Chili Peppers

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Central and South America Christopher Columbus, Chili pepper, chili peppers, Christopher Columbus, Eden Project, food, garden, home grown, India, organic, Piper, plants, Pungency, Scoville, Scoville scale, Spanish

Chili peppers have been a part of the human diet in the Americas since at least 7500 BC. There is archaeological evidence at sites located in southwestern Ecuador that chili peppers were domesticated more than 6000 years ago,and were one of the first self-pollinating crops cultivated in Central and South America

Christopher Columbus was one of the first Europeans to encounter them (in the Caribbean), and called them “peppers” because they, like black and white pepper of the Piper genus known in Europe, have a spicy hot taste unlike other foodstuffs. Upon their introduction into Europe, chilis were grown as botanical curiosities in the gardens of Spanish and Portuguese monasteries. But the monks experimented with the chili culinary potential and discovered that their pungency offered a substitute for black peppercorns, which at the time were so costly that they were used as legal currency in some countries.

The Scoville Scale

The most common way to evaluate chile pungency is a simple taste test. This method, although quick and cost-effective, may leave the tester in some pain: one would be happy to “let Mikey eat it.” There are two other ways of testing pungency as well, the Scoville organoleptic test and high performance liquid chromatography.

• Mild Heat: 0 to 5,000 SHUs
• Medium Heat: 5,000 to 20,000 SHUs
• Hot Heat: 20,000  to 70,000 SHUs
• Extreme Heat: 70,000 to 30,000 SHUs*

*In recent years, new varieties have been discovered that far exceed 30,000 SHUs. The world’s hottest chile, the bhut jolokia from India, has been measured at 1 million SHUs.

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• Bird’s eye chili Mazavaroo – so HOT!!! (aristonorganic.com)

 

Cotton

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China, copper beads, cotton, cotton textiles, cottonseed, Flowers, gm cotton, GMO, India, Indus River, Indus Valley Civilization, Karnataka, Mehrgarh, Pakistan, transgenic cotton

Cotton has been spun, woven, and dyed since prehistoric times. It clothed the people of ancient India, Egypt, and China. Hundreds of years before the Christian era, cotton textiles were woven in India with matchless skill, and their use spread to the Mediterranean countries.

This cotton seed pod was recently given to me. It is rather fascinating as the protective capsule (boll) around the seed is a soft fluffy fiber.

 

The seeds were really difficult to get out of the fiber.

The fiber feels just like spun cotton wool.

Cotton was used in the Old World at least 7,000 years ago (5th millennium BC). Evidence of cotton use has been found at the site of Mehrgarh, where early cotton threads have been preserved in copper beads. Cotton cultivation became more widespread during the Indus Valley Civilization, which covered parts of modern eastern Pakistan and northwestern India. The Indus cotton industry was well developed and some methods used in cotton spinning and fabrication continued to be used until the industrialization of India Between 2000 and 1000 BC cotton became widespread across much of India For example, it has been found at the site of Hallus in Karnataka dating from around 1000 BC.

Genetically modified (GM) cotton was developed to reduce the heavy reliance on pesticides.

In many regions, the main pests in commercial cotton are Butterfly (lepidopteran) larvae, which are killed by the Bt protein in the transgenic cotton they eat.

Source :

Cotton

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Butterflies – Friend or foe ?

Do you know what GMOs are ?

The Striped Field Mouse and Mongoose

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Avocado, Bird feeding, environment, Etosha National Park, field mice, http www youtube, India, jungle book by rudyard kipling, Mongoose, Namibia, nature, Rikki Tikki Tavi, Rudyard Kipling, striped field mouse

 

I have an entire family for Striped Field Mice living in the undergrowth below my bird feeding station. I put out this avocado which was not edible, and looks who the first creature was to find it. He was outwitted though, as the resident Mongoose stole it away from him.

These little field nice are so tame that they run under my feet when I am replenishing the food in the bird feeding station.

I love having the Mongoose around as it means that he keeps the snakes at large.

Take a look at this awesome predator Sometimes called Rikki Tikki Tavi from the Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

 

 

 

Jasmine

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Aroma compound, Asia, flower, Flowers, Himalayas, India, indian myth, Jasmine, jasmine flower, jasmine oil, nature, Odor, plants, sacred flower

Jasmine/Jasminum officinale

Jasmine is native to the Himalayas and Asia. Jasmine is considered to be a sacred flower to the Peoples of these areas. The Hindus strung jasmine flowers together to form garlands and presented then to their most honored guests. Jasmine is the sacred flower of the Hindu love god, Kama. A fragrant emblem of love, jasmine flowers are often entwined into bridal flowers at Indian weddings. This custom is said to promise the bridal couple a deep and lasting affection for eternity. Jasmine is known as ‘moonlight of the grove’ in India due to its ghostly pale flowers. It is also known by the names of Jessamine, Yasmin and the King of Flowers. Jasmine oil is known as ‘the King of oils.’

An ancient Indian myth of a princess who fell in love with the sun-god SuryaDeva attempts to explain why the jasmine flower will only open its petals at night. According to the myth, the sun-god rejected the princess’s love and she was so heartbroken that she killed herself. Her ashes were scattered to the ground, and from the ashes the beautiful jasmine grew. Since the sun-god was responsible for her death, the jasmine flower would only open and release her perfume at night.

Throughout history, jasmine has been revered for its aphrodisiac qualities, and known as a plant of love with a great influence on both males and females.

 

Honey, a sticky business

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barley malt, Bee, chemical sweeteners, China, corn fructose syrup, food, health, honey, honey comb, honey in the comb, honey producers, honeybee, India, lead, nature, raw honey

Honey is a really sticky business.

“It’s no secret that the honey smuggling is being driven by money, the desire to save a couple of pennies a pound,” said Richard Adee, who is the Washington Legislative Chairman of the American Honey Producers Association.

Honey is being smuggled all over the world from China.

What’s wrong with honey from China? For one thing, it may contain lead, a toxin that accumulates in the body and can cause neurological damage, particularly in young children. The lead contamination has been traced back to the thousands of small beekeeping operations in China that use unlined, lead-soldered drums to collect and store honey before transferring it to processors.

Another favorite con among Chinese brokers was to mix sugar-water, malt sweeteners, corn or rice syrup, jaggery, barley malt sweetener or other additives with a bit of actual honey. In recent years, many shippers have eliminated the honey completely and just use thickened, colored, natural or chemical sweeteners labeled as honey.

Some Honey to look out for on the shelvesLittle Bee honey found on local South African shelves.

100% per Honey collected from Hilly areas in India.

A statement directly from their website : “honey stipulates pure product that does not allow for the addition of any other substances …this includes, but is not limited to, water or other sweeteners”.

Fiona delivers honey twice a week to various Pick n Pay outlets in Cape Town, and previously won runner-up in the Sarie Old Mutual Small Business Women of the Year award. Her honey is one of the purest you can find on the shelves.

Now for simply the best Honey

Now this is really sticky business.

Pure Raw Honey in the comb