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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2012 12:36:30 GMT -5
Don't be discouraged; global climate change is happening. Climate change is cyclical, understood to coincide with solar activity, and studied on inaccessible planets, based on IR readings and observation of their upper atmospheres. With the surface features of the Earth said to be comparable to the texture on a billiard ball, the anthropogenic contribution to greenhouse gases is fairly inconsequential, whether on the scale of a planet or solar system. But, I am not entirely critical of superstition, in my belief that living things can visibly suffer or thrive, based on the emotional balance. I too love dates and wish I could grow them in the Pacific NW. HAHA fat chance of that! Ours get snow, occasionally in the 20F range. We're at ~2700ft, in a southern, Californian, mountain pass. Most of our soil is heavy clay, which gets waterlogged for some months, especially under irrigation, which causes moss to grow on the trunks. But, above-ground portions of the tree apparently die, in nearby, desert sands, if underground water sources are in any way disrupted. These people are about 8hrs north of me, by freeway: www.sfgate.com/homeandgarden/article/Palms-up-Only-one-kind-is-native-to-the-state-2619677.phpIsn't supposed to be cold and wet in SF? The other thing I notice is that your sun stays up later than ours, allowing plants with comparable tolerances to thrive. I believe a well-rooted palm would probably survive up there, but I can't vouch for the length of the growing season or quality of sugary fruit in conditions prone to mildew. A fastidious person might just find a narrow window in time.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2012 16:55:46 GMT -5
By some interpretations, the Biblical land of milk and honey was not a reference to bee's honey, but the condensed sap of a palm tree.
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Post by steev on Nov 26, 2012 20:49:53 GMT -5
As I mentioned, the core of date palm is tasty and crunchy, but extracting it is rough on the palm; I wonder whether one could "tap" a palm for sap; it would seem so.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2012 16:35:57 GMT -5
I only have a book knowledge of this. You cut the top off, in the shape of a bowl, and, yes, it is tricky not to kill it.
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Post by steev on Nov 27, 2012 21:36:30 GMT -5
I'd think it possible to drill into the trunk, insert a tube, and hang a bucket. Pity I don't have a bunch of palms to play with. Maybe the sap would have to be pumped out?
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Post by davida on Nov 27, 2012 22:43:56 GMT -5
I'd think it possible to drill into the trunk, insert a tube, and hang a bucket. Pity I don't have a bunch of palms to play with. Maybe the sap would have to be pumped out? www.pubhort.org/datepalm/datepalm2/datepalm2_108.pdf"Harvesting Sap from Date Palm and Palmyra palm in Bangladesh" Date palm: Matured date palm trees were selected for collection of sap. After cleaning the tree, a V shaped surface was cut by cutting a thin slice on the head of the stem and a hollow circular bamboo stick was embedded into the lower angular point of the V shaped cut. A clean container (pitcher) was placed under outer end of the bamboo stick. The V shaped cut surface was periodically cleaned by cutting a very thin slice on the V shaped surface to allow sap flow into the earthen pot. Generally, sap was collected from one side of the tree in one year and the following year, sap must be collected from the opposite side of the previous years cut. Sometimes,, one to two years of gap is given for attaining proper growth of the trees. and a picture: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Sweet_sap_from_date_palm.JPG
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Post by steev on Nov 28, 2012 0:32:11 GMT -5
Well, there it is: palm syrup!
The native Bigleaf maples are said to also be tappable, which I will check out when I have a pond around which to plant them. I think they'll be easier to grow on the farm than palms.
The local quality produce market got ~6 varieties of dates in this week.
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Post by ilex on Nov 28, 2012 4:12:48 GMT -5
The native Bigleaf maples are said to also be tappable, which I will check out when I have a pond around which to plant them. I think they'll be easier to grow on the farm than palms. All maples are tappable, as are walnuts and a few other trees.
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Nov 28, 2012 11:12:37 GMT -5
Birch Trees make good syrup as well as maples for those in northern regions.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2012 21:55:43 GMT -5
I like the bamboo way of harvesting better.
At the Chinese store, we get Toddy Palm Sugar. The texture is something like finely-crystallized honey.
A vinegar is made from the sap, outdoors, but it reportedly develops larvae called vinegar eels.
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Post by castanea on Nov 29, 2012 22:10:41 GMT -5
Don't be discouraged; global climate change is happening. Yeah, it's getting cooler in the Pacific NW.
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Post by steev on Nov 30, 2012 0:44:38 GMT -5
Really? I thought we were working up to drought and heat; what do I know?
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Post by castanea on Dec 1, 2012 10:50:30 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2012 11:34:40 GMT -5
I once shared a house with one librarian and another compulsive hoarder (which is not mention other interesting characters.)
In magazines from before the global warming scare, they predicted an ice age.
Local, volcanic vents have also been sighted by Doppler.
I was saying, for some time, that I could smell hot springs, or something like them, blowing through. Most were naysayers, but other people had reported these fumes to the local papers.
Contrast this, to the south side of town, which used to smell of diesel exhaust, before pollution mandates.
I believe mankind can create consequential quality-of-life issues, so should be better stewards. I believe in catastrophic change, but I have never experienced anything which leads me to believe we are the predominant force of change on this planet.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2012 22:18:37 GMT -5
A palm enthusiast has just said there are legal restrictions on which varieties may be grown, in southern California, and on who may grow them, as a result of lobbying by special interests.
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