
Episodes

Wednesday Sep 21, 2022
Leaf Celery in the Kitchen Garden
Wednesday Sep 21, 2022
Wednesday Sep 21, 2022
KITCHEN GARDEN
Leaf Celery
Scientific Name:Apium graveolens var. secalinum
- Leaf celery is a biennial plant growing to 60cm in height.
Sugo For Sure-How to Make it
Then adding the garlic and tomatoes to make a tomato base for any Italian dish.
This winter I have practically depleted my supply of leaf celery because of the number of soups, and slow co
- Corinne suggests dehydrating the leaves to make celery leaf salt.
Much easier to grow too.
If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

Sunday Sep 04, 2022
Cardamom in Cooking on Real World Gardener
Sunday Sep 04, 2022
Sunday Sep 04, 2022
SPICE IT UP
Know Your Cardamoms.
There are many budding chefs and cooks that use heaps of spices in their recipes going by the success of cooking shows on television.
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Green and brown cardamom pods |
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Brown (black) Indian cardamom (right) |
Cardamom pods are one such spice that comes a variety of colours and suit different cuisines.
- So which one should you use?
Brown cardamom-Indian and Chinese
- The brown Indian cardamom is a much larger pod than the green cardamom by 4-5 times the size. This cardamom has a smoky aroma and is especially used in tandoori dishes.
- Chinese cardamom is usually used whole.
* Ian’s big tip is never grind the pods and seeds together.*
Marianne (host of Real World Gardener radio show) is Ian Hemphill from www.herbies.com.au
Hopefully that’s set you on the right path to using the correct coloured cardamoms in your cooking.
If you have any questions you can email us Realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

Sunday Aug 07, 2022
Drinks and tricks with Horseradish on Real World Gardener
Sunday Aug 07, 2022
Sunday Aug 07, 2022
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.
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.
USES
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.
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

Thursday Mar 31, 2022
Lemon Verbena in the Kitchen Garden
Thursday Mar 31, 2022
Thursday Mar 31, 2022
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.
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Lemon verbena photo M Cannon |
- How would I describe the scent of lemon verbena?
What does it look like?
- 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.
Marianne is talking Corinne Mossati, founder of www.thegourmanticgarden.com

Thursday Mar 31, 2022
What is Mixed Spice in Spice it Up
Thursday Mar 31, 2022
Thursday Mar 31, 2022
SPICE IT UP
MIXED SPICE
The name 'mixed spice,' sounds 'oldie worldie' to me because it's not something that comes up in too many recipes these days.
What is mixed spice?
Mixed spice has actually the following ground spices.
- Cinnamon-two types, Sri Lankan cinnamon and cassia cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Ginger-to add brightness and freshness
- Cloves-a very small amount.
- Allspice-a spice all on its own which is actually a berry.
- Coriander seeds, ground of course. Coriander is an amalgamating spice.
But what do you use if you can find it on the supermarket shelves?
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Melting Moment biscuits |
- Cinnamon 1 tablespoon
- Nutmeg 1 teaspoon
- Ginger 1 teaspoon
- Cloves 1/2 cloves
- Coriander 2 teaspoons
Marianne is talking with Ian Hemphill from www.herbies.com.au
If you have any questions you can email us Realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

Sunday Mar 20, 2022
Phosphorus and Potassium Deficiency in Plants Solved
Sunday Mar 20, 2022
Sunday Mar 20, 2022
Plant Nutrition Deficiencies:Phosporus and Potassium
- In fact there are three major nutrients which are classified as NPK ratio on the back of all fertilisers. So in this part of the blog, we carry on with the two other major or macro nutrients.
Let's look at phosphorus deficiency
- Phosporus is known as a mobile nutrient which can move around the plant to where it's needed.
- Phosphorus deficiency happens more often in cold weather or gardens receive high rainfall, or a combination of both.
- Often affects heavily fruiting plants such as citrus.
- N..B. native plants are highly sensitive to phosphorus, so avoid spreading phosphate fertilisers near these plants.
Let's look at potassium deficiency
I would recommend becoming familiar with the NPK ration on fertilisers, whether organic or not to see if you’re applying the right sort for your plants.
For example, fertilisers that promote flowering and fruiting have higher ratios of potassium than those that are just for general purpose fertilising.
If you have any questions you can email us Realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

Saturday Mar 19, 2022
Nitrogen Deficiency in Plants
Saturday Mar 19, 2022
Saturday Mar 19, 2022
PLANT HEALTH
Plant Nutrition Deficiencies: Macro Nutrient Nitrogen
The 'Plant health' segment was created for my radio show "Real World Gardener,' as a division of the 'Plant doctor' segment, because I felt that it’s important to focus on what can go wrong with plants that isn’t a pest or a disease.
In the following audio podcasts, you will hear about what to look for in plants that have deficiencies of one of the macro nutrients: Nitrogen:Phosphorus:Potassium; in other words NPK or the macro nutrients.
Gardeners can often see problems appearing first in the colour of the leaves, but this can also be followed closely by lack of vigour, stunted growth and general unthriftiness of the plant.
Macro Nutrient Nitrogen
Listen to the podcast: I'm talking with Kylie Last horticulturist and tafe teacher.
If you have any questions you can email us Realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

Thursday Mar 03, 2022
Lacto Fermented Vegetables in the Kitchen Garden
Thursday Mar 03, 2022
Thursday Mar 03, 2022
KITCHEN GARDEN
LACTO-FERMENTATION
There are several ways to preserve food, these include freezing, drying, pickling and fermenting.
The term lacto-fermentation is a scary one and belies how simple it really is. It's unbelievably quick and easy.
So what is it?
- What about the bad bacteria?
How do you do it?
- Use high quality sea-salt.
Non-chlorinated water, and no fluoride so will need to be filtered water.Photo: Corinne Mossati of Gourmantic Garden - 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:
- Collect your dry ingredients and add them to a dry sterile fermentation jar.
- Pour in the brine solution to cover the vegetables.
- Add a ceramic weight on top to keep the vegetables below the liquid.
- Burp the jar daily: this releases the gas.
- It will take 2-3 weeks during the summer months.
- Once it's ready, place it in the fridge to slow the ferment process.
Are you a chilli aficionado?
But what do you do with all those chillies other than freeze them?
- Why not make a chilli lacto-fermeneted sauce?
I'm talking with Corinne Mossati, founder of the www.gourmanticgarden.com.au website.
If you have any questions you can email us Realworldgardener@gmail.com

Friday Feb 25, 2022
Brown Rot of Stone Fruit in Plant Doctor on Real World Gardener
Friday Feb 25, 2022
Friday Feb 25, 2022
PLANT DOCTOR
Brown Rot of Stone fruit
There’s plenty of cultivars of stone fruit trees that can fit into any size garden.
Trixie and Pixie dwarf nectarine and peach trees have been around for years.
“There’s even a nectarine tree classed as Super Dwarf called ‘ Peach Sunset” that is grafted onto super dwarfing rootstock to produce a more compact tree growing to around 1.5 m tall.
This Nectarine is self fertile so only one tree is needed.
- But before we get too carried away, what are the cons for growing stone fruit?
- Is deciduous a con? Possibly, because stone fruit tree are deciduous so if you don't like the bare look in winter, stone fruit trees are not for you.
- Do you need two trees for fruit set? Not always so do your homework.
- Preventative spraying for peach leaf curl and brown root of stone fruit may be needed.
- The bad news is, it's too late to do something about it now.
You may even have to open the centre of established trees a bit more than usual to increase air flow.
Still, the fruit I ate off my trees this year were super delicious and well worth growing your own stone fruit trees.
Let’s find out
PLAY: Brown rot of stone fruit_16thFebruary 2022That was Steve Falcioni from www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au
If you have any questions you can email us Realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

Friday Dec 24, 2021
Rose Geranium Based Drinks in the Kitchen Garden
Friday Dec 24, 2021
Friday Dec 24, 2021
KITCHEN GARDEN
Rose Geranium
Scientific name: Pelargonium graveolens
Family: Geraniaceae
Rose geranium leaves (photo Corinne Mossati) |
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