Frost in the vegetable garden

We have had some heavy frosts this winter.  I keep meaning to sneak out and take pictures.  Unfortunately I only remembered to take pictures on mornings when it wasn't overly cold.  The frost is still very pretty though.

Frost on the remains of spent plants

How to prevent thornless berries reverting to thorny

Thornlessness in brambleberries appears to be influenced by at least three different factors.  Scientists and plant breeders have understood these factors reasonably well for quite some time.  Each of them has different advantages and disadvantages.   But how do you keep a thornless berry thornless, and how do you prevent a brambleberry from reverting to being thorny?

First, let me tell you about my experience growing a "thornless youngberry", then let me explain the three different ways that brambleberries can be thornless, then I will explain what you do about each of the three types.

Thornless youngberry starting to ripen

Kombucha Continuous Brew

We have been keeping various ancient cultures for years.  We started with milk kefir, then went on to things such as water kefir and sour dough.  Some cultures we have kept going for years, others we have lost, and others we decided to stop doing for now due to various reasons.  One of the cultures we have at the moment that I really enjoy is kombucha.

Unfortunately the origin of kombucha has been lost to history.  Several romantic theories have been made about the origins of kombucha, none appear to be based on anything other than dramatic story telling, and these stories eventually merged to the one that is often told today.  The truth is that we know roughly where kombucha originated, we know vaguely when it started to become popular, but it doesn’t make one ounce of difference.  The drink tastes good, it is simple to make, and it reportedly has several health benefits.  Who really cares when or how it was discovered.

I thought I would write a blog post to share the down sides of continuous brew kombucha, and test some of the health claims.  I think you may be surprised by the results.

Continuous brew kombucha

How to store water chestnuts over winter

Chinese water chestnuts (Eleocharis dulcis) are very simple to grow at home and are very productive.  For some reason people used to tell me how difficult they were to grow, but the hardest part was finding any for sale in Australia that were not in a can!

To grow water chestnuts you don’t need acreage, you don’t need a stream or a pond, and you certainly don’t need to live in the tropics.  Chinese water chestnuts can easily be grown in most of Australia if you have access to soil, water, and sunlight. I grow them and I sell them so you can also grow them.  I grow water chestnuts in a cheap bucket.

Organic home grown water chestnuts

Being perennial vegetables, you can plant once and harvest forever.   In order to do this you need to store some water chestnut corms over winter while they are not actively growing. Let me explain how I over winter water chestnut corms.

Growing potatoes from True Potato Seed

Usually in Australia potatoes are grown from clones.  Sometimes these are pieces of existing potatoes or small potatoes.  Confusingly people sell 'seed potatoes' which are just small potatoes that are used for planting.  Every plant that is grown from 'seed potatoes' are genetically identical clones.

True Potato Seed is different, they are actual botanical seeds.  These are made in the same way that any plant makes seeds.  Every plant that arises from true potato seed is genetically different.  If you plant a dozen true potato seeds you will get a dozen different varieties of potato.  If you find one you like you can grow them vegetatively from there.  This is how plant breeders have come up with the different varieties of potatoes you can buy.

This year I got some True Potato Seed and grew some potatoes from those true botanical seeds.  Each and every plant that grows from true potato seed is genetically unique.

This year the ones I grew were diploid potatoes, which are different from the usual tetraploid potatoes.  They are more of a wild variety of potato and have not had polyploidy induced in them.  They also had a huge amount of genetic diversity which I love.  The seed grown potato plants looked nice and on some plants the flowers were stunningly beautiful.

Yield from one true potato seed grown plant, not huge the first year

Variegated maidenhair fern Adiantum raddianum 'Variegata' in Australia

I don't grow many ornamental plants but I love maidenhair ferns, I think that they are beautiful.  I have some on my desk at work to help my day be less dreary.

Years ago I heard of variegated maidenhair ferns, they sounded really nice.  I looked for them and no one seems to sell them.  For some reason there are very few pictures of variegated maidenhair ferns anywhere on the internet.  Considering how few images I found, I started to wonder if they actually existed, or if they were just photoshopped images.

I searched for a variegated maidenhair fern (Adiantum raddianum 'Variegata') for years.  For some reason very few people own variegated maidenhair ferns in Australia.  I found a few people who used to have one, and some places that used to sell them but no longer do, but getting one myself proved difficult.  I spoke to a few fern collectors, all of which had fond memories of once seeing this plant, but none who currently had one.  All of this convinced me that they did exist.  Then I eventually tracked one down, and I bought it.

Variegated maidenhair fern Adiantum raddianum 'Variegata'

My variegated maidenhair fern was tiny when I got it.  The little fern is growing nicely and I hope to be able to divide it and when it is larger I would love to grow some spores from it.  I will be curious to see if spore grown plants are all variegated, or if only a percentage are variegated, or if none of them will display variegation.  I have asked a few fern collectors and none of them seem to know.

I looked on the internet and there are only about half a dozen pictures of these elusive and enigmatic plants.  This makes it difficult to decide if you really want to get one.  If these things are so great why have so few people posted pictures of them on the internet?  The lack of pictures made it difficult to know if they really exist.  I am happy to say that variegated maidenhair ferns do exist, and they are very pretty.  I think the lack of pictures is due to their rarity.  I don't know why they are rare.

As you can see my fern displays diversity in its variegation.  Some fronds have more white than others.  Even on one frond it shows a lot of variation, some pinnules are entirely white, others are entirely green, and most will be green with splashes and stripes of green.

As so few people have ever seen these delightful ferns I took some pictures of my variegated maidenhair fern Adiantum raddianum 'Variegata' to show the world how pretty variegated maidenhair ferns are. 

Variegated maidenhair fern Adiantum raddianum 'Variegata'

Variegated maidenhair fronds Adiantum raddianum 'Variegata'

Variegated maidenhair fern frond - some pinnules are entirely white

Variegated maidenhair fern pinnules range from entirely white to almost entirely green.

Variegated maidenhair fern needs repotting

Variegated maidenhair fern in a larger pot

At this stage I only have the one small variegated maidenhair fern.  I really like it.  I can hardly wait for my plant to grow larger.  I hope in spring to be able to divide my fern so I have more of them, even if I can split it into two I would be happy.

Eventually I hope to be able to sell variegated maidenhair ferns through my for sale page, but that will not be for a while yet as my plant is too small to divide yet.

Strawberry x Raspberry hybrid plant photos

I have been messing around with plant breeding for as long as I can remember.  Some simple things, others more complicated.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I have recently crossed a strawberry with a raspberry.  I am very excited about this.

I wasn't planning on putting up any pictures until Spring once I know what will survive winter and the plants will be a lot larger and more worth looking at.  But I have had some people email and ask for photos, so I made this post to put up the first few pictures.

They aren't great pictures, and the surviving plants have grown a fair bit since the pictures were taken.  It takes me a while to get photos from the camera to the computer and I hadn't noticed how small they were when I took the last pictures, but they are the first pictures of strawberry raspberry hybrids that have been taken in one hundred years.

Horseradish seeds

I have been growing horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) on and off for many years now.  It is an interesting perennial vegetable that is worth growing.  The young leaves can be eaten but it is the pungent roots that are the real crop here.  Horseradish has been grown as food and medicine for centuries.

Horseradish Plant - flowering size plant

Being a brassica, horseradish can suffer from cabbage white butterfly.  Other than that it does not seem to suffer from many pests.  There are a few diseases that are said to bother horseradish, but I have never seen these diseases and am not sure if we have them in Australia.

Horseradish can flower.  Many people tell me that it can't, but mine does.  Mine doesn't flower each year though.

Guinea pigs communication

Guinea pigs are an amazing little animal.  We have had them on and off for many years.  Our first guinea pig died at about 8 years of age.  He used to belong to someone else but they couldn't look after him so we got him.  He was a great little pet and I was sad when he passed.

We currently have three large and fat females who used to be someone else pets but now live with us.  Hopefully they have long and happy lives with us.

Our guinea pigs are great at turning grass and weeds into rich fertiliser.  They are also fantastic at mowing grass in places that are difficult to get the mower or when I simply can't be bothered to mow.  They are also interesting to watch and nice to have around.

I move the guinea pig cage several times per day (morning and afternoon during the week, more often if I am home during the day and not too busy) and they eat out the lawn for me.  I also give them weeds that they like from the vegetable garden, and sometimes give them vegetable scraps and apple cores and things simply because they like to eat them. 

When the guinea pigs see me they oink loudly.  When guinea pigs want people to feed them they make this oinking noise (commonly referred to by cavy fanciers as 'wheeking').  Sometimes they have plenty of feed but they will see me and excitedly start to oink in the hope that I will give them something nicer to eat.  More often than not I do exactly what they want me to do.  It is hard to say no.

Two of our guinea pigs

Yesterday I learned something new about guinea pigs.  I love learning new things!  Yesterday someone told me that guinea pigs only use this oinking sound to communicate with people.  Apparently guinea pigs didn't used to make this sound until they were domesticated.  They said that no other animal have a specific sound purely to communicate with people like this.

I had never thought of that before, but it is true.  Our guinea pigs only make this oinking noise to call to people that they know who are likely to feed them something they like.  They don't ever make this noise to each other, they don't make this sound when they see my kids, they never make this sound when strangers such as the postman walk past them, or any other time when we are not in sight.  If they did I would hear them.

Sure your dog or cat may make a noise that is just for you, but all cats and dogs don't do it for their owners.  Guinea pigs are well known for all oinking for people anywhere in the world that they are kept.  This does not appear to be a learned behaviour, they all seem to do it.

It seems to be a behaviour that is written in their genes.  Considering that guinea pigs were domesticated about 7,000 years ago, and were raised exclusively in people's kitchens from that time until the 1500's, this makes sense.  When you consider that most of these animals would have been eaten and not lived very long that is a LOT of generations of guinea pigs that were raised in people's houses where people provided all of their food.  Having some way to tell people they want more food sounds like it would have been beneficial and would have been unknowingly selected for.

Guinea pigs are fascinating creatures, I love how they do things like this.  I wish I had more of them.

Does Azolla control mosquitoes?

Many people have told me that azolla can be used to control mosquito populations.  This is somewhat true, and has been proven experimentally to be possible under certain situations, but not for the reasons that people often claim.  Strangely enough, the way that azolla works is better than the way that people often say that it works.

Azolla starting to cover the water surface

Mosquito larvae live in water, but they must come to the surface to breathe air.   Most species of Australian mosquitoes have a specialised breathing snorkel or tube at their tail end, they spend much of the day at the surface with this breathing tube sticking out of the water.  Quite often people speak of azolla’s ability to control mosquitoes by it forming a dense mat which reduced the ability of the larvae to reach the surface to breathe, theoretically suffocating them.

I have read no evidence of azolla reducing the survival of immature mosquito larvae of any of the species of mosquitoes that are common in Australia. 

So how does azolla help to lower the numbers of mosquitoes? 

I have read a few experiments which have tested the suffocation theory using some of the species of mosquito that are common in Australia as well as one of the species of azolla that is common in Australia.  None of the studies I have read indicated that larvae respiration was hindered by azolla in any way.  All the studies I have read indicate that mosquito larvae either find a naturally occurring gap or simply push their breathing tube up between the azolla as if it wasn’t there.  Poking a snorkel up through azolla also protects them from being seen by predators!  Never listen to anyone who says that mosquitoes are suffocated by azolla, they have not done any research and are talking nonsense.

Having a few azolla plants floating here and there with mostly open water does nothing to control mosquitoes.

Now that the ways in which azolla does not control mosquitoes is out of the way let’s look at how azolla can and does help to control mosquito populations.

feeding duckweed and azolla to chickens

I have grown duckweed for many years.  Each time I move house I bring some with me.  I like the little plants floating happily on water.  I have heard how great it is as a poultry feed, but have never been able to get poultry to eat much of it.

I have tried floating duckweed on water in a container in their yard, they sometimes nibble a little but really don't eat much of it and not deliberately.  I have tried giving duck weed to them in a heap fresh, or dry, or fresh mixed with normal feed, or dry mixed with normal feed.  Usually they would peck around it and eat very little of it.

This was rather frustrating as everyone says how great duckweed is as a poultry feed.  Oh well, I keep growing it as I still like it.  Duckweed has other uses apart from poultry feed so this isn't a great loss.

This last summer I gave the chickens some azolla, and they ate it all quickly.  I gave it to them floating on water and they ate every last piece.  Every time I gave them more azolla they ate it all pretty fast.

Azolla in a container of water, it doubles each few days so I scoop it out to feed to chickens

Strawberries - Ever Bearing, Day Neutral, June Bearing

Strawberry plants are often described on the internet as ‘June bearing’, ‘everbearing’ or ‘day neutral’. Even though we usually don’t use these terms in Australia we are starting to see them more often and people sometimes ask me about them so I thought I would write a post explaining the differences.

Before I start, try to keep in mind that this distinction is not absolute, not all varieties fit neatly into any one category, some varieties switch categories depending on the growing conditions, many can send up an occasional flower throughout the growing season, also being in Australia means that internet descriptions such as ‘June bearing’ may be confusing as they will more likely crop in December.

Strawberries will not flower or fruit if the temperature is too high or too low. If your climate is too hot or dry or cold you may not actually be able to tell the difference between any of these three as the possible fruiting window may be small. If you live up in the tropics or down south will also change fruiting time drastically.

Now that is out of the way, let me explain the differences between June bearing, everbearing, and day neutral strawberries.

Various Strawberries

Four leaf clover, so much good luck

We have a lot of clover in our lawn from time to time.  I encourage it to grow in the lawn.  Clover sequesters nitrogen from the atmosphere and makes it available to other plants.  It increases the fertility of the soil plus when I mow them and compost them they increase the nitrogen level in the compost.  Clover is high in protein and my guinea pigs and chickens like to eat it (plus I could eat it if I wanted to).  Bees and other pollinators appreciate the flowers.  When it gets too dry it dies off, but it self seeds and readily pops up when the rains return.  I don't see anything that is not to like about clover.

The other day I saw a 'four leaf' clover.  These are pretty common, far more common than most people realise.  I quickly had a look around and picked fifteen 'four leaf' clovers and eight 'five leaf' clovers, the kids convinced me to take a photo of them.  There were plenty more in the patch, but I didn't bother to pick them.  We don't do anything with them so picking seems like a waste of time.

In the past I once got the kids to help and we picked 48 'four leaf' clovers before I mowed the lawn.  There were probably plenty more around, but we got a little bored of looking for and finding so many of them.

'Four leaf' clover

Four leaf clover

Growing chilli the in Canberra region

I am constantly amazed at how little knowledge people have about growing food.  Ironically foodies appear to have the least knowledge about where food comes from.  I am writing this post to help clear up some of the most common misconceptions that I hear about chillies and capsicums. 

Let me explain how growing chillies in a cool climate such as Canberra is relatively simple. I grow everything organically and make compost to feed the soil.

Big and mild chilli - easy to grow

Fruit and Berry harvest times in Australia

I wrote a guide detailing the vegetable days to harvest from planting a seed.  It has many different vegetables, as well as strawberries and a few other edible things.  That guide has been very useful for me to plan when to plant seeds, to know how long it takes after flowering until a tomato is ripe, and other things like that.  Each year harvest time does vary a little depending on the weather that year.

That guide is very useful for vegetables, so I made a quick chart of the harvest dates for various fruits and berries in my garden over the past few years.  I have all the dates in a spreadsheet, but that gets a little difficult to find, so I thought a quick chart may be more useful to help me plan garden things.

This chart is only representative of fruiting times in my current garden in cool temperate Australia over the past two years.  It is not guaranteed to be representative of other gardens, or other climates, or other varieties of the same fruit tree.

As some plants get larger and more established the harvest will likely increase.  Igloo's seed grown apricot tree for example will likely have a longer harvest as it grows larger and bears more fruit. Some years the harvest will be larger or smaller than others.

Keeping all of the above in mind, this chart should help me to plan harvests, help me decide on new varieties of berry to grow to increase berry season, and things like that.

Fruit and Berry harvest guide

Fruit and Berry Harvest Guide

I also have a bunch of fruit trees and berries that I didn't record, I plan to update them at some stage in the future.

Nashi pear 'Nijisseiki' - it has provided huge crops over what felt like a very long season
Dwarf pomegranate - used to fruit but it hasn't flowered the past few years for some reason
Feijoa - currently too small to flower
Huonville crab apple
Pink lady apple
'White fruited' mulberry
Thornless Gooseberry 'Captivator'
Jostaberry

Plus there are probably a few other things that I have forgotten about.

I will possibly sell some of these berries and trees through my for sale page when I have built up numbers of them.