Oct 2, 2019
Today is National Pumpkin Seed Day.
Pumpkin seeds, also known as pepitas, are native to the Americas.
They were discovered by archaeologists in Mexico in caves that date
back to 7,000 B.C.
Today, China produces more pumpkins and pumpkin seeds than any
other country.
Pumpkin seeds are loaded with protein; a single cup provides 8-10
grams of protein. They are packed with nutrients and they are
overall very good for your health.
Next time you are whipping up a batch of protein bites; don't
forget pumpkin seeds.
Just mix up dates, whole nuts, chia seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower
seeds, pistachios, almonds, pumpkin seeds, 1tsp cacao bio powder,
1tsp peanut butter, a handful of raisins and dried cranberries.
Then press the mixture into a pan and slice into bars. Couldn't be
simpler.
Brevities
#OTD Today is the birthday of the German botanist
known as the Father of Plant Physiology, Julius von Sachs, who was
born on this day in 1832.
In the 1860's, Sachs tested adding a variety of nutrients to plants
growing in water. He was trying to determine what plants need to
live. It was early, early efforts on modern day hydroponics.
In 1864, Sachs determined that blue light is the most important
color for inducing phototropism in plants. Plants are generally
blind to other colors; which is why you don't see plants bending
toward the lamps inside your house; unless you are using
grow-lights!
In 1868, Sachs became Head of the botanical institute at Würzburg
University. Sachs was a good friend of Frank Darwin. When
Darwin needed a lab to conduct his experiments plants of growing
toward light, he naturally used the world-class lab of his friend,
Julius von Sachs, at Würzburg U.
Sachs himself was studying how plants process light. He correctly
identified that starch was a product of the sunlight process known
as photosynthesis. He proved that chlorophyll in chloroplast is
involved in photosynthesis. Sachs is responsible for identifying
structures like the organelle and chloroplasts.
Sachs used some ingenuity helped him come up with things like
planter boxes with one glass side so that he could better
understand the formation of roots. Using a magnifying glass, he
could discern the development of root hairs and cellular
protrusions.
#OTD On this day in 1836, the HMS Beagle returned to
England after a five year voyage around the
world.
It was a revelatory trip for ship’s naturalist, Charles Darwin, who
found the building blocks to his evolutionary theory in the many
fossils and diverse species he discovered on his excursions. It
would be another 23 years before he published the Origin of
Species. Often, Darwin is depicted on the Beagle as an old man; but
he was just 22 when he sailed away and still a young 27 when he
returned with boxes full of specimens and a brain swirling with new
ideas.
#OTD Today is the 165th birthday of the Father of
Town Planning and a botanist, Patrick Geddes, who was born on this
day in 1854.
Geddes accomplished much during his lifetime, despite being
notoriously disorganized and easily distracted. In addition to his
work in planning, Geddes was an ardent botanist and an
environmentalist.
People often forget that Geddes was trained most in the subjects of
biology and botany; it was through that living scientific lens that
he was first inclined to view the world. Geddes always conceded an
undeniable truth in his work; nature is ever-changing and humans
need to be in nature. Geddes had a profound appreciation and
reverence for life. Like any gardener; he saw value in beauty.
Geddes wrote:
"No one who studies animate nature can get past the fact of beauty.
It is as real in its own way as the force of gravity."
When it came to planning towns, Geddes dismissed modernist plans
for creating what he called "soulless suburbs and concrete slums".
Instead, the ever-practical Geddes bought land in Edinburgh and
created communities interwoven into the landscape. Bare spots on
plans were turned into spaces for gardens.
In 1918, Geddes delivered a farewell lecture to his students at
Dundee. Here's is a little excerpt from this powerful speech:
"How many people think twice about a leaf? Yet the leaf is the
chief product and phenomenon of life. This is a green world.... and
all dependent upon the leaves... The world is mainly a vast
leaf-colony, growing on and forming a leafy soil, ... and we live
not by the jingling of our coins, but by the fullness of our
harvests.
...Growth seems slow... and people are all out for immediate
results... A garden takes years and years to grow – ideas
also take time to grow, and while a sower knows when his corn will
ripen, the sowing of ideas is, as yet, a far less certain
affair.
Star-wonder, stone and spark wonder, life-wonder, folk-wonder, ....
To appreciate sunset and sunrise, moon and stars, the wonders of
the winds, clouds and rain, the beauty of woods and fields – here
are the beginnings of natural sciences.
...[And] we must cease to think merely in terms of separated
departments and faculties... So - with art inspiring industry, ....
the Tree of Life thus comes into view.
#OTD Today is the birthday of Martha Brookes
Hutcheson who was born on this day in 1871.
When she was born, Landscape Architecture was a babe as well; being
a newly established professional field.
Two decades later, in 1902, when Martha Brooks Hutcheson joined the
ranks of the profession after graduating from MIT, she became one
of America’s first professional female landscape architects.
Hutcheson wrote a book called "The Spirit of the
Garden" (a
complete copy is available online for free here).
In the book, Hutcheson poured all of her cultivated expertise; it
became an instant garden classic. Hutcheson wanted Landscape
Architecture concepts to be available to everyone; not just the
wealthy. And, she wanted plants and trees to grace every living
space; in rural areas, cities, and especially the areas surrounding
schools.
For half a century - until 1959, Hutcheson and her husband,
William, lived at Merchiston farm. There are many native plants and
water is a vital landscape element.
It was Martha Brookes Hutcheson, who said:
“An insight into ecology enables us to recognize plants as living
things - with laws governing their needs in their associations.
Without this, we recognize plants only as a florist might who fills
his windows with lavish displays.”
Hutcheson's personal interest in ecological systems, led her to dam
a small stream on her farm in order to create a cow pond which
later became a round swimming pond in the center of her garden. She
and her visitors swam in the pond and shared it with wildlife.
Despite her struggles to break down barriers for her profession and
for women, Hutcheson found comfort, "tranquility and intense
personal calm" in her gardens. She wrote:
"So, let us all have gardens, for we shall be but following in the
footsteps of those past ages, and expressing the love of gardens
that has been in our hearts for generations."
Unearthed Words
Today is the birthday of the American poet, Wallace
Stevens, who was born on this day on this day in
1879.
Stevens grew up to be an insurance agent in Hartford, Connecticut
and he lived across the street from Elizabeth Park which contains
one of the three largest rose gardens in the country on 102 acres
of incredible beauty.
You can tell from much of his poetry that Stevens was a lover of
nature and gardens.
Thus, an insurance man by day and a poet by night, Wallace Stevens
wrote all of the following:
“Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake.”
“Death is the mother of beauty. Only the perishable can be
beautiful, which is why we are unmoved by artificial flowers.”
"Moisture and heat have swollen the garden into a slum of
bloom."
“I certainly do not exist from nine to six, when I am at the
office.”
Today's book recommendation: Heirloom Vegetable Gardening
by William Woys Weaver
This is an updated edition of the classic has been improved
throughout with growing zones, advice, and new plant entries. Now,
instead of line art, there is lush, full-color
photography.
At the heart of this book are the heirlooms; the living history of
gardens and kitchens of our past. For many people, heirlooms are
stories. They are gifts; something special to pass down through the
generations.
For instance, one of the heirlooms I have fallen head over heels
for, is the Nanticoke Winter Pumpkin. Imagine a pumpkin almost the
color of a robin's egg with crêpey looking blisters over the skin
and you have something extra special from your garden for Autumn.
And, that's only a taste of the marvelous plants and produce
featured in this wonder new edition. It's an heirloom encyclopedia
and it's a keeper.
Today's Garden Chore
Check your rhubarb to see if you want to make a quick
last-minute division.
I just did this after another visit to the cabin. I decided it
would be lovely to walk out back by the lake in the early morning
and cut some stalks for strawberry rhubarb muffins for a weekend
brunch or for some rhubarb bars to enjoy with a cup of coffee. The
point is, rhubarb can handle a division even though it's early
October. Welcome to lake life rhubarb!
Something Sweet
Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart
I ran across two old gems for you today.
The first one is a saying that was published on this day in 1940
in The Phoenix Star at the beginning of a
little bedtime story called "What the Old Naturalist Told". I
thought it was so lovely and I couldn't find it anywhere on line -
so here it is (short and sweet):
A story's writ on every stone, In every stick and leaf and bone. ~
Old Mother Nature
The second one is from the Chicago Tribune on this day in 1875. It
was a little article, fittingly called "Sparks of Science."
"Plants are tender as little children, and suffer quickly from any
irregularity of diet and habit. Above all, they must not be kept
awake late at night by bright gaslights burning around them. They,
like human beings, need rest and sleep, and, when Nature puts out
her great light with the dotting of the sun, it is time for them
close their eyes and fold their leaves; or, if they do not all
actually do this, they must, at least, enjoy the opportunity
darkness affords ...
How often the question is asked of the lady who has flourishing
plants in her window: "How do you manage to make them look so well
?" "I don't know.’’ is the reply; "I only do what others do,” and
yet she is inwardly conscious that it is the love animating her
care of them that inspires their thrifty growth."
Thanks for listening to the daily gardener,
and remember:
"For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."