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.

Perennial buckwheat vs fishmint

A few years ago, I started growing a perennial vegetable called Vietnamese fish mint (Houttuynia cordata).  This perennial plant is used as a vegetable, or herb, or medicine, or grown as an ornamental, in a host of different countries. 

Fish mint is an extremely productive and vigorous plant, and borders on being indestructible, which is a great trait for a perennial vegetable to have.  Fish mint is productive, it looks pretty, and is incredibly healthy to eat, but I find the smell to be a little overpowering.  

I grew fish mint for years, and wished that there was a version of it that was not so strong smelling.  Some people love the smell of fish mint, however, I find it a bit too much. 

Fish mint on left, buckwheat on right 

Fish mint produces copious amounts of food and tolerates poor growing conditions.  I only grow it in a pot with pavers under it, otherwise I worry it may escape through the drainage holes and get into the garden.  After years of growing it like this I have never had it even come close to escaping into my yard.  

I am told that people grow this as an ornamental in the garden and regret it.  They say that spraying with weed killer removes growth above the soil line, but the plant survives and springs up again from rhizomes.  After it escapes, every time you mow your yard, or walk through your yard, it smells like fish.  

My fish mint produces flowers, and I am told it does not set viable seed.  For the first year or so I removed all of its flowers in case they set seed.  After the first year I just let it flower and hoped for the best.  

Fish mint escaping it's pot

Fish mint growing out of the drainage holes 

Not long after allowing fish mint to flower, I grew common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) from seed.  The cotyledons were rather unique, I had not seen cotyledons like them before, but it was the true leaves that concerned me.  

The true leaves of buckwheat were much the same shape as fish mint.  I worried that my fishmint may have set seed, and I was concerned that it had escaped.  Would my yard smell like fish for ever more?  Oh, the terror.  I honestly felt sick to my stomach with worry that this had gotten away from me.  

I didn't remove the seedlings at this stage, I left them to see if I was wrong and hoped I could get on top of things.  I was hopeful that I had not lost control of the fish mint because the seedlings were only in the one spot I planted buckwheat, and were nowhere near the fish mint.  Once the seedlings grew a little larger, I bruised, smelled, and tasted a leaf.  I was pretty convinced that they were not fish mint seedlings, but I still worried that maybe they didn't get their distinctive smell until older.  

The seedlings grew and rather quickly flowered.  The flowers were buckwheat and looked nothing like fish mint flowers, then it set seed that was clearly buckwheat, confirming that they were absolutely not fish mint.  Phew!  

I have been growing fish mint for years, and have never had it set viable seed.  

After growing fish mint for a few years, and reading about all of its benefits, I started to wish that there was a variety that did not smell so strong.  I considered trying to restore fertility and grow seeds and try to breed something that didn't smell as strong, but I am glad to say that I thought better of it.  I didn't want this spreading by seed through my lawn.  Not setting seed is a good trait for this vigorous plant to have, I don't want this plant to set seed. 

Perennial buckwheat - Fagopyrum cymosum

A few years later I learned of a perennial vegetable called perennial buckwheat (Fagopyrum cymosum complex, also called Fagopyrum dibotrys), this also goes by the common names "Golden Buckwheat" and "Tall Buckwheat".  This perennial vegetable sounds a lot like fish mint, but it has no smell.

Even though these plants are not even distantly related, my wish for fish mint that is not strong smelling has basically come true.  Perennial buckwheat does all the things I wanted fish mint to do (and more), and has none of the down sides.  

While perennial buckwheat and fish mint are not closely related the plants look superficially very similar to one another.  They are both perennial plants that are very vigorous and highly productive.  They both cope with hard frosts, and survive poor soils (they survive poor soil, they are vastly more productive in good soil).  They both spread vigorously by underground rhizomes.  They both have nice looking heart shaped leaves.  They have both been eaten as leaf vegetables and their rhizomes used as folk medicine by people for centuries.  They both have a lot of proven medicinal properties (for people as well as poultry and livestock) that have been reported through many peer reviewed papers.  

Perennial buckwheat plants

In my garden, perennial buckwheat grows much taller than fish mint.  In autumn, perennial buckwheat leaves become a brilliant golden yellow colour, whereas fish mint just grows until getting burnt down by frosts.  The flowers of fish mint are visited by pollinator insects only there is little else flowering, while perennial buckwheat flowers seem to be adored by beneficial pollinators and appear to be one of the preferred sources of nectar and pollen.  Perennial buckwheat leaves are high in rutin, and high in protein.  

I have not read anything about how much fish mint is safe to consume.  I think the smell would stop me eating it long before I ran into trouble.  Perennial buckwheat leaves (much like most common vegetables) have some levels of anti-nutrients, even so peer reviewed papers prove that it is safe to eat perennial buckwheat every day. 

Vietnamese fish mint

If you are into Asian cuisine, you should probably grow fish mint.  It can be used like a vegan fish sauce.  I have plenty of these plants, they are very vigorous.  

If you are into growing food, or concerned about food security, growing perennial buckwheat is a must.  I am not sure why it is so uncommon in Australia, it seems to only be common in developing nations where growing food really counts.  At this stage I am still trialing it under different conditions, and seeing what it can do.  

At some point if I have any spare plants I will list perennial buckwheat plants for sale, along with fish mint, on my perennial vegetables for sale page.

How to Grow Watercress the Easy Way

I have been growing watercress (Nasturtium officinale) for a little over ten years, I wrote a blog post on it in 2014.  It is a simple plant to grow, and people seem to rave about watercress, yet for some reason people are told it is difficult to grow.  I am happy to say this is not the case, and watercress can be grown and be productive in very little space. 

Some people assume there is some connection between watercress and nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus).  Even though the Genus of one and the common name of the other are the same, the two are not closely related in any way.  Garden nasturtium is native to Peru, while watercress is native to Eurasia.  Apparently the garden nasturtium got its common name because it produces an oil that is meant to be similar to watercress.  

Occasionally people contact me to ask about growing water cress, so I thought I would write another post explaining how I grow it.  This may not be the best way to grow it, but it is simple and very cheap.  It is really simple to grow watercress.  

Watercress is one of those vegetables which really needs to be eaten soon after harvest.  I never see it for sale in markets, but have been told some places sell it and it will last a day or two in the fridge.  For this reason, if you want to eat it you really should grow it yourself.  

I am told that watercress is a perennial vegetable.  It self seeds so readily for me that even after all these years of growing it I am not yet sure if it is perennial, or if it is an annual and there are always new self seeded plants.  It doesn't really matter if it is perennial or not, once you plant it you can always have some growing if you look after it.  

Watercress

When I tried to look up how other people grow watercress, I found many pictures of people who had sprouted the seeds in an egg shell with a pair of scissors in hand, or people who had ponds or elaborate hydroponic set ups.  This is of no use to someone who wants to grow enough in their backyard to eat (not just an egg shell's worth of sprouts) and/or who lacks a pond or aquaponics set up.  Luckily, watercress really is simple to grow.  

I have grown watercress in several climates, and have found watercress really simple and forgiving.  I tend not to eat it much because I am not overly fond of the taste, so I don't usually grow much of it.  The way I grow it, however, is cheap, and easy, and could easily be ramped up to produce a lot more of it if you were really fond of the taste.  

The first thing to know about watercress, is that it needs soil to survive, not just water.  Like basically any plant you can grow it hydroponically, or using aquaponics, but you can't grow it in a glass of water and expect good results.

The second thing you need to know is watercress needs sunlight (or a grow light).  It will not grow in water without sunlight.  

Watercress needs water, and can grow as an emergent plant with the roots submerged and the leaves in the air, but it copes surprisingly well in soil that is not particularly wet.  Sometimes the seeds fall and plants grow in the lawn among the grasses and weeds.  Not a problem, it doesn't tend to become a weed as it will die in the lawn over summer when it gets too dry for grass to perform well.  As an added bonus, if I ever had a large enough patch of this spring up by itself I can always pull it out and feed it to my chickens.  

Watercress - note the many roots on the stem

Watercress seems to grow better in cooler weather, but does not love frost and thick ice.  It seems to survive being frozen here, but also seems to get a little damaged by frosts.  If I move it under a tree where it in in a frost shadow the water freezes but there is no frost on the leaves and it seems to do fine.

It suffers a little in the heat of summer unless it is given some shade.  Giving some shade in summer also seems to make the leaves grow a little larger.  

The flowers of watercress are similar to any brassica in that they are adored by pollinator insects.  The flowers have a slight fragrance, and are edible.  They smell slightly sweet, and (probably due to all the nectar) taste a little sweet too.  Many people prefer eating the flowers to the leaves. 

Watercress is simple to grow from seed.  The seeds are tiny but simple to germinate, and it takes some time before the plants are large enough to harvest.  Sprinkle some seed on damp soil, keep it watered, make sure it has some sunlight, and it will grow well.  It takes a while for the seedlings to grow, and they are tiny for what feels like a long time, but you end up with a lot of plants. 

Watercress is easier and much faster to grow from cuttings.  Watercress stems grow roots readily when in or near water.  You can cut a stem into short lengths, and either plant them in damp soil, or put the ends in water (with the tops out of the water), and they grow easily.  

There is no trick to this, they don't need a humidity dome, they don't need rooting hormones, often they will all grow.  Sometimes the stems will already have roots before you cut them off.  Once they have some roots, you can just plant them in damp soil and they will grow well.

Watercress seedlings grew in this pot buy themselves

The main issue I have noticed with growing water cress (other than needing to provide water, soil, and light) is cabbage white butterflies.  These will lay eggs on watercress, and the caterpillars will eat out the plants.  I have also had watercress eaten out by water snails, and the plants are sometimes inundated by aphids, but issues with water snails or aphids seem to be intermittent and only strike once or twice per year.  

For me the cabbage white butterflies were the biggest issue.  I am told that cabbage white butterflies are not a big issue, but I found the opposite to be true in my garden for the first few years.  For a while my watercress was growing well only to be eaten to death in a day or two by these caterpillars.  

Then a tiny parasitoid wasp (Pteromalus puparum) appeared in my garden.  This tiny wasp lays eggs into the cabbage white pupa, and eats them out from the inside.  They reduced the numbers of cabbage white butterflies in this area.  While they will never eradicate the cabbage white butterflies, the have lowered the numbers enough for them not to kill off my watercress.  Now the cabbage white butterflies are not a big issue for me.    

You could grow watercress on the side of a pond.  You could grow watercress in hydroponics or aquaponics or even barrelponics.  I am happy to say that you don't need any of this to grow watercress well long term.  It grows well if it is in a pot of soil that is kept moist.  I find it is easier if I grow watercress in soil in something with no drainage.  The bottom of a plastic milk bottle works well.

Watercress, brahmi, and duckpotato

I cut the bottom off a plastic milk bottle, fill it 3/4 with soil, water well, and plant watercress into this.  

As long as the leaves are in the air it grows well, if totallt submerged it will rot and die.  You can plant cuttings which grow faster, or seeds which take longer to reach full size.  

If growing from seed, I make sure that the soil surface is not underwater.  Once the seedlings grow I can fill the milk bottle with water so long as they have some leaves that are not submerged.

The milk bottle in the pictures below was filled with soil and leaf litter that was dug out of the drain in front of our garage.  There is little point buying potting mix, drain soil (or leaf litter cleaned out from the house gutters) is free, and it is full of nutrients.  

Drain soil and leaf litter will have weed seeds, these will germinate, but they won't survive long.  Once the cutting is taller I will fill the container to the top with water, most weeds do not like being under water constantly.  The leaf littler and other stuff in there will break down over time and help feed the watercress over a long time. 

Milk bottle with soil

Watercress cutting with roots

Cutting planted into soil and given water

Once it grows larger I will add more water

It does not take long for the watercress to spread, and for the milk bottle to be brimming with watercress.  I often put azolla and duckweed on the water surface, these act as living mulch and help the tiny ecosystem to be healthier. 

Sometimes I grow watercress in the milk bottle by itself, other times I grow water cress mixed with other water loving things.  Below you can see some brahmi in with the water cress.  There is also a little duck potato in there.  As you can see, the tiny ecosystem is relatively healthy and this milk bottle is productive.

I often just put soil directly into the milk bottle, but you can also put soil in a small pot, and put the pot in the milk bottle.  It doesn't make a lot of difference to how the watercress performs.

Milk bottles don't last forever as they degrade and get brittle in sunlight.  Presumably they are food safe, and if not used for planting things into they would be thrown out.  I have some that have lasted 4 years ad look like they have a few more years left in them, others I have moved often and handled roughly, and they only lasted 2 years.  

These milk bottles were something I already had and were going to be thrown out anyway, so using them to grow watercress, Chinese water chestnuts, and other aquatic edible vegetables is a good thing.   

Growing watercress in a milk bottle

There are a few improved varieties of watercress, but I don't know if any are available in Australia.  All of the varieties I have grown seem much the same and I would not be able to tell them apart if not labelled.  

I once considered breeding an improved variety of watercress, but never got around to starting this breeding project.  This plant is so simple to grow that I don't know if improved varieties are even needed.  I am also not blown away by the taste, so there is little incentive for me to put the effort into improving this already useful and productive vegetable.  

I sell small plants or well rooted cuttings through my for sale page.  I plan to collect seed and also sell seed packets.  You only need one plant to get going, from there you can take cuttings or plant out some seed and expand your patch as much as you want.  

Vietnamese Fish Mint

I have been growing Vietnamese Fish Mint  (Houttuynia cordata) for years, yet for some reason I have never written a blog post on it before now.  

This plant has many common names, including dokudami, 'poison blocking plant',  lizard tail, heartleaf, fishwort, bishop's weed, and it has a heap of other common names too.  I usually just call it 'fish mint'.

Vietnamese Fishmint is a perennial vegetable that not at all related to mint.  It is edible and used as a vegetable or herb, it has a long history of medicinal use, as well as a long history as a remedy for poisoning.  

This is an essential vegetable in Vietnamese cooking, and appears to be eaten extensively in South East Asia.  This is very uncommon in Australia, yet extremely simple to grow and very productive.

Vietnamese fish mint in flower

Fish mint has a strong and rather distinctive smell.  Some people love the taste of fish mint, others not so much.  Some people liken its smell to oranges, others think it smells like fish, to others it smells like the gravel in the bottom of a fish tank.  

Vietnamese Fish Mint tends to be eaten raw, or only lightly cooked/wilted.  It does taste a lot like fish sauce, and can be used to make a vegetarian fish sauce.  When raw it tastes a bit too...I'm not sure how to explain it...perhaps too 'metallic' for my liking.  Once slightly cooked I prefer the taste.  Other people tell me they can't taste any of the metallic taste that I notice, so I guess it differs from person to person.  

Fish mint can be used to make a Vegan Fish Sauce.  Seriously!  How cool is that.  I found a recipe that I shared below, but if you have a better recipe and are willing to share it I would love to learn more.  

It is also used to make a medicinal "dokudami" herbal tea.  I have made this a few times, it tastes nice but I find the smell to be a little too strong for me.  My kids have tried the herbal tea, they like it.  I have made herbal tea using fish mint as well as other herbs such as lemon balm.  This was nicer, but I still found the fish mint to be overpowering.  

The rhizomes are used in a bunch of different herbal remedies, many of which have been proven to be effective.  Unfortunately I don't know how to make these medicines.  Presumably just eating the rhizome is enough to gain some benefit.  I find the rhizomes to be less overpowering than the leaves.  

Vietnamese Fish Mint 

Many animals, including chickens, quail, ducks, guinea pigs, sheep, and pigs gladly eat fish mint.  It has a lot of nutrients and some medicinal benefit.  Interestingly, fish mint has been demonstrated in many peer reviewed papers to protect chickens from bronchitis (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21848486/), as well as treat coccidiosis in chickens and lambs as effectively as commercial coccidiosis medication.  I am tempted to grow this in a hanging pot in the chicken run so the hens can get the benefits of an organic coccidiosis treatment.  

There are several varieties of this plant.  I grow the most vigorous green version with single flowers.  There is a green one with double flowers, and there is also a multicoloured variegated one that looks really pretty and spreads less vigorously.  I am told the green one is not only more vigorous, but also more potent.  My chickens gladly eat the leaves, but I don't give them many, so I am glad I grow the most potent version.  

The leaves of the variety I grow are green, heart shaped, and they look very similar to buckwheat leaves.  The flowers are white and not overly interesting.  Bees and other insects visit the flowers, but never seem overly keen on them.  I am happy to say that the variety I grow never produces viable seed. 

Fish mint on left, buckwheat on right 

Fish mint grows extremely vigorously.  Let me stress, it is extremely vigorous.  One or two pots of this plant will be more than enough for the average household.  I am happy to say mine does not set any viable seed, ever, which makes it much easier to control.  Never grow this in the soil or it will take over your yard, and your neighbour's yards, and every time you walk in the yard or mow it will smell like fish.  Grow it in a pot, but never in the garden bed.  

I grow most of my fish mint in a container, and the container is on pavers.  My main one is in a plastic tub that we drilled holes in, it's not very deep but it is wide to allow the plant to spread, but any plant pot would do.  The rhizomes will try to escape through the drainage holes, but they can't cross the pavers.  

I have been growing this plant for seven or eight years and it has never escaped on me.  I also grow some in pots on wire shelves in my greenhouse, but these are being grown out to sell at markets and through the post.  

Fish mint escaping it's pot

Fish mint does not produce seed, or at least the one I grow has not produced any seed in the time I have grown it.  This is not a problem because it is easily divided to produce more plants.  If it did produce seed I am not sure that I would be willing to grow it because it spreads so vigorously.  

This plant is not related to mint (Mentha sp) and does not taste or smell even vaguely similar to mint.  I believe the word 'mint' in its common name is probably due to the way it spreads aggressively via underground rhizomes like mint.  

As well as being easy to divide, this plant grows readily from cuttings.  Planting cuttings in soil seems to result in 100% strike rate if the soil is kept damp.  I have only tried striking a cutting in water once, this grew well for me but not as fast as the ones planted in soil.  

I have never tried to restore fertility and grow from seed.  I prefer that it does not produce seed as it stops it from escaping into my yard.  I have considered getting the prettier variegated form, but don't know if a second clone would increase the possibility of viable seed, so for that reason have resisted the urge to get the variegated form.

When grown in a pot, some rhizomes will try to escape through the drainage holes.  Any rhizomes that try to escape the drainage holes can be roughly torn off, planted in a pot of damp soil, and will produce more plants.  They grow very quickly from rhizomes and produce large healthy plants very fast.  

Fishmint rhizomes potted up and ready to grow

Fish mint grows well in part shade, and survives in full sun.  It seems to prefer damp areas, but does not need to be waterlogged to grow well.  I have heard it can be grown as an emergent water plant, but haven't grown it like that myself.

Mine gets pretty dry at times over summer, if it looks like it is burning off I give it some water and it bounces back quickly.  I imagine if the soil got too dry for an extended period it would die.  This plant has a strong will to live, and tends to recover easily from all kinds of poor treatment.  

I have seen fish mint growing in floating pots on a pond.  I love the looks of this, and think it would do well in cleaning the pond water when grown like this.  Care would need to be taken that the pot did not get too near the edge and allow the plant to set root into the mud on the bank, as it would be difficult to remove once it became established.  

Fishmint goes mostly dormant over the winters here.  I say 'mostly dormant', because some years all the above ground parts die back, and other years it just looks scraggly and keeps a few leaves here and there.  The underground rhizomes survive very cold temperatures, easily coping with -10C with frozen solid soil, and it grows vigorously once the warmer weather returns.  

I am told that people (often in the US) grow the weaker variegated version of fish mint under trees or near ponds where it looks lovely.  They soon regret this as it takes over the yard, and it smells like fish every time they mow.  This is where my hesitation to grow it in a floating pot on a pond comes from.

Spraying does not kill this plant, herbicides easily kill the above ground parts, and it quickly resprouts from many underground rhizomes.  This is a plant that does not want to die.  I have heard that it can survive under weed mat for years, and pop up once their is a rip in the weed fabric.  

The simple way to deal with this is don't grow it in the garden bed.  Grow it in a pot, and have the pot on pavers.  As I mentioned, mine has never escaped and I have grown it for seven or eight years.  

Vegan Fish Sauce Recipe 

I found a recipe for vegan fish sauce here, it is so simple.

Ingredients: 1 cup packed fish mint leaves; 3 Thai chili peppers; 2 cloves garlic; 1/3 cup sesame oil; 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar 

Instructions: Puree all ingredients in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl and serve.

Other Fish Mint Recipes 

I also found a recipe for Fish mint that uses rhizomes as well as leaves.  It also is very simple.

Ingredients: 1/4 cup shredded young fish mint leaves, 1/4 cup chopped fishmint rhizomes, 4 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon fried chili crisp or chilli oil, 1 tablespoon chopped coriander cilantro, 1 tablespoon chopped scallions.

Instructions: Combine all the ingredients and toss shredded fishmint leaves and rhizomes. Chill for 10 minutes before serving.

As well as another recipe that includes tofu.

Ingredients: 200 g fish mint stems, broken into 4 cm lengths (or lotus stems), 8 fried tofu cubes, 1 handful of chopped mint leaves, 1/2 cup coriander, roughly sliced, 1/2 cup garlic chives, roughly sliced, 1/2 cup red peppers, finely sliced 

Dressing: 3 tbsp light soy, 2 tbsp black vinegar, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 2 spring onions, sliced, 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes, 3 garlic cloves, diced, 4 cm piece of ginger, finely sliced.

Instructions: To make the dressing, in a bowl, combine the light soy sauce, black vinegar, brown sugar, spring onion, chilli flakes, garlic and ginger. Stir well and set aside for a few minutes to infuse.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the fish mint stems, tofu, mint, coriander, garlic chives and red peppers. Add the dressing and toss to combine. Transfer to a serving platter.

I have only shared a few recipes above.  There seem to be a host of similar recipes around, plus many families have their own family recipes.  If you have a good recipe and are willing to share it let me know and I can add it.  

Vietnamese fish mint

I mentioned earlier that this plant is vigorous, and I find the smell to be overpowering.  Some people adore fish mint, so much so that they will drive an hour each way to pick up a plant from me.  

I don't want to detract from the many benefits of this plant, so please read my opinion of its smell while keeping in mind that different people like different things, and that some people adore fish mint.  Fish mint is also incredibly healthy to eat, both people and animals benefit from eating it, so please don't take my comments to mean that you should not grow and eat this.  

I really can't cope with the smell of fish mint.  It is too strong for me.  Even repotting this can be too much for me at times.  

Other people comment how they adore fish mint, and most people I sell it to rave about it.  I had a few people drive out to buy fish mint plants from me cry tears of joy.  They told me they cried because it is a taste of home, a very dear memory, and they were fearing that they would never be able to eat this again after moving to Australia.  

While I don't think anyone should ever grow this in the garden do to how rampantly it spreads, I think this is well worth growing to see if you like it.  If you like the taste it is increadbly healthy to eat.  I also know that this plant makes a cherished gift to Vietnamese or Chinese friends.  

This plant is very useful for making Vietnamese spring rolls, Pho, and dokudami herbal tea.  People who buy this from me often say that they are thankful that they will never be without it again.

I have been selling organically grown Fish Mint plants for years through my for sale page along with other perennial vegetables I have for sale in Australia.  If you are interested go and have a look.  I either sell small fish mint plants, well rooted cuttings, or dormant rhizomes, depending on the time of year.  If selling rhizomes I tend to include extras, they will all grow once it starts to warm a little.  Over winter they are mostly dormant, and look very shabby, but they grow like mad once the weather warms.  

Perennial buckwheat leaf vegetable Australia

I find myself fascinated with the concept of perennial grains.  While many appear to be inappropriate for large scale cropping, perhaps they could be useful for small scale or backyard production.  Or maybe they are not suited to small scale growing and will never be a decent crop.  I wish one of the permaculture institutes would put some decent effort into researching this.  

I grow a perennial corn, it is unsuited to my climate and frustratingly unproductive here, but I am told it is fast growing and very productive in warmer climates.  I know of a few other perennial grains, some sound promising, but I have no access to germplasm. 

I also grow a perennial buckwheat (Fagopyrum cymosum complex, sometimes called Fagopyrum dibotrys), this also goes by the common names "Golden Buckwheat" or "Tall Buckwheat".  I read that in the Himalayas it is referred to as Kathu (काठू).  I believe this plant is mostly used as a perennial leaf vegetable but it is also said to produce edible seed.  

Perennial buckwheat growing strong

Buckwheat seeds, either Fagopyrum esculentum or Fagopyrum tataricum, are commonly eaten in various dishes.  In various countries the leaves and flowers are also consumed as vegetables.  I have eaten leaves from common buckwheat, they tasted nice enough raw and pretty good when cooked.  When in flower they could be a little bitter raw, before flowering they weren’t bitter.  The bitterness they have when flowering seems to go away after being cooked. 

After some research it appears that leaves of common buckwheat, and tartary buckwheat, are eaten as vegetables, but it is far more common for leaves of perennial buckwheat to be eaten.  Presumably this is due, at least in part, to the rampant spreading of this perennial vegetable.  Perennial vegetables are great as you plant once and harvest forever.  

Golden buckwheat is simple to grow, it seems to prefer full sun, and copes reasonably well with partial shade.  

My plant has divided impressively in the time I have grown it.  Over winter it will die back and be dormant, and it should resume growth in spring.  These grow and divide fast, so I am expecting to have a lot of plants by this time next year.  

Roots developing at a node

Even though perennial buckwheat divides so readily in my climate, I tried to grow one by a cutting.  It worked well.  

I cut the top off one plant, removed the lower leaves, and put the stem in water.  It wilted badly the first day, then regained turgidity, then grew some roots from one of the nodes.  This seems like a good way to increase numbs if I don't want to wait for it to send out underground rhizomes. 

It is cold now and will likely not do a lot of anything above ground until spring.  I am guessing that it should grow roots and perhaps even send out rhizomes, but all of this will happen under ground.  Once the warm weather hits this should cause this plant to spread and grow into many plants.

Now I know I can grow them from stem cuttings if I want to.  This is good to know.  

Perennial buckwheat cutting growing roots

Frost is not an issue for perennial buckwheat as the top part mostly dies back and the underground rhizome is largely dormant while it waits for warmer weather before growing again.  I say 'mostly dormant' because the rhizome does spread a little over winter, but nowhere near as much as when the weather is warmer.

When going dormant in Autumn, the leaves change colour before they fall off, they are really quite pretty.  I didn't think to take photos when the plants were looking their best.  

Perhaps this is why it's called 'golden buckwheat'

I don't know how dry this can survive or how boggy it can survive.  So far I have treated it much like any vegetable and given it some water when the soil is dry, and it has done really well.  Next year when I have more plants to play with I may try to see what it can tolerate.  

I am not sure if it needs frosts and a dormant period to perform at its best.  If I were to guess I would say it would not need a dormant period, and in the subtropics it would actively grow and produce abundant vegetable greens all year.  

Perennial buckwheat

Perennial buckwheat looks similar to fish mint from a distance.  The flowers are very different and can be used to distinguish between them even at a distance.  Perennial buckwheat grows taller than fish mint.  When they are not in flower, I would want to smell them to reliably tell them apart.  

They both grow well and are very productive over the warmer months, and both are dormant over my winter.  

The autumn colours of perennial buckwheat are really impressive.  The leaves go a vibrant golden yellow, and they often have red veins, stems, and edges.  I believe the leaves are still edible by people even at this stage, and the leaves are gladly eaten by our chickens and guinea pigs when green or golden.  

Perennial buckwheat changing colour for autumn

I am told that perennial buckwheat aggressively spreads by underground rhizomes, and that it will take over the garden unless planted in pots.  

I don't think I would be too bothered if perennial buckwheat spread through my lawn because, unlike fish mint, the yard will not smell like fish every time I mow.  

Even so, I am keeping my perennial buckwheat contained for now.  Perhaps in the future I will let this thing out to see what it does.  

Perennial buckwheat - heart shaped leaf

The leaf of common buckwheat reputedly contains 24% protein, I assume that percentage is of dry weight as the fresh leaf would contain a lot of water.  As well as being high in high quality protein and amino acids, buckwheat leaves contain many vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, flavonoids (eg rutin, quercetin, orientin, isoorientin, vitexin, and isovitexin), fatty acids, polysaccharides, iminosugars, dietary fiber, fagopyrins, resistant starch, vitamins, and minerals.  I have read various papers on this that all state the nutrient profile of perennial buckwheat is rather impressive, and other papers that conclude that it may have several medicinal properties.  

Given how nutritious buckwheat leaves are, and how fast it spreads, I am tempted to grow it in the chicken run under some wire so the chickens can eat the leaves without killing the plants.  I have a feeling it may be well suited to producing abundant and nutritious greens for my hens over the warmer months.  I read a paper that stated replacing 10% bought feed with perennial buckwheat leaf in layer diets did not reduce the number of eggs laid.  

My chickens seem to like eating the leaves of perennial buckwheat.  I have also given some leaves to our guinea pigs, who greedily ate every last part of them even though they were on the lawn with free access to grasses and lawn weeds.  I have read about the leaves being fed to pigs, sheep, cattle, and rabbits, all of which gladly ate it. 

I have read that perennial buckwheat is used as silage or hay in some countries.  I would not use this as the only feed for any animal, but using it for a percentage of feed works well.  Perennial buckwheat seems to be one a crop that holds a lot of potential and could be improved with a little breeding effort.  

Perennial buckwheat, much like every other type of buckwheat, is excellent bee forage.  These plants produce a lot of nectar, ample pollen, and the bees and many other beneficial insects seem to adore the flowers.  

Perennial buckwheat in a pot

I have heard varying reports about the ability of F cymosum complex to set seed.  Some sources say it does not set seed, others say it sets abundant seed.  This may be partly due to genetic differences of different clones, or they may need a second clone in order to set seed, or it may also be weather dependent.  When I grow common buckwheat in hot weather I get zero seed set, when grown under cooler conditions I get plenty of seed set, perhaps perennial buckwheat is similar.  

Apparently the seed of perennial buckwheat is extremely high in protein, slightly above 16%.  I read another report that the seed contains 24% protein, but am not certain how reliable that site was.  Presumably there is some reason its seed is not seen for sale as often as common buckwheat or Tartary buckwheat.  Perhaps it is too small or difficult to dehull, perhaps it drops its seed in the field and is difficult to harvest, or perhaps it does not set seed reliably.  

I haven't grown this long enough to see if mine produces seed.  If it can't produce seed, I have a few ideas to try that may restore fertility.  If I can't restore its fertility then I will still grow it as a leaf vegetable, poultry forage, bee/pollinator forage, and ornamental cut flower.  

Potted up after breaking dormancy

Many vegetables contain at least some level of antinutrients, some are deactivated by heat, others less so.  Buckwheat seed appears to contain negligible amounts of a chemical known as fagopyrin, while buckwheat hulls, leaves, stems, and flowers all contain differing amounts of this chemical.  The amount changes depending if the plant is young or if it is flowering.  Eating too much fagopyrin can cause some sensitivity to sunlight.  

I wrote another blog post on buckwheat and fagopyrin, so I won’t cover that information here.  There has been little research into safe levels for human consumption, and seemingly contradictory advice surrounding if it is deactivated by heat.  

Consuming 150 grams of perennial buckwheat leaf raw every single day falls well within the safe limit, given the research into fagopyrin and steamed sprouts it is likely that triple this amount would be safe if cooked.  The data is limited so it may be that considerably more than this is safe.  

Given how many people consume significant amounts of buckwheat daily, and how few reports there are of adverse effects (most of which have been due to consuming sprouts in juiced form), it is likely safe to eat cooked leaves every day with no ill effects.  

I don't have any extra plants at the moment, but will eventually sell these plants through my for sale page.  For now I am building up numbers, and seeing what this plant can and can't do.  I almost find it difficult to believe just how easily this plant produces food for people and animals, yet how uncommonly it is grown outside of developing nations. 

I really like my perennial buckwheat.  This is a perennial vegetable that is seemingly forgotten or unknown outside of developing nations, and it is well suited to growing in backyards.  For reasons I cannot fathom it is very rare in Australia.  It has potential to increase household food security in a number of ways, as well as being very healthy and potentially having medicinal benefits.  If I were a 'prepper' or had to become more self sufficient, this perennial vegetable would be very high on my list of survival vegetables to grow.