Tigernut Sedge or Chufa Sedge (Cyperus esculentus) 油莎草

Tigernut Sedge or Chufa Sedge (Cyperus esculentus) 油莎草

Tigernut Sedge or Chufa Sedge (Cyperus esculentus) 油莎草

One of the common weeds!  Cold hardy perennial weedy grass.  Very useful!!   Easy to grow.  Best growing in full sun location.  USDA Zones:4-9.  The nut like tubers are edible (eating raw or cooked, also are excellent for oil press), the above ground part are good for animal feed.  The nut like tubers taste fragrant and slightly sweet.  Propagate by seeds, bulbs or division.  Fast growing.

它是北美一種原生常見的雜草!  耐寒強健的多年生草.  非常有用!  容易栽種.  最好栽種在全日照處. 耐寒也還算耐熱.  可以食用的地下塊莖(可ˋ以直接食用或煮食,更能榨出清香的食用油), 植物的地上部分可供作動物食用的草料.  像是堅果般的地下塊莖又稱為"油莎豆"(英文稱為Tigernut),它的營養價值可是非常高,嚐起來的口味微微甜.  據說其脂肪含量與橄欖相似,富含礦物質特別是磷和鉀且油莎草塊莖不含膽固醇,含鈉量相當低.   繁殖方式以種子,塊莖或分株的方法來進行.  生長快速.

Reference links:參考網站資料連結:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyperus_esculentus                                          https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/油莎草                           https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31765/                         http://news.ltn.com.tw/news/local/paper/361688                        https://baike.baidu.com/item/油莎草                             http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/ontweeds/yellow_nutsedge.htm

White Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa)白洛神花

White Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa)白洛神花

White Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) seeds. 白洛神花的種子.

White Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa)白洛神花

Annual or biennial. Easy to grow.  Best growing in full sun location.  Mainly are grown for its expanded sepal after blooming.  Good for herbal tea, beverage, jam, candied snack.  White flowers in summer.      This white Roselle have white sepal.   Flowers attract bees and butterflies.    Medicinal.   Propagate by seeds.

一年生或二年生草花. 容易栽種.  最好栽種在全日照處.  主要種植來採收開花後脹大的花萼.  可用來泡茶,做成飲品,果醬,蜜餞等. 夏天開白色花,其花萼也為白色.  花頗吸引蜂蝶.  藥用.  繁殖以種子的方式來進行.

Reference links: 參考網站資料連結:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roselle_(plant)                                   https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E7%8E%AB%E7%91%B0%E8%8C%84                 http://kplant.biodiv.tw/%E6%B4%9B%E7%A5%9E%E8%8A%B1/%E6%B4%9B%E7%A5%9E%E8%8A%B1.htm

 

Sand Leek or Wild Rocambole (Allium scorodoprasum) 野韭菜

Sand Leek or Wild Rocambole (Allium scorodoprasum) 野韭菜

Sand Leek or Wild Rocambole (Allium scorodoprasum) 野韭菜

Hardy bulbous perennial/vegetable.  The spring first harvest is the best in term of flavour and the aroma!  Easy to grow.  Best growing in full sun to partial shade location.  Prefer to grow in patch or group together rather than spacing out.  Propagate by seeds, bulbs or division.

強健耐寒的多年生球根蔬菜.  春天採收的韭菜是最香最好吃的了!  容易栽種.  最好栽種在全日照到半日照處. 喜成群落生長,個別單獨長時反而長得較不好. 繁殖以種子,球根或分株的方式來進行. 這個跟一般農作的韭菜味道不太一樣,球比較明顯,香味比較濃,但不是太嗆辣.

Reference links:參考網站資料連結:

http://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/plant/allium-scorodoprasum                         https://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%83%8E%E3%83%93%E3%83%AB-770630                  http://japanese.reader.bz/nobiru                                                 http://www.theeast.org/discover-korean-food-146-dr-sook-ja-yoons-dalrae-doen-jang-jji-gae/

Lotus seed growth (in progress) 孵蓮子續篇

Lotus seed growth (in progress)孵蓮子續篇

Day 20. Two leaves and the third leaf is coming. You can see the root already.
第20天. 已有2片小葉,第3片葉片已形成. 可以看到根已長出.

Planning to plant it into a water container with soil (better in clay soil) and hopefully the weather will be warmer by then.

計畫用黏土種在水盆裡,希望到時天氣好轉回暖.

Plant one in a large bucket with dirt 1.5-2 feet deep with some water over the soil. It will flower either in 3 months or next year. Put some copper things (pennies or other copper object so will not grow mosquitos).

They can be over winter outdoors with simply protection. The lotus root, leave and flowers can be veggies too!

You actually can purchase lotus seeds from dry lotus pods cheap from any craft store!

孵蓮子囉! Growing Lotus from seeds

孵蓮子囉! Growing Lotus from seeds

Pictures shown the tools you will need and the progress of growing. From day zero (removing shell) than day 1 (seed soaked and inflatted), day 2 (the tiny green shoot shown), day 3 (seed cracked and green shoot shown more) and day 4 (you can see the root shown a bit and leaf formed and streched). They grow rather fast and magical!

The seed has very hard shell on, you will need tool to remove the shell otherwise it will not asord water at all. Use pliers to stablize the seed and use utility knife to cut the round end (where the shoots will come out), the other end is pointy end (where the roots will grow).

The seed shell is quite smooth, very slippery to cut. Becareful don’t hurt yourself or the seeds… It needs practice to get better of removing sell. Be patient!

According to my reserch, it will take 3 months to a year from a seed to grow the first flower. Here I am growing white single, white double, pink single, pink double and one is large white single. I will keep update the progress!

孵蓮子囉! 花友送的禮物.

第一先用工具固定後去厚皮. 然後就泡水置於溫暖處. 很快就會長出綠色的小葉片. 待根長出後用土種在小盆放水裡養,或直接種在缸碗裡,需全日照. 這次孵的這些是不耐寒的,冬天要搬進屋. 從孵種子到開花至少3個月或隔年. 好期待喔!