Cannas

     If you've met me, you probably know that I gush over cannas, my favorite root vegetable. And I have never eaten a single one other than the green leaves. 

    I was introduced to the fun and ease of growing bulbs and tubers when I briefly lived in Michigan, and the love of it has stayed with me with cannas, amaryllis, and taro. Cannas are my best, they have amazing flowers for months on end.

     Sadly, over the years my canna collection has been dying down, mostly due to neglect and cold winter weather. Im not going to pretend that I am a perfect person. I have three kids and a job, trying to fit in exercise and watering the plants has been rough.

     They absolutely need water in the summer to survive. The native Florida cannas, which I have none of, grow in boggy areas at the edges of ponds and lakes. I havent ever seen any growing in a river. Mine are in pots sunken into my ponds, many of which I built primarily for canna and water hyacinth culture. And yes, the rabbits love to eat cannas!

     My mother bought me these bright pink beauties for my birthday last year. Maybe I had told her how much I loved the pink ones with the big flowers. And these, like my few other pinks, appear to be dwarf cannas, not climbing the 8 feet like the nondwarf variety.

    Somehow these have not just survived, but thrived in the location that I placed them, chosen mostly for safety. They have been blooming since March, and its now almost June. The tubers are growing so large they have nearly broken the plastic pot holding them. The leaves have been yellowing, notbsurebif thats from packnof nutrition, the heat, or fromndyingbdownnat the end of the season. I want to divide the pinks and repot, but when I get a few minutes to take care of it I realize that they have sent up yet another flower. Which begs the question:

     Do tropical bulbs need to be separated after flowering is completed, or can you separate them and transplant at any time?

     

   

🍍 Pineapple

This pineapple has only taken about 5 years to start creating new life.

I guess this one must be Red Spanish.

from Catalogue of Rare Florida Flowers and Fruits:1894

Water hyacinth

     Hands down, my favorite vegetable to grow in the garden is an edible perennial called Water Hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes.) It's the vegetable that I eat most regularly. It requires very little ❤. It's hardy in our winters. It's edible by the rabbits.

     My favorite way to eat them is to slice the airbulbs lengthwise until the size of greenbeans, then stir fry on the stove with mushrooms, garlic, and oil. The water hyacinth ends up tasting like green beans and is just as healthy.

     I literally love this plant so much it's become part of my retirement strategy - to cut down on food costs by growing as much as possible at home. I plan on cooking and eating it several times a week at least. And it does need to be cooked to ensure safety.

     In the summer I harvest the plants, cut off the roots, and feed them whole to the rabbits. The plants are high in plant protein, which is difficult for the rabbits to get in their diet. Between the water hyacinth and the napier grass, I think that I can make a complete diet for the rabbits.

from the Catalogue of Rare Florida Flowers and Fruits: 1894

Job stuff

     I have had the same job for the past 5 years. Its been enlightening, tough, sometimes emotionally rough, but always interesting. Its been at a hospital during the night shift - where I am assigned a team of patients, and have to manage all their healthcare needs. It can be fun, even enjoyable, to help a person. It can be rough, even disheartening, to be manipulated by patients.

     I'm not leaving the hospital. At least not soon. But I am going to slide into a different position at the hospital, and pick up a part time job during the day seeing patients in their homes. I would work more at the hospital, but no one in my family seems to be interested in watching the youngest overnight. Ever. Even though he sleeps great. Ok thats not totally true my mother does help sometimes but she lives so far away. But his father refuses to take him for half the week, just will have him the minimum amount of time possible.

     I am so excited about this day job. I just dropped off the money and paperwork for Peanuts first day at daycare. He will theoretically be at daycare two days a week, not a terrible trade off. I will have to make enough money to offset that investment, if i see three patients in two days its paid for and it pays for the wear on the car. So if i can see 4 patients each day both Thursday and Friday, it would be awesome. Plus I wont be bored during the day, stuck in the house with the youngest.