African violet light blue

The first African violet I got was an unnamed variety that was called "light blue".  The plant was small and appeared to be light starved when I got it, and at the time I had never grown one.  It was in a self watering pot with a wick, which made it easy for a beginner to grow.  

African violet light blue

The flowers are double and large, on average they are roughly 5 to 6 cm across.  They are somewhat ruffled (I don't know the correct term for this). 

The colour is said to be light blue, which they kind of are.  I am told there are not many true blue flowers, most are sort of purple, and this flower probably fits into that category.  The flowers also sometimes get little splashes of pink on them, which I like.  

You will see the colour varies a bit in my photos, this is mostly due to the camera picking up the colour slightly differently.  In real life the colour is pretty consistent.  I like the colour of this variety, I think it is pretty.

This variety of African violet is a larger grower, reaching about 7 inches across.  While I don't go to African violet shows and am not really across the terminology, I think it would be considered to be 'standard'.  

The leaves can be large, the leaf stems (petioles) can be relatively long even under good light.  

Photos of two of my plants are below next to a tape measure.  While they can be a little more compact than this under higher light, this gives you an idea of their size.  Those plants are not yet flowering, but they have buds and should bloom not too long from here.

I am not a huge fan of the larger African violet varieties.  Larger African violet plants certainly look incredible, the thing I don't love is how much space they need, and how little space I have.  

I don't have a lot of room to grow these.  The space I need to grow two standard sized African violets I could grow three or four smaller varieties.  

That being said, a large African violet in full bloom is an incredible sight.  For this reason I will probably always have a few larger varieties.  

African violet comparison - large vs small

Same plants, different light, the photos don't exactly capture the colour

For me this plant is a little slow growing.  It isn't painfully slow like some other varieties, but it is not one of the faster growing varieties.  I am told by people who know a lot more than I do about African violet growing that larger flowers and double flowers use a lot of energy, and can result in slower growing plants.  

As well as being slower growing, I also find this plant slower to propagate.  Some other varieties send up half a dozen leaf babies each time I plant a leaf cutting, this variety seems to put up 3 leaf babies for me on average, sometimes I only get one plant.  The up side of this is the leaf babies from this variety are always very strong. 

Once a cutting does strike, they are incredibly simple to grow, they just take a little extra time to reach a flowering size plant.  Other people may have better luck as I don't give them ideal conditions.  

For me this variety has never produced seed.  I have attempted to self pollinate, and I have tried to cross pollinate, but each time the flower grows old and aborts.  I had one seed pod produced once, I was planning on letting it ripen but I absent mindedly cut it off before the seeds were fully formed.  I regret that, but I may get another seed pod some day, and hopefully I remember to protect that.

I have been able to use this as the pollen parent and cross pollinate other varieties.  I think this variety is lovely, and has some interesting traits, so should be able to use it to create something special in the future.

I don't have a huge number of house plants as I don't have a lot of space.  I sometimes grow some African violets outside under cover, but have to bring them indoors over winter as it gets too frosty here.  This light blue variety seems pretty hardy, it has survived some pretty harsh conditions when I forgot to bring it inside on frosty nights and during heatwaves.  While it will survive harsh conditions, they perform far better if looked after properly.  

Sometimes I sell African violet plants locally, at this stage I don't post them but this may change in the future.  I do sell African violet leaf cuttings through my for sale page, I am happy to post these.  At this stage I don't have many varieties available, but hope to increase my range as I get a few more nice varieties.  I would also consider a leaf swap if someone has a another nice variety. 

Kombucha benefits for poultry

You should make kombucha (чайный гриб or chayniy grib) at home to drink and for your children to drink.  It is good for you, it is very cheap to make, and it is simple to maintain.  You may not know this, but you should also give some kombucha to your chickens.  Kombucha is good for chickens in many ways.  

Strangely, other than feeding chickens the old pellicles, I do not hear many reports of people giving kombucha to their hens.  Given all the health claims surrounding kombucha, and the abundance of studies on animals demonstrating kombucha's positive effects, along with all the other weird and wonderful things people feed to chickens that have any alleged health claims, I am surprised I don't hear of more people who fed kombucha to chickens.  

I tried to learn more about this, I looked at anecdotal evidence, I read studies not directly relating to kombucha that should correspond to the effects of feeding kombucha, and I read peer reviewed papers on feeding kombucha to hens.  After much reading, I also gave my hens some kombucha to see if this would be beneficial for them and save me some money.  

The results weren't overly surprising, all the evidence indicates chickens benefit from consuming kombucha. 

Kombucha fermenting in a jar

Anecdotal evidence 

While anecdotal evidence should not replace peer reviewed studies, it can be useful to hear what works, or does not work, for other people in a back yard situation where things are not necessarily ideal.  I found surprisingly few references to anyone attempting to feed kombucha to hens, but the few references I found were positive.  

I found one web page providing anecdotal evidence claiming that giving kombucha to chickens resulted in cleaner eggs and firmer poo.  They think this may be because the kombucha was helping the birds' digestive systems.  

The claims made on that web page are probably true.  This web page has nothing to gain by promoting kombucha, the claims all seem logical, and it existed prior to AI being a big thing (there are far too many pages of computer generated nonsense written by AI, and far too many people blindly thinking that this is worth reading).  

Some other people give fermented feed to chickens and claim it improves their overall health.  While I am unsure if fermented feed has ever been studied, or if there are any benefits from feeding fermented feed, it is often claimed to be beneficial by backyard chicken owners.  Kombucha, being fermented tea, contains a lot of species of bacteria and yeast, many of which are used in fermenting other things.  Anecdotally we should be able to draw some comparisons between kombucha and fermented feed.  

Some people feed apple cider vinegar to chickens to 'acidify their crop', boost immunity, and build their general health.  Again I am unsure of the results of any studies into these benefits, but there is plenty anecdotal evidence suggesting that this is possibly beneficial.  Kombucha is similar to apple cider vinegar in many ways, and can be used to produce a kind of vinegar.  As apple cider vinegar and kombucha are similar in many ways, any benefits from feeding apple cider vinegar would likely also be seen through feeding kombucha.  

I found a few permaculture sites claiming kombucha to naturally de-worm their hens.  I have serious doubts over this claim, and fear it may be rhetoric by people who are simply wishing really hard.  While I don't believe that feeding kombucha to hens can be used to deworm them, kombucha will enhance their immune system (I explain this below), so it may provide some slight resistance to parasitic worms. 

To add to the anecdotal evidence, I fed some kombucha to my hens.  I added the liquid to their drinking water.  They appeared to have firmer poo for some time.  I also fed them some of the old biofilm, again it appeared to stop them doing sloppy poo for some time.  I have done this multiple times, and each time it goes well. 

Anecdotally, feeding kombucha to laying hens should prove beneficial.

Kombucha liquid and biofilm - both great for laying hens

Studies on poultry not directly on kombucha

While these studies did not address kombucha directly, the results should be applicable to feeding kombucha as it shares similarities to the things that were being studied.  

Many studies state that certain probiotics improve layer hen performance - number of eggs laid, egg quality, and the immune function of laying hens.  The probiotics in the below studies include some of the many species that are present in kombucha, so while they are not directly studying kombucha, there is a high chance the results will be applicable to feeding kombucha to chickens.  

One study demonstrates that feeding probiotics, prebiotics, and organic acids results in increased egg production, increased egg quality, and better feed conversion ratio.  Kombucha contains all of these probiotics, prebiotics, and a range of organic acids.  Some of the organic acids in kombucha are produced early, while others are not produced until around day 21 onwards.  Making kombucha using continuous brew is the simplest method, plus it ensures that a wide array of organic acids will be present in every batch.  

One study demonstrated that feeding probiotics such as Lactobacillus salivarius and Bacillus subtilis increased egg numbers, decreased damaged egg ratio, and improved feed conversion.  This study should correlate to kombucha as the probiotic species in the study are among those present in kombucha.  The study tested blood samples and indicated that these probiotics enhances the immune function of hens.  It was also noted that feeding multiple probiotic strains had a greater effect than feeding single strains.  Kombucha has been demonstrated to contain a wide variety of probiotics, with around 320 different species of bacteria and yeast being present in some samples.  Given that multiple strains provided more benefit than single strains, it is safe to assume that kombucha would perform as well as, if not better than, the few strains that were used in this study. 

There are various probiotics commercially available for poultry, many do not contain living probiotics and would be better referred to as 'parabiotics'.  There are also various organic acid supplements commercially available for poultry.  There have been multiple studies backing up claims that these improve layer efficiency.  Not surprisingly, few home growers use any of these as they are too expensive.  Making kombucha at home is far far cheaper than buying commercially available probiotics or supplements, plus it has real potential to reduce your costs.  

Based on the studies into probiotics and organic acids above, feeding kombucha to hens should prove to be beneficial. 

Papers that do directly study kombucha - this is where it gets interesting

There are a lot of animal studies regarding the health benefits of kombucha.  Strangely I could not find any papers testing egg laying performance in hens.  That being said, there are plenty of studies on feed conversion and growth rates etc in broiler hens and Japanese quail.  All of the studies I read indicate feeding kombucha to hens is beneficial in a variety of ways. 

One study concluded that adding kombucha to chicken's drinking water increased protein digestibility, and exhibits growth promoting effects similar to antibiotics.  I find this study fascinating as similar claims are often made about apple cider vinegar, yet I have not heard of any home grower making these claims about kombucha even though it has been demonstrated in published papers.  

Another study noted giving kombucha to hens resulted in improved feed conversion ratio in broilers, and increased protein digestibility.  They concluded the best growth promoting effect in broilers was with the addition of 6 ml fermented kombucha per 100ml water.  If I fill up the water each day, this would only cost me a few cents, yet it has the ability to reduce feed costs through improving the feed conversion ratio.  Again, I find it odd that a published paper makes this conclusion, yet I rarely hear of anyone feeding kombucha to their backyard hens.  

There do not appear to be any studies on kombucha and its impacts or lack there of on egg laying in hens.  This is odd as there are many studies demonstrating that feeding organic acids and probiotics (both of which are present in kombucha) improve laying performance and egg quality, plus there are studies on the effects of feeding kombucha and the feed conversion rates in broilers.  

Most of the studies I found were about fed conversion ratio and growth rate of broilers, and I found a few studies on growth rate of Japanese quail.  All came to the same conclusions that kombucha resulted in improved growth rates, increased live weight, and increased carcass weight.  All of this is very good, I want my hens to have good weight and good feed conversion as this lowers my feed bill.

I also find it odd that there are proven benefits associated with feeding kombucha to poultry, yet I don't hear of any permaculture institutes encouraging the feeding of kombucha to poultry.  Kombucha is so cheap and simple to make, and these benefits are well worth the effort.

All of the studies into feeding kombucha to hens indicate that it is beneficial to them.  

This ferments in my garage, and is fed to hens

How to feed kombucha to backyard hens

Now you know that feeding kombucha to hens is beneficial, the natural question to ask is how do you feed it to them.  There are a few easy and cheap ways you could give kombucha to your hens.  

First, don't buy kombucha, make your own at home.  Buying kombucha would be expensive and pointless, making it at home is simple and only costs a few cents per litre.  

One of the important parts of kombucha is the SCOBY, this is the live Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeasts.  Kombucha pellicle/biofilm contains a lot of live scoby, kombucha liquid also contains a lot of live scoby.  Feeding either works well and both are readily accepted by hens.  

I brew kombucha in my kitchen for people to drink.  I have a few jars brewing at any point in time so I normally have spare culture.  I don't have extra space in the house to brew kombucha for my chickens, so I also keep a few jars of it in the garage that I use for the chickens.  These are the same as the ones inside the house, but the ones in the garage are in large jars without taps and get refilled far less often.  

As kombucha brews, it produces a biofilm or 'pellicle' - this is the jelly fish looking thing that floats on the liquid.  When you continuous brew, each time you refill the kombucha jar it produces another layer of biofilm.  You can remove and cut up the old biofilms, and feed them to hens.  This will provide the hens with live probiotics, various organic acids, small amounts of vitamins, various antioxidants, and other beneficial nutrients.  The hens will gladly eat this if it is cut up, and some hens happily eat it if left as a disk.  

Another way to give kombucha to hens is to include the liquid in their drinking water.  60ml kombucha per liter of water has been concluded as having the greatest benefits, plus it is simple to administer.  Tipping around 180ml of kombucha into a 3L waterer and topping up with water isn't difficult.  Given that this does not need to be very accurate, I measured it the first few times to get an idea of how much they need, and tend to just eyeball the amount now.  Importantly, 180ml of home made kombucha will cost you less than 5 cents.  Even if this results in one more egg being laid each week by your flock, you will have saved money.  

Another, possible simpler, way to give kombucha to hens is to add some liquid to their feed.  If feeding pellets or grains, you can add a slosh of kombucha liquid and mix it in.  This is not uniform, some days you would add more, others less, the greedier hens would eat most while the more timid would get less (or none), but it would still be beneficial to the flock as a whole, and it will end up saving you money.  

I top this up every few weeks and it is thriving long term

Where to get kombucha to feed to hens

Don't buy kombucha from the supermarket, that would be expensive and counter productive when the aim is to reduce your costs.  Get a kombucha starter culture, then you make it at home very cheap.  

Getting a kombucha starter culture is easy.  Some people make their own starter using store bought, while this kind of works the diversity of living cultures tends to be low in store bought and people who do this regularly encounter issues.  You are better off sourcing one that has been grown at home for some time.  Ask around, someone may have some to share with you.  Alternatively, if you can't find any locally, I sell kombucha starter culture through my for sale blog page.  Don't spend much on a kombucha starter culture, they are extremely valuable, but should not be expensive.  

Once you have a starter culture, making kombucha is very simple, it takes next to no time, it never goes wrong if you use the traditional continuous brewing method, and it costs less than 15 cents to brew each litre.  You won't need to spend much to get continuous brew kombucha set up.  The starter culture should not be expensive, a large jar is generally free, and you can ladle out the liquid and remove the old biofilm as wanted.  

Once you have a large jar and a kombucha culture you make continuous brew kombucha, this is the traditional way and is the simplest way.  I wrote a blog post with simple continuous brew kombucha instructions that really can't go wrong.  After that, your feed costs are reduced, and your hens are a little healthier.  

The strainer keeps out bugs and lets in air

Basil mint - Mentha x piperita

Basil mint (Mentha x piperita f.citrata) is a variety of true mint, that smells and tastes a lot like sweet basil.  So far I have only used it raw, and it can be substituted for sweet basil.  I am told when cooked it can lose some of its taste if cooked for too long, so should only be added towards the end of cooking. 

I love sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum), but it is not hardy enough in my garden, and I don't get to have any basil over winter.  For a few years I grew a bunch of different basil varieties, some were better than others.  I started wondering if I could grow something that could be substitute for basil, but is hardier and more reliable, for use out of the basil growing season. Basil mint may be the solution I am looking for. 

Basil mint is a remarkable plant.  Like most varieties of mint it is vigorous, productive, and hardy.  Basil mint is currently reasonably difficult to find.  I dare say that will change with time, and this herb will become more common. 

'Basil mint' is a type of mint, it is perennial and edible.  Basil mint is not a cross between mint and basil, nor would this even be possible.  More importantly, basil and mint are not the same thing. 

Basil mint - a type of mint that tastes like sweet basil

My little rant about basil vs mint

There is a lot of nonsense on the internet (looking at you Reddit) making weird claims that mint and basil are the same, or that basil is a type of mint.  Before I go on I want to clear up these claims. 

Mint is any species or hybrid in the Genus Mentha.  Basil is any species or hybrid in the Genus Ocimum.  Mint and basil come from different genus, and are obviously different species.  Both Genera sit in the same Family - Lamiaceae, this seems to be the cause of confusion between them.  

When looking at the Lamiaceae phylogenetic tree, Mentha sits under the Subfamily Mentheae, while Ocimum sits under the Subfamily Ocimeae.  All of this means that basil and mint are quite distantly related.  While they are in the same Family, they are not even in the same subfamily.  They are not the same thing, and one is not a variety of the other. 

While it is true that Lamiaceae is sometimes referred to as 'mint', they are also commonly referred to as 'sage' or even 'deadnettles', meaning it is nonsensical to refer to all the plants in Lamiaceae as being a type of mint.  To put this in perspective, roses and strawberries are in the same Family, they are more closely related than mint and basil, as rose and strawberry are even in the same subfamily.  Yet no one claims a strawberry is a type of rose.  

Basil mint is also not a cross between basil and mint.  I am all for attempting wide hybrids, and if I thought it were possible to cross basil and mint I would encourage people to try.  Sadly, you cannot cross basil and mint.  

Basil mint plant

Now that's out of the way, I want to talk more about "basil mint" plants as they are pretty incredible. 

I like sweet basil very much, yet find it time consuming to grow from seed each year.  Frustratingly, I need to plant the seeds early, but they don't grow much until the heat is here.  I started breeding basil once, and had a very interesting line, but lost my new variety because I couldn't grow it for a few years and the seeds don't remain viable for very long.  

Sweet basil grows rather easily from cuttings.  It is possible to take basil cuttings and overwinter them.  Unfortunately it gets too cold in my house, and basil tends to rot and die over winter.  In warmer climates, or even if I heated my house more over winter, overwintering basil would be pretty simple.  My house gets cold over winter, especially over night after the fire has gone out, so overwintering basil in my house tends not to go well.

Various varieties of mint in pots in part shade on paving

I used to have a great variety of sweet basil that I grew from seed each year.  I didn't collect seed one year, and the following year none of my seeds germinated as presumably they were all too old.  I have never been able to find that variety again.  While this is sad, it is the reality of basil in my climate.

Supermarkets here often sell hydroponically grown fresh basil.  Growing basil from fresh herbs available in the supermarket is simple, and taking a few cuttings means I can grow a lot of plants pretty quickly.  The last few years we have seen rolling shortages of basically everything in supermarkets, which means I can't guarantee the shops will have fresh basil that I can buy and grow. 

I will always probably grow a little basil from seed.  Growing sweet basil from seed is simple enough, but I run the risk of losing my line if something goes wrong.  Growing basil from supermarket fresh herbs is simple enough, but tends to be seasonable and I can't guarantee they will have any. 

I will probably always grow some from cuttings I take from fresh supermarket basil, but I would also like something that will reliably be there that tastes like sweet basil, even in winter.  If possible, I would also like to find something that tastes like basil that can be productive in my winters. 

Basil mint growing in a pot

This is where I think 'basil mint' may come in useful. 

Growing mint is usually very simple.  Most types of mint are hardy and vigorous.  Mint needs water to do well, sometimes a little shade, other than that it is pretty care free.  

Some varieties of mint survive my winters by going dormant and resprouting in the spring.  Some varieties of mint are hardier and tend to stay above the soil all winter.  I don't know which category basil mint fall in, but I hope it is above ground all winter. 

Mint survives extreme heat if given enough water, and does even better with a little shade.  I have my basil mint in a pot of soil, at this stage it gets some shade, and it is growing fast.  

I grow mint in pots that are sitting on pavers.  When (when, not if) the mint sends out rhizomes and tries to escape I am able to prevent that as the paving gives me a little extra time.  I can remove the runner and stop it spreading to unwanted places.  If these pots were even sitting on soil, this would be impossible, and my garden would forever be over run by mint.

Mint should never be grown directly in the garden as it spreads vigorously.  Mint should never be planted in a pot that is sunk into the soil.  I don't care what gardening magazines tell you, digging a hole and planting a pot full of mint will not keep it contained to that pot.  Most mint varieties are so vigorous that even growing mint in a pot can be trouble as it will try to escape through the drainage holes as well as sending rhizomes over the top of the pot.  Planting this pot of mint in the soil would just be asking for trouble. 

When mint grows from seed the results are very diverse.  This means there are a few inferior clones around that smell like mint with barely a hint of basil.  That is not what I want.  To maintain the basil taste, this plant should only be propagated by divisions or cuttings, and never by seed.  

Basil mint in part shade

At this point I am still new to growing basil mint.  This one smells and tastes a lot like sweet basil.  I have read that it smells like a cross between mint and basil, and some of the versions I had come across in the past only smelled of mint, but I am happy to say that my plant does not smell of mint at all unless it is suffering heat stress.  This seems to be a great little clone. 

Sometimes mint changes it's scent when stressed, and changes back once the conditions are better.  Other varieties of mint do not change, and they smell and taste the same all the time.  This one seems to change with stress.  When heat stressed, it smells a little like spearmint mixed with basil.  When grown properly it smells strongly of basil and I can't discern any mint fragrance.  This works well because when the heat is here we normally have true basil growing, and this herb will be grown as a basil substitute outside of the basil growing season. 

Basil mint is a vigorous and productive plant that smells like sweet basil.  While it is not quite as strong as home grown basil, it certainly tastes stronger than store bought hydroponically grown basil.  I haven't grown it over winter yet, but have been told that it can be grown for use as a basil substitute over winter, and I have high hopes that this is true. 

I like 'basil mint' and think this is one herb that I will see become more popular and hopefully be more widely available soon.   

Once I have a few spare basil mint plants I will list them on my for sale page so other people have a chance to grow this delightful edible herb.

Perennial vegetables for sale February 2026

For sale in Australia perennial vegetables, heirloom vegetable seeds, edible herb plants, organic berry plants, and a few non-edible plants and things.  Everything has been grown organically by me. 

Maintaining my old for sale page wasn't working for me, so each month I now write a new blog post with an updated list of what I have for sale that month and include a link on my old for sale page.  

Lemongrass plants are perennial and high yielding

For Sale: February 2026 

Small Bare Rooted Plants $5 each (unless otherwise stated): 

Everlasting onions 
Tree onions (small bulbils)
Babington leek (dormant bulbs)
Pineberry strawberry 
Virginian strawberry
Atilla alpine strawberry 
Jekkas thyme 
Peppermint 
Lavender mint 
Banana mint
Pineapple sage
Willow herb
Lime balm 
Vietnamese fish mint
Vietnamese coriander
Variegated water parsley 
Green water parsley (more vigorous stronger tasting version of the variegated form) 
Asparagus (Variety: Purple) 
Sweet Violet 
Lemongrass 
Water cress 
Brahmi/water hyssop (Bacopa monnieri) 
Water pepper 
Azolla $3 per scoop 
Duckweed $3 per scoop 

Dormant bulbs or corms:

Saffron corms (small - this size may or may not flower this year) $3 each 
Daffodil - Hoop Petticoat   $3 each
Muscari grape hyacinth bulb  $2 each
Muscari grape hyacinth - Packet of seeds  $4

Ancient Cultures: 

Milk kefir grains  (~1/4 cup of grains) $5 
Kombucha SCOBY  $5 

Heirloom Vegetable Seeds:  $4 packet (unless otherwise stated) 

Immali corn
Purple hot mustard
Wasabi salad herb (not true wasabi) 
Purple asparagus
Tomato Zolotoe Serdtse
Tomato Tommy Toe
Tomato Reisetoimate 
Tomato Woolly Kate 
Senposai
Hon Tsai Tai / Choy Sum (purple stem) 
Huacatay
Black raspberry SEED (note: needs minimum of 3 months cold wet stratification to germinate)

Non edible things:

Aloe vera $5 
String of pearls succulent - plant $5, cuttings $2
String of beans succulent (from Coober Pedy) - plant $5, cuttings  $2
Red jelly bean succulent  $5 
African violet leaf cutting (Variety: New Hampshire) $3 each
African violet leaf cutting (Variety: unnamed double light blue) $3 each

Candle mold 'skep' $10 each 
Candle mold 'owl' $10 each 

Postage Prices: 

$12 for plants etc 
Or $3.50 if only buying seeds.  

I post the Monday after payment has cleared.  

Mint plant

To order anything from the above list: 

Please send me an email saying what plants/seeds you would like and I will reply with prices/payment methods.  My email address will need to remove the the spaces, put @ instead of the word 'at' and . in place of the word 'dot': 

damien_beaumont at yahoo dot com dot au 

Photographs, binomial names, descriptions of plants, and notes on how I grow them, can be found on my old for sale page.  Please note my old page has a lot of things not currently in season/not currently for sale.  The only things I have for sale this month are listed in this blog post above.