Bacteracism

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Uriel Pavon

Uriel is form a neighboring community about 30 minutes away. He has been studying Industrial Mechanics at the local vocational school. He is 19 years old. Uriel is a quiet young man who is very respectful and helpful. After studying his career in the morning, he spends the second half of each day volunteering at a local mechanics shop. He has also volunteered at a brake shop for many months prior.

He will be with us until March of 2013.

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Glass Bead Corn

When I was younger we used to grow some beautiful multi coloured corn, as a child I loved the stuff, it was inspirational and looked amazing.  As a child I would carefully save seeds each year and only plant the most amazing ones, every year the resulting cobs were far superior to their parents.  

While not the best photo of the Glass Bead corn you can see some of the different coloured and spotted seeds

After doing some research it appears that each colour has a different nutrient profile and pretty much every colour other than white is better for you than the usual yellow colour.  In Australia we pretty much only see yellow corn, in Africa they only see yellow corn when they are starving and foreign aide comes in, other than that they predominantly grow white corn as they see yellow corn as a famine food, native people in the Americas who originally domesticated corn grow a multitude of colours.

After moving here and having a little extra space I wanted to track some coloured corn down again to grow for cornflour as well as animal feed.  Nowhere had it listed for sale.  I emailed all of the seed companies that used to stock it and they all replied saying that they no longer stock it.  I then emailed a few seed saver groups to ask if any of their members had some that they were willing to sell me, the replies ranged from "we do not save seed, we only buy bulk heirloom seed to distribute to members" to "we do not sell seeds, please google heirloom seeds and leave us alone".  Further research showed that many of the corn varieties that I used to grow are now extinct in Australia.  This is rather worrying as corn seed not be imported into Australia easily.

After much searching and asking around I found a lady in Western Australia who had several varieties of multi coloured corn.  She had one variety that she called "glass bead corn" that she had selected from the prettiest seeds from the best cobs of an Indian corn that she had.  She claimed that some of her cobs looked similar to the glass gem corn that you may have seen on the internet.  I ordered two packets of these corn seeds, one to grow and one as insurance in case I lost the crop and had to replant, and eagerly waited for them to arrive.

Not my picture unfortunately, but many of my cobs had coloured silk like this

When the seeds turned up I was a little disappointed, there were 60 seeds in the packet and only 10 of them were anything other than yellow.  Some were nicely coloured, some had a single coloured spot on them, but most were just yellow.  I know that the yellow seeds carry hidden genes for colour, but I had hoped for a few more coloured seeds in the mix.  I carefully planted the seeds out in a way that would maximise the coloured pollen landing on the yellow cobs and hopefully would result in a lot of coloured cobs.  

Glass Bead Corn - huge array of genes at play here

Then the birds came, they scratched through the garden and kicked mulch everywhere.  I was not certain if any of the seeds were left in the soil but I continued to water them, to my surprise most of the glass bead corn seeds had not been eaten and they germinated for me.

I am no photographer, this is the most beautiful cob in real life but looks ordinary in the photo

The corn plants themselves were remarkable, they have a lot of genetic variation which means that this strain is not overly inbred and should adapt to various climates well.  They survived an extreme summer here by growing to a height of between 2 and 3 metres tall.  We had no rain, extreme heat, and high wind, some plants were blown over or even snapped by the wind, but overall they all grew very well.  We had also grown a packet of sweet corn, only one single plant survived to maturity as the conditions were too harsh this year, that highlighted the strength of this amazing strain of glass bead corn.

As the plants grew some of the leaves were variegated, some of the stalks were bright red, some of the pollen bearing tassels were purple or red, some of the silk was red or purple or yellow, even some of the sheaths covering the ears were coloured, on top of that most plants were producing two large ears of corn, I had a good feeling that I could turn this corn into something great.  Next year I will have to try and remember to get some pictures of the plants as they are growing, some of them would not look out of place in an ornamental garden.

Corn was traditionally grown with a multitude of colours - this is more of our Glass Bead Corn

You can see some of the spotted seeds of the glass bead corn

After harvest I had some beautiful cobs as well as some mediocre ones.  When people see these cobs they are amazed by the colours and patterns of the seeds, there are yellow, white, purple, pink, red, orange, black, brown, striped, spotted and even marble swirled coloured seeds on each cob.  It is not quite as good as the ones I grew when I was younger, but I plan to eat all the substandard cobs/seeds and only plant the best, this way it will only take a few years to turn this into something truly amazing.

These are a dark red/coffee colour with a few black seeds in real life - Igloos favourite

I will probably sell a small amount of the Glass Bead corn seeds in Australia each year.  These are non-hybrid, organically grown, open pollinated and non GM seeds.  There will be some yellow seed in each packet as well as a mix of colours, these yellow seeds will all carry recessive genes for a multitude of colours and patterns and besides that cobs look nice with a small amount of yellow mixed through.  I will put details on my "for sale" page so that you can contact me.

Glass bead corn - not too shabby considering the conditions it survived

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Osmany Jose Ramos

Osmany is finishing up his third year of nursing school in the town of Masaya, about an hours ride by bus. He is 23 years old. He has two more years of school before graduation. (The school year in Nicaragua ends in December)

Osmany is a very responsile young man. In addition to his studies, he volunteers at the old folks home in town. And he is a leader in the local church, serving as an usher in the youth services (under 30 age range). He is a model student, very creative, and has a heart to serve others.

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Rainbow Jelly Cake

I took on the stupid idea of making Mr 4 a rainbow jelly cake for his birthday. With some sound advise from a friend I embarked on using agar agar as it sets much quicker. This sure was a help. The cake looks great besides some colouring issues. But it is nasty to eat. It sort of crumbles in your mouth, the texture makes me gag. Flavour is fine though.

I found very few recipes online for Jelly cakes using Agar Agar is was just a bit of luck of the draw if it would turn out. I think I will only use half the agar next time, will run some tests first to find out just how little agar agar can be used so the cake still stands up but is actually edible. The recipe I used is this

Blue top layer with lollies (I would do a clear top layer to show the lollies better next time)
250ml liquid (I used part blueberry juice from stewing some blueberries and part water)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp agar agar

Milk Layer (I would colour this blue next time or whatever colour I wanted on top)
125ml water
125ml milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp agar agar

Red Layer
250ml liquid (about half a punnet stewed and mushed strawberries, rest water)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp agar agar
(I also chopped the remainder of the punnet to put in this layer)

Orange Layer
250ml liquid
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp agar agar

Green Layer
250ml liquid (I used pineapple juice, really should have used this for an orange or yellow layer)
just under 1/4 sugar
1 tsp agar agar

I made each layer as I went
1. place each layers ingredients in a saucepan, brought to the boil for a few seconds to make sure all had boiled. Pulled off heat and added the colour till desired colour.
2. pour into mould
3. Start boiling next layer.
4. pour into mould once the previous layer was JUST set, I have read if you let it set too much the layers wont stick together and slide apart, you can gently scrap the previous layer with a fork if this happens. Each layer took longer then the last to set. The first set before I had the second layer ready. I had to wait and reheat the green layer as the orange wasnt ready.

Keep going till you have all layers done. Then I set in the fridge over night.

Good luck with your making :)

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Access English Classes Begin

At the Biblioteca William Minor (William Minor Library), we are blessed to collaborate with the US Embassys remote English Program entitled Access English. This program runs for two years and is one of the best English programs in the country of Nicaragua. These 26 students all come from families with limited resources from all around the department of Carazo, Nicaragua. Great to see this batch of kids setting goals and working towards a brighter future.

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Babingtons Leek another rare perennial allium in Australia

Babingtons Leek (Allium ampeloprasum var. babingtonii) is an extremely rare perennial leek that is unlike any other leek I have ever seen or heard of.  When this leek flowers it generally does not produce seed, instead it grows tiny leek bulbs on the flower head, kind of like the leek version of tree onions.  This topsetting habit makes it unique among leeks and makes it interesting to grow and draws attention to itself from everyone who sees it.

Babingtons leek is rare in the world, so rare that it is almost extinct.  It is one of the rarest edible leeks that are in Australia.  Very few people grow them and almost no one has heard of them.  

There is little information on the internet about Babingtons leek and much of what I did read seems to contradict each other.  Most of what I have read was either written in the old days, or (like most gardening books) was written by someone who has never grown or even seen a Babingtons leek.  I find that kind of frustrating and would prefer to get information that has been obtained by personal experience or just go and work it out myself.  The person who I got these leeks from had not grown them for long so did not know much about them either.

Babingtons leek flowering - note the bulbils starting to enlarge

It grows wild in Ireland, England and a few other little countries over there and is only semi-domestcated.  Like so many other alliums the origins of this plant have been lost in history.  Perhaps it was deliberately bred by some dedicated people, perhaps it happened on a roadside from spilled seed with just the right combination of genetics, perhaps it happened in the wild away from people completely and was discovered by chance.  Many people theorise that the Babingtons leek is a relic from some ancient monastery, unfortunately we will never know for sure.  What we do know is that it has been around for a long time and there is not much of it anymore.

Babingtons leek, much like any other allium, benefits from moisture and nutrients early in the season, the more the better.  That being said it can perform remarkably well in rocky or sandy soil and with minimal soil moisture, this productivity under harsh conditions is one of the benefits of being a semi-domesticated perennial vegetable.  From what I am told it does not cope with poorly drained soils, my garden does not suffer from this so I do not know about this from observation. 

Just like any other perennial leek, the Babingtons leek tends to be dormant over summer and will die down to odd little bulbs.  I assume that in more mild climates and with more soil moisture that the Babingtons leek could be convinced to grow through summer, but I am yet to try this myself.  I know that the perennial leeks I grow can be kept growing all year if provided with adequate soil moisture.

Babingtons leek, another exceptional perennial vegetable

People in countries where Babingtons leek are more common often eat the bulbils, they say that the bulbils taste like garlic.  They also eat the young flower scape in a similar way to garlic scapes and say that they taste similar.  I have never tried either of them and doubt I will get a chance any time soon as I am trying to increase the numbers of this rare plant.


What does Babingtons leek taste like
I love the taste of leek, it is a very underrated vegetable in my opinion.  Babingtons leek tastes much like every other leek.  I have eaten a few varieties of leek over the past few years and to be honest can not tell the difference between them.  I have read that Babingtons leek may be more fibrous but from my limited experience this is not the case.  Over summer it will die down to bulbs, I am told that these bulbs taste much like garlic.  I have not tried them yet as I am trying to increase my stock but it does stand to reason as Giant Russian Garlic is another variety of perennial leek.

Babingtons leek is extremely rare, in Australia it is almost unheard of.  For this reason, if you grow them, please do not kill the plants when you harvest the leeks.  Like every other variety of leek, you can harvest by cutting them off and leaving the roots in the soil to regrow.  Another method is to pull up the plant, cut off the roots with a few mm of shank attacked and put this in a jar with a tiny amount of water to sprout.  They only need a tiny amount of water, just touching the roots is enough, too much water will cause the whole thing to rot.  After this has sprouted it can be replanted into the garden to grow.  In this way you can have your leek and eat it too.

Babingtons leek starting to flower, the bulbils will grow and the flowers will fall off as it grows

 How to reproduce Babingtons leek

Your stock of Babingtons leek can be increased in a few ways.  By not killing the plants when you harvest them stops you from losing plants but does not stop you from eating them.  This does not increase the number of plants you have and usually prevents the plant from flowering that year, but it does stop you from having any less which is a good first step with something as rare as these.

The plant will die down to a bulb each summer, many times this bulb will divide in a similar way to garlic (but into less cloves) and can be dug up, split apart and replanted.  This is a slow and steady way to increase your stock.  Quite often this will result in a few extra large plants, most of which will flower the following season.

The larger plants will send up a flower stalk each year.  This flower stalk will produce some flowers as well as some bulbils.  Please do not remove the flower stalk, it is kind of the whole point behind growing Babingtons leek.  While removing the flower head may result in larger underground bulb or a larger leek plant you could simply grow regular perennial leeks if this is what you are after.  When it is ready the bulbils may fall off the plant and start to grow all by themselves, but a better way is to remove them and plant them somewhere safe.  Every bulbil should sprout and grow for you, if left to their own devices anything could happen and the bulbils may be lost. 

It may take 2 or 3 years for these bulbils to send up flower stalks of their own, or if you treat them well they may flower in their first year, but once you have a flowering sized Babingtons leek plant it will provide you with many bulbils each year.  I am lead to believe that each year the number of bulbils increases significantly.  It would not be difficult to have a small patch of Babingtons leek where one plant is left to produce bulbils each year and the rest are harvested and eaten.

It may be possible to obtain some seed from Babingtons leek, in order to do this you would probably have to remove most/all of the bulbils so that the plant can put energy into the seeds rather than the bulbils.  I have not yet done this as I wanted the bulbils, but when I do I will grow the seeds and if anything remarkable comes of them I will try to distribute them.  I assume that seed grown plants will display a lot of variation, some will invariably be less exciting than the parent stock, but there is a chance that something remarkable may come out as well.  We need people to breed these things and enrich our country with them.


Where to buy Babingtons leek in Australia

I sell Babingtons leek bulbils and small plants on my for sale page as soon as they are ready.  Before you buy them please read about how to grow Babingtons leek.  I have a range of other perennial vegetables, some herbs, some heirloom vegetable seeds, and a few other things listed on that page too.  Unfortunately I can not rush the Babingtons leek, when they are ready they are ready and when I sell out then I have to wait until the following summer for more to grow.  Bulbils should be ready in Summer but they will not start to grow until Autumn/Winter.

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A Few Green Allies

In morning mist

a frenzy of drops

from the tree

-Issa

One of the majestic Eucalyptus trees lining the farm

Yesterdays hike around the farm and the adjoining empty land with my son was amazing.  I love seeing everything through his 7 year old eyes, he is one of the keenest observers (and avid collectors) I know.  After all the rain the woodland floor is teeming with new growth.  We both felt like we were inside a huge salad bowl, surrounded by edible greens.  I want to share a few things I have learned about some of these common and useful plants most people either overlook or call weeds. 
??

Plantain leaf (cooling and drying)

?Recently we had quite a severe bought of poison oak run through our household.  Our youngest had it the worst and after a little more than 2 weeks it is finally on its way out.  The saving grace seemed to be washing with Technu lotion over and over, even days after exposure to help contain the rash from spreading and then applying fresh aloe leaf to cool it down and sooth.  I was kicking myself after walking down the hill and noticing plantain popping up everywhere.  This plant is really good for poison oak (and ivy), bites, stings, diaper rash, and any itchy skin irritations, especially with burning or prickling sensations.  As a kid I learned you can chew up the leaf and spit it out onto your skin if you have a bug bite or bee sting.  You can also use it as an eye wash  for sore eyes or conjunctivitis.  Just make an infusion with the fresh leaves and use the tea as a wash topically.  Another great plant for poison oak is jewelweed.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2wNhs9s5Wo  ?

Cleavers (cooling and drying)

?

Cleavers is out in all of her glory.  Another cooling and drying plant that can be useful in psoroasis, eczema, dandruff, and other dry skin conditions.  This is a good one topically as a compress for fever, sunburns, and bleeding wounds.  Here is one of my favorite naturalists talking about cleavers as a wild edible food.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ3jfhI94yY&feature=youtube_gdata_player
 I will be going back to harvest a bunch to juice in the next couple of days. 

Mallow (cooling and moistening)

This mallow plant is flouishing under our black walnut tree.  The leaves and flowers of common mallow can be applied as poultices to wounds or drunk as an infusion to soothe coughs.  It is yummy cooked as a vegetable when young and tender.???????? The original marshmallows were made from a plant called marshmallow, (related to common mallow) by boiling pieces of the root of the plant in water, adding sugar and whipping. Then, the thick, white confection was dropped in spoon fulls onto waxed paper to dry into candy.

New growth on a wild artichoke plant

Old wild artichoke head long gone to seed

I think it is beautiful when you can see the different cycles of the seasons on the same plant.  One old seed head that survived the rains and a new baby artichoke growing from the plant.  These plants are extremely sharp and hard to get to without poking yourself but if you can manage it, you can get a free and abundant supply of artichoke hearts that are similar to the domesticated variety, not to mention the leaves make a good digestive aid.   

Sorry for the blurry photo...do you know about this book?  It is one of my all time favorites!  An excellent read and knowledge passed down that we just may need sometime in the near future. 

*Just have to make sure that you all know not to pick or eat any plant that you are not familiar with.  Lots of plants look alike and some are poisonous.  Please go out and learn from an experienced naturalist or herbalist!?

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Perennial Annual Vegetables For Sale in Australia

We have sold our lovely property, have moved to town and are in the process of  moving again.  I will not be able to post any plants for a while (but I should still be able to answer questions that people have).  When I am able to sell perennial vegetables and seeds again I will update this page.



This is my For Sale page, for notes on how to grow perennial vegetablesplease visit here.

From time to time I sell vegetable and herb plants and/or seeds, some of which are so rare that I do not know of anywhere else in the country that is selling them.  I only sell things that I have grown on the property here and I only grow plants that I think are amazing in some way or another.  Most of these plants are heirlooms, some have even been in my family since before I was born, while others have only been with us a few years and have proven worthy.  All of my seeds are pure and not crossed, they can all be grown open pollinated and I do not and will never grow or sell any GM plants or seed.  I can only sell some plants in their correct season; other plants can be sold all year.  Most people live too far from me to pick them up, unlike most plant and seed sellers I post these out at cost.  I post plants on Monday or Tuesday after payment has cleared, I only post Monday or Tuesday so that plants are not stuck in the post office over the weekend.

We are not certified organic and never will be as I do not use any of the organically certified poisons and fertilizers that most organic farms use and do not want to be associated with the use of such so-called “organic” poisons.   Many of the organic poisons can be worse for you than the synthetic ones.  Some such as rotenone, have been linked with Parkinsons disease and are banned in most countries in the world, yet they formed the backbone of organic farming in Australia for decades.

Instead of using organic or conventional poisons I control pests with integrated pest management (IPM) principles.  Basically IPM uses predator insects, spiders and other animals such as poultry to control pest insects.  I believe that IPM is far safer for my children and better for the environment than commercial or organic farming in every respect.

I plan to put links to growing information for each of these plants on this page.  If I have not done so and you order something please do not hesitate to ask me and I will email you growing notes.

No plants to Tasmania or Western Australia at this stage due to domestic quarantine, sorry.

If you would like to order or have any questions please contact me via the contact form on the lower right hand of this blog.


Organic Heirloom Vegetable Seeds - mostly not perennial but certainly worth growing these

Immali Corn (Zea mays) prototype.  A very early release of a beautiful and delicious sweet corn.  I have created this amazing variety myself, the colours are not changed during cooking (we ate the cob in the photo).  Produces 2 to 6 cobs of super sweet corn per plant.  This variety is not yet entirely stable so please do not save seeds yet.  Corn will cross pollinate with other varieties of corn so you may have some yellow seeds if someone is growing yellow corn near by   $5 per packet of about 20 seeds

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