May Lotito

As a kid I loved cockscomb flowers. I can testify the seeds would pop under a magnifying glass in the sun. I never did try to eat them though.

I follow a few weather channels online to get a bigger picture of what is going on. Very few is mentioned about our area, let alone explaining why such a weather pattern happened. The persistent high pressure dome just wouldn't move the whole summer, unless there was major events in the Pacific or Atlantic and Gulf to finally pull some moisture this way. The last significant rain we had was materialized by a rare East Pacific hurricane Simon and strong cold front from Canada, bringing over 2 inches of rain, which was equivalent to we got the entire summer. The majority of Missouri Ozarks and Arkansas aren't that lucky. This year, the region is too west for Altantic hurricanes, too north for gulf moisture, too east for Pacific hurricanes, too south for high latitude jet streams.

I don't know what this winter or next year going to be like. Last year November was very wet. I do hope the pattern repeat to ease the drought. If not, I will need to give my fruit trees a deep soak to help them overwinter and pay extra $100 water bill for that.

The fig bush continues producing fruits till the end of the season. Last batch of figs are ripening at the very top so thereo is almost no waste. At the same time future leaf and breba fruit buds are forming at upper nodes. I contribute this year's success to longer growing season and better nutrient management and hopefully the fig bush will continue to expand and flourish in the coming years.

All is well, thanks. Numerous biannual weeds are sprouting after the rain, six weeks later than usual. The warm weather is going to continue and likely November will be warmer and wetter too. That's going to help spring wildflowers and all kinds of pollinators.
I lay down cardboard under fig trees to reduce evaporation. I water about once a week, every time it brings a flush of ripe fruits. There aren't many green figs left.
Brassicas absolutely love the rain and cooler weather. I am harvesting bok choy already. Hardier kale and arugula have no problem overwintering down to 0F if they have the chance to acclimate gradually.

So far I don't have any grinder for milling but I am considering buying an attachment to go with the Kitchenaid processor. I just used a blender and passed the paste through a sieve. The masa was on the wet side but still could be pressed and baked on a hot plate. The tortillas aren't folding well so I made quesadilla this time.

I am seeing the relevance of sakiori weaving to other weaves that the warp and weft are not equivalent. Usually the warp threads are finer and set denser while the weft threads are sturdier or bulkier, giving a general ribbed finish. In some case, the finished surface is warp-faced and the weft is not visible, such as in Grossgrain ribbon and ottoman fabric. Warp threads make up the color and pattern while weft threads, in some case cords are used, provide strength and durability. In the case of sakiori, by using fabric strips and regular threads, the contrast between warp and weft is extreme. The warps are not covering the wefts and instead the technically underlying weft weaves are visually dominant.

If you are using a pin loom, in that case you have equal numbers of pins in both directions, you have have to make adjustment to increase density of warp threads. I don't have experience with that but I imagine you could add additional spacers to hold and separate multiple warp threads. Warp will also have greater length reduction so you will need longer yarns that add to complexity of organizing and tension control.

I made tacos from mixed heritage corn kernels. The color is blueish from the darker seeds and they taste great. I am not saving this year's seeds for replanting since I only planted a limited number. I plan on growing more next year and try to cross pollinate them better.

I processed a few dozens of white acorns and they did need a lot of leaching. I tasted the raw flour until there was no bitterness. Then I mixed in regular wheat dough ball and rekneaded for half an hour. Final product is a garlic cheesy bread. Texture is more dense and chewy than plain wheat bread and has a mild nutty flavor.

I read about the Carrifran Wildwood in southern Scotland. Keeping grazing animals out and planting native species transformed the landscape and restored the native forest. It's a really inspiring and encouraging story and reminded me of what you are doing in Skye.

There is a very detailed youtube video from Botanical Society of Scotland
https://youtu.be/Sg9tl8ag7eU?is=1CDKA-s3q3zaipLF

In Asia, roasted chestnuts are popular street foods. The vendors use coarse sands in large wok. Sands can be heated to high temperature while keeping the chestnuts evenly roasted. [youtube]https://youtube.com/shorts/h6ZqT1ZGdP4?is=yy5g3N1MaKsing6m[/youtube]