28 Apr
0
141
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 28th April 2026
Sacrilegious though this is to say, I don’t actually “get” coffee. I seem to lack many receptors for it. I can taste “coffee”, but an exquisite brew is completely wasted on me as I just don’t seem capable of tast..
02 Apr
0
274
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 2nd April 2026
By far the best all-round pest control method is to simply exclude them. This is of course often easier said than done, but for many many set-ups exclusion netting is the most efficient and practical way to ensure..
01 Apr
0
205
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 1st April 2026
Arabica Coffee (Coffea arabica)
Family: Rubiaceae (includes Cinchona (source of quinine) and Gardenia)
Genus: Coffea (includes Coffea canephora, the ‘Robusta’ coffee)
Botanical/Binomial Name: Coffea arabica
Mean..
26 Mar
0
253
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 26th March 2026
The other day I lopped the top off some sugarcane (Saccharum sp.) for a customer and was taken by how similar to lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) the cross-section looked.
So I thought I’d grab a piece of growing..
21 Mar
0
236
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 21st March 2026
This post is an extract from Update: Aerial Rootin' Shootin' Sugarcane.
Back on the 16th March, after writing [that post], I cut that stem into two pieces to pot up. Here I’ve laid the two pieces side by side su..
20 Mar
0
464
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 15th March 2026
Updated on 20th March 2026
I cut a roughly 2 m cane of Cultivar 1 that other day and was absolutely transfixed by its top piece:
copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
Zooming in:
copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
Not..
19 Mar
0
245
Title image above is copyright © Optimate Group Pty Ltd
First published 21st February 2026
Updated on 19th March 2026
Do you have a registered business? If so there’s every chance some oxygen-stealer has sent you something like this:.
Rip-Off/Borderline Scam: Any letter from Online Business Regis..
18 Mar
0
316
Title image above is copyright © Birdlife Australia
First published 18th March 2026
Have you ever heard or seen tawny frogmouths, boobooks, or barking owls at night (we do!)? This post is for them, with much thanks to NP for sending me this following the Update: An Effective, Homemade Rodenticide ..
04 Mar
0
262
Title image above of the warfarin molecule is attributed to Calvero, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
(This article is loosely based on one originally published 15th March 2019 here on an animal breeding blog I wrote from 2017-2019. Every single image in that blog, including the maths ones, was..
01 Mar
0
214
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 1st March 2026
Common Fig Ficus carica ‘White Adriatic’ With or Without 3 L Air-Pot
Family: Moraceae (includes mulberry, breadfruit, jackfruit; Moraceae is also known as the mulberry or fig family)
Genus: Ficus (includes fig tr..
27 Feb
1
18885
Title image above is copyright © Optimate Group Pty Ltd
First published 20th November 2021
Updated on 27th February 2026 and again on 18th March 2026
When you have fruiting trees, or grow other food, or have chickens, or feed wild birds, you are inevitably going to attract rats and mice.
Like home..
25 Feb
0
179
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 25th February 2026
Hello everyone, and welcome to a very belated first newsletter of the year!
Again keeping to the format of previous newsletters:
*********
Item 1: Things of Beauty
Two to start the year with! The first is this..