I kid you not, the animals of the Collingwood Children’s Farm entertain adult humans as much as their offspring. I’m doing a project here with the hard working staff looking at everything from pasture to fodder/shade trees. Let’s just say for now that Kurrajong is at the top of my list - more on that another time. Meanwhile, the baby goats are indeed ‘toxically cute’ as someone quoted someone else as saying. All my disturbing memories of goats roaming through western NSW chewing it to pieces melted away, I had to get out of there quickly. Also good to see an actual black sheep in the family lovingly accepted by all. And Chinese Geese are the most dignified avian dinosaurs I know #collingwoodchildrensfarm #lambspam #kidgoats #anglonubian #blacksheepofthefamily #shropshirelamb #chinesegeese #birds are dinosaurs #obviouspun

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Not Judith with the Head of Holofernes but @claire.hocking with a big round tuber of Air Potato Yam. You can eat these although they are meant to be ‘cheeky’ ie. slightly poisonous and bitter. You chop them into pieces and soak them water for 24 hours before cooking. I’ve eaten the aerial bulbils of this species that grow from the leaf axil (hence ‘air potato’) to no ill effect. Anyway, the fast growing, climbing summer foliage is beautiful so I mostly grow it as an ornamental #judithwiththeheadofholofernes #obscurereference #theyartz #airpotato #dioscoreabulbifera #novelcrops #panc #bushfoods #cheekyyams #horticulturestudent #burnleyfieldstation

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I know a guy who knows a guy who got me new varieties of Oca/New Zealand Yams to try out this growing season. Oca is a polyploid crop with a lot of uncertainty around its origins, probably involving several species in its domestication by Andean people thousands of years ago. As it’s now propagated vegetatively, breeding new types from seed involves patient management of flowering and pollen including much emasculation of anthers (😱)! #oxalistuberosa #newzealandyams #ocatubers #stemtubers #lostcropsoftheincas #pinktubers #novelcrops #panc #plantbreeding #polyploid #cultigen #ihaveaconnect #iknowaguy

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Ents on the march at Central Park, East Malvern. More commonly known as Elms, these specimens do late winter tracery of bare stems very well #ents #elmtree #ulmus #urbantrees #parktrees #deciduoustrees #seasonalchange #treetrunks #parksofmelbourne #centralparkmalvern

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‘Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?’ This Chinese or Mountain Yam, dug from the wintry earth today, has been growing for two years in the Burnley Field Station. Delicate digging work from @psilothefunguy @claire.hocking and @sengtruong saw around 50 of these get harvested. We had some slices raw and a few tubers masterfully cooked by @sengtruong ! #mountainyam #chineseyam #dioscoreapolystachya #dioscorea #foodasmedicine #youcaneatitraw #novelcrops #panc #gazeoflove #youcompleteme #shakespeareknows

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Time to pot up the old, sprouting Chokos, ready for spring. I called it way too early last year but I think frosts are done for this winter...maybe #sechiumedule #chokos #chayote #pottingup #winternearlyover #wintergardening #dreamingofsummer

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Ok, these Preston lemons are safe from my guerilla foraging for now, but I’ll be back don’t you worry #fruitforaging #urbanfruittrees #lemontree #protectedtree #highsecurity #dangerfence #missionimpossible #razorglass #cantweshare #justafew #notaninja

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This is the most magnificent Stone Pine I know, growing in the Hedgeley Dene Gardens; we used to eat the pine nuts from this tree as kids straight from the cones. This was way before pesto burned brightly during the 90s as an obligatory mainstream thing to eat. There’s a relatively young one growing at the West Brunswick Food Forest - this is what it’ll look like in 30-40 years @woy_kizz_hashtagmeatbag #pinuspinea #stonepine #magnificenttree #agroforestry #urbanforestry #plantsofthemediterranean #hedgeleymalverneast #hedgeleydenegardens #childhoodtrees #bloodymassive #seriouslycheckitout #worthit

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An Owl spotted in the Burnley gardens, apologies for obscure pic. It didn’t like being photographed and flew off onto massive limb of a Ficus microcarpa where it was promptly bombed by a Currawong. So birdos what kind of owl is it? #daytimeowl #owlsofaustralia #owls #nocturnalbirds #nativebirdsofaustralia #birdsilhouette #novelecosystem #burnleygardens #sunnywinterday

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My Mum’s been crook for weeks but soldiers on regardless including serious foraging in her garden, armed with her ‘good scissors’ and ancient basket. She’s one of those rare people who actually likes and eats pineapple sage! I’ve been instructed to put in the broad beans this year and so they’ve just been done even if a bit late. I apologise to all Nonnas for buying up all the broad beans at the Northcote Plaza bean and nut shop for planting as crops and green manure, much cheaper than purchasing official seed packets #anglocelticnonna #muminthegarden #trojan #broadbeanseeds #sowingseeds #wintergardening #pickingherbs #foraginginthegarden #pineapplesage #followingorders #cheapseeds #northcoteplaza

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With Claire Hetzel from @3000acres stocking up their community tool trailer at Bunnings Preston. Definitely didn’t use the self checkout for this one at the big ‘Green Temple’ #buyingtools #bigshop #gardeningequipment #bunningsrun #lotsofshovels #toollibrary

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Tree Dahlias are one of my favourite plants. This is the first time in eight years that I haven’t had my own so I had to go to Rushall community garden in North Fitzroy to get my May-time fix. There are clumps of them planted on the outside of the garden’s fence and they look fantastic on a super chilly late afternoon #treedahlia #dahliaimperialis #pinkflowers #lateautumnflowers #asteraceae #plantsofmexico #beesloveit #rushallcommunitygarden #railwayinfrastructure

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