nettle

My favourite sandwich ingredient would have to be avacado. Though I realise its unobtainable for most people, Im lucky to grow 2 fruiting tree's so get em for free.

fresh baked bread with a drizzle of olive oil. Toped with avacado, homegrown olives tomato and lettuce (and some very old Edam if you feel like it). But don't forget to add some homemade Rocoto chilli sauce somewhere along the way, adding some sweet tropical spice.

Unfortunately avacados are seasonal. We get them for about half the year. For the other half I must sit and wait, patiently biding my time. Waiting for the sun to rise on a day when the avacados will ripen once more.

In my experience the best defence against ants is ants, they are very territorial.

I have had a colony of ants in a little box just inside my window for about 10 years now. They come in and out through a little crack in the window frame. The ants always stay near the window. I can even leave my food out and they won't touch it (though any food placed on the windowsill would quickly be demolished). They seem to be only there for shelter. I respect their home and they respect mine.

However in another room that doesn't have a resident colony I have problems with these pesky little ants that steal any food left out. They are so small they can even go under some lids. Their nest is outside yet they are so much more of a pain.

For you i would say there is no "nipping the colony off at the bud", the ants are already there and properly settled, they probabably would have allready found the food if they were intrested in it, but if they start being a problem and taking food then you can get rid of them.

Otherwise just keep your house boundaries (such as with diatomaceous earth or carnivorous plants or in my case nothing at all), and they will be loyal guards of your porch, defending off annoying ants and many plant pests while improving soil. (Some ants also have symbiotic relationships with certain plants such as Pseudomyrmex ferruginea with Vachellia cornigera. the plants provide food and shelter and the ants defend the plant with their life).

Idk, I love ants. They are an important part of the ecosystem, and we couldn't live without them. A loyal colony is good defence against other pests. And it's nice entertainment watching them form highways carrying food and eggs too and fro. But if they become a nuisance in the house then you do probably need to get rid of them sadly.

Yea we can grow lùcuma here to (my uncle grows some), but Im not a big fan of it. Though I haven't tried one since a kid so I should try it again (lots of my other food preferences have changed). How do you like to eat them? I've heard they are best in smoothies?

Yea they fruit great, we haven't harvested any yet but they should be ready soon. (Or now I better check). They are so delicious

I'm not quite sure what you mean by elevation, But elevation would be only slightly above sea level and plantmaps.com says I live in zone 10b.

We live on the very limit for apples, only golden delicious and some cooking apples seem to do really well, other varieties we have don't produce much and are vulnerable to pests. I hope climate change doesn't skrew my apples over in the future but I think it might.

off the top of my head the ones that we grow and are fruiting (New Zealand):

Fejois (tons of em), persimmons, guavas, bannana, lemons (just started), avocados (nearing the end), quinces (gotta make jelly today), apples (we have picked golden delicious and cooking apples will be ready soon, I'm going to make some cider), figs (nearing end), Casimiroa, tamarillo, rocoto chilli. I think kiwi fruit are fruiting too but we don't grow any.

Use them to predict the weather! Their scales close when its humid (predicting rain) and open when its gonna be sunny.

I've sowed corn lettuce and rocket, ready for the quickly approaching winter.

They taste like watered down sour, you will know it when you taste it.

Crystal apples and Port Albert only go sour if left on the vine way too long (they also get a very tough skin and sometimes go bitter if left really long). So you're unlikely to find sour ones at the store.

I should have said it before, but you still get a lot of seediness before they go sour. I think all cucumbers go sour eventually, if you don't like it just pick them early enouph and there will still be plenty of seeds. (For port Albert and crystal apples the more yellow the more sour)

crystal apple cucumbers seem to be a variety of lemon cucumber.

Crystal apple cucumbers are spherical and can both go sour if left to long, they also go yellow as they age on the vine making them look like lemons so that's probably where the name comes from. there seems to be other varietys of lemon cucumber as well but I have not tried others.

Both would be kin to port Albert, I prefer port albert as they are a bit larger making them have a bit more seed per flesh.

Glad to be helpful :)

Bananas do and will loose their bottom leaves as they grow, so no surprises there.

As you probably know the black flaky stuff on the outside is normal sap, not mildew. As far as u can see there is only mildew present where the frond meats the trunk.

As there is only a small amount of mildew and no signs of rot I don't think the mildew caused the leaf falling off (rather just natural growth). If it gets more chronic mildew it may cause issues in the future. We grow our bannanas outside and powdery mildew between old fronds is a given, and not a concern, however indoor plants are a lot more prone to disease so it may be a worry.

P.s. its not powdery mildew (mildew is white/grey). Its probably just some kinda mold that settled in the crack left by the leaf falling off. I would only be concerned if it is present between young fronds or starts rotting the trunk.