Megan Palmer

Alan Chaffin wrote:I found a microscopic plant growing in a porous rock. It has entangled roots, and it has entangled green needle black leaves kinda like medusa’s head. What is it? Has it been discovered yet?

Please post some photos here and also upload to a site like inaturalist with details of the location that you found the plant.

Photos will be much easier to recognise than just a description.

Ideally, if you have location services turned on your phone, give the exact gps co ordinates.

Both elder and alder grow here in NZ and with our notoriously flat vowels, there would be a lot of confusion if we didn't call the elder an elderberry tree.

Most folks would look confused if we called them by their proper name of Sambucus despite there being a popular otc medicine called Sambucol sold as an immune booster.

There is a very old multi stemmed gnarled tree near the community garden and left to their own devices, they definitely grow into trees.

This one would have likely been grazed by goats to have developed into a multi stem tree.

This thread inspired me to cook an Indian meal for our dinner.

While I was preparing the dishes, thought of my Indian cookery teacher telling us that we shouldn't skimp on the ghee/oil and that the spices should always be cooked with the browned onions and the ginger, garlic paste.

We served the curries with plain rice, garlic naan, raita and mango chutney.

I need to cook Indian food more often.

@Barbara, Pad Thai is a dish from Thailand.

Aloe vera seems to be one of the few plants that I don't manage to kill. That and succulents.

I keep repotting them and giving them away but like you, have run out of recipients.

There's a local pay it forward fb group that I occasionally post excess plants to give away but even then, don't always find any takers.

Apart from looking scruffy, they don't seem to mind being overcrowded, the leaves are just not as plump.

That’s a tough one, I would find it really difficult to only choose one dish as there are so many that I enjoy cooking and eating.

Many of my friends hunt so I am often given wild goat and venison in exchange for homemade preserves. Goat curries are the best.

Aubergine bhaji would be high on my list but aloo gobi with chickpeas would be better all round nutritionally - protein, carbs and fibre.

I was privileged to have been taught to cook Indian food by a wonderful lady who sought refuge in the UK when Idi Amin expelled the Ugandan Indian community in the early 70’s.

I still have copies of all the recipes that she taught us and often cook them.

I buy whole spices that I toast and grind as needed.

Please read the blog and watch the videos linked in the threads above.

Truffles are fungal fruiting bodies and ideally need to be consumed within a week. Truffles are consumed as a flavouring as opposed to above ground fungi that can be a food source.

They can be frozen and vacuum packed for long term storage and/or preserved in oil.

There are native species of north american truffles and the most reliable source of where to find them would be through observation reports in apps such as Inaturalist.

You would need to learn the tree species that the truffles grow in association with.

Since they grow underground, they are difficult to locate unless you have a specially trained dog or know someone who is willing to share their knowledge with you.

It is highly unlikely that strangers will share their truffle foraging spots with you, even my closest friends will not share their edible fungi foraging locations with me - they will happily share the actual fungi, just not the locations.

There are several threads about growing truffles in the US -

https://permies.com/t/280880/Planting-Truffle-Tree-Orchard-Blog

https://permies.com/t/274395/Growing-Truffles-commercially-good-intro

https://permies.com/t/164594/Truffles-Wyoming

Truffles are mycorrhizal and grow in symbiosis with oak and hazel nut trees.

They need a specific climate, ph and soil type to grow successfully.

The tree roots are inoculated when they are seedlings and can take up to 15 years before they produce any fruit.

There are several truffle farms in NZ producing both black and white truffles.

We do the same as Gray - coat them in a seasoned mix of breadcrumbs.

I always have a bag of stale bread crumbs in the freezer, they mostly get used to make stuffing for roast chicken and/or coat homemade fishcakes.

I have adapted this recipe by reducing the butter and adding a dollop of dijon mustard.

The lamb is placed on a rack above a tray in the oven to allow the air to circulate for more even cooking.

We prefer our lamb medium rare so that the meat is still pink but fully cooked.

Time go out and buy a rack of lamb, been ages since we cooked this!

I'm in the split hosepipe camp,  wrapped with masking tape.

The masking tape doesn't leave a sticky residue and has a paper like texture.

I have wooden handle that I used to use when groceries were still packed in plastic bags - the wooden handle stops the plastic from digging into your fingers.

Perhaps a wood turner could carve a similar handle with a groove for the wire to sit in.