Herb Gardener Extraordinaire

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Professor Taboo

I have picked up a new hobby these last 4-6 months. I love my new hobby. It brings me much solace and therapeutic benefits given my circumstances.

Because I spend a lot of my days and evenings in the kitchen making healthy recipes and meals for my Early Alzheimer’s Mom, that on her own she would live off of strictly potato chips, cheeses, almonds, walnuts, and cheese cakes or Blue Bell ice cream exclusively, grazing on these items all morning, afternoon, evening, and into the wee-hours of 1:00am — 3:00am, without pause, so I do this in the kitchen.

How is my herb garden coming along you ask? Well, I’d say for my very first late-summer, early-autumn seeding, rooting, and transplanting, I think pretty damn good. I have some viewers and followers (Arkenatan of A Tale Unfolds) who have been doing this sort of gardening for years and decades, and compared to them I am certainly a rookie learning as I go. For the most part, I must say that I’m fairing pretty well. And according to Mom and sister, when I use some of my various herbs in recipes for them, they are impressed and sometimes rave how good a gourmet chef I’ve become. There is nothing like super fresh herbs straight from your own garden to kitchen and table! Want to see my own home-grown herbs? Of course you do. 😉

*Named from top left tier to right, middle tier L to R, and bottom tier L to R images below*. My pitchers of liquid seaweed in background.

*Bunching Evergreen Onions, had to block the glare with hand.*

*More Bunching Onions, because they need “spreading” once 3″ — 5″ tall.*

*Cilantro that we use in many recipes, especially our Pico de Gallo.*

*More Mint (Spearmint) for my hot teas and recipes like Loin of Lamb or on crackers, as seen below.*

*Common Oregano*, *or Oraganum vulgare. New sprouts on the left.*

Then not pictured from my garden, but otherwise in two pot containers, my Basil Prospera F1, also known as Genovese or Basil Valentino, as pictured here:

Back in late September I planted Rosemary seeds (Rosmarinus officinalis) which grows and thrives very well here in Central Texas. But surprisingly and to my slight dismay my one little sprout—out of 4 or 5 seed-pots—died earlier this week. Grrrrr, can’t win them all, huh? I’ll try again in the Spring 2024. They should do alright for then and rooting/growing in my pots for the full sun summer.

Two of many recipes I’ve used these home-grown herbs for are my fresh Basil Pesto, Mediterranean Veggie or Margarita pizzas, or this one below, Creamy Chicken Pesto Penne Pasta with fresh spinach and sundried tomatoes:

*Creamy Chicken Pesto Penne Pasta with spinach & sundried tomatoes.*

Or this smash hit today, Rosemary & Olive oil crackers with my fresh Sweet Mint leaves, Rat Trap Cheddar or Danish Bleu Cheese (from Denmark), topped with cherry tomato halves. Compliment this appetizer with a glass of—my favorite red—like Mendoza Valley (Argentina) Malbec or a bold Cabernet Sauvignon to explode the flavors and fragrance in your mouth and nose, image below:

*My very fresh Sweet Mint cuttings, cherry tomato halves in container. Mom in the background in her usual spot on the couch enjoying her snack immensely!*

These last several months growing my herbs from seed have been wonderfully satisfying and a bit of therapy for my otherwise full-time/overtime Caretaking of Mom. I’d say it is coming along nicely, wouldn’t you? 🌱🌿

Live Well – Love Much – Laugh Often – Learn Always – Garden Lots

Color Color Color is a Comin’

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Professor Taboo

To human eyes there are some 7-10± million different colors in the color-spectrum the eyes can process through various ophthalmological stages for the brain to interpret. Even though there are seemingly that many hues of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet, the visibility and tidal wave of so many colors depends on the amount of sunlight available reflecting off of everything we gaze upon. But here’s another delightful twist to our fondness for nature’s bursts upon her color-palate: rainfall. Yes, water plays a huge role in the chances of what we might possibly see and perceive on her outdoor canvas.

There are other variables involved, not excluding warmer temperatures, shorter winters, and in the western United States wildfires prior to saturating rains, that have prepared for this 2019 Spring to probably be the best super bloom of germination, eye-popping stimulation surpassing the last two remarkable spring seasons! California’s super blooms are well-known nationally. This year Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas—to name just three more states—will join in these showstopping color festivals visible even from space. Care to get a quick glimpse of what splashes and vistas we are likely about to witness over several states?

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

On a cellular biological level it continues to dazzle me how given enough time life adapts in order to not only survive, but thrive and do so with such spectacular beauty. And think of how busy all of the thousands and thousands of different pollinators, butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, snapdragons, even ants to name only five, as part of a grande symphonic crescendo to masterpiece and finale. Each instrument contributes their important part to this extravaganza of biological flora we call life, a super bloom enmasse, the Super Bloom of 2019. I wish the show lasted longer than a few weeks because all this botanical beauty does my mind and body a world of good!

————

Live Well — Love Much — Laugh Often — Learn Always

Blog content with this logo by Professor Taboo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at https://professortaboo.com/contact-me/.

To’ak: Cacao of the Gods

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Professor Taboo

At only $270 to $375 for a 50-gram bar, or just over 1.7 ounces, you can savor the confection which is fantastically unique, crazy delicious, and the rarest chocolate made on the planet today. It is unadulterated pure chocolate with a small dose of sugar cane.

The Ecuadorian To’ak Chocolate Company (pronounced Toe-Ahk) produces the luxury bar from the extremely rare Arriba cacao or Theobroma cacao, a tree previously thought extinct. Theobroma means ‘food of the gods’ in Latin and this tree only grows naturally in the tropical regions along either side of Earth’s equator in South America or West Africa. Connoisseurs describe this particular variety of cacao as having rich extravagant flavors and floral hints than any other known varieties. To’ak Chocolate, however, is not only eaten, but can also be made to drink from their finely ground powder.

The To’ak method of production is to ferment the cocoa beans for at least two-years or more. The Vintage 2014 edition was aged for three-years in 50-year old French oak cognac casks. To’ak has also aged their dark chocolate in Laphroaig Islay whisky casks. As part of their growth model, the Ecuadorian chocolate company has partnered with Washington State University researching tannins. And if you think you might visit, see it with your own eyes, smell the aromas with your own nose, immediately taste with your own tongue, then do so while staying on the cacao tree-farm at Finca Sarita up in the trees for only about $15/night. But do not wait too long. A witching hour is afoot.

Finca Sarita treehouse, Ecuador

Witches’ broom is a fungal disease that attacks the T. cacao tree and like many waves of ecological problems and devastation, humans brought the disease onto these rare trees. In order to maximize bigger mass production of cocoa beans in the early 1900’s, industrialized nations and their titans of industry transplanted enormous monocultures of the T. cacao trees onto plantations in South and Central America. Unknowingly and unscientifically this put the trees at risk with unfamiliar pathogens to its immune system.

[Witches’ broom] has since spread throughout the Neotropics. Ten years after first being spotted in Bahia, Brazil, nearly 75 percent of the native cacao trees have been eradicated.

[…]

Witches’ broom disease is named for the abnormal, broom-like outgrowths that appear on infected trees. The disease cycle begins when spores of the fungus, which are dispersed by wind and water, enter the stomata—the pores of a tree’s leaves—or lesions on a tree. With high humidity and moisture, the spores germinate, and the tree undergoes severe physiological and hormonal changes, which divert the plant’s energy from normal growth to the production of the brooms.
— New York Botanical Garden Science Talk: https://www.nybg.org/

As of 2015 there is no cure for Witches’ broom. Consequently, the T. cacao variety might very well go extinct in a decade or two. Cacao farmers and botanists led and funded by their corporate executives have attempted to develop genetically modified, WB-resistant cacao trees with a cultivar named CCN-51. But it was unsuccessful in the end causing the cocoa to taste “like rusty nails or dirt,“ if you know what that tastes like. Hence, this is the purpose for doses of sugar, vanilla, and/or cream. In To’ak’s fermenting method, whiskey and cognac divert any bitterness lingering in the beans. From To’ak’s webpage:

As chocolate-makers who also appreciate both wine and whisky, this struck us as an interesting concept. Winemakers and whisky distillers have been using the phenomenon of aging to their advantage for centuries. In the world of chocolate, the concept of aging had never been thoroughly examined prior to To’ak’s aging program. Starting in 2013, we initiated the world’s first-ever long-term aging program for dark chocolate, with some of our chocolate currently in it’s fourth year of aging. Since that time, we’ve consulted winemakers, enology professors, sommeliers, molecular scientists, conducted phenolic analysis in partnership with the enology department of Washington University, and experimented with twelve different aging vessels in countless different forms and conditions. Every year, we release to the public our finest expression of aged chocolate as one of our Vintage editions.

Would anyone reading want to go in maybe 50/50 or better, 80/20 with me on purchasing some of the finest dark chocolate and cocoa powder on the planet, probably in the universe? If I can’t get down there to visit and sleep up in the trees, I might just have to stop torturing myself, break open my piggy-bank and experience this Chocolat des Dieux.

————

Live Well — Love Much — Laugh Often — Learn Always