Cassabanana Update (Sicana odorifera)

Just a short post. I absolutely love the leaf patterning of these little guys. I really need to split them into individuals pots. The roots are going to be a nightmare to untangle!

Germinating Cassabanana (Sicana odorifera)

Source: http://zoom50.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/sicana-odorifera.jpg

    This is one interesting melon.  The fruit can reach over 60cm in length and may be black, brown, orange or deep purple.  The centre of each fruit contains a large number of seeds.  These are surrounded by fleshy melon that tastes similar to cantaloupe.  The vines themselves are vigorous perennials that grow up to 15m.  They can be grown as annuals in climates with cold winters (like mine).  They thrive on heat and may grow relatively slowly until summer comes.

    I'm planning on starting them inside for the winter, then planting them out in the spring.  In the fall I'll cut back the vines, dig them up, and bring them inside for the winter.  I have no idea if they'll survive this kind of trauma, but I figure why not try?  I expect to have fruit by fall next year.

    The seeds should be soaked for a day or less prior to sowing.  Plant them about 2cm deep and they should begin sprouting relatively quickly (within less than a week).  People recommend starting them 1 to 2 months before you plan on planting them outside.  I however will probably plant them immediately upon receiving them because that's how I roll.

    I saved my carnivorous plant for last in honour of Halloween.  It's a pitcher plant of the species Nepenthes rowanae.

Recipe: Chayote Soup!

I finally got around to making another batch of my currently favourite soup! One of the things I love most about this soup is that it's really thick and creamy but with little fat and far fewer calories than comparably types. Depending on how you season the soup, it can sometimes taste like KFC gravy! You need to blend it all in the end, so make sure you have a blender or food processor available.

You can't usually get chayotes at typical grocery stores. I suggest going to more specialized ones. I've found them at Asia Food Mart, in London, Ontario for 50 - 69 cents per chayote. The recipe below allegedly makes 4 servings, but for us it's more like 2.

So you will need:

Onion

Red Pepper

Garlic

Coriander

2 Chayotes

Pepper

Water

Chicken Stock

Butter (or oil)

Generally, I'm not going to tell you how much of each to use because that's up to you! Just look at the pictures for guidance. :)

Step 1:

Put about 2tbsp of butter in a large pan. You can probably make due with one but I like my butter. Turn the burner on to medium-high and chop the onion, garlic and red pepper while the butter melts. Then toss it in the pan and let it cook for about 3 minutes.

Step 2:

During this time chop up the Chayote. I tend to remove the seeds. Some people also remove the skin but I haven't noticed a difference and just leave it on.

When done, toss in the chayote and shake up the pan. Let it cook for about 4-5 minutes still on medium-high heat.

Step 3:

While the veggies are cooking, mix 2 cups of water with 2tbsp of dry chicken broth. Chop as much coriander and you want and add it. I find the more you add, the more it tastes like KFC gravy. If you want to use it as gravy just cut down the water to make it thicker. Add pepper to taste. Again the more pepper, the more like KFC gravy. If you want to make it like gravy just seriously over-season it.

Turn the burner down to low and add the chicken broth mix and coriander. Now cover with a lid and let the entire thing simmer for about 30 minutes. You don't even need to stir it! Remember the lid, without it you won't have enough water to make soup in the end.

Step 4:

Turn off the burner and let everything cool for about 5-10 minutes (so you don't get burnt and your glassware can take the temperature). Now you have to put it all in a blender. I find moving stuff from a pan to blender to be incredibly difficult. I tend to get something like a spaghetti scoop to get out the solids first. Then over a sink a pour in the liquids. It usually dribbles a bit. As a general rule the liquid should be level with the top of the veggies.

Blend until smooth and your done. Many people prefer to chill chayote soup in the fridge, but I like it just as much warm. It's completely up to you. I also tend to end up with a brown coloured soup instead of the usually green. I'm not sure if it has to due with the green skin turning brown or a tendency to slightly overcook the entire thing. Maybe because I use fresh red pepper instead of red pepper flakes?

Enjoy!

Chayote

The Chayote (Sechium edule) is a gourd native to Mesoamerica but grown world-wide. I actually came across my first plant in Vancouver. Many houses grow them on trellises in their front yards. The root stalk is borderline hardy there depending on the severity of the winter, so it's probably a tender perennial in zone 7. At the time, I had no idea what the plant was. I just seemed like another random gourd. However, after getting back to London, Ontario I discovered them for sale at Asia Food Mart.

I asked someone working there about the chayotes and she suggested I make them into a soup. The soup was absolutely delicious! I'll be sure to post the recipe next time I make it (probably later this week). I loved it so much that I decided to plant some seeds. Each Chayote comes with a large edible seed in the centre. In many cases the vine has already started growing out of the fruit when you purchase it.

Now they normally tell you to plant the fruit whole, but I really like the soup. I basically cut about 1cm around one seed and planted another one bare. The bare one never sprouted but the one with fruit has turned into a little vine. Growth has been slow to start but I expect it to speed up. I'm in zone 6a so I'm hoping if I cover it up for the winter the roots will survive. It's probably to late to expect any fruit this year.

I highly recommend you try Chayote if you can find one. You can even eat it raw and chop it for salads. It almost tastes like a less intense pear/apple cross with a similar texture. I'm thinking the summers here may be a bit too warm (bordering on 30C during the day). There's only one way to find out. Hopefully by this time next year I'll have baby Chayotes covering a vigourous vine!

Bloom Day July - Plot Update (Don't Get Too Excited)

I have a single Lantana flower in my plot so instead here's an update with the veggies!  I've been watering every two or three days.  What they really need is water two times a day!  You can see they look a little awful but at least they're still alive.  My plot has purple orach, leeks, tomatoes, spinach, chard, pak choi, moringa, and zucchini.

Moringa stenopetala 2 Update I (24 Days)

I started soaking a new batch of Moringa stenopetala seeds about 24 days ago.  For anyone that doesn't know, I've tried them previously.  They grew well in a greenhouses but eventually succumbed to a pest.  I think the pots I started them in were too small.  Moringa are known to be sensitive to the amount of soil they're started in.  They send down a taproot and I think when it hit the base of the pot they stopped growing.

I was sent a second batch of seeds for free but I held onto them until just about three weeks ago.  I soaked them for several days, planted them in compost and then left them in a warm cupboard.  I had to use ice cream pots which seem to work really well.  Six seeds were planted in each.  The right one was always kept indoors until sprouting.  For the left one I wanted to see if they would sprout in outdoor temperatures.  After a week there was nothing so I brought it in and then they started to sprout.

I've been putting the seedlings outside on sunny days and bringing them in during the winter.  It's still a bit cold here in the evenings and I don't want to impede growth.  Animals also LOVE these little Moringa seedlings and there is no way I'll leave them outside unguarded during the night.

For anyone that wants to know why I'm so interested in this plant, take a look here.  The nutritional properties of Moringa species are similar.  My goal is to grow them as a tuber in the summer and then dig up and store for the winter.  We'll have to see how it goes!

I Have a Plot in Cottonwood Gardens!

I now have a plot at the Cottonwood Community Gardens here in Vancouver.  The gardens are located on the South-Eastern corner of Strathcona Park.  Oddly enough, another community garden known as 'Strathcona' is located about five minutes away and not in the park itself.  This had me confused for about two weeks but know I have everything figured out and have my own plot!

 It's only $10 for membership and then $5 per plot.  That's on $15 each year for water, compost, pots and the ability to grow whatever I want (within legal bounds of course).

I decided that the part of the plot nearest to the paths will be used for vegetables and the rest will be for decorative plants.  So far I've planted purple orach, leeks, tomatoes, pak choi, spinach and some rainbow chard.  The leeks could take up to 3 months but the growing season here is longer so I should be fine.  I've also ordered some stevia seeds which should be arriving within a week or so.

Today myself and James spent about three hours adding soil, edging with rocks that people had dug up, level the bed and planting.  We also dropped in our two Lantana plants.  They have barely grown since last fall.  We just dug them up, cut off their roots and jammed them in pots.  It's probably about time they get some good soil and room to grow.

Although I intend for the rest of the space to be for decoratives, I really some more tomatoes, zucchini, and strawberries.  We'll just have to see what the future holds and time permits.

We also saw this on the way home.  They have the most priceless store branding.  Look at the picture next to the store name.  WARNING:  Not for people without a sense of humour.  Oh Vancouver, how I love thee.

Tomatoes Almost Here!

I'm getting excited because my Tiny Tim Tomatoes are doing well and I've already got one that should be ripe in a few days!  I wanted to test out this variety and was interested in seeing how well it would grow under lights.  It's done really well and the pot is filled with roots.  I tried putting more plants in the pot than it could handle but I ended up with one large plant, a medium, and about 4 tiny ones.  I was hoping it would slow their growth and keep them from hitting the lights.  I ended up just leaving the largest two and they've grown into the lights anyways.  Just a few more days...

I seem to be having some weird image issues.  I think it has to do with Picasa Web Albums.  There should be two images below.  If you don't see them just let me know.

Update:  The issue seems to be resolved.  Yeah!

First Tomato and Brugmansia (45 Days)

I noticed yesterday that Tomatoes are actually beginning to form on my Tiny Tim plants.  I pollinated them with a beard trimmer as suggested by Kenneth.  Apparently the vibration is enough to release and spread the pollen within the flower.  I was worried that it didn't work, but the little green ball I saw this morning tells me otherwise!  It's hard to see but right at the centre of the picture.  Yeah, super early spring veggies!

The Brugmansia are also doing very well.  They're already hitting the lights with their very large leaves.  The stems are budding with growth and the first few branches are beginning to start.  Now I probably should have transplanted them into their own pots a while ago.  I'll make sure to do that this weekend after I apply to a few more jobs.  Does anyone have transplant tips?  The roots are really intertwined.

I'm going to send in a second application to the job that I'm really excited for just to add some things.  I'm concerned they won't want to hire me because I might have to fly there for an interview (I'm hoping skype is fine but worst case I might be able to pay for a flight).  I also haven't included any renders of buildings so I'll probably do a new one on Thursday.  Wish me luck!

Seedling Update

It's been about a week since my last seedling update.  I'll mention the Lithops and Conophytum in a separate post.  I'm also thinking about going through all my posts and checking all the plant names and nicely italicizing them.  The idea to do this began with a simple annoyance - the 's' on the end of Lithops.  I blame Kenneth.  See the post and comments here.

First off we have the Tiny Tim Tomatoes.  They only grow to 45cm in height and are just over half way there.  So I guess they're not really seedlings any more.  I tried to tell them but they seemed offended so I figured alright, whatever you say.  I should thin them, but I'm trying to keep them smaller so they'll fit under the light.  That being said I'm still planning to remove all but two or three.  I might have to do some pinching.  Hopefully I'll start getting flowers relatively soon so I can have winter tomatoes!

Next up is the Brugmansia.  They have started to put out their first 'real' leaves so I'm very proud.  That tiny one is the one that I had to perform open seed surgery on.  The plant was damaged a little when I tried to remove the seed capsule but I think it will be alright.  If not, two plants is alright but I always like to have a back up.  It's been about 28 days since sowing.

Finally here are the Datura with some leeks in the background.  Only one of the ten Datura seeds hasn't sprouted so I'm quite impressed.  I'll just move one of the plants in the furthest cell to the empty one.  The leeks have been doing very well.  I accidentally let them dry out a little but they seem unphased.

Veggie and Brugmansia (23 Days) Seedlings

Latest seedling updates from the exciting plant village of Growlightia!

Some of the Brugmansia leaves have a white colour, is this normal?  I know I should remove the seed shell on the third one but I'm afraid of hurting it (of course it looks really really sad).  When should I move them to their own pots?  It's been about 23 days since sowing.

EDIT:  I felt bad and performed emergency open seed surgery.  It's in stable condition but there was some damage to the surrounding tissue.  Nelly will probably pull through but any and all support is greatly appreciated. 

I've never grown Leeks before.  The germination rate seems to be in excess of 85% so far.  Should I thin them to one per cell or is it fine to grow a few together?

Everyone want to call this 'Purple Spinach' but it's not related to spinach and that really bothers me.  It should be called Purple Orach so that is how I will refer to it.  I'm going to plant the seeds outside in the spring but was really curious about them so started a few early.

I thought they were unhealthily lanky but I searched for some images of seedlings and the few that I saw looked like this.  Really odd.  I'll keep an eye on them but I'm less concerned.  All the seeds sprouted but one is green.  I secretly hate that one.

Here are the Tiny Tim Tomatoes at about 3 weeks old.  I've removed three or four seedlings already.  I'll probably end up leaving three plants in the pot.  One of them decided to be yellowy-white.  Could this be a light or fertilizer thing?  I'm must wondering because of the Brugmansia.  I put a garlic clove in the middle because... *cough*

Supposedly I'll get the first fruit in three weeks.  I think I need to step up the fertilizer and maybe toss in some more dirt so they can form more roots.