Saturday Musings

Tags

danaids, paw paw, sassafras, six of wands, star trek, tea

First Tea of the Day: (freshly picked) Sassafras with orange slices

Why, oh why am I up and showered before six in the morning?  Oh, yeah…because I have so much to do today, starting with driving the hubby to a reenactment for the weekend.  Ugh.

In good news though, one of the many things on  my plate are about to be over today!  We have finally reached the hourly count down for the Luau at the UU fellowship we attend.  Somehow, many months ago, I got conned into heading it up…and thankfully, it is finally here!  One less thing on my plate!

Officially, I am still in Slow Blog mode, but not a total blog-cation.  I’m limiting myself to 1 or 2 posts a week, so I make sure I work on all the other stuff I need to get done (some of which I really don’t want to) in a timely manner.  If I’m totally honest here, occasionally I use blogging as a means of procrastination.

I want to go back to sleep.

Some random old blog posts…
Building a Salve
She Serves Scallops by the Seashore
DIY Field Press

Evidence of my nerditude: The hubby and I have been on a Star Trek: Deep Space 9 viewing spree for the past few weeks in our down time…and we are now in the middle of season 6–The Federation is getting ready to strike against the Dominion and the Cardassians to take back Deep Space 9 and free the Bajoran people from certain conquest.  Yeah, we’re Trekkies.

Deity of the Week: The Danaids

The Danaides by John William Waterhouse

Once upon a time the twin brothers, a man named Danaus had fifty daughters, while is brother (and king/founder of Egypt–at least in Greek myth) Aegyptus had fifty sons. Ageyptus wanted his 50 sons to marry Danaus’s 50 daughters, but Danaus was not fond of the idea and built the first ship escaping to Argos, from which his ancestress had originated. Danaus was chosen as the successor to the king on Argos, in a vote by the inhabitants of the island. Some time later, his brother came to threaten Danaus to honor his request for their daughters and sons to marry. This time, rather than cause a war that would cause hardship to his people, Danaus outwardly acquiesced. Privately however, he instructed his daughters to kill their new husbands upon their wedding night. 49 of the daughters followed the instruction of their father, and one did not. Depending on the source, that rebel might have been Amymone, or perhaps Hypermnestra (though they might have been the same person), who chose not to murder her husband because he promised to honor her choice to remain a virgin. Upon her disobedience, Danaus had her arrested and tried by the people of Argos, where she was allowed to go free after Aphrodite’s intervention. Depending upon myth, her husband (Lynceus) may have later killed Danaus in revenge. Allegorically, early versions of this myth (which end here) can be viewed as possible historical commentary of an ancient conquering, while later versions become tale of morality and cosmic retribution as well. The 49 daughters that murdered their husband end up in Tartarus with a decidedly sysiphean task–to eternally carry water to fill an urn with holes in the bottom (or alternatively to carry water to fill an urn with containers that have holes in them.

Tarot Card of the Week: Six of Wands

six of wands by blue

To sum up this card’s meaning in one word…VICTORY!
If the five of wands symbolizes the heat of battle or the fierceness of competition, the six of wands symbolizes the moment of victory where the champion is recognized in adulation by the people. It is a card of victory (or success) as well as the recognition of that success by the public or one’s peers. The six of wands highlights (to borrow a marketing idea) the importance of networking and personal branding, but carries the pit falls of arrogance and an over-inflated sense of self-importance. Reversed, this card may symbolize a loss of public support or a lack of recognition.

Herb of the Week: Sassafras and Paw Paw

sassafras leaf variations

While sassafras is available all summer long, paw paw season is right now at its peak here in Virginia. Both of these plants are native to the Eastern US and are common Southern plants. Also, they both have a long history of use that starts with the Native Americans, and continues in the culinary traditions of today. Sassafras also has a long history of medicinal use, as well as a tradition of use to ward off the evil eye in Appalachia.  Pawpaw on the other hand, may have has some medicinal and mystical qualities, but I have yet to run across any traditional uses for these things–and I have yet to figure out the best way to use it as well (other than to eat)…

Parting Quote: Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.
~Mary Anne Radmacher

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August Forage: Paw Paw

Tags

foraging, native plants, paw paw, wild edibles

I was first introduced to the paw paw (Asimina troloba) on an Ecology Club camping trip in high school by a most excellent teacher.   Since then, I have run across it at the right time of year to enjoy it from time to time, but have never really run across enough paw paws to get more than a taste…until now.  I have been lucky enough to find a pawpaw mother load, and get foraging permission.

If you are not from an area where the pawpaw is native, or for some reason you just haven’t heard of it, you are missing out on an acquired, but ultimately tasty treat.  Its flavor is difficult to describe (different varieties also have different flavors)–an almost tropical flavor with a creamy and smooth custard-like texture.  It has been called the Custard Apple (and compared in flavor to the May Apple), the Poor Man’s Banana (and the Hoosier Banana), and in fact, is similar (and in some ways superior) to the banana in is nutritive content.

The paw paw is the largest native fruit, originating in North America millions of years ago, and was introduced to Europeans by Native Americans. Paw paw was a commonly enjoyed fruit in the earlier history of the US–the chilled fruit was a favorite of George Washington, and paw paw trees were planted at Monticello by Thomas Jefferson and eventually inspiring the Appalacian folk song “Way Down Yonder In the Paw Paw Patch” (the above video).  Sometime around WWI though, the paw paw went underground and, though many exotic and not-so exotic (but different) foods have made their way into the grocery store, the paw paw has not…though Kentucky State University’s Paw Paw Program hopes to change that.

It turned out that they don’t ship well. Pawpaws are at their most delicious when they are ripe and soft – and a tad ugly. There is little supermarket appeal for bruised, soggy fruit.

Adding to this, the tree’s flowers* smell like rotting meat (some orchardists actually hang roadkill in the limbs to attract the pollinator – the blow fly) and the fact that the pawpaw seed is said to be poisonous** makes it difficult to attract all but the most ardent of growers.

So if you are to hitch yourself to a steady supply, you must either find a knowing soul at a farmers’ market, or grow them yourself (they are quite attractive landscape trees, with their basset-hound-ear leaves, intriguing purple flowers, and lure of swallowtail butterflies). (source)

*links to an image of the flower from the USDA’s Plant Profiles–its the only part of the plant I don’t have a picture of yet

**historic information on how the seeds were used medicinally

Of course, if you can’t grow them, and don’t know any “knowing soul” at your local farmer’s market…you might be able to get lucky in your local woods.  The paw paw grows in previously disturbed areas of Eastern temperate woodlands (it will not grow in old-growth areas and usually arrives a couple years after a disturbance regime) and favors moist bottom-land and flood plains.  They grow between 15-30 feet tall and (in the wild) produce less fruits than cultivars (possibly a problem of limited cross-pollination) with a beautiful, large, droopy sort of  leaf.  Paw paw trees have a very tropical, almost primeval appearance to them that seems almost out of place…when you walk through a paw paw patch, you really do feel out of time.

Paw paw season  is sometime from August to October varying somewhat by location.  Harvesting paw paws depends on one’s ability to not only locate a patch of trees, but to know how to determine ripeness.  “Ripe pawpaws should give when squeezed gently, as ripe peaches do, and can be picked easily with a gentle tug.  Ripe pawpaws usually give off a powerful fruity aroma, as well. Color change is generally not a reliable indicator of ripeness.”  Once harvested, the fruit only last for a few days, but refrigerated can last up to 3 weeks–which is awesome because the paw paw can be used in a number of recipes, including this one for paw paw wine, and even paw paw mead.

Since I know some of ya’ll don’t live in an area where the paw paw grows (and though it offends my sense of local foods first), I figure I’ll offer up this company in Ohio that ships paw paws (when they are in season) and paw paw products.  Though you can’t have the joy of discovering a giant paw paw patch a stone’s throw from your balcony, at least you can check it out for yourself!