greg mosser

i’m not sure where our cast iron one is hiding, after a recent kitchen reorganization.

this one was made by a friend and was a wedding gift nearly 20 years ago, makes 2 ‘diner mug’ cups, and was in daily use for quite some time. still a favorite for larger ‘sharing’ amounts of tea (especially oolongs).

at total count of 9 teapots and 2 gaiwans (chinese steeping bowl/lid combo), i have several favorites. i may space them out here a bit.

this first one is in nearly daily use for black tea. it makes 1 ‘diner mug’ cup. was a gift maybe 10 years ago or so.

i have yacon tuber/propagules out of the ground and available for purchase during times the weather cooperates for shipping! pm me to let me know where you are (zip code) so i can figure out shipping costs, and to arrange payment.

i made a batch of my maple-acorn-spicebush cookies (with black walnuts on top) for a solstice get-together, but will probably need to make another batch shortly. and at least another couple kinds of cookie. i may make dough for chocolate pinwheels today, at the very least.

yup. i grow hundreds of pounds of yacon every year. what you have there is a storage root, not a propagation tuber. they won’t grow a new plant.

they’re special enough for us. i know of many local households that look forward to ripe maypop season very eagerly. maypop curd (made like lemon curd) is a thing of wonder.

it might be both! cedar apple rust generally doesn’t leave whole dead ‘scorched’-looking branches or twigs like fire blight does.

the when to cut your losses and get a different tree (maybe a different species?) question has a couple factors. the biggest one is how infected is it? the general control measure is to cut off fireblight-infected branches ~16 inches from infected parts (generally visible as dark/grey/black wood). if doing so wouldn’t leave you with much tree, and you already know it’s susceptible to fireblight, it’s probably reasonable to try something else there. if it’s only little bits that can be controlled with a little bit of maintenance, maybe not?

by all means, post pics!

i just read there are travel advisories about new caledonia, due to recent civil unrest. maybe mchale’s navy should be happy that they got cancelled in ‘66…

i didn’t realize until today that people might think i was in new caledonia! though i suspect many people may not realize the existence of new caledonia! i’ll change my location soon…

edited to add: i decided against using my state name at all. i think bioregions are more applicable in permaculture than political boundaries.

i suspect, like their even-closer-than-sunroots cousin, yacon, dahlia roots will sweeten more if left to ‘cure’ in the same way: leave one in a sunny windowsill for a day or two, and then peel and eat.