I just love seabuckthorn, despite the “thorn” part of it. Last spring I ordered 2 Seabuckthorn plants from a nursery in Oregon. During the summer months, they were looking good.

By September, both plants were losing leaves and the male plant was history. But the female plant was still branching out on the side. For what is suppose to be resilient plants, they sure are difficult to grow.

Anyway the female plant didn’t look so well as the leaves eventually fell off. But I still had hope. And to my surprise, this spring it is full of leaves! Now I can say this is my 3 year old seabuckthorn plant.

I didn’t plan to get anymore plants because they were expensive, about $20 for each plant plus shipping of $18.95. Then I saw Gurney’s had some Seabuckthorn for the same price. Female plant $19.99 and 3 male plants $19.99. But their shipping price was way more reasonable.

The plants all arrived nicely packaged. But they looked more like twigs with buds. I guess they call it “dormant” plants. I’ll probably be keeping them all in the containers until they get big enough to put in the ground.

Another way to get rare fruits is to join the California Rare Fruit Association. Membership is $41 per year and includes a color magazine, tastings, garden tours, free grafting and pruning classes. They usually have annual plant sales too. I really don’t have the time or space right now. Maybe in my golden days.

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I was suppose to prune the blueberry bushes earlier in the year. When I finally got to it, the bush was already flowering. So I decided to just take out a few branches anyway.

Then I noticed how cute the little flowers are and decided to photograph them.

For this photo, instead of my usual light box, I placed parchment paper and taped it to a sunny window. It seems to work OK.

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I’ve added “Miracle Fruit” to my container garden this year. This plant originates in West Africa but I got mine from a grower in Florida.

Scientific name: Synsepalum dulcificum. Common names for this species and its berry include miracle fruit, miracle berry, miraculous berry, sweet berry.

The plant requires temperatures above 70 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity above 50%. Miracle fruit plants are tropical rain forest plants. This means outside of Florida, you will need some type of greenhouse during the cold months. 

It’s advised to keep watering it for a week when planted.  Then the following week to keep the soil semi-dry and plant in partial shade as direct sunlight can harm the young leaves.

Miracle fruit has gained much attention in the past years for it’s ability to masks the flavor of sour foods and turn them sweet. So if you eat a miracle berry then go suck on a lemon it will be sweet.  This effect is due to miraculin, which is used commercially as a sugar substitute.

These are the kind of fruits I would love to get someday. I hope it doesn’t take a miracle to grow them! Photo from Wikipedia.

Back in the 1960s, Robert Harvey, a biomedical postgraduate student, encountered the miracle berry in west Africa. Seeing the potential of this fruit, Harvey decided to market it as a sugar substitute. Especially with other sugar substitute having that bitter after-taste, not this miracle berry.

Harvey was ready to bring this unique fruit’s extract to the market. His story did not have a good ending.

It started with Harvey being followed in the night to having his office being burgled. Then having the FDA unexpectedly turning against the product.

When Harvey asked, the FDA decided it would be considered as an additive, and that would require several years more testing. The company could not afford extra funding for the test so they folded. Imagine if he did bring this to the market, that would have positive effects on our health and cooking.

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I was at our local seed store and found out about this interesting new plant - the climbing or vine spinach. There are two varieties, the green or red vine version.

Since it originates from East Asia, it’s also known as Malabar spinach, Indian spinach, or Ceylon spinach.

Not only is it edible, but it makes for pretty landscaping with it’s climbing vines and flowers.

One gardener also mentioned that this plant is a true and fast climber. Especially with the weather gets really hot.

I will try to grow them in container with a trellis in a nice sunny spot.  And maybe plant one seedling in mom’s garden to surprise her.  I think they will do well in our northern California summer.

I can only imagine how neat it would be to have fresh endless spinach salads all summer. And the fact that the stems are soft and edible sounds amazing.

Here’s some interesting info I gathered about this neat plant from Cornell University Vegetable Growing Guide:

“The leaves from this heat-loving vine have a mild flavor and are used like spinach in salads and cooking.

Annual plant but is perennial in frost-free areas. Extremely frost-sensitive. It creeps when temperatures are cool, but leaps when the mercury hits 90 F.

Part shade increases leaf size. But prefers hot weather and full sun. Requires trellis or other support for twining vine. Can follow peas up the same trellis.

Grows well in a wide range of soils, but prefers moist, fertile soils, high in organic matter, pH 6.5 to 6.8. Tolerates damp soil. Requires consistent moisture to keep from flowering, which causes leaves to turn bitter.

How to plant:

Propagate by seed, cuttings

Germination temperature: 65 F to 75 F

Days to emergence: 14 to 21 - Scarify (use a file, sharp knife or sandpaper to carefully cut through the tough seed coat) seed to hasten germination. May take 3 weeks or more.

Seed can be saved 4 years.”

Note: It’s not truly spinach and comes from the Basellaceae Family. The family comprises some two dozen species of herbaceous plants, some with climbing habits.

Photo from Wikipedia.

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This may be old or odd news, but it’s still interesting news to me. Back in 2010 a cat named Oscar was able to predict the death of 50 nursing home patients.

During the patients final hours, Oscar would show up an curl right next to the dying patients.

Oscar waits outside a patient’s room. Photo AP news. He actually looks like he could be related to my cat.

Oscar, a tortoiseshell and white cat, would spend its time pacing from room to room. Rarely spending any time with patients except those with just hours to live. If kept outside the room of a dying patient, Oscar will scratch on the door trying to get in.

When Oscar shows up in a patient’s room, the nurses are able to call the family member ahead of time. And Oscar has never made a mistake in his prediction.

Many of the patient’s relatives and friends have been comforted and sometimes praised the cat in newspaper death notices and eulogies. They find great comfort in this idea that this animal was there and might be there when their loved ones eventually pass. And at the last hours, the cat was there when they couldn’t be.

The UK Telegraph reports, “The cat, now five and generally unsociable, was adopted as a kitten at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre in Providence, Rhode Island, which specializes in caring for people with severe dementia.”

Dr Dosa, who works at the nursing home also mentions that there are five other cats living there, but none of the others have ever displayed a similar ability.

I don’t think there’s been another cat like Oscar ever reported. Although there has been reports of dogs that can sniff out cancer in patients, by detecting ketones (which are the distinctly-odoured biochemicals given off by dying cells.)

Since I believe in an afterlife, I don’t think this cat is the grimm reaper. He’s more of an angelic cat that’s truly special. With the mission to help dying patients have a safe passage to the other side.

This cat can probably sense the spirit is able to leave this world. But something is holding them back. Thus Oscar, the cat, serves as the medium - almost like an angel that’s here to tell them it’s OK to pass on.

Now that spring is just around the corner it will be too warm to wear knitted hats. So I made these cable knit headbands instead.

Cables are made by crossing one group of stitches over another. These are left leaning cables, made by holding some of the stitches to the front.

The yellow one has a slightly larger cable because it was using 8 stitches and the red one was with 6 stitches.

If you don’t have cable needles, just use dpn’s to hold the stitches instead. And if you’re good with your fingers and want some adventure in knitting, try knitting without cable needles. Anything is possible!

To make the headband, cast on 20. I use the “provisional cast on method” so I can weave the ends together when finish. Using size 8 needles.

These were knitted from left to right, started at the wrong side (WS).

Row 1:  Slip 1st stitch for a clean edge, p 2, k 3, p8, k3, p 3

Row 2:  slip 1st, k2, p3, k8, p3, k2, p1

Row 3:  sl 1, p2, k3, p8, k3, p3

Row 4: sl 1, k2, p3, sl 4 sts to cn and hold in front, k4 from LH needle, k4 from cn, p3.

After the turning row (the row where stitches were crossed).  Work several plain rows, and then you work another turning row.

Repeat to the desired length.

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Animal Children by Edith Brown Kirkwood and illustrated by M.T. Ross. is a classic children’s book. It’s available for free at Project Gutenberg.

Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to “encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks”. Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. As of November 2011, Project Gutenberg claimed over 38,000 items in its collection.

In Animal Children, the illustrations are kind of strange, in a good funny way.

There all these animals dressed and appearing like humans. And the rhymes are written really well. Probably a good read for children under 10. Or the kid in all of us.

There’s a good variety of animals included in this book, from the lazy sloth to my favorite, the alpaca. The knitter in me loves how Miss Alpaca wears her own wool the best. I also find Miss Gopher to be cute in her outfit.

“Miss Leopard Spermophilus, with her high-sounding name, Says just to be called “Gopher” is really a shame,
And she’s right here to tell you — if this knowledge you should lack — She’s the only one who wears the stars and stripes on her back.”

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Since my last batch of homemade deodorant bar ran out, it’s time for a new batch.

This time around I added some new ingredients. They are less clumpy and come as little hearts!

My old recipe consisted of extra virgin coconut oil. As good as it sounds for skin and hair, I just didn’t like it’s strong scent anymore. It reminded me too much of sun tan lotion. So this time around I replaced that with scent free mango butter.

The good thing about this home made deodorant is that it doesn’t contain aluminum like the commercial ones. And so it’s a much healthier and safer version too.

Ingredients: Mango butter, baking soda, cornstarch, colloidal oatmeal, beeswax. Tree tree oil, lemon and peppermint essential oils.

Directions: Take 1 tbs of first 2 ingredients. 2 tbs cornstarch. 1 tsp of beeswax. A few drops of the essential oils to your liking.

I think tea tree is the key ingredient here. So a little more of tea tree is fine. But if you find that scent too strong, you can blend with other essential oils.

Put all the ingredients together in glass container and use a double boiler to warm them up. Once it’s melted, mix well. Add the essential oils last then pour into mold. Refrigerate until it hardens and remove.

To use, just pitch off a section and spread them around. No stains, no clumps. And I think the oatmeal is very soothing for your skin too.

There’s just something magical, enchanting and uplifting about all the movies coming from Studio Ghibli.

And the latest animation is adapted from Mary Norton’s kid-lit classic “The Borrowers.” Which also happens to be my favorite childhood cartoon - The Borrowers.

Arrietty is tiny compare to the flowers.  And the flowers look to be poppy and marigolds.

The idea of little tiny versions of ourselves living behind the walls and closets without humans knowing was just magical.

The plot for this movie is about 14-year-old Arrietty.  They live peacefully in anonymity as they make their own home from items that they borrow from things from the house that people wouldn’t miss.  But life changes for the family when a human boy discovers Arrietty.

I’m sure this movie will not disappoint.  It’s got some rave reviews so far.

Love the way the light shines thru the opening.  And notice how small their clothes are compare to the glass bottle.

Peter Canavese of the Palo Alto Online writes, :

“The Ghibli style, emphasizing meticulous design, perfectly lends itself to the source material. Great care is given to the world the Borrowers have built for themselves in the hidden spaces of the human house, with well-placed nails serving as bridges and ladders; Yonebayashi gives equal attention to the behavior of the usual (water, say) at an unusually tiny scale, or the primordially calming rustle of wind through trees and grass.”

And I couldn’t agree with it more.  So hopefully I’ll find the time to catch this in theater.

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