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Monday, September 30, 2013

Propagation of mamey seeds


Mamey is a rare but popular fruit in Florida. I got some seeds so I did some research and started to propagate them wrapped in a wet paper towel and sealed in a ziploc bag for some weeks. 

I gave it a try and it really works!


The grow strong, healthy roots, let`s take a look:



Propagation

Here is a new project that I have been experimenting before: propagation.

This is the process of creating new plants, now from cuttings.

The cuttings don`t have roots yet but hopefully we will see some progress in a few weeks. 

Fingers crossed! :)








After a relatively long silence

Hello,

Sorry for the relatively long silence but we were really busy with our moving process. It took more than a week if I want to count the days spent with cleaning, painting, cleaning, packing, moving, unpacking, killing each other, buying stuff, searching for stuff, buying furniture, moving furniture, building furniture (we love you, IKEA)....and cleaning again.

But now we are kinda settled in, we have cable (after fighting for 2 weeks with Comcast...) but no internet still. 

Besides all these troubles, I had to start my balcony gardening project.

Here are some photos of the plants that started to sprout and grow for my greatest pleasure.





Avocado trees


Avocado trees, again

 

Lemon trees
  

Tiny tomatoes


Onions
  

Sweet basil plants


Hundreds of dill plants


Marjoram

Thursday, September 12, 2013

News

We found an apartment and we are moving soon so I made this for the new place of ours.


Friday, September 6, 2013

Coral Castle


Today`s post is about Coral Castle in Homestead.

It is a sculpture garden in stone, built by one man, Edward Leedskalnin. We visited the garden on the way back from the winery. From 1923 to 1951, Ed single-handedly and secretly carved over 1,100 tons of coral rock, and his unknown process has created one of the world's most mysterious accomplishments. To this day, no one knows how Ed created the Coral Castle. Built under the cover of night and in secret, at a time when there were no modern construction conveniences, Ed would only say that he knew "the secret of the pyramids." When he died, his secrets died with him, and to this day scientists and thinkers still debate Ed's methods.





Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Schnelby, The Southernmost Brewery

After visiting the Fruit and Spice Park, we paid a visit to a local brewery-winery. It was a pretty busy but very friendly place with stations of tasting, an inside and outside restaurant space and a beautiful pond. We tried different types of their local beer and had a nice BBQ too.













Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Fruit and Spice park in Homestead

On Labor Day this year we went to the Fruit and Spice Park in Homestead.
It was an excellent day, I loved it so much. We learnt a lot about plants, spices, fruit, their origin and how we can use them in the kitchen or in our every day lives.
Here are some pictures of the many we took before the rain came. :)

I tried to write the names of the plants and fruit under each picture but there are some that I already forgot since yesterday. However, I will look into some information and intend to find and update the names that now I possibly don't know.




Me and the jackfruit.


Edible and now green bananas.


Lufa we use in the bathroom. Yes, it looks like some pumpkin.


Monster deliciosa.


African sausage tree (the flowers).


African sausage tree.


The park with almost 200 types of mango trees.


Jackfruit, my favorite.


Lemon.



Green lemon.








Pomelo.











Lotus.


Water lilly





Star fruit.


Chilli.



The lufa again. The brown plant is that we use in the shower or in the kitchen.


Non-edible pink bananas.


Bread fruit.














Avocado.


Eki, the poisonous fruit.


Otto and the bananas right before the thunderstorm.


Bananas.


Cinnamon.



Bay rum leaves. They use it for Old Spice.