I went to visit a friend’s garden and I noticed this interesting plant growing along the fence. What got my attention was the purple flower and fruit looked very much like eggplants.

It turns out these are from the nightshade family which includes eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes and chili peppers (amongst many other plants too).

These are commonly known as Kangaroo apple (Solanum aviculare), but are are sometimes called Devil’s Apple. As the unripe green fruit is poisonous.

The fruits were eaten by Aboriginal people, but only when very ripe. But some say it doesn’t taste that good. It just makes a great ornamental plant with it’s purple flower and ripe orange fruit.

Common in moist regions of eastern and southern Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand. It can grow into a big bush and would be a great privacy shrub.

It’s also easy to propagate via cuttings or seeds. I came home with a cutting and hope to grow it soon.

Other names: Lanceleaf Nightshade, Kangaroo Apple, Orange-berry Nightshade Solanum lanceolatum, Poroporo, Bullibul, Bullibulli.

As far as firework celebration goes, any big city celebration in the U.S. can’t even compare to the one in Sydney, Australia. Since Sydney is amongst the first to ring in the new year, they really wanted to make it a spectacular occasion.  

Here’s a couple of cool photos taken from The Daily Telegraph: New Year’s Eve 2010 Fireworks

New Years Fireworks 2010, Sydney Harbour, from Potts Point.

“The event takes place at two separate times on New Years Eve on Sydney Harbour. The first event starts at 9 p.m. with the early start geared toward families. The main event obviously kicks off at the stroke of midnight, which is when absolute wonderful chaos in the sky ensues.” -Destinations 360.

The fireworks remind me colorful flowers in the night sky. This the 9pm fireworks over the Sydney Harbour from six barges three hours before midnight on December 31, 2009. AFP. Pictures: James Elsby

Cheers to the new year!

If there was a way to farm or garden without having to weed, prune, water, use fertilizer or pestides would we do it? The answer would seem to be 100% YES! But unfortunately it’s not something we are used to hearing or think is remotely possible.

Welcome to the world of permaculture. It is defined as “permanent agriculture”- where the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. Or simply stated as farming along with Mother Nature alone.

Masanobu Fukuoka (February 2, 1913 – August 16, 2008) is a pioneer in the world of permaculture. He has written numerous books on the subject, starting with The One-Straw Revolution.

Abundant Rice field growing in Japan. Photo by Kjeld Duits. Duits has written a great article about Fukuoka: Farmer- Philosopher.

Here is a little more info about Fukuoka:

“At age 25, he began to doubt the wisdom of modern agricultural science. He eventually quit his job as a research scientist, and returned to his family’s farm on the island of Shikoku in Southern Japan to grow organic mikans. From that point on he devoted his life to developing a unique small scale organic farming system that does not require weeding, pesticide or fertilizer applications, or tilling.”

He is also considered to be a philosopher as well. Definitely someone I wished I had heard about sooner.

Bill Mollison is another pioneer of permaculture. Declared as “Ecologist of the Century” in Australia. Here is some info I’ve found about him from an interview with Seeds of Change.

“Permaculture is nothing less than a “sustainable earth-care system” capable of providing our food, energy, shelter, and other needs while conserving the world’s resources.”

He advocates local food production and regional self reliance.

Another amazing farmer to note in the world of permaculture is Sepp Holzer of Austria. Holzer’s farm high up in the Austrian mountains is a very unlikely place to be farming. But he’s been doing it successfully for the past few decades.

His farm includes forest gardens, terraces, and ponds. There are fruit orchards, including fruits you can’t imagine would grow in such high altitudes. There are also many garden variety vegetables that could feed a whole village. Holzer’s method of gardening is to throw seeds everywhere and just let them grow. Holzer believes the plants are beneficial to each other as well as the soil. It’s a really interesting concept that still amazes me.

Read the rest of this entry »

Monkeys aren’t the only creatures that live in trees. Tree kangeroos also live in trees high up in the rain forests of Australia, West Papua, and Papua New Guinea.  They are so elusive that the locals refer to them as “ghosts of the forest.”

They look a bit like small kangaroos and wallabies.  They have such an endearing face and look almost like a plush toy animal.  In this photo, they look a bit surprise that they’ve been spotted. It must be the furry yellow marking on the chest that gave it away. Photograph by Russell A. Mittermeier/Conservation International, National Geographic.

Unlike their cousins, the front and hind legs are closer in size than ground kangaroos. They also have stronger fore-limbs to help with climbing and living in trees. As for the fur, it is thick and grows in opposite direction on nap and back. This helps to shed water when it’s head is crouched.

Although there are several species that live in the lowlands too, call the Lowlands Tree Kangeroo. As tree dwellers, the tree kangaroo eats mostly leaves and fruit. And sometimes collect and eat fruits that has fallen to the ground. Tree kangaroos will also eat other items such as flowers (orchids), tree sap, eggs, baby birds, grains, and even bark.

They are a reclusive and solitary bunch, much like pandas. I hope the natives learn to protect these animals since they are an endangered.  And who would eat a creature with such a cute face!

Photo from Green Expander 20 New Species of 2005.  I can see why it’s call the golden-mantled tree kangaroo from looking at those golden markings.  It also looks like it spooked out here.  

The golden-mantled tree kangaroo was discovered in December 2005 by a team of Indonesian, Australian, and U.S. scientists, in the Foya Mountains, in the Papua proivince. Currently, ten species are recognized in the group, nearly all of which are threatened by habitat loss or hunting. The golden-mantled tree kangaroo is considered as one of the most endangered of all tree-kangaroos, being extinct in most of its original range.

Lisa Dabek, Director of the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program, has been studying tree kangeroos for 20 years. Dabek commented on ABC news, “We have no idea what they do on top on the canopy — so we want to see what plants they eat, what they’re doing up there, so we’re basically getting a window into her world.”

Other info about tree kangaroos (compiled from the Oregon Zoo):

Lifespan: up to 14 years in captivity
Mating: no defined breeding season, females cycle every 51to 79 days
Gestation: 39 to 46 days, longest of any marsupial
Birth: usually one joey (about 1 inch at birth)

• female isolates herself before birth

• Birth position - sitting on base of tail with tail between legs

• Takes 2 minutes for joey to crawl to the pouch

• pouch contains 4 mammae

• joey attaches to nipple for 90 to 100 days, at 250 days joey looks out, at 300 leaves pouch for first time, at 350 leaves pouch permanently

• long pouch life compared to other kangaroos

If you are in Nebraska, you can visit a family of tree kangeroos at the Lincoln Zoo.  Milla and her mate Noru just had twins too!

The first sign of spring for us in California is usually peach or plum blossoms. But sometimes you can catch wild daffodils growing alongside the highway too. And the one I look out for most of all is pretty and colorful tulips growing from the garden. They don’t look like normal flowers since they remind me more of Easter eggs in different colors.

Photo from The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival Information.

And when I think of tulips, I always think of the Netherlands. Or the fact that tulips at one time in history was very valuable and caused a “tulip mania”. Or more of a speculative bubble, like that of the dot come years. But that is a whole other topic. Read the rest of this entry »