knuckle, then it needs about an inch of water.
Keep your beans watered and watch for vegetable bugs and green caterpillars
Pods won’t set at temperatures above 27 C.
Did you know that if you pick the beans as soon as they’re ready, you’ll get new flowers?
If you neglect your bean plants and let your beans get large and stringy, flowering will slow right down and you probably won’t get any more beans from your plants.
Tip: To have beans all summer long, plant more seed as soon as the previous planting starts to flower.

Beans do poorly in very wet or humid tropical climates because they get bacterial and fungal diseases.
Go easy on the fertiliser or you’ll get lots of leaves and no beans.
When picking your beans, pick times when your plants are dry.
Working with beans when the leaves are wet tends to spread any diseases.
When are beans ready pick I hear you ask?
Usually in about 10-12 weeks.
Pick them when they are about as thick as a pencil, smaller if you want a better, tender taste.

Beans

Why are they good for you?
Green Beans are a good source of vitamin C and also contain calcium, magnesium, zinc and Vitamin A. But, the most important nutritional fact for beans is that they provide a major source of soluble fibre, which, when passing through the digestive tract grabs and traps bile that contains cholesterol, removing it from the body before it's absorbed.
Also is a source of folate .
Some varieties of the dwarf beans are
Brown Beauty-flat pods Dwarf Snake Beans-ready in 11 weeks.
Windsor Delight has long pods of about 15cm.
Blue Lake Climbing, long pods again but they’re round this time.
That was your vegetable hero segment for today.

DESIGN ELEMENTS:

Colour schemes for gardeners.

Bodnant Garden. photo M. Cannon

Introducing a new series on Colour schemes in the garden over the next 4 weeks.
Colour is pretty much the most prominent factor in a garden design and often the first one considered.
Colour is what most gardeners are drawn to and for a lot of gardeners, the have distinct preferences for a certain colour.
Using Colour in the garden and making it look good desn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be easy or work the first time for you.
Good garden design involves knowing how to combine colours so that the final product will be one we like.
Let’s kick of the series, I'm talking with garden designer Lesley Simpson.
We know what we like when we see it.
Only practice and experimentation will develop your eye for colour and allow you to see the differences between colours.
 I hope the next four weeks of my Design Elements will help you with the colour palette in your garden.

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Stephanotis floribunda, Bridal Wreath.

Stephanotis floribunda

Do you like fragrance in the garden?
 Have you a lot of plants with fragrance?
Along with fragrance in the garden, but for many years, the flowers have been used in bridal bouquets because they’re so lovely. Even though it prefers warmer climates gardeners in Europe love it so much that it’s sold as an indoor pot plant, even though it prefers to climb.
In fact it’s available there from florists climbing attractively over small frames in pots.
Also known as the Hawaiian Wedding Plant, this plant’s a must for the fragrant garden.
Let’s find out more about this plant.


Stephanotis looks lovely all year round and flowers more than once.
Did you know that the genus name-Stephanotis comes from the Greek words stephanos (crown) and otos (ear), supposedly because the flower tube looks like an ear canal surrounded by a crown of five ear-like lobes.
Stephanotis is in the dogbane and milkweed family whereas true jasmine (Jasminium officinale) is in the olive family.

If you have any questions about growing Stephanotis, or have some information to share why not write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com