2017-07-26 04:52 What animals eat daikon leaves?
Y (Kuma's owner)
I grow vegetables in the backyard. I used to grow broad beans but I didn't sow them this year to avoid replant failure. I sowed snow peas, onions and daikons. I found a small space to grow snow peas where I haven't grown broad beans before, so I don't have to worry about replant failure.
Usually, I can expect lots of peas this season but this year is different. Some animals sneak into the backyard veggie patch and eat peas and daikons. I have no idea what kind of animals eat my veggies. It's about once in every three days, I find my veggies are eaten, especially daikons.
Daikon is a very popular vegetable in Japan and I love it. It's a kind of root vegetable, like carrots. You can buy daikon in big cities like the Gold Coast or the area where many Asians live but not in my town. So, the only way to get daikon is to grow them myself. Luckily, one of the famous hardware shops in Australia, Bunnings, sells daikon seeds.
One morning, I saw three kangaroos hopping in the backyard and I found some daikon leaves were eaten. There were two footprints of kangaroos left in the veggie patch. I was wondering if kangaroos had eaten my daikons? There are other animals that eat vegetables around here. Possums love to eat fruit and vegetables as well. I know they live here.
The daikon leaf has tiny prickles. I think snow peas are more delicious than daikon leaves but something seems to love daikons more than snow peas. The Daikon is not a native plant of Australia. I don't know what animals eat daikon as at least I guess that this was the first time to encounter daikon for them. For me it's unlucky, for them it's lucky to know the taste of daikon leaf. Daikon leaf contains plenty of Vitamin C. Maybe it's good for them.
My biggest concern is what are they? This area is a habitat of bandicoots, echidnas, kangaroos, possums and some mice. I think bandicoots eat mostly insects and I don't think they eat daikon. If I could I would like to take a picture of them. Currently, all I can do is put baskets on each daikon seedling.
2017-06-11 23:26 Winter vegetable garden
Y (Kuma's owner)
I grow vegetables in the backyard and the veggie patch is covered by a net. My vegetable gardens had been giving me lots of fresh and organic vegetables, and had been worked well until before this winter came.
Recently, the temperature suddenly went down and I think wild animals are having a hard time finding food. Then, they found my vegetable gardens.
I have planted snow peas, kidney beans, lettuce, daikon and spinach and all of them have been bitten by something. I guess it must be possums.
The reason that I thought that possums ate my vegetables is the spinach has been eaten. Usually, insects hesitate to eat the spinach because it contains oxalic acid. Another reason that I am suspicious of possums is my vegetables were always eaten at night. The possum is nocturnal.
I searched on the internet to find the solution of protecting my vegetables and found out that it doesn't seem easy. The possum can climb trees and fences and they are clever with their hands. I found a spray for avoiding birds and animals but I don't want to use chemicals and hesitate to use it. Therefore, the only solution to protect my vegetables is grow them in the veggie patch that is covered by a net.
I like possums. They are charming.
I keenly realise that it's not easy to coexist with nature.
2017-03-13 02:42 The season that the refrigerator is full
Y (Kuma's owner)
It's March. People say that it's officially autumn. I cannot agree with "It's autumn" because it's still hot. Yesterday's maximum temperature was 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 degrees Fahrenheit), to me this temperature is enough to call it summer.
However, I can feel the temperature is going down little by little. The view around here, people still wear short sleeved clothes and short pants, it doesn't look like autumn at all but I know it's coming.
Looking at the garden I thought it's time to buy flower seeds for my winter garden. Winter around here is not cold and I have to choose the flower that can be grown in a warm winter. I like Pansies and Violas, they are colourful and bloom in winter. Almost every year, I grow Pansies and Violas, so I wanted to grow different flowers but couldn't find suitable flowers.
For growing Pansy and Viola here, I use the refrigerator. Putting the seeds in deceives them that it's winter now. I leave the seeds for about one month and take them out in late summer or autumn and sow them. The seeds think that it's spring and start germination. It really works well.
I have some Hyacinth bulbs. I have to keep them in the refrigerator for a while too, otherwise they won't bloom here.
So, it's the season that the refrigerator will be full of bulbs and seeds. I hope autumn is coming soon.