Every garden really needs a water source for wildlife – it’s important not just for frogs, but insects, birds and lizards – Happy Earth

A couple of years after putting the pond in my garden there were no frogs in sight, so I got some motorbike frog tadpoles (Litoria moorei) at the end of October last year to move things along.

My friend has frogs hopping here, there and everywhere in her two garden ponds (one with a waterfall!?) but the frogs never had tadpoles. Every spring she would get motorbike frog tadpoles through the Frog Watch tadpole exchange program. Tadpoles shouldn’t be transported far from their parents to limit the spread of disease (chytrid fungus). My friend lives three suburbs from me, the furthest taddies should be transported on the Swan Coastal Plain. (In the Hills they should only be transported two suburbs away.)

This spring her frogs came through and laid eggs that hatched into hundreds of taddies. When she asked me if I wanted any I thought I might get about 4, then I saw how many she had! I got about 40. I thought many wouldn’t survive, but the survival rate was pretty high, like 100% One very hot 37°C day at the start of last November I looked in the pond about midday and couldn’t see any tadpoles. I worried they’d all died in the hot weather but as the day ended taddies came out of hiding to dine. And the very hot summer didn’t bother them because the pond is partly shaded and I topped up the water from the rainwater tank.

The tadpoles kept eating and eating and eating. I had an algae problem last winter. The water was opaque with blanketweed (string algae) taking over. I tried liquid barley straw extract which doesn’t harm wildlife, but it didn’t do much. Luckily tadpoles find algae very tasty and the water became crystal clear, with just patches of green on some underwater surfaces for taddys to chew on. I fed them twice a day with tropical fish food and wondered if they needed more, but they grew well. The tadpole population was a bit large for my 120L pond.

In January taddys started growing legs, lungs and stripes. You can see different age tadpoles at Frog Watch. Next thing you know that wiggly tail is gone and a frog is hopping round the pond – very small hoppity froglets. The tadpoles are quite fat before they metamorphose, then they stop eating and pretty much stop moving too. They use up weight during metamorphosis so the tadpole has a larger body than the froglet they become.

Once a frog, they get back to packing on the weight. Motorbike frogs grow up to 7.5cm (altho mine haven’t) and the male is smaller than the female. New froglets have a body of about 1cm, with longer legs of about 2cm. And they are so cute! Frogs metamorphose every day, but there are still so many taddys. I wondered if there would be a mass metamorphosis and what those killer cats might do. The cats drink from the pond but hadn’t found the frogs to chew on, or even noticed taddys.

Happy Earth has photos of the wildlife in their garden pond in Wollongong and tips on how to make your own garden pond. If you have children or pets you should fence your pond (and there might be council regulations in your area that make fencing mandatory). I fenced my pond to keep out marauding dogs. That marauding Sheeba is no longer with me, but the wonky fence still stands.

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Further reading

• Mitchell, Samille (2008) “Fascinating Frogs” Landscope vol.24, no.1, p.10-15

Sheeba the dog died three weeks ago, 11 December 2010. She had a malignant mast cell tumour on her leg. She was only sick for a week before I had her put down, but after the infection on the tumour improved she was back to running around for a few days, just not quite as much as b4. Unfortunately we didn’t go for one last sk8, bike ride or beach trip together, but there were a few tennis balls to chase. And I let her sleep her last night on my bed.

Her cremation wasn’t very green cos the alternative would be burying her in the garden under a silver princess tree, thus providing compost to the growing gum. She will always be my silver princess, but her predecessors have their ashes lined up on the mantelpiece and I couldn’t leave her outside when they were beside the sofa.

The first cremation happened because Kori (a talented escape artist) ran on the road and was killed without my knowledge. I knew she had escaped but only found out she was dead two days later. The local council has to cremate any dead animals they find and cos she had a rego tag they called me the Monday after to tell me the sad news. They were nice enough not to charge me for her cremation. She was my first sk8 dog and we sk8ed together for nine months.

Lola came next and only stayed for five months because she’d been so badly treated. I didn’t know this when we met, but her absolute terror of the hose, before it was turned on, led me to believe she’d been beaten with a length of hose. And trained to attack dogs. Despite her utter devotion and loyalty to me, the cats, and people and dogs she knew, I couldn’t train her aggression towards strangers – men and dogs – out of her. She was definitely not a sk8 dog, but I did train her not to attack me what I sk8ed, there just couldn’t be anyone else in the vicinity.

Sheeba was with me for five years and around 10 when she left. Pre-loved (or not) dogs mean I haven’t spent much time with any of my pups, but it never made the loss of my best friend any easier. Like her predecessors, Sheeba was the most awesum of awesum dogs. After watching Dogs are awesome too, you have to give your dog a hug. I wish I could, my little Holly White.

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Once upon a time, Black Cockatoos flew in vast flocks, bright tail feathers flashing, calling to each other as they gathered to feed and roost. Just 50 years ago, these unique birds were so plentiful their flocks would blacken the sky. But not anymore.

– The Cockatoos Need You

I love hearing the raucous cries of black cockatoos as they fly over my house or when I see them laughing at the top of tuarts in the park or ripping pine cones to pieces at Curtin University. With all these sightings of my favourite bird, you might think there are lots of them, but sadly Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) are an endangered species [1].

My friends’ bush block is the best place to see black cockatoos. They have a garden of banksias and other native plants surrounding a bird bath. Although there’s more often honey eaters, wattlebirds and blue wrens, every now and then a flock of black cockies comes down for a drink and a chat about the weather. It’s said that black cockies fly over when it’s going to rain [2]. This probably came about because black cockies migrate from the Wheatbelt east of Perth where they breed, to the Swan Coastal Plain in autumn to winter along the coast [3].

There was a pine plantation near my friends’ block which provided ample dining for the black cockies. This was cleared a couple of years ago, and it’s taken them a few seasons, but the cockies have learned to crack open the tasty nuts of a macadamia tree in the garden. Black cockies also love Woody pears (Xylomelum occidentale) which are common in my friends’ bush.

In June this year we had a very close encounter with some black cockies. We were walking along the fire break at the edge of the property and a flock of about twenty black cockies landed on a banksia in the centre of the bush. The sun was starting to set and they were on their way to finding a place to roost for the night. We watched them for a bit and continued walking. We came to a stand of woody pears and stopped to look at some plant (which was quickly disregarded) because the flock flew to the woody pears and perched above us, squawking riotously to tell us they’d arrived. Some were only a metre overhead and were ripping at the bark of the branches, raining down pieces on our heads. It was thrilling to see these majestic birds so close and almost as if they were perched on our shoulders like this red-tailed black cockatoo (above) with Tom Wilson at the Black Cockatoo Rehabilitation Centre in Martin near Perth. After laughing at our oohs and ahhs the flock of Carnaby’s black cockatoos flew on toward their evening roost.

In August last year I had a not quite so close run-in with three black cockies near my house. I was at the small bush reserve nearby taking photos of a white flowering Honey Bush (Hakea lissocarpha). It’s my favourite hakea and until last winter I’d only seen the pink flowering variety at Star Swamp. I don’t think the white flowers are quite as pretty.

There are some Acorn Banksias (Banksia prionotes) near the honey bush. The tallest is covered in flowers in autumn, but they’re always very chewed and strewn on the ground (right). Now I’ve met the culprits. The cockies were making so much noise I was sure there must be dozens, but only three were having a lovely lunch until I rudely interrupted them. I didn’t get closer than about 50m and they were ok with this for a bit, but having Sheeba the dog with me made them jumpy and they flew off to the tuart up the hill. They’re truly amazing and I hope they’ll always be with us.

Unfortunately our cockatoos are in crisis and numbers have been declining compared to a population survey undertaken in 2006. A coalition of groups has been working to stop clearing of cockatoo habitat – bushland, heathlands, wetlands and forest. After almost 200 years of indiscriminate land clearing in WA, we have little native vegetation left. With a renewed push by a pro-development government and a strong economy, the last remaining natural areas are under threat, including Beeliar Wetlands and bushland in excellent condition at Jandakot Airport, clearing of which was approved in March 2010.

The loss of habitat is placing pressure on our native species such as the endangered black cockatoo. A website was launched in September to promote the cause: The Cockatoos Need You. Please visit and sign the online petition which will send a message to WA Premier Colin Barnett and Federal Minister for the Environment Tony Burke.

To find out more about Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos go to Birds Australia’s Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo Recovery website and email Raana Scott to receive their newsletter “Cocky Notes.” The June issue includes photos of a female black cockatoo at least 25 years old and a very fat carpet python which has just eaten a nesting bird (not the 25 year old bird!)

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photo credits

1. Carnaby’s black cockatoos flying over Herdsman Lake by Ian on Flickr
2. Tom Wilson with red tailed black cockatoo from Tom Wilson
3. Carnaby’s black cockatoo eating slender banksia cone by J. Godfrey on Flickr
4. Chewed acorn banksia flower by Clare Snow
5. Carnaby’s black cockatoos feeding on parrot bush in Neerabup by Paul Schipper on Flickr

references

1. BirdLife International 2008. Calyptorhynchus latirostris. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 07 November 2010
2. Ramage, Jan & Hickman, Ellen 2008. Tuart Dwellers Perth, WA: DEC
3. Stojanovic, Dejan 2009. “Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo” Landscope vol.24, no.4, p.16-23

Writer Robin Sloan had this to say about why he uses Creative Commons for his work.

Robin Sloan

I’m a writer you probably haven’t heard of. But if I’m right about Creative Commons, and about the way books and culture work — and if I’m a little bit lucky — then your kids will read my stuff. And their kids too.

Just about a year ago, I used a site called Kickstarter to gather a posse of patrons and, in the span of about two months, wrote and published a short novel. It featured a character named Annabel Scheme, a sort of Sherlock Holmes for the 21st century.

After it was finished, I mailed the books off to my backers — about a thousand copies, total — and then put the PDF online, for free, with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 license.

Often, that’s where this story ends. Triumph! Success! Righteous sharing! Right?

I actually think there’s another step. So I’ll explain what I did next, and then I’ll explain why.

I had a chunk of change left over from the printing — around $2,000 — so I turned it into a Remix Fund. I polled my patrons for interesting ways to reimagine the story I’d just published, and interesting people to do the reimagining. I got a small avalanche of suggestions, each with a small budget attached, and so we all voted on it. The winners included a singer/songwriter and a 3D artist. They did their thing, and now there’s an Annabel Scheme song and a stunning set of images of her alternate San Francisco. (And, in true CC spirit, the raw 3D models can be downloaded and reused, as well.)

But why bother? Why not just wait for people to discover the book, get inspired, and remix it under their own steam? Isn’t that more legit?

Maybe. But for me, Creative Commons is a survival strategy.

I think the most important thing about a book is not actually the book. Instead, it’s the people who have assembled around it. It’s everyone who’s ever read it, and everyone who’s ever re- or misappropriated it. It’s everyone who’s ever pressed it into someone else’s hands. (That’s another thing about Creative Commons: it supports not just remixing, but sharing, too. I publish in Amazon’s Kindle store as well, and I love it — but if you buy one of my stories over there, you can’t ever give it to anyone else.)

Anyway, it’s that group of people that makes a book viable, both commercially and culturally. And without them — all alone, with only its author behind it — a book is D.O.A.

So I’m utterly intent on assembling that group, on nurturing it, making it passionate and resilient, and I’ll use every tool at my disposal to do so: Kickstarter, my site, Twitter, a Creative Commons license, and a Remix Fund to boot.

Did it work for “Annabel Scheme”? It’s too early to tell. There’s been more remixing since that first flurry — there’s this software project, and I just learned last week that there’s a comic in the works, too.

If you aspire to create culture today, in the year 2010, you cannot escape the vastness of it all — the sheer quantity of stuff that is being produced, and the sheer quantity of stuff that is being forgotten. In a world like this, Creative Commons is not just a license — not just a passive agreement with some theoretical public. Instead, I think it’s an active, urgent signal to a posse of potential allies.

It says: I want this thing to succeed, but I need your help.

And it says: join me. Make this yours, too.

So please join me in supporting Creative Commons. After all, we’ve got a lot of kids and grandkids to entertain.

Creative Commons relies on supporters to continue their work enabling stories like the one above

Donate to CC or peruse the cool swag available at the CC Store

Creative Commons was built with and is sustained by the generous support of organizations including the Center for the Public Domain, Google, LuLu, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Mozilla Corporation, The Omidyar Network, Red Hat, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, as well as members of the public (you!)

This is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

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Last Wednesday the environment program Understory on RTRfm radio interviewed WWF’s Southwest Australia Policy Officer Katherine Howard about a land clearing proposal at Perth Airport in Jandakot [1]. The Airport’s owner Jandakot Airport Holdings (JAH) is the second owner of a 50 year lease since privatisation a decade ago [2]. Their clearing proposal is detailed in Jandakot Airport Expansion – EPBC Reference 2009/4796 [3] and includes bushland home to three endangered species:

• Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo, (Calyptorhynchus latirostris)
• Grand Spider Orchid (Caladenia huegelii)
• Glossy-leaved Hammer Orchid (Drakaea elastica)

While 40% of the proposed area is designated for a fourth runway and extension of the other runways, the other 96ha is earmarked for Jandakot City, a development which would be largest homewares complex in the southern hemisphere [1] (they must want to compete with the biggest ikea in the southern hemisphere that killed my fav swamp). WWF provide a simple breakdown of the areas proposed for clearing [4]. JAH have previously cleared 79ha of banksia woodland for a commercial precinct and there is dispute whether this was done with appropriate authority and permission. Currently 90% of this development is vacant [5].

The majestic Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo is a casualty of our excessive clearing of the Wheatbelt and Swan Coastal Plain, where Perth is situated [6]. The banksia woodland surrounding the Airport provides jarrah and marri roosting sites for Perth’s iconic black cockie and plentiful food from banksia and hakea [5]. Last year at the June meeting of the Northern Suburbs Branch of the Wildflower Society of Western Australia Eddy Wajon from the WA Native Orchid Study and Conservation Group (WANOSCG) talked about the work he and WANOSCG have been doing saving orchids when land is cleared or proposed to be cleared. One of these areas is Perth Airport, where the two declared rare flora orchid species grow [2].

JAH doesn’t allow access to their bushland, but some conservation groups have been able to wrestle a gander, Eddy Wajon being one of the lucky few as a representative of WANOSCG and the Friends of Ken Hurst Park. The Airport’s uncleared land is one of the largest areas of contiguous bushland in the region and is in very good to excellent condition, being recognised as regionally very significant through listing as a Bush Forever site [5].

JAH propose to manage:

• Ken Hurst Park to the north of the Airport,
• a conservation area of uncleared land within the Airport, and
• a revegetated sand mine

under a conservation management plan, with corridors between Ken Hurst Park and the conservation area on Airport land. JAH learnt of the importance of uncleared corridors connecting areas of bush from meetings with WANOSCG and the Friends of Ken Hurst Park [2]. Management of Ken Hurst Park by JAH is unlikely as the City of Melville, the owner Ken Hurst Park, has refused to enter into discussions with JAH regarding the matter [5].

A part of JAH’s proposal is to revegetate and manage for up to 10 years a former sand mine of 90ha to the north of the Airport which is almost devoid of vegetation. The land is owned or managed by the City of Canning and JAH have costed this venture at $7million, with no cost to the City, so Canning has given in-principle approval to JAH. The revegetation of 90ha of totally degraded land as an offset to clearing 167ha of bushland is inadequate (with an offset ratio of 4, at least 668ha would be required). Revegetation would take much longer than 10 years to reach the condition of the bushland surrounding the Airport and disturbances such as off-road vehicles which access the former sand mine could destroy young plants and animals as they return [5].

Although not included in the current land clearing proposal, Five Mile Swamp in the southern part of the Airport’s bushland includes habitat suitable for the critically endangered Western Swamp Tortoise (Pseudemydura umbrina) [7]. There are less than 50 mature individuals and loss of habitat through land clearing was and still is a critical cause of decline in numbers of Western Swamp Tortoises. Their long life and slow reproduction rates, combined with highly specialised habitat requirements, compound the problem [8]. In 1970 a single juvenile was found at Five Mile Swamp. This was the third remaining locality of Western Swamp Tortoises. No further evidence has been found indicating the presence of a population at Perth Airport, despite extensive surveying [7]. In 2000 a third population was established at Mogumber Nature Reserve and with only three current populations, suitable habitat should not be cleared because the tortoise could potentially be reintroduced in the future.

There are also many WA Christmas trees (Nuytsia floribunda) in the bush surrounding the airport which you can see in all their orange glory if you catch a plane in December.

For all these reasons JAH should not be allowed to clear any of the 622ha of bushland surrounding the Airport, especially as more than half of their current proposal is for the company’s commercial gain, not aviation purposes. WWF’s proposal that the Federal Government permanently protect this nationally important bushland would be farsighted [4]. Right now JAH has the preliminary decision from the Department of the Environment for their comment and the final decision will be released on 3 February [9].

The public comment period has closed, but I’ve written a letter to Environment Minister Peter Garrett and attached a copy for anyone to amend and send your own letter before 3 February 2010. I sent my letter by snail mail and although email is quicker, I’ve heard snail mail makes more of an impact with politicians, although a greenie like Minister Garrett may not like the waste of paper (the paper I used does contain 50% recycled fibre*). So many proposals for clearing are received by the Federal Department of the Environment and on Understory Katherine Howard said it’s difficult to justify not clearing land zoned urban, but the bushland of Perth Airport is Commonwealth land, so it may have more of a chance of being saved [1]. Hopefully our endangered species and their beautiful bushland home will be preserved for future generations and the plan for more shops where we can waste more money buying more things we don’t need will be forestalled.

*Note: I thought I was buying 100% recycled paper from that big printer paper co, but I didn’t read the package carefully and got sucked in by the green coloured wrapper.

Photo credit

Grand Spider Orchid near Toodyay by Tom Carter, Mt Vernon Floragraphics

References

1. Understory (2010, 13 Jan) RTRfm Community Radio
2. Wajon, Eddy (2009) “The Role of the WA Native Orchid Study and Conservation Group (WANOSCG) in Orchid Conservation” Wildflower Society of Western Australia Northern Suburbs Branch Meeting, 23 Jun
3. Jandakot Airport Holdings (2009) Jandakot Airport Expansion – EPBC Reference 2009/4796
4. WWF Australia (2009) Permanent protection needed for Jandakot Airport bushland, 16 Dec
5. Wajon, Eddy (2009) WANOSCG Conservation: Jandakot Airport Proposals
6. Stojanovic, Dejan (2009) “Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo” Landscope vol.24, no.4, p.16-23
7. Commonwealth Department of the Environment (2007) Pseudemydura umbrina (Western Swamp Tortoise)
8. Burbidge & Kuchling (2007) “The Western Swamp Tortoise: 50 Years On” Landscope, vol.22, no.4, p.24-29
9. Stevens, Nicole (2009) “Countdown to land decision” Fremantle-Cockburn Gazette, 22 Dec

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The whole point of introducing an emissions trading scheme is to make sure that polluting industries phase out and are replaced with cleaner alternatives, renewable energy and energy efficiency programmes. [1]

While the Australian Federal opposition dithers on passing the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) legislation which would enable carbon trading, Australia’s weather gets hotter and hotter.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s Annual Australian Climate Statement for 2009 noted last year was Australia’s second warmest year since high-quality records began in 1910 and the past decade was the warmest on record.

In Australia, each decade since the 1940s has been warmer than the preceding decade. In contrast, decadal temperature variations during the first few decades of Australia’s climate record do not display any specific trend. This suggests an apparent shift in Australia’s climate from one characterised by natural variability to one increasingly characterised by a trend to warmer temperatures.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) stated 2009 was the globe’s fifth warmest year on record.

Increasing global mean temperatures derived from instrumental measurements are consistent with other independent indicators of climate change, such as reductions in sea-ice and snow cover, and record high global sea levels.

Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett says this means the opposition is wrong about climate change, thus they should pass the CPRS legislation. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott disagrees,

The Bureau is entitled to say what is happening with the weather, but that does not mean an emissions trading scheme is the best way to combat climate change. My argument is against the Government’s great big new tax. If we are going to tackle climate change, let’s take direct action, let’s not raise the price of ordinary daily life. That’s why I think the Government is dead wrong on this. [2]

While I’m not aware what direct action Abbott has in mind (I doubt even he knows) the CPRS is dismal in its potential to actually reduce carbon emissions. Last year I blogged about Guy Pearse’s Quarry Vision in which he outlined the reasons the current Federal Labor government, like its predecessor, is enthralled by

the deep pockets of the Australian carbon lobby. [3]

In the spring issue of Dissent magazine David Spratt discussed the flaws in the CPRS, including the specifics of the proposed legislation and also broader strategy.

Both major political parties have bound themselves to the fossil fuel lobby and preserving a brown economy, so it is hard to imagine an effective carbon-pricing scheme that would close down the coal industry and provide the investment incentives to build a clean-energy economy being passed by parliament in the next period. [4]

Spratt wrote this before the leadership change of the Federal opposition caused by the legislation, but he was prescient in his views. While the politicians bicker, Spratt outlined approaches which could be effective in reducing carbon emissions:

• A gross feed-in tariff for renewable energy produced at all scales
• Mandatory renewable energy targets
• Energy efficiency targets
• Education and behavioural change programs

In California and Germany carbon emissions were reduced using such methods, without any recourse to carbon pricing or trading [4]. Spratt mentions two strategies which would be far more effective than the CPRS:

• Plan B: An Agenda for Immediate Action on Climate Change by a coalition of environment and climate organisations (Simon Butler provided a summary in Green Left Weekly)
• The Emerging Climate Consensus: Global Warming Policy in a Post-Environmental World by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger

It’s the greatest challenge we have ever faced, and requires innovation, careful planning and coordination. [4]

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References

1. Hepburn, John (2008) “Emissions trading jobs” Rooted blog, 12 October
2. ABC News (2010) Warmest decade proves Abbott ‘got it wrong’, 5 January
3. Pearse, Guy (2009) “Quarry Vision: Coal, Climate Change and the End of the Resources Boom” Quarterly Essay, no.32, p.37
4. Spratt, David (2009) “Time for a Plan B on climate?” Dissent, no.30, p.34-39

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They are the variety Lactuca sativa ‘compostus’ ie they come up where I put down compost. I like one variety in particular and let it go to seed and add the whole plant, seeds and all, to the compost. My compost doesn’t get hot enough to kill seeds, so compost lettuce* grows in profusion. The lettuce is an actual variety, but I’m not sure of its name. It looks vaguely like ‘Bubbles’ in my vegie book [1]. The seeds aren’t hybrids and breed true so I concluded they have a pretty good genetic make-up for the conditions they encounter in my garden, thus they grow well. There have been other varieties growing from my compost in the past (eg. red oakleaf), but I didn’t like eating them and never let them go to seed. I probably should bring some genetic variety into the mix and there is one plant of another green variety that I was going to let go to seed, but it’s been taking a hammering from the sun and isn’t looking too happy. Also I have no red lettuce, so I need to get some seed of that.

Snails enjoy fields of lettuce, so I poisoned them with iron chelate bait (only harmful to slugs and snails, not dogs, cats, bob-tails or other critters). There’s still the occasional tiny snail or slug you have to pick out of the lettuce. I wonder if they don’t eat the poison cause it’s the same size as them. You also have to wash the lettuce thoroughly to dislodge any other critters and cut the chewed (or sun burnt) bits off leaves. Despite this (possible) added protein, it’s yummy lettuce. I initially didn’t have aphids on the lettuce – they were too busy on my everlasting daisies (which flowered beautifully despite the attacks), but I think they’ve moved onto the lettuce. Apart from decimating anything they come across, if you find leaves that aren’t too badly eaten, aphids aren’t dislodged by washing. You have to pick them off one at a time, or else pretend you don’t see them, which I have trouble doing. I have a recipe for a soap insecticide from Safer Pest Control for Australian Homes & Gardens [2], but haven’t got around to it making – stupid thesis :(

The ascendant tomatoes aren’t compost tomatoes* which pop up in their millions. I was pulling up any I found, but they’ve dropped off now. They grow from shop bought tomato seeds in the compost and the quality of progeny is too variable for my liking. I don’t quite understand how the number of compost tomatoes occurs. I eat the seeds of tomatoes I buy and I don’t put whole tomatoes in the compost. I know the occasional seed gets left on the chopping board, but how can occasional seeds lead to the astronomical numbers I pull up!?

Unlike last year I planted tomatoes earlier this spring – five tomato varieties from which I know exactly what to expect. Theoretically this would mean my crop would produce before it gets too hot, but after 3 days over 30°C in October and 7 in November I don’t know how this’ll go. I liked the Tommy Toes (cherry tomato variety) I grew last year and I’ve planted them again. My friend Anouska had too many seedlings of a Roma variety she’s breed for two seasons, and they were planted earlier than the others so had a head start. The other three types are from Diggers seed (a number of which are the free seed members get two times a year). One was a 5 colour selection (take note Mr & Mrs Shaddow) which included:

• Sugarlump
• Napoli Paste
• Red Greenwich
• Black Russian
• Yellow Peach
• Green Zebra
• Orange Jaune Flammee

The above and Amish Paste were past their used-by-date, but that didn’t stop seedlings emerging in profusion. I don’t like eating strange coloured tomatoes, so the 5 colour selection went to other garden homes (and because you can’t tell which they are before they fruit, they’re surprise tomatoes). The fifth is Martino Roma, which had the farthest away used-by-date. At first only three seedlings grew (when the germination rate is 96%), but then I disturbed the soil a bit when I removed one seedling and more came up. So I ended up with more than three Martino Roma seedlings and still have seeds for next summer.

Now the tomatoes are growing well in the garden beds and Anouska’s Roma are starting to fruit, although they’re still small. Before fruiting began I was meant to focus on bugs. Last summer I didn’t use my uncle’s suggestion of a spray of garlic and chilli to kill tomato grubs (Helicoverpa armigera), but I’d hoped to get the recipe and be using it by now. Maybe one day soon.

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*Note: compost lettuce, tomatoes, etc grow from my compost – I don’t remove them from the compost after they’ve rotted a bit, which my mum thought at first. My compost is not the best example of compost in action, because if you’re doing it “right” the 40-70ºC heat produced kills any seeds, but my garden and I don’t mind. My compost does get pretty hot though because when I find a half eaten rodent courtesy of Wicca the cat (or a whole one when he’s feeling especially generous) I bury it 30cm deep in the compost and there’s no smell or other evidence of it ever existing.

Gardening Books

1. 500 Popular Vegetables, Herbs, Fruit & Nuts for Australian Gardeners (1999) Milsons Point, NSW: Random House
2. Rogers, Paul (1999) Safer Pest Control for Australian Homes and Gardens (1986) Kenthurst, NSW: Kangaroo Press

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Fungi species often appear slightly different in different regions. [2]

In August I found some very unusual mushrooms growing in the pine bark mulch of my native garden. They had pointed caps which were intricately crenulated. I’ve had mushrooms with “ordinary” caps popping up in my lawn or vegie garden, but never something quite so alien-looking. The Perth Fungi Field Book came to the rescue and identified them as edible black morels (Morchella elata), not native to Australia, thus like the weed growing behind it, messing up my “native” garden. The name confused me at first because the morels in my garden weren’t black until they started dying, but after picking one to give to my brother to eat, it turned black inside the crenulations.

In The Omnivore’s Dilemma Michael Pollan wrote about searching for black morels in a Californian pine forest the spring following a wildfire [3]. I thought my morels fruited in response to the fire a pine plantation receives prior to felling. Spores could have been caught in the bark and transferred to my garden when I put in the mulch. While the spores did arrive with the mulch, Morchella elata grows away from fires,

on non-burned soils, litter, and duff including non-burned islands in burned areas or on burned soils but then apparently no sooner than the second spring after an intense wildfire. [4]

The morel Michael Pollen searched for could have been Morchella tomentose (formerly Morchella atrotomentosa) which are

burn morels, fruiting the spring following a fire. [4]

As with many fungi, the taxonomy of the Morchellaceae family has not been worked out yet [4], so it’s all very confusing :)

My parent’s garden grows some interesting fungi too (above left). I tentatively IDed this as an Earthball (Scleroderma sp.). They burst like puffballs to release their spores and what’s left is a folded back star shape. This one never opened, just went squishy and rotted away so I’m not certain of my ID. The opened Earthball (above right) is on a bush track in Karnup. Earthballs are in the Sclerodermataceae family as are Dog Poo Fungi (Pisolithus sp.) which are common on winter walks at Star Swamp, and look exactly like dog poo.

My parents also had a massive rippling whitish-cream fungus growing at the base of a dead silky oak (Grevillea robusta). When the tree died most was felled, but 2m of trunk left. At first I thought this amazing fungus was Erupting Russula (Russula erumpens). Erupting was the perfect description for its growth, but the fungus seemed to be growing from the dead tree stump rather than stalks in the ground.

Other ID options were Fan Pax (Tapinella panuoides) or Southern Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus australis), but I think it’s more likely Hohenbuehelia bingarra. Other Hohenbuehelia sp. have the rippling growth of this fungus. My brother wondered if it was edible, but it wasn’t listed in Recognizing Edible Field Mushrooms [5], so I didn’t think he should try it.

Whatever it was, it’s second in line, after black morels, for strangest looking fungi I found this winter. It was growing under the metal sheeting that protects the woodpile from rain. I broke the fungus a little when I put the sheeting back, but then piled the firewood up to lift the sheet higher. When my parents and brother subsequently took wood from the pile they weren’t quite so careful and next time I saw it, it was squashed.

I had log seats on my front porch that get rained on and last winter they grew what I first thought were Scarlet Bracket Fungi (Pycnoporus coccineus). But bracket fungi don’t have gills and these ones did. Therefore I was slightly baffled. It could be Eucalypt Crepidotus (Crepidotus eucalyptorum). My friend made these seats and he may have used jarrah or another eucalyptus. They are parts of the trunk sliced into seat size and carved with a checkerboard pattern on top. The Crepidotus grew in the gaps between the squares. Before the rain began this year I realised a wet log seat sitting on a wet wooden porch probably isn’t a good idea if I don’t want a rotten porch. So the log seats moved to the paving out the back. They don’t get rained on as much out there and this winter fewer and smaller Crepidotus grew.

Last winter I also found “trumpet” fungi growing in a pot plant in my garden. My name didn’t stick, they were probably Bird’s Nest Fungi (Cyathus sp.), which had lost their peridioles, the “eggs in the nest,” before I found them. Drops of water fall on the peridioles and they shoot out like cannon balls [6]. This photo of Cyathus sp. taken last winter in Canberra still has its peridioles.

For years there’s been two bracket fungi, which may be Wood-layered Bracket Fungi (Phellinus robustus) growing on a Bald Island Marlock (Eucalyptus conferruminata) in my local park. Earlier this year someone broke off most of the larger one. I was worried that was the end of it, but the wound healed and it seems to be surviving well.

=^.^=

References

1. Negus, Patricia (2006) The Magical World of Fungi North Fremantle, WA: Cape to Cape.
2. Bougher, Neale L. (2009) Fungi of the Perth Region and Beyond: A self-managed field book Perth, WA: Western Australian Naturalists’ Club.
3. Pollan, Michael (2006) The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals New York: Penguin.
4. Gibson, Ian (2009) Morels & False Morels of the Pacific Northwest: An Introduction South Vancouver Island, BC: Pacific Northwest Key Council.
5. Hoffmann, Bougher & Wood (2005) Recognizing Edible Field Mushrooms (Gardennote no.47) Perth, WA: Dept of Agriculture.
6. Lepp, Heino (2005) Birds Nest and Cannonball Fungi Canberra, ACT: Australian National Botanic Gardens.

Delicious

I like to blame Sheeba the dog for any problem in the garden. She’s the culprit when freshly dug holes are concerned, but I don’t think she’s quite mastered turning a tap. The culprit in this instance is my brain on thesis. Zoë S. drew an anatomically correct diagram of this phenomenon. As you can see the (red) area of brain left for accomplishing tasks like turning on and off taps at the correct time is very small, thus it’s amazing such a water crisis hasn’t happened before.

A day ago there was about 1200L in the tank, now there’s 300L. The bean seeds that I bemoaned were taking so long to pop up; all have now thanks to the generous soaking. I wondered if 900L would be enough for their whole life, but I have a feeling it doesn’t work like that. The tomato seedlings I just planted in the very sunny other vegie bed got none of this soaking, which they needed – stupid weeping hose. Why do you do everything wrong!?

Last year my rainwater tank was installed at about this time. I didn’t think I’d have a tank of water til winter this year, but the unusual spring downpours filled it before summer. It would be nice if the same huge amount of rain fell this November, but I’m not counting on it. No more rainwater to drink this summer :(

And cause it hasn’t rained the pond really needs a bucket or two of non-chlorinated water right now – stupid rain, stupid hose, stupid thesis!

=^.^=

Delicious

long grass in need of mowing

daisies flowering after mowing the verge

grey butcherbird visiting the garden last year

Ms Butcher in the neighbour’s palm

while Mr Butcher looks the other way

grey butcherbird catching the sunset on the electricity line

On Saturday while catching some sun in the garden a red wattlebird (Anthochaera carnunculata) landed in the not so tall tuart. He hopped from branch to branch, then was dive-bombed by the butcherbird. I thought at first the attacker was another wattlebird cause that’s the kind of thing they do, but the butcherbird flew to the electricity line in triumph and I could see his colouring. Obviously my garden is not for sharing. The day after, on Sunday I was sitting with Sheeba in the shade of the tuart, it gives some nice shade despite being not so tall, and a red wattlebird landed on the birdbath a metre away. He could see us nearby, but he was happy to take a few sips of water and then fly off. It was pretty hot (26°C), so we weren’t going to scare him away from his drink.

=^.^=

Delicious