Early Summer Salad Garnishes

 

White clover, plantain, yucca, and a single pansy.

Why forage? Everyone has different answers. For me, it's my best connection to nature besides forest bathing. I don't just need nature, but I need nature. Places like NYC or other cities are a day trip at best for me as the lack of green just makes me feel so disconnected. I need to know where I live, the seasons through plants, the health of the environment around me. Foraging is a great way to do that.

I find it easier to keep foraging if I don't overthink it. I don't need a fancy, overcomplicated dish. Sometimes experiments are fun, and sometimes it's a way to try a completely new flavor, but sometimes? A handful of edibles into a salad work just fine. It's added nutrients, may or may not add flavor, but get me outside and back in nature where I belong.

1) White Clover, Trifolium repens (information)

Not native but highly adapted to the point of being assumed native. New York even has its own type as clover is adapted to the point of having three types (large, intermediate, small). It has a sweet, vanilla-like taste to it, again, from coumarin, and so should not be fermented. It is a pleasant texture, though, and highly recommended to eat raw. On one side, honeybees and some native bees love clover, and it is pushed as a lawn alternative. On the other hand, it fixes nitrogen which not all soils actually want or need. Many native ecosystems are naturally nitrogen poor and plants are adapted to it, but clover can alter that. Where I now live is in a nitrogen poor ecosystem. I'm not sure yet what I'll do with all the clover in my lawn, but if I eat it, at least that can hold it at bay until I decide.

2) Yucca, Yucca sp. (information)

Not to be confused with red yucca which does not have edible fruit. Yucca, with creamy white flowers, has numerous species. I wrote about it years ago on this blog as it also has a fascinating relationship with the yucca moth and a history of being used for cordage in World War II. It is also a favorite of mine when I lived in Texas for eating. The flowers of the species down there were thick, with a pleasant texture, and a taste that reminded me strongly of honeysuckle. For such a desert looking plant, it does surprisingly handle cold well. I don't believe it is so much native up here as moved up here as an ornamental. So I was pleasantly surprised when I came across a patch of yucca at an office I often visit. It's a risk of pesticides to forage in such a place, but given there were bugs inside, I assumed it was fine and didn't have but three flowers. This species, which I haven't fully ID'd yet, isn't quite as succulent as my Texas favorites, but it is still a decent flavor, if thinner flower, and full of nostalgia.

3) Blackseed Plantain, Plantago rugelii (information)

A different link for information here to an old blog that I still value all these years later. This is another difference of opinion. Yes, you can eat the young seedheads raw. That said, these weren't pleasant except for one. Perhaps it's this specific species where it's a bit more bitter, or maybe my tolerance is low. I plan to fry these up instead and add it to another "seaweed salad" or something else, maybe. The texture was fun, but I think I'll pass on trying them raw again.

The pansy is a basic pansy. I have some leftover in a pot from when I had some baby bunnies in my garden bed. Yes, I specifically bought the pansy for them to nibble on, and while they did, some survived (to clarify, some pansies survived, and all baby bunnies survived to leave their nest). Pansy are popular for their color but not their flavor. Another thought to consider for when or why to forage: sometimes, it's just because it's pretty. I bet these would be fun to make candied. 

Sun and its Significances

Sunset over the Rocky Mountains.

The influence the Sun has had not only on evolution, but also human culture is astounding. While the importance of the Moon is not clear to many, the life giving rays of the Sun are and have been for millenia. The tremendous mass of the Sun allows for the fusion of atoms. It is this process that generates the energy to sustain life on Earth in the form of ultraviolet radiation, visible light, and infrared radiation. Neither a liquid nor solid, the Sun is composed of a number of gaseous layers. The lower density photosphere is where most visible light originates from and is often referred to as the "surface" of the Sun. The less dense, dim layer above the photosphere is called the chromosphere. This layer can only been seen with special filters or during a total solar eclipse where the photosphere is blocked. While the temperature drops between these two layers, from 5800 K to 4000 K, the temperature rises to about 10,000 K at the top of the chromosphere. Between the chromosphere and the corona, the outermost region of the Sun's atmosphere, is a section known as the transition zone. This zone is where the temperature skyrockets up to 1 million to 2 million K. The rise in temperature is due in part to the highly ionized elements found in the corona.

The Sun has received much reverence, but for a star it is quite average. In stellar classification, the Sun falls in with main-sequence stars. The Balmer-based spectral types are arranged by surface temperatures for the OBAFGKM sequence where O is the hottest and M is the coolest. Classification is then broken up further into ten temperature subdivision. These are designated by integers where 0 is hottest, and 9 is coolest. As a G2 spectral type, the Sun is grouped with the common main-sequence stars of M, K, and G. Compared to other stars, the Sun also has an average mass and a lower luminosity. Still, from the cultures of the ancient Egyptians to that of the Chinese, the ancient religions of Greece to those of modern day, the Sun remains an inspiration.

EDIT: I was recently shown this article on the Sun and the argument that it is not truly average. It's an interesting read and perspective, and as I have way fewer credentials, I don't think I rightly can disagree; however, I will say perspective is everything. This focuses on mass present day. There is little mention to the fact that giants and supergiants have very short lifespans especially compared to red dwarfs and brown dwarfs. I had been taught that we still haven't a clue as to the life cycle of brown dwarfs and red dwarfs because they have such an exceedingly long life. I'm personally curious as to how the Sun would match up compared to all the giants, supergiants, brown dwarfs, and red dwarfs that ever existed. Either way, looking at different perspectives is important, as is giving others the ability to see it!

I'm pretty sure I'll be bringing up more astronomy here in the future. While I try to keep posts a relatively nice length, there is still much left unsaid and other topics and photos left untouched.

Moon and its Influences

View of the Moon just before Sunrise.

The Moon has been a revered object throughout human history from myths and rituals to romances and stories. While the impact the Sun has had on the evolution of life is knowledgeable to most, the role the Moon has played is less so. The tides of the ocean are created due to a combination of the Sun and the Moon, but it is the Moon that impacts tide activity the most. Without a moon, the tides would be smaller, minerals would wash into the ocean slower, and life would take longer to establish. In this moonless condition, the Earth would be spinning much faster causing high, continuous wind. This wind would lead to enormous, constant waves. In these conditions, the transition of life from ocean to land would be extremely difficult to achieve. Life has evolved in extreme settings before, and might then, but it would have more challenges: perpetual winds and regular debris. A number of animals relay on the moon not only for hunting, but also reproduction.

The rapid rotation would also mean a different circadian rhythm as the 24-hour day becomes close to a 6-hour day. A rapidly rotating terrestrial planet is also highly unstable without an anchor such as our Moon. The significant wobbling would cause enormous stress on the surface of Earth. This would result in large magnitude earthquakes, high volcanic activity, catastrophic tsunamis, an unstable atmosphere, and drastic magnetic field changes. The evolution of both Earth and life on it are not just the result of the perfect distance from the Sun, but also the stabilization that the Moon has given our planet.

This week I've decided to just continue with an astronomy theme.

Jupiter and its Moons

Jupiter with Ganymede and Europa minutes after Io is eclipsed.

Jupiter, the most massive planet in our solar system, contains a current count of 50 "permanent" moons. Of these many moons, the four largest are Callisto, Europa, Ganymede, and Io. These four are known as Galilean satellites, having first been observed and recorded in 1610 by Galileo Galilei. Europa is thought to have a liquid ocean under its frozen crust, but the possibility may also lie with Callisto and Ganymede. Ganymede is also the largest planetary moon and the only moon with its own magnetic field. Io, on the other hand, is the most volcanically active body in the solar system.

Another capture of Jupiter, Ganymede, and Europa.

The Great Red Spot is not the only interesting feature of Jupiter. The rings of Jupiter were first discovered in 1979 by NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft. These are a flattened main ring, an inner cloud-like "halo" ring, and a third gossamer ring. The gossamer ring, call such due to its transparency, is actually three rings of microscopic debris. That debris came from the three small moons Amalthea, Thebe, and Adrastea. Perhaps the most interesting fact of Jupiter is that is can technically be called a failed star. It lacks the mass needed to graduate to a brown dwarf and has cooled below the threshold for fusion; however, enough heat, mass, and pressure remain to cram together atoms resulting in new behaviors. With this limbo state of chemical and nuclear reaction, oddities such as liquid metallic hydrogen are possible. It is with the launch of and arrival of Juno to Jupiter that we may finally see below the clouds of Jupiter.

As a celebration for the successful landing of Curiosity, I decided today was a good day to share what may be my favorite photo I've ever taken. It was with the aid of a wonderful astronomer and telescope during an amateur astronomy night in Australia that I had this opportunity, and success.

Perigree Moon

Perigree Moon of May 2012

Referred to by the media as "Supermoon", the event of a week ago presented a full moon coinciding with a close approach presenting a brighter and larger view. The moon follows an elliptical, or Kepler, orbit around the earth, with the closer focal point deemed the perigree, the opposed deemed apogee. What made this apparently news worth was that, as it was during a full moon, the event was easily observable; however, the distance the moon presented is not uncommon. For example, June of next year will present a full moon only 36 km further than of this month and yet August of the year after will present a full moon 57 km closer.