Month: January 2023

Tex-Mex Eggs

Sweet chorizo hash with eggs and guacamole

Ingredients (per person)

  • Chorizo – 140g
  • Sweet potato, peeled, diced – 12cm
  • Diced onions – 2 cups
  • Salt, pepper to taste
  • Eggs – 2
  • Guacamole (see link) – 5 tbsp
  • Hot sauce
  • Chives for garnish

Directions

  • Saute chorizo for 3 mins over medium-high heat
  • Add sweet potato, onions
  • Stir to combine
  • Cover and cook for 3 mins
  • Remove lid. Cook until sweet potato has a crisp crust and tender centre (5 mins)
  • In a separate pan, fry eggs
  • Transfer chorizo hash to a plate, top with eggs and 5tbsp guacamole, and hot sauce

Da Terrarium

Terrarium in progress.

A terrarium is a containment facility similar to an aquarium except it holds plants and not fish nor is it filled with water.

I decided to make a terrarium to learn about how they work and to learn about how plants and animals live together in an environment – and just for fun 😎 .

I went to the library to find a book that would show me how to make a terrarium.

I got this book from the library to learn how to make my terrarium.
Me figuring out what I’ll need

For my container I got a sealed one with a relatively large size, around two of my hand lengths.

I made it by first adding some gravel to the bottom then some activated charcoal powder then we put in the potting mix after that we added three plants and put some moss on top of the dirt and some worms. We also had to put black paper around the dirt line so that the worms would not get scared.

Finally we gave it a few shots of water with the spray and then waited a few days to tell if it was too much or not enough.

13 Nov 2022: Adding activated charcoal to gravel
13 Nov: Adding potting mix on top of charcoal

It turned out that it was WAY too much water so we wiped the water droplets off the lid and tried again but we repeated the process once again and finally got it about right.

At the start we had too much moisture in the terrarium

On 23rd Nov we sealed it and left it alone so it would be like an eco system on its own. In December we went on holiday to New Zealand for a month and nobody looked after it. After touchdown, at Melbourne Airport it looked like this(below).

Terrarium update: 13 Jan 2023
Terrarium at April 2023, after being sealed for 4 months.

After 4 months the life forms inside are still growing. While we only placed plants in there it appears that unseen bugs are moving the dirt up the sides.

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