Ripe for Picking: a Guide to Collecting your own Bountiful Botanicals

[mort]

I don't know if they have been mentioned and a quick search didn't return any results but something I've used for a while now is Physalis peruviana, or more specifically the calyx covering the berries. They are easy to grow and called inca or Cape gooseberries here in the uk. I like the calyx as it's a little different in appearance but also if you open just one, petal/leaf?, then they make excellent live food feeders for finicky fish. I had a tank with Indostomus paradoxus and used to squirt baby brine shrimp into the calyx and the fish spent most of their time there.

A crappy picture before soaking



I also saw hazel mentioned and again I use these but mainly the nut husks, we have plenty of rodents down our allotment that prepare them for us by chewing a nice hole in the end. I've also found the calyx to be good but I soak them for longer because they can have a sticky residue. They are good because they can be collected in star shaped bunches and if you have the red cultivar, the calyx have a nice reddy hue.

I have also used Persian ironwood and the leaves last a long time. I was about to collect them this year but storm darragh donated them to a distant neighbour before I had the chance.

 

[Courtneybst]

I don't know if they have been mentioned and a quick search didn't return any results but something I've used for a while now is Physalis peruviana, or more specifically the calyx covering the berries. They are easy to grow and called inca or Cape gooseberries here in the uk. I like the calyx as it's a little different in appearance but also if you open just one, petal/leaf?, then they make excellent live food feeders for finicky fish. I had a tank with Indostomus paradoxus and used to squirt baby brine shrimp into the calyx and the fish spent most of their time there.

A crappy picture before soaking

View attachment 224834

I also saw hazel mentioned and again I use these but mainly the nut husks, we have plenty of rodents down our allotment that prepare them for us by chewing a nice hole in the end. I've also found the calyx to be good but I soak them for longer because they can have a sticky residue. They are good because they can be collected in star shaped bunches and if you have the red cultivar, the calyx have a nice reddy hue.

I have also used Persian ironwood and the leaves last a long time. I was about to collect them this year but storm darragh donated them to a distant neighbour before I had the chance.

So if I'm understanding correctly, you soak the physalis husks and they'll sink? Do they maintain shape despite being paper thin?

 

[mort]

So if I'm understanding correctly, you soak the physalis husks and they'll sink? Do they maintain shape despite being paper thin?

Hi Courtney, yes and yes really. There may be a better way but I simple pull them under water from the stem, letting as much air out as possible and they sink quite quickly. I do this in a container first and they are normally saturated in a day or two. I don't know how they would fair if they were boiled.
With the shape, they seem to stay intact well but again it might be how I use them. When I open them to get the fruit, I leave most of the husk intact, so it still has the ribs for structure. The water actually seems to hold it in shape but again I don't know if that would change if you boiled it. I also don't have a really strong flow and tend to use them in a lower flow area.

Not the greatest pictures but you can see one on the bottom right of my quarantine tank.

 

[tam]

Not the greatest pictures but you can see one on the bottom right of my quarantine tank.

Are those acorn cups you have in there too?

 

[mort]

Are those acorn cups you have in there too?

Yes and they last for years as do beech nut husks.

 

[andy]

Apologies if I’ve missed this.
I have an amazing variety of trees and shrubs in the garden I look after.
I’d like to add some twigs to my small low tech tank which houses a pair of Apisto agassizii.
I’ve chosen a few twigs off my turkey oak and they’re currently in a large stock pot boiling along with beach leaves.
The oak twigs are covered in lichen…I presume this will need scrubbing off before putting in the tank?
What about the bark in general…does it need removing or is that the best bit?
Thanks.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I have an amazing variety of trees and shrubs in the garden I look after.

Alder (<"Alnus spp">.)? or Camellia?

The oak twigs are covered in lichen…I presume this will need scrubbing off before putting in the tank?

You should remove the lichen, it won't add many pollutants, but it will detach and make a mess.

What about the bark in general…does it need removing or is that the best bit?

The bark is dead and where most of the tannic substances reside <"Tanning (oak bark) - Heritage Crafts">. With green wood the cambial layer is below the bark, and that is where <"any residual sugars"> etc may reside.

Because of the time of year there won't be much sap in the twigs and they should be fine.

cheers Darrel

 

[shangman]

Apologies if I’ve missed this.
I have an amazing variety of trees and shrubs in the garden I look after.
I’d like to add some twigs to my small low tech tank which houses a pair of Apisto agassizii.
I’ve chosen a few twigs off my turkey oak and they’re currently in a large stock pot boiling along with beach leaves.
The oak twigs are covered in lichen…I presume this will need scrubbing off before putting in the tank?
What about the bark in general…does it need removing or is that the best bit?
Thanks.

I would make sure only to use twigs which had fallen of the tree or were obviously dead, so the sap/nutrients in them were very depleted. Once I know that, then I'd just... plonk them in the tank with everything on, and let them naturally fall apart over a few months. You could scrub off the lichen as it will just die and fall off in the tank, but personally I feel like that's part of the vibe, so I'd just let it do that and then siphon it out later. I think of adding botanicals like mimicking nature where plant material does just fall off and fall into the water.

Bark can stay on. It's good to take bark off wood you want to use as a feature/hardscape as you want it to last a long time and want to stick plants on it, but with botanicals there's a general expectation that it's not forever. Creatures like otos will really enjoy sucking on the bark as it breaks down too.