Gardening.Australia.S36E08
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00:00Hey!
00:05Hey!
00:07Hey, mate!
00:10Hey!
00:13Ooh!
00:17Hey!
00:20Hey, mate!
00:22Hey!
00:25Hey!
00:27Hello and welcome to Gardening Australia.
00:37It's holiday time and we have got a basket full of Easter goodies for you.
00:43So, let's dig in.
00:46I've got the lowdown on where our chocolate comes from,
00:50as well as some ideas to decorate your eggs,
00:53using plants, of course,
00:55and we find out how the RSPCA
00:58is helping rescue bunnies feel right at home.
01:02Did I mention plants are the key?
01:05We've all got places in the garden
01:07that need a change or a complete reset.
01:09It's time to think about autumn planting.
01:11And I'm thrilled to be visiting the home veggie garden
01:14of an Australian legend,
01:16the incomparable Maggie Beer.
01:18And I'm hoping I might even get to sample some of her cooking.
01:30For more than a century, Australians have had a love affair with chocolate.
01:35On average, we each eat six kilos of the stuff every year,
01:40putting us in the top ten chocolate-eating nations.
01:44And our appetite for the sweet treat is growing every year.
01:49I'm here in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney
01:52to meet the Director of Horticulture
01:54in a new exhibition space open to the public.
01:58And the first exhibition is all about chocolate.
02:03Why did you choose chocolate?
02:05Well, I was trying to come up with an idea
02:06for what do I do to talk about science and conservation
02:09in a conservatory, in a greenhouse.
02:11My usual creative process is go home, turn on some music,
02:14pop up on the couch, eat something,
02:15and that day it was chocolate, which is most days.
02:17And I'm eating away and looking at my fingers and thinking,
02:20what do I talk about?
02:21What do I talk about?
02:22Do we talk about orchids?
02:23Do we talk about flowers?
02:24Chocolate! Chocolate is the story.
02:27Chocolate's 5,000 years of history.
02:29It's the rainforest wrapped up in a chocolate bar.
02:32Where does chocolate grow?
02:33It grows only within 10 degrees north or south of the equator.
02:36So the equator is the belt around the middle of the globe.
02:39So only just that small tip,
02:40so only a few countries that actually touch around that area.
02:43Australia is one of them.
02:44We can grow chocolate in the northern Queensland area.
02:46So we don't think about it, but that area is also...
02:48Chocolate was the perfect story,
02:49but it's all the things that add to it.
02:51The rainforest is also the home of vanilla and spices
02:55and Brazil nuts and cashews and nutmeg.
02:58Eighty percent of our food crops originated in the rainforest.
03:02So that's an amazing story.
03:04Two-thirds of the world's plant life lives in the rainforest.
03:07Two-thirds?
03:08Two-thirds.
03:09One-third of our biodiversity of animals live in the rainforest.
03:12So you just think about that little bitty belt around the middle.
03:15It's kind of like your pants belt.
03:16The belt falls off, it all falls off.
03:17So that belt is the most probably biodiverse region.
03:20It's the cradle of life.
03:21It's probably the most...
03:22One of the most important areas of our whole planet.
03:24Can you tell me a little bit more about this amazing plant?
03:27Well, chocolate is a really cool plant.
03:29First of all, you know, the name, Theobroma cacao.
03:32Theobroma is Latin for food of the gods.
03:34It's theology. That's a great word.
03:36Theology.
03:37This is a food that people worship even to today.
03:40But an amazing thing to me is these little tiny flowers
03:42that actually bloom on the trunk of the tree.
03:44And it's pollinated by little midges and ants and aphids and thrips,
03:47and then produces this giant fruit.
03:49There's multiple cultivars and varieties actually found across the world,
03:53depending on where you're at.
03:54And this one's actually Carrillo.
03:55Differences are in the flavor and the size of the fruit and the color.
03:57No different than picking a different variety of apple.
04:24So what farming methods have you replicated here?
04:26Well, instead of the typical, historical, more common method of growing chocolate in rows
04:31and actually in a very cleared plantation,
04:33we've gone back to what's actually becoming the new way of growing chocolate.
04:36It's actually growing under the canopy of rainforest trees in conjunction with other food crops.
04:39So think banana trees, vanilla vines growing, coconut palms, which we have here.
04:43But most importantly, the soil is happier,
04:45which means the little midge that lives in the soil most of the year
04:48and then actually flies up here and pollinates that little tiny flower.
04:50You get more midges. You get more midges, you get more chocolate, you get more chocolate,
04:53you get more money, and you don't have to cut as much rainforest down.
04:57What plants have you selected for this section of your rainforest?
05:00Well, this rainforest we actually recreated an Amazonian, a South American rainforest,
05:03because that's where chocolate's from.
05:04The rainforest is all about stratification.
05:06It's the different layers of the trees and the ground covers and the bushes.
05:09This particular vine, this beautiful fleshy leaf vine, is vanilla.
05:12It's an ingredient of chocolate, but also if you grow vanilla outside of the South American rainforest,
05:17where it's native to, you have to hand pollinate it.
05:19Why is vanilla so expensive?
05:21Think about your eight-hour day doing this, basically pollinating a thousand flowers.
05:25So vines are a really big part of the rainforest?
05:27Absolutely.
05:28You know, vines are actually one of those, you know, structural components of the rainforest.
05:31They're opportunists.
05:32They're actually there to fill in the gaps as soon as the sun comes through and a tree falls over.
05:36This one's Fittonia, and it's actually the giant Fittonia, Fittonia gigantea.
05:41And if you actually look at most houseplants we actually grow in the house,
05:44I guarantee almost every one of them is from the rainforest.
05:47Because why?
05:48They grow in deep shade, because, you know, sitting there beside your lounge or your TV
05:51is about the only light they get.
05:52But this one's huge leaves, grows at the bottom of the canopy.
06:03Rainforests across the whole globe are actually under threat.
06:05Right now they estimate about 80,000 hectares per day are lost.
06:09That's about 60 hectares per minute.
06:12My hope with the exhibit is, by the time you get through with it,
06:15you might have learned a little bit about the rainforest, a little bit about chocolate,
06:18a little bit about what we do as a science organization.
06:21But most importantly, the next time you go to the grocery store and reach up and buy a bar of chocolate,
06:25you might turn it around at the back and look at it and go,
06:27yeah, this one actually helps the planet just a little bit.
06:30Maybe I'll pay an extra 50 cents for it.
06:32So make a little bit of a difference.
06:34It can be a bit all or nothing out in the garden.
06:43Some veggies just seem to come all at once and you end up scrambling to put them to good use.
06:49And if that happens to your carrots, I've got a great tip to help you spread that harvest out for as long as possible,
06:55called succession planting.
06:59This means I plant a crop of carrots roughly every four weeks.
07:03So when the latest crop is going in, it's time to thin out the older crop.
07:07This makes a really efficient process in the carrot patch, making sure the harvest is staggered across time
07:13and you never end up with a huge glut of carrots on your kitchen table.
07:18To plant carrots, firstly prepare the soil.
07:22They need free draining, loose soil with a bit of compost.
07:25They don't need any fertiliser as this can cause deformities.
07:29Remove any hard clumps or stones because when a carrot comes into contact with these,
07:34you will either grow around it or be stunted.
07:37And that's how you get some weird shapes.
07:41Always use seed when planting carrots because they are all about the taproot.
07:46So if you transplant carrot seedlings, it's likely you'll disturb their redevelopment,
07:51resulting in stunted growth.
07:53Sow thickly in shallow rows.
07:56This is to ensure lots of successful germination.
07:59Don't worry if it seems like too much because they can always be thinned out later.
08:04Cover the seeds and lightly pack down the soil to keep it all in place so it's making contact with the seeds.
08:11Water in straight away with a watering can or a light hose spray so they don't all wash away.
08:17They need to be kept consistently moist.
08:20Now my special tip to keep the moisture in is to use salvage pieces of hardwood timber
08:25and lay them on top of the rows.
08:28Now it might seem a little bit harsh just to plonk some timber on top of the seeds,
08:32but it actually benefits them.
08:34From here, you're going to water every day the first couple of weeks
08:37and this timber will hold on to that moisture, making it available to the seeds
08:41and prevent evaporation.
08:44I leave the timber on top until the seedlings are a few centimetres tall,
08:47checking regularly by lifting the boards.
08:50These are around two weeks old and while they might look a little flat,
08:54they definitely perk up quickly when they see the sun.
08:57And as an added bonus, weeds are less likely to germinate under the boards
09:01due to the lack of sunlight.
09:03These carrots are around eight weeks old and are well overdue for a good thinning.
09:09It's always a joy to pull up a carrot and see what's been growing underground all this time.
09:16And by following these simple steps, you're sure to get a great harvest.
09:28Autumn's a great time to get busy in the garden.
09:31The changing of the season means there's so much to do.
09:34Well, Clarence is here to show us how to hop to it.
09:37We're coming into autumn and it's the perfect time for a reset.
09:44We've all got places like this in the garden where we haven't been quite sure what to do with them.
09:48This one was a veggie patch.
09:50It's been holding these pot plants for quite a while now.
09:52So it's a perfect time here in autumn to get in.
09:55There's still a bit of heat in the soil from summer.
09:58We can get the weeds out, more soil in if we have to,
10:01get the plants that we want into the ground.
10:03They can chill out over winter.
10:05Then as spring rolls in, boom, colour.
10:12As my dad used to say, preparation is everything.
10:23Now, with any new garden project,
10:25we've got to ask ourselves, what's the aim?
10:27Do we want to block out the wind?
10:29Do we need shade?
10:30Or do we just want it to be this beautiful feature?
10:32Well, I want this to look like a beautiful native patch,
10:35lots of colour, lots of texture,
10:38and lots of different structure and form.
10:40Primarily to bring in insects, birds, lizards,
10:43just to really improve the biodiversity of what will be a feature native garden.
10:48First things first, though, remove unwanted plants and weeds.
10:52Watch out for perennial weeds, those with rhizomes, bulbs or tap roots.
10:56Chase these out, and if you want to chuck them on your compost,
10:59make sure you soak them in a bucket of water for a couple of weeks
11:01or put them into a plastic bag and leave them in the sun
11:04so that they don't reshoot.
11:08Here we go.
11:09Nut grass.
11:11I don't like it.
11:12I don't like any weeds for that matter.
11:14But you can see the nuts, you can see these tendrils just run along under the ground.
11:19So you might pull this one out, but if you pull that one, you might miss these ones.
11:26And you're still in trouble.
11:29One brown, one, one white, one and one with a bit of shade on.
11:35If you're going for natives, you want a low phosphorus mix.
11:38Plenty of native mixes out there, but I still like to add a bit of sand,
11:41so it's nice and free draining and it's not going to overload it with nutrients.
11:49When it comes to prepping garden beds, everybody has their own personal preference.
11:53Some people like it perfectly symmetrical, a nice mound, very rounded, rectangular,
12:01maybe even a grassy knoll, if you will.
12:03I like to try and mimic what you see in the bush,
12:06which is all kinds of shapes and different forms.
12:09As long as the plants are happy, that is the main thing.
12:18You're probably wondering what I'm doing.
12:20Well, it's just as easy to walk around and do a bit of stomping with your feet.
12:23Luckily, I've got this heavy pounder.
12:26Just to really get a bit of form, this garden bed is going to settle over time.
12:30I'm just speeding up the process.
12:32You don't really have to do this.
12:33Nice, solid base to work with.
12:35Just like a pyramid.
12:36Good, solid base.
12:50All that's left now, set the plants out and see how they look in situ.
12:57So, native frangipani, try to place in the centre.
13:01It's been in the pot a little bit too long, so it's looking a little bit worse for wear.
13:04Hopefully, it'll really enjoy its new home and start to thrive.
13:08They can get pretty big, but they do take a good prune as well.
13:11We've got a nice little edge of different kangaroo paws.
13:15The brachioscombe, nice ground cover, plenty of colour.
13:18A nice patch of fringe lilies and chocolate lilies, just to give a bit of colour and a bit of flavour to the garden bed.
13:24There's a wax flower over here, some paper daisies and a beautiful corrier that will also give us a nice bushy shrub.
13:31Beautiful colour, an absolutely stunning plant.
13:34And one of my all-time favourites, bush mint.
13:38Great colour, great flavour.
13:40Everything's pretty much going to revolve around our centrepiece, the native frangipani.
13:46So, I'll get him out, start digging our hole.
13:50Been in the pot for quite a while, so all going well.
13:54He will recover.
13:55He's certainly going to be the biggest plant in this bed.
13:59So, he's going to need a bit of room around him as he starts to grow.
14:03But, these little paper daisies and the cross-hands are hanging out next to him.
14:08It's not going to bother him too much.
14:10Righto.
14:12So.
14:13Righto.
14:14So now, it's just a simple matter of getting it out of the pot,
14:19which is always an interesting task.
14:21There we go.
14:23Get rid of that.
14:24It's fairly solid.
14:26Oh!
14:27Spoke too soon.
14:28End of the hole.
14:31Give it a nice bit of room around it.
14:36I'll prune this back, clean it up.
14:39Hopefully, this new home will give it a new lease of life,
14:42so everything around it will hopefully just sit underneath.
14:46It'll do its thing.
14:47The colour and form on this is just beautiful when it does flower.
14:51So, Prostanthra, bush mint.
14:54Great little plant.
14:56Lots of different species.
14:57So, you know, different colours, different forms.
15:00But, by and large, gorgeous, gorgeous aroma.
15:06As the name suggests, a minty smell.
15:09But, very high on the eucalyptus flavour.
15:12Two down.
15:17Paper daisies.
15:19Another great addition to the garden.
15:21So many different colours.
15:22So many different forms.
15:24But, really nice to fill space.
15:27And just give you that gorgeous colour.
15:30And, of course, as the name suggests, a flower.
15:35Bit like crepe paper.
15:37These are pretty low maintenance.
15:42Natives do look hard for themselves, but all plants need water.
15:47Got a few more to go yet.
15:49Another kangaroo paw.
16:04This one, along with so many others, so many cultivars now.
16:08The colour and range is just unbelievable.
16:11This is the last one to go on the ground.
16:13Pretty happy with how it looks.
16:14Light mulch.
16:15We'll be done.
16:16All that's left now is to water it in.
16:31Might even give it a light prune so that these plants can chill out over winter,
16:35ready for that spring burst and some beautiful colour in summer.
16:40So if you're after a new addition, ready for next summer,
16:43get into your autumn planting right now.
16:45We've all heard of the Easter Bilby.
17:00Well, this next story is about a member of the same family,
17:04the Bandicoot or West Australian Quenda.
17:08Like many of our small marsupials, they need our help.
17:12So let's catch up with Josh, who's learning about a project that's putting them front and centre.
17:23There's nothing better for the spirit than a bush walk.
17:27And when it's so close to home, it's even better.
17:30Today I'm taking a walk with Dr Leonie Valentine, a researcher from the University of Western Australia.
17:38This is the Craigie Bushland Reserve in the Perth northern suburbs.
17:43It's a much loved patch of bush and for a very good reason.
17:47Isn't this an amazing view?
17:50Yeah, it is Josh, isn't it?
17:52It's about 56 hectares of Teward and Banksia woodland.
17:55And it's been identified as a bush forever site, which means it's got a lot of conservation significance.
18:01The reserve is flanked by a wastewater treatment plant, the freeway and suburbia.
18:09I guess it'd be fair to say that this pocket of bush must be under a fair amount of pressure.
18:14Absolutely, Josh.
18:15And that's why this fence that excludes foxes and feral cats is really important.
18:20The feral-proof fence was erected in 2010 and has enabled the eradication of foxes, cats and rabbits,
18:28which is having a big impact on the health of the local ecosystem.
18:34Leonie has been paying close attention through her research to the role of a particular native critter.
18:40So you can see that there's quite a few diggings going on here, Josh.
18:43And this one, this is a really good example.
18:46Now that's not from a rabbit, is it?
18:48No, it's from a quenda.
18:50So a quenda is a type of bandicoot.
18:52And we thought the quenda used to be part of the southern brown bandicoot complex,
18:55but it's its own unique species endemic to southwest WA.
18:59The fence that we looked at earlier has allowed us to do is reintroduce them to this part of the bushland.
19:05And so DBCA, the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions,
19:09did a translocation in 2013 of about 46 quenda.
19:14And what's the difference in a quenda digging this hole as opposed to a rabbit digging the hole in terms of regeneration of plants?
19:22Quenda dig quite differently to rabbits.
19:24Quenda are omnivorous, so they're looking for underground beetle larvae and plant tubers as well as fungi.
19:31Okay.
19:32So they're scenting them with their beautiful long nose and they're creating a dig and they're digging underneath them through their hind legs and creating this beautiful spoil heap that you can see over here.
19:44Now when you've got a rabbit digging, a rabbit often digs dirt so it's a bit more dispersed and it often leaves pallets behind.
19:51Yeah.
19:52So this looks like a little compost pile.
19:54Doesn't it ever?
19:55It's great.
19:56You've got leaves and twigs and it's covered.
19:57So this becomes a site that's better suited for things to germinate from, is it?
20:01Yeah, so that is exactly what can happen.
20:03So what we think goes on is that the soil is removed from in there and so that's firstly breaking the soil crust and that means that you're allowing more soil moisture when it rains to penetrate into the soil.
20:16So it means plants might be able to get more moisture and then you're putting the soil on top of litter so you can see that there's a lot of leaves underneath here and because it's quite damp, that's provided a really good environment for that litter to decompose, which is how we're getting nutrients back into the soil.
20:31And so when we've done some trials where we've actually seeded areas like Quenda digging, we found that you can get a lot more recruitment to things like Chewett species and Acacia and Canidia prostrata from areas that have been dug by Quenda compared to undug areas.
20:48It's unintentional cultivation.
20:50Absolutely.
20:51Yep.
20:52Quenda are listed as a WA priority conservation concern.
20:56Their numbers have been decreased by predation from introduced animals and habitat destruction.
21:02The good news is that the 46 Quenda that were introduced to the craggy bushland have multiplied quickly to now be in excess of 100.
21:12Leonie and her research team have been monitoring them and running experiments to understand the Quenda's impact on native vegetation.
21:21This is one of our exclosure plots, Josh. We've got five of these throughout craggy bushland and what we've got here is a fence that excludes Quenda from the area, whereas outside we've got Quenda that can dig as much as they like.
21:36So what do you notice?
21:38Well firstly there's a lot more understoring vegetation but also a lot more leaf litter.
21:43Yeah, there really is. And if you compare that to over here where you can see that there's been quite a bit of Quenda activity, there's quite a lot lower litter load.
21:53And so what we've done, one of the things we've looked at, is how much litter is there in an area where a Quenda digs.
22:00And we've found that there's a lot less once you've got Quenda turning that soil over and decomposing the litter compared to where we've stopped them digging.
22:09And what's the impact of that?
22:11Well that probably means that we've got lower fuel loads. So one of the really interesting research questions that we'd love to look at in more detail is how that might change how a fire moves through an environment.
22:23OK, so we've spoken about building up organic matter and dealing with non-wetting soil. Bit of composting. I've got to ask, as gardeners, what are they doing in terms of manure?
22:35Well, we spoke before that Quenda like feeding on a whole range of things, including invertebrates and plant material, but also fungi.
22:42And so they're probably really important at dispersing fungi throughout the environment. And that means that that's even helping even more other plants as well.
22:53They're inoculating the soil as well.
22:55They are, indeed.
22:56These guys are serious gardeners.
22:58Absolutely.
22:59You've described the types of benefits that come from the Quenda being here in terms of the bush.
23:10Yeah.
23:11But what makes this a good site for the Quendas?
23:14Well, this is a really good spot for Quenda because there's lots of understorey vegetation and it's really dense.
23:20And there's herberta throughout the area as well as things like the grass tree.
23:25And what's so special about the grass trees?
23:27Oh, the grass tree can be a Quenda home.
23:30Oh, this is a really good example of where Quenda like to seek shelter.
23:34You can see that they've made a bit of a break underneath the grass tree.
23:38Look at that.
23:39Yeah, and it's nice and dry. Look, all the sand out here is quite wet, but in there it's still nice and dry.
23:44It looks very cosy.
23:45It probably is very cosy.
23:46So do they have shelter as individuals or as groups?
23:51No, as individuals.
23:52So they can have overlapping home ranges, but they like to be solitary.
23:58Australia has lost many of its native digging mammals and the species that have survived are in decline.
24:04Research like this can help us understand their important role in ecosystem health and bushland restoration.
24:11What we're seeing here, Josh, with the return of Quenda to craggy bushland is the reintroduction of ecosystem processes that have probably been lost for quite some time.
24:22And that's really exciting. And hopefully we'll find out a lot more.
24:26Every year as far back as I can remember, my family and friends have got together to create colourful dyed Greek Easter eggs.
24:43Well, I've got some eggs from my chickens at home and I'm ready to get creative with this year's batch.
24:49Hey, Maria. How are you? Hi, girls. How are you going? You good?
24:56Oh, look who's in charge up the back here, Ange. Mwah. How are you?
25:04You know, the world is in order if Ange is giving me stick about the beard. Everything is fine in the world.
25:11I've known Maria and her mum, Angela, for most of my life. And today Maria's invited her two nieces, Pamela and Zoe, along to help us create what I think will be some pretty amazing Easter eggs.
25:24So look at these eggs, girls. I remember when I was your age and I used to do egg dyeing with my ear and my mum. It was lots of fun, wasn't it?
25:32Yeah, it is, yeah. Yeah, we dye red eggs for Easter and they symbolise that Christ has risen. And on Saturday night we crack them and whoever egg is not broken is the winner and has good luck for the year.
25:45Yeah, the champion for the year. Champion. And you keep that egg.
25:49Now there's my eggs, Maria. I've selected all of my white ones.
25:53White are the best because they show up the colour. And they haven't been in the fridge, have they?
25:56No. No, because room temperature is the best because that way when we boil them they don't break.
26:00OK. Now, Zoe, what have we got here?
26:03Beetroot.
26:04What colour do you think we're going to get out of the beetroot?
26:06Purple, red.
26:08Purply red? Yeah, I think you're right. And what about over here, Pamela? What have we got?
26:11Onions.
26:12What colour will come out of the onions do you think?
26:15Brown.
26:16Do you think they'll make you cry as well?
26:17Um, maybe.
26:19And what else have we got here, Maria?
26:21We've got some stockings and some ties and some little stickers.
26:25We can also get the girls to pick some leaves from the garden
26:29and we put them on and we dye them, tie them with the stocking
26:32and when we take it off it leaves the imprint of the leaf.
26:35Oh, wow.
26:36So they make really pretty eggs.
26:37What do you think?
26:38Do you girls want to come up and we'll pick some flowers and some leaves?
26:41Yes.
26:42That sounds like fun to me.
26:43OK, let's have a look in the garden.
26:45Now, do either of you know what plant this is?
26:47Rosemary.
26:48Now, if we cut off about that much, that's the pattern that we'll get on the egg, OK?
26:54There's lots of different plant leaves and flowers you can use, but it's best to stick
26:59to edible plants and the ones that you know.
27:02For a list of the obvious ones to avoid, check out the fact sheet on our website.
27:07This is a chicory flower and I think that pattern will come up beautifully on our eggs.
27:13And then look what we've got here, some beautiful basil.
27:16So let's cut some of these off, cut that one off.
27:19And the last one over there is the oregano.
27:21Let's get a little bit of that.
27:22Take it off right at the bottom there.
27:24What have you been up to, Maria?
27:26Well, I've cut up some stockings ready for the eggs.
27:28We've got some onion leaves and some stickers so we can get working.
27:32Alright.
27:33We'll grab an egg, girls.
27:37Tightly press the leaves and flowers against the eggs with pieces of stocking.
27:42This will hold everything together, but it'll also let the dye through to colour the eggs.
27:52Look at that one.
27:53See the purple flower?
27:54Yeah.
27:55They'll put it face down, so we should get the pattern of the flower.
28:02We'll put some rosemary with the stickers.
28:05Yeah?
28:06Look at that, Maria.
28:07It's like a spider.
28:08Yeah, it does look like a spider, doesn't it?
28:09Yeah.
28:10Okay, tie that off, Zoe.
28:12Oops.
28:14Well, I think we've done incredibly well.
28:16We're up to about 15 eggs and we've had our first casualty.
28:19The stocking hasn't quite caught her artwork, but she's ahead of her time.
28:23I love your work.
28:24Well done, Zoe.
28:25Okay, Maria.
28:26Here's some more cut veggies.
28:27I've got some onions there.
28:28Alright.
28:29There we go.
28:30I've got a little bit of beetroot here.
28:31And some more cabbage.
28:32Now, tell me, what's the boiling technique?
28:33I don't know.
28:34Really, it's experimental.
28:35So we'll see how we go, but I think about an hour to get a colour.
28:38We're already getting a bit of colour.
28:39Yep.
28:40And what's the purpose of the vinegar?
28:41The vinegar will make the eggs hold the colour more.
28:42Okay.
28:43So I think we'll splash some in now.
28:44What quantity?
28:45Just like half a cup, I would say.
28:46A splash.
28:47A splash.
28:48You know that measurement that's written on the side of oil.
28:49A little bit more of a glass.
28:50A little bit more of a glass.
28:51A little bit more of a glass.
28:52A little bit more of a glass.
28:53A little bit more of a glass.
28:54A little bit more of a glass.
28:55And some more cabbage.
28:56Now, tell me, what's the boiling technique?
28:57I don't know.
28:58Really, it's experimental.
28:59So we'll see how we go.
29:00But I think about an hour to get a colour.
29:01What quantity?
29:02Just like half a cup, I would say.
29:04A splash.
29:05A splash.
29:06You know that measurement that's written on the side of all good kitchenware.
29:09Greeks don't measure.
29:10Just a splash.
29:11A Greek splash.
29:13Now the dye colour is strong enough, we'll add the eggs and simmer slowly for about an hour.
29:21I'm really excited to see how they've turned out.
29:23Let's start unwrapping, eh?
29:24Yeah.
29:25Whoa.
29:26That's so pretty.
29:27Look at the pattern here.
29:29Take off the stocking and all the bits of plant material and stickers to reveal the beautiful
29:36finished Easter eggs.
29:38And that's where you put the chicory flower.
29:40Let's try that one.
29:42Look how white the egg is underneath where we took the sticker off.
29:45Yeah, and the love heart.
29:46This looks like the one we covered in onion leaves.
29:48Yeah.
29:49I think it really well.
29:51Whoa.
29:52Finish off by rubbing a bit of oil on the eggs to make them look even better.
29:57Look at the result.
30:00And the best thing is, it's all come from the garden.
30:06Still to come on Gardening Australia, Sophie catches up with a culinary legend.
30:12I check in with all creatures great and small.
30:19And we meet a children's book illustrator drawn to all the details.
30:25A few years ago, I was planning a camping trip with a mate.
30:32And I realised we'd need some fresh herbs to cook on the campfire.
30:35I thought about passing through the towns and picking them up as we went through.
30:38But five bucks for a sprig of parsley?
30:40Not on my watch.
30:41So instead, I planted the holiday herb basket.
30:44All you need is a basket.
30:46So this one cost me about five bucks, I think, from the op shop.
30:50Nice and sturdy.
30:51Enough soil depth to maintain quite a few plants, but not so big that I can't lift it.
30:55I've lined it with a little bit of off-cut of pond liner and then put a couple of drainage
30:59slits so the moisture can actually get out of the bottom.
31:02Your sort of traditional idea would be that you should match always your Mediterranean herbs
31:05or your Asian herbs.
31:06I push my luck with everything and I'm going to pack everything I can into this basket
31:10because I want lots of flavours.
31:11I'm going away.
31:12I want a little bit of everything.
31:14So with my summer basket, I've got basil, oregano, thyme, all of those summer flavours.
31:19But coming into the cooler months, there's a few other flavours to choose from.
31:23Plenty still.
31:24Of course, rosemary.
31:25And as well as being a beautiful flavour to use in just about all cooking, it goes a
31:29really long way.
31:30A little flower in the winter months as well.
31:32I'm going to plant some sorrel.
31:33And it's actually a really, really good plant for the cold.
31:36You only need a few leaves.
31:38Really, really zingy sort of lemony flavour.
31:40Great with fish.
31:41Great with all sorts of dishes.
31:43Of course, parsley.
31:44I can't live without it.
31:45I put it on everything.
31:46So flat leaf parsley is just so easy to grow and perfect for this sort of project.
31:50And I'm also going to cheat a little bit.
31:52I'm going to put a bit of celery in.
31:54I don't necessarily use celery like big fleshy stems.
31:57I like it just as a little bit of a flavouring in lots and lots of things.
32:00Edible flowers.
32:01There's actually plenty of them.
32:02And coming into winter, beautiful little Johnny Jump Up viola.
32:05A little bit of cheer.
32:06Really nice if you want to give this away as a prezzi.
32:08And autumn is the best time of the year to sow coriander.
32:11Cooler weather.
32:12Warm soil.
32:13And I'll always do that from seed.
32:15So I'm going to pack a bit of that in as well.
32:17Because I'm planting so many different plants in here, I want a really good quality potting
32:22mix with heaps of nutrients.
32:23So to a premium mix, I've added a little bit of organic fertiliser and some worm castings.
32:32So first up, I'll do the rosemary.
32:33Because it's sort of the most substantial plant that's going to be in the basket.
32:36A little bit of the roots are looking pretty good.
32:39Nice amount of space.
32:40This variety should spill a little bit as well as grow upright.
32:44Next, I reckon the red sorrel.
32:48Oh, look at that.
32:49That's going to go bonkers.
32:55And a little bit of French sorrel.
33:01Again, some of these varieties are actually better in a pot because they can be pretty vigorous
33:08in the garden.
33:09And then a bit of parsley.
33:14So the nice thing about my very first holiday herb basket was, you know, it was great.
33:19We got to have herbs with every meal and, you know, it was lovely, fresh food.
33:25But the other nice thing was that people would spot it on the back of the ute and have a
33:30little chat to us about the garden.
33:31It's not the normal thing to see someone's little garden on the back of their truck.
33:35Anyway, we were in one little town and these ladies spotted it on the back of the ute
33:39and were so excited and told us all about their garden and then disappeared round the back
33:43to go and pick us some produce.
33:45So that night we had fresh herbs and fresh zucchini from their garden.
33:48It was pretty lovely.
33:50It's good to be a little bit careful when you're moving any member of the carrot family.
33:58So parsley, celery, any of those guys, they don't really like root disturbance.
34:02So try and be a bit cautious.
34:04Now this just needs watering in and don't be afraid to give them a liquid feed.
34:08It'll really push the growth along.
34:10In a couple of weeks, you'll be ready to hit the road.
34:13And until then, have a great weekend.
34:20It's a good time of the year to be in the kitchen, turning all of your garden goodness into
34:26nourishing food for your loved ones.
34:30Sophie's catching up with a culinary icon who's been encouraging Australians
34:35to do just that for decades.
34:41I'm lucky today to be visiting the iconic and beautiful Barossa Valley,
34:45renowned around the world for its food and its wine.
34:49But perhaps its most famous export is not a food or a wine, but a person.
34:55Cook writer and television presenter, Maggie Beer.
34:59And she's invited me to come and check out her own private veggie patch.
35:03I'm so excited.
35:07Hello, Maggie.
35:08Hello, Sophie.
35:09Look at you, hands in the soil.
35:12Whenever I can.
35:13Oh, good to see you.
35:15Oh, lovely to have you here.
35:17Oh, look at this.
35:18What a great-looking patch.
35:20Oh, well, it's my joy.
35:23I don't do it all on my own, I can tell you.
35:25But it's where I want to be.
35:28Is that right?
35:29More and more.
35:30Until I'm so sore I can't move.
35:33The old body is not quite as happy.
35:36But then I recover very quickly and back out again.
35:39Now what's this?
35:40Mine is lettuce.
35:41Maggie is known for her amazing cooking.
35:43But I'm here today because Maggie is also a passionate gardener.
35:47Oh, please.
35:48And here in her amazing home veggie garden, that passion is obvious to see.
35:54Look at all this luscious kale, Maggie.
35:56Well, look, I love kale so much.
35:59And whereas I started with this curly kale in Cavalonero,
36:02it was when I came to your garden and all these difference,
36:07the Russian kale, the pink kale.
36:09And I thought, I've got to get my egg together.
36:12I've got to grow more kale.
36:14And they are different.
36:15They are different.
36:16They all have different flavours.
36:17Do you want me to cook some kale for you and convince you it's worth eating?
36:23Well, I use it in my juice, but I'd love to know how you cook it.
36:25That would be fabulous.
36:26Okay.
36:27Well, I might go for the Cavalonero.
36:29Mm-hmm.
36:30The Cavalonero is a shyer bearer in comparison with the other kales.
36:35Yes.
36:36But it does have a quite distinctive flavour.
36:40Okay.
36:41Kitchen.
36:43So what are you doing here, Maggie?
36:45Well, the first thing I need to do is strip the kale.
36:48It's best if you just strip off this back spine.
36:52Mm-hmm.
36:53You don't have to if it's really young.
36:55You can have the whole life.
36:56And then that goes to the chooks anyway and you get beautiful eggs.
36:58So nothing's wasted.
36:59The chooks are very well-fed chooks.
37:01So you get lovely coloured eggs as well as lovely flavoured eggs.
37:06Beautiful.
37:07And that I'm just going to put on to blanch.
37:13Mm-hmm.
37:14And how long will you blanch it for?
37:16That's hard.
37:17If it's young, probably three minutes.
37:19If it's older leaves, about five.
37:21If you buy it from the supermarket, it's likely to need a little bit more cooking.
37:29You want to keep a bit of colour there, but three to five minutes.
37:36Maggie was obviously inspired to get into gardening by her deep love of fresh produce.
37:41These days, though, she has another inspiration.
37:44She's deeply committed to improving the food offerings found in aged care homes around Australia.
37:50She's even started a foundation to make sure it happens, the Maggie Beer Foundation.
37:55And they're doing some truly groundbreaking work.
37:58Now, you're passionate about making sure that we all get access to quality food, whatever our age.
38:05Absolutely.
38:06For me, it's about no longer allowing institutionalised food.
38:12And I've been doing masterclasses for cooks and chefs for five years,
38:16because it's an incredibly complex arena and there's no specialised training.
38:21And there's no level of training for people to get into food in aged care,
38:27because they're not paid, not respected, and there's so much we have to do
38:32because there's so many people working so hard without support.
38:37We need to give them skills, knowledge, respect and remuneration.
38:42With my foundation and working with a lot of other people who are passionate about it too,
38:47is showing what we can do.
38:49And that is about gardens and cooking and respect.
38:54So it's not that complicated really, is it?
38:57No, it's not.
38:58Because if aged care facilities have a little community veggie plot,
39:02the residents love to be out there playing in it.
39:04Absolutely.
39:05But I don't have to tell you, so often people are left just being looked after
39:11and that's not the way.
39:13Yeah.
39:14Well, all my cooking is about what's in season.
39:17Autumn, our quince, we've got a quince orchard.
39:19So I've just chopped those up, ready to go.
39:22Now I'm going to toss them off in olive oil.
39:25It's about just giving a little bit of sweetness to the kale for the kale doubters.
39:31Because they seem to be everywhere.
39:35They do.
39:36I have heard someone say that the best way to cook kale is with olive oil and butter,
39:40so it slides straight out of the pan and into the compost.
39:43That's unfair.
39:45You've only just cooked that for a few minutes.
39:48Just a couple of minutes.
39:49And I started with some olive oil, sneaked a bit of butter in, a bit of salt.
39:52And I'm after that colour, but I don't want it to overcook.
39:55So the kale, now that it's cooled, I can squeeze out more of the juice.
40:01Really?
40:02Yeah.
40:03OK.
40:04That's nice enough.
40:05But I've still got good colour.
40:06Let me take that.
40:07Just chop it.
40:09OK, now it's ready to go in the pan.
40:13Cooking now.
40:14Mm-hmm.
40:15OK.
40:16Toss it together.
40:30And that's all the cooking it needs.
40:36Wow!
40:37That's so simple.
40:38But while I'm here, I really want to put a piece of sourdough on my little Japanese grill.
40:46OK.
40:47So there we have it.
40:49A little bit of black pepper right at the last moment.
40:54And this is a shared dish.
41:02Beautiful sourdough.
41:03A bit of sourdough.
41:05There's nothing like using the first of the seasons oil, which we had crushed last week.
41:11And it's really peppery and it's at its absolute peak.
41:15And so to calm it down, I'll put some fresh ricotta on.
41:19OK.
41:20Because it is rather robust, to say the least.
41:25And I have pomegranate seeds, or arils, because pomegranates are in season now.
41:32They are.
41:33But, look, this is just about having things that are two-hand, in season.
41:42Oh.
41:43And really...
41:44Doesn't that look beautiful?
41:45It's as simple as that.
41:46Mmm.
41:47Mmm.
41:48Mmm.
41:49Mmm.
41:50See, food, to me, is so simple.
41:51It's just throwing together great ingredients.
41:52Mmm.
41:53And...
41:54You make it look so simple, Maggie.
41:55Mmm.
41:56Mmm.
41:57Mmm.
41:58See, food, to me, is so simple.
42:00It's just throwing together great ingredients.
42:03Mmm.
42:04And...
42:05You make it look so simple, Maggie.
42:08You make your garden look so simple.
42:11Mmm.
42:12Well, Maggie, I didn't know what to bring, you know, you.
42:15So I've actually brought you some vegetables.
42:17So these are Egyptian walking onions.
42:20Walking onions?
42:21They're bigger than shallots and less fiddly in everything than shallots.
42:25Yes.
42:26But they're sort of like a red onion.
42:27But what happens is they send up a flower spike and on the top of the flower spike they
42:32have all these little bulbils and then the weight of that makes the spike bend over.
42:36So that's why they're called walking.
42:38Thank you, thank you, thank you.
42:39There you go.
42:40Oh, well, that's a gift.
42:43Couldn't be.
42:44To a better home.
42:45Oh, good.
42:46What a magical day.
42:50And what a treasure we have in Maggie Beer.
42:53Here's hoping her work sees more and more healthy, delicious, fresh meals being served
42:59to our deserving older Australians.
43:01Animal shelters aren't the most attractive of environments.
43:14The concrete and steel necessary to keep them clean and functional can be quite confronting.
43:20It's a situation that the RSPCA headquarters in Yagoona in Sydney's south-west is trying to change.
43:29Over 400 rescued animals live here.
43:32The RSPCA's mission is to give them a second chance.
43:36But traditional surroundings are not always conducive to adopting a furry friend.
43:42But that's where plants come in.
43:45The RSPCA are reimagining what a shelter could be and are in the early stages of creating landscape gardens
43:53that are inviting to humans and animals.
43:56Let's take a look.
43:57Brendan Neely is the Executive Manager of Animal Care Services.
44:10We see about 12,000 animals through the door each year just at this facility.
44:14It's a busy place.
44:16Given the volume of animals that we see moving through, wear and tear is one of the biggest issues that we have.
44:21And so getting into some of the garden spaces just softens that environment for both our animal visitors and our human visitors.
44:31The first area to be completed is this special spot for small animals,
44:36where rabbits and guinea pigs can meet potential new families.
44:42It's a completely different presentation because shelters can be a fairly confronting environment.
44:47And to see something like this that's colourful, soft and completely different to what they're expecting is fantastic.
44:52And if they stop and pause while they're walking through our facilities,
44:56it actually increases the adoption chances.
44:58So it actually helps animals find a home.
45:00Look at that.
45:05Steve Warner is the landscape designer who created the space.
45:09This area is meant to be for the kids to come in and just relax.
45:12It's a safe area to bring a rabbit, to actually come in here, pop the rabbit down, sit on the ground with the rabbit and actually engage.
45:19You just have some fun.
45:21If you can have some fun, you'll start bonding with the animal.
45:24I notice there's lots of colour and the fences are black and quite low, so you don't even feel like they're here.
45:31No, I'm glad you said that because what was the most important is getting the balance.
45:35We need to enclose the space, but it's really important that it didn't feel caged in.
45:39There were some key requirements for plant choices in the project.
45:44Plant selection was very much about maintenance, low maintenance, to the point of zero maintenance.
45:49The focus for our client is that it's the animals.
45:52So we don't want to be a problem when it comes to the landscape.
45:55We want to be the benefit.
45:56So selecting plants that are very easy to maintain is very important.
46:00So looking at natives, looking at hardy plants.
46:03Looking at plants also that the veterinary side of the establishment are very happy with as well.
46:09So what are some of the plants you've selected in this area here?
46:11The majority of our planting, you can see, they're grasses.
46:14So the pennisetums here work really well for us.
46:17We also then put a border planting of the lamandra tunicas.
46:20Again, it's very hardy, but very soft for the kids to be rolling in the space.
46:25And again, it's got to be soft in selection for the animals as well.
46:32Good job!
46:33Good job!
46:34But it's much more than just a pleasant environment for pets and people.
46:39Are you seeing a change in the animals' behaviour?
46:42We certainly do with the rabbit enclosures.
46:45Each of them has a little hop-down, so the rabbits can actually leave their hutch,
46:48hop down into a veggie garden that's individually built for them,
46:51and then hop back up the bunny hops, as we call them.
46:54Bespoke veggie gardens for the rabbits.
46:56Absolutely, they do.
46:57It's also really interesting because we're able, particularly for the rabbits
47:00and the other pocket pets as they're referred to,
47:02seeing them do what they do, which is dig up lawns, chew things,
47:06is a great way for people to go,
47:08actually, I've really got to consider taking these on.
47:11One of the rabbits whispered in my ear earlier
47:13that you actually don't charge for the work that you're doing with the RSPCA.
47:17I'm committed and connected with what this organisation does.
47:20I'm a pet owner myself and I know the good work they do.
47:23So if we can give back with our knowledge and if we can give back with our time,
47:27well then that's worthwhile, so I'm happy to give back.
47:31It seems it's a win-win situation.
47:34Steve's happy, the RSPCA are happy, the visitors are happy,
47:39but it's the animals that are set to benefit the most.
47:42Yum.
47:43To give an example of exactly what it's done,
47:45we've seen our rabbit adoptions double since the gardens came online,
47:48which is an amazing result.
47:50The ultimate thing that we're aiming at is getting these animals a second chance
47:53and so as a result, to see a doubling of those figures
47:56simply because of the garden space here,
47:58it's paying dividends every day.
48:00Enjoy this story of an inspiring Australian author,
48:12whose motivation is the wonderful Aussie landscape.
48:16My name's Trace Beller.
48:30I live in Djarjarung country in central Victoria
48:33and I make graphic novels really about connecting with country and community.
48:40They're kind of cartoony stories, but there's a lot more detail,
48:46like nature detail, than in a normal cartoon.
48:50So there'll be like specific bird species or specific plants from that place
48:56and I often put little labels on or little sound effects about the different birds.
49:01I call myself a story catcher.
49:04There's just stories everywhere.
49:06There's so many stories from nature and if you've got your ear kind of switched on,
49:11you're going to be loaded up all the time.
49:14I'm an early bird, so I like going everywhere really early.
49:32And I've got a few favourite morning spots.
49:36This is one of them.
49:37So I ride along the creek and then I sit down by this water hole for my brachy.
49:45I love like the dew dropping off the high branches up there and creating the ripples in the water.
49:55It's such a good way to start the day and connect myself to where I am before I go and sit indoors on a computer or at a desk.
50:08When I draw things, I notice things and I start to understand them more.
50:27And I write down the sounds as well.
50:31So I might take note of the birds, the weather, the light, the light always changing.
50:38If you take a photo or walk past, you're not going to notice nearly as much.
50:44Every single kid should have a magnifying glass.
50:47It's how you work things out.
50:50Like I'm not a scientist, but if I just keep looking at things, I start to understand them.
50:57It most definitely connects me to where I am by taking the time to stop and sketch.
51:03And it doesn't matter if it looks great or whatever.
51:05It's nothing to do with that.
51:06It's more about, there's nothing between me and my sketch.
51:12Everything else just drops away and I become more with that place.
51:21It's a very mindful thing, actually.
51:24Oh, my lovely tree.
51:27And I go and say hi to my grandma tree over there.
51:31I really like that she's been here longer than all of us.
51:35She features in my book, actually.
51:37So the main character, when she arrives at her new home, she goes out in the morning and greets her beautiful new friend, the yellow box.
51:45I had to put her in.
51:46She's so special.
51:47Good morning, tree.
51:49Aren't you a beauty?
51:50I hope you don't mind if I climb you.
51:53I've lost my bearings because we got here in the dark.
51:56Landing with Wings is the story of a girl and her mother and they move to this area.
52:05And at first they're strangers there.
52:07And then they gradually connect with the community and with the country.
52:13This book is very much about a sense of belonging and connection.
52:19I wonder who used to live here.
52:27It would have been a gold digger.
52:29Yeah, there used to be thousands of people digging for gold around here.
52:33I thought it was called the gold fields because of all the yellow plants everywhere.
52:38I way prefer your reason.
52:40This area is known as the gold fields.
52:44And for me, that was really hard to call it that, considering all the damage that had been done from the gold rush.
52:52There's so many beautiful golden plants and birds that I found another way to feel good about calling it the gold fields.
53:03I really like the yellow navel fungus.
53:08They've got this cute little dip in them like a belly button.
53:12And they're tiny.
53:13They're so little.
53:14You have to be careful where you step.
53:16And I've been getting to know waddles.
53:19I used to think there was only one kind of wattle.
53:22But now I've been watching throughout the year.
53:25There's so many different ones.
53:26And when I draw them, I learn what they are.
53:29Golly, you get a great view of Mount Alexander up here.
53:36Alexander?
53:38That's a strange name for a mountain.
53:40Well, my ancestors have called it Lianganook for thousands of years.
53:45Do they come from here?
53:47Yep, we're Dja Dja Wurrung around here.
53:50That knowledge probably goes a very long way back.
53:54Yep, way, way back.
53:56Forever, we reckon.
53:58The main people that read my books are primary school kids.
54:04And when I was at primary school,
54:07I didn't even know there were Aboriginal people living in Victoria.
54:11So things have really changed,
54:13and it's great to be part of that eye-opening
54:17and ear-opening experience of the kids.
54:21It's really important to acknowledge where we are in this country
54:32and to respect what we do know.
54:35Like, if we know the name of a place, to use that name
54:39and to just keep learning from the people of that area.
54:44It's like we're putting down roots that go way, way back in time
54:49and into the future too.
54:51Forever, really.
54:53Looking out across the plains, I realise that I'm part of the country now
54:58and it's a part of me.
55:00Got a busy weekend coming up?
55:11Some time in the garden is the perfect way to slow things down a little.
55:16And if you're looking for some inspiration,
55:18here's your list of jobs to start you off.
55:27In cool areas, it's time to plant Easter lily bulbs.
55:30If you're short on space at your place,
55:32they'll grow just as well in a pot.
55:35Spinach seed can be sown directly into beds now
55:38at spacings of around 40 centimetres.
55:42Add a touch of texture to your garden
55:44with the surprisingly tough lamb's ears.
55:47The velvety soft leaves help it conserve moisture,
55:51meaning it's great to use in tough and hot spots.
55:55Warm temperate gardeners get a hold of a rabbit's foot fern.
56:00Tougher than most ferns, it can be grown inside or outdoors
56:04and will cover its pot with furry little rhizomes.
56:08If you're serious about your backyard harvest,
56:11why not make your own wooden basket or trug?
56:14You'll find all the plans on the GA website.
56:18Melaleucas and calistamins will benefit from a light prune
56:22to remove the spent flower heads.
56:25In subtropical areas, as your palms drop fronds,
56:29chop them up or shred them for instant mulch.
56:32If you've got a dry, shady spot in your garden,
56:35why not try a bromeliad?
56:37Their epiphytic nature and water reservoir means the right type
56:42will thrive in those tricky spots.
56:45It's open season to soak carrots, so hop to it.
56:49Try all season or baby varieties for better results in your climate.
56:55In the tropics, start preparing your beds for the productive dry season.
57:01Lay compost and mulch and water in well to prime everything for planting time.
57:07It's also time to plant lettuce to take advantage of the oncoming cooler temperatures.
57:13Choose loose leaf varieties for a more reliable harvest.
57:17If your fruit trees are a bit ratty, now's a good time for a structural prune.
57:23Remember to remove any branches that are dead, diseased or dying.
57:28In arid areas, your compost bin might just be ready to empty.
57:33Spread over garden beds and cover with mulch to keep the goodness in place.
57:38At this time of year, scale build up can start to be a serious problem.
57:43Remove what you can by hand and then treat once a week by spraying diluted horticultural oil.
57:50Sweet pea seed can be sown now, but remember to get your support structure up before planting
57:57so you don't trample the seedlings in the process.
58:00Enjoy the weekend, gardeners.
58:03And remember, you can always catch up on Gardening Australia on ABC iview anytime.
58:15Well, that's all we could squeeze into our basket for this week,
58:19but there's plenty more coming up next time.
58:22Take a look.
58:25A lot of people have a love of indoor plants,
58:28but today I'm meeting a woman whose passion for her indoor jungle
58:32has changed her life.
58:34I'm visiting a friend's garden full of ideas to bring life into a small space.
58:40And Millie catches up with a very clever gardener
58:43who's made the most of her inner city space.