Blueberry Leaves

Why do leaves turn colors before dropping off in the fall? These are blueberry leaves (genus Vaccinium) . They're red where they received sun, but yellow where they were covered by another leaf.

Maybe the red is a pigment that helps with photosynthesis, but also works as a sunscreen. Perhaps the green pigments are able to be reabsorbed by the plant, but the reds aren't. But if during the summer both pigments are in the leaf, how does the green cover up the red? Perhaps the green changes to red in the fall.

I wonder what they looked like during the summer.

Fava Beans

Fava beans, flourishing in the fall, killed with the first hard frost.

Spring in the Garden

It's decidedly autumn in the garden now , but I want to remember spring. I took these pictures on April 25, when everything was new, and the sap was rising (as I found when I trimmed the grape vines and their fresh cuts wouldn't stop dripping).

Fresh fig leaves (Ficus sp.)

Green cherries (genus Prunus)

Blooming hawthorne (Crataegus sp.)

The proud face of my garden pea (Pisum sativum)

New grape leaves (genus Vitis)

Why the Trees Sparkle

In 2006, working in a dry area of Idaho (above), I remember noticing flashes of light near the tops of the pines. I couldn't imagine why the trees were sparkling, but I didn't think it was my imagination because I kept noticing it. This summer at the Newberry National Volcanic Monument on the dry side of Oregon I came across this tree growing in an obsidian flow:

And noticed that the tree had this cone:

Notice the bubbles of sap stuck to the cone

I'm convinced this is why those trees were sparkling. Now I wonder why the cones are oozing sap, and whether it is a particular kind of pine tree that does this. How many needles are in a bunch is diagnostic of species for pine trees, and from my picture it seems the needles are in bunches of five (Trees to Know in Oregon tells me Oregon native pines with 5 needles to a bunch are: western white, sugar, limber, and whitebark).

Garden

It's mid-September and I'm still putting seeds in the ground. I planted pea seeds (saved from the spring) two weeks ago, and now I have a line of healthy-looking sprouts.

I noticed a print in one of my new seedbeds. Probably raccoon? 

I've been picking and eating from the garden more days than not this summer. Here I have a small Hubbard squash, a cucumber, and a few ripe tomatoes. I also picked some green tomatoes for frying. The seed heads are a type of daisy, and carrot. 

Forest Report: Third Week of February

I went to Marquam Nature Park on the 18th of this month. This is a little of what I saw.

Indian-plum (Oemleria cerasiformis) is blooming.

And leafing out. The young leaves taste like the bitter peel of a cucumber.

Bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) seeds are sprouting.

Lots of them.

Elderberry is also leafing out. This could be red, blue, or possibly black elder (all in the genus Sambucus). According to Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast (known as "Pojar", an author's name), while red elderberries are edible cooked, every other part of the plant is toxic.

And this is a very pretty currant (genus Ribes).

On the 20th of this month, I went to Forest Park.
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) is already at least a foot tall along the main trail where it grows in patches. Stinging nettle has perennial rhizomes that send up new shoots each year. In this photo you can see both the new growth at the bottom and last year's tall, dead stalks.


Tiny horsetails (genus Equisetum) coming up.

This is a special rosette of very tasty leaves. Whenever I find one of these, I taste a leaf. But only one tiny leaf, because up until recently I didn't know what it was. Now I think it is very likely oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare), the leaves of which are indeed edible.

This is garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), a non-native supposedly introduced as a culinary herb. I don't understand why, because even the young leaves taste really bitter to me.

Small-scale Farming

This 25lb bag of dry green peas...

...contains the split seeds of a variety of Pisum sativum (in the family Fabaceae).

And to my surprise, these seed halves can germinate! The plant embryo must be attached to just one seed half, or at least can be separated from the other half without damage. The germination rate for these seed halves, though, was very low (in the range of 10%).

The seeds grew into 5-6 inch tall plants -- before they began to fall. Maybe it's the tiny fruit fly chewing at the base of their stem, or maybe not. But for some reason the outer tissue at the very base of their tiny trunks is disappearing, leaving only a few thread-like strands of vascular tissue.

The plants were also unsuccessful at wrapping their tendrils around the provided supports. Even though the tendrils actually touched the supports, they seem to have forgotten that they are meant to wrap around other things, and not just in upon themselves. Was it starting life with just half of the normally provided nutrients that did these seedlings in? Or was it bad genes?

More Fermented Vegetables

I started three new jars of "sauerkraut" last week. This time I used more than just cabbage and salt. In the jar on the left I included beet, carrot, onion, and apple with the cabbage. The middle jar has eggplant and cabbage, and the jar on the right has brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. Each jar also includes several spices: caraway, juniper, black pepper, red pepper, coriander, or curry. I had a lot of juice left after I ate all of the earlier-made sauerkraut, so I also added that to each of these jars. Other than the salt in that brine, very little extra salt was added (only a few pinches to the eggplant mixture). The tasting has barely begun, but I think I may have been too heavy with the spices. These might have to be condiments rather than side dishes.

January Flowers

I found a tree covered in these flowers in the south park blocks. Very striking and unique flowers (genus Hamamelis -- witchhazel)

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is flowering in the PSU community garden.

This is chickweed (Stellaria media) which seems to do really well in the winter here.

And this is Tobaccus cigarettebuttis, in full bloom.

Book Binding

An image of journals I have made. It takes me half an hour to an hour to put one all together. I use these as agendas, for taking notes, or for general writing. They're really quite simple... all you need is paper, string, and a needle (other things like cardboard, cloth, glue, or tape are optional).