Juice that has gone BAD!

Who knows what to believe about health these days? Every website, health care provider, and medical research professional has a different claim about the safety, efficacy, and wisdom of taking various dietary supplements. When you start listening to the wives tales and suggestions of family members and elders in your community, the information overload can be altogether off-putting. Apple cider vinegar may be one of these so I’m not going to bother adding more “data”, “studies”, or “research”. I will say simply this, I take a shot of apple cider vinegar every morning and I love it. I have felt more evenly energetic and less hungry or interested in snacking since starting. Additionally, I know no better relief for a sore throat. From years of singing, I have developed a deep appreciation for hot water with a shot of apple cider vinegar and a table spoon of honey. Nurse it all day and keep that sore throat at bay. Everything else aside, if you are trying to bring more local and homemade foods into your diet, this is one of the easiest ways to start. 

After all, vinegar is nothing more than juice that has gone “bad”!

Cerises de Terre

What a miracle it is…the seed. It’s a tiny packet with genetic information, growth hormones, raincoat, snow boots, and lunch all together in something smaller than my pinkie. Incredible! Additionally, these tiny seeds that are produced by our favorite food plants, as well as by our most hated weed rivals, can last for decades under the right conditions. We laud this in our foods and despise it in our non-foods, but regardless, the fact remains that evolution has developed a pretty neat little method for delaying the reproduction of plants until such time as the ideal growth conditions present themselves. The specific adaptations are numerous and brilliant (though evolution is neither genius nor dunce, simply survivalist). They are, however, more complex and numerous that the scope of this particular post. 

I’m curious to know how long it took and just what the reaction looked like, the day humans discovered that a planted seed would yield a similar plant the following year. From that discovery, it wouldn’t have taken long to learn that a dried seed, whether with the fruit still attached or not, could be kept and planted not just the following spring, but for many years after.