The raccoons have been hammering our sweet cherries. Two of them paid the price. They got swatted by a car on the road in front of our house.
I looked over the tomato cages in the barn on The Property and they are wimpy, puny things. I used them anyway. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I went for a mile run this morning. I had very low expectations. I was stunned to run the mile in about 11:30! The first half was 6:10 and the second half was on the level and very fast. The rule of thumb is that you can expect your time-per-mile to increase 10% for every doubling of the distance. So if I can run one mile in 11:30 then I can reasonably expect to run four miles at a 13:54/mile pace.
Salt
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| From the book "Tsukemono" by Ole G. Mouritsen. Tsukemono is the art of Japanese pickles. |
Interesting because what most people would consider a defect, bitterness, is sought-after because of tradition. That, and the magnesium and calcium make the vegetables pickled in traditional, Japanese sea-salt incredibly crispy.
If you are interested in the science of food and making it delicious, you could do far worse than to buy any book written by Ole G. Mouritsen!
Persimmons
I have been potting up the seedlings that did not get decapitated. I am up to 22 and maybe half of them will be females. I am happy.
Idiot savant super-powers
One of my super-powers is that I can very rapidly identify local tree and weed species as I drive by them 55 mph. If it is within 50 yards of the lane I am traveling in then there is a MUCH better than average chance I can ID it.
This super-power doesn't necessarily travel well. Subtle cues change from one location to the next (Poison Ivy is particularly plastic in leaf gloss, shape and how the branches carry them). Plants change through the season so the plant(s) I am dialed into for early-June in mid-Michigan might look like mid-July further south.
I was driving through Okemos today and was startled to see two robust specimens of Poison Hemlock on a public right-of-way 500 feet from one of their elementary schools. I would take care of it myself but I would have an hour of road-time invested. I have some feelers out to contact somebody/anybody who can eliminate the plants and properly dispose of the leaves and stems. If any readers have a good email address of somebody I can contact, I will appreciate your putting it into the comments.
For those who are not "up" on the minutia of mid-Michigan suburbs, Okemos is a wee-bit more posh and up-scale than Eaton Rapids, or at least we let them think that they are.
Very interesting Japanese seawater salt production, burning seaweed for salt and minerals. Picking Very popular before refrigeration and in Japanese culture still important.
ReplyDeleteSalt, saying "not worth his salt " was from the Roman soldiers were paid in salt. Salaries is derived from Latin word for salt.
Wars were fought over salt.
According to the compilation of slave narratives recorded during the Great Depression and published in Bullwhip Days, salt was a big deal. Slave owners were loath to spend money and give their slaves salt. I am sure their performance in the tidewater plantations suffered as a result.
DeleteSlaves would steal the boards that made up the floor of the plantation's smoke-house and gnaw, suck on them to get the salt.
"Slave narratives recorded during the Great Depression"?
DeleteExpand please. The Great Depression I think of was in 1929-1939.
I'm aware there were plenty of depressions all though America's history but this reference baffles me. Help?
https://www.amazon.com/Bullwhip-Days-Slaves-Remember-History/dp/0802138683/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.kVGDMluy7WsM114iMgUoG2tEZtknvK8HfASutYgnwGNDyTLzAEN6FFb03OmWwIh-RLdy-QllmUt9sI_aD6THwCgHBKTMbY5Cd8-2cwXeEvovJrIq5DeDK8VA_qndDEvSnOy5yV-JmJpA5FPXW4HMP7V1I-bUx0IAbXt9xj0M35Bfi68I3Pd8DhgKVx1QGrNdrEZDSLfBbREX2ecRuQfMqsKPn55-BccHrxUALstEHdD6tauoeQEXLn0kh0bOMqpS5p0i-zA4WvdztR4DxiwwOrd0waFCnF6dsmGjddhSk7Q.IT7Ux0U4vF5sNdtreJsFMAmXsf6RZYJtOn9JWjUjwVY&dib_tag=se&keywords=bullwhip+days&qid=1717930469&sr=8-1
DeleteFDR "created" employment for recent college graduates by hiring them and sending them out to collect photographs and oral histories and to paint murals. It was make-work of the highest order.
There were still men and women alive who had been slaves during their childhood. There were certainly MANY people alive who had sat in their granny's lap and listened to her stories of life under slavery.
The book referenced (linked above) is a compilation of some of those stories.
Thanks for that bit of history.
DeleteMichael
One little known thing the North in the 1860's was to destroy as much southern salt production as they could.
ReplyDeleteSince it was mostly ocean front locations, it was easy to attack in small boat raids.
At one point during the war, salt was selling for $1 a pound in major cities in the South East.
Jonathan
I have another 5K on the 22nd of this month and am trying to do more training than the last one (every number is greater than 0!!)
ReplyDeleteDid 1.5 miles at 11:10 pace on yesterday's run. Very, very happy with that .