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  www.thegourmanticgarden.com
Gourmantic garden website. You can also follow Corinne for more delightful ideas on Instagram.

Lemon Verbena in the Kitchen Garden

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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.
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.  
Rungia klossii: Mushroom plant
 

Mushroom plant Photo: M Cannon
So, let’s find out how and why, by listening to the podcast.I've been 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

Mushroom Plant on Real World Gardener radio show

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

Growing Dwarf Beans in the Kitchen Garden on Real World Gardener

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.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.

Vietnamese Mint in the Kitchen Garden on Real World Gardener

THE GOOD EARTH
How to Grow and Use Yacon: Peruvian Ground Apple
Scientific Name: Smallanthus sonchifolius
Common Name: Yacon, Peruvian ground apple
Family: Asteraceae-same as daisies and sunflowers.
Plant Height & Width: 1.5m x 0.5m
 
If you look at the flowers they are like much smaller versions of sunflowers.
Here’s a tuber that tastes similar to a nashi pear, looks something like sweet potato on the outside, and the sugars from it aren’t absorbed by the body.
Not only that, the tubers contain a lot of juice, and the sugars that make it sweet is not absorbed by the body so you can't put on the kilos! How good is that?  Then there’s the fact that it’s easy to grow, and has small flowers that resemble sunflowers and you just can’t buy it from the supermarket or fruit and veg store.
 

Yacon plant growing in Margaret's garden
How to Grow Yacon from Tubers?
Yacon has two types of tubers unlike ginger or turmeric.
The tubers that you plant are attached to the main stem and are much smaller and pinkish in colour. I planted mine in early September and October was the time that it sprouted in my Sydney garden.
If you were to receive some brown tubers that look like a brown sweet potato, that's what you eat and not what you plant. 
The edible tubers spread from the clump sideways meaning you need at least 1/2 metre  of space to produce sizeable clumps.
Can be planted in any district as they can withstand frost.
When to Harvest?
Yacon is a herbaceous perennial meaning it has a dormant period that starts when the leaves die down in late autumn. 
This is the time when the tubers are ready to harvest. Simply fork up the entire crop, and harvest the large brown tubers to eat fresh, and use the small reddish rhizomes at the top to replant for next year’s crop.
What Can You Do With Yacon?
Eat it of course but how,  is the thing so here are some of Margaret's tips.
Yacon is sweet and crunchy and is great eaten fresh.
Ever heard of Yacon chips? That's right you can make chips out of this tubber.
Just cut up into chip sizes and drizzle some oil over the top and bake in the oven.
Try using it in salads like Waldorf salad and wherever you would use fresh pears.
Use it in stir fries.
You can also juice it or cook down the juice to make syrup and use it as a sweetener.
Fun Tip from Margaret
Running short of toilet paper, try large soft fluffy leaves like those of the Yacon plant.
But there's more uses, have a listen to the podcast.
I'm talking with Margaret Mossakowska of www.mosshouse.com.au
If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

Grow, Harvest, Eat Yacon on Real World Gardener

TALKING FLOWERS
Seasonality of Flowers
Vegetables have their season when they’re available fresh and not just out of the cold room where they’ve been for 6 months or more.What about flowers?Many people forget that flowers have their seasons too, after all there are plenty of flowers available all year round.

Hellebores-a winter flower
 Why is that important? 
It's the same as for vegetables and fruit, if it's not the current season for the flowers, then they're most likely imported.If I asked you what’s the best time of year to buy peonies would you know?
 What about roses, is there a best time?
Have a look at the below suggestions to realise what is actually in season.  Winter Flowers



Orchids, Vanda, Dendrobium, Cymbidium, Phaleanopsis, Hellebores. Jonquils, Daffodils, Tulips, Hyacinths, Daphne (pictured.)
Spring Flowers


Stephanotis

Peonies are an October flower. Roses, Ranunculus, Australian wildflowers-Waratahs, Ericas, Geraldton Wax; Cherry Blossoms, Magnolias
Summer Flowers
Roses, Sunflowers, Gerberas, Carnations, Stephanotis.
Autumn Flowers
Dahlias, Roses are continuing. Asiatic lilies are an exception as in Australia they are grown in glass houses and are available all year round.I'm talking with Nadine Brown of https://www.theivyinstitute.com.au/The scientific name for spring stars is Ipheion uniflorum, often marketed as Triteleia Stars Of Spring, rather confusingly.Got to say one my favourite spring flowers.If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

Lemon Verbena in the Kitchen Garden

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