An Apple’s Family Tree

Apple WhakapapaThis family tree shows how the various popular varieties of New Zealand apples have been bred. They originated with the Cox’s Orange Pippin from the United Kingdom, and the Delicious variety from the United States. Royal gala and braeburn are both hugely popular varieties. My personal favourite though is the crisp and tangy golden delicious.

It’s just one of hundreds of beautiful images, graphs, video and audio resources that form Te Ara – the online encyclopedia of New Zealand. Te Ara has launched their new section of the site The Settled Landscape, which looks at the agriculture, horticulture and the general taming of New Zealand.  Their section on  The Bush is a luscious look at the unique flora and fauna here – more about that some other time. The encyclopedia is an incredible resource and hours of fun.

Come for the pictures stay for the fascinating info. There’s sooooo much for a horticulturally-minded wee thing to enjoy…..

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Photosynthesis

photosynthesisWant to know how photosynthesis works? Spend 5 minutes watching this illustrated presentation showing you how it’s done.

Aren’t things so much easier to understand when illustrated?

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Greensulate – Insulation from Mushrooms

In the very cool but very warm plant product category this week, we have Greensulate – a low-cost, rigid insulating board made from mushroom spores.

“The insulation is created by pouring a mixture of insulating particles, hydrogen peroxide, starch, and water into a panel mold. Mushroom cells are then injected into the mold, where they digest the starch producing a tightly meshed network of insulating particles and mycelium. The end result is an organic composite board that has a competitive R-Value a measurement of resistance to heat flow and can serve as a firewall.” (Thanks Sustainable Times)

Spores from oyster mushrooms are used in the board which according to David Blume can be grown on distillers grains. Another part of link in the permacultural chain? Corn – alcohol – distillers grains – oyster mushrooms – earthworms – castings – and insulation board? I may have to get one of these NZ oyster mushroom kits for Christmas.

Watch the video Stop Global Warming by Growing Styrofoam with Fungi on YouTube.com.

Read Environmentally Friendly Organic Insulation Uses Mushroom Spores at ScienceDaily.com

Image: Oyster mushrooms by the lovely maggihc @ Dog Hill Kitchen

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What’s in a name?: Binomial Nomenclature

AKA….Plant names 101

For the love of god, why?????

It’s probably the last thing anyone wants to learn about plants – their Latin binomial. I’m not geeky enough to say that it’s fun and exciting, but it does have three stellar things going for it:

1) It will also save you time and energy when talking about plants, because you know the other person is talking about the same plant,

2) You’ll learn so much more about plant relationships,

3) It might just save your life – don’t go eating plants if you don’t know what they are!

Taxonomy, binomials, and how to write plant names after the jump…
Read more

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Rocket Farming

I may have inadvertently started the potentially great Kapiti Coast rocket (Eruca sativa) weed problem. And I have mixed feelings about it. We simply don’t need any more weeds around this place. But I’m always happy when things self sow, it’s the way things are meant to happen.

The rocket came from certified-organic stock, and I first planted it 2 years ago. It’s been self-seeding regularly which has been fabulous, growing all year round. Now it has started growing in my lawn, proving that it doesn’t need great soil to do well. It’s frost-resistant and drought-tolerant. It does go to seed quickly though.

Many years ago my interest in lettuce waned. It was simply a case of over-use. I was uninspired by salady greeny leafy things until a relative newcomer rocketed into my world and rocked it! Rocket – I love your peppery flavour, the zest you bring into my life. You’re a match made in heaven with tomatoes and you are out of this world with haloumi.

The flowers are really pretty and are a tasty garnish or addition to salads. And a little reading at Plants for a Future suggests that the seeds could make a mustard alternative. The seed yields a semi-drying oil which is a substitute for rapeseed oil. It can also be used for lighting, burning with very little soot. The powdered seed has antibacterial properties.

I love it rocket – it’s one of those plants that deliver on flavour, attractiveness, medicinal and industrial properties. It’s a plant I’ll be nurturing in my garden for a longtime to come.

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