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Making cordage from plants

Making cordage from backyard plants is a skill that enriches our appreciation for the natural world. This activity is not just fun and rewarding, but it teaches patience, respect for natural resources, and the ingenuity to utilise available materials effectively.

Many plants in your backyard contain fibrous material that can be turned into strong, durable cordage when processed correctly. Pictured above is what I made using my homegrown Ramie plant, which some use as a food colouring agent or to make dishes like Hakka Ramie Leaf dumplings.

If you live in a tropical climate, plants such as sea hibiscus, jute, kenaf, banana, bamboo and sugarcane are excellent sources of fibre after retting. The long, tough stalks or bark of these plants are what you are after.

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City, Country

How to grow pineapples at home

If you have been wanting to learn how to grow pineapples at home, I’d say go do it because it is a highly rewarding experience. All you need is a bit of patience, since it can take around 15 months or more to yield fruit, depending on where you live.

Belonging to the Bromeliaceae family, which includes Tillandsia or air plants, the pineapple is a ground-level shrub which grows to around one metre high. The fruit is a result of the merging of 100 to 200 small florets that, once fertilised, produce individual fruits and swell. This results in a unified fruit when matured. A fully ripe pineapple typically weighs around 2kg or more, although this varies by species.

Photosynthesis for the pineapple takes place at night. The plant possesses Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM), an adaptation that enhances water utilisation efficiency and is commonly observed in plants that thrive in dry environments. These include cacti, orchids and terrestrial bromeliads.

how many pineapples grow on one plant
Image by Rushay Booysen

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Here’s What to Do If Your Chicken Is Attacked by a Cat

If you keep chickens as pets, it’s important to know what to do if your chicken is attacked by a cat. Cats are natural predators of chickens and can kill them very quickly. In this blog post, I will recommend what to do if one of your chickens is attacked by a cat and what to expect in the process of caring for your injured chicken.

Recently, a cat showed up and attacked the weakest of my flock of three bantam chickens. By the time I went outside to check on the commotion, it was too late. The cat was running away with my hen, Nugget, in its mouth. At the time I thought it was probably too late, I lost a young rooster to a feral cat years ago and it was a quick death as it got him by the neck. I gave chase and the cat dropped Nugget in the drain, before escaping. It was trying to get away fast and it wasn’t able to fit her through the hole.

Nugget was in shock and tilted her head up to breathe. I carried her to a quiet spot to catch her breath and saw that she had a couple of wounds on her back. After around 10 minutes, she stood up and wanted to join the rest of the flock but I put her in the coop for observation. I immediately left some food out for her and she still had a good appetite, which was a relief. However, she mainly stood around and was withdrawn, she also looked like she had some difficulty walking. The next day, my brother and I took her to the vet – AAVC in Yishun- (our regular vet, Gloria Lee of Mount Pleasant in Yishun, was on 3 weeks leave) and discovered that it was worse than we thought.

From my experience I recommend the following:

1. Get your chicken to a vet ASAP

chicken has injury from cat attack
Nugget after surgery, photo provided by AAVC

First of all, it’s important to act quickly if your chicken is attacked by a cat. Cats have toxic saliva and bites can result in infections and kill your chicken. A cat attack requires emergency care and will need to see a vet. It is a good idea to inspect your chicken to try to get an accurate assessment of how serious the injury is.

Before you get your chicken to the vet, clean the wounds to reduce any chance of an infection. If you do not have F10 disinfectant (requires dilution) or saline solution on hand, you can try posting an SOS to Facebook or Telegram on channels like Backyard Chickens Singapore (BYCS) or Save the Chickenese Singapore to find out if there is someone in your neighbourhood whom you can get it from immediately.

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How to Start A Herb Garden: Everything You Need to Know

If you’re looking for a way to add fresh, flavourful herbs to your cooking, then you should consider growing a herb garden. Herbs are easy to grow and can be grown indoors or outdoors. In this blog post, I will provide useful gardening tips on growing herbs at home. By the end of this post, you’ll know how to start your very own herb garden!

One of the great things about herb gardening is that it doesn’t require a lot of space. You can grow herbs in pots on your windowsill or in a raised bed in your backyard. If you’re short on space, don’t worry – there are dwarf or compact varieties of herbs that will do well in small spaces.

Growing a herb garden is also a great way to get started with gardening if you’re new to the hobby. Herbs are relatively easy to grow and care for, so they make a great choice for beginner gardeners. Plus, there’s nothing quite like being able to snip fresh herbs from your own garden to use in your cooking!

A few things to note before you start…

If you can create the ideal microclimate for your plants, you can even grow some plants that typically do not thrive in your climate. In tropical countries, gardeners have successfully grown plants that thrive in subtropical and temperate climates from their apartment using soil, hydroponic, aeroponic or aquaponic methods. These include parsley, cilantro, dill and others. 

You don’t always have to spend money on plants. You can get plant cuttings, plants, and seeds from other people in your local gardening community group/s by swapping or sometimes they just give them away. Have a look on Facebook to find a gardening group in your area. Here is a list of places where you can find free plants if you live in Singapore.

Before buying plants, observe how much sun you get every day and at what time. This will help you understand what kind of plants you can grow. It is worth noting that the sun’s path changes throughout the year, so even though you have sun in a particular area of your house in summer, this might not be the case in winter. This is applicable even if you live in a tropical climate. If you don’t have a lot of sun, consider investing in an indoor growing system.

It is a good idea to research what conditions a plant needs before bringing it home. Each plant has its preferred lighting, watering, soil drainage and fertilising requirements. It is also helpful to find out the lifespan of a plant, they are classified as annual, biennial and perennial plants.

With this in mind, read on to find out how to start a herb garden!

grow vegetables in Singapore

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