Lawn daisy (Bellis perennis)

Lawn daisies (Bellis perennis)  are a small edible perennial plant.  I am told that they grow as a weed in the lawn, I wish they grew as a weed in my lawn!

The leaves can be eaten as a vegetable either cooked or raw, the flowers and flower buds can be eaten, apparently a tea can be made from the flowers too.  I am told that the leaves are rather nutritious, but being so small they don't produce a huge amount of them so you would need a lot to be able to make a meal.

Unfortunately I don't find them to taste overly nice, but they sure look pretty.

My daughter's lawn daisies in a vase

When TV or books speak of children  making 'daisy chains' apparently this is the plant they are talking about.  I have only seen them growing in lawns in Tasmania, other than that I have never seen them growing by themselves anywhere. 

I took my daughter for a walk to get her out of the house one day before her birthday so the other kids could make presents and things.  We ended up a shop that had seedlings for sale.  I bought her a small punnet of them, and she planted them in her garden after we got home.  They sat through winter frosts, slowing growing larger.

Once the weather warmed they started to bloom.  Below are some of the flowers from my daughter's little plants.  

Someone has put a lot of time and effort into breeding these improved plants, they have much more showy flowers than the lawn ones.  I think my daughter is doing a great job in growing these fluffy little flowers and I am proud of her.

Bellis perennis - lawn daisy flowers

I also bought some seeds of lawn daisies that I planted recently.  I imagine that the seedlings won't be anywhere near as impressive as my daughter's flowers.  I think they will be smaller plants and have simpler flowers.  

I plan to grow some in pots of soil and some in the veggie garden.  Being simpler more wild like plants they should be more hardy, hopefully they drop seed and somehow find a niche in my garden where they can grow wild.  I would love lawn daisies in my lawn.

I also plan to try and collect seed from my daughter's plants.  I dare say these will never grow in the lawn, and will always need to be cared for and pampered.  I am happy to do that as they are worth it.

Mixed lawn daisies and other flowers in a vase

Lawn daisy flowers only come in white, pink, and red.  I am not sure which I like the most and think a mix is lovely. 

Some are really fluffy, they look almost like something you would find in a Dr Seuss book.  Some much are fluffier than others, and with a little work I think it would be simple to make a strain that is super fluffy.

We have eaten a few of the leaves, and while they don't taste bad they also aren't that inspiring.  I think there real use is in their flowers.  They look nice in the garden where they attract bees and other pollinators, and they are good as cut flowers.

Lavender mint plants

Lavender mint (Mentha sp) is a vigorous growing, edible variety of mint.  I really wanted to try 'lavender mint' ever since I heard about it.

This variety of mint, like all mints, is perennial and likes water.  It is not too bothered by frosts which is always a bonus in my climate.

Growing mint is simple, they need water and are not too picky other than that.  

Growing lavender is meant to be easy, they prefer drier soil.  For some inexplicable reason I never have a great deal of success growing lavender. 

This variety is one of the most vigorous varieties of mint that I have seen.  For that reason I would never plant it in the garden, I would only ever grow it in a pot.  Even when grown in a pot it will try to escape through the drainage holes, so care must be taken to prevent it from taking over your entire garden, and your yard, and the neighbour's yard.  It really is a strong growing herb.

I had heard so much about this lavender mint variety, but nowhere sells them, then I obtained one through a plant swap.  I had low hopes, many mints do not really live up to their names, but I was intrigued.  I am happy to say that this variety of mint does smell a lot like lavender, and not very much at all like mint. 

Lavender mint

Lavender mint plants have a lovely strong floral scent of lavender.  I can't rally smell mint, which is good. Often the smell of mint overpowers everything.

I am sure you could use lavender mint in all kind of baking and with many sweet dishes.  It probably does ok with the right kind of savory meals as well.  I haven't tried it in any of those ways.  So far I have only made herbal tea from my lavender mint.

The first time I was not sure what to expect.  In hind sight, I really should have known, it is like drinking a warm floral cup of lavender.  I really like it.  

Making herbal tea was easy.  Hot water, a spoon full of honey mixed through, add a sprig of lavender mint.  When the tea was cool enough to drink remove the mint and drink the liquid.  Doesn't get much simpler than that.

Hot Water + Mint + Honey = delicious herbal tea

So far my favourite of all the edible mints is "banana mint", that one is slow growing but smells incredible.  It also makes an intriguing banana flavoured herbal tea that I really like.  I find propagating banana mint to be slow, I am tempted to plant this in my garden and just let it run so I can have more plants.

My second favourite mint is either this lavendar mint or native peppermint, I am not sure which I prefer, they are both great in different ways.  They are both much more vigorous in their growth and faster to propagate than banana mint.  Native peppermint is not invasive, lavender mint on the other hand is so vigorous that it would be very invasive if not contained.

Lavender mint plant

I don't have a great deal to say about this plant.  It smells great, it grows strong, it is highly productive, and I really like it.  

One day I will likely have extra plants and can offer them on my for sale page. along with the other edible herbs and perennial vegetables that I have for sale.

Baby Maidenhair Ferns Survived Winter

I really like maidenhair ferns.  They are one of the few ornamental plants that I will happily grow.  They don't have any use other than looking nice.  I think maidenhair ferns are a graceful and beautiful plant.

At the start of winter I had a bunch of tiny maidenhair ferns, I wrote a blog post on them.  I wasn't sure if any would survive winter so I put them all in one pot of soil and decided to divide out the survivors once the weather warmed in spring.  

I planted them in one pot in January, and they got a little scorched as it was hot and windy that day.  I didn't really look after these as well as I could and I really expected some to die.  I grew them outside, Protected from the sun, mostly protected from frosts but occasionally there would be ice on them which would do a little damage.  I figured only the strongest would survive.

As luck would have it, all of my baby maidenhair ferns survived winter.  I didn't lose a single one.  Some grew reasonably large over winter, while others remained really tiny.

These baby ferns survived Winter

As the weather is warming I have divided them.  I thought that there were only five or six plants, but I had nine little maidenhair ferns of various sizes in that one pot.  

I assume the smaller ones will grow larger now that they have space, but kind of wish that they would stay tiny.  I love my huge maidenhair ferns, but the tiny ones are super cute.

Maidenhair ferns after being divided

Some of the baby maidenhair ferns are still tiny

I have a feeling that I will want to keep some of these ferns.  I currently have 4 large maidenhair ferns in my house (one of which is variegated).  I have had one of those larger ferns for over five years and it is getting really huge.  So I am not sure how much more space in the house I can allocate to any more ferns. 

Then again, I do have that lovely new greenhouse, surely I could grow a few maidenhair ferns in my greenhouse...

A month after repotting - all looking good

Once these are a bit more established I will likely offer some for sale through my for sale page.  I prefer pick up for things like ferns, but could certainly post them if needed.  I dare say I won't be selling them too soon as I would like them to be a little more established before trying to sell them.

Venus Flytrap - Big Vigorous

Last year I bought a "Big Vigorous" Venus flytrap.

The few pictures I had seen on the internet made this look like a great plant, from its name I assumed it would grow large, and I hoped it would be vigorous and divide a lot for me.  I had high hopes for this carnivorous plant. 

'Big Vigorous' Venus Flytrap

I paid more for this plant than I should have, and it arrived in the post bare rooted and tiny.  Venus flytraps tend to cope really well with postage, and it was winter at that time, so I had no doubt it would grow well for me.

The Big Vigorous Venus flytrap did grow well for me.  Over winter it had a rosette of low leaves and small traps, which is healthy for flytraps.  Once the weather warmed the traps did get large, and it had tall upright growth.  I think that it was an impressive looking plant.

'Big Vigorous' winter leaves

Early in spring it attempted to flower, I cut off the flower stalk and tried to use it as a cutting to get more plants.  Unfortunately the flower stalk cutting did not work that time.  

Cutting off the flower stalk can allow the plant to put more energy into leaf growth, and that is what I wanted from this plant.

'Big vigorous' vft emerging from dormancy and sending up flower stalk

Big Vigorous venus fly trap sure lived up to the 'Big' part of its name.  It grew rather large traps on tall upright leaves.  Every part of this plant was large.

The 'vigorous' part I am not so sure about.  It grew fast, it has a lot of leaves, and nothing seemed to bother it, but it hasn't divided a whole lot for me.  That may just be because it was very small when I got it, or it may not divide a lot, but it is too early to say.

I found a few descriptions on the internet:

Description from Flytrapstore.com:

Big Vigorous is a great Venus Flytrap for a beginner or for an experienced grower's collection. It grows quickly into a robust plant that produces long leaves, a large rosette and big traps as well as plenty of baby Big Vigorous Venus Flytraps by vegetative division.

 

Description from Carnivorous Plant Resource:

Dionaea Big Vigorous is a clumpy Venus flytrap with deep red, almost purple traps. One might even call it a purple pest eater. It grows easily outdoors in temperate climates, or in greenhouses. 

After reading those descriptions I am not sure if the 'Big Vigorous' flytrap we have is the same as the 'Big Vigorous' flytraps overseas.  Mine did not have deep red/purple traps, and did not divide very much.  All that aside, it was a robust plant, it did have tall growth and very large traps, and it was very hardy, so I am happy with it.

Wally on left, Big Vigorous VFT on right

Wally vft on left, Big Vigorous vft on right

I sell a few carnivorous plants including a couple of named varieties of venus flytrap through my for sale page and often have some Venus Flytraps for sale.  I am not expecting any Big Vigorous Venus Flytraps for sale this year but may have some next spring.  I can post these bare rooted and they tend to cope really well with postage, if you live close enough to pick up that may also be an option. 

Purple cauliflower

Last year we bought a purple cauliflower from the markets.  I am not a huge fan of cauliflower, but I liked that one.  It was a bit sweeter than normal cauliflower.

I have a general dislike of any of the cabbages, they are ok in small amounts, but in medium amounts I find them difficult to eat.  I didn't struggle eating the purple cauliflower as much as I struggle eating the white ones.

I decided to buy some cauliflower seeds and grow a few myself.  Strangely enough, it was really difficult to find seeds of purple cauliflower.  After a surprising amount of looking around I bought some cauliflower seeds.  I planted them in summer just before Christmas, and harvested them early spring.

One thing that surprised me was that they started out white, and gained purple colour once they matured.  The later we harvested them the more intense the purple colour.

Purple cauliflower

The leaves of the purple cauliflower plants were huge.  Some of the leaves had deep purple veins, others did not, there was a bit of genetic variation.  After harvesting the cauliflower I fed the large leaves to the chickens.  

We could have used the leaves like cabbage and eaten them ourselves, but our chickens loved eating the leaves so I think that was a better use of them.  There were a small number of snails and things on the leaves, which the chickens also ate.

Picked this one too early - they colour up as they mature

 

I grow everything organically, I don't even use the 'organic' poisons that are allowed on organic farms.  The first cauliflower looked nice, but when cut into pieces we found it was full of slugs and earwigs.  While they hadn't done any damage to the cauliflowers, they were hiding in them and it was really gross.

After that when I harvested a cauliflower I put the head in water for an hour.  That way anything that was living in it would flee in fear of drowning.  I am not sure how long was needed, all I know is an hour worked enough.

Something that all cabbages do is repel water.  When under water the few cauliflower leaves that I had not removed were covered in a thin film of air.  They shimmered and looked like silver.  My photos do not do them justice.

Even though there is that thin film of air this did not mean that any earwigs of slugs remained.  There was not enough air, so they all abandoned the cauliflower, meaning that the cauliflower was completely free of slugs etc.

Cauliflower leaves underwater look incredibly silvery in real life

I am not the best at growing any of the cabbage family.  I did ok with cauliflower, and will likely grow them again, but they will never be a main vegetable that I grow.  

Most of them grew massive, and others were tiny, I don't know if that was from growing conditions or genetics. 

Seeds of purple cauliflower are difficult to find at times.  If I save seed I will list any spare seed on my for sale page.

Breeding micro woolly tomatoes

I grow some varieties of micro tomatoes, the plants themselves reach about 10cm (4 inch) tall.  I also grow another variety of tomato with woolly leaf and black fruit.  So I decided to try and cross them and aim for a micro tomato plant with woolly foliage and blue/black fruit.

For a few years I keep meaning to cross the two, and things keep preventing this or I am not successful in making this cross or all my seedlings die.  Last year I attempted to make this cross again.

One of these seedlings is clearly different than the others

I am not great at cross pollinating tomatoes, my hands are less steady and my eyesight is not as keen as it once was, plus I sometimes emasculate flowers that are a little too old and have already shed some pollen.  

I decided to use Micro Tom as the seed parent.  Any self-pollinated seedlings would be micro dwarf, any F1 plants will be regular sized and have non-woolly foliage.  It should be easy to see within days of the seeds germinating if my cross had worked.

The three seedlings below were collected from Micro Tom.  Two are micro dwarf, and one is clearly larger.  This one is a result of my cross.

Micro Tom x Woolly Blue tomato F1

Once they grew a little larger this cross, between a dwarf and a micro-dwarf, is one of my largest tomato seedlings.  Hybrid vigour means the F1 grows well.

F1 hybrid vigour

The F1 plants will all be large plants, none will be micro dwarf.  I need to save a lot of seed from this F1 plant and grow as many seedlings as I can as the F2 is where I will start to see segregation.

The F2 plants will be a mix of large plants and micro dwarf, each of them will have a mix of regular leaf and woolly leaf, each of them will have a mix of different coloured fruit.  

Given the genes the parent stock had, there is a 1 in 256 chance of getting the plant I want from the F2.

Growing 256 plants does not guarantee what I am after, so I need to plant many hundreds of seeds.  I will be able to cull anything that is not micro dwarf at cotyledon stage.  I should then be able to cull anything that is not woolly at the first true leaf stage.  This will leave me with a more manageable number of plants to grow out to see if there are any high anthocyanin.  

To be honest, I am keen to grow out and stabilise any micro woolly lines even if they are not high anthocyanin as I think that micro woolly tomatoes sound like fun.  There may be some interesting things to come out of this cross.

The seed parent was Micro Tom, the smallest tomato plant in the world.

Micro Tom tomato under 4cm tall

Micro Tom tomatoes

The pollen parent has woolly foliage and high anthocyanin fruit.  It also has a few other interesting genes at play, so there is a lot of potential for interesting woolly foliage micro tomatoes.

Black fruited tomato

I don't have much else to say about these just yet as it is just a seedling.  Hopefully it flowers and fruits in season and I can save seeds.  

Stabilising micro dwarf tomatoes is a bit faster than normal tomatoes because I can usually get 2 or sometimes 3 generations per year out of them, while I can often only get one generation per year of larger tomatoes.

Praying mantis babies

The other day I was sitting outside talking with my daughter.  I saw something move, and it was a tiny baby praying mantis.  

My daughter put out her hand and the praying mantis baby jumped onto her hand.  Praying mantis are quite jumpy when they are so tiny.

Baby praying mantis

I figured it looked like it was first instar, so I looked around and found an egg case that was hatching!  These guys are really cool and I enjoyed being able to watch some emerge from the egg case.  I love praying mantis.  

We moved some away from spider webs and put them in the lemon tree, there are plenty of places to hide and should be lots of small insects in the lemon tree for them to eat.  

When I say we moved them, I mean they jumped onto my hand, I walked over to the lemon tree, and they either walked or jumped onto a leaf.  They are very delicate, you can't grab them or you would crush them!

Baby praying mantis hatching while we watched

I don't have much else to say about praying mantis.  I grow everything organically so really appreciate having these around eating insects for me.  Hopefully some of them survive and eventually find their way to my vegetable garden.

Miner's lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata)

Miner's lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata) is a delightful short-lived annual leaf vegetable that only grows in cooler weather.  It is not a type of lettuce, or even closely related to lettuce, but is used in much the same way hence its common name.

Miner's lettuce is a vegetable that I tend to eat raw, but it also goes well briefly cooked.  I am told it can be used in soups, but I don't intend to try that as I really like to eat it fresh.  It is incredibly nutritious, tastes great, and is nicely crunchy.  This plant is pretty high in Vitamin C, iron, and various other nutrients that have been sorely lacking over winter.  I think that eating miner's lettuce fresh is best because cooking would destroy some of the vitamin c.

There is something about this plant that I can't get enough of.  I find myself in the garden pulling and eating hand-fulls of the stuff.  I can't walk past without eating at least a few leaves.  I wish it grew during warmer weather because it is excellent in a salad, or in a sandwich, or...it is great with pretty much with anything.  Miner's lettuce is my favourite salad vegetable, too bad it is only grows during such a short period each year.

Miner's lettuce self seeds in my garden once the weather warms.  Once the weather cools, it starts to germinate, and seems to cover impressive amounts of soil while it grows.  It usually grows rather dense from self dropped seeds, covers the soil, and blocks sunlight from hitting the soil which in turn reduces weed growth.  I really need to spread a lot more seed around the garden so I can eat more of this next year!

Miner's lettuce (and some mache) covering the soil

I either pull out handfulls of miner's lettuce, or I snip of sections using scissors, meaning that harvest is quick and simple.  My kids seem to also like miner's lettuce.  They often come to me and ask if I can pick them a bowl full to eat.  

There aren't a lot of leaf vegetables that my kids actually want to eat.  My daughter sometimes asks if she can pick a bowl full to share with me.  Some miner's lettuce, a little salt, and afternoon tea is sorted.

My daughter picked miner's lettuce to share with me

Miner's lettuce grows little leaves on long stalks.  The whole thing is edible and tastes good.  Once the plant matures the flowers are born inside a leaf, and look rather pretty.  Flowering does not change the taste, and miner's lettuce is never bitter.  

Not long after they flower they die and drop seed.  The seeds tend to sit in the soil and wait for cool weather, then as long as the soil moisture is high enough they germinate.

Miner's lettuce seems to display a lot of variation in size, but I don't think this is genetic.  I think this is environmental as the ones on poor soil tend to be tiny, and the ones on good soil are larger.  Below are six leaves, the three on the left are regular leaves from different plants.  The three on the right are all flowering size.  

If grown in poor soil this plant will stay tiny and still flower and set seed, meaning it is really good at setting up a permanent self-seeding patch.  I can't imagine it becoming too much of a weed as its life is so short, plus my kids would graze it out if I let them.

The three on the left are regular leaves, three on the right are flowering leaves

I have never seen any pest of disease affect miner's lettuce in my garden.  Sometimes slugs get in among the stalks, but they seem to be hiding there rather than eating anything.  A quick rinse takes care of these.  Occasionally I see a few small holes in the leaves, I have no idea what causes that, but they don't appear to do much damage so I don't mind sharing.

We had a hail storm yesterday, so my plants are all bruised and damaged.  The plants are tender but somehow far more resilient than they appear.  Even with the hail damage they probably have a few more weeks of harvest as they are flowering, so will drop seed and die down soon. 

Miner's lettuce is good in beds that are occupied by perennial summer vegetables during warmer weather.  I have grown it in potato beds and under yacon, where it works well.  I have a feeling that it would do well in the asparagus bed if I didn't already have strawberries covering the soil there.  I often wonder how it would perform in aquaponics.

Miner's lettuce on the left (mache on the right) - I can't eat enough of it!

To the best of my knowledge no breeding effort has ever been put into miner's lettuce, and there are no named varieties.  This plant is pretty much a wild edible.  Usually wild edibles are rather fibrous and bitter, but this one is neither.

While I often try to breed improved varieties of pretty much everything, I am not sure if I will try to improve miner's lettuce.  Partly because I have no access to genetically diverse germplasm, and partly because miner's lettuce is pretty great just as they are.  I just wish they tolerated warmer weather a bit better!

My plants are growing and flowering now.  If I collect seed I will likely list it on my for sale page.  If I don't save seed, or I am sold out, there are a few places that sell seeds of miner's lettuce so you should be able to find it somewhere.