Author: jeremy

  • How to grow mulberry trees from cuttings with wax

    How to grow mulberry trees from cuttings with wax

    Mulberries are awesome trees because they have so many uses and are real easy to propagate. The cuttings will root if you leave them lying on the ground and they have enough water. 

    Here’s a few tips on how to grow your own mulberry trees from a cutting using wax. 

    Grab a mulberry cutting

    Get yourself a cutting off a healthy tree. You might able to find a tree in a public space in your neighbourhood, a neighbour may have one or you could order online. 

    A cutting that’s thicker than a pencil, 30-40 cm or 16 inches or longer is good. The thicker and longer, the better chance of survival. Anything thinner than a pencil may not survive and may need lots of attention. 

    Prepare your cutting

    Keep your cutting(s) in the shade. Close off the open parts where you cut (not the base) with some wax. I use baybybel cheese wax because we eat the cheese! Put the wax in a jar lid and melt it with a candle or other method. You can just use candle wax too. 

    This closes off the open wounds on the cutting so that water doesn’t evaporate the and cutting dries out. 

    Plant your cutting

    Plant your mulberry cutting in a 10L or 2.5 gal pot. Water it in and mulch it. Any neutral soil that’s a little sandy and has lots of organic matter will suit.

    Place your potted cutting in a shady spot to settle and root. 

    Leaves will shoot

    Wait for a month or so and your first leaves will start to shoot from the cuttings. The cuttings won’t be rooting yet, so keep watering and be patient. I water every couple of days or daily in summer. Keep your pot in the shade. 

    You got mulberries!

    A few months later your cuttings will be small trees, rooted and producing small berries. The first berries will be small and not really the yummo. Plant your tree in the ground in a place where it has access to water and sun and it will thrive. 

    These trees (unless it’s a drwarf version) will grow up to 5m / 16 ft so give them some space. You can trim them aggressively and make more cuttings. 

    Enjoy your berries!

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  • The Instagram grid change and why it’ll happen again

    The Instagram grid change and why it’ll happen again

    Instagram changed the layout of the post grid from square to a 3:4 aspect ratio format on mobile. It remains the same for now in the web browser. Note that the reels tab was already this new ratio. 

    The impact is that anyone who designed their content to fit Insta’s square format, now has a messy looking profile / grid. It’s clear that the platforms will continually make changes to fit whatever drives engagement and creatives are at the tail end of those changes. 

    Insta’s square grid has always been an outlier, a legacy layout from the early Insta days and never really worked well on mobile devices that have the 16:9 aspect ratio. 16:9 is an international standard and mobile cameras shoot in that ratio by default. 

    Here’s what the grid looks like in the browser.

    And on mobile.

    The learning & the fediverse

    The learning here is to create work in a format / ratio that suits your end game and also caters a little for the future, not for the platform. 

    I create a lot of my images at 5-6000 pixels across. It’s enough for most purposes and allows the work to be scaled down or cropped easily. If you’re a Redbubble user, you’ll be familiar with their one upload of the 6000 pixel upload that then generates all of the images for their various product merchandise. 

    The fediverse is Meta‘s answer to making all public online content and conversations available across all of its platforms that you give it permission to access. It’s important because what it means is that your online work / content is now (if you’ve turned it on) platform agnostic, Instagram users can see your threads content etc. 

    It’s not hard to imagine that the current platforms (Insta, Threads, Facebook etc) will all merge and become the Meta platform. So putting all of your effort into a single platform, is a risky long-term approach. 

    Federated content

    The little fediverse icon next to your name (the two circles, on Threads) is there indicating progress on federating your post to the network. It’s posting it to the  server infrastructure and running all sorts of algorithms for it to find the right audience across all of Meta’s platforms (Insta, Threads etc). 

    Own your house

    From a marketer’s perspective, the best choice is always to own your house. Make your website and post the content there and share it out to the platforms. if you have the time and resources, there are benefits and necessary cases to posting direct on platforms such as TikTok (doesn’t support URLs), but branding and actions should drive back to your home where possible. 

    For the wanderlust travellers and those who post mainly on Instagram or TikTok, tips would be to make sure you save drafts of all of your media on your phone or lappie. You never know what will happen in the future, like the grid change, and you’ll need to resize or repost. Save any edited content, reels etc that you’ve added copy, effects and all that editing time, onto your device. 

    Let me know if you have thoughts on the grid change and what’s coming in the future. 

    Follow me on these platforms for more: threads, Insta, Facebook, TikTok 

  • How to grow store bought ginger

    How to grow store bought ginger

    Growing your own ginger isn’t hard and you can start with the ginger rhizomes you get at your local store. Buy once and have plenty of fresh ginger each year. 

    Grab some fresh ginger from your local store.

    Organic is better, or whatever is available. Look for fresh ginger which is firm and full. And ginger with the little green buds forming is a good sign. 

    Give it a bath

    Soak your ginger in water overnight. It’s often sprayed with a growth inhibitor to prevent it sprouting in transit and while on the shelf. Soaking it helps to remove the inhibitor and revitalise its moisture content. 

    Snap!

    Break your ginger into pieces so you can plant and grow ginger. The green buds (if your ginger has them) are where it will sprout, so use that as an indicator of where to break it. 

    Dry it out

    Now give it some time to dry out a little. Place the ginger pieces in a cool dry position (shelf) and let them air dry for a few days. 

    Time to plant

    Plant your pieces 5cm / 2 inches deep into the soil in a 1-2 litre / 0.5 gallon pot. Place it in the shade and keep the soil slightly moist, but not wet. In 8 months or so you should have plenty of fresh ginger growing. 

    Harvest, eat, repeat

    You’ll know your ginger is ready when the long thing leaves start to yellow and brown off. Dig up your ginger roots, wash them off and store them in a dry cool place. Use some immediately for the amazing zing of fresh ginger. You can also eat the stalks in salads or other dishes. Ginger is a fantastic immunity booster. 

    Replant some smaller pieces of your ginger for next season. If you keep the rhizomes in soil and don’t overwater them, they shoot again when it’s time. 

    Enjoy growing ginger at home and comment if you’ve had success.

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  • Jeremy Burton – Artist and Illustrator

    Jeremy Burton – Artist and Illustrator

    I’m an artist and illustrator working in Perth, Boorloo – Western Australia. 🌱 I illustrate a sustainable lifestyle of growing your own food, whimsical characters, books and also Shop✨ If you’re looking to hire an illustrator or collab, hit me up on socials or contact with your requirements.

    As a student I studied Fine Arts at Curtin University majoring in sculpture and lived in Melbourne and Kyoto and travelled a little. I spent over 10 years living in Japan in the game development industry. Eventually the winds brought me back to Perth and now I create in a small garden. 

    The ocean and our green world is what I dream about and you’ll find lots of that inspiration throughout my work. I try to produce everything in a sustainable way using available materials. I love to draw, paint and sculpt and use many mediums to illustrate, make bush crafted materials and produce gifts. 

    Thanks for checking my site out and I hope you find something that moves you. 

    Artwork

    Join me on these platforms for more: threads, Insta, TikTok

  • Character design artist, Perth – Jeremy Burton

    Character design artist, Perth – Jeremy Burton

    I make art and illustrate a whimsical life. I’m an ocean and nature lover and try to contribute back by sharing knowledge and supporting protection efforts where possible. Mixed in amongst all of that, are plenty of cute characters, like coconachan 🙂

    I previously worked in the game development industry in Japan with some amazing game artists. The teams in Japan worked on Nintendo, Xbox, Playstation and other console games. And yeah, a bit of that slot (pachinko) work too. 

    Check my blogs for art prints, stickers and decals or merch and sustainability ideas. 

    If you have a collaboration idea or your searching for an artist in Perth, WA to design characters or other things for your business, please reach out and let’s have a coffee contact me

    Follow me on these platforms for more: threads, Insta, Facebook, TikTok