#tender cows at their natural habitat

[ronkoza]

soft cows 🌿

Tórarin belongs to @littleulvar

[oxbl00d42]

Exploring the Delights of Ramen: A Culinary Journey for Vegans and Food Enthusiasts

Ramen, the iconic Japanese noodle soup, has captured the hearts and taste buds of people around the world. With its rich flavors and comforting warmth, it has become a beloved dish. Surprisingly, ramen can also be a delight for vegans, as its foundation lies in vegan-friendly elements.

The first thing that catches the eye is the vibrant yellow color of ramen's wheat flour noodles. Contrary to expectations, these noodles are typically egg-free, making them suitable for vegan diets. This opens up a world of possibilities for those seeking a vegan version of this beloved soup.

Fortunately, the realm of ramen has evolved to accommodate vegans, offering an array of options for broth. Among these options are vegan broths enriched with the earthy goodness of umami-rich mushrooms and an assortment of vegetables. These flavorful broths provide a delightful alternative, ensuring that vegans can savor the essence of ramen without compromise.

The foundation of ramen's noodles, often referred to as Chinese-style wheat noodles, is surprisingly simple, composed of just four basic ingredients: flour, oil, salt, and kansui. Kansui, a mineral alkaline water, plays a pivotal role in transforming the texture of the dough, giving ramen noodles their signature springiness. Moreover, it imparts the distinctive golden hue that sets ramen apart.

When it comes to ramen served in specialty bars or homemade variations in Japan, it's worth noting that egg noodles have gained popularity. Eggs enhance the color, tenderness, and workability of the dough, resulting in a more indulgent experience. However, it is important to mention that egg noodles are not commonly found in shelf-stable ramen or traditional ramen bars unless explicitly stated.

While exploring the intricacies of ramen, it's essential to be aware of certain considerations. Instant ramen noodles, widely enjoyed for their convenience, are often flash-fried in palm oil. For environmentally conscious vegans, this may raise concerns due to the association of palm oil with deforestation and the loss of wildlife habitats.

Traditionally, ramen broth relies on non-vegan dashi stock to achieve its savory flavor. Dashi, typically made from bonito (tuna), kelp, mushrooms, and sardines, serves as the base for various Japanese broths, including non-vegan miso. Additionally, animal-based broths, featuring ingredients like shrimp, beef, and chicken, are common in ramen. Dehydrated meat and fish are also used to infuse flavor into these broths, rendering them non-vegan.

Beyond the broth, certain ingredients present in ramen should be considered. Some ramen mixes contain lactose, a sugar derived from cow's milk, which may be unsuitable for vegans. Similarly, sugar can be a concern, as cane sugar is often refined using non-vegan animal bone char. Beet sugar, on the other hand, is typically vegan-friendly.

The distinction between natural and artificial flavors can be significant for vegans. While many vegans adopt a practical approach and overlook the origin of natural flavors, some adhere strictly to avoid any potential animal-derived ingredients. Artificial flavors, although molecularly similar to natural flavors, may pose concerns for environmental vegans due to their petroleum-derived sources.

Food additives such as monosodium glutamate (MSG), disodium guanylate (GMP), and disodium inosinate (IMP) provide the sought-after umami flavor to ramen. These additives are often sourced from vegan-friendly starches and sugars, making them suitable for vegans. However, another food additive, tertiary-butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ), used as a preservative and antioxidant, is a synthetic food additive derived from unsustainable petrochemicals.

For those seeking vegan options, it's essential to navigate the landscape of ramen brands. Non-vegan ramen packets and cups are prevalent, but some plant-based eaters opt to purchase them and discard the non-vegan flavor packets. Instead, they personalize their meals using at-home seasonings like soy sauce, hot sauce, or curry.

To ensure a truly vegan experience, it's advisable to explore the offerings of vegan ramen brands. These brands often rely on dried shiitake mushrooms, kombu (kelp), and nori (seaweed) to create their broths, which are naturally rich in glutamates, providing that sought-after savory umami flavor. Topped with additional ingredients such as dried nori, bamboo shoots, and scallions, these vegetable broths create a delightful plant-based meal.

Now, let's address some frequently asked questions regarding ramen. Are all ramen noodles vegan? Yes, many brands offer vegan ramen noodles, but it's important to check the ingredients to ensure they align with your dietary preferences. When it comes to beef-flavored ramen, it's crucial to note that most brands use actual meat, making them unsuitable for plant-based eaters. As for the presence of egg in ramen noodles, it can vary. Certain varieties of ramen noodles incorporate eggs for color and texture, but these are typically marked accordingly, allowing you to make an informed choice.

In conclusion, ramen presents a captivating culinary journey for both vegans and non-vegans alike. With its diverse range of flavors, noodle textures, and broth options, ramen caters to a wide array of dietary preferences. Whether you seek a vegan-friendly experience or indulge in traditional variations, ramen continues to captivate and satisfy discerning palates around the globe.

[reasoningdaily]

Caption

According to early 19th century writer U.P. Hendrick, the Ansault pear was a fruit "of the highest quality." We’ll have to take his word for it; the pear is believed to have disappeared shortly after those words were published. It’s one of the many fruits, vegetables, and meats that will never be tasted again. Whether they were eaten to extinction or succumbed to other factors, these are the foods from history you can no longer eat.

1. Ansault pear

Unlike other items on this list, the Ansault pear appeared relatively recently. First cultivated in Angers, France, in 1863, the fruit was prized for its delectable flesh. In the 1917 book The Pears of New York, Hendrick wrote, “the flesh is notable, and is described by the word buttery, so common in pear parlance, rather better than any other pear. The rich sweet flavor, and distinct but delicate perfume contribute to make the fruits of highest quality.”

Irregular trees and the rise of commercial farming contributed to the fruit's demise. Ansault pear trees were impractical to grow in large orchards, and commercial farmers weren’t interested in wasting time on temperamental strains when other pear varieties were available to them. Nurseries stopped growing the pear and it disappeared in the early 20th century.

2. Passenger pigeon

Illustration of passenger pigeon by John Henry Hintermeister from 1908. / Wikimedia Commons

Humans feasted on the passenger pigeon for centuries. It was such a vital food source for the Seneca people that they named it jah’gowa, or “big bread.” Sadly, the North American bird was too tasty for its own good. Hunting, combined with habitat and food loss, reduced their numbers from up to 3 billion in the early 1800s to just one by 1900. That endling, a captive pigeon named Martha after America’s first First Lady, died at the Cincinatti Zoo in Ohio 1914.

3. Auroch

You may have heard aurochs mentioned in Game of Thrones, but this creature doesn’t belong in the same category as dragons. The real cattle species was domesticated 10,000 years ago in the early days of agriculture. They were big (“little below the elephant in size,” according to Julius Casear) and leaner than modern cows. After suffering from disease and habitat loss, the species dwindled until the last aurochs died in a Polish forest in the 17th century. New breeding efforts are aiming to revive the species—or at least produce a new animal that comes close. The beef from one aurochs-like cow bred in the modern era is reportedly juicy and tender with a “wild” taste.

4. Silphium

Coin depicting Silphium plant, circa 480 to 435 BCE. / Heritage Images/Getty Images

The ancient Greeks and Romans had many applications for this leek-flavored herb. Its stalks were cooked and eaten like a vegetable, while its sap was dried and grated over various dishes as seasoning. It had medicinal uses as well; it was apparently an effective form of birth control, and its heart-shaped seeds may be why we associate the shape with love today. Silphium only grew on a 125-by-35-mile strip of land in modern Libya, and it couldn't be farmed; demand for the precious herb quickly outpaced its natural supply. Pliny the Elder wrote that only one silphium plant was discovered during his lifetime, and it was gifted to the Roman emperor Nero sometime between 54 CE and 68 CE.

5. Dodo

Dutch sailors first visited the island chain of Mauritius in 1598, and less than two centuries later the archipelago's native dodo went extinct. Sailors relied on the birds as sustenance during long voyages at sea, but that isn't the primary reason they died out; habitat and the introduction of invasive species like rats and pigs ultimately wiped out the animal. Though humans did eat dodo meat, it was more for survival than taste. The last person to spot a dodo, an English sailor named Benjamin Harry, called its flesh "very hard." The Dutch word for dodo was walghvodel, or “disgusting bird."

6. Steller’s sea cow

Illustration of Steller's sea cow, circa 1896. / Biospanersity Heritage Library, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY 2.0

German naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller identified the Steller's sea cow around the Commander Islands in the Bering Sea in 1741. Growing up to 30 feet long, it was significantly larger than the sea cows alive today. It was also pretty tasty. The salty meat was compared to corned beef, and the fat apparently tasted like almond oil. Sailors reportedly sipped the liquified blubber out of cups. Steller’s sea cows were a source of leather and lamp oil as well as meat, and the animal was hunted to extinction by 1768—less than 30 years after it was first described.

7. Mammoth

Wooly mammoth meat was an important component of the diets of our earliest human ancestors. We ate so much of them that hunting may have contributed to their extinction around 2000 BCE (though climate change was likely a bigger factor). Despite being extinct for thousands of years, several modern scientists and explorers have claimed they’ve tasted mammoth flesh. Because mammoth specimens are often found perfectly preserved in the frigid Arctic, they could technically be thawed and consumed. Unfortunately this doesn’t give us much insight into how the game tasted tens of thousands of years ago: Meat that’s been frozen for that long turns into rancid goo when defrosted. Bon appétit.

8. Taliaferro apple

Thomas Jefferson cultivated Taliaferro apples at Monticello. In an 1814 letter to his granddaughter, Jefferson said the small fruit produced "unquestionably the finest cyder we have ever known, and more like wine than any liquor I have ever tasted which was not wine." Though it’s believed that the apple was lost with the estate’s original orchard, some horticulturists still hold out hope for its survival—but with few written descriptions of the fruit available, we likely wouldn’t be able to identify Jefferson’s apple even if we did find it.

9. Great auk

Illustration of great auks from "Birds of America," circa 1827 to 1838. / Wikimedia Commons

Modern humans primarily killed great auks for their down, leading to the species’s extinction in the mid-19th century, but prior to that they were hunted for dinner. Fossil evidence indicates that Neanderthals were cooking the flightless birds over campfires as far back as 100,000 years ago. The Beothuk people of what is now Newfoundland, Canada, used great auk eggs to make pudding.

10. Ancient bison

Before the American bison was nearly hunted to extinction in the 19th century, Bison antiquus, or the ancient bison, died out 10,000 years ago. Bones have been recovered showing evidence of butchering with tools. This suggests that Native Americans relied on the ancient bison for food as they did with its modern ancestors.

11. Old Cornish Cauliflower

Old Cornish cauliflower wasn't famous for its taste, but it did have one advantage over other varieties. The vegetable was resistant to a destructive plant virus called ringspot. In the 1940s, European growers began replacing Old Cornish cauliflower with a French variety that shipped better, and it was extinct by the 1950s. As a result, ringspot has decimated cauliflower crops in certain regions of Britain.

[revirushifaa]

Umm I had a thought of a secret shapeshifter MC transforming into a wounded animal so she could get treated and spoiled by the brothers?

Why this was so much fun to write! And surprise!! Belphie's included finally, I grasped his character... I think. If he's still not in character do tell me and I'll do my best to keep him true to his character!

Enjoy!

-----------------------------------------------------

Bros + Fem!Animal Shapeshifter MC:

Lucifer and MC:

*He has his own giant pupper, but seeing this one wolf that just walked in his study, he felt something. Why was the animal here in the first place? He just crouches and pets the wolf, taking off his black gloves.

"Whatever you are doing here, I have no idea. But make yourself comfortable."

*When he pets the wolf in a sensitive area, she let out a pained squeal. Which prompts him to stop and look at her.

"You're injured? You poor thing, here, let me make that injury feel better.

*He gets pretty gentle with the she-wolf, making sure she feels comforted. Puts a few drops of whatever healing ointment that he has with him, then he picks her up and sits down back on his chair, the she-wolf on his lap as a gentle hand, caresses her fur and she's pretty soothed.

*This is MC using her ability to shapeshift just to get a little spoiling and treatment, she's thinking triumphantly in her mind, having Lucifer's hand ruffling her fur, she feels like in the clouds. She would do this more frequently, without letting the oldest know that it had been her.

Mammon and MC:

*What's a fox doing in the living room? Just what?

"Oi, where did ya come from? Aww, look at ya."

*He crouches down and pets the fox's head, she purrs and leans in his touch, her front paw is limping and Mammon takes notice of it and gently picks her up, carrying her to the bathroom where most injury treatment is.

*Gently massages her front leg and whispers soothing things to her, just to keep her calm and soothed as he treats her injured leg.

"There. Feelin' better? I'm glad. Now come here."

*Carries her to the couch back in the living room, sitting down and he puts her next to him, his fingers rubbing her fur and little ears, a soft smile coming in his features.

*MC is just enjoying this as much as she can, behind her mind she's emitting rainbows and happy things. Mammon's hand is just so soft, she sure is enjoying this.

Leviathan and MC:

*Hm? What's a panda doing in his room? He has no idea, but the panda looks hurt, she has a splinter stuck in her paw.

"O-oh, that doesn't look too well. I'll tend to that."

*As careful as he can be, he picks up a pair of tiny tweezers and gently pulls out the splinter off the panda's paw, and then wraps it in bandages, before looking down at the panda.

"Better? O-oh, you want me to pet you, w-well, ok..."

*Unsure if he'd do a good job petting her, he's hesitant but when the she-panda seems happy that he's petting her, he gets confident and now he has her in his arms and he snuggles, her fur is just so soft he can't resist to this. He has a thing for pandas so finally meeting one is all he needs to feel in confidence for when he has to cuddle MC.

*MC is grinning in her mind, she has fooled Levi into believing she's a panda, so now she has him all for her, she nuzzles him and lets out soft grunts, meaning that she's enjoying this. Levi then continues snuggling her so close, enjoying this himself.

Satan and MC:

*What's a poor cat doing trapped in a net outside the house?! Not on Satan's watch! He unties the she-cat and promptly picks her up in his arms to see if she's hurt.

"Are you ok, little one? Poor you, don't worry now, I've got you now."

*With a soft tone he gently soothes the she-cat and brings her into his library room, sitting down on his favorite chair, and cradles the cat in his arms as though, she's a mere baby.

*Cats are his favorites, so it's only natural that he's as soft as a pillow with the little kitten. She's just shaken up, not injured or anything, so he's relieved.

"Such a precious little one, you're enjoying my caresses, hm? Well, I have more for you."

*He ends up treating the she-cat like an infant, rocking her back and forth, even reading to her to see if she likes his voice, it's a soft voice and the she-cat couldn't be happier than she is, she purrs in response and mews pretty joyful.

*MC manages to get Satan all over her, just by shapeshifting into his favorite animal, very clever of her. She doesn't want this to end, so she keeps in her cat form purring and snuggling Satan happily.

Asmodeus and MC:

*A bunny? A poor thing is limping right to him, he crushes down and pokes the bunny's nose.

"Hurt are we? Come with me, I'll make sure you get better."

*Gently carries the bunny into his room and and places her on his chair by his dresses, massages her paws that had been injured and peppers her into soft caresses.

"All better, sweet bunny?"

*He's fond of bunnies, they remember him of dear MC(Who he doesn't know he's just petting, the she-bunny is just MC but into the bunny form) so sweet and soft, he really is so fond of the bunny he just found.

*He sits by and keeps caressing her with a smile on, the fur that she has is just like petting a stuffed animal, he's fond of those two. He keeps the bunny in his arms, which he had just washed into body wash body of coconut milk, making them smooth and soft.

*MC leans in all his touches, this plan of hers worked quite well, she has gotten almost of all the brothers to give her spoiling and soft treatment. Asmo's now for her, she's all for enjoying the lustful one.

Beelzebub and MC:

*Munch munch munch. As usual eating, but he looks down when a small duckling comes to him and pecks his feet.

"What are you doing here, little duck? Hungry as well? I got some bread crumbs for you-oh no, look at that twisted little wing..."

*He crushes down and gently carries the duckling in hands and sees that near is a stick and a string from a ribbon. He works his way to on caring for the little duckling and soon her wing was strapped to the stick and put back in place.

"There, that wing should be better in a few days, you should be better by then."

*He caressed her feathers, seeing how she gently squeak, and he smiles softly at her. Ducklings are really adorable, too adorable, but wouldn't dare gobble this one up, he wants to care for her until she's better to be put back to her environment as animals that are from the outside world, should be better in their habitats than in another place that isn't home.

*The duckling leans in his touches and hops into his hand, rubbing the palm of his hand with her head and beak. She's been quite affectionated with the gluttonous one.

"Precious small little thing..."

*MC snickers inside her mind, she knew that shapeshifting into this form would get Beel to be tender with her, so she keeps in that form, happy that Beel seems to not get suspicious of her being in her duckling form, she's just delighted with these caresses, she doesn't want them to end.

Belphegor and MC:

*He's sleeping once again, until he feels his cheek being licked. He grumbles and his eyes flutters open, to see a cattle next to his bed... wait a cattle? Wha?

"Uh... is this a dream? There's no way a cattle could be in the attic."

*When he realizes that this is real, he sits up and rubs his eyes. His animal that he is in demon form, they're a precious animal but oh no... her ear is injured, he gently cleans it up with a handckerchief and bandages it, with his arms he wraps them around her neck.

"So precious and soft... I can use you as a better pillow..."

*He caresses the cattle and puts his face on her head, he's loving this moment with the mammal. He feels like falling asleep again, because all is soothing, but the cattle's presense is just enough to keep him awake for a little longer.

"Don't go just now, stay here with me... even if I fall alseep on you..."

*His caresses are gentle and the cattle nudges his cheek and licks it as a kiss making him giggle a little. This unexpected visit who just interrupted his sweet sleep is just the best little guest that he's had.

*MC knew from the get go that turning into a cow would make Belphie pull out his soft side, so there. She'll keep this way for a lot longer, just to keep feeling Belphie's arms and soft touches, there's nothing better than this. Clever idea of hers, now she's had all the brothers treating and spoiling her, what she all wanted.

[missinglight]

THE EXCREMENTALISTS

an annus horribilis tale

Anne Boyer

Dec 21

We had yoga pants made of recycled plastic, Tik Tok, and the military industrial complex, which meant we had nothing, not even ourselves. We’d been wrong about the beginning of the world. Eden was not on earth, but on the plains of heaven, and while Adam and Eve had indeed wanted to taste the forbidden fruit, they had also been wrong about the fruit’s nature. The apple didn’t confer wisdom. It was the only fruit in paradise which did not, when tasted, dissolve. Yet this first human couple had both illicit hunger and intestines in a paradise with no toilet. An angel pointed to what he claimed was the bathroom of the universe and promised, once they ate the apple, he would take them there.  First they ate --then they rode the wings of the angel to the toilet. Later, while they were doing their business, the angel flew away from them, never to bring them back to paradise. The toilet was earth. It is from this first couple — the excrementalists — that all of us have descended.

After eating the forbidden fruit, everything the first humans consumed turned to shit: the tender insides of mollusks, the bloody flesh of wild boar, the grains ground into mush, the milk of the ungulates, the berries growing on brambles. When the first children were born, too, both Cain and Abel were bathed in fluid tinged with their own waste. This waste, called meconium, formed in each human fetus thereafter in the twelfth week of gestation, the same week the fingernails grew from the nailbed and the sex organs emerged. The triumvirate of human folly — shitting, fucking, and fighting — arrived in its embryonic form to each embryonic concurrently, and still does. Full of shit, sometimes even eating it before their first gasping breath of air, all the descendants of this first pair were born, also, mixed up in the waste of their mothers, human life always emerging from the same place the shit comes out.

Unsurprisingly, encomium — an ancient term for a flattering speech — is an anagram of meconium — the shit we are full of at birth. All the great of our species have been excrementalists. Lao Tsu, Socrates, Gertrude Stein — each was the attendant of turds! All the nameless saints and rebels — shit’s consorts and companions! The most noble of all of us is born full of shit, born amongst shit, and shits most days of their life. The wretched and the mediocre do, too. The only non-shitters on the historical record were those, who like the Ancient Israelites had for a time, subsisted temporarily on the angel food of manna, or opium enthusiasts, or those who having grown fatally bored with this world of shit, refused to eat. Only a heretic would believe that Jesus himself — either before or after the resurrection — could save humanity without ever once squatting. Even the last supper most likely moved through someone’s bowels. Those who believe that God and shit are incompatible have a meager understanding of both.

We developed technologies for our waste: trowels, holes, hand sanitization. We issued edicts concerning it. It co-mingled — the shit of both high and low — in gutters and sewage plants, landfills and trash heaps, the major and minor waterways. We made bathhouses to clean ourselves — the water sometimes heated with pages torn from the books of our great libraries. There were bidets, outhouses, vault toilets, flush toilets, water closets, urinals, and holes dug with spades. I do not know of a book that could, no matter the dazzling elucidations of its interior, resist serving a future function as toilet paper.

Once fully settled into our earthly home — this terrestrial grandstand, the megacosm’s toilet — it was not only the food that our species ate that turned into waste: all we touched appeared to do the same. We were born so helpless, so adorable and adoring, and we remained that way so often throughout our lives, that we compensated for our constitutional weakness by acquiring for ourselves and those we loved the materials of the earth, not just at its surface, but deep within its gills. Our industries digested all the earth as we each digested our food. We mined, drilled, harvested, slaughtered, and concocted until we could fill the holes we had dug back up with the waste we made from what we dug from them. Even now this project — to let nothing go untouched by human hands, unseen by human eyes, or undevoured and undigested by the gargantuan cupidity of the fallen first couple disembarked to their earthly toilet — goes on.

The cursed descendants of the first excrementalists have always desired to subject the earth to manufacture as a moth desires a star. In the hands of our species, the snow becomes snowmen. The flowers become wreaths. The sheep becomes its skin. The planet’s veins of gold become a chain around a rich man’s neck. One of us then signed a urinal — the apex of our arts. We more often gave the shape of waste to the art we made than giving it the shape of life, which itself appeared mainly to be waste in waiting. Before conception was the pre-dung hour, and after death, the post-twilight of the ordure.  

As our species grew in number and sophistication, our waste became more noxious than feces, and more enduring — spent fuel rods, diaper bins, carbon emissions, glyphosates, nano-plastics. We made ruins and built future ruins upon these ruins, and future ruins upon those. The songbirds smashed themselves against our high-rise windows. The deer broke their necks via the hoods of our cars. The other animals choked on our aluminum tabs, smothered themselves in our plastic wrap, found themselves bereft and adrift as their habitats became strip mines and strip malls. There was nothing too cruel for us to invent out of the materials of the earth — our shit was deadly and complex.

The ancient philosopher Heraclitus, who knew he couldn’t stand in the same river twice, died in the manner of one who had eaten the true fruit of wisdom, the one that landed us in this outhouse, the earth:

“…he laid himself out in the sun and ordered some boys to smother him in cow shit. On the next day, he died stretched out in that way, and was buried in the agora. Neanthes of Cyzicus says that because he was unable to get it off, the shit remained on him; because of this change in his appearance, he was unrecognized, and was eaten by dogs.

“O Sacred, Wise, and Wisdom-giving Plant,” the first tempter whispered in front of Milton’s Eve, and our own Eve — requiring no serpent — probably whispered the same to the tree of corporeality. As silkworms make silk from spit, so it is that Karl Marx declared that Milton made Paradise Lost. Every epic of the fall — however strange and dazzling — is testimony to our species’ endless excretion, for it is not just shit we learned to excrete when we ate our forbidden fruit, but all of our orifices — pores, nostrils, eyes, genitalia — became founts of waste, each of different viscosity and purpose.

Having been banished to the bathroom of the cosmos, “shit” or its variants is a word that fell easily from our mouths. When caught red-handed, when breaking an ankle, when setting off a land mine, when crashing the van, we exclaim “shit!” and its myriad, multi-lingual synonyms. It is possible that “shit” is one of our species’ most popular last words, vying for first place with “god.”

As we are born, so we die, and though the future of our souls remains uncertain, eventually our corpses become — like Paradise Lost itself, and also Paradise Regained — just another excretion of the worms. And when we have too much of anything — too many problems, too many plastic lids, too many sorrows, too many long hours on the clock and hard days on the calendar — we gaze upon this too muchness, vexed and exhausted, and pronounce to ourselves or to any who can hear: I can’t deal with all this shit!

So it is that to declare a whole year shit — as many of us have done in 2020 — is kin to an act of enlightenment, for to declare the year shit is for humans to declare it, with pure candor, the logical consequence of ourselves.

[auntiebioticslab]

I didn’t get any asks for this but that’s okay because unfortunately I am WELL capable of infodumping without anyone’s permission. so here’s the unplanned variable ask meme by @outervvorlds

read mores do not work on mobile because tumblr is garbage from a toilet and my computer is currently on a UPS truck to California. I am so sorry.

Basics! Name, age, personality, etc. What do they look like? Are they a new or old oc? 

Her name is Rocket Alexandria Hawthorne! Formerly Rachel Holloway back on Earth but I’ll get to the reason for the name change.

She’s extremely vague about her age (her go-tos are “older than you” and “over a hundred” which are both technically true due to the “being on ice” thing) but she can pass for anywhere between 30 and 50 appearance-wise and the timeline of her Earth memories pretty reliably pegs her as late 30s-early 40s.

She’s a really effortlessly confident and funny person, which is the main reason she could probably talk her way out of her own execution. Also because I have a disease that makes me project my brain shit onto every oc I have she’s prone to hyperfixating due to an Unclear But Definitely Present Brain Thing so she knows a lot of things about a lot of things. Also she’d never openly admit it but she’s a sucker for romantic things and definitely cries at weddings.

This is her:

Her mom was Pakistani and her father was Black but she usually just says she’s from Baltimore.

What are their attributes, perks, and flaws?

She’s got high charm and intelligence, average strength and temperament, and good everything else.

I got her up to level 30 my last play through, do not make me list all her perks. Most of them this go-round so far are buffs to vendor prices and boosts to movement speed.

She has weakness to both plasma and physical damage!

What do they believe in?

Religiously, she’s agnostic but she kind of likes the notion of Philosophism. Morally, she believes that there’s no reason for people to pointlessly suffer just so someone at the top can hoard money, and also that the colony would be better off if Byzantium suddenly burned to the ground.

...she did not burn Byzantium to the ground, don’t worry.

How did they react to becoming Captain of the Unreliable? Are they much of a leader?

She always kind of wanted to be a cool spacefarer, but she hoped it would be under different circumstances. She told ADA that the real Hawthorne was killed by marauders, offered the poor bastard some dignity in death.

She is a pretty effective leader but that’s because she doesn’t really see herself as one? The crew aren’t subordinate to her, they’re her friends.

What was their life like before being iced?

It was boring! She was stuck in a shitty line cook job which wasn’t terrible but also felt like a waste of her education, and she was barely scraping by anyway. That’s why she applied for the Hope initiative.

Did they have any family before becoming Captain? Do they think their crew as family? 

Obviously she had parents growing up; they werent as present as they’d have liked to be because Work but she never once felt like they didn’t care for her. They didn’t live to see their daughter off when she boarded the Hope, but that was because of natural causes.

She also had four older brothers! Darren, Brice, Gene, and Andre. She was closest to Andre because the age difference between them was only a year. He’s actually the one who gave her the nickname “Rocket” in the first place; when they were kids they would pretend to be space explorers and their pretend names were Astro and Rocket.

None of her brothers were on the Hope. Darren actually was doing pretty well for himself in a low-level government job and didn’t feel the need to leave the planet, Brice didn’t want to uproot his wife and kids, Gene, well...she still has no idea what Gene was up to when she boarded the Hope because he took a job in another country and lost contact with his siblings years prior. Andre had been dead for years, unfortunately, having died in a work accident a week before Rocket was due to graduate college.

It still nags at her that while she can at least assume all her other brothers died peacefully and surrounded by loved ones, she knows EXACTLY what horrible thing happened to Andre.

As for the current crew, ohhh yeah, they are definitely her family. She cried when Felix said “I’ve got a family” to Clyde.

What’s their fighting style? Who do they bring along?

Ironically for a timeline where Roosevelt was never president, she does practice big stick diplomacy. Well, it’s usually small stick diplomacy because she prefers one handed melee, but still. If she can avoid direct conflict (through stealth or negotiation) she prefers to. The only exception was Tartarus.

There’s no real rhyme or reason to who she has in her party because from a Me As The Player standpoint I just go with whoever gives me boosts to the stats I need for the quest I’m doing. Which, in practice, usually ends up being Parvati and Felix because of that sweet sweet Persuasion buff.

Is Spacer’s Choice their only choice? What do they think of the corporations?

She is...not a fan of the amount of power they have. Spacer’s Choice in particular has a special place in hell as far as she’s concerned. If you held a gun to her head and asked her to pick a favorite...she’d probably ask you to just shoot her. Or she’d choose Auntie Cleo’s because their jingle is the least annoying.

What do they think of the factions? Are they liked or disliked by any?

Rocket has to make an actual effort to get on someone’s bad side so she’s in pretty good standing with most of the major factions. She made an effort with the Board, though 😁

For her part, she’s especially fond of the folks on the Groundbreaker.

What’s their favourite place in Halcyon? Least favourite?

She likes the scenery on Terra 2 and the people on the Groundbreaker, but as corny as it sounds her favorite place in Halcyon is the Unreliable. It’s home to her, and it’ll stay that way forever.

She doesn’t hate Edgewater per se but being there fills her with rage because of how...indicative it is of the way the rest of the colony is being run.

Do they have a favourite alien creature?

She definitely has never done extensive research on the care and feeding of leather boas because she hyperfixated on the idea of getting one as a pet before realizing that recreating the necessary habitat conditions on the Unreliable was impossible, or at least way too expensive.

No, I’m not projecting the amount of times I have done something similar for bearded dragons.

Did they save The Hope?

FUCK yeah she did.

What do they want to do afterwards? - but do they get a happy ending?

She finally gets some use out of her degree; she’s qualified to be a food scientist, like a real actual food scientist, and that’s probably what Halcyon needs more than anything.

Considering a few other things that happen in the epilogue, she doesn’t get a perfect end. But it’s enough.

What do they think of the companions? Friendships, crushes, dislikes, etc. 

She immediately thought “now I’M the big sister” after recruiting Parvati and Felix, so there’s that. Probably accidentally called each of them by the name of one of her brothers a few times. Convincing Ellie that she actually cares about her as a person is her white whale of sorts, and she empathizes a lot with Nyoka given her own history of loss. Logically she realizes that Max is a fellow capital-A Adult but also she feels like she’s holding the leash on a feral dog whenever he’s with her. She likes to tell SAM he’s doing a good job.

How do the companion quests go?

Golden ends across the board, babey. I’ve never been one to half-ass shenanigans.

What’s their love language?

Gifts and acts of service!!! She always tries to play it cool until she’s ready to admit her feelings though, so there’s a lot of pretending she just HAPPENED to find this thing she damn near tore the planet apart looking for.

Also she especially likes to flirt by cooking. Even back on Earth she got into a fair few relationships by being like “hey neighbor, I underestimated how much this recipe makes, interested in taking some leftovers off my hands? ;)” when she knew damn well how much the recipe made and doubled it so she had an excuse to see her cute neighbor.

Are they in a relationship? Do they want to be?

She has a crush on a certain rogue scientist, and unfortunately for her it is such an intense crush that she actually gets tongue-tied around him sometimes, which isn’t something she’s used to and that stresses her out a LOT.

Damn now I want to write an immediately-post-game-but-WAY-pre-epilogue fic with the crew trying to get them together so they don’t have to listen to Rocket blasting classical music and frustratedly screaming into a pillow every time she leaves his lab.

How to win them over?

She likes to look into someone’s eyes and see a fire, you know? I mean this in both a platonic and romantic sense—if someone is downtrodden but still determined, she probably at least respects them.

Also if someone she has feelings for does some kind of tender touch thing like brushing her hair behind her ear she McDies. Just completely short circuits. Cannot handle it.

How to break their heart?

If she found out someone important to her was using her or going behind her back it would destroy her. Unwilling betrayals as a result of being under duress are one thing, but deliberate, calculated manipulation? That’s her absolute worst nightmare.

How did those cows get onto their ship??

She wanted to try making homemade cheese and didn’t trust the bottled milk to actually be from a cow after what she learned about the saltuna cannery in Edgewater.

Ok technically she just agreed to deliver the cows to a facility on Terra 2 after the actual ship carrying them had engine troubles on Groundbreaker but she liberated some of the milk while in transit. Not like they’d notice.

A song that reminds you of them,

Sucker Punch by Die Mannequin!

Three random facts about them.

She got that burn scar during her time on Earth. Be careful with hot liquids, kids.

She’s tall—like, 6’5” tall. People who don’t receive proper nourishment don’t get very tall so she towers over most of Halcyon.

After the events of Don’t Bite The Sun she went back to Stellar Bay and told Raymond “I’ll teach you my recipe for breded cystipig chops with mock applesauce if you’ll teach me how to make that casserole”. Good trade for both parties.

[brucestambaughsblog]

The prairie on the hill.

By Bruce Stambaugh

Several years ago, our lifetime friends Dave and Kate built their dream house on a hill overlooking Millersburg, Ohio. They picked the perfect spot.

From that lofty vantage point overlooking a lovely valley, Dave and Kate can see the county courthouse clock tower, the school where they both taught, and the hospital where their children were born.

The setting is marvelous, the view fantastic. Still, through hard work and creativity, the couple has managed to improve their surroundings, not only for themselves but for the wild things, too.

About five years ago, Dave decided to turn work into play so to speak. He kicked the cows out of the five-acre, pastured hillside that surrounded the house. His goal was simply to let nature take her course.

Before the European invasion 300 years ago, a dense, mature forest covered most of what is now Ohio. Dave wanted to test an old theory that the land would replenish itself if allowed to go fallow.

So instead of cows grazing, grasses, plants, and seedlings began to sprout freely. Today, the results are impressive, producing rewards that even the amiable couple could never have imagined.

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On an all-too-brief return to our Ohio haunts, Dave led me on a walking tour of his mostly-spontaneous prairie. We traversed a looping pattern of mown paths that crisscrossed the rolling hillside topography.

Up and down and around we walked. All the while Dave pointed out some of the changes that had already naturally occurred. In some spots, he had helped things along with saplings and young trees he had planted. He checked on them like a mother hen guarding her chicks.

Of course, he encaged the plantings with wire mesh to stymie the ubiquitous and free-ranging deer that nibble the tender and tasty leaves and stalks. Sometimes it worked.

Wildflowers and plants now flourished in the prairie plots where heifers used to munch. The floral growth attracted appreciative pollinators that flitted and buzzed about while we ambled along. Bees and butterflies, flies, dragonflies, and damselflies all made appearances.

Eastern Bluebirds.

Several pairs of eastern bluebirds tended to their nests in boxes Dave had erected. Some had eggs, some second brood hatchlings. Others were empty. When we cleaned out an old nest from one birdhouse, a bluebird pair began building anew a short time later. Dave’s face glowed.

At the bird feeders, Ohio’s smallest to largest woodpeckers and several species in between vied for the suet offerings. Both pileated and red-bellied even brought their young to learn to forage for the protein.

On the parameters of the property, red-tailed hawks dove from shaded oak perches, unsuccessful in snagging a mammal breakfast. An indigo bunting began its song but stopped short, a typical behavior this late in the summer.

Cedar waxwings preened in the morning sunshine on dead ash snags. American goldfinches harvested thistledown for their late-season nests.

The gnarled, amber trunks of giant Osage orange trees served as living statuaries in the young reclaimed landscape. Their coarse-skin fruit hung lime-green and eerie, like so many Martian brains.

Once dormancy dominates the prairie, Dave will mow down this marvelous and necessary wildlife habitat to eliminate the human-made nuisance multi-flowered rose bushes. Of course, he’ll save the trees, both those he planted and the multitude of volunteers that are thriving.

That adage is coming true. Left to grow on its own, this come-what-may former pasture is an ever-changing habitat for all things bright and beautiful. The environmentally friendly owners couldn’t be more grateful.

Sunrise valley view.

© Bruce Stambaugh 2018

Transforming work into play By Bruce Stambaugh Several years ago, our lifetime friends Dave and Kate built their dream house on a hill overlooking Millersburg, Ohio.

[livingcorner]

6 Ways to Keep Rabbits Out of Your Garden

To many people, the image that comes to mind at the mention of a rabbit is a soft, fluffy, adorable bunny. But for those who love to garden, a rabbit is a destructive, annoying pest that eats up the landscape and causes expensive damage. Rabbits will eat almost any homegrown food crop they can reach, and they can damage other plants in the landscape as well as household items. Much of this damage results from gnawing. Rabbits chew on trees and shrubs, particularly young ones with smooth bark and tender shoots. This can cause significant damage if large areas or bark or essential branches are removed. In addition, as anyone who has kept pet rabbits in the home knows, rabbits will gnaw on almost anything they find, including furniture, shoes, clothing, and electrical wires.

The most common rabbit found in yards and gardens throughout the U.S. is the eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus). In fact, its primary habitat is landscaped and planted areas rather than wilderness. It has large, tapered ears and mottled brown, black, and white fur. It grows 15 to 19 inches long and weighs two to four pounds. The eastern cottontail nests below hedgerows and other plantings, beneath undergrowth, and inside burrows abandoned by other animals. It does not dig warrens like some other rabbit species.

You're reading: 6 Ways to Keep Rabbits Out of Your Garden

The Spruce / Micah Issitt and Adrienne Legault

The Spruce / Micah Issitt and Adrienne Legault

6 Ways to Get Rid of Rabbits

The best means of controlling rabbit damage in the garden is by discouraging their presence and preventing access to plants. Professional control is also available through pest management companies that provide nuisance wildlife management services.

Garden Fencing

As is true when you are trying to protect against any wildlife, the top recommendation is to use fencing around the garden or any other area requiring protection. Chicken wire with 1/2- to 1-inch mesh is a good choice for guarding against rabbits. The fence must be at least 2 feet high to keep rabbits from jumping over it. To prevent rabbits from burrowing under it, the fencing should extend at least 6 inches below ground or be secured to the ground to keep the bottom edge tight. Electric net fencing also can be used for temporary control around seasonal gardens.

Individual Plant Protection

Use 1/4- to 1/2-inch mesh chicken wire or hardware cloth to form cylinders around new trees, shrubs, or vines. Bury the fencing 6 inches deep to prevent burrowing. Provide several inches of clearance around the plant and, if the fencing is flimsy, add bracing to prevent the rabbits from pushing the netting and reaching through to nibble.

Read more: How to edge flowerbeds like a pro! via Funky Junk Interiors

Habitat Modification

If you have found evidence of rabbit nesting, remove it, and modify or block off the area to keep them from coming back in. Proactively reduce nesting options by removing low shrubbery branches that provide harborage for rabbits. Eliminate tall, dense vegetation and wood and debris piles. Control vegetation along fence rows. Seal spaces beneath buildings.

Trapping

Live trapping of rabbits is an option, but it is usually not recommended that you do this yourself because it can be challenging to deal with the trapped animal. Because rabbits are considered agricultural pests in many states, and because they can carry disease, there are often laws that regulate where and how you can release wild rabbits.

Repellents

Chemical repellents can be applied to some trees, vines, or other plants that are in danger from rabbits. But these can create an unpleasant odor, taste, or stickiness. Because of this, most repellents are not suited for use on vegetables or other food plants, as they can make the plant inedible for humans. In addition, repellents often work only for a short time and need to be reapplied frequently. If you choose to use a repellent, carefully read and follow all label directions before use.

Predators

In areas where rabbits are plentiful, they will naturally attract some wild predators, such as foxes, hawks, owls, and snakes. Even in inner-city urban areas, wild predators may recognize the food source and take up residence to hunt rabbits. These small predators rarely pose any danger to family pets, and they pose no danger whatsoever to people. So rather than make efforts to chase away foxes or hawks, welcome their presence as a solution to your rabbit problem. Or, if you have a family dog with hunting instincts who can roam your fenced-in yard, it is very unlikely that rabbits will feed on any of your plants. House cats can also be an effective deterrent, though most experts discourage letting pet cats roam outside, where they can pose a danger to songbirds.

What Causes Rabbits?

Rabbits can, and will, eat just about any tender plant, so they are naturally drawn in by home gardens. In the spring, they will feed on newly sprouted grass and clover; in the fall and winter when food is less available, they will survive on whatever bark and seedlings they can find. But all too often, the rabbits’ favorite food is exactly the same foods loved by the homeowners: the delicious produce found in vegetable gardens and on fruit bushes. Favorites include vegetables such as beans, beet, broccoli, carrot, lettuce, and peas; herbs such as cilantro and parsley; and nuts and fruits such almonds, apples, berries, plums, etc. For good measure, many rabbits are also quite fond of ornamental flowers, shrubs, and trees.

There are of course other wild animals that also feed on tender plants and gnaw on trees and shrubs; deer, squirrels, chipmunks, woodchucks, and raccoons are all familiar villains in this drama. But when you see plants chomped off and bark gnawed, with the presence of rabbit fecal pellets in the area, it is almost certain that rabbits are to blame. And you may well get verification by spotting the unmistakable tracks of the rabbit’s long back feet impressed in the soil.

Read more: Composting Cow Manure: Using Cow Manure Fertilizer In The Garden

How to Prevent Rabbits From Ravaging Your Garden

Defense against rabbits is an ongoing battle. No matter how you choose to prevent, discourage, or get rid of rabbits—or how successful those methods are for the moment—you will need to be constantly vigilant. Rabbits reproduce like….well, rabbits, and there will always be more coming to investigate your garden and landscape. Ongoing rabbit defense requires:

Regular inspection of fencing to ensure rabbits are not getting through, under, or around the barrier

Inspecting plants weekly for damage

Watching for rabbits signs: fecal pellets, chewed-off plants, gnawed bark, etc.

Acting as soon as you see the first sign of rabbits

FAQs

What are Some Common Signs of Rabbits?

One very reliable sign of marauding rabbits is an area scattered with coarse, round, fecal pellets—the scat (poop) of rabbits. Depending on the species, these may be 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch in size. You may also see rabbit hair or fur caught on or under tree branches, rabbit trails, or nesting areas under bushes or brush. 

Do Noises Deter Rabbits?

Devices intended to frighten or discourage rabbits, such as noisemakers, flashing lights, or ultrasonic sound waves do not really scare away or otherwise affect rabbits. Within a matter of hours, the rabbits will learn to ignore these measures and continue happily feeding on your plants.

Are Rabbits Afraid of Scarecrows?

Any number of faux owls, snakes, and hawk figurines are marketed as “scarecrows” intended to frighten away rabbits and other pest animals. They do not work.

Do Rabbits Carry Diseases?

The most common disease carried and spread by cottontail rabbits is tularemia, also known as rabbit fever. Tularemia can be passed from infected rabbits to humans via contaminated food or water; by eating infected rabbits; via blood-feeding insects such as ticks, mosquitos, fleas, and flies; or inhalation of dust from infected animal feces, animal tissue, or urine.

Source: https://livingcorner.com.au Category: Garden

source https://livingcorner.com.au/6-ways-to-keep-rabbits-out-of-your-garden/

[kentonramsey]

Animals Are Returning, Nature Is Healing, and My Frozen Heart Has Thawed

“The animals are returning to their natural habitats. We are the virus.”

The first time I read this statement–or something similar–it rang with earnest hope. Since then, stories of animals returning to their natural habitats, now emptier than ever due to human self-isolation measures, have peppered the news cycle and made the internet a place of gooey, drippy, sing-songy hope. (And then of course the internet turned it into a joke that has not yet—yet!—gotten old.) And I genuinely love it.

Below I’ll enumerate some of my favorite animal-centric news from the past few weeks, and I’ll try exercise some willpower by not uttering the word “baby” or “petunia” 800 times. You’re lucky this isn’t a podcast.

1. These ducks in Sirmione, Italy, practicing duck-social-distancing, six duck-feet apart

Tell me that if you saw this little flock waddling down the street you wouldn’t be intimidated as hell. Leave the gun, take the bread crumbs.

2. These mountain lions in my family’s neighborhood in Boulder, Colorado

I got a text from my mother the other day with just “oh my gosh”–A BAD SIGN for anyone who knows Angela. When I pressed her after a few minutes of eye-twitch panic she admitted that a mountain lion had been sniffing through our front yard, done a lap in our cul de sac, and peaced. But look how cute they are!!! I was like… OK, Mom. Go watch “Tiger King,” then we’ll talk.

3. These wild turkeys in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, working the runway

Sissy that freakin walk, my guys! For some reason all I can think of while looking at this is reputed turkey advocate Benjamin Franklinrolling over in his grave, being like “Look, you bastards!”—even though I know that whole story about him wanting to swap a turkey for our bald eagle is a myth.

4. This baby racoon boom in Riverside Park, New York

My history with raccoons is that they’ve only ever hissed at my outdoor cats and knocked over my trash cans looking for food, so often that my family, unaffectionately, refers to them as “trash pandas.” But this video of baby raccoons cautiously making their way down a stone wall just melted my stone-cold heart into a baby raccoon cuddle puddle.

5. These possums, nesting in flowering trees

When Edith sent me an email with a link to this story, the subject line was just: Possum. Reader: I’ve never clicked faster. What joy to discover incredibly pure images of large possums sitting in flowering trees near the Museum of Natural History where, on their lunch break, they can partake in self-education about their fellow mammals. Tender.

6. These goats with better hair than me, thriving in Wales

If I weren’t busy falling in love with them, I’d ask them for their haircare routine.

7. These dinosaurs, returning to Times Square

Wow. This is New York today where the city’s streets are empty and nature has returned for the first time since 65,000,000 BC. The earth is healing, we are the virus. pic.twitter.com/UUQwgrtW7R

— St Peter (@stpeteyontweety) April 5, 2020

History is happening in Manhattan.

8. These cows, returning to the ocean

Wow. Cows are returning to the sea. Nature is healing.

We are the virus.

pic.twitter.com/xoZ2Rj1wHJ

— Tiago P. Zanetic (@TPZanetic) April 11, 2020

A special reunion <3

9. These Lisa Frank dolphins, back in the Hudson River where they belong

This photo of the Hudson River was taken yesterday. The earth is healing. We are the virus. pic.twitter.com/QDTizi2i6Q

— Mark Lee (@meesterleesir) April 12, 2020

It makes the heart hurt with happiness.

Any thriving animal news–true or otherwise–that has made you particularly happy? Turtles chilling? Deer cavorting? Birds being absolute lil’ petunia babies??? Fuck, I said it.

Feel free to share below.

The post Animals Are Returning, Nature Is Healing, and My Frozen Heart Has Thawed appeared first on Man Repeller.

Animals Are Returning, Nature Is Healing, and My Frozen Heart Has Thawed published first on https://normaltimepiecesshop.tumblr.com/ Animals Are Returning, Nature Is Healing, and My Frozen Heart Has Thawed published first on https://mariakistler.tumblr.com/

[delicatelysublimeforester]

In the city of Saskatoon, the George Genereux Urban Regional Park and the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area are great places to learn and experience nature education.  The semi wilderness habitat makes great homes for animals.  What do visitors of the afforestation areas need to know when visiting the homes of these residents?

White-tailed Deer Fawn. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus)

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Why do deer and moose appreciate the George Genereux Urban Regional Park and the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area in Saskatoon?

An animal that feeds on plants is referred to as an herbivore. There are many different kinds of herbivorous mammals which frequent the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park. The White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and Moose (Alces alces) are among the herbivourous mammals of the afforestation areas.

How are these two deers recognized?  Mule deer have larger ears than the White-tailed deer, however, that feature may only help with binoculars.  There is another way to make identification.

When alarmed, a mule deer will run with a bounce referred to as stotting (also called pronking or pronging). The deer literally springs into the air, lifting all four feet off the ground simultaneously.

A white-tailed deer, will show, or flash its white tail when alarmed. This alarm response is called “Tail flare” which is used by all deer, though more visible to humans for the white-tailed deer species. The flashing tail alerts all of the herd to danger. The flashing tail held up while the herd is fleeing is a very easy target for the fawns to follow through forest thickets and heavy brush so it does not get lost.

Young bucks

Moose laying down during daytime

Herd of Buck Deer

A moose is recognized by its distinctive shape with features such as a hump on its back which make it easy to distinguish a moose from a deer. The horns on a bull moose are very distinct from the horns of a deer stag. A baby moose is a calf, a male moose is called a bull, a female moose is called a cow. A male deer is called stag or buck, a female deer is called doe or hind, and a young deer is called fawn, kid or calf.

Deer and moose are digrastic animals, which means that they have a unique pair of muscles under their jaw which act to open and close their mouth. One unique thing about all deer species, is that there is a lack of teeth in their front upper jaw. When looking in the habitat for evidence of deer, search for a ragged edge on twigs which show signs of damage. Be aware of the height of the twigs off the ground, and the time of the year when you think deers may be browsing on trees.

Another way to identify a habitat in which deer or moose call their home is to be aware of their droppings or “Scat.” During the summer months, a moose may leave piles which resemble cow droppings. In the winter a moose the scat changes to long round pellets larger than those of a deer or a rabbit. Deer usually have piles of black to dark brown pellets. If the animals are near a good water source, their scat may clump. Deer pellets are about the size of chocolate covered raisins. Rabbit scat is smaller, and very round, Moose scat is larger, elongated and bigger than chocolate covered almonds.

To help in the identification of wildlife in George Genereux Urban Regional Park and the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, also look for tracks (footprints) in the soil, or in the snow. Freshly fallen snow, makes it easy to see animal tracks. Moose have cloven hooves longer than 18 centimetres (7 inches). Cloven means split or divided in two. Deers also have split hooves, though the tracks are much smaller. A deer track is 4 ��� 7.5 cm (1-1/2 to 3 inches) in length. Deers are also much smaller in mass, so the depression in the soil or snow is lighter than the deep depression made by a heavy moose.

“George Genereux” Urban Regional Park, Saskatoon Saskatchewan Animal Tracks in the snow.

Which are human, deer and rabbit tracks in the above images?

Moose are solitary animals, but White-tailed deers live together in herds. There are two types of herds for the White-tailed deer community. The does and fawns herd together, and the bucks herd together, except during the mating season. Mule deers will come together as a united herd, males and females until spring. In the spring, Mule deer adopt behaviors similar to the herding patterns of White-tailed deer. The does and fawns will stay together to seek protective habitats, and males will take the risk of being in sight of predators, and search out rich, abundant food sources.

Mule Deer West Swale Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA Winter

Mule Deer West Swale Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA Winter

White-tailed Deer. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA

White-tailed Deer Fawn. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA

White-tailed Deer Fawn. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA

If you see long grasses flattened, or a depression in the fresh snow, which are about 1.2 meters (four feet) in diameter, then that is likely where a moose may have lain down to rest.  Deers also spend 70% of their time lying down.

These animals ~deer and moose~ are also referred to as ruminants. Ruminants are mammals that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principally through microbial actions. The process, which takes place in the front part of the digestive system and therefore is called foregut fermentation, typically requires the fermented ingesta (known as cud) to be regurgitated and chewed again. The process of rechewing the cud to further break down plant matter and stimulate digestion is called rumination. These animals gather their food quickly, and later find a place to rest safe from predators. It is when they are in their safe place that they can regurgitate their food and re-chew it fully.

The Trembling Aspen is the preferred food of deer, though they will search out the “Balm of Gilead” from the Balsam Poplar (Populus balsamifera). Balm of Gilead is made from the resinous gum of the Balsam Poplar.  Deer will only resort to eating the buds of the Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens) if they are starving, and in desperate circumstances.

The diet of the deers does vary. When foliage is green during the late spring and summer, deers will turn to eating grasses, sedges, winter cereals and other forbs. A forb is a flowering plant other than a grass. Crops, leaves, tender twigs, and buds are also mainstays. As the seasons change, deers will turn to cut alfalfa hay fields in the autumn. Deers rely almost exclusively on twigs and buds throughout the winter, and into early spring choosing Trembling Aspen (Populus tremuloides), Buffaloberry (Shepherdia argentea), Willow (‎Salix; ‎L.), Western Snowberry (Symphoricarpos occidentalis), and Prickly Rose (Rosa acicularis).

Just as the deer diet varies through the seasons, so too does the diet of the moose. Summer provides catkins, leaves, tall grasses bark, pine cones, twigs and buds of trees and shrubs. Winter food is much harder to forage (forage means to search widely for food). Moose will resort to willow bushes and woody plants.

Fawns are born between the middle of May to the end of June. Deers will leave their fawns alone in order to feed. However, the doe is usually within 90 meters of where she leaves her fawn. If the doe leaves the fawn by itself, if there are any predators in the area, the predators follow the scent of the doe, and the chances of survival for the fawn increases. The doe knows there is little chance that predators will find her fawn, because she attends to the grooming of her fawn which means that there is little scent on her little fawn. The doe returns at sunrise or sunset to check on their offspring. The doe will make the decision to move her fawn, or feed them at that site. Usually the fawn is left concealed in a thicket of tall grass.

Moose calves are also born in the spring. A calf can walk from the first day that they are born, and they stay with the cow for their first year.  The mating season of the moose takes place in September and October, during these months moose may become more aggressive.  However, generally speaking, Moose are docile towards humans.  Moose have a better sense of hearing and sense of smell than humans, and a poorer sense of sight.   Never approach a moose, but observe from a safe distance.

Deers require trees and shrubs for protection, as the open prairie does not afford them shelter from the elements nor do the prairie grasslands provide enough cover to hide from their predators.

Questions to ponder

What is the most interesting thing about deers?  About moose?

When walking through the George Genereux Urban Regional Park and the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is it easy or hard to find out if deer or moose are there? Is it easier in the summer or the winter months? Why or why not?

What should humans do if they found a fawn in the George Genereux Urban Regional Park or the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? Is it important to let others know about animal behaviour and habitats? Why?

What do moose and deer like the best about the George Genereux Urban Regional Park and the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Areas? Why?

What do you know about the mating season of deer and moose? Would you want to meet a deer or a moose during mating season? Why or why not?

If you compare your diet to the diet of the deer and moose, what benefits do deer and moose derive from the wetlands?

Do humans chew their cud like a deer or moose? Why or why not?

Are Moose calves, or Deer fawns larger?

What impact to domesticated dogs have on the habitat of deers and moose?  What impact does the addition of the human footprint in an eco-system have on the habitat of deers and moose?

What is the difference between the antlers of a bull moose and a deer buck?

Would you sight a deer or a moose in a tree? Would a deer or moose burrow into the ground? Would living underwater in the wetlands be a suitable habitat for deer or moose? Why or why not?

If you were to create a woodland mammal what would it look like? What would your animal eat? Why?

Saskatchewan Curriculum Study

Kindergarden LTK.1, MOK.1

Grade One LT1.1

Grade Two AN 2.1, AN2.2, AN2.3

Additionally, field tours are presented at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and at George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Free Printed Resources are available during field tours.

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Baby Deer, The Wildlife Center of Virginia, retrieved 2019-05-17

Bradford, Alina (November 13, 2014). “Moose: Facts About the Largest Deer”. https://www.livescience.com/27408-moose.html. Live Science.

Bryson, Jennifer (2015). “Scat Identification. A Visual Aid to Scat Identification” (PDF). Think Trees. Manitoba Envirothon. Retrieved November 29, 2008.

Chaney Chaney, Professor of Tree Physiology, William R. (8/2003), Why Do Animals Eat the Bark and Wood of Trees and Shrubs? (PDF), Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, retrieved 2019-05-17

Curtis, Paul D; Sullivan, Kristi L. (2001), White-Tailed Deer (PDF), Wildlife Damage Management Fact Sheet Series Cornell Cooperative Extension Cornell Cooperative Extension, by Cornell University, retrieved 2019-05-17

DEER! – Don’t touch that baby!, Deer-Forest Study The Pennsylvania State University, May 5, 2015, retrieved 2019-05-17

Egbert, Rathiha (July 3, 2006). “Moose tracks Largest of the deer family, Alces alces is a surprisingly tricky ungulate to track”. Canadian Geographic. Canadian Geographic Enterprises. Retrieved May 5, 2019.

A Field Guide to Whitetail Communication – Whitetails Unlimited (PDF), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Whitetails Unlimited, Inc, 2006, retrieved 2019-05-17

Forest Foods Deer Eat, Department of Natural Resources Michigan, 2019, retrieved 2019-05-17

Geist, Valerius (2019). “Mule deer mammal”. https://www.britannica.com/animal/mule-deer. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

How do deer survive winter eating twigs?, Naturally North Idaho, December 19, 2014, retrieved 2019-05-17

“Identifying Brown or Black Droppings”. http://icwdm.org/Inspection/BlackBrownDroppings.aspx. Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management. 2015.

“Moose Facts for Kids”. http://naturemappingfoundation.org/natmap/facts/moose_k6.html. Washington NatureMapping Animal Facts for Kids.

Pasture and Forage for White-Tailed Deer, Government of Saskatchewan Business >> Agriculture Natural Resources and Industry >> Agribusiness Farmers and Ranchers>> Elk and Deer, retrieved 2019-05-17

Recognising types of mammal damage to trees and woodland, Forest Research UK Government, 2019, retrieved 2019-05-17

Vikki, Simons-Krupp, Understanding Deer, Santa Cruz CA Native Animal Rescue, retrieved 2019-05-17

Wilderness Dave (November 29, 2008). “Moose Scientific Name: Alces alces”. http://www.wildernessclassroom.com/wilderness-library/moose/. Wilderness Classroom.

Wilderness Dave. “White-Tailed Deer”. http://www.wildernessclassroom.com/wilderness-library/white-tailed-deer/. Wilderness Classroom.

  For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area,  George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

P4G Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth The P4G consists of the Cities of Saskatoon, Warman, and Martensville, the Town of Osler and the Rural Municipality of Corman Park; planning for areas around the afforestation area and West Swale outside of Saskatoon city limits

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′ Addresses: Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

You Tube Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

You Tube George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Should you wish to help protect / enhance the afforestation areas, please contact the City of Saskatoon, Corporate Revenue Division, 222 3rd Ave N, Saskatoon, SK S7K 0J5…to support the afforestation area with your donation please state that your donation should support the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, or the George Genereux Urban Regional Park, or both afforestation areas located in the Blairmore Sector. Please and thank you!  Your donation is greatly appreciated.

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ***

  “ “We forget that we owe our existence to  the presence of Trees.   As far as forest  cover goes, we have never been in such a  vulnerable position as we are today.  The  only answer is to plant more Trees – to  Plant Trees for Our Lives.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.

“The science of forestry arose from the recognition of a universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life and, in addition, ministering to man’s aesthetic tastes and recreational interests. Besides, the spiritual side of human nature needs the refreshing inspiration which comes from trees and woodlands. If a nation saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. And nations as well as tribes may be brought together in this great movement, based on the ideal of beautifying the world by the cultivation of one of God’s loveliest creatures – the tree.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.

“I believed that God has lent us the Earth. It belongs as much to those who come after us as to us, and it ill behooves us by anything we do or neglect, to deprive them of benefits which are in our power to bequeath.” Richard St. Barbe Baker

        Afforestation Area Mammals In the city of Saskatoon, the George Genereux Urban Regional Park and the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area are great places to learn and experience nature education. 

[kristablogs]

The secret to curbing farm emissions is buried in the Stone Age

Reduced tilling, cover crops, and more trees can pull more carbon from the air and into the ground. (Patrick Leger/)

Along a stretch of rural highway in the coastal plains of North Carolina sits an unusual forest. The viridian-green branches of loblolly pines rise 60 feet above a carpet of soft, tufted grasses, rippling slightly in the breeze. The trees are widely spaced, 20 to 30 feet apart, with their lower limbs removed, creating an airy, cathedral-like canopy speckled with sunlight filtering through the needles.

The woodland has a strangely serene, primeval feel. A sudden wave of grunting reveals large black shapes moving in the distance. A pickup approaches, further breaking the reverie, and out hops a slender middle-aged man in a ball cap.

“Buron Lanier,” he says, extending a hand. “Sorry I’m late. I was just finishing up with a calf.”

The shapes, Lanier’s Red Angus cattle, amble over. This forest, 100 acres of his 400-acre Piney Woods Farm, is their grazing ground—a modern incarnation of an ancient technique called silvopasture, an integration of forest and fauna.

To Lanier—a third-generation grower whose ancestors raised tobacco where his pines now stand—the unusual scheme, which he’s cultivated over the past 30-plus years, is common sense. The trees boost his bottom line through periodic timber sales, and cattle fatten up 20 days quicker when not forced to munch on sudangrass in 90-degree heat.

He waxes eloquently about the wildlife habitat, erosion control, and sense of calm this land provides. “I love the pristineness, the peacefulness of the trees,” he says in a soothing drawl as he drives through his ranch as if on a Jurassic Park agriculture safari. He points out the calf he midwifed earlier, wet and wobbly in a sweetly scented glade. “Who wouldn’t want to give birth in a nice shady bed of grass?”

Minus the pickup truck and some electric fencing, it’s a scene one might have encountered in the Neolithic period, when humans first domesticated cows from the aurochs roaming the Fertile Crescent. The practice was among the earliest agricultural endeavors, but the bare fields and feedlots of modern farms and ranches have largely swept it away.

Environmental scientists, though, see the reemergence of silvopasture as a means to slow down climate change. Livestock produce two-thirds of all agricultural emissions, and methane from burping cows is the largest slice of that. Lanier is skeptical that global warming is real, but his pines, in siphoning CO2 from sky to earth, are nonetheless helping cancel out his bovine contribution to planetary disaster.

Farmers and ranchers across the country are turning back the agricultural clock in order to convert the land they steward into ammunition in the climate fight. In total, cultivation sends about 8 billion tons of carbon into the air each year. That’s nearly one-quarter of emissions—​roughly the same as heat and electricity production combined, and far more than transportation.

Anecdotally, the United States Department of Agriculture sees a tiny but growing number of silvopasture farms, while other methods that suck greenhouse gases from the air—​collectively known as carbon farming—​are experiencing greater resurgences. The once-ubiquitous practice of plowing, which chucks soil-bound carbon into the atmosphere as it churns the ground, has disappeared from 21 percent of acreage. Cover crops, typically sown in the offseason and left in fields to decompose, are also rising in popularity.

Such practices have been on the upswing since the 1990s, even among the large-scale operations that supply the likes of General Mills and McDonald’s. But for the cash-strapped midsize farmers who represent the bulk of American growers, adoption can be a challenge. While these methods can slash costs (less tillage means less tractor fuel, and richer soil requires fewer fertilizers), they can also risk yields. Agronomists are working on a road map to help folks invest in changes—and to elevate climate-conscious practices to a place where we can feed the world’s 7.5 billion people.

Finding those answers is vital for the planet. According to analysis from Rattan Lal, director of Ohio State University’s Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, farm-​based emissions trapping could get us most, if not all, of the way to the goals of the Paris Agreement. “This is if somebody at the United Nations turns a switch and says, ‘Thou shalt do everything perfectly,’” he says. “Even if we can achieve half, or a third, of what’s possible under optimal conditions, we will have made a difference.”

Combining grazing grounds with cultivated forests can help cancel out the methane from cow burps. (Patrick Leger/)

At Cherry Farm, a 2,200-acre facility affiliated with the University of North Carolina, not far from Lanier’s ranch, biologist Tomás Moreno weaves down narrow aisles of organically raised cornstalks and stops at an airtight metal chamber resting atop the soil. Slipping a syringe through a rubber gasket in the lid, he draws air that’s percolated up from the ground. This sample is bound for a USDA lab that will analyze its greenhouse-gas content.

As part of a long-term project kicked off in 2018, Moreno and his colleagues repeat this process throughout the year on plots representing more than a dozen cultivation regimes. “We still have more questions than answers,” Moreno says, as he shoos a giant black-and-yellow spider. Many of the methods they track—including varying levels of tillage, cover crops, and livestock integration—are modern-day analogs of Neolithic agricultural life. What they find will help determine how best to replenish the carbon the ground has lost.

Land naturally wants to hang on to carbon. Vegetation (the more, the better) inhales the element from the sky. Roots excrete some of it into the soil, feeding underground microbes, which poop and die and aggregate with decomposing flora and fauna to form humus, a dark, crumbly substance that is 50 to 60 percent carbon. A sponge for nutrients and moisture, the material can remain stable in the soil for millennia.

Early farming scarcely disturbed this cycle. Chickens tamed by Southeast Asian hunter-gatherers some 10,000 years ago foraged in forests rich with early crops like bananas and mangoes. Similarly, the Amazon was once a loosely kept garden of more than a hundred species, including cacao and pineapple. Parts of the rainforest still hold terra preta—​“dark soil” in Portuguese—​a nutrient-​filled groundcover.

As societies grew and needed to scale up agricultural production, carbon-rich landscapes became carbon-impoverished. Farmers set fire to larger and larger tracts, the easiest path to clear the ground—​but also a huge polluter, and a gateway to the second climate culprit, the plow.

Some 7,000 years ago, Mesopotamians developed the ard, a wooden hoe-like implement pulled behind draft animals to stir the earth in barley and chickpea fields. Sometime around year zero, it evolved into an iron tool. When John Deere introduced its ubiquitous tractors in 1918, the practice entered an exponential growth curve.

The glinting steel of a plow blade holds obvious allure. Digging uproots weeds that hog nutrients, water, and sun, and it loosens the ground so tender seedlings can easily grow. But exposing soil lets carbon compounds oxidize into the atmosphere, where they can no longer do what they’re meant to: feed plants. The plow cuts like a double-edged sword—​increasing yields but cementing reliance on fertilizer.

Thanks to these methods, we’ve released up to 600 gigatons of carbon—about 30 percent of what humanity’s flung into the atmosphere—since we began farming. Soil scientist Lal estimates that it’s possible to recapture 4 to 5 gigatons per year through better land management.

Undisturbed topsoil holds onto more carbon and nutrients than ground churned up by heavy plowing. (Patrick Leger/)

Today, ditching tillage seems unfathomable, but ecosystems have long managed to produce robust growth without it. In his 1943 book, Plowman’s Folly, American agronomist Edward Faulkner posited that we’d be better off working the land in a way that mimics nature.

Faulkner’s wisdom languished in obscurity for decades, but soil depletion has slowly forced cultivators to embrace the idea. “No-till” tractor attachments emerged in the 1980s and ’90s. These cut a slit through crop residue without disturbing the soil, leaving a carbon-rich mulch atop fertile dirt.

Parking the plow isn’t a blanket solution, though. Small-seeded vegetables like lettuce struggle to take root, while large-​seeded commodities like corn and soy (the two most planted crops in the US) readily adapt. A farm’s yields might dip in the first few years after tilling stops, but adopters who master the art find they produce just as much—with significant savings on labor and fuel. Devotees tout the return of carbon to the ground as a panacea: Healthier soil begets healthier crops that require less fertilizer.

Cover crops further bolster the carbon-​farming lifestyle. Sown to enrich the soil rather than for harvest, plants like clovers, vetch, and various inedible radishes and ryegrasses are among the most common. Started after harvest in fall, before planting in spring, or as groundcover during the main growing season, they pull in carbon and add nutrients to the earth after they die. The cost adds overhead to a stead’s delicate fiscal existence, but according to a USDA survey of farmers, improved yields and reduced fertilizer spending help the practice pay for itself in an average of three years.

Those who combine no-till and cover crops capture about a half-ton of carbon per acre annually, according to analysis from Project Drawdown, an international collaboration of academics and advocates that assesses the potential impact of mitigation strategies.

Hardcore carbon farmers reach even further into the past and integrate trees—like Lanier and his silvopasture. The approach sponges up nearly 2 tons of atmospheric CO2 per acre per year. Other forms of mixing crops with woods (termed “agroforestry”) grab even more, making it the most potentially impactful shift, according to Drawdown’s data. The method can also be lucrative. Shade-grown chocolate fetches a premium for Brazilian farmers, and the hogs that become Spain’s famed jamón Ibérico fatten on oak-dropped acorns. Yet adoption faces a huge hurdle: It can take decades to recoup the cost of planting and nurturing a canopy.

At Cherry Farm, lead USDA researcher Alan Franzluebbers has begun to chew on the early data from his team’s gas sampling. As expected, the systems with the least soil disturbance and the most plant life hold more carbon. But smaller insights could lead to new tweaks. For instance, pine and walnut trees are better sinks than cypress and ash (good news for Lanier). Ultimately, Franzluebbers will convert those findings into climate-​conscious recommendations for the sandy plains of eastern North Carolina; similar experiments are running parallel in other regions. “We have to return carbon to the soil,” he says. “We need to move much quicker than we are.” Intrepid farmers aren’t waiting around.

Sowing plants like ryegrasses and radishes between cash crops helps the ground hold onto more carbon. (Patrick Leger/)

On a clear, cold day in early March 2019, Justin Jordan, a fifth-generation grower in Lacona, Iowa, pores over old maps spread across his dining-room table. One creased, yellowing chart shows a soil-conservation plan his grandfather created with the USDA in the 1950s, including terraces for controlling erosion and areas designated for tree planting. The agency was working to reverse critical topsoil loss from decades of mass-scale plowing.

His grandfather implemented portions of the scheme. But new synthetic fertilizers, which could boost yields by 50 percent, made the situation less dire, so he continued tilling their corn and soybean fields each year. As did Jordan’s dad, and most other farmers. Over the past 150 years, cultivation has chewed up about half of Earth’s topsoil.

Jordan, an impeccably polite, soft-​spoken man in his late 30s, stopped plowing and began planting cover crops when he took over in the early 2000s. “I was eager to do things in a different way,” he says. “It just seemed like every year the topsoil was getting thinner.” Jordan tends 410 acres—larger than most farms hawking vegetables at Saturday markets, but tiny compared with 10,000-acre corporate operations.

Aerial photos show the contrast between his land and that of other farmers, most of whom continue heavy tilling. His soil is dark and rich, but from the air, his fields appear lighter, covered in accumulated mulch. Strips of perennial hay grass (for his cattle) and native prairie species like milkweed meander across the slopes—​year-round flora that pump carbon into the soil. Neighboring barren fields steadily release it.

Once Jordan brings in his corn in October, he sows a cover of rye among the drying stalks that stays green through the following spring, when he cuts it down and seeds next year’s crop in the mulch. He sprinkles his soybean fields before the September harvest with a cocktail of rye, radishes, and oats, creating a mini forest beneath the knee-high cash crop. With all these changes, his yields have remained roughly the same as his neighbors’.

Soon, folks like Jordan might gain a financial edge. The Terraton Initiative, the nation’s first carbon market dedicated to agriculture, launched in June 2019 out of the farm-tech startup Indigo Ag. Companies that want to offset their emissions purchase credits; Terraton then pays growers $15 per ton for the carbon their land captures. Within six months, farmers tending a total of 10 million acres worldwide—encompassing plenty of the massive steads that are the face of modern agriculture—expressed interest in signing up.

More cash would be nice, but climate change is the motivating factor for Jordan—out of global concern, and to keep his harvest from washing away. “When I was a kid, getting 2 or 3 inches of rain in one storm hardly ever happened,” he says. “Now we’re regularly seeing 6 or 7.”

Increased carbon leads to erosion-​resistant clumps called aggregates, plus a layer of plant residue that softens downpours. “I can take those big rains,” Jordan says, “and in a dry spell, having that blanket on the soil keeps me from losing moisture.” For every percentage-point increase in organic matter (the carbon-​rich product of decomposition), an acre of topsoil can hold an additional 20,000 gallons of water, according to USDA data.

As Jordan gives me a Jeep tour of his farm, passing a frozen pond and waist-high swaths of buff-​colored prairie grasses, he ponders his options for grabbing more carbon. He’d like to find a way to add trees, but it’s a long-term investment with little short-term upside. Crop prices have plummeted in recent years, so owners have scant appetite for risk, he says. “I’m in survival mode.”

Still, he’s proud to be part of a growing minority pushing carbon-farming practices as a weapon in the climate fight. In early 2019, he attended a Faith, Farmers, and Climate Action meeting at a church in Des Moines. The organizers—​a nonprofit that promotes a religious response to global warming—​have had early success in rallying a handful of growers in conservative Iowa communities to stop tilling and to plant cover crops.

However they’re recruited, carbon farmers need to become an army. Growers like Jordan represent the bulk of American agriculture (the average stead measures 443 acres), so the practice reaching its potential requires that both midsize outfits and larger-scale cultivators get on board. Taken together, Earth’s 12 billion acres of farmland could absorb all the CO2 that has built up in the atmosphere. Currently, the average concentration of carbon in soil is about 1 percent; bumping it to 3—ideal growing conditions—​on 30 percent of fields would get us there.

Jordan doesn’t care what incentive it takes—​cash, a desire like Lanier’s to be a “good steward” of the land, or the satisfaction of rebuilding topsoil—​to reach the unconverted. Realizing that our collective fate might hinge on this revolution, he’s frustrated with the pace of adoption. “Most farmers will do it only if they see a financial gain.” But, if nothing else, he’s gained something priceless: “I feel like I’m farming with a clear conscience.”

This story appears in the Spring 2020, Origins issue of Popular Science.

[scootoaster]

The secret to curbing farm emissions is buried in the Stone Age

Reduced tilling, cover crops, and more trees can pull more carbon from the air and into the ground. (Patrick Leger/)

Along a stretch of rural highway in the coastal plains of North Carolina sits an unusual forest. The viridian-green branches of loblolly pines rise 60 feet above a carpet of soft, tufted grasses, rippling slightly in the breeze. The trees are widely spaced, 20 to 30 feet apart, with their lower limbs removed, creating an airy, cathedral-like canopy speckled with sunlight filtering through the needles.

The woodland has a strangely serene, primeval feel. A sudden wave of grunting reveals large black shapes moving in the distance. A pickup approaches, further breaking the reverie, and out hops a slender middle-aged man in a ball cap.

“Buron Lanier,” he says, extending a hand. “Sorry I’m late. I was just finishing up with a calf.”

The shapes, Lanier’s Red Angus cattle, amble over. This forest, 100 acres of his 400-acre Piney Woods Farm, is their grazing ground—a modern incarnation of an ancient technique called silvopasture, an integration of forest and fauna.

To Lanier—a third-generation grower whose ancestors raised tobacco where his pines now stand—the unusual scheme, which he’s cultivated over the past 30-plus years, is common sense. The trees boost his bottom line through periodic timber sales, and cattle fatten up 20 days quicker when not forced to munch on sudangrass in 90-degree heat.

He waxes eloquently about the wildlife habitat, erosion control, and sense of calm this land provides. “I love the pristineness, the peacefulness of the trees,” he says in a soothing drawl as he drives through his ranch as if on a Jurassic Park agriculture safari. He points out the calf he midwifed earlier, wet and wobbly in a sweetly scented glade. “Who wouldn’t want to give birth in a nice shady bed of grass?”

Minus the pickup truck and some electric fencing, it’s a scene one might have encountered in the Neolithic period, when humans first domesticated cows from the aurochs roaming the Fertile Crescent. The practice was among the earliest agricultural endeavors, but the bare fields and feedlots of modern farms and ranches have largely swept it away.

Environmental scientists, though, see the reemergence of silvopasture as a means to slow down climate change. Livestock produce two-thirds of all agricultural emissions, and methane from burping cows is the largest slice of that. Lanier is skeptical that global warming is real, but his pines, in siphoning CO2 from sky to earth, are nonetheless helping cancel out his bovine contribution to planetary disaster.

Farmers and ranchers across the country are turning back the agricultural clock in order to convert the land they steward into ammunition in the climate fight. In total, cultivation sends about 8 billion tons of carbon into the air each year. That’s nearly one-quarter of emissions—​roughly the same as heat and electricity production combined, and far more than transportation.

Anecdotally, the United States Department of Agriculture sees a tiny but growing number of silvopasture farms, while other methods that suck greenhouse gases from the air—​collectively known as carbon farming—​are experiencing greater resurgences. The once-ubiquitous practice of plowing, which chucks soil-bound carbon into the atmosphere as it churns the ground, has disappeared from 21 percent of acreage. Cover crops, typically sown in the offseason and left in fields to decompose, are also rising in popularity.

Such practices have been on the upswing since the 1990s, even among the large-scale operations that supply the likes of General Mills and McDonald’s. But for the cash-strapped midsize farmers who represent the bulk of American growers, adoption can be a challenge. While these methods can slash costs (less tillage means less tractor fuel, and richer soil requires fewer fertilizers), they can also risk yields. Agronomists are working on a road map to help folks invest in changes—and to elevate climate-conscious practices to a place where we can feed the world’s 7.5 billion people.

Finding those answers is vital for the planet. According to analysis from Rattan Lal, director of Ohio State University’s Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, farm-​based emissions trapping could get us most, if not all, of the way to the goals of the Paris Agreement. “This is if somebody at the United Nations turns a switch and says, ‘Thou shalt do everything perfectly,’” he says. “Even if we can achieve half, or a third, of what’s possible under optimal conditions, we will have made a difference.”

Combining grazing grounds with cultivated forests can help cancel out the methane from cow burps. (Patrick Leger/)

At Cherry Farm, a 2,200-acre facility affiliated with the University of North Carolina, not far from Lanier’s ranch, biologist Tomás Moreno weaves down narrow aisles of organically raised cornstalks and stops at an airtight metal chamber resting atop the soil. Slipping a syringe through a rubber gasket in the lid, he draws air that’s percolated up from the ground. This sample is bound for a USDA lab that will analyze its greenhouse-gas content.

As part of a long-term project kicked off in 2018, Moreno and his colleagues repeat this process throughout the year on plots representing more than a dozen cultivation regimes. “We still have more questions than answers,” Moreno says, as he shoos a giant black-and-yellow spider. Many of the methods they track—including varying levels of tillage, cover crops, and livestock integration—are modern-day analogs of Neolithic agricultural life. What they find will help determine how best to replenish the carbon the ground has lost.

Land naturally wants to hang on to carbon. Vegetation (the more, the better) inhales the element from the sky. Roots excrete some of it into the soil, feeding underground microbes, which poop and die and aggregate with decomposing flora and fauna to form humus, a dark, crumbly substance that is 50 to 60 percent carbon. A sponge for nutrients and moisture, the material can remain stable in the soil for millennia.

Early farming scarcely disturbed this cycle. Chickens tamed by Southeast Asian hunter-gatherers some 10,000 years ago foraged in forests rich with early crops like bananas and mangoes. Similarly, the Amazon was once a loosely kept garden of more than a hundred species, including cacao and pineapple. Parts of the rainforest still hold terra preta—​“dark soil” in Portuguese—​a nutrient-​filled groundcover.

As societies grew and needed to scale up agricultural production, carbon-rich landscapes became carbon-impoverished. Farmers set fire to larger and larger tracts, the easiest path to clear the ground—​but also a huge polluter, and a gateway to the second climate culprit, the plow.

Some 7,000 years ago, Mesopotamians developed the ard, a wooden hoe-like implement pulled behind draft animals to stir the earth in barley and chickpea fields. Sometime around year zero, it evolved into an iron tool. When John Deere introduced its ubiquitous tractors in 1918, the practice entered an exponential growth curve.

The glinting steel of a plow blade holds obvious allure. Digging uproots weeds that hog nutrients, water, and sun, and it loosens the ground so tender seedlings can easily grow. But exposing soil lets carbon compounds oxidize into the atmosphere, where they can no longer do what they’re meant to: feed plants. The plow cuts like a double-edged sword—​increasing yields but cementing reliance on fertilizer.

Thanks to these methods, we’ve released up to 600 gigatons of carbon—about 30 percent of what humanity’s flung into the atmosphere—since we began farming. Soil scientist Lal estimates that it’s possible to recapture 4 to 5 gigatons per year through better land management.

Undisturbed topsoil holds onto more carbon and nutrients than ground churned up by heavy plowing. (Patrick Leger/)

Today, ditching tillage seems unfathomable, but ecosystems have long managed to produce robust growth without it. In his 1943 book, Plowman’s Folly, American agronomist Edward Faulkner posited that we’d be better off working the land in a way that mimics nature.

Faulkner’s wisdom languished in obscurity for decades, but soil depletion has slowly forced cultivators to embrace the idea. “No-till” tractor attachments emerged in the 1980s and ’90s. These cut a slit through crop residue without disturbing the soil, leaving a carbon-rich mulch atop fertile dirt.

Parking the plow isn’t a blanket solution, though. Small-seeded vegetables like lettuce struggle to take root, while large-​seeded commodities like corn and soy (the two most planted crops in the US) readily adapt. A farm’s yields might dip in the first few years after tilling stops, but adopters who master the art find they produce just as much—with significant savings on labor and fuel. Devotees tout the return of carbon to the ground as a panacea: Healthier soil begets healthier crops that require less fertilizer.

Cover crops further bolster the carbon-​farming lifestyle. Sown to enrich the soil rather than for harvest, plants like clovers, vetch, and various inedible radishes and ryegrasses are among the most common. Started after harvest in fall, before planting in spring, or as groundcover during the main growing season, they pull in carbon and add nutrients to the earth after they die. The cost adds overhead to a stead’s delicate fiscal existence, but according to a USDA survey of farmers, improved yields and reduced fertilizer spending help the practice pay for itself in an average of three years.

Those who combine no-till and cover crops capture about a half-ton of carbon per acre annually, according to analysis from Project Drawdown, an international collaboration of academics and advocates that assesses the potential impact of mitigation strategies.

Hardcore carbon farmers reach even further into the past and integrate trees—like Lanier and his silvopasture. The approach sponges up nearly 2 tons of atmospheric CO2 per acre per year. Other forms of mixing crops with woods (termed “agroforestry”) grab even more, making it the most potentially impactful shift, according to Drawdown’s data. The method can also be lucrative. Shade-grown chocolate fetches a premium for Brazilian farmers, and the hogs that become Spain’s famed jamón Ibérico fatten on oak-dropped acorns. Yet adoption faces a huge hurdle: It can take decades to recoup the cost of planting and nurturing a canopy.

At Cherry Farm, lead USDA researcher Alan Franzluebbers has begun to chew on the early data from his team’s gas sampling. As expected, the systems with the least soil disturbance and the most plant life hold more carbon. But smaller insights could lead to new tweaks. For instance, pine and walnut trees are better sinks than cypress and ash (good news for Lanier). Ultimately, Franzluebbers will convert those findings into climate-​conscious recommendations for the sandy plains of eastern North Carolina; similar experiments are running parallel in other regions. “We have to return carbon to the soil,” he says. “We need to move much quicker than we are.” Intrepid farmers aren’t waiting around.

Sowing plants like ryegrasses and radishes between cash crops helps the ground hold onto more carbon. (Patrick Leger/)

On a clear, cold day in early March 2019, Justin Jordan, a fifth-generation grower in Lacona, Iowa, pores over old maps spread across his dining-room table. One creased, yellowing chart shows a soil-conservation plan his grandfather created with the USDA in the 1950s, including terraces for controlling erosion and areas designated for tree planting. The agency was working to reverse critical topsoil loss from decades of mass-scale plowing.

His grandfather implemented portions of the scheme. But new synthetic fertilizers, which could boost yields by 50 percent, made the situation less dire, so he continued tilling their corn and soybean fields each year. As did Jordan’s dad, and most other farmers. Over the past 150 years, cultivation has chewed up about half of Earth’s topsoil.

Jordan, an impeccably polite, soft-​spoken man in his late 30s, stopped plowing and began planting cover crops when he took over in the early 2000s. “I was eager to do things in a different way,” he says. “It just seemed like every year the topsoil was getting thinner.” Jordan tends 410 acres—larger than most farms hawking vegetables at Saturday markets, but tiny compared with 10,000-acre corporate operations.

Aerial photos show the contrast between his land and that of other farmers, most of whom continue heavy tilling. His soil is dark and rich, but from the air, his fields appear lighter, covered in accumulated mulch. Strips of perennial hay grass (for his cattle) and native prairie species like milkweed meander across the slopes—​year-round flora that pump carbon into the soil. Neighboring barren fields steadily release it.

Once Jordan brings in his corn in October, he sows a cover of rye among the drying stalks that stays green through the following spring, when he cuts it down and seeds next year’s crop in the mulch. He sprinkles his soybean fields before the September harvest with a cocktail of rye, radishes, and oats, creating a mini forest beneath the knee-high cash crop. With all these changes, his yields have remained roughly the same as his neighbors’.

Soon, folks like Jordan might gain a financial edge. The Terraton Initiative, the nation’s first carbon market dedicated to agriculture, launched in June 2019 out of the farm-tech startup Indigo Ag. Companies that want to offset their emissions purchase credits; Terraton then pays growers $15 per ton for the carbon their land captures. Within six months, farmers tending a total of 10 million acres worldwide—encompassing plenty of the massive steads that are the face of modern agriculture—expressed interest in signing up.

More cash would be nice, but climate change is the motivating factor for Jordan—out of global concern, and to keep his harvest from washing away. “When I was a kid, getting 2 or 3 inches of rain in one storm hardly ever happened,” he says. “Now we’re regularly seeing 6 or 7.”

Increased carbon leads to erosion-​resistant clumps called aggregates, plus a layer of plant residue that softens downpours. “I can take those big rains,” Jordan says, “and in a dry spell, having that blanket on the soil keeps me from losing moisture.” For every percentage-point increase in organic matter (the carbon-​rich product of decomposition), an acre of topsoil can hold an additional 20,000 gallons of water, according to USDA data.

As Jordan gives me a Jeep tour of his farm, passing a frozen pond and waist-high swaths of buff-​colored prairie grasses, he ponders his options for grabbing more carbon. He’d like to find a way to add trees, but it’s a long-term investment with little short-term upside. Crop prices have plummeted in recent years, so owners have scant appetite for risk, he says. “I’m in survival mode.”

Still, he’s proud to be part of a growing minority pushing carbon-farming practices as a weapon in the climate fight. In early 2019, he attended a Faith, Farmers, and Climate Action meeting at a church in Des Moines. The organizers—​a nonprofit that promotes a religious response to global warming—​have had early success in rallying a handful of growers in conservative Iowa communities to stop tilling and to plant cover crops.

However they’re recruited, carbon farmers need to become an army. Growers like Jordan represent the bulk of American agriculture (the average stead measures 443 acres), so the practice reaching its potential requires that both midsize outfits and larger-scale cultivators get on board. Taken together, Earth’s 12 billion acres of farmland could absorb all the CO2 that has built up in the atmosphere. Currently, the average concentration of carbon in soil is about 1 percent; bumping it to 3—ideal growing conditions—​on 30 percent of fields would get us there.

Jordan doesn’t care what incentive it takes—​cash, a desire like Lanier’s to be a “good steward” of the land, or the satisfaction of rebuilding topsoil—​to reach the unconverted. Realizing that our collective fate might hinge on this revolution, he’s frustrated with the pace of adoption. “Most farmers will do it only if they see a financial gain.” But, if nothing else, he’s gained something priceless: “I feel like I’m farming with a clear conscience.”

This story appears in the Spring 2020, Origins issue of Popular Science.

[josephkitchen0]

Goat Meat Recipes: The Forgotten Food

by Patrice Lewis

Goat meat recipes may have slipped out of popularity in the United States, but goat is the most widely consumed red meat worldwide.

Goat aficionados know a lot about caprines. They can discuss milk ratios and foraging requirements with authority. They can tell you all about digestion issues and hoof care.

But the one thing many goat enthusiasts refuse to consider is the one thing goats have provided for thousands of years: meat.

Meat in American cuisine primarily highlights beef, pork, and chicken, but rarely ventures into the more exotic taste of goat. This is a shame, because goat meat (often referred to by its French name, chevon) is a delicacy appreciated the world over.

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It’s obvious why meat goat farming has been popular through history. Caprines are well-suited to marginal habitats where cattle would not thrive, resulting in a lot of bang for the buck when it comes to harvesting calories from the available forage. Boer goats, Kiko, Myotonic (Tennessee Fainting Goat), Savannah, Spanish, or any combination of these goat types are ideal meat producers.

Today, goat meat is far more popular with immigrants for whom chevon is the preferred cultural choice — it’s a staple in Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern, Asian, African, Greek, and southern Italian cuisines, among many others — but less common among the rest of the country. Goat meat consists of 6 percent of meat intake worldwide. Numbers are not easy to find for American consumption, leading to the conclusion it’s statistically insignificant.

But within niche markets, chevon is increasing in popularity. In 2011, the Washington Post reported, “Goat meat production is ramping up in the United States. The number of goats slaughtered has doubled every 10 years for the past three decades, according to the USDA. We’re closing in on one million meat goats a year.”

Because of their small size, most commercial meat producers won’t touch goats. But what won’t work for commercial enterprises often works beautifully for small homesteaders interested in putting a couple of animals in the freezer every year, particularly those who are unwilling or unable to handle larger livestock. “Goats represent sustainability, without the curse of factory production,” summarized the Post.

Goat meat recipes won’t replace beef or pork in America anytime soon — but it’s well worth considering for a number of reasons:

Goat meat is more environmentally sustainable than beef. Because goats are browsers (not grazers), they can thrive on land unsuited to beef production. Or — and this is something small landowners are discovering — goats can be pastured with cattle to eat things cows won’t touch (weeds, bushes, undesirable grasses), thus giving extra benefit from the same land.

Because the market for goat meat is still relatively small, most chevon derives from humanely raised animals rather than massive factory farms. Meat-processing facilities are geared for large animals; and since the most a goat will yield is about 40 pounds of meat, slaughtering is usually done by local humane butchers. As a result, almost all chevon is “locovore” in nature.

It is healthy. Goat meat nutrition has one-third fewer calories than beef, one-fourth less than chicken (and much less fat), and about two-thirds less than pork and lamb.

Goat stew

So why isn’t this über-meat better known and more widely eaten? Much has to do with experience or reputation. In some parts of the world, pungent cuts are preferred. “Caribbean cultures often prize the rankest, toughest bucks beyond their first rut,” noted the Washington Post. “It’s the meat from mature male goats that has the characteristic pungent barnyard aroma.” This, to put it mildly, is a huge turnoff for most American diners.

But chevon doesn’t have to be this way. Meat from kids six to nine months old yields tender, flavorful cuts. Many chefs have taken to kid as their signature meat.

In America, most goat meat comes in two forms. “Cabito” is meat from very young milk-fed goats between four and eight weeks of age, yielding buttery-soft tender meat. “Chevon” is meat from goats aged six to nine months and is more commonly available.

Since goat meat is so lean, the secret when cooking is not to let the meat dry out. Braising or cooking with moist heat, at lower temperatures, preserves the tenderness. Slow cookers, Dutch ovens, and other kitchen aids which keep moisture in with the meat are popular options.

When cooking chevon at home, it will be necessary to remove the caul, the fatty membrane found on goat meat. This can be done using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors.

Goat meat is not as sweet as beef. Because of its savory characteristic, it works well with bold flavors: curry, pineapple, chilies, onion, garlic, wine (red or white), red pepper, coriander, rosemary, etc.

Cuts of meat can be categorized as either quick-cooking or slow-cooking. Quick-cooking cuts include tenderloin, loin chops, and rib chops. As its name implies, tenderloin is tender no matter what; and loin chops and rib chops both lend themselves to hot sears, fast sautés, or grilling. “Tender cuts of meat are usually best when cooked by a dry heat method such as roasting, broiling, or frying,” advises the American Meat Goat Association. “Tender cuts of goat meat are the legs, ribs, portions of the shoulder cut, the loin roast, and the breast.”

But the rest of the animal should be slow-cooked. In part, this is because of the large amount of interstitial collagen lacing the cuts. This needs time to break down, and it contributes beautifully to rich, hearty dishes. Some people don’t like the “bonier” nature of goat cuts, but bone will actually help flavor the meat. Place chevon in a slow cooker for several hours, marinating in spicy liquids, and you’ll have ambrosia for dinner.

Goat curry

So are you hyped up to try this delicacy? Consider sampling any of the following goat meat recipes, reprinted with kind permission from American Boer Goat Association’s recipe page:

Curry Goat Meat

3-5 lbs. goat meat

3 tbsp. curry powder

1 tsp. black pepper

1 lg. onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

Salt to taste or seasoned salt

Clean and wash goat meat. Add curry powder, black pepper, seasoned salt, chopped onion, chopped garlic. Rub seasonings well into goat meat. On a cooking pan, place about 1 tablespoon butter or oil, whichever you prefer. Pour meat into pan with oil while it is still cold. Stir and cook until tender.

Spanish Goat Meat

2 lbs. goat meat

1/2 c. chopped onions

2 cloves garlic

4 med. potatoes

1 can tomato sauce

1 tbsp. salt

1 c. lemon juice

1/2 c. vinegar

1 tsp. oregano leaves

3 cilantro leaves

1/4 c. olive oil

1 pkg. Sazon Goya (seasonings)

2 c. water

2 leaves laurel

Take lemon juice and vinegar and wash goat meat. Let meat stand with that for 24 hours. Put all ingredients into large pot.  Cover and put on slow heat. Cook until tender.

Spicy Leg of Goat

1 leg of goat

1-3 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tbsp. corn starch

1-2 bay leaves

2 tsp. dried minced onions

Combine salt and cinnamon and rub all over meat. Place in roasting bag in shallow roasting pan with 1-2 cups of water, or a mixture of water and wine. Close and tie bag, cut about six slits to allow steam to escape. Cook until tender or meat thermometer reads 175 degrees F for medium or 180 degrees F for well done. Serve warm with gravy.

Gravy: Pour drippings into saucepan. Add bay leaf and onion; simmer gently covered for 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Mix cornstarch with 1/2 cup cold water, stir until smooth. Gradually add mixture to simmering pan drippings, stirring constantly. Simmer for another minute or two. Serve.

Did You Know?

Goat meat prices spike around ethnic holidays. Producers are advised to plan accordingly to market their animals. Holidays in which goat is traditionally served include:

“Crifests,” or independence days in Caribbean countries, occur in the fall and the traditional dish is curried goat.

Filipino families often serve goat meat during birthdays, baptisms, weddings, or during Christmas. Popular goat meat recipes include stew and roast.

Goat is often served on Christmas day in regions such as Mexico, Italy, and the North of Portugal.

Islamic holidays such as Ramadan and Eid ul-Adha revolve according to a lunar calendar. Though goat is traditional, it must be slaughtered and processed via humane Halal laws.

Goat is often cooked into festival foods and served during the Hindu holiday Diwali, which falls on November 7th of this year.

The demand for curry goat meat recipes increases during the winter holiday season to correspond with multiple religions and cultures.

    Goat Meat Recipes: The Forgotten Food was originally posted by All About Chickens

[salutethepig]

¿Conoces al Gochu Asturcelta? Cooking a Celtic pig...

If you managed to work your way through the previous post, you’ll be further ‘delighted’ to know that there’s some more Spanish homework for you to translate below (and then bring in for teacher to mark) to get the full skinny on this pig. But, as a reward, at the end, I give you a recipe for ribs, from this delightfully flop-eared animal.

© Tierra Asturia

For generations of Asturians, their Gochu Asturcelta (“country pig”) was a bedrock in the economy of their small farms and an important source of protein in the family diet. Its docile character and its easy adaption to the wild and humid Asturian climate along with an ability (like others of the Celtic breeds) to survive through times of food shortage made it an invaluable & easy & cheap animal to maintain. In a rural society where the main animals herded were ruminants — cows, sheep and goats — the pig was a complement, one that helped to maintain the biodiversity of and the maximal use of, all the food sources obtainable from pastures and forests. An early nod to countryside preservation meant that in most of Asturia, dating back to at least the eighteenth century, the Juntas (or town halls) dictated that the muzzles be ringed to stave off excessive damage to the mountain soil — anyone not complying was subject to draconian fines.

According to Alberto Baranda:

“The best form of exploitation is the outdoor breeding with adequate food during growth and a finish based on acorns, chestnuts and other products of the forest for fattening pigs for meat production in extensive systems of exploitation, where, in general, animals of the bait phase are finalised taking advantage of the natural resources of their environment, which confers to their meat a high quality.”

In 1622, Luis de Valdés, in his “Memories of Asturias”, says:

“There are a great number of wild boars in the mountains as well as of gochos (pigs) bred with oak acorns and chestnuts. Its bacon is tasty cooked because it is firm but it is not as good roasted, since it does not have the fat of Castilla”.

In its day, the breed was spread all across Asturia. A very precise census in the middle of the 18th C. gave a population of 278,448 pigs. We also know, thanks to a Felix de Aramburu in his “Monograph of Asturias” — published in Oviedo in 1898 — that at the end of the 19th C., it was still very abundant in Asturias, noting in that same year, that he had counted (really, he counted all of them?) 134,955, throughout the principality.

Fernando Alburquerque, in his work published in 1947, titled: “Wealth in the hand. The pig” praises its meat and most especially the ham:

“Within the indigenous and rustic races, we have very good pigs, and in Asturias there is a black pork producer of the famous Serrano ham, a delight of the Spanish gourmands.They are raised, as in Extramudura, in the open air. “

Again, like all of these rustic, mountain-side breeds, the best finishing was achieved by giving them over to foraging for acorns, chestnuts and apples. On feeding, the ACGA is even more precise and tells us that:

“Usually it was fed twice a day, once around noon and again at dusk; the base of the food was the waste water from cleaning of the dishes, to which was added potato peelings, any half rotten or mouse gnawed pieces of bread, of cakes, of corn and of barley. All this was thrown into the trough.”

“They also ate turnips and oar which was planted almost exclusively for them; bunches of cabbage, corn in green or panicles, hazel leaves and nettles that were harvested and cooked to add to the lavazas (slops) and of course bean, acorns and chestnuts, which many gave them peeled as they claimed that in this way they gained more.”

The introduction of new intensive production systems as a result of an almost exponential increase in the animal protein requirements driven by people in the cities — which at the time were growing rapidly due to Europe-wide rural-to-urban migration — itself occasioned by an increase in the purchasing power of these same urban workers, alongside the deforestation policies of the 1940s and 1950s — which deprived the Gochu Asturcelta of large swathes of its natural habitat — meant that the breed, still at around 224,000 sows in 1955, by 1978 wasn’t even deemed noteworthy enough to be mentioned in the official statistics.

The Asociación de Criadores de Gochu Asturcelta (Association of Breeders of the Gochu Asturcelta, ACGA), was founded in 2002. They’d been formed to snatch yet another almost extinct autochthonous Spanish breed from the jaws of extinction as, by 1998, it was down to just three sows and one boar (as far as any one could ascertain across the entirety of Asturia and they did search the length & breadth of it) and even 6 years later, it was still only slightly better off at five boars and nine breeding sows. Not a hugely encouraging basis on which to start this fraught process…

The Official Cattle Breed Catalog now includes the Gochu Asturcelta in the “Group of Indigenous Breeds in Danger of Extinction” as there are currently still only a few hundred albeit now more widespread in 31 of the 78 municipalities. José Manuel Iglesias, president of the Breeders’ Association, stressed in 2012 that:

“…the breeding of Asturian pigs has generated benefits and has not cost anything to Asturian society. The intention of this group, beyond the recovery of the race in danger of extinction, is to give an economic value to the Asturian countryside and thus help to avoid the depopulation of the rural zones”.

This Spanish video below, more poetically than I, further explains the history; any mistakes or clumsiness in the words above, are mine alone because my translation skills possibly leave more than a little to be desired…

And finally? OK, so finally, we come to your reward for having made it this far; you’ll have to do a bit of work yourself to get this into your laughing gear but, believe me, it’ll be so worth it. Here, with no further ado then is a recipe for costillas de la matanza (or Killer Ribs), courtesy Jeffry Weiss from his 2014 “Charcuteria: The Soul of Spain”:

Ingredients

2 racks of ribs from this animal (you could substitute any rare or pedigree breed of course)

2 oz. (50 g) kosher salt

2 tbs (20 g) freshly ground black pepper

1 tbs (12 g) granulated sugar

3 crumbled bay leaves

2 tsp (4 g) ground cinnamon

½ cup (100 ml) Oloroso sherry

The rinds from 4 lemons; try & remove them in unbroken strips

3 sticks of cinnamon

5 crushed garlic cloves

3 fresh bay leaves

Rendered pork fat (enough to cover; see below)

½ cup (100 mL) Pedro Ximénez sherry

1 cup (200 mL) Pedro Ximénez sherry vinegar

Directions

1. In a suitable over-proof dish, combine the salt, black pepper, sugar, crumbled bay leaves, and ground cinnamon.

2. Put the ribs into the dish and toss them with the cure from step 1, coating them evenly. Sprinkle with the Oloroso sherry. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the ‘fridge for at least 24 hours.

3. Preheat the oven to 250°F (120°C).

4. Remove the ribs from the cure. Rinse well and pat dry with paper towels. Place the ribs in a large Dutch oven with the lemon rind, cinnamon sticks, garlic, and whole bay leaves. Cover with sufficient rendered pork fat.

5. Place the Dutch oven over medium heat and bring the fat to a bare simmer. Remove from the heat.

6. Cover and place in the oven for 2 hours, until the ribs are fork tender and the bones pull easily away from the meat. Remove from the oven.

7. Allow the ribs to cool to room temperature in the Dutch oven, and then place in the ‘fridge to chill in the confit overnight.

8. In a small saucepan over a medium–high heat, combine thePedro Ximénez sherry and the sherry vinegar. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a rolling simmer for 8 to 10 minutes or until the sauce’s volume is reduced by a third. Then remove from the heat & set aside.

9. Light a charcoal grill, heat a skillet or a broiler on high heat (But be warned: The ribs will splatter a lot in an oven!). Remove the ribs from the fat, wiping off any excess. Place the ribs, meat-side down, and cook them for 10 minutes, until cooked through and starting to brown.

10. Glaze the ribs with the sauce on the bone side. Flip them over and glaze the other side. Continue cooking for 5 minutes, until nicely glazed and just charred a little in spots. Remove from the heat and serve.

Finest kind!

¿Conoces al Gochu Asturcelta? Cooking a Celtic pig… was originally published on Salute The Pig

[solidpraky]

The case for Jallikattu (Bull taming sport)

Emotions are running high with the uncertainty of whether Jallikattu will happen or not. And yes, this is one of those many articles written by a Tamilian to support Jallikattu. But the difference is, my arguments for Jallikattu are fundamentally different. I am not going to argue on the lines of preserving endangered cattle breeds of Tamil Nadu, for which there are million other ways to support the native breeds, Jallikattu is not the only way. I am also not going to take a stance against PETA and the conspiracy theory of PETA being supported by multinationals to eliminate the native breeds to sell their… whatever. Multinational companies have more priorities than this. In their map, TN is just a small market in India and even in TN, not much of the business happen in the villages where the native breeds are in numbers. So, targeting the native breeds through Jallikattu, doesn’t make any business sense. Moreover, PETA is a well reputed organisation and the cause they are working on has much wider scope and shouldn’t be targeted for Jallikattu. In many countries, they help the modern humans who has no consideration for anything other than themselves to be conscious of animals and their well-beings. Also, Not going to argue on the supreme court’s stance, I am sure the judges would have given the judgement based on what was provided to them in the name of arguments or evidences for or against Jallikattu. Is there anything else left to argue? My answer is Yes. There is this big thing called as ‘Animal ethics’. Let’s face it. Animal ethics is a very, very complex thing. So many of us have pets at home, we love them so much. Yet, we won’t skip a Sunday without non-veg meals! “The better sort here pretend to the utmost compassion for animals of every kind: to hear them speak, a stranger would be apt to imagine they could hardly hurt the gnatthat stung them. They seem so tender, and so full of pity, that one would take them for the harmless friends of the whole creation, the protectors of the meanest insect or rep¬tile that was privileged with existence. And yet (would you believe it? ) I have seen the very men who have thus boasted of their tenderness, at the same time devour theflesh of six different animals tossed up in a fricassee. Strange contrariety of conduct! they pity and they eat the objects of their compassion!” Oliver Goldsmith, Citizen of the World Yes. We pity and we eat the objects of our compassion! To make it simpler, there are many approaches to animal ethics. I want to focus on two of these. One is the rights-based theory, that all the animals are equal to human beings. We are not a special species on Earth and the life of an insect should be treated as equal as that of an infant. So, it rejects all animal use in any form by human beings. Second one is animal welfare based viewpoint. This view endorses the responsible use of animals to satisfy certain human basic needs. The animals should experience no unnecessary suffering in providing such human needs. As I said earlier, Its like a spectrum in which we can take any position. On the one extreme end lies the animal-rights (equal rights to animals) and on the opposite end lies the speciesism view that human beings are superior and have the right to exploit animals. The welfare position lies somewhere in the middle. The rights-based view isn’t practical. It calls for everyone to be vegans (not even vegetarian) and use plant-based clothing. The problem is only 3% of Earth surface is suitable for farming and it will be impossible for it to feed 6 billion people. The need of animal protein cannot be eliminated fully. It is estimated that meat, milk and egg combinely feeds about 2 billion of the world. With the population growing, domestic farming of animals would be the solution to feed all. And yes, drug testing of animals is another thing. A rights-based activist would reject a cure for cancer if animals are involved in testing. PETA and other organisations take up the view of animal rights. They reject any animal use at any level, no matter how humane it is treated, be it Jallikattu or drug testing. Tom Regan is the major contributor for this animal rights movement. The welfare viewpoint is a practical stance. It advocates a responsible use of animals for human needs and all such animals should be fulfilled of their basic needs such as food, shelter and health. There should not be any unnecessary sufferings. Peter Singer whose book titled ‘Animal Liberation’ which started all this animal rights movement, identifies himself closely towards welfarist’s viewpoint and away from rights-based view. An easier example would be, animal rights activists would argue for a total abolition of zoos where as a welfarist would accept a zoo where the settings of animal area is close to its natural habitat. I am going to argue for Jallikattu with the welfarist’s view. Animal welfare view calls for an equal consideration of interests among humans and animals. Getting a luxury non-vegetarian food is our minor interest for which an animal’s life is taken, its major interest. So, this view does not allow a major interest to be sacrificed for a minor interest. Now we will take Jallikattu and define these interests. We will start with old times first. For human, we used these bulls in a place where we use tractors now. This directly affected crop yield, therefore building a stronger cattle breeds was our major interest to deliver agriculture products and protect everyone from dying without food. For bulls, we cannot say for sure. But we can safely assume that it would be its minor interest as Jallikattu doesn’t involve killing them. But things have changed. At present, for humans, it is a minor interest- entertainment, better/strong future cow breeds when these bulls are sent for mating. For bulls, with deaths happening from Jallikattu, it is turning into its major interest. This is where we need to address the issue. We should make sure the bulls are protected from all the abuses that are started creeping in to our traditional sport. If major interests of bulls in Jallikattu are taken seriously and turned to minor interests, I don’t see any issues arising at all. There are lots of emotional factors attached to Jallikattu with its deep-rooted history with South Indian culture. Therefore, banning the Jallikattu is not the answer, Stricter law/guidelines and a stricter implementation should be the answer. I also want to talk about domestication and see what have we done to these animals, specifically cattle. There is no denial that the domestication of bulls and cows helped the advancement of humankind. We relied domestication initially on food, but these cattle prove worthy of themselves by providing human with milk, useful with work, transportation etc. They were protective of themselves and fear for other animals in the wild. But, we changed this behaviour. In this process, they naturally evolved to live alongside humans, be friendly and follow the human instructions. It also provided advantage to cattle as they don’t have to look for food, always protected etc. Due to which they evolved with reduced senses, less intelligence. It also changed us, our digestive system adopted to use milk and meat. Contrary to Darwin’s Natural selection, we, human beings, made this artificial selection possible. These cattle evolved with altered genes, grew closer to human beings. But now, we take these domesticated animals for granted. We exploit them for food, clothes etc. The thing is, there is no going back. They cannot go back to wild. They are here to stay with us whether we exploit them or not. Even if we exploit them, it is better than being a lame-duck for preys in the jungle. Human beings helped many species from extinction. We saved fruits like mango which are meant for animals with big oesophagus (food pipe) to swallow their seeds and spread. There is no such animal exists today. If any animal swallow a mango, it would die with the seed stuck in the food pipe. We interfered and saved mangoes from going to extinction. Same goes for coconut, it was meant for dinosaurs! No animal can reach the height of a coconut tree and has a strong jaw to crack it. We saved them too. The same goes for domesticated cattle too. We continue to use dairy products from milk and take care of cows. But we no longer in need of bulls, except for our appetite. I feel the Jallikattu would give us another reason to cherish and live in harmony with the bulls like we once were when they were so useful to us.

[josephkitchen0]

Grow the Cattail Plant in Your Farm Pond

The cattail plant is ubiquitous in many parts of the United States. In Ohio, it grows in drainage ditches and along roadsides, ponds, and lakes. There are two main varieties of cattail plant that grow in the United States: Typha latifolia (wider leaf, likes shallower water) and Typha angustifolia (thinner leaf, prefers deeper water). The genus name Typha is Greek for “marsh,” which points to its preferred wet habitat.

Cattail Plant Ecology

Cattails are aquatic plants typically found in calm water, especially at the edges of ponds, lakes, marshes, and shorelines. The three to 10-foot tall cattail plant stem grows up from below the surface of the water, producing a sturdy upright stem and slender leaves. The “flower” is the well-known hot dog shaped part near the top of the stalk. Within the flower rests thousands of light, wind-spread seeds.

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Late spring cattails are tall and green.

In the spring, tender new shoots appear first, which then form the green flowers. By winter the flowers dry out, turning brown and breaking apart. The wind carries the seeds off to colonize new areas. The cattail plant is so good at spreading itself that it is often the first new growth in wet mud.

Why Grow the Cattail Plant in Your Pond

If you are digging a farm pond, you get the benefit of starting fresh. What kind of plants do you want to include in your farm pond design?

The cattail plant is often used at the edges of bodies of water to help stabilize the shoreline. If you plan to stock your pond, the cattail plant can provide concealment and protection for smaller fish. The cattail is also habitat for grubs that fish eat. Waterfowl and some songbirds also like to nest in the tall cattail stalks. Ours are always full of Red-Winged Blackbirds. Our ducks spend hot days in the cattails, diving for those fish that are trying to hide under them.

Maintenance and Control

Whether you introduce it to your pond or inherit it on your property, the cattail plant will require maintenance and control. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources considers the cattail a well-established invasive species. It can easily take over your pond and prevent other species from growing, but with some good farm pond maintenance you can keep it in check and reap the benefits for your pond habitat.

When we bought our farm, one side of our pond was full of cattails. As several years passed, they grew denser and began to spread out into the middle of the pond. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources recommends controlling the cattail plant by trimming the stalks just under the surface of the water after the first frost or applying an herbicide to the leaves. This should be done every few years to keep the plant growth in check.

A healthy amount of cattails helps control erosion and stabilize the edges of our pond.

In Letters to a Young Farmer, Amigo Bob Cantisano advises young farmers to learn from the experience of elders in their communities. He writes, “Many of us have been farming for three or four decades, and we have learned much from trial and error, eventually creating success. There’s a lot to learn from us geezers; don’t be shy. We’re usually happy to help.” Taking this to heart, we consulted with our neighbors who built our pond and house before eventually moving across the street.

Their advice was actually fairly close to the department of natural resources recommendation. Wait until the pond freezes solid with at least four inches of ice. Then go out on it with a snow shovel and cut the stalks off where they meet the ice. Best case, the pond melts and refreezes, covering the remaining stubs with ice and cutting off the air supply to the root. This will provide control for a while longer. Even if it doesn’t freeze over, simply trimming the stalks back will help from keeping the cattail plant from taking over the pond. This is now one of our winter chores the first time the pond freezes. It’s been a fairly successful technique for us.

We started using the blade on our trimmer but quickly switched to a plain old snow shovel, which cuts the cattails off at the base, where they meet the ice. Then we hauled the foliage off to our compost pile.

Uses for the Cattail Plant

The cattail plant’s uses are prolific. A commonly cited Boy Scout motto is “You name it and we’ll make it from cattails.” Many websites detail how to survive if all you have are cattails. You probably won’t need to survive off cattails, but it is amazing how many uses there are for this plant. Maybe you’ll try out a few of these projects to support your efforts at self-reliant living or just for a little adventure.

Food – for Humans and Animals

Just about all of the cattail plant is edible from the rhizome at its base to the stalk and young shoots, to the flower and pollen. Though it is difficult to extract, the rhizome holds more edible starch than any other green plant. That’s right, even more than potatoes! The starch has to be separated from the fiber, which can upset the stomach if eaten. There’s a great how-to on several ways to extract the starch as well as some recipes for using the flour on a website called “Eat the Weeds: Cattails – A Survival Dinner.”

In early spring, the young shoots can be peeled and eaten raw or boiled. They taste a lot like asparagus. When the flower matures in mid-summer, collect the pollen and use it like flour.

Beef Magazine says young cattails can be given to cattle as an emergency feed and may have a near equivalent feed value to straw. Some farmers tell of cows eating the cattails right out of the pond. They seem to enjoy all parts of the plant in spring and early summer.

According to selfnutrition.com, one ounce of narrow cattail shoots contains eight percent of our necessary daily value of Vitamin K and 11 percent of our daily value of the mineral Manganese. It also contains Magnesium, Potassium, Calcium, Vitamin B6, and trace amounts of six other vitamins and minerals.

Caning Chairs

Dry the leaves of the cattail plant and use them to cane chairs. This seems to be a dying art, with few artisans remaining who are proficient in the process. You can find a detailed description of how to harvest and process cattail leaves for caning on TheWickerWoman.com.

Stuffing & Insulation

Use the fluff from the dried flowers to stuff pillows or make a rudimentary mattress. Or insulate coats or shoes with it, as a replacement for down. You can even insulate a simple house with cattail fluff. Native Americans used it for diapers and menstrual pads because it is also rather absorbent.

More Uses – the List Just Keeps Going!

From home and boat construction to biofuel, handmade papers, and fire starters – the more you research, the more possible uses for the cattail plant appear. The list just seems endless!

If you have the time to spend on maintaining this plant so it doesn’t take over your farm pond, it will reward you with many interesting pursuits on your homestead. Which will you try first?

Grow the Cattail Plant in Your Farm Pond was originally posted by All About Chickens