The shallots are blooming, sending up tall stalks full of green and white babies. Nearly three hundred miniature flowers give you plenty of time to ponder, he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me …
Month: June 2016
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Green and White Babies
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A Bee’s Dance
Poppies are a fun flower. I didn’t realize until today that they are a fun flower for bees too. I watched bees gathering pollen from the poppies, and the flowers are designed so that bees get a fun ride, dancing in a circle through the many anthers. With so many anthers in each flower, it doesn’t take long for a bee to gather so much pollen in its pollen baskets on its legs, that the legs become too heavy to lift.
The bees seemed to be having so much fun gathering pollen in the poppies, it makes you wonder if they look forward to the poppies opening. In comparison, tulips and lilies must be boring to bees. Those flowers are in and out, in and out, boring as can be.
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My Little Dinosaur
This six week old rooster has taken to roosting on top of a screen door in the chicken coop. He sure has that dinosaur look with his big eyes, strong beak, claws, and scrawny feathers. Maybe one day he’ll be a proud father.
According to Vanderbilt University neuroscientist Suzana Herculano-ouzel, certain bird brains are much more densely packed with neurons than mammal brains. For example, a walnut sized macaw brain has more neurons in its forebrain than a macaque monkey with a much larger, lemon sized brain. Which may mean that ounce per ounce, birds are much smarter than mammals.
However this high density of neurons is true of songbirds and parrots, not of all birds. Emu, pigeons, and junglefowl, the ancestors of chickens, don’t have a high density of neurons in their forebrains.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP-ZZBJPC8c&w=560&h=315]
You can read the study here: Birds have primate-like numbers of neurons in the forebrain
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On a Rainy Day
On a rainy day, the young chicks take a break out of the rain.
On a rainy day, the foxgloves are lush.
On a rainy day, the dogs play king of the hill.
On a rainy day, the white flower beans 白花豆 bloom.
On a rainy day, new garlic is best. I’ve always wondered what to call fresh garlic, before the skins turn to paper, while the cloves are still moist and juicy. It’s how garlic is meant to be eaten. You never see it in the stores. Garlic is usually dried before it is sold in stores. What a shame. I’ve heard the term “wet garlic” used to describe this garlic. I’ll call it virgin garlic … make that extra virgin garlic. Garlic that is plucked out of the moist earth, while the skins are still soft and supple. Extra virgin garlic peels easily and tastes sublime. The best produce never makes it to the box stores.
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Delicate Perfection
Days in the Pacific Northwest don’t get any better than this. The hydrangeas are opening, their blue as brilliant as the sky. Their opening signifies that summer has arrived. So do the ripening thimble berries. Among the best of all berries, you have to grow them to enjoy them. They are too delicate to pick, pack, and ship to market. You have to eat them off the bush.
On a perfect day, there is sign of trouble in the garden. Takuma 拓真 has discovered potatoes. I don’t let chickens in the garden as they will dig up and ravish the potatoes. Will I have to banish the dogs from the garden too? I hope not. Gardening without dogs is like a day without chocolate.
