Eat the Water Hyacinth

Raw

     If you want to grow your own food, you may have to open up to the idea of eating some fruits and vegetables that are not commonly found at the grocery store. And if you live in Florida, you're going to be working with a whole different plant set and growing season changes than them Yankee gardeners. All this flexibility in diet isn't easy, most people eat the foods that they were raised eating and find trying new foods to be difficult.

     Water hyacinth is my new favorite local food. It's a water plant that grows in warm water, and is well known for how quickly it creates baby plants. In the past it has been used to pull toxins out of water sources, indeed, water purification is one of it's advantages. After I had added it to my pond the water instantly cleared and the fish became visible. Because the pond water is kinda yucky, I feel that water hyacinth should always be cooked, and I handle it like it's contaminated with E.coli (as it may be after the great manure spill of 2016). 

     According to Green Deane, the best way to eat water hyacinth is to stir fry, and I completely agree. With oil and garlic preferably. It has a taste not dissimilar from some good fresh green beans, which are hard to come by nowadays. The texture is decidedly different, as the air bulbs are crunchy and airy, like eating potato chips, and can be a bit chewy. Overall I would say that water hyacinth is quite palatable.

     Water hyacinth is very different from other fruits and vegetables. Because it is so unusual I couldn't get the kids to try it, what a shame! It's so easy to grow in the pond - right plant, right space - that is seems to be ever bearing. Like ever bearing crunchy green beans! Even if the kids never eat it, I know I can eat it and the rabbits do quite enjoy the green bits (they won't eat the roots.)

     This video talks a little bit about how water hyacinth is used at this lake to feed local livestock, including chickens.

 

Buy this plant from me?

     This morning I snapped a quick picture of this dwarf pink canna. This is its first bloom of the season.
     As you may know, cannas love full sun and plenty of water. Its hard to overwater them! They can be placed in a pot into an existing or new pond. I was thinking $5 or plant trade would be a good price, as this is a 100% organic offering of an edible suitable for the front yard.
     Check out the Craigslist Posting for this plant.

Buy this plant from me - Dwarf Red Canna

This morning I snapped a quick picture of this dwarf, red Canna. This is its first bloom of the season.
As you may know, Cannas love full sun and plenty of water. It's difficult to overwater them! Cannas can be placed into a pot in a new or existing pond, or planted out in the ditch that might exist in your yard.
I was thinking $5 or a trade/barter would be a good price, as this is a 100% organic offering of an edible plant beautiful enough for the front yard.
Thank you for checking out my plants. More offerings to come in the future. Ok to ask questions, even dumb ones.
-Knotty Pots
Chrissy

The Clone Bucket, Week 3 and Potting Out

The third week of the clone bucket, the week of promised clone finishing, had finally arrived. I opened up the bucket to hopefully find masses of white roots... only to find this...

    Need I say, I was a little bit disappointed. 

          I hadn't followed the directions. The operator is supposed to use rooting hormones in the water. Then it is recommended to use hydroponic nutrient solution for feeding the plants while they are rooting.

               And what is this? It can only be described as a bacterial slime mold.

     So, I have planted out the remaining living cuttings, one of which has three or four tiny roots on it, the rest have no visible roots but are not dead or sliming. If these 5 live, then that ratio of 5:8 survival rating is not too bad, considering there is nothing but water in the system.

The Clone Bucket. Week 2 Update

     For the second week of the clone bucket project, I was delighted to find that only one of the cuttings had seemed to fail, by turning brown at the bottom and getting a little bit slimy. I removed it from the others and tossed it into the compost pile. Then rinsed out the bucket with water, added fresh water,and started the pump again. Although there is not much visible difference in the leaves of the cuttings, I did notice the green hibiscus (turk's cap) had grown a little bit. None of the cuttings have visible roots at this point.

Clone Bucket Experiment, Setup and Results of Week 1

     I was so excited with the gift Santa brought for me, an "aeroponic" cloning bucket. I promise only to use my new-found cloning powers for evil. Or good? For its trial run, I have two different kinds of hibiscus cuttings (Hibiscus acetosella and  Malvaviscus penduliflorus) for a total of 8 cuttings. The bucket is on the windowsill of my kitchen, a very shady spot but good for keeping an eye on things. The directions recommend opening the bucket every week and cleaning out the water, which I have to admit was feeling a bit...slimy. It lacked odor.

     It's hard to say what's going on with these cuttings. They are not black and dead, nor are they water soaked and swollen. The leaves on the green hibiscus are larger than they were, a good sign. The purple hibiscus shows no change. Overall, I approve.

The Clone Bucket, Part 1.

     I may have mentioned my aspirations to be a mad hibiscus maven, someone who is willing to share freely information, preferably about something unusual, like hibiscus. They are members of the mallow/rose family, and make for a tasty addition to both human and rabbit palates.Other than the Chinese hibiscus, many members of the family grow very well here in west Florida, including one of my favorites, the Turk's Cap hibiscus.

     So I have asked Santa this year for a cloning bucket similar to this one from Garden Pool. I love their design, but after researching their plans, I discovered it would be cheaper to buy one prefabricated. Maybe it's because of where I live, my access to the supplies. Santa got exactly what I wanted, and it's a lot more compact than I thought it was going to be, perfect for my already overstuffed galley-style laboratory. It even fits on a windowsill.

     For the first test run, I have filtered water and no hormones/chemicals added, and have made no modifications to the cloning bucket. If this all works as advertised, I may actually acquire some rooting hormones and a finer misting nozzle from the aforementioned big box stores.

     While I was setting up the bucket, I happily noticed the plastic bucket itself was made in the US. Didn't expect that. Hooray for plant technology probably pioneered by pot. The system includes a pump, a riser, a spigot, the black bucket, the black lid with holes, the foam plant holders, and a bunch of sample chemicals I plan on tossing.

What is hydrated lime, really?

     Hydrated lime is a builder's concrete additive and a soil amendment. The high calcium, low magnesium (non-dolomitic) type can also be used for making a home-made version of sodium hydroxide by following the methods outlined here.
     The pure form of the chemical is known as calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)₂) or slaked lime. It's pH is a high 12.4. Aglime and hydrated lime are frequently confused, but are chemically completely different. Aglime is crushed limestone (calcium carbonate).

     As a soil amendment, it is a cheap way to raise the pH of large amounts of overly acidic soil. In aquaponics and hydroponics, it can be used to safely raise adjust pH and add calcium to the closed systems, though some people would just add seashells to their system. There are several grades of hydrated lime for the garden, a high calcium grade, a medium calcium grade, and a dolomitic grade. These three are all varying degrees of magnesium added, with the high calcium having the least, and the dolomitic having the most.

    For the soap lye synthesis plan, I have found the highest calcium grade hydrated lime for the best price at the Sears website, of all places. Five pounds of 95% calcium for $13.63, free shipping. That's even cheaper than Amazon!