What is That!?

It was early morning and I was ambling through the dew laden garden. I noticed the green beans were being eaten by some unknown creature and they were doing quite a number on the plants. Basically only the leaf skeleton remained. Then, on closer inspection, I saw these strange spiky, yellow "things." They kind of looked scary and dangerous with all their spikes.

Were they growths? What were they?

I also noticed a bunch of what looked like yellow lady beetles. Were the yellow "growths" related to the beetles? I have to admit, I had no idea.

So, I kept turning over leaves and observing. Finally I came across a lady beetle that had just emerged from the "growth." A light bulb went off in my head and I realized that those "growths" were actually the pupa stage. How cool! Now I was scanning each leaf with renewed interest and soon discovered the whole life cycle of the beetle.  

A clump of eggs

Look at those spikes!!

A larva happily eating away at the leaf

The pupa stage

A close-up of the pupa (one about to hatch and one that has already hatched)

Since they were not the traditional red lady beetles, I did some research and found out they are actually called the Mexican Bean Beetle, and they were no where near as beneficial as other ladybugs. It was a perfect name for them since they were voraciously eating away at the green beans. I also learned that they are one of the few lady beetles that eat plants instead of eating other insects. It is considered one of the most destructive insect pest of beans in the United States. In other words, the adult form may look harmless, but when it comes to crops it can be devastating.

And so I learned something new!

Incredible Builders

Have you ever wondered how Swallows make their nests? Well, I have and recently I had the opportunity to watch a pair of Barn Swallows as they carefully built theirs. After moving to their new home, my parents had cleared out all the nests that were there from the previous year. However, when the Swallows returned in March after spending the winter in the Southern Hemisphere, they decided to set up residence in the same location and began building once again.

Pausing to survey its work

The mother and father birds work together throughout the day, returning from the fields with beaks full of mud and grass, which they carefully pack down.

One beak full of mud coming up!

Carefully placing the mud "brick"

It amazes me how they know to mix mud and straw/grass to make their nest stronger!

  It has been documented that they may make up to 1,000 trips to collect mud.
 

Notice the forked tail, which is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Barn Swallow

They are great to have around since 99% of their diet consists of flies, wasps and other flying insects.

It took them about a week (when they finally began building in earnest) and once the main structure was finished, they started lining the nest with grass, dog fur, horse hair and other soft materials. Soon there will be 3 to 6 white eggs with reddish brown speckles and about 2 weeks after that, babies!

We could learn much from the cooperation, hard work and dedication of the Swallow. Day after day they labor together, not arguing about who is working more or less, not bickering about where to place the next load of mud, but cheerfully singing as they work, eat and raise their family.

"Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people." Colossians 3:23

PS. in case you're curious, check out the Barn swallow calls

First Wild Salad of Spring

Every year, for about the past eight years, I have marked the beginning of spring by foraging for wild edibles from my lawn. I love learning about wild edibles, trying them out, finding recipes, and sharing my experiences with skeptical friends and family. Here is a breakdown of what I collected for my spring salad mix:

Dandelions
-  Edible parts: leaves, roots, and flowers (though some parts are best eaten cooked).
- Nutritional content: calcium, high in vitamin A,  high in vitamin K, iron, vitamin E and more
- It's best to pick the young leaves because as they get older, they taste more bitter.
- Caution: don't eat too many at one time because the leaves are a diuretic
- For recipes check out this link: 16 ways to eat dandelions

Clover
-  Edible parts: leaves, flowers, seeds and root
- Once again it's best to choose the young young leaves when adding them to salads. As they get more mature, it is better to cook them as you would other greens. However, the tastiest part of the clover is the flower.
- Here is a link to various Red clover recipes: 9 Red Clover Recipes

White clover

Wild Violet
- Edible parts: leaves, flowers
- Did you know there are 450 different species of violets in North America and you can eat all of them!
- Here's a link with more information on violets and some recipes: Wild foods and medicines























Plantain
- Edible parts: leaves, seeds, and roots
- It is high in calcium, Vitamin A, C, and K
- Plantains are also great for first aid against mosquito bites and bee or wasp stings. Just chew up the leaf and apply the poultice to the bite to help ease the pain, reduce swelling and help it heal.
- At the bottom of this link there are 4 recipes to get you started: Eat the Weeds





















Bittercress (also known as pepperweed)
- Edible parts: leaves, seed pods
- Here are several recipes: bittercress pesto; wild garlic, nettle and bittercress risotto























Salad 
Finally, here is my salad all put together. I added a little bit of olive oil, lemon juice and salt and I quite enjoyed it.

For more wild edibles check out: Edible Weeds

PS. Always double check the plant(s) you plan on eating with a plant ID book and make sure you are gathering from pesticide free locations. If you are not 100% sure about the plant, don't eat it! Each person should also be aware of the potential side effects if they have any health conditions. So do your research :)

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Beautiful but Weak

Though part of me feels bad for those who have allergies, I have to admit, spring is my favorite time of year. The baby animals, nesting birds, egg laying ducks, flowering trees, frog eggs, the birds' morning chorus... each is a reminder that spring is here... that life is stirring. There's growth, change, and birth everywhere.

Bagworm moth cocoon

Each year I look forward to the first blossoms of spring. In our area, the most common early flowering tree is the Bradford pear (Pyrus calleryana). Snowy white blossoms engulf the tree in spring and these tall bouquets embellish many driveways and yards. The trees grow quickly, are disease resistant, and are able to adapt to a variety of growing conditions. The small fruit of the tree is not poisonous, though they don't taste all that great. However, the seeds are considered mildly poisonous if ingested in large quantities. Despite some of the seemingly positive qualities, the Bradford pear trees are structurally weak, have shallow roots and tend to break in strong winds.

Though there are many lessons that can be learned from trees, to me this tree is a beautiful yet sobering reminder that outward appearances are not what really matter; what matters is the depth and strength of our character which can only come from being deeply rooted in God. When the storms of life come, will we stand tall and strong or will we break and fall?

"I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through His spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is." Ephesians 3:16-18

Fruit of the Bradford pear (picture taken in the fall)

Black Walnut Dye

I spent a couple of hours one morning walking around my parents' new property and found that they had two Black walnut trees. Walnuts were scattered all over the grass and with my recent passion for collecting nuts, I decided I would collect these black walnuts too. I collected several grocery bags worth before deciding I had enough. Over the next few days I started removing the outer hull from the nuts. I found out it was a time consuming process that was decidedly dangerous... in that anything and everything that got sprayed as I cracked open the hull, was instantly dyed brown. So, I had brown speckled legs, arms, feet... thankfully I knew enough to have gloves on and to be outside, however, my gloves ended up having a few holes and some of my fingers also got stained.

Nevertheless, the misfortune of having brown fingers gave me the brilliant idea to try and make a natural dye... something I have always wanted to try. With great enthusiasm I made my way to the local Samaritan center to pick up a used pot and a white shirt; then I waited for the right day to start the process.

Unlike my acorn flour adventure, I did a bit more research this time before starting the process, though that doesn't mean I followed all the directions to the T. So here's what I did:

 Collect about 15-20 Black walnuts

With gloves on, remove the hull (which is the green casing enclosing the nut) and place broken up hulls in an old nylon stocking. (The stocking is helpful in keeping all the pieces together and helps eliminate the need to strain out the pieces from the dye at the end.) The hull will oxidize very quickly to black... that's normal.

Place the stocking full of walnut hulls in an enamel or stainless steel pot with 1 gallon of water.

Bring the pot to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for one hour. For darker shades of brown, soak the hulls in the water for a longer period of time. (WARNING: the smell of walnut hulls cooking is strong, though not necessarily unpleasant, and will permeate everywhere... so be sure to have good ventilation, open windows, fans, etc.)

While the dye is simmering, prepare the fabric you plan to dye. In another pot, boil 1 gallon of water with 1/2 teaspoon of laundry soap and 1 Tablespoon of washing soda (though I used baking soda because that's all I had). Once it has boiled, reduce to a simmer and place whatever clothes/fabric you plan to dye into the hot water and stir.  Leave the fabric in, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes to 1 hour. I just turned off the heat and let it soak until I was ready to use it. This process removes any oils, dirt, or anything else that may hinder the dye from evenly coating your fabric.

At this point, some sites recommend placing your clean fabric in a fixative, which will allow your clothes to absorb the dye more readily. When making dye from plants (like black walnuts), the fixative would be 1 part white vinegar with 4 parts cold water. Let the clothes sit in this fixative solution for an hour and then rinse the clothes in cold water before dyeing. I didn't have vinegar, so I skipped this step.

When your dye is almost ready, remove the fabric from the cleaning pot and rinse thoroughly.

After an hour, I took everything outside so I wouldn't accidentally stain the kitchen. I carefully removed the stocking full of cooked hulls from the water and now I had a beautiful dark brown dye ready to be used. 

Place your still wet fabric into the dye and stir. Technically it is suggested that you continue to simmer the dye with the fabric. I decided the water was hot enough and I wasn't looking for a really dark shade of brown, so I just let the shirt soak. Every 10 minutes or so I would stir the shirt to make sure it would be evenly dyed. It also allowed me to monitor the color. You want to stain it at least one shade darker than you eventually want because when it dries, it will be lighter.

I soaked my shirt for about 30 minutes, then removed it from the dye and rinsed it in cold water until the water was running clear. If you want a richer shade, let it soak in the dye longer, even overnight if you want.
(WARNING: Make sure that you wash your dyed clothes separately the first time because some dye may still seep out and you wouldn't want to accidentally dye your other clothes.)

Yes, my gloves had holes and here's proof that the dye will stain your hands.

 Here's a before and after picture of the shirt I dyed. I actually really like the color that came out.

Since I had extra dye, I decided to stain one of my boards. The two boards were the exact same color, but as you can see the one on the right is now a rich brown after being stained with the Black walnut. I love it! 



Here is where I got my info:  Practical Primitive

And this awesome site gives a long list of other plants and what colors they create: natural dyes

Food falling from above

The other day I decided to take a walk in the woods because the weather was absolutely gorgeous. The sun was shining in a perfectly blue sky, a gentle breeze was blowing, crickets were singing, and ... acorns were falling. To be honest, I was nervous that one would crash onto my head because there were so many of them dropping. Whenever I heard an acorn start falling through the leaves above me, I would swiftly place my hands on my head in a feeble attempt to protect it from possible harm. Any onlookers would have probably thought I looked like a marionette... with my arms being controlled by some unseen force :)

Then the thought came to me, "why not collect acorns to make acorn flour," something I've been wanting to try for a long time. So that's exactly what I did... I started collecting right then and there. 

This was just one spot along a trail full of acorns

I believe the acorns I picked where from the White Oak tree. The acorns from the White Oak have very little tannins, which is good when wanting to make acorn flour. Check out more info on the White Oak

When I got home I began the process of shelling them. Here was my work station. The shelling process took a lot longer than I expected.

Look at the beautiful acorn "meat"

It's a good idea to gather more acorns then you think you will need because you may find that some are infested by worms or other insects.

At this stage you may be tempted to take a bite out of the delicious looking nut, but don't! It will taste bitter! Though White Oak acorns are not as bitter as Red Oak for example.

I ended up shelling about 2.5 cups of acorns. Notice how the water I placed the acorns in is turning yellow/brown. This is the tannic acid starting to leach out. (The 2.5 cups of whole acorns made about 1.5 cups of acorn meal)

Once I had the desired amount of acorns, I drained the water and replaced it with clean water. Then I blenderized the whole thing until the acorns were ground up. I poured the milky looking mixture into a pot and cooked it until it had boiled for a couple of minutes, stirring continuously. (As a side note, though I stirred continuously, the bottom of my pot still burned... not sure why.) Also, I found out that I should have put the acorns into already boiling water.

After the mixture had boiled, I drained it into a "cheese cloth" which I had placed in a colander. I then ran cold water through it several times to make sure it was cool enough to handle and to supposedly rinse out any residual tannic acid. (WARNING: I found out later that normally you do not want to rinse your acorns with cold water after boiling because it will bind the tannins to the acorn, the opposite of what I was trying to do.) The boiling process also removes some of the oils, so if you want to keep that, you may choose another method of leaching your acorns. You can taste the acorn meal at this point and if it still tastes a little bitter, just rinse a few more times. Thankfully, the White Oak acorns have less tannins and my acorn meal did not turn out bitter despite my mistake.

After squeezing out all the liquid, I was left with this lovely acorn meal. I ended up blenderizing it one more time to make it a bit more fine. If you decide to use it right away, no need to do anything further, it's ready for use. However, if you want to store it for later, it's best to dry it in an oven or food dehydrator until all moisture is gone.

And here is my finished acorn bread

I have to say, it sure tasted good, but I hardly noticed any acorn flavor, which was kind of disappointing.

For those interested in the acorn bread recipe, here it is:
1 cup of acorn meal (with as much liquid squeezed out as possible)
1 cup white flour
2 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbs sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup of milk
2 Tbs olive oil

pout into greased loaf pan and bake for 30 minutes at 400F.

In my excitement to prepare acorn flour I failed to do as thorough research as I should have into how best to prepare them. There are many sites with various ways of processing acorns, but I found out that traditionally there are two main ways of leaching out the tannins: the cold water leaching (best for making flour and will thicken when cooked) and the hot water leaching (best when using them for their nutty flavor). I think I accidentally did a mixture of both and thus probably removed some of the flavor from my acorns. Though I know I made some mistakes in the processing of my acorns, I was thrilled to have finally attempted the process of preparing the acorns and actually tasting them. I will have to try again sometime and be more careful about the steps :)

Here are a few sites with more information on acorns and other ways to process them.
Acorns: the inside story
Acorns: from mush to candy
Acorn processing and recipes  - this site is awesome, with quite a few recipes

Butterfly Eclosion

I've been monitoring about eight chrysalises for the past several days. With great anticipation I make my rounds every morning, hoping that today will be the day I will see one hatch. Usually I'm too late and all I see is an empty chrysalis. But today... I noticed one particular chrysalis that looked almost see-through. I knew it could eclose at any minute and I didn't want to miss it. So, I settled down to watch and wait.

A light mist was falling... a hummingbird buzzed by and hovered for a second to look at me... cardinals, blue jays, and chickadees hopped around in the branches and sang their morning songs... and still I waited. An ant crawled up my leg... a spider caught my attention as it hung on its sparkling web... the hummingbird came back, puzzled that I hadn't moved... still nothing. I was about to go inside, when a slight movement caught my eye. I looked closely, and sure enough, a crack had formed along the tip of the chrysalis. It was eclosing (hatching, for those not sure what eclosing means). I was so excited!


I was glad I took the time to watch and wait, because it was over in about 40 seconds. Here's the proof:

 

About 10 minutes before it eclosed

After, when it was still drying its wings

Here's another one that also hatched this morning