7. Violet Sepor looks like a smashed squash. Violet Sepor should get less respect than the little that it already does. The wall around the pulp is thick, the purple and gold colors of skin are a splotchy mess. The eye is big and makes you wonder how many bugs might crawl in and out… Continue reading The Dubious Dozen (#7-#9: Violet Sepor, Hunt, Florea)

Nordland fig would be a great fruit if it were a cucumber. German? French? American? What is the real nature of this fig? Why is it so big, dense, and heavy? From where does it truly hail? And what is this fig doing in the green-skin, citric-berry flavor profile, given that it can equally ripen… Continue reading The Dubious Dozen (#6 Nordland)

Osborn Prolific is a junk fig. Like most figs, Osborn Prolific goes by more than one name. It is commonly known as Rust fig. Why name a fig, Rust? Who would grow it? Who would eat it? What kind of junkyard fig is Osborn Prolific? Surprisingly, Rust boasts stellar flavor and uncommon genetics that trace… Continue reading The Dubious Dozen (#5 Osborn Prolific)

An ironic itemizing, part of Fear of Figs: 1. Sultane is a fig that bred itself into irrelevance. Genetics show that many renowned figs descend from Sultane, better ones, one would hope, more complex, such as the Col de Dames, the Bordissots, and many others. Sultane must have been a potent fig in its time,… Continue reading The Dubious Dozen (#1-#4: Sultane, Wuhan, Negretta, Smith)

“Plant Consciousness: The Fascinating Evidence Showing Plants Have Human Level Intelligence, Feelings, Pain and More” by Stephen Harrod Buhner: “The similarity of human and plant neural systems and the presence of identical chemical messengers within them illustrate just why the same molecular structures (e.g., morphine, cocaine, alcohol) that affect our neural nets also affect plant… Continue reading Inside the “Minds” of Plants

At some point, I’ll get this ironic itemizing of figs into an expansive ebook, or at least a PDF, with photos, but for now here’s a draft excerpt (with links instead of photos) for anyone’s (hopeful) amusement. Some of the information inside the play here may be controversial but the details are to the best… Continue reading Fear of Figs

Of course, figs aren’t the only healthy fruit. Among fresh fruits, blackcaps (black raspberries) have an antioxidant value that is unusually high, as measured by the ORAC value (oxygen radical absorbance capacity). Berries and other fruits touted as a “superfruit” or a nutraceutical, or a medicinal food, sometimes are listed by their promoters as being… Continue reading ORAC, antioxidant levels of fruits

One of Maxine Thompson’s propagation efforts Kuchi aka Maxie ripening here in Appalachia currently. Birds getting some. Sweeter when pulp darkens. This green pulp was tangy like a cross between a wild blueberry and a kiwi. Blue Honeysuckle berries overview More Kuchi / Maxie:

Three days after snow and the final freeze (hopefully, 28 F), the first blue honeysuckle berry is picked ripe with the gel texture of a grape and the flavor of a mild wild blueberry. This berry was probably ripe days ago but overlooked on the little bush. Blue Diamond variety. Meanwhile the much larger Kuchi/Maxie… Continue reading First Ripe Berry 2020

A day after a dusting of snow, some of the first berries of spring begin to blush toward being ripe, juneberries aka serviceberries and blue honeysuckle berries, variety Kuchi aka Maxie.