Happy St. David's Day and Women's History Month. The Botanists in the Kitchen celebrate both in this month's newsletter. gather-and-sow.ghost.io/gather-and-s...
Leeks and extreme "female" plant parts saffron & corn silk. And don't miss our love for Katherine Esau and Barbara McClintock near the end.
Or a feminist? He paid special attention to that girls' school in Iran, after all.
Thick, highly branched Douglas fir
And have you ever seen such a chonky Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)? I had to confirm this big boy through its leaves and cones. Has apparently tangled with many a coastal storm and fought its way back. Pomo Canyon trail near Jenner, Sonoma coast.
grove of lichen-covered redwood trees along a stream near the outlet of the Russian River (Pomo Canyon). Understorey of sword ferns.
Redwoods in Pomo Canyon, near Jenner, Sonoma coast. These coastal riparian groves look almost nothing like those found farther inland. Covered in lichens, closely packed, and presiding over an understory of mostly sword ferns. Such a gorgeous hike this weekend!
So cool! And just in time for my annual revamp of the readings for my course on humans and plants!
I also try to impart to students that the goal is not to transcribe texts or seminar discussions but to build a capacity for isolating critical aspects of each.
First day a student asked, “So, you really mean notebooks—like notebooks?”
I said yes, and there has been no mention of it again.
In SF Bay Area, Mtn View fmrs mkt and a San Carlos shop www.papachay.com Max and Julianna roast and sell what their Peruvian farms grow. The site doesn't say, but they use a microbial system to filter processing water before releasing it. No pesticides. Essentially worker-owned.
This is the BEST combination! So glad you chose to start your special day with us listeners.
close-up photo of a teosinte inflorescence
Check out this cute teosinte inflorescence that a very brave plant managed to push out against all odds: capricious autumn planting, small pot, atmospheric river damage, no attention, low expectations. I'm so impressed (and can't wait to do a "real" planting this spring). The tassel never matured.
Great suggestions! These questions would be useful for seminar courses, too, especially for advanced undergraduates. Thank you!
In Your Name
They steal from you
Enrich themselves
Kill your neighbors
Lie in your face
Do it in your name
And dare you to disagree
They are corrupt and thuggish goons
Cowards
Unfit to govern
The country they claim is theirs and theirs alone
That’s who they are
Who are we?
I am optimistic that @petergs.bsky.social knows the answer or can point you in the right direction
Got Weds' Letterboxed in 2 happy words: Phenomenal-lifecycle. The official 2-word answer was malefic-cacophony. It hurts just to read that! I think I'll stay in my positive frame of mind, thank you. (And to be honest, bragging about solving in 2 words probably helps)
The fascists are organising a carol concert in London to "draw attention to unchecked immigration and the fading of our cultural heritage".
What would Woody do?
Write an anti-fascist Xmas carol and sing it at the counter demo.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=liRd...
I started getting reports of an unseasonal Joshua tree bloom in the last few weeks, and looking over records on @inaturalist.bsky.social it's pretty widespread! So we're putting out the call for folks to record this "bonus bloom" and help us study it 🌿
lab.jbyoder.org/2025/12/10/w...
Plate with food.
Do you look at this and see at least 10 plant species? Then you are ready for #Plantsgiving 2025!
How many species will be served during your meal??? It ain't a competition, it's just about recognition.
#iamabotanist @botsocamerica.bsky.social @nybg.bsky.social
Do! And then you can check what I saw. It goes by kinda fast. It's also possible that the cuttings belong to Willa and the scraggly plant is Bob's. We don't know. Anyhow, I love the combination of Bob's nurturing instinct for Willa/cuttings/(ideals?) and his neglect otherwise.
Watched One Battle After Another last night. The window in Bob and Willa's kitchen is 100% metaphor for Bob's life. A row of plants from cuttings getting established OK. And the one full grown plant is etiolated, losing its leaves, obviously allowed to dry out too often. Brilliant details.
Uncut.
Unrated.
Experience
KILL BILL: THE WHOLE BLOODY AFFAIR -
Exclusively in Theaters
December 5.
lionsgate.app.box.com/s/3j69mvj5kz...
Yikes! Don't people realize that these things are still alive and breathing? It's not like those lenticels are just there for decoration.
I love my town!
I'm going on Sunday and....I don't understand German. Should I bring something to read?
Sometimes the universe just clicks
![Billy Bragg - The Buck Doesn't Stop Here No More [Official Audio]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:lwmnwcca35gu5dttx77xrk6t/bafkreichngkcbzk3mgy6zzwtoepzqfbjdgk7posvxqqru7n5v5g7d5sy2m)
If history teaches us one thing
Never trust a man who would be king
Who seeks all power for himself
To burnish his prestige and wealth
And a nation born in revolution
Should know this offers no solution
For there can be no liberty
Where one man rules with impunity
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfeY...
Oh one of my favorites! It is such a joy to encounter it giving a bright pop to the trail.
OMG I can't even count how many hours have I spent ripping this stuff out of my mother's yard. And untangling it from actually desirable plants. And letting the expletives fly. She moved, and it came with her in some pots and now it's all over the new yard too. Worse than oxalis.
"nobody calls a 'follicetum'" had me laughing so hard. The only place I've ever seen that term is the Spjut book.
For a Student Who Used AI to Write a Paper
Joseph Fasano
Now I let it fall back
in the grasses.
I hear you. I know
this life is hard now...
Billy has wise words for nearly every occasion. Thanks for this video. He's just a baby here but had already measured the lay of the land.
I've got one of those. Plus two jars of washers that I have found on the ground over the last several years.
