https://researchpoems.com Research Poems Mon, 22 May 2023 00:14:49 +0000 https://researchpoems.com en https://researchpoems.com/Home Fri, 06 May 2022 00:40:08 +0000 Research Poems https://researchpoems.com/Home <img width="1702" height="1684" width_o="1702" height_o="1684" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/570fa5b41c3f749f14ebfbb3780d3fb5b72ee6e6027faeeb977ff3ef0e367ebb/CompassRose.png" data-mid="141892996" border="0" alt="A somewhat decorative pixel art compass rose. " data-caption="A somewhat decorative pixel art compass rose. " src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/570fa5b41c3f749f14ebfbb3780d3fb5b72ee6e6027faeeb977ff3ef0e367ebb/CompassRose.png" /> <img width="2894" height="2954" width_o="2894" height_o="2954" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/00ae46d26511cb65fa39592811d9100683f524dc77a944ab32405c73ef231ea1/Ch-12x.png" data-mid="155862978" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/00ae46d26511cb65fa39592811d9100683f524dc77a944ab32405c73ef231ea1/Ch-12x.png" /> <img width="3000" height="2750" width_o="3000" height_o="2750" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b833c28831362748ea7c4c2ec1baa1675e84240536298c0a1d116bd26ca9cf74/Ch-22x.png" data-mid="155862979" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b833c28831362748ea7c4c2ec1baa1675e84240536298c0a1d116bd26ca9cf74/Ch-22x.png" /> <img width="2500" height="2204" width_o="2500" height_o="2204" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3997baad2d8e70fed869cd066eb09ee86db60b8b0be4dac9febf550af27e5346/AC_RP_Title-POem.png" data-mid="180367787" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3997baad2d8e70fed869cd066eb09ee86db60b8b0be4dac9febf550af27e5346/AC_RP_Title-POem.png" /> <img width="3000" height="2667" width_o="3000" height_o="2667" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dc02fda432981bca8918bfd97a33650fa68b25ea836009d73e48d62453630564/AC_DG_Openers_4.png" data-mid="203145455" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dc02fda432981bca8918bfd97a33650fa68b25ea836009d73e48d62453630564/AC_DG_Openers_4.png" /> ABOUT&nbsp; ︎ https://researchpoems.com/About Tue, 10 May 2022 03:08:00 +0000 Research Poems https://researchpoems.com/About <img width="1917" height="1312" width_o="1917" height_o="1312" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4ec2131d39c806b25498f095fcc43244ef1f4f5ba8d9a6765d13cd9684f059af/EnglishGardenHistory_Transparent.png" data-mid="142135531" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4ec2131d39c806b25498f095fcc43244ef1f4f5ba8d9a6765d13cd9684f059af/EnglishGardenHistory_Transparent.png" /> Research Poems is a digital garden tended and cultivated by Meech Boakye and commissioned by&nbsp;Active Cultures. This garden will explore four plant-derived milk coagulants for DIY cheesemaking. The story of each experimental process will weave together collected notes, quotes, maps, diagrams, sounds, and images that dig at the question, what is a garden? For more resources on digital gardens see Maggie Appleton’s “A Brief History &amp; Ethos of the Digital Garden”, Chuck Grimmett’s “What are Digital Gardens?”, Mike Caulfield’s “The Garden and the Stream: A Technopastoral”, and Meech’s collaborative are.na channel on Slow Working. Find more of Meech’s work on their website or on Instagram.&nbsp; ︎ BACK https://researchpoems.com/Gathering-Places Sat, 07 May 2022 20:06:22 +0000 Research Poems https://researchpoems.com/Gathering-Places GATHERING PLACES MAY 15, 2022 These are the gathering places, where most things can remember...old warm bugs, trails in slushy snow, small gifts, deep seeds, the first stones, the rattle of rain on leaves, the spaces where moths glide toward the light, long shadows...this is where we begin.&nbsp; <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9e651fa33faf3d3788d98de14b462f6e8f27641beeeff7969dde9655341c779d/FullSizeRender.jpg" data-mid="141944417" border="0" alt="A lush, vibrant forest understory is covered in spring greens and various lichen-covered branches hang in the foreground. Little pockets of sunlight illuminate the background." data-caption="A lush, vibrant forest understory is covered in spring greens and various lichen-covered branches hang in the foreground. Little pockets of sunlight illuminate the background." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9e651fa33faf3d3788d98de14b462f6e8f27641beeeff7969dde9655341c779d/FullSizeRender.jpg" /> “If it is a human thing to do to put something you want, because it’s useful, edible, or beautiful, into a bag, or a basket, or a bit of rolled bark or leaf, or a net woven of your own hair, or what have you, and then take it home with you, home being another, larger kind of pouch or bag, a container for people, and then later on you take it out and eat it or share it or store it up for winter in a solider container or put it in the medicine bundle or the shrine or the museum, the holy place, the area that contains what is sacred, and then next day you probably do much the same again—if to do that is human, if that’s what it takes, then I am a human being after all. Fully, freely, gladly, for the first time.” The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction, Ursula K. Le Guin. DISPATCH 01 - YEAR 03: SKY In half a mile we will lose the sky. Our bodies are knee-deep in the green-black smell of rot and renewal and in this place everything is eating. My God is dark, and like a web: a thousand roots, silently drinking. They told us this world was dead but we see through the leaf-litter, through the blackened tree-trunks and the bog-pools and the poisoned, furious things that live in them. This silence is movement, this silence is worth dancing in.&nbsp; <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1ec8f139261f913586370b6807320c6ec972f856bd5529b93f0412926f791f17/FullSizeRender-3.jpg" data-mid="141957141" border="0" data-scale="69" alt="A black and white photo of a forest tree canopy against a clear sky if one was to look straight up." data-caption="A black and white photo of a forest tree canopy against a clear sky if one was to look straight up." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1ec8f139261f913586370b6807320c6ec972f856bd5529b93f0412926f791f17/FullSizeRender-3.jpg" /> <img width="1500" height="1997" width_o="1500" height_o="1997" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6f45ea17ed402f5d919000bc8e21b86fc8342e7ef903847e00b11177e53129c3/Haunted-2.png" data-mid="141957949" border="0" alt="The scanned back of a scalloped edge photograph with a yellow price sticker labelled, &quot;Haunted 1.25&quot;" data-caption="The scanned back of a scalloped edge photograph with a yellow price sticker labelled, &quot;Haunted 1.25&quot;" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6f45ea17ed402f5d919000bc8e21b86fc8342e7ef903847e00b11177e53129c3/Haunted-2.png" /> <img width="1681" height="2681" width_o="1681" height_o="2681" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/87e2d35974ffadba26c0aee3ffca6c5257007007598748cc67b4bd0f7e366cc7/UrsulaForest.png" data-mid="141946451" border="0" data-draggable alt="A scanned book cover of Le Guin's &quot;The Word for World is Forest&quot; featuring vibrant, forest-like colors and a woman-like figure who appears to emerge from several organic shapes. " data-caption="A scanned book cover of Le Guin's &quot;The Word for World is Forest&quot; featuring vibrant, forest-like colors and a woman-like figure who appears to emerge from several organic shapes. " src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/87e2d35974ffadba26c0aee3ffca6c5257007007598748cc67b4bd0f7e366cc7/UrsulaForest.png" /> <img width="1600" height="1200" width_o="1600" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f28cad2d9148c47da4ee4d3f1871978b937dd0b3e9c0918ead2c008ed26deacc/Bird_5.png" data-mid="141949704" border="0" alt="An old, handmade metal cookie cutter crudely shaped like a bird in flight." data-caption="An old, handmade metal cookie cutter crudely shaped like a bird in flight." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f28cad2d9148c47da4ee4d3f1871978b937dd0b3e9c0918ead2c008ed26deacc/Bird_5.png" /> We stopped to stare at the towering metal structures across the water, gasping for breath as they filled each barge. This is the big mouth where the two rivers meet. They took me to the edge of the Jeep farm (a middle-place, perhaps no-place), where vehicles arrived in protective stickers to wait for a while; a nursery filled with new, dead objects. We moved through the forest park, noting that some stems had twisted into strange shapes, stuck in an awkward dance. We decided not to pick here, assuming they had been sprayed the year before. We found a vibrant patch of nettles between patches of miner's lettuce and cleavers (sticky things) and gathered for a while. &nbsp; <img width="2048" height="3089" width_o="2048" height_o="3089" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5fe5085d53c397025261cbacd314970ada99e65744a704d4bc4a8a54c7362df1/IMG_9060-2.jpg" data-mid="142603153" border="0" alt="A piece of muslin cloth tied into a ball hangs from a branch, backlit, in a flowering apple tree." data-caption="A piece of muslin cloth tied into a ball hangs from a branch, backlit, in a flowering apple tree." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5fe5085d53c397025261cbacd314970ada99e65744a704d4bc4a8a54c7362df1/IMG_9060-2.jpg" /> <img width="2048" height="3089" width_o="2048" height_o="3089" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/248a29b24272b951330b90d7fcf10b9745b6f135413d7a53bc65cf3a9a713b07/IMG_9065.jpg" data-mid="142603169" border="0" alt="In the foreground is a tall nettle with several cleavers and smaller nettles much shorter below it. The background is a blurry continuation of the lush forest floor." data-caption="In the foreground is a tall nettle with several cleavers and smaller nettles much shorter below it. The background is a blurry continuation of the lush forest floor." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/248a29b24272b951330b90d7fcf10b9745b6f135413d7a53bc65cf3a9a713b07/IMG_9065.jpg" /> <img width="1602" height="2416" width_o="1602" height_o="2416" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a20f0bafa3c9ce2ac82d2df26e6354bc34290c8a82e4ac229f357306ef9469ff/IMG_9062-2.jpg" data-mid="142603154" border="0" alt="A piece of muslin cloth tied in a ball hangs in the air by string. The ball of cloth is visibly wet. In the background there are trees with white and pink flowers. " data-caption="A piece of muslin cloth tied in a ball hangs in the air by string. The ball of cloth is visibly wet. In the background there are trees with white and pink flowers. " src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a20f0bafa3c9ce2ac82d2df26e6354bc34290c8a82e4ac229f357306ef9469ff/IMG_9062-2.jpg" /> Stinging Nettle Rennet&nbsp;🌱I began with 1.5 lbs of fresh nettles. With gloves, I washed them in large bowls of cool water. After draining, I placed them in a stock pot, squished them down and filled the pot with enough water to cover. The amount of water I added was around about 12 cups.This was brought to a boil and left to simmer for 30 mins. At this point, I realized I might have added too much water. I strained and squeezed the mixture, added a tbsp of salt and simmered the remaining liquid for 2-3 more hours until it reduced to around 3 cups. This was decanted and stored in the fridge for a few days until I made cheese. Nettle Rennet Cheese&nbsp;🧀 Half a gallon of local milk (not labeled ultra-pasteurized) was heated slowly to 100° F. It was then taken off the heat. I added 1 tsp of lemon juice and 3/4 cup of nettle rennet. The acidic component was probably unnecessary, but with acid-curdled cheese as my main experience, I was trying to ensure some success with my milk. The mixture was stirred very gently and left to incubate overnight (around 12-18 hours) in the pot, and covered, with a seedling warming mat wrapped around it. An Instant Pot or some towels would also do the trick. The next morning, there were silky curds! These were ladeled and strained in a fine weave muslin cloth and left to drain for several hours. Notes ✏️ I read that you can try adding calcium chloride next time if not using raw milk to get a firmer curd. It might just be worth sourcing raw milk.&nbsp;The cheese got bitter after a few days. While cheeses made with nettle rennet are known to get bitter as they age, I’m not sure if the bitterness came from marinating it for two days in olive oil and herbs or just because of the time frame.&nbsp;Leftover whey can be used in soups or as the liquid in savoury baking recipes. Leftover nettles can be used in pasta or dumpling dough or dried and used in bioplastics.&nbsp; THE HONORABLE HARVEST <img width="2500" height="1897" width_o="2500" height_o="1897" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d59de3c085deb8eafc860869e852eab89f4b4251d3c72739a93f8612fb51c2da/Braiding-Sweetgrass---Honorable-Harvest-Cropped.jpeg" data-mid="141995651" border="0" data-scale="92" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d59de3c085deb8eafc860869e852eab89f4b4251d3c72739a93f8612fb51c2da/Braiding-Sweetgrass---Honorable-Harvest-Cropped.jpeg" />“The guidelines for the Honorable Harvest are not written down, or even consistently spoken of as a whole—they are reinforced in small acts of daily life....Unlike the state laws, the Honorable Harvest is not an enforced legal policy but it is an agreement nonetheless, among people and most especially between consumers and providers.” Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer This list is transcribed on Google Docs here. <img width="1499" height="1442" width_o="1499" height_o="1442" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e8a9382788fcd2f1a358d2c2cc18ece3bb9b11a15f9336daf0d7593bcd8c98d3/Braiding-Sweetgrass-Cover.png" data-mid="141995648" border="0" data-draggable alt="A piece of braided sweetgrass laid in a spiral from the cover of Braiding Sweetgrass. It appears to be a woodcut print." data-caption="A piece of braided sweetgrass laid in a spiral from the cover of Braiding Sweetgrass. It appears to be a woodcut print." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e8a9382788fcd2f1a358d2c2cc18ece3bb9b11a15f9336daf0d7593bcd8c98d3/Braiding-Sweetgrass-Cover.png" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bbcda1d2ed3788c6f3d17fef817aa2b7d39c2c5a79fb819786506989fcd2245e/IMG_7365.jpg" data-mid="141957117" border="0" data-scale="100" alt="A peek into a lush forest on a sunny day with lacy ferns covering the forest floor and tree branches." data-caption="A peek into a lush forest on a sunny day with lacy ferns covering the forest floor and tree branches." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bbcda1d2ed3788c6f3d17fef817aa2b7d39c2c5a79fb819786506989fcd2245e/IMG_7365.jpg" /> A Brief History of Foraging &amp; Trespass I originally encountered the history of racist anti-trespass laws through a post by Wretched Flowers, a collaborative floristy, ceramics and textile practice that focuses on locally foraging and harvesting dead flowers for boquets. Last year I encountered this video by Alexis Nikole Nelson&nbsp;(@BlackForager), a wild food educator that’s very popular on TikTok. She does a great job of explaining these postbellum anti-trespass laws, how a law can be racially targeting without explicitly having to say so. Notes on Food Law Gone Wild:&nbsp;The Law of Foraging by Baylen J. Linnekin Modern foraging laws were created to infringe upon the rights of Indigenous folks, Black folks, and rural white farmersForaging has an aesthetic value; foraged goods are found marked up in high-end restaurants even though wild foods are a free resourceUsing the flawed notion that agricultural societies are more advanced than hunter-gatherer societies, foraging laws have been used to further displace Indigenous peoples and practices which are vital for preserving cultural and spiritual traditions and for providing sustenance&nbsp; For newly freed enslaved folks, anti-trespass laws further kept Black people from being self-sufficient; without wild foods to consume, trade, or sell, Black people without land were limited in bargaining power that could allow them to leave the plantation systemConservationists sometimes pit themselves against foragers, accusing some of “ridding the land of native plants”; however many foragers are conservationists themselves, understanding that foraging is a reciprocal process of give and takeActs that allow people to enjoy nature must include foraging; the “benefits of foraging can only be maximized if the practice is legal”The museumification of parks relates to the idea in landscape architecture that the urban park is a respite from the city (ie. labour) functioning as a resting place; “early parks advocates” determined which activities were rural and which were urban (foraging was rural) See: “Gathering ‘wild’ food in the city: Rethinking the role of foraging in urban ecosystem planning and management”, Rebecca J. McLaina, et. al. for more on this parks discussion <img width="2144" height="1551" width_o="2144" height_o="1551" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5c84bf4325d3eb77b0697153cdd7424bc7f6a73da358759cde800d319508d8f0/Miniature-Photographs.png" data-mid="142133969" border="0" data-scale="93" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5c84bf4325d3eb77b0697153cdd7424bc7f6a73da358759cde800d319508d8f0/Miniature-Photographs.png" /> From Ana Cecilia Alvarez‘s “Look for America” in Real Life Magazine, “...to the National Park Service, nature is something to be managed in order to keep it natural. This myth has spurned devastatingly foolish policies, like the active suppression of fires in the Sierran forests: What stronger symbol than fire to rattle the vision of an undisturbed wilderness? The forests, in fact, need fire, to clear lower brush, to aid certain trees in reproduction. It is now widely accepted amongst forest managers that indigenous people regularly set fires as part of broader practices to actively cultivate and tend to the forest. It never occurred to the first white settlers who came to Yosemite and exclaimed that it had the pristine beauty of a European garden that it in fact was a garden, that this untouched wilderness was formed from intentional and continual human interaction.” Now Available&nbsp;Chapter Two:&nbsp;The Mushroom at the End of the World, Urban Foraging, &amp; Fig Sap Rennet ABOUT ︎ HOME https://researchpoems.com/Hyperflush Fri, 07 Oct 2022 00:44:11 +0000 Research Poems https://researchpoems.com/Hyperflush HYPERFLUSH OCTOBER 14, 2022 late summer sunspots like deep orange yolks; blushing fungus, luna moth on your garage door; dusk mowers, liquid sunset, sugar water libation, salt, fire, wind, white noise; fruit, hyperflush While researching the use of fig sap as a milk coagulant, I found the Italian term Formaggio a Foglia di Fico. This translates to Fig Leaf Cheese, which, from what I understand, may not always refer to cheeses coagulated with fig sap but more important, wrapped in fig leaves. However, translating sap into Italian and back again I found another thread. The word linfa means sap in Italian but in English, the first translation is lymph. Not the same, not quite so different; both have biological definitions. Sap is a fluid transported through a plant’s cells, carrying water, inorganic nutrients, and sugary fluids among other molecules. (In somewhat of an opposite way, to sap means to gradually weaken someone’s power). Lymphatic fluid in the lymphatic system works similarly to plant sap, carrying white blood cells that fight against disease and infection. In mythology, the word lymph can refer to “pure water” or Lympha, the ancient Roman goddess of fresh water and one of twelve agricultural deities. in the shadows, some clear and fresh sap <img width="1359" height="1198" width_o="1359" height_o="1198" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4617eabf0a62f575833664e4f2fd2fc12cf0c55f51a70fe51db591b5d550771f/Fig-Cheese-on-Leaf-2.png" data-mid="155783770" border="0" data-no-zoom="true" alt="A triangular slice of soft cheese sits on a fig leaf. The cheese and leaf are sprinkled with basil flowers, black pepper, and flaky salt crystals. " data-caption="A triangular slice of soft cheese sits on a fig leaf. The cheese and leaf are sprinkled with basil flowers, black pepper, and flaky salt crystals. " src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4617eabf0a62f575833664e4f2fd2fc12cf0c55f51a70fe51db591b5d550771f/Fig-Cheese-on-Leaf-2.png" /> <img width="1934" height="2415" width_o="1934" height_o="2415" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6beafe84319bf9a6408951727f09e89668f298e2579a0aae79762cc1e3524332/Figs-in-Tree.png" data-mid="155764919" border="0" data-scale="90" data-no-zoom alt="Three plump green figs on the branch of a fig tree surrounded by large fig leaves. " data-caption="Three plump green figs on the branch of a fig tree surrounded by large fig leaves. " src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6beafe84319bf9a6408951727f09e89668f298e2579a0aae79762cc1e3524332/Figs-in-Tree.png" /> <img width="2626" height="1741" width_o="2626" height_o="1741" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e45920af0bac4897735a98363d2f49240149f9ca247232ff02f623699723e16f/Fig-Branch-New-Crop.png" data-mid="155778921" border="0" data-scale="83" data-no-zoom="true" alt="Part of a fig tree branch filled with leaves sits on top of two overlapping sheets of newspaper." data-caption="Part of a fig tree branch filled with leaves sits on top of two overlapping sheets of newspaper." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e45920af0bac4897735a98363d2f49240149f9ca247232ff02f623699723e16f/Fig-Branch-New-Crop.png" /> DISPATCH 02 - YEAR 05: HEAT The city is inflamed — a throbbing mass humming with heat. I run to the cherry tree’s shadow spreading thinly across the sidewalk. The concrete beneath me is a reservoir, holding onto liquid sunshine. Another warm body attaches itself to the tree's trunk. A green man, skin unclouded by sun spots; hair shiny and photosynthesizing. As quiet as a breeze he tells me, “the world, our world, is depleted, impoverished enough...we must soak in what we can, preserve our energy, and reflect it onto others; bracing ourselves for the eventual decay.” ︎ FIG SAP CHEESE&nbsp;︎ INGREDIENTS Half a gallon of whole milk (NOT “ultra” pasteurized)1 cup of heavy creamJuice of ½ lemonSaltSeveral fresh fig leavesA small fig branchA few drops of fig sapA cheese mold or cheeseclothA fine mesh strainer &amp; a place for the whey to drain <img width="1629" height="968" width_o="1629" height_o="968" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ff2cf7013875009b6e97a759a78ace7a76ba978514321cd20f9245ef0b4d5fbc/Fig-Cheese-on-Leaf.png" data-mid="155793544" border="0" data-scale="84" data-no-zoom data-draggable alt="Two triangular slices of soft cheese rest on a fig leaf. They are sprinkled with basil flowers, black pepper, and flaky salt crystals." data-caption="Two triangular slices of soft cheese rest on a fig leaf. They are sprinkled with basil flowers, black pepper, and flaky salt crystals." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ff2cf7013875009b6e97a759a78ace7a76ba978514321cd20f9245ef0b4d5fbc/Fig-Cheese-on-Leaf.png" /> To forage for fig sap, bring a small jar or container to catch the milky droplets as you pick figs and leaves off the tree. Since the sap can irritate the skin, I wore gloves while foraging. I also cut off a small fig branch with some additional leaves on it. I wanted to test both types of recipes I found — one method uses a branch and lemon juice while the other method uses just sap — but I believe the fig sap droplets are the most potent coagulant and the process would work just as well without the branch. &nbsp; Add the branch (I carved the bark off first and cut it in half), milk, and cream to a pot and slowly warm it up until it reaches 122° F. Then, turn off the heat, close the lid, and leave it alone for 30 minutes. If you have a cheese mold, this is the time to add the leaves to the basket. Set the lid tightly inside to mold the leaves to the shape of the basket. If you are using cheesecloth, line a fine mesh strainer with several layers (using big enough sheets to allow the ends to be tied) and set the strainer over a large bowl. After 30 minutes, remove the branch, and add a good pinch of salt, the lemon juice, and the fig sap. Turn the heat back on low, slowly warm the cheese and stir gently as the curds separate from the whey. Leave for 15 minutes undisturbed. Cut the curd into cubes by slicing in one direction, then perpendicularly, and finally in a diagonal-horizonal way to break up the long columns you created. Mix gently in one direction for another 10 minutes.&nbsp; Separate the curds from the whey using a ladle or slotted spoon. (I find it best to scoop large curds first instead of just pouring the whole pot.) Gently compress the curds into the mold and push them down with the lid. Leave it at room temperature for two hours and then move it to the fridge, emptying the bowl or drainage container of liquid as needed. After a day in the fridge, lay excess leaves on top of the cheese and flip it over. The cheese can be eaten at this stage or left in the fridge for 5 days. After these initial 5 days, it may be cured for longer in a cheese cellar with a temperature of around 50° F. I chose to eat my cheese after two days. It was delicious and creamy! NOTES&nbsp;︎ I followed this recipe with slight adaptations.Fig sap droplets can be dissolved in water to get the residue off the container.While this recipe only calls for fig sap, you will need to pick figs and leaves to get it. Ripe figs can be eaten, and unripe figs can be preserved in syrup,If you do not want to wrap your cheese in leaves, they can be dried for tea, made into a simple syrup or infused in oil. Their fragrance is unique and pleasant. As for the whey, there are many unique ways others have used excess whey in the kitchen but one way I’ve utilized whey was 1:1 in place of other liquids like water or milk in baking recipes. <img width="2584" height="3184" width_o="2584" height_o="3184" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bc36ac1beccc6a5db71052a4e04b1f92d142aaf4702a2d6244c72b18a159d798/ST_3.png" data-mid="155793034" border="0" alt="A large tree grows on a street corner next to a pale-colored house. Two phone lines seem to intersect within it. In the corner, there is a small blur, perhaps a fingerprint. " data-caption="A large tree grows on a street corner next to a pale-colored house. Two phone lines seem to intersect within it. In the corner, there is a small blur, perhaps a fingerprint. " src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bc36ac1beccc6a5db71052a4e04b1f92d142aaf4702a2d6244c72b18a159d798/ST_3.png" /> <img width="2584" height="3752" width_o="2584" height_o="3752" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/be654f1f32fd069d7c01107ef45796b149107d72c6dbcac42301186fb6e704d8/ST_1.png" data-mid="155793031" border="0" alt="A tall tree grows on a street corner. The tree is missing many of its limbs on one side. They appear to be cut off. There are many phone lines in the foreground, traveling through the top of the image. " data-caption="A tall tree grows on a street corner. The tree is missing many of its limbs on one side. They appear to be cut off. There are many phone lines in the foreground, traveling through the top of the image. " src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/be654f1f32fd069d7c01107ef45796b149107d72c6dbcac42301186fb6e704d8/ST_1.png" /> <img width="2608" height="3184" width_o="2608" height_o="3184" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/deb03f418e3849d9703e8c0d55c2bfc45ce0fcfcef3cddb86926f98c0aec980a/ST_4.png" data-mid="155793035" border="0" alt="A large, triangular-shaped tree grows in between a house, a sidewalk, and several bright flowers. The tree looks bushy and full against a clear sky with sparse clouds. " data-caption="A large, triangular-shaped tree grows in between a house, a sidewalk, and several bright flowers. The tree looks bushy and full against a clear sky with sparse clouds. " src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/deb03f418e3849d9703e8c0d55c2bfc45ce0fcfcef3cddb86926f98c0aec980a/ST_4.png" /> <img width="2157" height="2636" width_o="2157" height_o="2636" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/22d3de7bc79d62ccba5e99ceba9225a2018753ab94cceab105267af93160da67/ST_2.png" data-mid="155793032" border="0" alt="A lopsided tree with leaves hanging down from its branches grows in front of two houses. In the foreground, several phone lines enter the frame. In the background, two old trees stand tall and dormant without their leaves. " data-caption="A lopsided tree with leaves hanging down from its branches grows in front of two houses. In the foreground, several phone lines enter the frame. In the background, two old trees stand tall and dormant without their leaves. " src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/22d3de7bc79d62ccba5e99ceba9225a2018753ab94cceab105267af93160da67/ST_2.png" /> Found photos of street trees in “Portland”.&nbsp; (another list) walk begins a half hour before sunset. I’m checking the ground for fruit&nbsp;sounds: rot (squish), small flies (buzz); looking for pollinators. Heat wave, thirsy bean bed, cooled off in sparkling river water with the boys. Sweet pea and lupine seed saving. Trees that belong to no one. Everybody eats. BEARING FRUIT I started looking for fruit trees more intentionally when I moved to “Portland”, using the website Falling Fruit as a guide to what edible things were available around me. I found that this city has a large number of fruit trees, many of which either didn’t seem to belong to any one home or, if they did, had owners willing to share their abundance when asked.The more I looked into it, the more I learned about the various entanglements of street trees. For instance, the term botanical sexism, or&nbsp;heat islands, a phenomenon that occurs in many urban or suburban areas in the United States with sparse tree cover. “Buildings and paved surfaces – like major roadways, uncovered parking lots and industrial zones – amplified heat, while large parks and other green spaces cooled down the surrounding areas. In cities like Baltimore and Washington, some of the hottest temperatures were recorded in dense residential neighborhoods with little tree cover and plenty of asphalt to absorb and radiate solar energy” (Summer in the City Is Hot, but Some Neighborhoods Suffer More). These heat islands have associated health risks that only increase as climate change intensifies. Shade is often understood as a luxury amenity...but as deadly, hundred-degree heatwaves become commonplace, we have to learn to see shade as a civic resource that is shared by all. In the shade, overheated bodies return to equilibrium...for people vulnerable to heat stress and exhaustion — outdoor workers, the elderly, the homeless — that can be the difference between life and death. Shade is thus an index of inequality, a requirement for public health, and a mandate for urban planners and designers.Shade, Sam Bloch Street trees that are planted for shade and aesthetic may not ever live to old age. Although they are often cared for and maintained in their youth, in their often concrete-bound homes, many will remain shallow-rooted, and without support from communities of mycelium, microbia, and all the small things that bury themselves in the soil (The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben). ON THE POSSIBILITY OF LIFE... <img width="1394" height="1024" width_o="1394" height_o="1024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cf207e56e803062fb4e7310cce7261e4ff8d61eba41c0afcd0c22c4db4b7814a/34883149301_f861d1e0b5_o.jpg" data-mid="155780413" border="0" alt="The interior of a tree trunk from a felled tree with many rings. Several tall tree trunks stand in the blurred background." data-caption="The interior of a tree trunk from a felled tree with many rings. Several tall tree trunks stand in the blurred background." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cf207e56e803062fb4e7310cce7261e4ff8d61eba41c0afcd0c22c4db4b7814a/34883149301_f861d1e0b5_o.jpg" /> While looking for fruit in the city, I often encounter disturbance. These sites are also called ruderal ecosystems (Latin for ‘of the rubble’), heavily disturbed, marginal lands in which a limited number or type of species can thrive. When systems become unrecognizable through change and disturbance, “invasive species” often take a foothold, but these species cannot be understood in isolation. One of my favorite spots, a short trail on the perimeter of a golf course, is home to blackberries, wild fennel, wild pea, and numerous other species. They stretch and entangle with each other, in the tight corridor between a busy road and the carefully cut lawn. I have found so much life here, amidst the weeds. In The Mushroom at the End of the World, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing describes the various collaborations of life in the forest as an assemblage. She writes, “...rather than limit our analyses to one creature at a time (including humans), or even one relationship, if we want to know what makes places livable we should be studying polyphonic assemblages, gatherings of ways of being. Assemblages are performances of livability.” Once we understand the value of these lives on the margins, lives that entangle us in performances of livability, perhaps we might learn how to collaborate with them. Coming in 2023&nbsp; Chapter Three: Against Purity, “Weeds”, and Thistle Stamen Rennet. <img width="1017" height="763" width_o="1017" height_o="763" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e55fafb47cf9861db6bbd08ebcc241e7f198b132ab14db689804954cf46a0b4a/Bird_6.png" data-mid="155115313" border="0" data-scale="12" alt="A vintage tin cookie cutter in the shape of a bird in flight. " data-caption="A vintage tin cookie cutter in the shape of a bird in flight. " src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e55fafb47cf9861db6bbd08ebcc241e7f198b132ab14db689804954cf46a0b4a/Bird_6.png" /> ABOUT ︎ HOME https://researchpoems.com/Gardening Mon, 22 May 2023 00:14:49 +0000 Research Poems https://researchpoems.com/Gardening GARDENING “All there is, while things perpetually fall apart, is the possibility of acting from where we are. Being against purity means that there is no primordial state we might wish to get back to, no Eden we have desecrated, no pretoxic body we might uncover.” Against Purity, Alex Shotwell <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/49e104d9d6e0f71188654826e777b31e01fb2cec61393dbf20da85da07649a93/52390827133_9a0f611e47_o.jpg" data-mid="180253002" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/49e104d9d6e0f71188654826e777b31e01fb2cec61393dbf20da85da07649a93/52390827133_9a0f611e47_o.jpg" /> <img width="2474" height="1649" width_o="2474" height_o="1649" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8198f56d82875d281b591df9b05b42f84f5d1fc3f31a8cb62f5bc73363c3c86b/52985764012_fcff310198_o.jpg" data-mid="184562943" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8198f56d82875d281b591df9b05b42f84f5d1fc3f31a8cb62f5bc73363c3c86b/52985764012_fcff310198_o.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="1326" width_o="2000" height_o="1326" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6c3616754311c55cea2eb53114f0026dd2c9ee87ffe6dec725672d86ffd9c7b5/AC_RP_CH3.png" data-mid="180252529" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6c3616754311c55cea2eb53114f0026dd2c9ee87ffe6dec725672d86ffd9c7b5/AC_RP_CH3.png" /> MAY 21, 2023 - roots unearth me, stepping through the forest’s tiny rivers...are there weeds in the Garden of Eden? <img width="1280" height="960" width_o="1280" height_o="960" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1a63907ac7b90c68756c702380826db5785b6f08d4645ed806092f84d67044a4/moths-3307028_1280.black-orchid-lightlime.preview.png" data-mid="180254414" border="0" data-scale="76" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1a63907ac7b90c68756c702380826db5785b6f08d4645ed806092f84d67044a4/moths-3307028_1280.black-orchid-lightlime.preview.png" /> DISPATCH 03 - YEAR 13: GROWTH horizontal lines gather as I watch the colors grow brighter. Is this the live stream? we’re watching pale children descend down a flat field, hunting mushrooms, detaching themselves from the earth. Moon is a torch, dull and yellow. I watch as the morning fog covers a meadow of milkweed, weaving through the stalks like a breathing thing. The dog knows my name, he tells me he’s ready to go home now. I remember when there were only oak doors, bramble bushes, and a tiny tree sitting at the bottom of the staircase. There were no carrots or potatoes, there wasn't even snow. I remember when there was no inventory, when you could only place dirt and gravel, when you couldn't eat or drink or people would stare at you. I remember when there was nothing but dandelions and mud, and the confused, dark skies. I remember when you could dig deep down to where there was nothing; no wings, no twigs, no path, no moss, no silence. variations of a comment left on Minecraft Relaxing Music Box 10 Hours (Rain + Visuals) TRANSPLANTS “To create a world with more flourishing, we might start by rejecting rigid categories and getting curious about the complex ways we are entangled with multispecies beings, especially those with complicated reputations.” C&amp;M <img width="2048" height="3089" width_o="2048" height_o="3089" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7ee0973fdbb5514a9bce452b0e8e975d4cfa39cda5f553420c57ee37c473b0d9/IMG_3540.jpg" data-mid="180252990" border="0" data-scale="91" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7ee0973fdbb5514a9bce452b0e8e975d4cfa39cda5f553420c57ee37c473b0d9/IMG_3540.jpg" /> Christina Kingsbury and I met in the summer of 2021. Over the next several months, we engaged in asynchronous conversations in a virtual document that quickly became a repository for ideas, questions, research, and poems. Transplant thinking emerged from these collaborative writings, accompanied by on-site relational works and biomaterial experiments.As we spoke with each other we noticed a tension between the ways in which we wanted to relate to plants and disturbed sites and the scientific language we had to describe them. We started using the term transplant to consider connections between plant and human bodies beyond dominant categorizations. Transplant thinking provides a shift in positioning, inviting us to look at inter-species solidarities and alignments. It recognizes that there is a connection between the ways that human bodies have been transplanted against their will through displacement and enslavement and more-than-human organisms that have migrated without agency. It acknowledges the ongoing attempts at controlling or eradicating these beings before, during, and after transplantation. In its most generative form, transplant thinking uncovers new and unexpected possibilities for multispecies collaborations.“Our work together strives to meet transplants with the knowledge that, as uninvited immigrants to this land, we have work to do to learn how to be here, how to ‘take care of the land as if our lives and the lives of all our relatives depend on it.’ Perhaps, if we build relationships with transplant beings, we can do this work together.” “Strange, Delightful, Impure Frolic,” Christina Kingsbury &amp; Meech Boakye “Restoration in this sense is not so much a process of going back, but of moving forward into the unknown, and using our creativity and the tools available to us to create the conditions in which life can thrive. We need to garden and expand our notion of how everything else does also...Tending a garden is one of the best ways to manifest — to put into practice — this paradigm shift.” Beyond the War on Invasive Species, Tao Orion CARDOON (THISTLE) STAMEN RENNET <img width="3637" height="2258" width_o="3637" height_o="2258" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/44c142bbc15c6cdecb5a977d377f1bd14807d788b434ae0c23e580bd5c18c865/9BE9C41A-05DF-44D3-AB6C-9093DA920332.JPG" data-mid="180365528" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/44c142bbc15c6cdecb5a977d377f1bd14807d788b434ae0c23e580bd5c18c865/9BE9C41A-05DF-44D3-AB6C-9093DA920332.JPG" />“Native thistles are a largely misunderstood and wrongly maligned group of wildflowers. Many species of bees, butterflies, and other wildlife rely heavily on native thistle flowers. For example, monarch butterflies visit native thistle flowers more than any other wildflowers in some regions during their migration back to Mexico. Despite the significance of native thistles to our ecosystems, these plants are often targeted for eradication along with the more widely recognized invasive thistles.” Source This cheese has been one of my favorites to make. It was quite simple, and the rennet I used had been dried and preserved several months prior. For a liter of milk, about one head of stamens was used (1g dried). Using gloves, as the head is quite spiky, I lopped off a few heads of a neighbors’ plant but learned later that stamens might regrow if you just cut them off the living plant. I pulled the stamens from the head and let them dry for a few weeks. They were stored in an airtight container until I needed to use them. After locating the cardoons, the only other cumbersome task might be finding goat milk that isn’t Ultra-Pasteurized, as you want to use that or sheep milk. After doing some reading I found that cow’s milk will get too bitter, especially when aged. With some research I found what I needed at Trader Joe’s. The coagulation process for this cheese was quite simple. To extract the coagulating enzyme from the stamens, make a tea by heating up some water (not quite boiling, just warm) and add to the dried stamen. The ratio I used here was around 1 g of stamens to 10 mL of water, but I added a bit more water to submerge the stamens a bit more. I left this to steep for 15 minutes. I then added a liter of milk to a pot, brought it up to 30° C and, once it was ready, added the stamen tea strained through a fine mesh sieve. (The tea made little flecks in the milk which was sweet, like the way it looks when you use vanilla paste in a cookie.) I covered the pot with its lid and left it off the heat for 45 mins. When I returned, it had coagulated! I cut the curd into cubes by gently slicing through to the bottom in one direction, then turning the pot 90° perpendicularly and finally slicing in a diagonal-horizontal fashion to cut the columns of curd I’d created. I then stirred for 10 mins. Finally, I transferred the curds with a slotted spoon to a cheese mold lined with cheesecloth and let it drain using gravity at first and then with a bit of weight on top. After a night it had lost most of the extra whey and was solid and creamy. The texture was a bit confusing, shiny and smooth almost like mozzarella but creamy like a block of goat cheese from the store. I added salt and stirred it until it became a creamy spread, then topped it with olive oil, flaky sea salt, and fresh cracked pepper. It tasted wonderful this way.&nbsp; <img width="3370" height="2770" width_o="3370" height_o="2770" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b4145dc690d3197b01db9afeff0b00b4d69fd6a47f80ac4c79ef3b7b621d4242/Subject.png" data-mid="180253072" border="0" data-draggable src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b4145dc690d3197b01db9afeff0b00b4d69fd6a47f80ac4c79ef3b7b621d4242/Subject.png" /> Notes This recipe was the most useful to me during the testing process.Bull thistles may also be used for this process but you will need to harvest more of them. When harvesting cardoon heads, or any plant for that matter, only take what is needed. Pollinators absolutely adore this flower. My nettle cheese got bitter quite quickly and I’m curious if using goat or sheep milk would have made a difference. I tried grinding the dried stamens into a powder for the “tea” in an electronic spice grinder without much luck but it didn’t seem to make too much of a difference. <img width="2048" height="3089" width_o="2048" height_o="3089" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/982d00e2a5d82194efc0cee6ad449d94d1ad78899b28d0ed10549eb214c7cc8f/000072280031.png" data-mid="180366675" border="0" data-scale="88" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/982d00e2a5d82194efc0cee6ad449d94d1ad78899b28d0ed10549eb214c7cc8f/000072280031.png" /> “Any understanding of our place in the world rests on an understanding of the historical processes that have, in Antonio Gramsci’s formulation, deposited in us “an infinity of traces, without leaving an inventory.” And any reckoning with the past that we carry in our present involves crafting some way to inventory the ghosts in our bones, and some way to understand what colonialism took.” Against Purity, Alex Shotwell “We ask people to relate to what they experience with respect and compassion for themselves. They’re not just griping and grumping. It is absolutely shattering when we open our eyes and see that we are actually, in an accelerating fashion, destroying the future...People fear that if they let despair in, they’ll be paralyzed because they are just one person. Paradoxically, by allowing ourselves to feel our pain for the world, we open ourselves up to the web of life, and we realize that we’re not alone…The response that is appropriate and that this work elicits is to grow a sense of solidarity with others and to elaborate a whole new sense of what our resources are and what our power is.”&nbsp;Beyond the War on Invasive Species, Tao Orion quoting Joanna Macy Coming up...&nbsp; Chapter Four: Working Together &amp; saying goodbye.&nbsp; ABOUT ︎ HOME