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| Giant Camas in a restored meadow at Padden Lagoon, Bellingham |
Late last fall Mom, Katrina, and I seeded several wonderfully edible
Garry Oak Ecosystem species. So far, the Garry Oaks (
Quercus garryana), Miner's Lettuce (
Claytonia perfoliata), Common Camas (
Camassia quamash), and Giant Camas (
C. leichtlinii) have all come up. Garry Oaks are a strongly taprooted species and the roots had already made it down to the bottom of the pint-sized pots and started to circle around (which probably isn't too good for the trees). Mom transferred them into 3-gallon pots where they will continue to grow until next year. I want them to be large enough that we can put tubes around their trunks to protect the bark from voles, which often girdle trees planted in grassy fields.
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| The twisted tepals of Giant Camas (left) and disheveled tepals of Common Camas (right) |
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| Starts of Miner's Lettuce (left), Common Camas (middle) and Giant Camas (right) |
Our Miner's Lettuce germinated decently from seed. It is almost done flowering now, so I wanted to get it transplanted someplace that it can reseed itself for next year. I decided to plant the Miner's Lettuce in with normal garden vegetables so it can provide a winter cover crop. Both the Common and Giant Camas germinated very well. You can already tell them apart. The grass-like leaves of the Giant Camas are twice as thick as the Common Camas. Katrina and I planted the Camas in garden rows so that they can continue to grow until we are ready to establish a more permanent Garry Oak garden.
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| Acorn Bread |
To celebrate, Katrina cooked up our first batch of leavened acorn bread. She just substituted leached acorns for corn in a cornbread recipe (acorn flour, wheat flour, eggs, maple syrup, oil, baking powder, and homemade sea salt) and the result was phenominal! I can't wait to share it with others. It has a chocolate color like brownies with a rich, nutty flavor, soft fluffy texture, and NO bitterness. I don't think I'll go back to flat bread for a while.
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