James Yuriev

I used to have seeds for this species at one point but was unable to get even one to sprout out of nine. It's sad because there are no longer local sources and the plant quarantine man is watching me closely.

I am going to attempt a more unlikely Rocoto(capsicum pubescens) cross with my white flower interspecific hybrids as it is easier to get seed.

The (human-powered) trampling method of threshing worked well for me with rye recovering most of the grain, all of it intact.

It didn't work nearly as well for the wheat, though. It probably needs heavier animals with harder feet.

I have found no indication besides the recipe above(and copies thereof) that the method that boils or steeps the nettles works as a rennet substitute the way thistle or yellow bedstraw do.

The handful of commercial operations producing nettle cheese specify that they are making a lactic set cheese using the lactic acid bacteria on the nettles.

In that case, boiling them would be counter-productive to say the least.

From my own experiments, I believe that the effect of the plant itself, if any, is very minor and only happens after the lactic acid bacteria have lowered the pH significantly 24+ hours later.

I got the best set from raw nettle salt 1:1 paste aiming for around 1-2% salt to milk. Decoction+inoculation did also eventually coagulate but the strength didn't matter much.

I think that the salt is there to favor lactic acid bacteria over other kinds.

The ears always appear after the tassels. A week later on average.

It can be almost simultaneous or it can happen weeks later which really hurts pollination.

This is related to water and nutrient availability. The corn should be receiving the most water and nutrients around this period.

Winter wheat should be mature or at least halfway through by the Summer solstice in late June(NH).

Here, we get monsoon rains after that which spoil the crop so I harvest it as soon as the heads are golden and we’ve had a couple rainless days and I hang the spikes upside down outside under cover to dry.

Less mature plants still in the milk stage by that time get murdered by birds.

This year I lost nearly all of the awnless plants to birds so it will be mostly awned winter wheat next year.