homemade

Nothing I grew went into this recipe, but its a new cooking attempt for me so I figured had a place here. Making noodles from scratch!

I wanted a real honest-to-goodness home-style chicken soup. Found a few recipes online, surprised at how simple it sounds. All it contains is eggs, flour and a pinch of salt. Mixed by hand like I do for pizza dough. The one tedious part was kneading the dough- I spent over twenty minutes at it, just until it was smooth and elastic feeling, no longer gritty, tacky texture under palms. Rolled out very very thin and cut into strips.

They went into the soup at the end, for three to five minutes- but I think it should have been two. I either over cooked, or over-kneaded the dough: it had a rather chewy texture. The kids loved it regardless!

I'm definitely going to try this again. Hopefully next time I'll even have some home-grown herbs to put in the soup.

worm rescue

When I tipped the ginger pot to brush half-frozen mud off its base, found a handful of worms feebly crawling there. Dark purplish color, almost dead from the cold. I dropped them into my indoor bin.

cold

Last night was a hard frost. All the long leaves of nicotiana plants drooping from the shock. I think they've probably all reseeded themselves, so don't care if they appear to die back. Not sure if the lemon balm will survive in its pot, I'll shelter that one when snows come. The only other plant outside was my ginger. I should have brought it in last week. It collapsed. I've brought it in to dry out and overwinter. Cutting the foliage for the compost, sharp scent arises.

gotcha!

It took several days to catch my lone kuhli fish, Sammy.

The problem was, Oliver is too smart! He knew that trap had food in it, and I was fasting the fishes to tempt the kuhli in. I couldn't let Oliver stay in the trap too long- bettas can actually drown if prevented from surfacing. Once he actually lined his nose up to the cap hole and got out again- but five or six times in a row I had to release him, and when I replaced the trap he would go straight back in. All this in and out was too much disturbance; even though I was placing the trap in twilight hours, the kuhli wouldn't come out of hiding, and I couldn't leave the trap in overnight, for fear of drowning Oliver.

So I tried making the opening smaller. First I stretched tight a small piece of plastic wrap over the hole with a rubber band, leaving just a narrow horizontal gap at the bottom. It defeated the platies- they would bump their noses, give up. Oliver was determined. He figured out how to bang the plastic with his nose until it gave some, they lay his body sideways and squeeze through. I was surprised he made it in, and impressed at his problem-solving skills! The kuhli almost came in at one point; could definitely smell the bait and wiggled up searching for the opening, got his head and part of the body in, then backed out and wouldn't return. I wonder if he didn't like the feel of plastic edge on his back?

Then I put a new obstacle on it. I got a stiffer piece of clear plastic, cut it to fit the opening with a flap on the sides, used a hole punch to make a small oblong hole, fastened it on tight with rubber band again (over the folded flaps). It kept Oliver out. He couldn't force his head in. I watched him try a few times, then he left and didn't come back to the trap. Smart fish. I left too, stayed out of the room for over an hour, confident now that Oliver wouldn't get stuck in there and I could leave it as long as it took for the shy kuhli to get hungry.

Later in the morning I sent my three-year-old into the room: "go see if there's something new in my fish tank." She went, looked, yelled excitedly: "Mommy! Sammy is in the fish trap!" Ha ha. Gotcha.

Now he's in the big tank with the other kuhlis. I've seen him hanging out with them under the log already, but he also seems to like the little rock cave I once made, crams himself in there repeatedly. I hope he feels at home and likes having some buddies.

shorter

The bigger jade plant also got cut back; its stems were getting top-heavy and flopping over. I tried to adjust the watering over a few weeks but still had issues, couldn't quite figure out if it needed more or less moisture- so I finally just cut it back. This at least will make it sturdier.

other side:

trimmed

I cut back my geranium.

This was a few days ago; just yesterday removed the older leaves so the small ones coming in all uniform size.

It kind of has an awkward shape now but I'm not sure which stems to take out to get a nicer balance. So I've left it alone while continue to consider.

herbs

The shelf life is nearly done on all the dried herbs I had. Some were beginning to smell musty so I threw them out. Now I've only got a pinch of stevia left, and one live plant brought inside- the parsley.

I've been cutting so much of it to eat it hardly has time to recover and grow!

fishie shuffle

Moved some fish today. After rearranging the crypts in the main aquarium, I set a simple fish trap in the small one. It's just a water bottle with the cap end cut off and inverted, to create a funnel. A bit of tempting food in the base- shrimp pellet- and just lay it on the substrate. I was surprised how easy it worked- I didn't want to catch Oliver, but he went in there first!

Three fishies in my hand- they seem so small, held like this.

I let Oliver go back in his home, and moved the cherry barb pair into the main tank. I was right- they are smaller still than their buddies- although the female has a very fat belly from gorging on shrimp pellet while I waited for her partner to enter the trap. Next time I'll put less bait!

It was easy to catch the platyfish and move them into the ten gallon- I didn't even have to set a trap- just lift the aquarium lid and scoop them out, they always come to the surface curious and eager for possible handouts. Oliver darted at them flaring his gills at first, then followed them closely all over the tank, now is acting more casual but I'll keep a close eye on them.

I still don't have a new home for these guys. But I wanted the barbs to all be together. It looks quite different in the little tank without the bright gold and red of the barbs. With Oliver dark as the wood and the platies a paler hue of the background, it looks like different pieces of the environment are animated and swimming around!

The fish I really wanted to catch was Sammy- so he can be with the other kuhlis- but he's still in hiding. He comes out and does the "happy kuhli dance" up and down the glass when I refresh the water and I thought I could catch him then, but I frightened him back into hiding. I'll replace the trap after dark and see if he'll enter.

underwater gardening

did a bit of that today. Cut out dying leaves- from a few apnogeton, a few java fern, a third of the leaves on the amazon sword, same for the crypts. I want to be able to see if the new leaves stay healthy, but it's hard to compare when my attention keeps going to the older ones still dying off from changes. So far it still looks promising- the younger leaves that looked nice last week are still holding their green.

I also spread apart the clumps of crypt wendtii- turns out I have more than eighteen individual plants, if separate the crowns. There are still two or three paired up, but the rest in their own space now. I was pleased to see they all have healthy, long white roots. The leaf color is nice, strong veins with pink and purple undersides. The newer leaves are still nice bold blue-green, without any algae encroaching yet.

Now I've got a kind of crypt thicket growing in the front corner of the tank.

I left the biggest one in front of the java/driftwood cave, but the kuhlis still feel exposed, are cramming themselves under the log.

The rotala is growing and growing, tallest stems in each grouping have reaching the surface!

In the smaller tank, I removed the thread that held java moss onto the fake skull, and put the loose bits in the water jar. There are still quite a few threads of moss clinging to the skull- just what I always wanted them to do. I have trimmed those stems very short, to encourage branching and more growth. No pics of it thought- it is so small and fine I can't get the camera to focus.

The anubias in there are looking great- the newer leaves have bold color and less brown mottling- new shoots still arising, and the java ferns, while poor in color, are sending up new fiddleheads so I'm hopeful for them, too (the plants never repair old damaged or deficient leaves, but grow new ones in response to better conditions/nutrients).

cuttings

I have cut all the stems of arrowhead and stuck them in a jar of water. I just like the way it looks better, not so leggy but grouped together, and the leaves seem to get bigger this way. It appears happiest when very damp- but I've left the original plant in pot so if the stems rot here I can always start it over.

It never did before- I just kept trimming and it kept growing in the water. (I gave that first green bouquet away). It's been in jar a week now and already roots are growing.

doing better?

Fish day observations. I'm giving the full dose of nutrients on both tanks, although I probably need to double the root tabs (gave five whole tabs to the 20 gal today; recommended dose is ten once a month) which is 1 ml micronutrients on the small tank, 2 ml for the bigger one, 1/32 tsp potassium for the small, 1/16 for the bigger. Maybe I need more of that too- a few java fern leaves are showing pinholes again and in the smaller tank they are not recovering yet.... or they need other macros as has been suggested- still black areas on many leaves (not algae, doesn't rub off) although that might be just foliage dying off with the new adjustment, as the newer leaves look better.

At least in comparison. Rotala still has leaves  green like stars on top and some from base of stems, longer leaves not stunted dark curling ones. I'm pleased. One stem has almost reached the water surface; maybe soon I will trim and reset the tops.

Amazon sword has responded too. Its newer leaves show no signs of algae (green splotches) or decay (black marks) and have stronger-looking veins, with kind of a purple tint. I wasn't expecting this change, I take it as a mark of health.

It's grown quite a bit taller, too.

The crypts also seem to be doing better. All their younger leaves, that were just emerging when I began dosing potassium and root tabs, have a nice olive hue, stronger veins, pretty pinkish tint to the underside and stems. No sign of algae on the newer foliage. Older leaves blotchy and dying off, but I think that's normal for the adjustment. New foliage growing constantly from the base too. Soon I will divide these- they're actually growing in two main clumps which have three to five or six crowns each, plus there's three baby offshoots in another loose group (younger leaves on those look healthier too) but I don't want to disrupt them too soon, and plan to separate the crowns on a day I might move or introduce new fishes- changes in the aquascape distracts resident fish from bullying newcomers too much (I still want to move the kuhli Sam into here, at least).

Java fern. It has some big leaves holding on to their bold green lush color, these also have stronger-looking veins. Oldest leaves turning black and dying off, but not as rapidly as before, and for the first time in ages on cleaning day I didn't feel compelled to pull out yellowed and bleaching leaves. A few new fiddleheads as well.

I have never gotten a picture of this, but on the back end of the java fern log, there is the tiniest clump of java moss growing with minute little leaves.

Apono, my poor aponos. Only four of them look okay, the others I think might be too far gone to recover now. The "good" ones are still sending out new shoots, but older foliage also continues to die. It was actually looking great earlier this week, started to look peaky just a few days ago and this morning mottled brown on the older ones. I think nutrients still too few for this plant. Needs more root tabs or maybe a second dose of micros halfway thru the week...

Watersprite is coming back! All the plant bits I pegged down have doubled in size, new shoots unfurling from the bases of some too. Phew. At least I have saved some. It's hard to get a pic of those- they're behind the sword.

So- overall I think it is slowly improving. I can see now why people told me on the forums to "do a proper low-tech tank" with a nutrient-rich substrate. Then I wouldn't have to put in root tabs all the time... but I don't want to tear this tank apart and start over. Maybe I'll do it the other way when I upgrade to a thirty for angels...

When I glance into the tank from afar, the overall appearance is one of green things growing, not yellowing and brown, so I am hopeful again. Also for the first time ever, I see the plants producing oxygen- little bubbles pearling on the leaves. I think that's a good sign!

Last note: in the tenner, java ferns are not doing too good (I haven't seen any new leaves start in a while, and the older ones pinholes and black splotches again) but the anubias all continue to produce new shoots, and when I trimmed the java moss (I'm still growing it in jars) discovered that some strands are actually clinging to the top of the fake skull. I thought it was never going to do that!

fronds

My boston fern is also doing nicely. The new foliage on this one is longer than ever.

new!

For only the second time in four years, my avocado plant has put forth new leaves, and seems to be holding onto them.

The oldest set of foliage is looking tired and droopy, so maybe its just regenerating itself to replace. But the new shoot grew right after I gave the plant fish water with worm leachate in it, so I think it's responding to the extra nutrients.

lovely

poinsettia

application

It was with satisfaction I spread vermicompost on my boyfriend's hosta bed a few days ago. Felt like real gardening again! Over the past few weeks whenever leacheate started dripping into the tray, I lifted the new bin off the old, turned over all the material with my hands to loosen it up, especially where it was compacted like mud on the bottom. In the process picked out worms. The first time, there were so many still in the old bin my back got tired of bending over before I even sorted through it all. The second time, there were half or less the amount of worms, and I picked through all the soil, dropping them by handfuls at a time into the new bin. They squirm tickling on the skin, then dissappear quickly into the bedding. They appear more robust and lively than before.

This time, I intended to empty the old bin completely. As turned over material, sifted out the worms by hand, dumped compost into a bucket, worms into new bin. Not nearly so many. I filled two five-gallon buckets with vermicompost, and still had enough left over to mostly fill another bucket. It was pretty damp so I mixed in some old soil from my now-empty planter boxes, worked it through until all nice and crumbly. Put these two buckets' worth on the hostas, and the remainder went into a nearly-empty potting soil bag. I folded the top down loosely, punched holes in the side (with a carving fork) and stashed under the kitchen dresser. Supposed to keep working, keep the microorganisms alive, if it stays moist and aerated during storage. I bet I missed a few worms, or some will hatch from eggs left in, so they'll continue working it and when I pull it out in spring to repot my plants, it will be in even better condition to use.