Anthony Powell

Coydon Wallham wrote:Another interesting byway on this question that I came across was the relation between Flax oil and Linseed oil. I pulled this from Reddit, but it seems helpful nonetheless...

FrogFlavor
I wonder if linseed is just a bonus from flax grown for the purpose of textiles. I wonder if flaxseed oil (same thing but sold in grocery stores for food) has the properties OP is looking for.


forgeblast
It does, same plant just different varieties. The flax was grown for fiber and the linseed grown for oil. I use organic flax seed oil. But I make stand oil out of it. I buy it bulk in gallons, and put it in mason jars. 50/50 oil to water. Shake it once every day. Pour off the good oil. Do it again. Three weeks total. When you're done it's really pure oil. Dries quickly and I use it on carved spoons cutting boards etc because it's a drying oil vs mineral oil that never dries or beeswax and mineral oil that is melted the first time you use it.

I'm told that fibre flax is taller-growing, more favourable for long fibres; while seed flax is a shorter plant devoted to flowering.

Just to confuse matters, there's potting compost and rotting compost. The latter's what's being discussed above. Potting compost can include some of that, along with material with less fertility - sand, loam, leafmould.

Many (so-called) gardeners ditch their compostables in green wheelie-bins taken by the council, or worse, in the ditch across the road.
They're
* losing fertility, that they'll have to buy back in bags from the garden centre. And they're using fuel - for the collection vehicle, the composting process, and the garden centre trip
* the energy stored in the plants from summer is leaving their plot, while kept on site it can feed a whole chain of creatures, aiding biodiversity, including the birds they love to see.

jaime merritt wrote:I have a plant that I have been growing for several years. I started it from aerial tubers I bought online. It grows really well, but it has only ever produced a handful of pea sized aerial tubers over the entire time I’ve been growing it. I’m curious why that is. I don’t water it very much, and I’m a mile from the ocean on the California central coast. Maybe water is the issue? It never appears water stressed no matter how dry it gets.

Anyone else have plants that refuse to make aerial tubers?

I reckon water could be the issue. We've had a dry season in England, roots that usually grow through the bottoms of their pots haven't. And the top growth wasn't so strong either. I'll be ensuring they get enough next year!
I've only ever had a scattering of aerial tubers off my 5 plants, no more than sweet pea size - hardly worth propagating from, let alone eating. Could be the species/variety. Easiest to propagate by breaking the root.

I've noticed guano being brought in. I've a TV aerial strapped to my chimneystack, much appreciated by pigeons and magpies. The moss directly below is especially verdant and green - and very inconvenient to harvest!
I came across a guy trying (with modest success) rice in NE Scotland. He was using his paddy pond for ducks in winter.

Advantages of urban life:
So much less need for a car, it can be a 'where do I put it?' problem. But public transport is so much easier, and in a city they all join up, with short waits.
Lots of food, but lots of ultra-processed. Organic takes a bit more searching for.
You may be in an urban heat island, reducing heating bills. Smaller properties, especially flats and terraces, reduce external walls. And if your neighbour heats their home to a higher temperature, you'll get some of that through your common wall.
In the community, there may be a Transition Town group, community gardens/allotments, community eating (often involving volunteers gathering end-of-life food to feed all, poor, homeless, and general community).
Lots of other social groups, often in walking distance. Street lights may hide the stars, but they'll guide you home without a torch.

In the UK, Hockerton Housing Project near Nottingham. A row of earth-sheltered houses, cooperating on renewable energy, food growing, water, transport etc. https://www.hockertonhousingproject.org.uk/services/events/

If you're happy with sugar from less usual soources, I've always enjoyed chewing the stalk of sweet corn, freshly picked. LIkely that the sap of the whole plant could be a sugar source. Maybe treat it like sugar cane?

HIstorically, wood ashes would be used as soap. The ashes would sit in a vessel, e rained on, and the leachate collected. In days when clothes would seldom be washed, they'd get right greasy. Grease + potash makes soap. Similarly good at pulling the natural, beneficial oils out of your skin!

Jane Mulberry wrote:
I'd like to try dahlias. I read that there's quite a range of flavours depending on the variety, some taste good, others don't. Are there any you recommend?

The one I've managed to keep going for a few years, that I obtained from a council planting as they were being uprooted, I found to be 'Wars of the Roses' (); you don't see it about much. I enjoy eating that, and I'm able to minimise slug damage. I don't know if there's much between them, Lubera had some on sale - seem to have stopped, maybe they've realised lots of varieties can be eaten. Go for large-growing sorts for bigger tubers, easier to peel. Maybe the ray florets will give a clue as to root flavour.

Dahlias are also perennial edibles, originally grown for their tubers before Europeans became besotted by the flowers. Nice fried or roast, slices keep their crispness in stir-fries. Ray florets also goodin salads.
Oca - before the tops get frosted, they make a great sorrel-ish salad.