Thursday, April 28, 2022

Day one of Bachelorhood

Recipe from HERE
Pelé (my oldest son) came over after I took Mrs ERJ to Detroit Metro Airport.

He helped put in some of the potatoes and pushed the lawnmower around the orchard. Between the two of us, we got in five of the eight rows I have planned so I am well ahead of my timeline to have all of the potatoes planted by sunset Friday.

Then Belladonna came home from work and she dragged both of us out on a two-mile run before cooking us dinner. She served us oven-roasted sweet potatoes, salmon filet and heart-of-romaine lettuce salad.

I think they were trying to keep me busy and out of the greasy-spoons in town.

They were successful and I am grateful for their efforts.

Hibiscus sabdariffa

A friend sent me some seeds of Hibiscus sabdariffa and informed me that they were difficult to germinate.

Hibiscus sabdariffa: Roselle is highly edible plant that is related to okra.  In tropical and subtropical regions around the world the leaves are consumed as a vegetable, a spicy version of spinach.  They are used in food preparation, while the calyx and flowers are used as a flavoring, coloring and for making teas.  The calyx is also used in making wine, jam, juice, jelly, and syrup, while also used as a spice.

Rosella hemp, which is extracted from the stems, is a strong fiber that is used for making sacks, twine and cords. 

The recommendations on the internet suggested soaking the seeds for 24 hours in warm water.

I could see that the seed coats repelled the water so I split the seed lot into two halves and soaked one in well water and the other in 20 parts well water and 1 part household, chlorine bleach.

After 24 hours of soaking in plain water, the seeds were still as hygrophobic as the bottoms of a water-strider's feet.

The ones soaked in the bleach solution had clearly absorbed water. My only fear is that 24 hours may have been too long.

Side-by-side comparison: Plain water on the left, 20:1 water:bleach solution on the right.

I heard about the bleach-solution trick from a breeder of blackberries. The seeds normally become scarified in their passage through bird digestive systems. In the absence of birds, soaking them in caustic chemicals can sometimes get the job done.

I don't know if this will work but it looks promising.

7 comments:

  1. to get okra to germinate you can use the chlorox trick - or you can simply put the seeds in the freezer for a day - apparently they will split

    i have had no problem getting roselle to germinate without doing that - i think the soil temperature must be fairly high

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  2. Hygrophobic. I learned a new word! I use hydrophobic. I soak okra seeds in well water for 24 hours, stick them in the ground and they germinate. Soil temp is pretty high, though.

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  3. ERJ, I have often soaked a number of seeds from general practice. I had no idea it had a larger purpose than that.

    As to the visit and support - I suspect there is a cabal involved which you are not actively supposed to be aware of. It happens here as well - when The Ravishing Mrs. TB leaves town for a spell, Nighean Bhan somewhat magically makes an appearance and suddenly there is dinner every night that is far more elegantly than what I would have done (e.g., whatever takes five minutes to make). I am assured this is all "coincidence"...

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  4. Dad always soaked his okra seeds overnight in buttermilk before planting. It seemed weird to me, but it worked.

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  5. I've never considered using bleach!
    For some seeds (peppers, mostly), I do a 30 minute soak in dilute hydrogen peroxide. Same concept -- break down the outer coating.

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  6. Sorry for the(temporary)loss of your wife. But you poor soul, forced to eat salmon and sweet potatoes(the Hora[ taken from one of the rugrats shows])not QUITE as good as king crab or filet but...

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  7. I drink a hibiscus tea.

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