Thanks :) I looked it up as well & it should be ‘easy’ - you can pan-fry, oven cook or use a popcorn maker apparently! The trick is to listen for the first ‘crack’ for when the bean is dry and that’s when you get a light roast. It should take less than 15min so I’ll no doubt have to be careful not overdoing my one & only homegrown espresso of 2026!
I didn’t look up a method (though I will do if I try again), the last one I tried I scored the outer layer to try and make sure water got in to trigger germination & just sat it in some water indoors. I think I’ve seen people poke sticks in them so it’s bottom is sat in water, but I may be remembering incorrectly!
Interesting re the sand option, I could try that next. Did you heat it? I have a heat mat so could try using that. I think I’d likely keep it indoors first year, unless it looks like its doing really well.
I have tried germinating supermarket avacado seeds but with no luck!
I got the plants as seedlings, sold as house plants. There were about 8 in a small mug so I grew on four. I decided to ditch two as I didn’t have room for more - as they’re tender (anything below 5° & they start to suffer) I have to bring them indoors over winter & they sit under my south facing bay window.
They’re in my greenhouse now & I should be able to leave them outdoors from June through to October.
Being sold as novelty house plants, C. arabica I think, the flavour isn’t likely to be great, not to mention that I need to figure out how to roast them!
I may try germinating some now I know they’ll flower & fruit.
Will do! I didn’t know if they’d flower but they did last year for the first time after about four years (grown from seedlings) & now (some of) the fruit is finally looking ripe enough to pick.
Thanks, I’ve been very curious about this - I’m a half decent botanist in the UK so it shouldn’t be that alien to me! With those latest pics I’ve narrowed it down to Goldenrod or possibly tall ragwort, but I think flowers may be key to securing the id.
Out of these I’d say pear is most likely, possibly a crab apple or plum also so not narrowing it down much! It’s 100% not an Acer at least!
That’s the fruit developing post-flowering, not a budding flower btw, so go back to see how it develops and you should get a pretty good id soon. I don’t think plum fruits would look like that and crab apples aren’t typically so long stalked and more often in bunches, but I wouldn’t expect any plum/pear/apple to be so long stalked eitger, so perhaps a variety or species I’m not familiar with! Don’t know anything about Brazilian plum or mountain date though.
Indeed I do every now and then!
You’re discharging too soon, you need to wait until you can see the whites of their…
Eyes
Right there with you! I was kinda hoping that I could say I’d not heard any of those songs…so close!
I really don’t know what you’re all getting into a tizz about?! Grows just fine for me ;)
I can tell you that 30cm of woodchip will do sod all to stop it. My mint grows under 50cm of concrete. It takes a couple of years to get there, but it does!
I’m a consultant ecologist by profession so it will mostly be put to use for work (planning/renovations/new builds). It’s another string to my bow of knowledge!
The course is very good, what I’ve done so far, & is designed to cover pretty much everything Barn owl! I have a great big book to go with it too!
Thanks & you’re welcome! Sounds like you’ve done some good research already. Hope you can attract some owls with whatever option you choose.
The pole mounted boxes are 100% suitable. Can’t say if that brand is good or not though.
What they primarily require is a dry roost as wet wings are very bad for silent forging. They tolerate human activity, including roosts in houses, so no need to exclude buildings as an option. Just keep them away from public roads unless very rural!
For nesting, a minimum 70x70cm floor space which chicks can’t fall out from is ideal - the floor can be well over 1m lower from the entrance so no max wall height. Entrances can be as small as 7x7cm, but wider better.
Re material, any will do short term, but long life is obviously ideal, especially as they have high fidelity to roosts, and old roosts will be favoured by new individuals even if unrelated to the last inhabitants. Marine ply would probably be easiest for a self a build - cedar is great but heavier. Remember you’ll need to lift the box up high and mount it!
(I’m currently studying the UK bat owl trust course BTW!)
Damn, was going to ask the same thing! I’ve seen one or two colourful bat species but not in polka!
Connections
Puzzle #1064
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟨🟨🟨
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪
Mega-guess with blue! Was completely lost for ages on any of them until clearing those off, didn’t figure purple out though so 2/4
How’s it looking now? Got an ID yet?!
#WhenTaken #796 (03.05.2026)
I scored 689/1000🎗️
1️⃣📍6.9K km - 🗓️0 yrs - 🥉112/200
2️⃣📍218 m - 🗓️28 yrs - 🥉123/200
3️⃣📍3.7K km - 🗓️18 yrs - 🥉94/200
4️⃣📍57.4 m - 🗓️0 yrs - 🥇200/200
5️⃣📍895 km - 🗓️9 yrs - 🥈160/200
https://whentaken.com/
Hell no, anarchic coffee growers of the UK, unite! The revolution needs powering along! …er…I mean, that’s not coffee, that’s just a house plant…look I have the receipt an all…