Steven Spence

+ Follow
since Mar 18, 2020
Merit badge: bb list bbv list
For More
Apples and Likes
Apples
Total received
In last 30 days
0
Forums and Threads

Recent posts by Steven Spence

Hayley Stewart wrote:Hi gang! Back again with a pea problem... but this time it's this weird, raised, yellowy crystal-like growth on the pods. Anyone ever seen something like this before?



Neoplastic pea pod syndrome. Response to being bitten by pea weavil (though I have only seen it myself with thrips) and in the absence of UV light - so mostly seen in glass/greenhouses. Single dominant gene, and  although the link I post below says its not uncommon - I have only seen it in landrace pea accessions.  Hope that helps.

Cheers
Steve

https://www.jic.ac.uk/research-impact/molecules-from-nature/impact/peas/the-history-of-pea-research-at-the-john-innes-centre/neoplastic-pea-pods-2/
I make keffir in a tea cup with stainless steel strainer and lid made for loose leaf teas. Grains go in the stainless steel bit, pour in the milk, let it ferment to you like it then pop in the fridge. Consume the keffir over the next while and when you are running out either add more milk or if need be put aside the grains and clean the cup/strainer/lid and then restart. One cup solution and no waste. Agreed, keffir is very similar to LAB, but easier in many ways because you have grains that are reusable. I drink it and use left over keffir for predigesting fruit and veg scraps in a bucket of non chlorinated water , feed to the dog and tip the odd bit down the sink to keep the plumbing clear.
3 years ago
Ok, so I do things a little differently. After looking at some of the Korean Natural Farming stuff on no smell chicken and pig keeping (where they spray Lactobacillus around amongst other things) - and after making some JADAM JMS (anerobic potato ferment with no smell) i decided to try and predigest the fruit and veg scraps with lactobacillus. Tipped everything in a bucket, added water which is non treated here and some keffir whey. Sit it behid the wood heater and it bubbles in a few days. A little citrus smell (my children love citrus) but thats it. Every few days i take it out and tip it around the orchard trees and restart. There is a lot of biodiversity in milk keffir. Tends to break down quickly (two weeks) and the micro biology love it, though it is moist here and doesn't freeze.  You could use a lid with a bubbler like you'd do with edible lacto-ferments if mice exclusion was needed. I dont rinse the bucket generally, often just wash the remaining coffee grounds back to the bottom as a bit of an extra starter. Milk keffir is also worth looking into in its own right, lots of publications now on liver protection, gut and skin health amongst other things.  Hope that helps.
3 years ago