Taties, Veggies, and Bottle Brushes

What’s On The Show Today?

We’re preparing for winter in the Good Earth segment, how to choose which potato to grow in Vegetable Heroes, and a shrub that’s everyone’s darling in winter in Plant of the Week, plus a couple of guys come into the studio talk about their favourite Australian plant .

THE GOOD EARTH

Winter Gardening and Crop Rotation

How well do you know your plant families?
Did you know that you shouldn’t plant veggies from the same plant family in the same spot year after year?

That’s all part of crop rotation which means of course you need to know your plant families.
There’s good reasons for practising crop rotation, but what if you only have enough room for a couple of veggie garden beds, what does a gardener do?
Let’s find out.. I'm talking with Margaret Mossakowska, director of www.mosshouse.com.au and Permaculture North Course coordinator.

Soon you’ll be saying things like Brassicas, Solanacea, and Fabaceae with ease and know what veggies belong to these families.

If you don't have much room and only have one area for a veggie bed, you can still divide it into four sections and follow crop rotation.

Otherwise, planting in pots is an alternative especially for the Solanacea family; the recommendation being wait 5 years before replanting any veggie from this family.

Created by Margaret Mossakowska

Brassicas: cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi

Allium: shallots, onions,garlic,

Solanaceae: tomatoes, chillies, capsicums, potatoes

Fabaceae: beans peas, snow peas,
Margaret’s tip to fertilise your garden is to use your homemade compost. and add things like chook poo, or other organic fertilisers.

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

VEGETABLE HEROES

Potatoes or Solanum tubersum

Chipped, fried, sautéed, boiled, baked or mashed, potatoes are one vegetable that we couldn’t be without.
Did you know that potatoes were the first vegetable to be grown in space?

Originally there were about 1,000 varieties, but over the years this number has been reduced to just a few hundred.

It’s always interesting to find out where our vegetables started and how they became popular.
Farmers in the Andes Mountains of South America first discovered the potato 7,000 years ago

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.
Potato blight by the way, cause the foliage to collapse and the tubers to rot.
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.

So which potato to choose?

The first thing to think about is how you want to use your potatoes.
Different varieties have different amounts of starch, making the flesh of some break down into a fluffy texture while others retain a firmer, waxy texture.
Potatoes that are high in starch are great at absorbing liquids, causing the potato to break apart in cooking.
These types are great for baking, mashing or cutting into wedges.
Waxy potatoes contain less starch and hold together during cooking.
This makes them ideal for cooking in soups and stews, where you want the potatoes to retain their shape.
They’re also the ones to use in salads.
Here are some suggestion of the ones that are mostly available. 

Boil: Desire, Dutch cream, Golden delight, Kipfler, Nicola, Pontiac, Red Rascal, Sebago. Coliban is good for boiling, but breaks down if over-cooked. 

Mash: Chat, Coliban, Desiree, Golden delight, Pontiac, Sebago. Kipfler not recommended to mash. 

Bake: Chat, Coliban, Desiree, King Edward, Pontiac, Red Rascal. 

Roast: Chat, Coliban, Desiree, Golden delight, King Edward, Pontiac, Red Rascal, Sebago. 

Fry: Golden delight, Sebago, Coliban, Desiree. Kipfler and pontiac not recommended to fry. 

Steam: Chat, Coliban, Pontiac, Sebago. 

Salad: Desiree, Kipfler, Pontiac, Red Rascal, Sebago. Coliban not recommended for salad. 

All-purpose: King Edward, Nicola, Pink eye, Pontiac, Sebago.

Some unusual ones for you to try.
How about Cranberry Red?
Cranberry Red has red skin and red flesh, great in salads, for boiling and baking. 

These stay red, even after cooking.

Cranberry Red

Or what about 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.

And for a good all rounder, try growing 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
To grow your Potatoes-put seedling potatoes into a trench in as deep and rich a soil as you can get.
Altlernatively, grow seed potatoes by chitting them first.

That means to start them by leaving them on cardboard or egg cartons in a light position until they have produced short green sprouts. 

When you do plant them add 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. 
• 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.
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.
For a great article on growing potatoes visit DPIW Tasmania

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 them in a bowl of water.

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Choosing a Focal Point

Today RWG’s garden designer Peter Nixon is taking a look at focal points in the garden.

Natal Flame Bush

Plumeria Pudica

At this time of year, when trees are looking bare, and perhaps there’s not much to look at in the garden, it’s a good time to assess what you have and what you could improve.

Focal points are some plant, whether it’s a tree or a shrub a water feature or a statue, that draws the eye and gives the garden some sense of design. 

How do you know what to choose, especially these days when we have smaller gardens?

I'm talking with Peter Nixon, Director of Paradisus Garden Design.
Let’s find out.
PLAY: Best Fit Gardening_Focal Points_28th October 2015

The small trees mentioned were Plumeria pudica-the evergreen Frangipani, Synadenium grantii rubra or red south African mild bush; Alberta magna-the Natal Flame Bush for cool temperate to warm temperate regions or don’t go past the double flowering Crabapple-Malus ionensis plena. 

If you have any questions about growing small trees for focal points or have a suggestion why not write in or email me atwww.realworldgardener.com

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Callistemon x citrinus "Red Rocket"

Bottlebrush "Red Rocket"

Segment produced and presented by Lewis Beere and Hugh Mandalidis.

Callistemon Red Rocket has bright red new growth and only grows to 1.5 metres high and 1.5 metres wide.

Perfect for pots and low borders. Like all Callistemons, they suit sun or part shade and cope with all types of soils.

Once established, (give it at least a year), it will tolerate dry conditions and light frost.

Bottlebrushes are also not bothered by too many pests and diseases.

If you are after low maintenance then this is one of those plants.

Start of fertilising it with a slow release low phosphorus fertiliser to help first establish the plant. 

Although it can cope without too much fertiliser, if you want lush foliage, it's best to follow up with the occasional reapplication of fertiliser.

Mulching around the base of the plant will help retain moisture and suppress weeds.

Plant Breeder: Ian Shimmen.

Listen to Hugh and Lewi talk about Red Rocket Callistemon

Everything Your Winter Garden Needs, from Kohlrabi, Outdoor Rooms, and Hibiscus Tradewinds

THE GOOD EARTH

Preparing for Winter Vegetables

Growing winter vegetables is different from the warmer months of the year because you have different amounts of sunlight, cold winds, and in some districts, frost to contend with.

Then there's controlling plant diseases in your veggie patch?

How well do you know your plant families?
Did you know that you shouldn’t plant veggies from the same plant family in the same spot year after year?
That’s all part of crop rotation which means of course you need to know your plant families.
There’s good reasons for practising crop rotation, but what if you only have enough room for a couple of veggie garden beds, what does a gardener do?
Let’s find out..

That was Margaret Mossakowska, director of www.mosshouse.com.au and Permaculture North Course coordinator.
Soon you’ll be saying things like Brassicas, Solanacea, and Fabaceae with ease and know what veggies belong to these families.

Brassicas are all the cabbages, broccoli, kohlrabi, brussel sprouts and cauliflowers.

Solonaceae are the tomates, capsicums, peppers, chillies and potatoes.

Alliums, the garlic, leeks and onions,

Fabaceae or legumes, peas,and  beans,

Created by Margaret Mossakowska

Margaret’s tip to fertilise your garden is to use your homemade compost or if you don't have any than add fertilisers like pelletised chicken manure or chook poo. This is important for members of the Brassica family because the grow a lot of greenery.

Margaret's garden

I’ll be posting an image of the crop rotation diagram that Margaret mentioned at the beginning of the segment on my website blog post page.

If you have any questions about winter veggie gardening or have some information to share, drop us .

VEGETABLE HEROES

Kohlrabi

Brassica oleracea gongyloides

Although kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea gongyloides or B. Oleraceae variety caulo-rapa) and brussels sprouts (B. oleracea variety gemmiferalook like they belong in two different families, they are in the Brassicacea family, along with cabbage, kale, broccoli, and cauliflower .

Would you believe that all these vegetables came from a common parent, "wild cabbage"?

You don’t see a lot of Kohlrabi today but it’s been around awhile was known to the Roman Empire.
Did you know that by the year 800 A.D., the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne ordered that kohlrabi be grown in his Imperial gardens.

More than 1 colour-green kohlrabi

Although Charlemagne is thought to be French, he was actually from western Germany.
"Kohlrabi" is a German word where Kohl means cabbage and Rabi means turnip. "Kohlrabi" Means "Cabbage Turnip"
By the end of the 16th century it was known in Germany, England, Italy, Spain, Tripoli, and the eastern Mediterranean.

Kohlrabi is another one of those vegetables that has the person at the supermarket checkout stumped, you’ll be asked what it is.
If you get a mental blank at that point, be prepared for a flurry of activity as someone else is called to the checkout to inspect what you’ve got and identify it. 

Kohlrabi for sure has fallen off the flavour of the month vegetable chart. In fact, you probably won’t be able to find the seeds at a lot of garden centres.

The funny thing about Kohlrabi is that even though it looks like a root vegetable, it actually isn’t.
The bit that you eat grows above ground. So far I’ve only seen the purple variety in shops, and when I used to work for a large well known seed company, the seeds were available but have since been taken off due to lack of interest.

How to grow Kohlrabi.

Kohlrabi is a good choice for beginner gardeners because it’s fast and easy to grow of all the Brassicaceae family.
Your kids will love kohlrabi because of it’s funny appearance.
Sort of like little aliens from other space-a little round body with little "legs" coming out of the ground.
If you’re into companion planting, Kohlrabi grows well with Beetroot because they have the same water requirements.
You can also fit Kohlrabi in between lettuce, onion and radicchio, because it sits above the ground and doesn’t take up as much room as cabbages .
You can direct seed Kohlrabi or start them in punnets or seed trays because they don’t mind being transplanted.

When to Sow:

In temperate districts deep January to May and again from August until December so almost all year.

January to March cool temperate districts and again from August until December
For arid zones, February to June is the best time.
March to August for sub-tropical and April to August for tropical zones.

Sow the seeds about 1 cm deep in rows 30 cm apart and thin them out to 15 cm or a couple of hand-widths apart.
Or like me, just put them wherever you’ve got space in your veggie bed.

Kohlrabi can be rather closely spaced (or interplanted) and is out of the garden in 60 days (2 ½ months)or so, leaving time to plant something else.

As with all vegetables a standard application of an organic fertilizer, mixed into the soil according to label rates prior to planting, is all you need to do.

So when do you pick your Kohlrabi?
If you want small kohlrabi, pick them when they’re about 6cm in diameter, with the leafy greens still attached.
The greens should be deep green all over with no yellowing.
Although kohlrabi stores well, up to one month refrigerated, yellow leaves means that the vegetable is not fresh. 

Homegrown Kohrabi

How to Eat Kohlrabi?
Now you may be wondering how to eat Kohlrabi, and it wouldn’t be fair if RWG didn’t pass on that information.

Eat them RAW
Kolhrabi sort of tastes like the stem of Broccoli or heart of a cabbage but sweeter.
Remove the stems by pulling or cutting them off the kohlrabi globe.
If the kohlrabi is small, there is no need to peel it, but you might want to cut off the tough base end.

If you've bought large kohlrabi, peel it and slice off the tough woody base before slicing or dicing.

Slice or cut into julienne and include it on a relish tray with dips.

Coarsely grate kohlrabi into a tossed salad. Because it is mild, succulent and porous, it absorbs the flavour of a mild or pungent salad dressing quite well.
Dice kohlrabi and combine with your favourite vegetables and dressing for a chopped salad with delightful crispness.
Slice kohlrabi, put it in a container, and pack in your bag for lunch for a crunchy snack.
Chop and include as one of the ingredients in a raw soup.

STEAMED
Slice kohlrabi or cut into bite-sized pieces and put into a saucepan with 1cm of water. Add a dash of salt, cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Turn heat down to low and steam for 5 to 7 minutes. Leaves can be steamed lightly just as you would do spinach.

STIR FRIED Dice or chop into bite-size pieces and stir fry 5 to 7 minutes in a little extra virgin olive oil with a clove or two of minced garlic and a dash of salt.

Why Is It Good for You?

Kohlrabi is very low in saturated fat and cholesterol.
It’s rich in thiamine, folate, magnesium and phosphorus and is packed with dietary fibre, vitamin C, vitamin B6, potassium, copper and manganese.
The only bad thing about kohlrabi is that a large portion of the calories in this food come from sugars.

AND THAT WAS OUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT FOR TODAY!

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Outdoor Rooms-Including the Kitchen Sink

Whatever you think an outdoor room is, it’s probably not going to have all the bells and whistles of the kitchen you have in your house.
But, say your outdoor eating space is best at the back of the yard or down a flight of stairs, what do you do then?

Australia is too sunny to always be eating indoors so you might think about doing a bit more than the good ole’ BBQ.
Let’s find out?

That was Matt Leacy Principal Landscape Designer and Director of Landart Landscapes.

You may not want to go the whole hogg of fridge, dishwasher and fancy BBQ in your outdoor room, but I think the Pizza oven sounds like a great idea. 

Soon you’ll be making your own pizza dough, and buying a pizza peel, that’s one of those wooden or metal spatula type implements that puts your pizza into the pizza oven.
Whatever you do in your outdoor room, don’t forget the garden.

An outdoor room without a garden is just to droll to contemplate.
If you have any questions about outdoor rooms write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Hibiscus Trade Winds

The flower on this week’s plant of the week is often associated with Hawaii and other tropical places but did you know that it originates in China?
We tend not to think of China as being a tropical place but I would imagine, some districts would have a tropical feel to them, perhaps up north near the coast.
And not all tropical plants are frost tender, so.

Hibiscus Tradewinds-Jeremy holding the flower.

 Let’s find out about this plant.

The plant panel were Karen Smith, editor of Hort Journal www.hortjournal.com.au and Jeremy Critchley, The Green Gallery wholesale nursery owner. www.thegreengallery.com.au

Consider the Hibiscus Tradewinds if you want large decorative flowers and a tropical feel to your garden even if you live in a frosty climate.

As Jeremy said, they Tradewinds can be grown in a pot so you can move it under cover when winter or frosty weather arrives.