And these two are technically lichens, but since that's half right I hope you'll forgive me!
Thursday, 5 June 2014
Photo of the week - fungi files
Hi all, after a great trip up the coast, I just had to share all the gorgeous fungi I came across. So much diversity in size, colour and shape!
And these two are technically lichens, but since that's half right I hope you'll forgive me!
And these two are technically lichens, but since that's half right I hope you'll forgive me!
Wednesday, 30 April 2014
April is for... sitting pretty - Take 2
It's that magical time of year when there isn't near enough hours in the day, the mornings are cold, and the sunsets are stunning on the drive home from work. We've had plenty of rain and everything in the garden is taking off, including the new veg I managed to get in the ground. Red cabbage, Tuscan kale, beetroot and snow peas are poking out and helping ease that transition into winter, not my favourite season.
I hate being cold, and we've managed to get our hands on a fireplace, but will need to pull down a wall and polish the floors before it can be installed. Patience is a virtue!
My patient waiting for a garden seat has finally paid off - the special one we've had on layby for about 2 months is finally taking pride of place in the back corner of the native/bird garden. The cast iron should warm up nicely in the afternoon sun and I'm looking forward to having many a warming cup of tea in it, surveying our little kingdom.
The native garden has another new addition as of this week, as I've finally managed to get hold of a Callistemon White Anzac - a lovely white bottlebrush that only grows to about 1m. Celebrating Anzac day in my own way, I planted the little Aussie charmer in the moist strip along the side fence.
I hate being cold, and we've managed to get our hands on a fireplace, but will need to pull down a wall and polish the floors before it can be installed. Patience is a virtue!
My patient waiting for a garden seat has finally paid off - the special one we've had on layby for about 2 months is finally taking pride of place in the back corner of the native/bird garden. The cast iron should warm up nicely in the afternoon sun and I'm looking forward to having many a warming cup of tea in it, surveying our little kingdom.
I'm hoping for a quiet month in May, and plenty of time to sit and enjoy the growing gardens. Here's to winter!Saturday, 19 April 2014
Photo of the week - Lady and the tramp
In amongst my vegetables, there are lots of little creatures going about their day. Just a little bit of patience is all it takes to get a glimpse into their busy world. My favourites to watch are the lady beetles, members of the family Coccinellidae. They are all rounded, most are yellow,orange or red, and have a number of spots on their wing-covers. In my garden, there are 2 common types: the small orange beetles with 2 large black blotches, and the larger yellowish beetles with many small spots.
Coccinella transversalis
"28-spotted Ladybeetle" Epilachna sumbana
The first is a friendly little fellow, and seems to hang about feasting on the occasional aphid or scale, or the mildew that grows on the leaves of my zucchini and squash. The second actually eats the leaves themselves. My simple rule of thumb for ladybeetles is: A few spots is good. Lots of spots is bad. If in doubt, I tend to think of Cruella DeVille. Even the babies don't look as friendly! See:
I'm sure in this case you can guess which is the unfriendly visitor just by looking, but if you were in your own garden, just have a look what they're doing. Beetles go through a number of larval stages so it's sometimes difficult to tell who is who, but the tell-tale scraping marks on the leaf are a good sign that this is a leaf-eating beetle.
The good news is that in general, they don't eat much. I don't spray the 'bad' insects at my place for fear of scaring off (or killing off) the good ones. If you have a healthy balance in your garden, a few nasty beetles aren't an issue and will only result in a few unsightly half-chewed leaves. Their populations can boom quickly if the weather is right, but birds generally catch up pretty quickly. I have a few larger shrubs and trees growing between the veg for insect hunters to gather in, and as they grow I'm seeing more birds all the time. As always, variety is the key!
And for those that are curious, my apple tree is still flowering away... sigh...
Saturday, 5 April 2014
Photo of the week - Spring has sprung?
The weather this year has been so strange, with a mild yet dry Summer, finished off dramatically by truckloads of rain. Understandably, some of my plants are a bit confused. This is my lovely Pink Lady apple tree, which seems to have been tricked into flowering in Autumn instead of Spring. I won't ever complain about having too many flowers, but I'm slightly concerned that it won't flower in Spring now after using its flower buds, and maybe I won't get many (or even any) apples. Most fruit trees begin to form flower buds many months ahead of time, and may not do this again until next growing season. Add to this the fact that I need 2 apple trees to pollinate each other, and we find that if this tree doesn't flower again, my Granny Smith apple won't have any fruit either! Thankfully we have a Spring every year, and hopefully the weather will be more stable next time around. In the meantime I'll make sure I appreciate the flowers for what they are, not just what they could have been!
Monday, 31 March 2014
March is for... going nuts
This month has been a rough one in so many ways, sometimes it's hard just to keep all the pieces together. One bonus of working with plants is that they often force you to stop in your tracks and just wonder at the way they live and grow.
My first introduction to Bunya pines was from my enthusiastic Botany teacher at university, Geoff Burrows. Geoff is so knowledgeable and passionate about his work that you just can't help but get carried away in his excitement, and experience a true nerd moment. He studies Bunya pines (Araucaria bidwillii) among other things, and explained to us the interesting way that the seeds germinate, forming a tuber-like storage organ under the ground that can wait until the conditions are right for emergence. For this reason the seed is highly nutritious, requiring a fair amount of fuel for the sometimes long wait. What really made my ears prick up though, was his casual comment that the 'nuts' are absolutely delicious. You just have to wait until the tree is mature enough to produce seed, and dodge the falling cones in late summer when they come down.
No small feat, as they are usually at least the size of a human head or a football, and come crashing from the tops of the trees. Quite deadly! While working previously at a display garden nearby, I used to have my morning tea sitting under the big Bunyas- until the day I saw a smashed cone not far from where I usually sit and decided to move. They sure make an impression, often shattering when they hit the ground. They are like a giant pine cone, but more dense and solid, and break up into 'scales' that contain the seeds. Over my 4 years gardening there, I hopefully cut open many a seed, but they were always empty. The trees there were probably at least 15 years old, but didn't seem to be mature enough to form a proper nut.
After moving on to my current nursery job, one of the staff brought in a car boot full of Bunya cones collected by her husband from a local park. They were bigger than I was used to, and had a promising weight to them. Knowing we couldn't possibly propagate and sell so many of the pines, I took a couple home.
It takes a bit of work to get the nut out, but I found secateurs to be the best tool for the job, slicing open the scale and removing the shell. This is pretty easily cut in half, releasing the white, thumb-sized kernel inside. I couldn't help but eat one immediately, and the flavour was sweeter than I expected, a bit like a giant cashew. Afterwards I had a panicked moment of trying to remember if you were supposed to cook them before eating? I survived, and the wide world of the internet assured me I wouldn't be sick, but that they were even better to eat cooked. We roasted some at home, and found them to be quite filling and similar to roasted chestnuts, but a little tough. I've since seen recipes that call for boiling them first, before roasting, frying or pureeing them. I still have a little bowl of them left, so I'll have to give that a try next! In the past in the Bunya mountains of Queensland where they originate, local aboriginal tribes would time gatherings to make the most of the harvest, eating them fresh and cooked in fires.
It does surprise me that they're not eaten more widely or grown commercially nowadays, but I suppose that's due to the long time before a tree produces edible nuts, and the dangers of having a tree in your backyard or paddock. Perhaps one day we will have enough land to be able to grow a few, but for now I'll ration the ones I have left, and keep a close eye on those local parks...
My first introduction to Bunya pines was from my enthusiastic Botany teacher at university, Geoff Burrows. Geoff is so knowledgeable and passionate about his work that you just can't help but get carried away in his excitement, and experience a true nerd moment. He studies Bunya pines (Araucaria bidwillii) among other things, and explained to us the interesting way that the seeds germinate, forming a tuber-like storage organ under the ground that can wait until the conditions are right for emergence. For this reason the seed is highly nutritious, requiring a fair amount of fuel for the sometimes long wait. What really made my ears prick up though, was his casual comment that the 'nuts' are absolutely delicious. You just have to wait until the tree is mature enough to produce seed, and dodge the falling cones in late summer when they come down.
No small feat, as they are usually at least the size of a human head or a football, and come crashing from the tops of the trees. Quite deadly! While working previously at a display garden nearby, I used to have my morning tea sitting under the big Bunyas- until the day I saw a smashed cone not far from where I usually sit and decided to move. They sure make an impression, often shattering when they hit the ground. They are like a giant pine cone, but more dense and solid, and break up into 'scales' that contain the seeds. Over my 4 years gardening there, I hopefully cut open many a seed, but they were always empty. The trees there were probably at least 15 years old, but didn't seem to be mature enough to form a proper nut.
After moving on to my current nursery job, one of the staff brought in a car boot full of Bunya cones collected by her husband from a local park. They were bigger than I was used to, and had a promising weight to them. Knowing we couldn't possibly propagate and sell so many of the pines, I took a couple home.It takes a bit of work to get the nut out, but I found secateurs to be the best tool for the job, slicing open the scale and removing the shell. This is pretty easily cut in half, releasing the white, thumb-sized kernel inside. I couldn't help but eat one immediately, and the flavour was sweeter than I expected, a bit like a giant cashew. Afterwards I had a panicked moment of trying to remember if you were supposed to cook them before eating? I survived, and the wide world of the internet assured me I wouldn't be sick, but that they were even better to eat cooked. We roasted some at home, and found them to be quite filling and similar to roasted chestnuts, but a little tough. I've since seen recipes that call for boiling them first, before roasting, frying or pureeing them. I still have a little bowl of them left, so I'll have to give that a try next! In the past in the Bunya mountains of Queensland where they originate, local aboriginal tribes would time gatherings to make the most of the harvest, eating them fresh and cooked in fires.
It does surprise me that they're not eaten more widely or grown commercially nowadays, but I suppose that's due to the long time before a tree produces edible nuts, and the dangers of having a tree in your backyard or paddock. Perhaps one day we will have enough land to be able to grow a few, but for now I'll ration the ones I have left, and keep a close eye on those local parks...
Wednesday, 19 March 2014
Saturday, 8 March 2014
Photo of the week - sitting pretty
Found this lovely little chap resting on my buddleja, and he was nice enough to hang around for a photo. Butterflies love buddlejas too, giving them their common name (butterfly bush) but I'm just not quick enough with the camera to share one with you just yet!
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