Sweeteners, Silver Princesses and Battery Garden Tools

We’re talking the new wave of battery operated tools in part 1 of this segment in Tool Time growing a natural sweetener in Vegetable Heroes, a native tree with many things to love in Plant of the Week plus bloomin' Tiger Lily flowers in Talking Flowers.

TOOL TIME

Battery Operated Tools part 1

Have you ever cut through the electric cord of your electric hedge trimmer?
I know I have. Thank goodness for the safety cut off.
They may be light than petrol powered hedge trimmers, but apart from the risk of cutting through the cord, there’s the meters and metres of cord that you may have to run.
Especially if you have a long back yard and need to get to a hedge.
So what’s the alternative?

Battery powered edger

I'm talking with Tony Mattson, general manager of www.cutabovetools.com.au

Lithium ion batteries for battery operated garden tools now have now no memory so they don’t have to be fully discharged before charging again. The power tools themselves are so much lighter.
The big tip is how much gardening do you need to do with the tools?
Base it on amp hours.
4 amp hours will go for 25% longer than 3 amp hours and 5 amp hours will go 50% longer than e amp hours.

Battery lawnmower

But the cost increases on the batteries also.

Important Tip: The batteries are not interchangeable between brands, so make your selection based on the range of tools that you need for your garden. If the brand you like doesn't have everything you need, as well as spare parts, choose another, but reputable brand.

If you have any questions for me or for Tony, why not write in to Realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

VEGETABLE HEROES

Stevia: Stevia rebaudiana
There’s a few plants whose leaves are quite sweet and have been used to produce sugar alternatives without the calories.

Stevia is one such plant.

Native to Paraguay and other tropical areas of the Americas, the stevia plant (Stevia rebaudiana) has leaves packed with super-sweet compounds that remain stable even after the leaves have been dried.

Stevia is a member of the chrysanthemum family and the Stevia leaves have been used to sweeten teas and other drinks throughout South America for centuries.

So why are Stevia leaves’ so sweet?

Because the leaves contain something called steviol glycosides.

Steviol glycosoides are high intensity natural sweeteners, 200-300 times sweeter than sugar.

The leaves of the stevia plant contain many different steviol glycosides and each one varies in sweetness and aftertaste.

So what does Stevia plant look like?

Stevia is a small perennial shrub with lime green leaves that do best in a rich, loamy soil — the same kind that most of your plants in the garden like.

stevia plant

• Stevia is evergreen in temperate, sub-tropical and tropical climates, but in cold and arid districts, it’ll lose its leaves in Autumn.
• Stevia is native to semi-humid, sub-tropical climates where temperatures typically range from -6°C to 43°C.Stevia tolerates mild frost, but heavy frosts will kill the roots of the plant.

Stevia plants also hate being water logged.

By the way, I’ve grow my stevia plant in a pot for several years now without any problems and it’s survived several bouts of dry hot summers and lack of watering during spells with a house sitter.

But, it really isn’t drought tolerant like a succulent or a cactus and won’t tolerate long term neglect.

• During warm weather don’t forget to water it and if you’re going away for a few weeks put in a dripper system, otherwise you’ll lose your Stevia plant. But don’t plant your Stevia in waterlogged soil and don’t overwater it.
• Since the feeder roots tend to be quite near the surface add compost for extra nutrients if the soil in your area is sandy and a layer of your favourite mulch around your stevia plant so that the shallow feeder roots won’t dry out.
•  Stevia plants do best with fertilizers with a lower nitrogen content than the phosphorus or potassium content. Which means the artificial fertiliser aren’t your best bet, but most organic fertilizers are because they release nitrogen slowly.

HINT: Stevia leaves have the most sweetness in autumn when temperatures are cooler and the days shorter. Definitely the best time to pick those stevia leaves.

If your district is prone to frosts in Autumn, make sure you cover the Stevia plant for another few weeks’ growth and more sweetness.

How do you store Stevia leaves?

If you Stevia plant is big enough, the easiest technique is to cut the branches off with secateurs before stripping the leaves.

TIP:As an extra bonus, you might also want to clip off the stem tips and add them to your harvest, because they have as much stevio-side as do the leaves.

 If you live in a mostly frost-free climate, your plants will probably cope with winter outside, as long as you don’t cut the branches too short (leaving about 10cms of stem at the base during pruning).

These plants do last a few years in temperate and warmer climates.

In cool temperate districts, it might be a good idea to take cuttings that you’ll use for next year’s crop.

Cuttings need to be rooted before planting, using either commercial rooting hormones or a natural base like honey.

Stevia seed is apparently very tricky to germinate, and the cutting method is your best option.

SO HOW DO YOU USE YOUR STEVIA LEAVES?

I should mention that the stevioside content is only 12% in the leaves you grow compared with the 80-90% that commercially extracted stevia has.

It’s still had a decent amount of sweetness all the same.

So you’ve picked the leaves now you need to dry them.

As with drying all herbs you can hang your bunch of leaves upside down in a warm dry place.

Otherwise, on a moderately warm day, your stevia crop can be quick dried in the full sun in about 12 hours. (Drying times longer than that will lower the stevioside content of the final product.)

If you have a home dehydrator use that instead.

Finally crush the leaves either by hand,  in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle that you use for spices and herbs.

The dried leaves last indefinitely!

If you add two or three leaves added whole or powdered, that’s enough to sweeten a cup of tea or coffee.

HOT TIP: Another way is to make your own liquid stevia extract by adding a cup of warm water to 1/4 cup of fresh, finely-crushed stevia leaves. This mixture should set for 24 hours and then be refrigerated.

Stevia flowers

TIP

Why are they good for you?

 Stevia is a natural sweetener that has zero calories and isn't metabolised by the body.

Stevia isn’t suitable for everything in cooking but you can use it to sweeten drinks, fruits, salad dressings, stewed fruit, yogurt and most creamy desserts.

The processed Stevia that you buy in the shops has been stripped of all the natural goodness that Stevia contains, so it’s better to grow your own Stevia.

THAT WAS YOUR VEGETABLE HERO FOR TODAY

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Eucalyptus caesia Silver Princess

This week we have a native plant that is a medium sized tree with outstanding features.

Eucalyptus caesia Silver Princess or gungurru has interesting bark, leaves and flowers.)
It’s in the Myrtacaea family and it is a gum tree.
Let’s find out what’s good about this one.

I'm talking with Adrian O’Malley, horticulturist and native plant expert.
PLAY: Eucalyptus Silver Princess_25th September 2019

Silver Princess trunk and fruits are covered in the grey to whitish bloom, except for the leaves and flowers themselves.
If you rub the bark you’ll see the mahogany colour under that bloom.

Silver Princess grows to about 8m in height, but as Adrian says, it's a leaner.

That means unless you are keeping on eye on it as it grows, the tree will develop a 45 degree lean.

Formative pruning helps, but for some reason it aspires to lean.

Adrian will almost coppice his leaning Silver Princess in the hope that it will resprout from it's ligno tuber as it does in the wild.
If you have any questions for me or for Adrian or would like some seeds of this tree, please write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com