Chitin ☜ the all natural pesticide disease correction in plants ●●●●☺

We have been very interested in chitin as of recently, weve always used worm castings in our grows, even hydroponics,  but never knew of its amazing qualities in bug prevention and disease correction, we just thought it was our special touch, lol, how naive the human brain can be.
But just recently thanks to john from growing your greens.com
( http://www.youtube.com/user/growingyourgreens )
gave a wonderful talk about the benefits of chitin and where you can get it. This got me to researching and found its one of the most abundant sources of natural polymers, has healing benefits, treats disease on trees, and repels insects just to name a few. I found an article online with an extensive list of ideas on how to use it, create it, and where to pick some up. HERE YA GO
http://idigmygarden.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51481

and if your into worm composting this is a great site to help you along with making teas and such.
http://www.organicrosecare.org/articles/worm_castings.php

We were also lucky to have stopped by the local hydroponics expo recently
( homegrown Hydroponics expo)
Not only are we very excited over there snap together piping but, they had a product there that was fertilizer from insects, this seems like a great idea, we will doing a controlled experiment very soon with this product, Will keep ppl updated on the progress and results.

Masked Hunter nymph, 

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masked_hunter

all if a sudden Im seeing bugs Ive never seen in Canada before, 

what in the world is that????? a bug covered in dust? 

YUP!! Meet the masked hunter nymph, for some reason he thought my studio/office was a good place to roam. wish I could have got a better shot for ya but he was a quick little bugger.

Bug covered in dust

masked hunter covered in dust

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Strawberry spinach ☼☼☀☀☀☼☼

Strawberry Spinach

When We first planted the strawberry spinach seeds aka ( chenopodium capitatum ) last year it was a little to late, We never got to see it flower/fruit, and to be honest I didnt even realize it would come back ( Im a little to use to my exotics right now ). But as soon as spring rolled around I recognized it right away. Now that june has arrived these beauties are shining in all there glory. When I first tasted the leaves I was stunned, there was something to it I just couldnt figure out, Ive heard people say its a nutty flavour, but that didnt seem right, and Ive heard others say spinach, but that isnt it either, and then all of a sudden it hit me, WHAAM!!.. 

!??! GRAPE !??!  

To me its like a very light grape minus the sugar, and unlike lettuce there is no bitterness thankfully, even in flowering. Now heres the odd part, when I tasted the berry I expected something strawberry like, or heck.. just some type of berry at least,  

this was not the case. 
I guess Ill be the one to say it, {{DrumRoll}} ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! 
THEY TASTE LIKE SPINACH!!!! 

Its....Hmmmm.... not as bad as it sounds. 
Its only a light spinach taste, but I really wasnt expecting that. While it has little in berry flavour, they go perfect in salads or yogurts, fruit parties, bragging rights, experiments 
( ice cream, strawberry and rhubarb desert, vinegars, pickles or jarred vegg  ). 
But the fact that these seeds/plants survived our winter and are quick to flower, providing edible leaves and fruit most of the year,  
puts this plant on top of the edible landscapers list for me. 
And just between me and you.... ( looks cautiously from side to side ) 
I think the leaves taste better then lettuce.    

Strawberry spinach fruit

Strawberry spinach + strawberry spinach leaves + fruit 

Native plants + North american plants +Strawberry spinach 

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