Entries tagged with geek

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Some Reading

I bought a book today called Booze for Free, the definitive guide to making beer, wines, cocktail bases, ciders, and other drinks at home by Andy Hamilton. Now, I don't have a ton of money right now (read: disposable income is going towards booze ingredients and maybe now more carboys because damn that apple juice is fun to play with) but I opened it and it had a section on foraging... intriguing. Then I started reading.

Some recipes:

BAY AND ROSEMARY ALE
ROSEMARY ALE
ACORN COFFEE (obvs not alcoholic)
HEATHER MEAD
HIMALAYAN BALSAM FLOWER CHAMPAGNE (in the archaic sense of champagne, quick bubbly ferment)
HOP WINE
YARROW ALE
QUINCE AND PERSIMMON WINE
CARROT WHISKEY
ELDERBERRY PORT
NOCINO
CRUCIFERLOUS VEG CHAMPAGNE (again all champagne is in the archaic sense here)
ROSEBAY WILLOWHERB CHAMPAGNE
BROOM FLOWER WINE
DANDELION CHAMPAGNE
JAPANESE KNOTWEED ALE AND WINE
2 NETTLE ALES
NETTLE WINE
LINDEN AND BITCH SAP WINES

...can you tell I'm excited?

I also found this thread by a guy here: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/results-juice-yeast-sugar-experiments-83060/

It is amazing and he is amazing. Over years he does hundreds and hundreds of cidermaking trials and reports yeast, added sugar, potassium and sodium meta, etc as seperate factors. So. Good.

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Seattle's African Violet Show 2013

Going back in time a little, I have some pictures from the AV show and sale in Seattle. I want to say, I couldn't stay long and that was probably for the best. There was so much plant material I wanted to buy, but couldn't take past the border. I was basically forced to just look. I'm thinking about heading to the African Violet convention in Austin, TX (never been to Austin or anywhere in Texas before) in part because they'll have phytosanitary inspectors there, so I'll be able to buy whatever I want and then take it home.

On the other hand, the whole thing would cost a lot. Maybe I should just mail order $1200 worth of violet leaves and carnivorous plants and buy a humidifier and shelving instead?

But, show plants. This is Frozen in Time, show winner. The photo does not show the amazing blue blush on the photos, it looked so lovely. On my list for sure:

Some others I liked a lot:

Little Axel

Pixie Blue

A very nice s. grotei

A tiny beautiful thing, Misty Miss, which I want to get for my friend who does terrariums because small things scare me a little

Rob's Dandy Lion, which is so beautiful I want it even if it is tiny. I love the bell-shaped flowers

An amazing variegated, Shirl;s Hawaaian Lei. This would be great in a terrarium too, I think. Even if it didn't flower...

Bubblegum Charm. The photo doesn't do justice to the huge, luminous flower. Definitely on the list.

For sale, and so lovely, but I obeyed the law (I totally respect quarantine procedures, I'm trained in forestry in the province where mountain pine beetle and tent caterpillar is going crazy, though mpb is a native I know)--

Mikinda Girl (had to look it up to make sure it wasn't a poorly-written "My kinda girl" but I like the true name better anyhow

Ma's Crime Scene. I love the balance of flower colour and variegation on this one. It just feels perfectly balanced.

As a note, I'm often painfully shy around older folks, so I was wandering around the show with big eyes and was so happy when the clerk started talking to me. We spoke for quite awhile, and perhaps I'll be able to approach someone on my own next time and enthuse some.

I totally plan on going to the Vancouver show on May 4th. That'll be a good place and time to practice being outgoing.

Current Mood: happy

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Spring Carnivory!

Hey guys, this has been a great plant spring. I got down to the Puget Sound African Violet Show & Sale in Seattle (this is a whole nother post), it's so sunny I need to move my violets away from the window... so clearly I need sun-loving plants *in* the window for shade and, well, so as not to waste the sunlight. Or something.

But more exciting RIGHT NOW is that I wandered into Hawaiian Botanicals with a friend and bought a super overgrown Nepenthes x ventrata totally on a whim, spent the next six hours reading, spent a few hours this morning propagating, and appear to have a new plant hobby.

So, seriously, here's the plant after I cut off 36 ~4-5" cuttings (that's a lot of vine yardage):

And the top half with two or three rosettes starting to rise into vines (the window is too sunny for me to know how to get both to show up in a photo):

Note this is not my most southerly window; it's more of an east. I'm hardening the plant up to full south sun, which it can apparently take. Even this window burnt my little fern (that had been great over the winter) into almost ovlivion:

It's going to my north-facing neighbor to live in a terrarium to make up for the evils I've done to it.

But seriously, guys. Most beautiful sight in the universe?

Babies tucked in, covered up, and drinking sunlight. I have no idea if this'll work, but out of 36 cuttings I imagine a couple will root. That, and I'd like awfully to cut that last long branch back and take the last pieces of woody ones back so the plant can regrow from the base again, but these things should wait. I don't want to go too crazy right now.

Growing medium for babies, if you're wondering, is 50/50 perlite and long-fibre spaghnum. Adult is in 100% spaghnum, it looks like, but I haven't delved around in that pot too much. She really looks happy.

Interesting thing about pitchers: they grow on the tips of the leaves, and when taking cuttings you need to cut them off. So I'll leave you with my view during breakfast: