Last spring I made my first foray into the intricacies of Thai cooking in my post "Pad Thai Is a Beautiful Thing" when I made a mean batch of pad thai (in fact I've been thinking lately that I could use some more right about now, the cravings have been hitting hard) but I found some tiny seeds in the block of dried tamarind pulp.I planted some of the seeds and wouldn't you know? This is what I got. Kind of cute isn't it? They took FOREVER to germinate and then to grow but apparently tamarind is a fruit-producing tree that grows all over the world in tropical and sub-tropical climates and a huge portion of the world's population eats tamarind regularly.
I found it interesting that I'd never even heard of the stuff when it's such a part of the diet and lives of millions--or rather billions--of people around the globe. Go figure. It would be the equivalent of finding someone who'd never seen an evergreen tree and didn't know what a pinecone is I suppose.
Well pardon my former ignorance, I now know what tamarind is and the little plant is thriving very well. The only question is what to do with it now?
And finally I present a plate with Mystery Seeds on it. I found them in the garden and dried them for next year's planting--any guesses as to what they might be? No fair guessing chipmunk brains, that one was already taken by David.
If you can guess what they are I'll be VERY impressed. You'd get some kind of Gardener Extraordinaire award.
***
And as for awards, here is my little nod to a few who have been so kind as to hang around and comment regularly. On a week like this when I've been "in a funk" (that's how my Mom describes a week like this--you ever have weeks like that where you're just kind of down and you eat way too much because of it? Well hide the ice cream folks it's been a bad one).
Anyway, it's so comforting to have nice people like you.
Creative Thoughts by Chelle. Every time she pulls out a new template (which she designed herself) I am in more awe.
All over the Map. Because deep down I wish I lived in Australia. And check out those cute crafts!
Team Moffitt. Such excellent taste in books and music . . .
Mozi Esme. Because I am such a sucker for blogs from far away, it's my National Geographic fix. Now if only I could get that accent to appear properly in her title--it bugs me that I can't get it right.
Octomom--after a surgery in the family she deserves a little praise and shout out.
***
Entered the Write-Away Contest yet? The deadline is drawing near . . . and that year's supply of beauty products is calling to you . . .
Sponsored by Tiny Prints--The place for the perfect holiday invitations.
Technorati tags: photographs, gardening, tamarind
30 comments:
Can't help you with the seeds thing, but good luck with the growing of them.
I am blushing :)
What a cool looking plant!
Not really exotic but I have a bunch of avocado plants I am attempting to grow from seed. My husband has even taken a few to work for his office :)
There is something magical about growing a plant from a seed.
é
Hold down the Alt key on your keyboard and (using the number pad) type 130.
Here is a URL to ASCII and extended ASCII characters.
¿
This one is Alt-168
Whoops. Forgot the URL:
http://www.asciitable.com/
that plant is cute! i want one... lol
However, the ALT-1-3-0 é may not "translate" in all browsers. Go to your HTML and use é and you'll have something that everything except the very oldest browser can see.
NB Blogger does not allow HTML in a title (as in you can't enter Esmé and expect it to look right) but you can right it in the HTML section of the main bodt and then cut and paste.
Have I made sense?
An n-dash (which looks so much more elegant than a double hyphen) is –
I think those are nasturtium seeds! We plant them every year...they are beautiful and the flowers are even edible.
Tamarind just isn't as common in American cooking and hard to find. As for the seeds, they look familiar, but... I'm drawing a blank!LOL I want to say Glads, but maybe asters... I've had one of those weeks too! *SIGH*
Yup, ducky, you're completely right. I'm impressed--I've known about nasturtiums forever but only when I planted some last year did I see how whopping huge the seeds were.
And thanks for the tips on accents--let me try it:
¡£º´
Alt 130 e didn't do it--
Let me try again:
é
HA!
Okay for me I had to hold down the Alt and type an e then type e again without the Alt.
Excellent.
é é é é é é é é é é é é é é é é é é
My Es will be properly accented from this point forth.
é
Sorry that you have been in a funk! I have been eating way too many m&m's (leftover from Frosty the Snowman cupcakes) this week. Oh yeah, and Blue Bell ice cream, but it's the best so that's okay. ;)
I'm useless here. I can barely recognize a plant when it's blooming. Although I do know what morning glory seeds look like.
I'm not sure whether you know or not, but nasturtium leaves (and blossoms, I think) are very tasty. They add a nice tangy flavour to sandwiches or salads. I love nasturtiums!
I too am wondering how to write accents over letters. Properly spelled my nickname, Montse, should have an accent over the e.
Its cute, like a very teeny weeping willow.
Ah, I love those!
Congrats on your green thumb, I cant get my thumb to turn...I am trying.
Given the size of your animals up there are you sure those are seeds and not mice droppings! Just kidding. Have you had more snow? And how is the addition, is it complete?
No idea...hmmm....nope, I don't know!
You made my day! Glad you enjoy my choice of music I don't believe many people really care for it, what can I say I'm old fashion. I have no idea what the seeds could be. I planted with my parents once a year in the garden and it was never an enjoyable experience with five other kids complaining. I never paid much attention to the actual seeds.
I have been checking out your "blog nods". Very cool! I just wanted to point out that I started reading Scribbit because I secretly want to live in Alaska.
oops I was going to say they look something like morning glory seeds but I haven't grown nast.... for a long time
Sandra
Hi! Couldn't begin to tell you what the mystery seeds are lol. I never have had a green thumb or any other finger for that matter. I have trouble keeping a cactus alive.
Found you blog through Don't Try This At Home while playing Pay It Forward Friday on An Iowa Moms blog. You should stop by and check it out! It is a fun way to explore blogs that you may never have found. http://www.aniowamom.com/an_iowa_mom/
Cool plant! Cool seeds! Look kind of like nasturtiums. Or "nasty urchins" as my students call them.
:)
MS
Looks like a plant I once bought in a 2" pot that was marked "perennial forget me not", which turned out to be 10' tall. Someones joke, I thought.
Wow!
I'm a bit gobsmacked & chuffed about getting a nod from you & linky love too! Thanks M. :)
I feel like my little blog is so-so and I have so much more I want it to be. I'm working on it.
I love Australia but deep down I dream about a rainy, green shire in the UK. We all have those deep downs.
I went back to the phad thai post. That was good. You & the wok were awesome (that *awesome* is a little cheekiness for you):).I LOVE tofu or chicken phad thai. I love thai food.
When you said you could not figure out how to get the accent egu (é)- the other way is egrave, I wanted to jump through and show you just how easy it is but I see someone pointed you in the right direction. Well, almost and I'll get to that. See, where else could I flex my knowledge of all those years studying French?
Not having my mac for nearly 6 months now(Now here's where I run on a little)I had to think for a moment what I did for all the alternate symbols, etc. I'm out of practice and it was automatic ( a no brainer) for me so I never really thought about it. Apple knows design and how to make things easy for the user.
That person obviously works on a pc but in the end you figured it out. Bravo!And, I've been wondering how to get those now that I'm confined, that's right I said confined, to using a pc. Until I get my new mac(I'm currently looking). It has aggravated me to no end. I don't know what I have to memorise to get the egrave? Some other random number combo? Yeah I suppose I could have googled it but I hadn't. I just get mad and miss using a mac even more because I can't EASILY do all the little cool tricks I did before which only adds to my negative feelings about pc's and windows in general. I'm not a fan. Could 'ya tell?
SO my point is:
This is absolute proof that it takes less steps on a mac than a pc. Alt + three keys (and why is it 130? Where is the sense in that?)On the mac. Alt + e key and then e. Mmmhhh? The e key to put a symbol over the e. Now that makes perfect sense. Then again, Apple always makes sense to me.
**don't hate me pc users. i'm using one too right now. i'm grateful but i've not fallen in love with it. the reason i carry on here is because M gets me, or i sure as heck hope she does?
I am in admiration of the seeds, the pictures, the recipes and the wonderful things on your site. I was born and raised in an apartment in Rome, Italy and am so not crafty or particularly good at cooking (except for pasta) ...really enjoy your site...
Cheers,
Anita
I think that's so cool that you just planted the seeds without knowing what they were. An adventurous spirit you have.
Not me. That would never have occurred to me to plant them.
I too think they are nasturtium seeds. Will you plant them and let us know. The flowers are edible and nice in a salad.
That is a handsome tree. It will grow indoors during the winter but can be a bit messy with leaves. It will like being outside during the summer. I think it has a very attractive flower but does get to 80 feet tall in the wild.
One of the only seeds I could identify by sight. We planted nasturtiums two years ago and at the end of that summer we had two giant beds FULL of them, trailing into the yard, up the gas meter and electric meter, holding hands- er, vines- between beds even. We combed through all the soil to rid it of the seeds and this summer we STILL had a surprise nasturtium pop up and spread all over. My kind of plant! ;)
Cool tamarind tree-thingy! I'm impressed!
Wow - thanks for making my day with the mention! Our internet has been terrible, so I only just saw this today...
Beautiful tamarind plant! The trees are beautiful with their pods, but I doubt you'd get one to grow well where you're at... :) I love the stuff, but I've just eaten it straight - I have no idea how you'd cook with it.
It looks like plantdiva guessed correctly several weeks ago I posted a couple of photos of a corm I found on a job site.We wanted to see what it was so grace and we planted it.Two weeeks ago, it had no roots at all and now it’s well rooted and has a nice shoot.
-------------------------
kesha
promoter
Post a Comment