The cymbidium flowering again with plenty of winter colour, all ready for display inside the apartment. Cymbidiums are a tough and reliable pot plant for most Australian conditions. Possibly the commonest mistake in growing them is giving them too sheltered conditions. In Summer rainfall areas they do fine in their pots outside in bright light (morning sunlight is ideal). Dry conditions in Winter are best. You can bring them inside while they flower, and they make a bold show with their good size and strappy leaves.
Read MoreMonth: July 2012
Golden Rice
A recent Swiss radio (DRS) podcast had an interesting report, about Golden Rice and the introduction of genetic engineering. Golden Rice was engineered to produce beta-carotene in the endosperm. The background is that Vitamin A deficiency is widespread in tropical developing countries, and that the beta-carotene (precursor of Vitamin A), although naturally produced by rice, is mainly present in the bran and so polished away in the culturally preferred preparation by refining. By engineering the staple crop to produce available vitamin, the researchers potentially neatly solved a major malnutrition problem.…
Read MoreGreenhouse
We picked this greenhouse up at Aldi for $30. It seemed so cheap that it didn’t matter if it was useless, but it’s turned out to be surprisingly good. Assembly was complicated, and it’s not at all rigid. The panels are polycarbonate formed like corrugated cardboard, which seems to give it good insulation. We had a 6 degree C night this week, and the temperature stayed above 10 C in the greenhouse, so I’ve put my Phalaenopsis orchids in (under shade cloth). It’s against the North facing wall (which also…
Read MoreRosemary
Having rosemary to pick is kind of a kitchen essential, and a bonus is that it’s a beautiful and perfectly behaved plant. Mine is flowering now, in mid winter, and attracting a few bees. Rosemary is very hardy, grown in a large pot, and long lived. About the only attention it needs is deciding which sprigs to pick in order to keep the shape right.
Read MoreSourdough rising, shaping, baking
Following on the ‘Sourdough recipe’ post, here’s a quick outline for finishing the loaf. Leave the kneaded dough to rise for around three or four hours. The timing isn’t critical, and will depend on your kitchen temperature, but the aim is to double the dough volume. I use the mixing bowl with cling film over, and it’s important to either cover the bowl or give the dough ball a light cover of oil to stop a crust forming. Next comes the shaping. Remove the risen dough and give it a…
Read MoreDandelion salad herb
Apparently we have the French to thank for breeding a dandelion salad herb cultivar. I got mine as seeds from a local merchant. We like the occasional dandelion leaf addition to green salads, and friends have commented favourably on it, but it’s definitely for those who don’t mind a bit of bitterness. You can blanch the leaves under a pot to reduce the flavour, but who’s organised enough for that? Growing dandelion I would have said this hardly needs instruction. It stretches the boundary between weed and herb if you’ve got…
Read MorePhotoperiodism
This plane tree is on my daily circuit. In mid Winter (July 14th) these branches still hold their leaves because the day length is artificially extended by the street light. The rest of the tree is bare. I reckon in a colder climate the cold nights would tip the balance.
Read MoreWho are we?
I was deeply impressed recently by a film clip from the late 19th century. It was part of a program on the development of the new technology of electricity generation in New York city. A ‘war of currents’ had developed between Edison, who was heavily invested in direct current, and Tesla, who wanted to introduce the radical new alternating current. Edison wanted to make AC unpopular by portraying it as dangerous, and so he staged public electrocution of various animals. The clip shown was of an elephant, shackled, being electrocuted…
Read MoreSalad burnet
I was glad to see our virtuoso local chef Chui Lee Luk single out salad burnet the other night as one of her favourites. It’s an excellent plant for a sunny balcony, as it’s happy in a pot, very hardy, available to pick all year, and hard to find in the shops. The leaves are very pretty and have a cucumber aroma, with maybe a little coriander leaf in there too. Only pick the young leaves while they are the paler green, as the older leaves get tough. I think…
Read MoreConcentric reflections
Here’s a photo that added interest to a midwinter evening. I had got caught in unexpected rain on my way home from the gym, but was glad to see this pattern in the plane trees on the way home. It demonstrates some aspect of physics that only concentric surfaces reflect light back to an observer. Pretty though.
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