Milk Kefir Bottle Strainer

Years ago I got some milk kefir grains, and we made milk kefir regularly.  

Milk kefir is kind of like a thin drinking yogurt, it has been around virtually forever, and is very good for health.  Kefir contains vastly more probiotics than yogurt, it is simpler to make than yogurt, and once you have it you can keep it going for ever as long as you have access to milk.  

Back when I was first making kefir there was very little information on kefir on the internet.  From memory there was a web page by Dom Anfiteatro (which seems to no longer exist) and basically no other internet sites mentioned kefir at all.  Things have changed a lot since then. 

At that stage lots of people made kefir at home, but no one really spoke about it.  There was no kefir (or kefir flavoured milk) available at supermarkets back then, and it seemed like no one had thought of selling those dreadful starter satchels.  

Kefir bottle strainer

I drank our milk kefir most days, and it was good.  We then moved house and bought the kefir grains with us.  Back then we had access to raw milk from a dairy, so making kefir was very cheap.  

Years later we moved house again, once again we brought the kefir grains with us.  As we no longer have access to a local dairy, milk kefir started to cost a lot more as store bought milk is expensive.  

I used to use a kitchen strainer to separate the grains from the milk.  When the kefir was thicker than normal or had a lot of curds I found it difficult to strain through the fine mesh.  I started to find that cleanup was bothersome and my strainer was starting to fall apart from old age. 

The cost of milk, combined with the hassle of clean up, plus being busy in general, meant I eventually let my kefir grains die.  I regret that, it was a mistake.  Don't ever let your kefir grains die.

Our kefir from years ago: Milk Kefir on left, Water Kefir on right

I missed kefir, so not too long ago I decided to get milk kefir grains again.  Milk kefir is very simple to make, you can't really do it wrong.  

To help with clean up, I got a cheap can strainer.  I figured this would be fast to use and simple to clean.  

Kefir can strainer

I won't be making a lot of kefir to begin with.  Perhaps a few cups or so for now.  This amount fit easily in a small jar.  

This strainer is made of silicon (or silicone, I can never remember how to spell this), and fits neatly on the end of a jar.  The holes are large enough that I thought it should strain thicker kefir much faster than the fine mesh strainers.  The holes also seemed small enough that I thought they should be able to retain most of the larger kefir grains.  

The bottle strainer was very cheap, and the jar was free.  Making kefir is simple, I don't know why people try to make it more difficult than it needs to be.  Kefir was made by generations of nomads using bags made of goat skin or horse skin, there is not need for much expense or high tech equipment when making kefir.  

Milk kefir doing its thing

I found a solid lid to keep out dust and insects

The other day I saw a kefir kit for sale at the supermarket.  This kit sells for $35 (plus postage if you cannot pick up in store).  This seemed overly expensive for what it is.  

That price only includes a jar, a strainer, some instructions, and a weird wooden spoon.  Even at this high price it does not come with any kefir grains.  My can strainer on the end of a jar should work much the same as the pre made expensive kit.  

Massively overpriced kefir making kit (not my photo)

This lid is prettier than mine (not my photo)

To get an idea if my strainer would work I looked at reviews for the kit online, but none seemed to be written by anyone who had used them for any length of time.  Some reviews speak of how their kefir tasted, or how the instructions were simple to follow, but few mentioned how well the kit worked.  How strange.

The jar I use was free, the strainer cost under two dollars including postage, I already own various spoons, and (while I don't need instructions) anyone who sells grains sends instructions or instructions can be found online for free.  My set up is similar to the kit, but cost me a tiny fraction of the price.  

I figured I would give this can strainer a try and see how it works.  Now that I have used this for a while I figured I would write a blog post explaining how it worked for me.   

Bottle strainer should be good for milk kefir

After using the strainer for a few days it was obvious that it doesn't work well enough.  It is a great idea in theory, but doesn't work well in practice.  I pushed on and kept using this to see if it got easier with time, and it didn't.  It looks like it should work a treat, and I really wanted it to work, but it isn't the best tool for the job.  

Over summer my kefir seems to get thick curds within a few hours of adding the grains to the milk.  I could probably have more milk to less grains to make it thinner, but I don't want to do that.  Much more importantly, the kefir grains also clogged up the holes and prevented any liquid from flowing through. 

The liquid would not go through the can strainer without being stirred constantly.  I tried first mixing the curds and grains through the liquid and then immediately tipping the kefir through the strainer, but it still didn't work well.  The grains almost immediately block all the holes, and the kefir would not go through the jar strainer without being stirred constantly.  What a hassle! 

Stirring got the grains off the holes and it made the liquid go through the can strainer easily while I was stirring, and it stopped going through when I stopped.  Stirring kefir while it was in the can strainer is more difficult than just using a kitchen strainer.  It worked, but was not overly practical.  Eventually I got frustrated and looked for something else to use. 

I found it a lot faster and easier to tip the kefir through a tea strainer that we already have.  The mesh is very fine, but I can stir it with my finger or a spoon, which is enough to make the kefir go through quickly.  I sit this tea strainer in a coffee mug which catches the kefir.  The fine mesh means it captures all but the tiniest of grains, retaining tiny grains has meant my grains have divided and increased faster.  

I don't love using metal with kefir, but stainless steel is meant to be ok.  The grains are only in the strainer for under a minute each day, and most of them are not in contact with the metal at any point, so they seem to be coping well and multiplying fast.  

tea strainer with very fine mesh

can strainer vs tea strainer

Cleaning the tea strainer after using it for kefir is simple and fast.  After tipping the kefir through I scoop the grains out, and then run the strainer under the tap for a few seconds.  That seems to be enough to clean it well.  This only takes a few seconds.  

I plan use the tea strainer for now, but my grains quickly multiplied to the point where they no longer fit in it and the jar I am using does not hold enough milk.  I find kefir grains multiply well in the warmer months, and not so well when it is cooler.  

Soon I will use a larger jar, and spend a few dollars and get a plastic kitchen strainer with fine mesh like I used to use.  We don't have one of these at the moment, but they shouldn't be too expensive.  

This is the type of strainer I previously used (not my photo)

I already have some very large jars that used to hold pickles or olives or something, so this won't cost me anything.  Instead of tipping the kefir into a mug I will use a bowl or something that we already have.  Other than a few dollars for the strainer, and buying milk, it won't cost anything to make kefir.  

Making milk kefir at home is very simple, and there is no need for it to cost a lot of money other than a once off purchase of grains, and buying the milk.  

Milk kefir bottle strainer - may work for water kefir

As mentioned, the can strainer seems like a good idea but is not well suited to straining milk kefir.  I also don't think the expensive milk kefir kits would work any better for milk kefir.  Or maybe they do work, but only if you use satchel starter instead of grains, in which case I don't know what you would be straining.  To be honest, I don't understand why you would bother making kefir using stater when grains are so much cheaper and vastly superior to satchel stater, but that is a topic for another time.  

This strainer looks like it might work well when making water kefir.  Water kefir is different to milk kefir, there are no curds or thick liquid to deal with, it is just the grains and the liquid.  Or perhaps the water kefir grains will clog the holes and it won't work, I don't know yet.  I plan to try using this can strainer with water kefir for some time and write another post on how it performs for me.  

Tiger jaws succulent

What should you grow when you desperately want to grow a venus flytrap but struggle to keep one alive?  The answer, surprisingly, is to grow a succulent.  

Tiger jaws succulents (Faucaria tigrina) look superficially similar to a venus fly trap with open jaws and ferocious looking teeth.  While it looks similar to a flytrap, these are not carnivorous, they don't move.  

These succulents have soft harmless teeth, but they sure look like they could take a nasty bite out of you. 

Tiger jaw succulent

Tiger jaw succulent

Tiger's jaw succulents look great and are easy to grow succulents, yet are not seen overly often.  They are not rare, and are not difficult to grow, but you don't see them every day.  I guess this is because they are not overly fast growers. 

Like a lot of interesting and unique plants, the tiger jaw succulent originally came from South Africa.  I don't know what it is with that country, but they have a lot of unique and cool looking plants.

Tigers jaw succulent

Starting to divide

Tiger's jaw succulent looks like gaping mouths with vicious teeth.  Some forms are a bit stripey, others more spotted, other forms are mostly green.  The more reddish orange colour you see on mine is only on older leaves that are fading and about to die.  

The scary looking teeth on the edges of the leaves are soft, and do not pose any risk of hurting anyone.  If (ie when) your kids touch them, the plants are in far more danger of being hurt than your kids.  

They grow a surprisingly large, yellow, daisy like flower once per year usually in autumn or winter.  The flower can sometimes be larger than the entire plant.  I find that they tend to divide/clump after flowering. 

Look like ferocious mouths

The teeth on this succulent look vicious but are actually really soft.  Unlike a cactus or a rose, you could not hurt yourself on this plant.  This plant is great for kids because they can't hurt delicate fingers.  Unlike a Venus flytrap these plants can take a bit of rough treatment.  

I have read that the teeth on a tiger jaw succulent are used by the plant to capture and direct water to its roots.  I am not sure if I believe that, when I water them the teeth never direct the water towards the roots.  I guess their purpose doesn't matter, what matters is how cool they look.

Being a succulent, these little ones don't need a lot of water to survive.  I find that most succulents do best when well watered, and tend to rot if sat in water.  

They seem to do well in full sun, but like most plants they appear to prefer a little protection from afternoon sun.  Some people grow them inside the house, this is fine but they need to be on a window sill where they can get a few hours of direct sun, otherwise they will slowly die.

The tiger jaw succulent don't love frosts.  Mine are growing in sheltered positions where they get the occasional light frost without showing damage, but I think hard frost would likely kill them.  

Tiger jaws succulent

If you like succulents, this is one to keep an eye out for.  It is simple enough to grow, and I think it looks incredible.  

If you have kids who want a venus flytrap, but are not likely to keep it alive, then this is worth trying to track down as it looks a lot like a venus flytrap, and is far simpler to keep alive. 

A word of warning, there are a lot of people online who like to sell fake seeds.  If you want a tiger jaw succulent, it is simple to buy a plant, don't buy seeds unless you are certain that you trust the seller.  

Buying seed of cool looking plants from places like Etsy or Ebay does not always work out well as you can't know if you are being sent seeds of this plant or just some random seeds.  Once seeds from ebay or the like grow and you work out you have been duped a lot of time has passed and it is too late for you to do anything about it.

I have no idea how easy these would be to grow from seed, I suspect pretty simple but likely takes a few years to reach a decent size.  It seems simpler for the average gardener to just buy a plant, that way you instantly have an incredible looking plant and you know you will get what you pay for. 

Silverbeet

Silverbeet (Beta vulgaris) is an easy to grow leaf vegetable.  Silverbeet is also called chard, swiss chard, rainbow chard, leaf beet, perpetual spinach, and beet spinach.   

When I was a child (and in some parts of Australia today) this vegetable was mostly called 'spinach'.  Silver beet is not closely related to true spinach (Spinacia oleracea).  They are used in similar ways, but they are very different plants, they grow, taste, and look different. 

Coloured silverbeet mix

Like many leaf vegetables, silverbeet is reasonably nutritious.  It is particularly high in vitamin K.  Ten grams of raw silverbeet leaf contains the recommended daily intake of vitamin K.  

Like many vegetables, silverbeet contains some anti-nutrients, in this case it is oxalic acid.  It is not overly high in oxalic acid, and it is usually eaten cooked (heat somewhat degrades oxalic acid), so this is not a big issue.  Some people eat raw leaves in salads, given the relatively low amount of oxalic acid present in the leaves and the small amount of leaves generally eaten, this isn't an issue for most people. 

Much genetic diversity among my silverbeet

Many years ago we bought a pack of silverbeet seeds.  It was a coloured mix and the seedlings grew various coloured petioles (leaf stems).  I liked the look of the yellow ones.  For some reason the yellow ones were always less vigorous in my garden, but I like the looks of them. 

I allowed them to self seed indiscriminately, and we always had some silverbeet of various colours.  We moved house and I took some seeds with us, then I forgot about them.  A few years later I thought about growing silverbeet again and had plenty of seeds that were about ten years old.  I planted a bunch to see if they would work, figuring I could buy more seed if needed.  

Most of the seeds did nothing as they were too old, but some grew, and we have had silverbeet growing ever since.  

Not a great photo: white stem on left, green stem on right

Each year there are different colours in the garden.  A few years ago most had light green stems, I like the look of them.  

This year there are no yellow ones, but we still have red, a vibrant pink that I cannot capture the colour of in my photos, white, and light green.  The leaf is always green, some dark, others light, and over winter some turn purple/reddish green.  

  

Various stem colours

Silverbeet is often considered to be a biennial, They grow one year and they flower and die in their second year.  Given the right conditions many silverbeet plants probably are biennial.  For me some are annuals, they grow, flower, and die in under a year.  Some are indeed biennial, growing one year, then in their second year they flower and die.  Others are short lived perennials, in my garden they survive 4+ years before flowering.  

Silverbeet is the same genus and same species as beetroot, mangelwurzel, and sugar beet.  All of these plants can and will cross readily, so care needs to be taken if seed saving.  

All of these can be grown side by side without affecting the taste of each other or the colour of neighbouring plants.  Growing them next to one another is only an issue if you are allowing them to flower and are planning on collecting seed. 

Pink stems from same plant - far prettier in real life

Beetroot was selected for its large sweet and tender root, mangelwurzel was selected for larger root and leaf, sugar beet was selected for high sugar content, and silverbeet was selected for leaf production.  I find beetroot goes woody and my chickens won't eat it once it grows large, whereas my hens eat every last scrap of mangelwurzel no matter how large and old it is.  

If seed saving, all of these beets will cross pollinate readily.  The plants produce ample pollen that is spread a long distance by the wind.  

I have crossed beetroot and silverbeet a few times, the result is usually a plant with a tiny bulbous root, and produces fewer, smaller, and slightly sweeter leaves than silverbeet.  I am told that crossing silverbeet with sugar beet results in plants with large and tasty leaves.

Various red and pink silverbeet

Seed saving and breeding of silverbeet can be a little difficult and takes a lot of time and garden space.  As mentioned, individual plants can be annuals while many are perennial or biennial.  This may be influenced by environment as well as genetics.  Stress seems to induce flowering, so if you have a nice perennial plant you may be able to stress it into flowering.  Being wind pollinated means your plants may cross if your neighbours are also growing some of this species.

As you can see in the photos, my Silverbeet has a lot of genetic diversity.  I think this is a good thing and try not to create a genetic bottleneck.  Some years I see more diversity than others, this is because it has some recessive genes as well as genes that are only expressed when in the right combination.  

I have always thought about breeding something spectacular with it, but have never gotten around to it.  I tend to just cull things I dislike and allow the ones I like to flower and drop seed.  There are also some that grow in out of the way places in the garden or lawn, which I often allow to flower and seed.  

I have a few plants that have very wide petioles, these look interesting but we don't use petioles much, and my chickens are reluctant to eat these thicker stems.  I had some plants a few years ago that were twice as wide as this, they were short plants that produced little leaf and had extremely wide white petioles.  I culled them.  I probably won't allow these wide petiole silverbeet to flower.  Then again, I may leave one just to keep the diversity in the mix. 

Thick petiole vs thin petiole

I like the bright yellow ones, but they were not as productive in my garden so are slowly disappearing from my mix.  I don't have any bright yellow ones this year, but they may reappear next year.  As much as I like the looks of them, if they are less productive I won't grow them. 

I don't love the looks of white stemmed ones, I prefer the look of light green.  Presumably white is more vigorous or something as that is the most commonly seen in shops, I just don't love the look of it.  In my garden the light green ones seem pretty vigorous. 

The red ones can be very pretty, and my red ones may have some beetroot genes in their heritage.  Many of these are very productive and vigorous.  Some of these will be allowed to set seed.

This year there are some vivid pink plants that I cannot really capture in photos.  I plan to allow them to flower and set seed.  I don't have many of the vivid pink, but they seem to produce well.  I hope I get more vivid pink in future generations.  It wouldn't be overly difficult to bag them and collect self pollinated seed, but I have a feeling that I won't get around to doing that this year.  

Silverbeet grows well over winter here, and provides nutritious and large leaves that we eat as well as feeding to our chickens.  Having some greens over winter is good for the hens.  Silverbeet also grows reasonably well over summer, but needs some water to prevent wilting.  

When my current plants set seed I may collect and offer some for sale through my for sale page.  This will be a mix of colours, and it has been open pollinated, so I can't guarantee what colours you will get.  

My plants probably have some beetroot in their heritage, but are not likely to produce fat roots.  Coloured silverbeet is not rare, and is certainly not difficult to grow from seed, so if I don't have seeds you should be able to find seed for sale somewhere.  You could buy seedlings, but for the same price you will get a lot more seed with a lot more interesting colours.  Seedlings tend to sulk after transplant but pick up if cared for, and seeds grow so easily, so either is a good option to grow these.  Once you have them in the garden, it isn't too difficult to allow some to flower and set seed when the time is right and ensure a continual supply of this vegetable.  

Language learning resources

This blog is mostly about garden nonsense, but thought I would write a post on language learning as it may be useful to someone.  Learning another language is a long process, sometimes it can be difficult to measure your progress.  One method is the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale. 

The CEFR is a guideline used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages.  There are various free online CEFR tests which can be useful to help learners determine which level they have achieved, there are also paid tests that would be more accurate and provide formal certification. 

The levels go from A1 to C2.  In CEFR A1 is the lowest level and C2 is the highest.  For most people (myself included), even getting to A1 takes a lot of time and effort.  

CEFR Levels
A Beginners level         A1 A2
B Intermediate level B1 B2
C Advanced level         C1 C2

I am learning a little of the Russian language, I find it fascinating, and difficult.  The best way to learn would probably be if you were immersed in regular conversations with native speakers.  If you have easy access to people who speak Russian that's great.  Face to face (or online) classes with other learners would also be useful if you can access them.  Otherwise there are a bunch of other resources you can use. 

Below are some of the resources I am using to learn Russian.  Some are better than others, most are free (there is a Russian saying: for free, even vinegar is sweet) and none need you to create an account or sign up or anything like that.  

St. John the Baptist Cathedral Russian Orthodox Church

Cyrillic Alphabet - I am a slow learner and I am getting older.  I figured it would take me months to learn the alphabet, or maybe it would be so difficult that I could never learn it.  I was pleasantly surprised when it took me under an hour to learn, the my kids took under half an hour to learn how to read Russian using the link below.  

Learning the Cyrillic alphabet was surprisingly easy.  I didn't start learning the alphabet until I had learned to say a few words and phrases, and I regret not beginning my language journey by learning to read Cyrillic.  Learning how to read changed my learning immediately, and made it possible to learn speaking and pronunciation much faster and far more efficient.  Learning to read was a game changer.  I strongly suggest starting with learning the alphabet.  This link is to a free resource that is very good.  

 https://www.russianforeveryone.com/RufeA/Lessons/Introduction/Alphabet/Alphabet.htm

I think that link is great, but you may get stuck on a letter or not really understand a letter because there are not many examples (plus there are a few letters which have no sound that it does not explain well).  If you get stuck there is also a set of videos to learn Cyrillic in three hours.  These short videos are very comprehensive, they are interesting, and they also teach a few words.  It is made by the same company as the free podcast below.  It is more comprehensive than the link above, but it takes longer to get through.  The alphabet videos in this link are all free. 

 https://russianaccelerator.com/read-russian.html 

Cyrillic alphabet (not my image) is easier to learn than you think

Podcast - RussianMadeEasy, this is a great resource for the absolute beginner.  It has 30 podcasts, each about 20 minutes long, the website has a transcript of the episodes and a media center.  There is also an app of the same content if you are the kind of person who is into apps.  It provides a foundation of how the language works, the basics of grammar, it explains all six verb conjugations, and teaches some basic sentences, etc.  

RussianMadeEasy uses techniques like contextual learning, construction branching, and pattern recognition for grammar, and has voices from multiple native speakers.  I'm told that it teaches around 250 words but am not sure if that includes cognates as I don't feel like I learned many words.  The company that made this stresses that this podcast is not enough for you to learn the language, it is just a great place to start, and it is free. 

 https://russianmadeeasy.com/ 

I think RussianMadeEasy is a great pod cast and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It took me a long time to complete this as I wanted to master each lesson before moving onto the next, and I went back to older lessons to review as I progressed.  After completing this I did an online CEFR test.  It was a multiple choice test, and out of 50 questions I only got about 12 correct.  Meaning I am rated below A1.  Some of my correct answers were only because I knew some words outside of the podcast.  I think the podcase is great, I learned a lot and I highly recommend completing it if you are a beginner, but you need to realise that completing these lessons won't get you to A1 language proficiency.  That's ok, you need to start somewhere, and those podcasts are a great place to begin.   

That company also produced a free podcast on understanding spoken Russian.  I would link to it but don't know how as I found this on Spotify.  These also seem good, they are intended to help you get an ear for the language, and you pick up a few words and grammar as you go.  

This company also made a few paid courses, I have no opinion as I haven't seen them.  I don't even know if the company is still in operation.  I sent them an email with a question over their paid course and never received a reply.  Regardless, the free podcasts are excellent and well worth your time if you are a beginner.  

Russian Orthodox Church - Divine Liturgy about to begin

Book - New Penguin Russian Course, this is said to be the best Russian language text book for beginners.  This is meant to be good at teaching grammar, which is essential when learning a language.  It contains a few exercises, but not enough for a beginner beginner like myself.  It also has lists of words to learn, which I struggle with.  

I bought a second hand copy of the book rather than using the pdf version, but thought I would share a link to a free pdf in case someone else needs it, or in case my book falls apart from over use and I need to replace some pages.  That google drive is not mine, if the link doesn't work let me know and I can try to email you a pdf copy or work out something else.  

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KNeBig36EHpXRGTYdDp0-g3mebUi68y9/view 

I have not completed this book yet, I am told it takes about a year for most people to complete.  I have a feeling it may take me longer than a year.  I am slowly working my way through this book, and am learning a lot as I go.  

I think this is a great book for beginners with a little knowledge of the language.  I don't think I would have a hope of using it had I not learned the alphabet and completed the podcast lessons first.  

Russian Orthodox Church

Между нами Course - free web based text book.  This description is from their website: Между нами is a complete first-year college level Russian course that has been designed for programs that have roughly 150 contact hours of instruction. The material is organized into nine units (уроки) and an epilogue, with each урок subdivided into three parts (части). Each часть shares common thematic and grammatical content which unfolds over the course of several episodes (эпизоды). Еach эпизод on the website consists of a Текст, a related set of comprehension activities called Вы всё поняли? (Did You Get All of Тhat?) and a related grammar explanation called Немно́го о языке́ (A Bit About the Language). In addition to the website, there is a print-on-demand workbook of classroom activities (Работа в аудитории) and homework activities (Домашние задания). The authors envision users working through these materials in small cycles, moving between the website and the two printable workbooks.   

 https://mezhdunami.org/unit01/1_1/index.shtml

I have barely started this course, and am already learning a lot.  Already knowing the alphabet, having an understanding of the verb conjugations, and knowing a few words and phrases before starting is helping make this course a lot more achievable.  I think it would be less fun if I started with no knowledge at all.  Completing the podcasts and learning to read Cyrillic first made this course far more enjoyable.  

Pascha service - many people were there (sorry it is so blurry)

Native speakers - one great way to learn to speak a new language is by speaking to people who are fluent.  I wasn't sure if I would mention this here, but the Russian Orthodox Church generally has people who speak Russian.  

The Eastern Orthodox Church is different to protestant churches and catholic churches in many ways.  They have a lot of traditions, and I find them to be far less judgmental and less legalistic than many (if not all) protestant churches I have attended.  People are there to focus on God and don't seem to care when I do something 'wrong'.  It is quite refreshing to be tolerated in a church rather than looked down upon for being different.  

The strong focus on tradition seems to somewhat stave off the odd messages [eg overly political, self serving, needlessly divisive, or downright unbiblical] that are far too common/accepted in protestant services.  While I certainly don't understand everything that happens during the Divine Liturgy, I seem to understand more of that service than I do of many protestant services that are entirely in English.  If you do attend an orthodox service for the first time, be prepared for everything in the service to be different than a protestant church.  

All parts of the church have a story to tell

Divine Liturgy was about to begin so I took some sneaky photos

NOTE: This post is about learning the Russian language and sharing some excellent free (or low cost) resources.  I made no comment on anything else about Russia or any other country.  

I have little doubt that sooner or later some hateful racist will try to make nasty comments at me for trying to learn to speak Russian.  Sadly, 40+ years of cold war propaganda combined with current world events have been used as an excuse for much hate and fear in Australia.  There is nothing wrong with learning to speak Russian or any other language.  

I don't care about your opinions on politics, and I am sure you have no interest reading about my opinions on politics, so please only leave a comment if you have something to say about learning the Russian language, and please don't bother trying to be hurtful.  

On the other hand, if you have suggestions of other free Russian language resources, I will gladly publish those.  большое спасибо! 

Maidenhair Ferns after winter

I grow a few maidenhair ferns.  They are easy enough to grow if you get the conditions right.  Earlier I wrote a blog post on how I grow maidenhair ferns.  

My oldest maidenhair fern has been with me since 2016, over these past 8 years it has grown from a tiny cute little fern into something rather large and impressive.  This used to live full time in my office, but I brought it home a few years ago and it lives at home.  When I had this in the office with me I would remove dead fronds regularly, and it always looked lush and healthy.  

Since bringing my fern home permanently I have not removed the dead growth regularly enough.  It is healthy, but it isn't looking great.  

Over winter it got a lot of dead fronds, I left them on the plant to help protect it over winter as it lives outside.  Although it is under shelter it can get frozen during very cold spells, it also gets blasted with wind where I have it located.  Now the warmer weather is here, my maidenhair fern needs to be refreshed.  

After winter lots of dead fronds

In the old days people would suggest when maiden hair ferns start looking ratty to cover them with a brown paper bag, tie it loosely with string, and set the paper bag on fire.  

This would usually burn at a low enough temperature that the plant would not die.  Once the fronds were burned the fern would send up a flush of new growth and look fresh and reinvigorated.  

It has since been proven that burning does nothing other than removing the dead growth.  I have been told by some fern growers (who know a lot more about ferns than I do) that simply cutting off the top growth achieves the same result and is less risky.  Sounds good to me so I decided to give it a go.  

Maiden hair fern not looking great after winter

Each winter my fern looks a little ratty, and each spring I consider cutting it to the ground and letting it regrow.  Each year I don't do that.  Normally I just remove the dead fronds one by one.  

This year I decided to cut off all its top growth, I planned on removing every last frond.  

Then I noticed how may healthy fronds it had, and decided to only remove the dead fronds.  The dead fronds were clumped mainly in the middle, so cutting them off was quick and easy.  I also took out lots of the healthy green fronds while doing this, but that shouldn't be a problem.  

As you can see, I left a lot of green fronds.  Even with all the fronds, from the front or the back it looks a bit sparse.  

Looks sparse after removing dead fronds

I kept some fronds

When you look from above you can see just how much was removed.  

I kept the healthy fronds so the plant can capture lots of sunlight.  Perhaps I should have also removed these fronds and started anew, but I couldn't bring myself to do that.  Perhaps next spring if I am still here I will try to remove all the top growth, or perhaps I will chicken out again and try to leave most of the green fronds.  

Look how much was removed

Not much left, but it should regrow fast

Removing the dead fronds means they have less protection from the wind, and there will be higher evaporation from the soil.  The dead fronds would have acted as insulation, without them the temperature will rise and fall faster.  

Removing the dead fronds also means the plant can get more light, and have better air flow.  So hopefully they will regrow stronger and healthier.  Regardless, it should look nice once it grows some more fronds.  

Top: tiger fern and variegated maidenhair ferns. Lower: maidenhair ferns

This went well enough, and once you start something it is easy enough to continue.  All of my ferns look a bit tired after winter.  I tried to remove dead growth from all of them, some I was a lot more harsh than others.  As you can see above, they all look ok.  

If I remember, I will try to take some photos of my ferns once they have recovered from being cut back.  All of my ferns look healthy, and I have little doubt that they will start to grow fast now the warmer weather is here.  

Some of my ferns, cut back and ready for spring growth

  You can see a few of my different maidenhair fern varieties in the pictures above.  I have a few other varieties that are not in this picture.  There are a lot of varieties of maidenhair fern around, I grow a few and am still tracking down some others.  

As you can tell, I like maidenhair ferns.  They look pretty, they can live virtually forever, and they are reasonably simple to grow.  If you have somewhere out of direct sun, perhaps you should grow some of these ferns.  

Chicken run 'salad bar'

When we had acreage or chickens and other poultry would free range through the orchards.  After moving to town our chickens used to free range through our yard.  That was nice, it was good for the chickens, good for the fruit trees, and rather pleasant.  Then we had issues with the neighbour's dogs. 

Now during the day the chickens are contained in a (very large) run under several fruit trees, at night they have a fully contained run with a house part and a covered deep litter area.  They always have shade and water, and we like them to have constant access to greens.  The number of hens, and the sheer size of the run, means they more than meet the definition of free range, plus they are safer from dogs.  

During the summer of 2019-2020 it was extremely hot and dry and we lost all our grass/weeds/lawn.  When the rains returned, the larger lawn came back but any seedlings that popped up in the chicken run were immediately eaten by our hens.  This means they would have no grass in their run unless some of the soil is protected.  I like chickens to have access to grass and weeds, I think it is good for their health.  

Back when our hens were free ranging, my wife built some cages to put in their run.  The idea was for the cages to protect grass and weeds enough that they could survive, and when they grew tall enough to poke through the wire the hens would eat some green feed.  It works well.  

The internet seems to refer to this as a chicken run salad bar, I hate this term but can't find it referred to as anything else.

Chickens are destructive

The cages work well.  For the past few years the chicken run has bare soil under the fruit trees, the only place anything grew was under these cages (plus whatever grows there that they will not eat such as wormwood or white horehound).  Each time grass seeds germinate outside of these cages they don't last very long.  

I have tried moving the cages in the hopes that the more established patch will survive.  The new covered soil quickly grows grass and weeds, while the unprotected grass gets eaten and scratched back to bare soil.  No surprises there, chickens are destructive.  

Cages protect grass and weeds for hens to eat

We have several of these little cages in the chicken's run.  Over summer we need to water them to prevent the grass and weeds from dying.  I have a few of these cages scattered through their run, and I have a few cages along the fence so the running grasses can invade them and replenish them if they get eaten too vigorously.  Grass is good for hens to eat, it helps them stay healthy, but it does not replace the bought feed.  

From time to time I sprinkle spare seeds in these cages.  Things like silverbeet, coriander, parsley, and bok choy are readily eaten by hens.  All of these things grow among the grass and weeds to survive for a time.  Sooner or later they die and need to be replaced.

  

This got me thinking, I wonder if I could grow something in these cages to replace a percentage of bought feed.  I don't want to replace all their bought feed, but I do want to replace enough that it lowers the cost of feed.    

I am not just aiming to keep the chickens alive, I want them to be productive.  They won't be productive unless fed some bought feed.  According to the FAO: "A scavenging hen lays only 30 to 50 eggs per year".  Also according to the FAO, in Tanzania the total number of eggs produced per scavenging hen per year ranged from 6 to 20.  This is not many eggs, and the FAO is talking about 40 gram bantam size eggs.  My hens lay on average 190 to 230 medium to large eggs each per year.  

Admittedly the FAO are talking about unimproved varieties of scavenging hens, while I run improved hens.  I also know from food security projects that improved breeds tend to die pretty quickly when not fed concentrates or grains.  

All of this indicates that I won't ever be growing all the feed for my hens, I will always be feeding them some pellets.  Even so, I would like to reduce at least a little of the bought feed.  

Sometimes we extend the run using temporary fencing 

I have known a lot of people who sprout grains, and I have sprouted grain to feed hens in the hopes of reducing feed costs.  Sadly we have never seen a noticeable difference in feed costs from feeding sprouted grains.  It may make a difference if the hens are in battery cages, but when free ranged and fed various fruits and vegetables sprouting doesn't seem to make much difference.  I know a few people who have fermented feed for their hens, again this has made negligible impact to feed costs and has increased the amount of work.  

I did a bit of reading on the internet to see if anyone else has reduced their feed costs by growing some chicken feed.  After reading countless pages about 'salad bars' in the chicken run, it became obvious that, while plenty of people only grow 'treats' for their hens, very few people are attempting to replace any bought feed.  This does not interest me.  

Some people suggest growing things such as iceberg lettuce!  While this is gladly eaten by hens, it is less nutritious for them than grass and weeds, plus it needs a lot more water.  Dandelion is far more nutritious than iceberg lettuce, plus it needs less work from me.  

Other people suggested growing mint for laying hens.  Mint is very productive, and has some medicinal benefits, but my hens rarely eat mint, and when they do eat it they never eat enough to replace any percentage of their feed.  Mint may work as a supplemental treat, but is not a good choice to grow for replacing any amount of chicken feed.  

While many people grow treats for their laying hens, it seems very few people have tried to grow something to replace feed and had it make any real difference to feed costs.  Or if they have tried, they have not told anyone what worked and what didn't work well.  

This means I can't learn from other people's mistakes.  How disappointing.  

Rosemary and other tall herbs provide afternoon shade

You can see in the photo above that I have shade cloth that I put down in summer to provide shade from the afternoon sun.  I put the shade cloth up during the cooler months so the hens get all the sun they can.  I am training a grape vine over this fence to do the same job with less effort from me.  

I also grow tall herbs next to their run.  The tall herbs block the afternoon sun in summer, and the hens pick at them and eat bits they can reach.  These grow over the warmer months, then parsley and things die off.  I need to cut back the rosemary as it is getting a bit too big.  Strong smelling herbs probably also decrease the mites and parasite load somewhat.  

Many people talk about growing treats for the hens, where I am trying to look into how to reduce the cost of feed over a year.  The difference here is one between a supplement and a replacement. 

Many people, if not all, seem to focus on supplementing feed.  They still provide the same amount of base diet, with the addition of various things that they grow.  This addition quite likely has multiple benefits and possibly helps the chickens to be healthier.  If you are aiming to supplement their feed, then you can add basically anything that they will eat (even if they will only eat it begrudgingly).  If you supplement their feed, they may be healthier due to the increased variety, but your feed costs remain much the same.  

In addition to bought feed, we feed our chickens leftovers and kitchen scraps, we also feed them a wide range of seasonal vegetables, herbs, and fruits from the garden.  They also eat a wide variety of insects, spiders, and mice.  I am already supplementing their feed and providing a huge array of seasonal variety, and I don't intend to stop doing this.  

What I am interested in is replacing some feed.  This is where the hens get less of the base diet, they have a percentage of bought feed replaced with something else that is cheaper (or free).  I don't want to replace all their bought feed, but I do want to replace enough that it costs me less to feed them.

In this case you don’t need to supply every nutrient from their feed in a completely balanced way, but you need to supply enough that performance does not decrease as a result of the substitution.  If you substitute correctly, the hens may be healthier as a result, but the important part is the costs should decrease in a noticeable way.  If costs don’t drop, then you need to consider if the replacement is worth doing.  

Grass in the cages is similar to the grass outside the fence

 The FAO and various other food security projects and agricultural experimentation stations have run trials and experiments to replace bought feeds with various things.  There are a bunch of different edible things that have been trialed over the years and can replace a percentage of bought feed without lowering egg production. 

Some are things that I can't grow here due to climate, others we don't have in this country, others are not legal to grow here.  Various meat and bone meals and slaughter waste have been successfully trialed, but they are not an option for me at the moment.  

Other trials have replaced one grain with another, this is of no use to me.  I know some people raise various insects or worms to reduce feed costs, these are not feasible options for me at the moment for a number of reasons.  

As well as these, there have been a few plants that have successfully replaced a percentage of bought feed without reducing the number or quality of eggs laid.  These are the plants I need to consider. 

Grass only survives where protected in the chicken run

I have read a few papers where they replaced up to 10% bought feed with mulberry leaf meal.  Mulberry leaves are incredibly nutritious, and the trees are true survivors.  I already grow mulberry trees, and I feed the leaves to my hens.  While this is a great start, I am also looking for things to grow in their run under cages that they can pick at during the day.  

Azolla is meant to be able to replace up to 20% bought feed without decreasing egg production.  Azolla grows fast and has an impressive amino acid profile.  Duckweed also grows fast, contains a complete amino acid profile, and is said to be able to replace up to 15% bought feed with no decline in egg production.  I grow azolla and duckweed, and feed them both to the chickens, but I lack the ability to grow enough to be able to feed significant amounts.  I also would not be able to grow much azolla or duckweed in their run, so this is labor intensive.  

I started to consider if Vietnamese fish mint (Houttuynia cordata - not related to mint but has 'mint' in the common name) would work.  It is incredibly vigorous, surprisingly nutritious, and has a host of proven medicinal effects.  I have read several papers where including fish mint in the diet of hens has effectively controlled coccidiosis and increased survival rates.  This is a great plant for poultry to eat, plus they seem to eat it readily. 

For all its benefits, I worry that fish mint would escape into my yard and I would have to deal with the yard smelling like fish each time I mow, so I am reluctant to grow this in the chicken run.  For now I am growing it in pots and cutting handfulls of it to take to the hens.  This is more work than growing it in the chicken run, but I have the peace of mind that it won't escape on me.  

Fagopyrum cymosum might be useful in reducing feed costs

I did a little reading about perennial buckwheat, Fagopyrum cymosum.  This perennial leaf vegetable which has been eaten in the Himalayas by people and livestock for centuries and has a host of proven benefits.  There has been some research done into using this to replace commercial feed in laying hens that indicates that 10% of the feed can be replaced with this without adversely decreasing number of eggs produced.  This sounds like it could be a candidate for replacing some bought feed.  

This plant is extremely vigorous, and spreads underground by rhizomes, so should be able to survive and spread under the cages.  It does need to grow tall to set seed, but I wonder if it could survive long term by staying closer to the ground.  

I also have some wire protecting one of the smaller fruit trees, you can see it in one of the photos higher up on this page.  The grass tends to grow rather tall in the cage around this tree at times.  Perhaps I could plant some perennial buckwheat in there and allow it to spread until it escapes under the wire and is eaten by the chickens.  I think this is a good option that is well worth trying.  If it did escape and get into my lawn, I don't think I would be overly bothered.  

I can't take photos without the chickens coming over

There is not a huge amount of space in the chicken run that I am willing to cover in wire cages as I don't want them always walking on wire, so I only have a few square meters of space to play with.  There is no point growing mint or lettuce as this space would be better used to produce grass and weeds that are both highly palatable and more nutritious.  

If I had acreage I am pretty sure I could significantly reduce feed costs, but at this stage I only have a little space that I can use.  I wasn't even sure if a few meters of growing space is enough to make any noticeable difference to feed costs, but it is worth trying.  

If it wasn't for these cages there wouldn't be a blade of grass left

After a bit more reading, it appears that I am already significantly reducing the amount of bought feed I give my hens.  What I am currently feeding them is apparently working well at reducing their feed costs.  

I read that on average laying hens are fed 120 grams of pellets per day.  For the past half a dozen years or so my hens are eating on average a little under 50 grams of pellets each per day.  They also get grass/weeds, left overs, food scraps, excess things from the vegetable garden, hand fulls of azolla and duckweed, excess eggs when they lay more than we need, various dropped fruits in season, various insects etc.  It seems as though all of this has reduced their feed costs significantly, and has done so for years, without me even realising. 

My hens are about 6 or 7 years old (and very close to being retired and replaced), and have declined to laying an average of about 190-230 eggs each per year.  I keep records on the amount of eggs, they are declining noticeably as they age and they may be in their final days.  Over winter their laying almost stopped, I gave some extra lighting which fixed the issue, which is pretty impressive for hens this age.  Now the days are a little longer I removed these lights.  

We used to have a rooster, and we used to hatch the hen's eggs.  Fertility was high, usually around 85% to 90% hatch rate.  While the hens may lay slightly less than if fed entirely on bought feed, they are laying well enough for us, and have laid for long enough, to demonstrate that what we are doing is working and is sustainable long term.  The high fertility and hatch rate when we had a rooster also indicated that what we were feeding was working well.  I have a feeling that the huge amounts of seasonal fruit and vegetables my hens eat has have helped them be so healthy and productive for so long. 

I plan on leaving the grass and weeds in the cages, as this is working well.  I will keep throwing in extra seeds of parsley and silverbeet and things into those cages from time to time.  I also plan to introduce Fagopyrum cymosum and probably a few other things to the cages and see how they go.  If nothing else, I think the wide variety in their diet must be of some benefit to the hens. 

If you have something that you are growing to reduce your fed bills, and doesn't need much effort, please let me know how well it worked.  At some stage I will try to either expand on this post, or write another post, and detail what worked and what hasn't worked well for me.