Gorgeous Snag is a Garden Treasure

 For years I've driven west on WA-530 and admired this snag from a distance. Serendipitously, when Kate and I were checking out the Garden Treasures nursery, we found out that the snag is located on their farm! 

Bioplastic is Not the Answer

The data doesn't look good. The best solution is still reduction... in a society that makes it hopelessly difficult. Still, we can't go on believing this greenwashing bullshit.

Bioplastic Just as Toxic as Traditional Plastic, Study Finds

“Bio-based and biodegradable plastic are not any safer than other plastics,” Lisa Zimmermann, aquatic ecotoxicology PhD student at the Goethe University in Frankfurt and lead author of the study, said in a statement. 

Previous research have also shown that bioplastics marketed as compostable or biodegradable often don’t actually break down unless they’re sent to specific facilities, and bioplastics made of organic material are most often made of agricultural crops, which compete with food production for land use. Plus, agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. 

John Hocevar, Greenpeace USA’s oceans campaign director, said the new research adds more weight to his concerns about the utility of bioplastics. 

“Bioplastics, like all plastics, commonly contain chemicals that are largely unregulated, even though many are known to cause cancer, reproductive health problems, or other serious diseases. Before introducing new materials, the chemicals involved should be disclosed, tested, and regulated,” said Hocevar, who wasn’t involved in the new study. 

(Read the full article here.)

Mandala Garden Update

Progress on the mandala garden continues. Kate and I have finished the whole outline of the rock wall, and just need to work on building up the height and filling in gaps. One wheelbarrow at a time, we're slowly filling the beds with a mixture of compost and sand and random organic matter.

Whew! We've come a long way since we first started this project. I've learned a lot through trial and error about dry-stacking rocks, and I feel like I'm finally starting to get the hang of it now that we're almost done. C'est la vie.

I Tried Amanita Muscaria for the First Time

...and they were delicious! Kate and I harvested some from a nearby schoolyard, and carefully prepared them by boiling twice (throwing out the water each time), and then sautéing. Surprisingly, these mushrooms still have a good texture and nutty flavor, even after all the boiling. 

To be clear -- because I know some folks will be concerned -- yes, Amanita muscaria, also known as the fly agaric, is classified as poisonous and/or hallucinogenic. The main psychoactive substances in this mushroom are the neurotoxins ibotenic acid and muscimol. However, paraboiling and draining out the water will break down the psychoactive and toxic components. It's worth mentioning that this method doesn't work for other, truly poisonous mushrooms, like Amanita phalloides (death cap mushroom), which contain deadly amatoxins that cannot be cooked out of the mushroom.

We successfully prepared these mushrooms and did not experience any ill or psychoactive effects (and from what I hear, the mind-altering effects are rather unpleasant anyway). If you do find these in the wild and want to give them a try, do your research and make sure you have a positive ID, which tends to be pretty easy with their red caps and white spots.

Flirting with Pawpaws

I have a weird obsession with pawpaws. I think I first heard about this plant years ago from a coworker at Gray Barn Nursery, and it's never completely left my mind. Asimina triloba is a deciduous fruit tree that seems like it would belong in the tropics, but it's actually native to eastern North America. When I was told about the flavor of this fruit -- a creamy blend of banana, mango, and pineapple -- I was hooked. That sounds (almost unbelievably) delicious. I also feel cheated because I spent the first two decades of my life in the dang Midwest and no one told me about this tree!

Years later, I still haven't tasted one, though I do still fantasize about it. It's tricky, because pawpaws are fruits that need to be eaten at the perfect ripeness, and they don't stay fresh for very long. I've always wanted to try growing them, but I haven't sought them out (yet). However, I've been thinking about it again after seeing pawpaws in the news:

The Promise of Pawpaw

Issues like climate change, economic inequity and access to food have brought more attention to this creamy fruit and its resilient tree.

The New York Times

Pawpaws are the northernmost member of the mostly tropical custard apple family, kin to soursops, cherimoyas, sugar apples and ylang-ylangs. Nutritionally these sweet, rich fruits are a lot like bananas — high in vitamins, minerals and energy-supplying calories. (They are not related to the papaya, even though papaya is sometimes called pawpaw.)

“Everybody in the botanical world, everybody in the environmental world — they’re all familiar with the pawpaw,” said Matthew Dain, 28, of the New York Restoration Project, which helps manage green spaces and gardens in New York City.

The group has recently increased its focus on pawpaws, distributing trees and spring seed-starting kits. Pawpaw trees stay small enough to fit a couple into small city plots — at least two varieties are needed for cross-pollination — and can withstand the already prevalent effects of climate change, like warmer temperatures or more pests and diseases.

(Read the full article here.)

Vote. Now. Don't Delay.

 

Apple Cinnamon Pastries

Once of my landscape maintenance accounts has two apple trees that produced so much fruit. I got to take some home, and tonight Kate and I turned them into a filling for cinnamon pastries. The leftover filling worked quite well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

And here's a bonus picture of Pangur Dubh sleeping in the most delightful pose:

Tree-Planting on Orca Recovery Day

This weekend the Clallam Conservation District and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe requested volunteers to plant 2,000 conifer trees during Orca Recovery Day in the former Lake Aldwell reservoir, and Kate and I made the trek out to the peninsula to help.

What is Orca Recovery Day?

With the population of Southern Resident Orca Whales at a 30-year low, the need for large scale restoration efforts has become crucial. Accustomed to being boots on the ground organizations, Washington conservation districts saw the need to mobilize people into action and created Orca Recovery Day, a day of action that has brought people throughout the Pacific Northwest together to restore habitat, reduce stormwater pollution, and provide education. 

On October 17, 2020 conservation districts around the state, along with dozens of non-profit and agency partners, are coming together for the third annual Orca Recovery Day to provide opportunities for people to take action on this critical issue. 

Locally, Clallam Conservation District and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe are teaming up to support orca recovery by focusing restoration efforts on the Elwha River. The removal of the Lower Elwha Dam in 2011 and the upper Glines Canyon Dam in 2014 gave unrestricted passage to Chinook salmon, as well as other fish species, to make their way through the Elwha River system. The removal of the dams left roughly 600 acres of former lakebeds to return to native forests for the freed up Elwha River to flow through. Harsh growing conditions, such as no top soil, have made establishing conifer trees a challenge in the old lakebeds. Restoration plantings, such as those being planned for Orca Recovery Day, are crucial to help accelerate restoration of fish habitat in the Elwha River for both salmon and orca recovery.

We checked in, picked up our two bags of trees, and hiked to the designated area, where we planted a total of 40 conifers (mix of Doug firs and Western red cedars). Here's hoping they all succeed!

Existing vegetation

New planting

I hope they make it! We plan to return in another year or so to see how they're doing.

Salmon remains -- an encouraging sight! Photo credit: Kate

Tall Silhouette

This one is huge! (And my crap photo doesn't do it justice.) I'm glad the park service has kept it. Lots of good perching spots. Observed on October 13, 2020.

Magnificent Snag on the Peninsula

 Observed on October 17, 2020.

More Potato Shenanigans for Dinner

 Tonight's menu included potatoes au gratin, creamy potato mushroom soup, and sautéed inky caps.

10/14 Harvest

 Haha, keep those volunteer potatoes coming! I love it!

A Gardening First: Sunchokes

 Earlier this year, Kate scored a few little sunchoke plants from her local buy-nothing group. We planted them in the west bed by the house, and throughout the summer we've been impressed by their vegetative growth. It was exciting to see what these plants would do, since neither of us had grown them before. We were hoping for flowers, but never got any. They just kept growing taller and taller. And I had no idea what I was going to find when it came time to harvest.

These things are wild! These oddly shaped root vegetables are in the sunflower family, and they have an earthy, nutty flavor that's reminiscent of sunflower seeds. We sliced them up and roasted them, and wow! I've got a new favorite root vegetable. I can't wait to make this a staple in my diet. Apparently they're low calorie, very nutritious, and high in fiber. Sounds like a win to me.

Autumn Is The Best Time For Wonderful, Rotting Things - Snaggy Saturdays

 From a weekend hike near Mount Rainier with Kate. Observed October 9 - 10, 2020.

Golden Pholiota on a Stump

 A handsome stump I pass on my daily neighborhood walks. Observed on October 6, 2020.

Augmenting a Garage Wall

 This evening I finished another organization project. This one involved painting a wall with leftover glossy paint (so it's more protected and doesn't scuff as easily), building a tool rack with an assortment of hooks, and screwing it into the wall. I'm happy with the results.

Potatoes Au Gratin

 Kate and I turned our recent potato harvest into this delicious casserole of creamy, cheesy, scalloped potatoes. This is the prefect dish after a hard day of fall labor. It's soooo good -- the ultimate comfort food.

10/4 Harvest

 

Platform and Portable Garage Progress

 I've made a lot of progress since the last time. I finished the entire platform, and am now in the process of putting together the portable garage kit. Of course this project has taken me longer than planned, but I'm just glad it will be done soon.