Hambone wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2024 4:02 pm
Ah Chokoes! or as my dear old mum used to call them, Christophines - (she grew up partly in Trinidad and that was the local name for them).
I know, I know - if you smother them in something delicious, they can be ... delicious too(?) - hmmmmmm.
However, come the famine I'll be fighting over them with a side of cobbler's peg salad.
Those bloody things? Our primary crop!
Perhaps I need to start running a steam genny off 'em.
Many times over the years I've come back from bushwalks with little black spiny prickles all over my clothes. Now I know where they are from, it's called Cobbler's Pegs, and what a hideous monstrosity it is. It's all over my yard. It has motivated me to get to work on all the weeds here and start rejuvenating the land somehow, but these nasty spiky things are going to die first. I'm also a clearing out paspalum to make way for my turf to spread. It's not as unpleasant, but it absolutely takes over once it's established.
stylofone wrote: ↑Thu Apr 25, 2024 3:58 pm
Many times over the years I've come back from bushwalks with little black spiny prickles all over my clothes. Now I know where they are from, it's called Cobbler's Pegs, and what a hideous monstrosity it is. It's all over my yard. It has motivated me to get to work on all the weeds here and start rejuvenating the land somehow, but these nasty spiky things are going to die first. I'm also a clearing out paspalum to make way for my turf to spread. It's not as unpleasant, but it absolutely takes over once it's established.
weed1s.JPG
Bloody things are our main crop.
Greedy fuckers cannot self-regulate.
Prove me wrong.
Irrev-Black wrote: ↑Thu Apr 25, 2024 4:42 pmBloody things are our main crop.
The mention of Cobbler's Pegs in the post immediately prior to mine didn't even register in my brain. Then by coincidence a few days later I discover this plant has embedded itself in my life by stealth! It's one thing to see the two words on a page, quite another thing to spend an hour ripping the plant out and getting covered in little spikes.
Just how bad is Bidens Pilosa (common name cobbler's pegs)? So bad it even grew in a section of surplus concrete left over when my driveway was installed. I'm not sure if I should be scared of its alien ferocity, or respect its defiant power over the invasive human environment.
stylofone wrote: ↑Wed May 01, 2024 12:58 pm
Just how bad is Bidens Pilosa (common name cobbler's pegs)? So bad it even grew in a section of surplus concrete left over when my driveway was installed. I'm not sure if I should be scared of its alien ferocity, or respect its defiant power over the invasive human environment.
ConcreteWeed.JPG
Post-mega-disaster, the cockroaches will need something to graze on. Problem solved.
Greedy fuckers cannot self-regulate.
Prove me wrong.
A house on my street has been sold and the new owners didn't want this plant, so I yoinked it from the nature strip. It appears to be some kind of succulent. I'm quite happy with this acquisition.
succulent.jpg (151.22 KiB) Viewed 214 times
Meanwhile I have decided to name my callistemons Anna-frid, Bjorn, Benny and Agnetha. The original Bjorn was a grevillea but he died, so he's now a flashy bottlebrush . Agnetha is the latest addition. I planted her this morning. She is the reincarnation of two ill-fated grevilleas.
stylofone wrote: ↑Wed Jun 19, 2024 2:07 pmIt appears to be some kind of succulent.
Crassula tetragona, a South African native, known to bonsai practitioners as "miniature pine trees". I am going to see if I can propagate it and get even better value out of it. I'm also having success with geranium cuttings at the moment. I'm coming to value most greatly the plants I get for free. It would make sense that the ones you have to buy are the most likely to die.
The wild wattle is blooming around here, and after a quick online check I discovered that it is legal and non-lethal to uproot them and transplant them. This one was in a shady crowded area fighting it out for sunlight with several other species. It has won the lottery having me look after it with lots of sunlight and a modicum of low phosphorous fertiliser. All it has to do is be green, and annually yellow, in my yard. I've already scouted out another one to be its neighbour.
I'm also happy because I planted a large number of bottle brush seeds in a tray and they are JUST starting to germinate. If I can keep them alive through their formative months I will have a big supply of small trees to replace the (guilty cringe) large number of big trees cut down to build my house.
