I know it must be autumn somewhere! Here that reality is still mostly in my dreams. We’re still in the 90s and still mostly dry. There are a few tiny signs of change though, that I’m magnifying in my mind, because I can hardly wait! It’s been a terrible summer.
See, right there, 3 red leaves on my favorite Sassafras tree! (Very soon to be featured in an ‘Herbal Explorations’ post)
But, I’m not going to complain about that now. Instead we’ve got lots of happy snaps, and even a few scary ones.
We’re gearing up for the fall/winter garden, getting the beds ready for the transplants that have been growing under lights for a month and are very ready for their new outdoor home, just as soon as the temperature drops a bit.
Hang in there brassicas, it’s almost time!
We just started harvesting sweet potatoes from the boxes waiting for replanting.
Those vines helped keep the goats happy and healthy during the extra long heat wave.
Summer keeping a sharp eye on Shadow even though there’s a fence between them. None of the goats have warmed up to him, despite all his best efforts!
The peppers have come back with gusto after another dose of compost dressing and removing their shade cloth.
Jalapeños and banana peppers and the now monstrous cranberry hibiscus on right that is finally just starting to bloom.
Cucumbers again, yippie! Plus hurricane lilies, turmeric, zinnia and basil keeping the bees happy. And lots of bindweed (morning glory)—scourge to the industrial farmer—a hardy, lovely and welcome cover for the rest of us.
I’m getting about 1/2 gallon of milk a day from 2 goats and making cheese often—mozzarella and soft chèvre every week and a hard cheese whenever I can accumulate at least 3 gallons (preferably 6) in the freezer. The larger the hard cheese the easier it is to age properly and goat milk works just fine for cheese after freezing.
The easiest cheese to make and so delish!
But I’m really looking forward to making Camembert and Munster again. Just like all things natural, cheeses also have seasons. I was very disappointed by a so-called Brie I just splurged on from the grocery store. They should call it a processed Brie-like imitation and market it in the aisle with Velveeta. Quel scandale!
A few more friendly faces . . .
As I mentioned last update, we had a sausage-fest this summer, that is, a super-high percentage of males born, of all species—cats, pigs, sheep, chickens, goats. So odd.
Now we have 3 young male cats, a new thing for us. But one of them is a real scaredy cat, we’re never able to get close to him and he’s rarely around except for meal time.
Always crouching in the shadows and darting off even from the camera.
Also odd but true—our black cat, Mittens, hangs out with our black Shadow and our blond Tony hangs out with our blond Bubba and Buttercup—go figure!
“Hey in there! Where’s our breakfast?!”
I love spiders, especially these beauties, but some folks find them scary, apparently.
Now here’s a real foe . . . .
Gross! Looks like right out of a horror movie. And he has a lot of friends haunting our compost heap. 🤢
But who loves ‘em but our very scary Halloween rooster . . .
Poor guy, we’ve no idea what happened to him, but he is one scary-looking dude!
Soon we will be making the tough but necessary fall homestead decision—who will get bred and who will shuffle off to freezer camp?
But not a care in the world for these contented creatures!
Hope you’re having a fine Sunday and thanks for stopping by!
I’m critical of high-tech solutions and when I hear them in tandem with big claims of sustainability, especially at a global level, I automatically bristle.
Still, the first time someone called me a Luddite, I balked.
I know there are plenty of us—vocal advocates and quiet dissenters alike—bemoaning so much of the tech being shoved down our throats, most certainly when it comes to food. I’ve been vocally ‘anti-GMO’ and ‘anti-geoengineering’ and ‘anti-vaxx’ and ‘anti-surveillance’ which in their linguistic game really just amounts to PRO-nature.
Yet it is becoming more common, even among the homesteading ‘community’ and ‘off-griders’ to consider these two powerful forces as intrinsically intertwined. As if sustainability cannot be achieved without modern tech, forgetting we somehow made it all the way up to the industrial era with relatively little of it.
We often hear of technology being a Trojan Horse. But, that’s an understated analogy, considering in that story it was a “gift”—insinuating it was one that could’ve been rejected. There is no rejecting a good portion of this tech flooding into our lives today. You will not escape the digital prison, at least not completely. Those 5G towers are screaming their frequencies over your head day and night whether you like it or not. The weather modification is a thing, whether I like it or not. (NOT!)
We also hear of technology being as any other tool—to be used for good or ill. Yet, is that a fair assessment when these tools are largely invisible? And when they are overwhelmingly in the hands of very few, and when fewer still would be able to replicate them in any capacity?
What am I missing? Where is the healthy balance? To explore these questions over the next few posts, I’m bringing in considerable help.
A young ‘homestead influencer’ I’ve heard about for years is about to release a new book and her attitude about the tech sounds pretty healthy. In the book she explores the question, “What are we leaving behind in our race toward progress?”
Like most of us, she has zero intention of recreating a ‘Little House on the Prairie’ lifestyle. She has managed to incorporate the tech into her life on her terms. So far, it seems.
Many of us certainly feel as the diaspora—dispersed between cultures—natural and digital.
I can’t help but wonder, is losing our soil connected to losing our soul?
I have a cousin in Colorado with a farm I’d call pretty high-tech. He’s a permaculture/biodynamics guy and has been very successful and has the perfect background to enlighten me, I’m sure.
He worked all over the world before his current venture, which has recently gone on the market after 20 years of development and WOW, talk about a success story! To increase the value of a property by such an extraordinary measure is truly remarkable. And that’s only part of his success story.
He too seems to have managed the tech, rather than the tech managing him.
I was quite moved by his 2015 speech:
“I remember! These qualities of life giving wholeness that our ancestors knew deep in their bones have been drawn off, separated, reduced, modified, pasteurized, homogenized, radiated – their vitality degraded, their life giving forces mutilated beyond what our cells might recognize. We now consume what are at best facsimiles of food, laboratory concoctions, genetically mastered ingredients – simulacra that do not build our cellular health but create work for our bodies, that weaken our fortitude and break our spirits. These laboratory wonders parade in full color down our grocery store isles. -all screaming for our purchasing dollars. More money is spent on the campaigns intended to seduce us than on the so-called food inside. These products are combinations of ingredients that we can not pronounce, masquerading as food and covered up with contemporary Eco-socially correct overly-designed, brightly bannered sales pitches in suspect containers claiming to bring us momentary bliss – all hawking only slight variations of amber waves of commodities meant for one thing and one thing only – to efficiently generate profit for a few, and from the most devastating chain of ecological rape and pillage the world has ever experienced – all leaving an accumulated insurmountable debt to future generations.”
Excerpt from a speech given by Brook LeVan at the 12th Annual Sustainable Settings Harvest Festival on September 20th, 2015:
“In the modern world, progress and innovation are often celebrated as unambiguously positive. New technologies, ideas, and ways of living are readily embraced with the assumption that they must be better than what came before. While it is true that certain advancements have brought undeniable benefits, such as improved hygiene, faster means of travel, effective medical treatments, and enhanced communication, it is crucial to critically examine the broader implications of modern progress. Often, the rapid pace of change leaves little room for reflection on whether newer solutions are truly superior to time-tested practices. As society becomes more complex and interconnected, the allure of novel and convenient solutions can overshadow the wisdom of the ancestors. Practices that have served humanity for generations may be disregarded in favour of modern alternatives that promise quick results and ease. For example, the trend toward processed foods and sedentary lifestyles has led to health problems that were less prevalent in societies that followed more traditional dietary and physical activity patterns. Likewise, the reliance on fiat money and speculative investment has created economic instability compared to more sound financial practices.”
Sound financial practices? What will the future kids know of that when even homesteaders are encouraging others to go deep into debt to finance their ‘off-grid’ dream property as if that’s magically sustainable? We used to call that debt-slavery.
Curtis Stone is a popular YT homesteader, and I’m not really meaning to diss him here, because it’s quite possible if I were a young man in my prime I wouldn’t be having such reservations as I do.
Risky behavior is common in youth, yet do we not expect a mature individual, as a mature culture, to become less risk-tolerant with time?
Debt has alway been encouraged for farmers when all the fancy new equipment becomes de rigueur—and a great many lost their farms that way during the Great Depression.
I’m not the gambling type myself, yet I see the technological sphere permeated with these types. From my vantage point, they appear to be addicts.
As if The Tech is not sketchy enough to me, there’s also the obvious fact of The Money, because you can’t have one without the other. That’s where the rabbit hole starts to go very deep.
(17:53) Gambling on people’s lives. That’s where the tech is headed. Not a ‘Black Mirror’ episode. Reality. Our debt-creation machine riding squarely on the backs of every cyber-unit, that is, every man, woman, and child, every living thing, all resources all around the world. Internet of Things, Internet of Bodies.
Alison McDowell of WrenchintheGears has been doing deep dives on this topic for many years, her work is hefty and dense, expertly sourced, and crucial in this discussion.
All this data. All the electricity required to run all this tech. All the power to be had, when all that power is in the hands of so very few.
So, I suppose I am a bit of a Luddite. I’ll be exploring this reality in the next few posts, I hope you’ll join me by adding your thoughts about the topic in the comments.
Pokeweed is one of the most controversial yet fully legal weeds you’ll hear about, I’m sure!
A young plant on left surrounded by poison ivy. On right a mature plant with ripe and unripe berries surrounded by fireweed
Elderberry-Pokeberry syrup for flavoring cocktails and Pokeberry kombucha—such lovely colors!
There is a hefty amount of misinformation on this ubiquitous plant, but in recent years there’s been a significant pushback, especially among Southerners, where for some it’s been a staple crop for generations.
Though its reputation is still highly contested! The YT video below tells a good chunk of poke’s dramatic story. 😁
It is used as an ornamental in some areas, while others consider it invasive. Ranchers consider it a nuisance and try to eradicate it, though it loves nitrogen-rich soil, so tends to pop back up wherever animals have been penned up or have heavily grazed, therefore fertilizing the land.
We do use it as an ornamental and a food crop, and I’ve written short posts about it here and here. I make wine and syrup from the berries and use the greens in many dishes. The popular belief that the greens must be boiled 3 times is mistaken and overkill.
However, care must be taken in its preparation and it’s not to be eaten raw. The above video explains a lot for those wanting to give poke a fair shake!
Rinsing well before submerging in boiling water.
Boiled in batches until limp, rinsed in cold water, then used in a dish that will be cooked, like a casserole or stir-fry, or frozen for future use.
The common advice to boil it three times disintegrates the leaves into slime, but you’ll hear that all over the internet and probably from your neighbors too.
That is, if they aren’t already convinced it’s poisonous.
This false belief most likely comes from four places: 1) The farmers and ranchers who would like to see it eradicated because it so successfully competes with the grasses. 2) The high-end wine-makers of our predecessors, because the ripe berry juice was used to color inferior quality wine to make it sell better. 3) Rockefeller medicine which demonizes traditional healing herbs and practices. 4) Chemical dye manufacturers who wanted to dominate the market as it was (and still is) used as a natural fabric dye.
The economic importance of pokeweed to our ancestors was sure to be unpopular with manufacturers and industrialists wanting to create dependency on their products.
A few benefits taken from the sources linked below, not the best translations, unfortunately, but some interesting info. (They do also repeat the plant leaves cannot be used after the stalk turns crimson, but in my experience and in the video above, this is not the case.)
“The young shoots of Ph. americana are eaten cooked as a substitute for asparagus in spring, and its tender leaves were eaten as a substitute for spinach even by the North American (Delaware and Virginian) Indians. We can found this kind of utilization nowadays too: at markets in the southern states of the USA it is sold as „sprouts” even these days, and they sell its young, tender leaves tinned (Poke Salet Greens). At some places it is still cultivated, though only in small-scale. The tender, bright inner part of the stem is crumbed in cornstarch and fried. They use the young plants before crimson coloration, but the cooking water needs to be discarded. Its ripe berries are added to cake pastries. The roots and the leafy stems are traditionally used for purple-brown dyeing. This colour is not much permanent, after body painting it can be removed easily. The root contains much saponin so it can be used for making soaps. The leaf ’s powder or the leaves were used for external treatment of cancerous wounds. After it got into Europe it was not only planted as an ornamental plant, but its dark purple dye was used for food coloration. The liquor of the berries were pressed, fermented and cleaned up by straining and afterwards it was evaporated down to about honey density in Chinas. The product was used at one for the coloration of foods, preserved fruits, sweets, liqueurs and wines; and for example alias Succus Phytolaccae inspissatus it was sold in German pharmacies. The berries were used to colour the wines of poorer quality with such a success that the plant was widely grown in Portugal, Spain, France and Italy. An ethnobotanical fact about the plant in the Carpathian Basin is that the Transylvanian (Kalotaszeg, Kiskapus) people put the fruit in the barrel cabbage to give it a red colour. Thanks to it betacyanin content it can be used as an industrial dye, but its colour is not as persistent as the colour of the scarlet oak (Quercus coccifera) is. Rarely it was used for wool and silk coloration too. The crimson coloured sap of the berries was used as ink (for example by the soldiers in the World War), that is where English name, inkberry derives from. A limner from Missouri, Bingham used it as paint. Its therapeutical utilization has traditions too. The Delaware Indians considered it to which has cardiac restorative effect, and the Virginian tribes used it for its strong psychotic effect. They presumed it is useful against rheumatism, tumours and in smaller doses against syphilis too. Its therapeutical utilization is comprehensive. Earlier the European therapeutics used it too as an emetic: Radix, Herba et Baccae Phytolaccae. Its root, leaves and fruits are used in the homeopathy too. The plant is a pharmaceutical base material even nowadays. Its drug is used as an antirheumaticum, purgaticum and emeticum (alias “poke root” or „Phytolacca”) in the USA, besides the lush root may can be used against breast cancer, too. The berries are utilized there for food coloration too, and with its leaves they adulterate, or rather substitute the „Folia Belladonnae”. The modern medicine started to show interest in it, thanks to the antiviral protein (pokeweed antiviral protein, PAP) that blocks the infection and reproduction of the HIV virus. The external use of PAP has an inhibi- tory effect on the plant RNS viruses too. The transgenic plants that contain the gene of this protein became resistent to a wide range of viruses. They impute that the root of the Ph. americana has blood cleanser, anti- inflammatory, expectorant, sedative, stupefying and purgative effects too. There are experiments for its uti- lization to cure the autoimmun diseases, especially the rheumatic arthritis. The plant contains toxic compounds against micro-fungi and molluscs too. The lectins extracted from it have toxic effect on the juvenile larvae of the southern corn rootworm (Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi).”
Web references Armstrong, W. P.: Pokeweed: an interesting American vegetable. In: Economic Plant Families. Wayne’s World, Escondido, California. http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ecoph24.htm Hedrick, U. P. (ed.) & Moore, M. (upd.) (1972): Sturtevant’s edible plants of the world. Dover Publications, New York. E-version: The Southwest School of Botanical Medicine. http://www.swsbm.com NIAES (2005): Japanese Fungi on Plants. National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences Natural Resources Inventory Center, Microbial Systematics Laboratory, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. http://www.niaes.affrc.go.jp/inventry/microorg/eng/kingaku-rs.htm Plants For a Future. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/ RBGE (2001): Flora Europaea database. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. http://193.62.154.38/FE/fe.html
Compare that to what our US institutions repeat: All parts poisonous, lots of toxicity fear-mongering, and usually including advice not to plant it in your garden.
Sometimes I look at Handy Hubby and whine, “Please, make it stop!”
Then I think of the shrimp scene in the film Forest Gump—you got your boiled shrimp, your fried shrimp, your grilled shrimp, shrimp creole, your gumbo . . . .
Only with me it’s tomatoes.
In my defense I planted so many tomatoes because last year was not good for tomatoes, so we didn’t can up nearly as much as we wanted and were way short on salsa. The crop burned up so fast, it was pathetic, even though I planted just as many, we got far less.
So this year I was really determined. Decidedly, way too determined.
And, while we do (still!) have a bumper crop, it’s not exactly ideal, because once again, it’s so hot so fast that they are burning and exploding on the vine if I try to let them ripen properly. So, I have to bring them in to ripen, which means I’m really, really sick of looking at them everywhere.
Due to excessive heat we have uneven ripening, sun scald and plants dying while still full of unripened fruit.
But they are good, so, so good! My very favorite way to enjoy them is so simple—sliced and liberally doused with salt and pepper and served with— Everything!
We can chow through a good many this way, and it lasts for just a month or two, which makes our enjoyment all the sweeter.
So garden fresh you can eat them naked!
Then you got your salsas, your chutneys, your marinaras, your tomato soup, your creamed tomato soup, your plain canned, your Rotella style, spicy juice for cocktails, ketchup, barbecue sauce . . .. 😆. Did I miss anything?
And the cucumbers. Oh please, don’t get me started on the cucumbers! How I long for them all winter, and within two months can hardly stand to harvest them any longer.
I purposely planted fewer this spring, planning to stagger them more, for a longer season. In fact, there should not be so many cucumbers at all based on my inputs, and the sad fact that there are NO bees on them. By that I mean our own honey bees are not visiting our garden, though there are two colonies within 75 feet of it.
Speaking of bees, half of my colonies, that’s 3 out of 6, have perished this summer. I’m not surprised when I lose a colony over the winter or early spring, but 3 that were going strong into the summer, this is unheard for me, and super depressing.
I also notice far fewer native bees, and the ones I am seeing are much smaller. The wasps seem to be doing very well, so maybe that’s who is keeping us in bushels of cucumbers at the moment?
And of course we’re offering the surplus to anyone! We give it to neighbors, bring it to gatherings, get the word around that it is available, for free. What we can’t eat or give away goes to the goats and pigs and they need to eat too!
So, when I get the occasional comment that we should sell it at the farmer’s market or somewhere equivalent, I understand the well-meaning at heart. But, what I’m actually self-censoring myself from saying does stray a bit from the habitual and expected smile and nod.
Because what I sometimes hear, though I’m sure was not at all the intentioned meaning is: It’s really not enough that you work your fucking ass off to produce all this fine produce, you should now go out and spend money on gas hauling it to town and suffer through the rules and regulations and pay for a booth and market it to a public who mostly doesn’t give a shit what they eat, and let’s face it, mostly just wants it cheap and convenient. So, don’t just plant it, nurture it, harvest it, sort it, wash it, package it, but now haul it to a market 20+miles away and stand there in the blazing heat all day so you can clear about $30.30 a truckload.
Sounds so awesome! Sign us up! 😳
On a brighter note, here’s something you’ll really like, because the world really does need one more cute kitten video!
Oh and Happy Independence Day y’all, thanks for stopping by!
I’ve added a new ‘weed’ to the Herbal Explorations pages. It’s long, but fascinating, at least according to me. 😁
I hope I can help you enjoy my favorite flower from afar!
Common names: Thornapple, Jimsonweed, Devil’s trumpet, Mad apple, Stinkweed, and many more
Scientific names: Datura fastuosa, sanguinea; D. Stramonium; D. Metel Solanaceae family
Datura is one of those weeds with a very long and very sordid history, but that’s only part of the reason it is my very favorite.
My datura inoxia with Bubba behind surely enjoying its ephemeral scent
It’s a luxuriously soft bloom, thick and silky, opening at dusk. For a very short time while opening it emits the most seductive scent I could imagine. It makes me want to just dive in and drink it up!
And sometimes I do smother my nose right into the center of it and breathe deeply as the smooth velvety petals brush my cheeks, but the scent does not become stronger in such close proximity. It remains very subtle, almost dainty, like a sweet teasing, a slight flirtation that drifts into an unrequited mystique.*
On the nightstand, just opening, when its fragrance is strongest
Man has been tempted and fascinated by this weed since long before written history.
“The case of D. metel is unique in that not only is the plant not a true species at all, but an assemblage of ancient pre-Columbian cultivars created from D. innoxia in the Greater Antilles, but evidence is mounting that it was introduced to the Indian subcontinent no later than the second century CE – whether by natural or human agency is, as yet, unknown – making it one of the most ancient plant introductions (if not the most ancient) from the New World to the Old World (see Columbian Exchange).”
Datura metel fastuosa from Wiki
While there are many varieties, all with distinctive features, it is the scent especially that is said to vary dramatically among species—from noxious to intoxicating—sometimes dependent solely on the nose of the beholder.
From Wiki again:
“Datura is a genus of nine species of highly poisonous, vespertine-flowering plants belonging to the nightshade family (Solanaceae). They are commonly known as thornapples or jimsonweeds, but are also known as devil’s trumpets (not to be confused with angel’s trumpets, which are placed in the closely related genus Brugmansia). Other English common names include moonflower, devil’s weed, and hell’s bells. All species of Datura are extremely poisonous and potentially psychoactive, especially their seeds and flowers, which can cause respiratory depression, arrhythmias, fever, delirium, hallucinations, anticholinergic syndrome, psychosis, and even death if taken internally.”
From Reader’s Digest Magic & Medicine of Plants 1986:
“Jimsonweed: Although it has antispasmodic, painkilling, and narcotic properties, jimsonweed is a plant to be avoided. Every part of this weed, which is a member of the notorious nightshade family, is extremely poisonous and may cause death. (It) was once a popular asthma remedy. . . .The root and leaves were used externally in folk medicine to treat boils and cuts. The American physician and botanist Charles Millspaugh stated in his Medicinal Plants (1892) that jimsonweed was employed ‘as a narcotic, soothing drug’ for epilepsy and neuralgia. He also noted that it was recommended as an ointment for burns and scalds.” (P. 226)
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From Plant Intoxicants: A Classic Text on the Use of Mind-Altering Plants by Baron Ernst von Bibra (Die narkotischen Genussmittel und der Mensch by Wilhelm Schmid, Nuremberg, 1855)
(Datura fastuosa, sanguinea; D. Stramonium; D. Metel)
“An intoxicating drink called tonga is prepared from the seed capsules of this plant. This brew has a violent and powerful effect. Johann Jakob von Tschudi in his ‘Travels in Peru’ describes the effects as he saw them on an Indian who had taken the tonga. ‘Shortly after swallowing the beverage he fell into a heavy stupor. He sat with his eyes fixed vacantly on the ground, his mouth convulsively closed, and his nostrils dilated. In the course of a quarter of an hour his eyes began to roll, foam issued from his half-opened lips, and his whole body was shaken by frightful convulsions. After these violent symptoms subsided, a profound sleep of several hours followed. In the evening I saw the Indian again. He was relating to a circle of attentive listeners the particular of this silicon, during which he allegedly communicated with the spirits of his forefathers. He appeared very weak and exhausted.’ The name yerba de huaca (herb of the graves) thus derived from the peculiar idea of the Indians that they can communicate with the spirits of their forefathers, generally after consuming the thornapple plant.” In former times the old Indian priests drank the thornapple if they wished to converse with their gods. Moreover, priests at the oracle of Delphi administered the prepared seeds of the thornapple to their seers to put them in the desired prophetic ecstasy. In the sun temples at Sogamossa, near Bogota in the Andes of New Granada a similar practice was carried out by the Indians.” (P. 77-78)
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From Witchcraft Medicine: Healing Arts, Shamanic Practices, and Forbidden Plants by Claudia Muller-Ebeling, Christian Ratsch, and Wolf-Dieter Storl
The famous Flying Ointment
“The ointments (Unguentum populeum) were not forbidden; they were officially used for the treatment of pain, as a numbing wound dressing, as an executioner’s salve, for rheumatism, and for hemorrhoids. The common people were also quite familiar with plants that move the spirit, and used them for love potions and as spices to make beer more inebriating. . . .The courts themselves made use of such ointments. The inquisitors used them to revive defendants after they had been thoroughly questioned and—due to the effects of scopolamine—used the ointments as ‘truth serums’ to break the resistance of tortured prisoners.” P.51
‘Witches’ markets’ in Mexico sell ‘pomada de toloache’ made from the leaves and petals using the variety Datura inoxia (Mill.,syn, datura meteloides DC)
~~~~~~~*More on scent*~~~~~~~~
I am so enamored with the scent of this flower, I wish I could find it in bottle! But so far, I don’t think it exists.
I wonder, how would they re-create a scent that smells differently to different people? Considering ‘smellovision’( a play on ‘television)’ is apparently already possible and coming soon to a computer near you, I dare say there are some scents science will never capture, and perhaps datura will be one of them.
“The concept of digital smell technology was already being discussed openly in mainstream news in 2018, and The Monell Center in Philadelphia, PA, is actively engaged in research to digitize chemosensory data. The notion of a mixed, augmented reality, integrating smell technology, is no longer in the sci-fi realm.” ~Stephers
If I could upload the scent for you now, I would! 😊
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Here is some more interesting information on the psychoactive properties of Datura. Scopolamine, the so-called ‘mind control’ drug is an active ingredient.
“In Pharmacology and Abuse of Cocaine, Amphetamines, Ecstasy and Related Designer Drugs, Freye asserts: Few substances have received as many severely negative recreational experience reports as has Datura. The overwhelming majority of those who describe their use of Datura find their experiences extremely unpleasant; both mentally and often physically dangerous. However, anthropologists have found that indigenous groups, with a great deal of experience with and detailed knowledge of Datura, have been known to use Datura spiritually (including the Navajo and especially the Havasupai) Adequate knowledge of Datura‘s properties is necessary to facilitate a safe experience. The ancient inhabitants of what became central and Southern California used to ingest Datura to “commune with deities through visions”. The Southern Paiute believe Daturacan help locate missing objects. In ancient Mexico, Datura also played an important role in the religion of the Aztecs and the practices of their medicine men and necromancers. It was reportedly used by the Aztecs for ritual sacrifice and malevolent purposes as well. In modern-day Mexico, some datura species are still used for sorcery and other occult practices, mostly in the southern region of Veracruz, specifically in the city of Catemaco.
Bernardino de Sahagún, in around 1569, called attention to Datura in these words: “It is administered in potions in order to cause harm to those who are objects of hatred. Those who eat it have visions of fearful things. Magicians or those who wish to harm someone administer it in food or drink. This herb is medicinal and its seed is used as a remedy for gout, ground up and applied to the part affected.”
Christian Rätsch has said, “A mild dosage produces medicinal and healing effects, a moderate dosage produces aphrodisiac effects, and high dosages are used for shamanic purposes”. Wade Davis, an ethnobotanist, also lists it as an essential ingredient of Haitian zombie potion. In Western culture, the same species (Datura stramonium) has been said to have been commonly used by witches as an ingredient for their flying ointments and was regularly included in detailed recipes of magical ointments dating back as far as the early modern period, predominately in New England and Western Europe. During the anti-witchcraft hysteria of colonial times it was considered unlucky or inappropriate to grow D. stramonium in one’s garden due to its supposed reputation for aiding in incantations.”
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For more information on its psychoactive properties visit:
A few updates from our very busy and already very hot summer. We’ve got bad news about the blackberry issue mentioned last month; a brief report on what Handy Hubby has deemed our ‘ SummerSausage-fest’; some harvest and critter happy snaps; and a really funny question. Ending, like the beginning, with my favorite flower.
Kakai hull-less pumpkin
Novice seed-saving mistake on my part—don’t plant Kakai pumpkins next to zucchini. Even though one is a winter squash and the other a summer squash, they are both part of the same family: Curcurbita pepo.
According to Southern Exposure Seed Exchange “Curcurbita pepo: Most zucchini and summer squash are of this species. Winter squash varieties do not store well and are best eaten within a few months of harvest, but also need less time curing to sweeten up. Best planted in monthly successions throughout the summer due to vine borer susceptibility. If you have trouble growing these squash, try luffa gourds or Tromboncino summer squash as a substitute for zucchini.”
I planted these pumpkins for the first time because a friend gifted me the seeds. The seeds are so delicious I decided to try them even though I’ve not had success growing pumpkins in years past.
Well, these are a big success! Except, now those seeds have surely been cross-pollinated with the neighboring zucchini, which according to this farmer, means the seeds will no longer be hull-less, defeating the whole purpose of planting this variety of pumpkin.
Don’t I feel dumb!
And dumber still! We are no closer to solving the blackberry issue. Hubby did some scientific-like sleuthing to eliminate potential variables. One commenter on a forum said what we were seeing was totally normal blackberry development and we just had to wait a bit longer for our huge harvest.
So, Hubby took some before and after photos, about two weeks apart. As hopeful as we were that he was right, we were skeptical, and he has now been proven to be wrong. Unfortunately for us, the mystery remains and the blackberry harvest is puny.
But, we have been blessed with a few weeks of prolific chanterelles, which we love, though their tiny size requires some patience while picking. I’ve tried them preserved in oil for the first time and we’ve been enjoying them in crepes, omelettes, soup and sauces.
Chanterelles and while foraging for them we find Not-Bert ducking and covering! 😆
We’re also getting a bumper crop of tomatoes and peppers, with Hubby continuing to pressure can while I remain fixated on fermenting.
On left Pressure canning carrots, green beans, banana peppers and jalapeños; fermenting the same on right.
Harvest Art!
We rarely eat an entirely vegetarian meal, but with so much produce I thought I’d challenge myself to use every vegetable in one meal. As it’s so rare I thought I also better commemorate it with a photo!
Tomatoes topped with my own aged chèvre; cucumber and corn salad with salsa verde; veggie casserole au gratin; kombucha cocktails
More garden happy snaps.
Hollyhock and elderberry
Pictured from left to right: tomatoes, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, green beans, tomatillos, flanked by Black-eyed Susans and sunflowers‘Delicious’ variety, one of our most successfulMore Black-eyed Susans and sunflowers! Along with carrots left for seed-saving, marigolds, thyme, Thai basil, mojito mint, Mexican tarragon
Because obviously we have a lot more seeds than sense or cents, Hubby decided we didn’t have nearly enough to do with a huge garden, an orchard and squash plot, and a menagerie of critters, so he planted a separate melon maze as well! It’s actually pretty impressive and already producing, but we’ll see with this heat and drought how well it does. We were hoping the ‘El Nino’ predictions would be correct and we’d be wetter and cooler this year—so far, not panning out!
Hubby’s ingenious companion planting—esthetically pleasing and practical— sunflowers helping to shade the melon mounds.
Patty’s first litter: 9 males and only 2 females!
And still dumber still!! We’ve been gifted an unwelcome ‘Sausage-fest’ this year as far as livestock goes. A whopping 80% male birth rate among pigs, goats and sheep.
Of this year’s kids: 1 female, 4 male
Of course, all the critters are cute little blessings, but no one really wants a Sausagefest.
However, Hubby did take the next big leap in livestock rearing and learned to castrate the piglets. He’s been avoiding that like the plague for YEARS! The lambs and kids are pretty easy and he’s been doing that since the beginning. But piglets are a different story.
I’m too squimish for all of it, so he never got any pressure from me to buck up, I’m not that big of a hypocrite. The nudge actually came inadvertently from a timely email from a friend who didn’t even realize at the time our current Sausagefest challenge.
In it we are presented with the ‘13 Do’s and Don’ts’ from the CDC about survival after a nuclear attack. It’s even funnier than the original!
From the life-saving list: Do take a shower, but don’t use conditioner on your hair. That’s even better than Duck & Cover! Yes, you read that right! There’s our tax dollars hard at work to keep us safe.
I laughed so hard I wanted to include it somehow in our ‘Funny Friday’ post, but decided it really needed a whole section devoted to it.
So, before you click the link to look it up in order to verify (or afterward, if you promise to come back and reply!) here’s my question.
Can you guess why hair conditioner should not be used in the aftermath of a nuclear attack according to the experts?
Finally, the gorgeous, sublimely-scented Datura to leave us with some beauty and grace to cleanse the palette from the bad hair days certain to haunt us for decades after nuclear destruction. 😂
Datura blossom about to open for the eveningOn the nightstand, just opening, it happens rather quickly
Lots to report since the last HH post. We’ve got slithering scares, miracle kids and lots of garden goodies.
My oh my, we’ve been busy! We haven’t had much time to do leisurely things, like take the dogs for a long walk in the back forty, which you might remember last post when Bubba saved us from a giant water moccasin with his ferocious warning barks.
It’s not that unusual to see snakes near the pond, where we were at that time, or along the creek. But I’m sure you can imagine my surprise finding them in the garden!
Look before you grab!
One copperhead under the squash, which I was lucky not to grab by mistake. It’s very typical of me to reach down without thinking as soon as I see something that shouldn’t be there, like twigs or weeds or dead leaves. Or, to pick a mature fruit, obviously.
Sometimes I don’t even wear my glasses to garden, or gloves, or shoes. Guess I’ll be re-thinking those habits now. Just as I reached my hand in, it registered, and I froze, and then laughed.
Hubby finds it humorous that I scream like crazy whenever I see a roach, I absolutely LOATHE them. But a snake, (beyond the startled OH!) even a poisonous one, not at all. I find them pretty amazing, and they’ve never bothered me (and I’ve had plenty of close encounters) or been aggressive, or been in the house. So I feel safe to just laugh and take pictures.
And then call over Hubby to take care of it for me. 😂
The other copperhead was just a baby, snoozing away on a swamp lily frond under the elderberry tree, kinda adorable-like. Here’s some perspective.
The elderberry from a distance, dead center. It’s quite a lovely specimen I think, but a bit too happy there, it’s getting invasive. The swamp lily is just underneath it.Elderberry in the back. Up front, Zucchini and pumpkin—just learned today not only the fruit and blossoms are edible—but also the leaves. Can’t wait to try them!
We’ve finally got all the onions harvested, now just the garlic is left. That will be coming out very soon.
That’s about 2/3 of them pictured here. All the rest were quite small and so we’ll use them up first.
The tomatoes are looking awesome, but I don’t want to get too excited, because that could change any day with little warning. I planted loads of tomatoes because last year was not a good year for them, so I’m extra anxious for a decent crop.
We’ve also harvested all the new potatoes and while not terribly impressive, it was a better effort than past years for sure. The secret did not seem to be growing them in containers, which I tried for the first time, but rather lots and lots of poop. I tried them three different ways this year, none of them particularly better producing.
We’re also getting loads of green beans, after a couple of bad years. And some delicious peppers.
So many green beans that Hubby’s just canned 13 pounds of them! Such a joy for me that he’s taken over all the canning, which I’ve always dreaded. I never even tried the pressure canner and I’m not wanting to even a little. He is quite methodical about the process and can accomplish a lot in a short time and without breakage, far better than any of my past canning efforts.
Efficient, industrial, high yield, detail and process-oriented. Thank heavens for Hubby
But I do really love the fermenting and am experimenting with it very successfully. I made a celery-mint paste that is surprisingly delicious and a gallon of radishes that will last us easily through the summer. Next on the to-try list is green beans.
Customizable, small-batch, creative and so pretty in pink! Much more my style
A friend gave us half a dozen roosters, which Hubby quickly processed into freezer camp to save us from listening to the crowing wars for any longer than necessary. A handyman and a gentleman.
Hubby at the processing station. Not exactly government-approved. Bubba and Buttercup’s favorite days, all the heads and feet they can eat!
A couple of the roos were these little Bantums which became Sunday’s dinner—stuffed with rice and home-cured bacon, herbs and last year’s dried cherry tomatoes—and basted with ginger-melon marinade. Don’t be too off-put by their black skin and bones, they were delicious!
Dinner for two plus the much needed, time-saving leftovers.
Also served with foraged chanterelles in cream sauce and just harvested blackberries over pound cake for dessert. Mmmm.
And the best saved for last this post, the miracle! In the last post it was Bubba who was the savior, this time it was Buttercup.
Take a bow, Buttercup!
We’ve got two pregnant does, due the first week of June. Because of that I’ve been a bit weary putting the herd too far from the corral, but I did it anyway. They are such homebodies normally and always come right back to the gate after disappearing into the woods for a while. Sometimes it’s harder to get them to go out and forage instead of sticking their head through every fence.
Bluebonnet, notorious fence-clingerKee away from the garden!Double-protection required for the grape vines along the fence
Go forth and forage lazy goats! There’s acres of woods to eat, not my landscaping!
Except, only Phoebe disappeared into the forest that day. Alone, and so unlike her. She is the most herd-oriented of them all. She’ll start screaming if the entire group isn’t together at all times. If she was separated from her sister the first year, or her twins the year after that, you’d think from her incessant screaming that all hell’s broken loose. I’m sure the entire county can hear her sometimes.
But, silence. It happened about 3 or 4 pm, I suspect, that was the last time I saw her with the rest of the herd at the fence. We didn’t notice until it was time to put them up for the night in the corral. She was no where in sight, and we immediately went searching. We knew something must be very wrong. We searched until dark with no luck.
I went again the first thing the next morning. All the places I figured she might be holding out, having prematurely dropped her brood, waiting for them to get their legs, so she could bring them up to the usual gate. I walked all along the areas they frequent. It’s very easy to tell where the scrub gets thick again, compared to where they’ve eaten everything up to shoulder-height. I called out for her, listened for any responses or rustle of leaves, nothing.
After coffee and milking Hubby and I went back out together, along with Bubba and Buttercup. Shadow had to get left behind because the goats are still very weary of him. Bubba and I searched and called for an hour or so, nothing. I started to think the worst.
We went back and I was making some toast and cheese before heading back out again, so hungry. It was already hot and muggy and I was sick of slogging through the poison ivy and mosquitoes. I was stuffing a bite into my mouth when a very sweaty Hubby comes up to the window yelling.
“I’ve been yelling for you!”
What?!
He found her! He went far beyond where I’d stopped when he noticed Buttercup started weaving back and acting determined. He followed her and she stopped at a bewildered Phoebe and newly born triplets.
It took us another couple of hours to lure her back while carrying the triplets in a laundry basket across pretty challenging terrain.
But it was a happy ending and mama and babies are all doing well!
Weird scenes inside the homestead! What have we to add to the big wide web of weird today? A couple of things only, along with some sad news and some happy snaps. Successes and failures, as usual. Trying to keep them all in stride, which with the wild flowers and a short country drive, isn’t too big a challenge at the moment.
Creepy visitor appearing everywhere after the rains
Best to get the crap out of the way first, I prefer. We’ve got seemingly severe blackberry failure and an established bee colony suddenly lost. I could write exhaustively on just those two, but since I’m already exhausted, I’ll keep it brief. And continue the relentless churning in my mind alone.
These photos and several more have seen the cyber rounds this week, let me assure you! And the cornucopia of responses we’ve received is rather astounding. Long story short—we’ve had some lovely rains, finally. But it sent our blackberries from thriving and gorgeous, to this brown, crispy-looking horror nearly overnight.
Not just a few bushes either, the entire row, a dozen bushes easy. It looks terrible. So we got a bit frantic and have been sending photos to Ison’s Nursery, where we got them. Also, to various friends and forums, where we’ve had answers to run the gamut: too dry, a virus, a fungus, a blight, Botryosphaeria canker, empty pocket syndrome, aphid damage, and then the kicker . . . This is totally normal development.
Wait, whaaat??
You mean to tell me these could be normally progressing blackberries and after many years of growing blackberries we just never noticed it before?!
Well that would certainly be a big and welcomed WOW! Yes please!
But unfortunately, I don’t think so. They look brown and shriveled beyond anything I’ve seen in any of the online photorama. And there’s no sign of aphids, and it’s not cane blight, and it’s certainly not too dry, although I totally understand that guess, since that’s exactly what it looks like.
And I do so appreciate all the speculation, seriously! It gets me thinking and exploring every time and I do so love all the effort and camaraderie inherit in it. Be wrong, it’s not the end of the world!
Of course, what I did so notice among the seeds of speculation was the one that was, unsurprisingly, totally missing. Toxic rain perhaps? Some other oddities in the atmosphere, perhaps? Not on anyone’s radar? Really?
No idea what’s happening in this photo with the blue dot-purple ring, I just snapped the shot with the tablet as soon as I saw the trail while busy in the garden.
On better themes . . .
I also took some lovely happy snaps of the wild flowers blooming along the road, which was so much more gorgeous than what I was able to capture here. But I tried, and that should count for something, no?
And on that note, this post will have a Part 2 to finish later, cause that’s all I can manage at the moment. More to follow, so much more!
Thanks for stopping by!
I leave with a song that motivates me when I really need it most. Hope it works for y’all too!
This grows all around us for the better part of the year. I knew the name, but didn’t realize it was edible until recently. I was so pleased to learn that, considering how plentiful it is around here, that I had to dedicate a ‘weed’ page to Spiderwort.
In the garden the poppies have been so gorgeous, I just can’t get enough of them. They’ve been so prolific I feared they would completely crowd-out the nigella, which has such a tasty seed, but blooms a bit later. Luckily, I found a little patch still making room for itself.
The nigella are the light blue, star-shaped flowers here. Their seed has a grape-like flavor and is delicious in bread and tea.
The poppies contrasted with the calendula are simply gorgeous, the pictures don’t do them justice!
Daylilies, another lovely edible. Cilantro blossoms and calendula on left, culinary sage on rightDon’t forget the dandelions! Actually, these are ‘false dandelions’
Lots of life around here, so much so, it’s just about killing me! 😂
Exhausting but exhilarating.
Our bottle baby lamb, Scrappy, is still doing very well. The only lamb I’ve ever seen running towards man, instead of away. Shadow, our recent addition, has completely settled in, even the bees haven’t bugged him in a couple weeks, so that’s a relief.
The bees love the poppies at dawn, the cilantro flowers at mid-morning, and the clover after that, as digestif I figure.
The kittens have gotten so comfortable they are now happily playing on the dog bed and lining up with their mama and the dogs at feeding time. A friend recently commented it’s like we’ve got a petting zoo. Yes, indeed, it seems we do!
The garden is looking great, the best year so far for flowers, which makes me so very happy.
Our hard pear cider, sourdough dinner rolls, chimichurra, daikon radish, and
Already making delicious ferments from the garden produce and the onions are already getting close to harvest. Stay tuned for that excitement.
Shadow’s favorite thing to do in the morning, sit on my lap as I try to drink coffee and read the news. Not enough hands!
Thanks for stopping by!
(FYI, it took me 2 hours to post this, WP seems to have LOTS of issues, deleting paragraphs, deleting photos, not accepting edits. Super annoying. I looked for somewhere else to park this blog, and found no other platform of greater value. I do believe we are witnessing the Walmarting of the blogosphere.)
