I’m a little tea pot

Poppy harvesting tools from Northern Thailand.

Pictured above: A scoring device encased in soft wood. The tool becomes accessible after one draws the woven hold and turns the case on its hinge. This scorer is composed of three closely placed blades fastened to a single handle by a copper ribbon and a rivet.

Below: A brass spatula used for scraping raw opium gum from the poppy capsule.

Perhaps of Hmong origin. Early 2006.

On Tuesday, The Guardian ran a report by Felicity Lawrence which raised questions about the safety of soy and its byproducts. Holding to the great tradition of “special reports” by hauling up a red flag bearing a concise warning at the expense of boring niceties, the information in the column is entertainment with public service pretensions.

I had time to concentrate on a single excerpt, the claims made by Dr. Fitzpatrick after the charming parrot anecdote. Nevertheless, the article contains many other notable tidbits. As a whole, this article may be of particular concern to vegetarians.

*

“We discovered quite quickly,” he [Fitzpatrick] recalls, “that soya contains toxins and plant oestrogens powerful enough to disrupt women’s menstrual cycles in experiments. It also appeared damaging to the thyroid.”

Unfortunately, Lawrence is not clear whether Fitzpatrick means that the toxins and phytoestrogens occur in soy beans at a significant level. The passage might simply mean that soy contains a chemical capable of disrupting menstrual cycles at a certain concentration.

With a similar sort of ambiguity, the last sentence about thyroid damage might refer to soy phytoestrogens in a certain concentration, or it might refer to soy beans, edamame, or tofu. That is, chemicals in soy, or soy in its many edible forms.

An article at About.com suggests that Fitzpatrick’s claim about toxins and plant oestrogens refers to a single study held in the United Kingdom, during which premenopausal women were given 60 grams of soy protein for one month. (1)

There is a difference, and it remains to be seen whether it is a practical difference, between soy protein and other soy products like edamame or tofu.

The final assertion about apparent ill effects on the thyroid refers to Fitzpatrick’s published assertion that soy products may potentially tamper with thyroid function. Fitzpatrick contends that the potential warrants soy abstinence by individuals with hypothyroidism. (2)

Later in the article, Lawrence proceeds to alert us of other questions raised by Fitzpatrick such as whether it is safe to serve developing children soy milk and whether it is safe to feed infants soy formula.

A cursory glance is also taken at soy’s contribution to illegal rainforest clearing and perhaps the ironic possibility that soy protein may contribute to the solvency of factory farming.

Notes
1. “Soy’s Thyroid Dangers” http://thyroid.about.com/cs/soyinfo/a/soy_3.htm
2. Ibid.

23 June 2006

It is a wonder that the sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) is not more widely cultivated in American regions that will sustain it, as it is a resilent plant of rarely paralleled beauty and amazing utility.

But do not mistake this for a complaint. Unimaginative gardeners ease our pursuit of novelty by granting us great frontiers, and as long as the mass of them subscribe to insipid Martha Stewartism, they also make it very easy for us to seem like badass motherfuckers, which is the sole aim of horticulture.

Lotus seeds are roughly the size of an almond and tend to resemble petrified olives. They are sheathed by a dark outer shell, the surface of which is very similar to a jawbreaker in solidity and texture. This shell is impervious to water. In addition to this protective coat, the seed contains a preservative enzyme, which has been found to potentiate viability for centuries.

Germination requires that we breach the seed coat.

Many gardeners saw a channel into the seed coat, working down to the pale inner contents. It does not matter where one saws this channel provided that one does not drive too far into a vital part of the seed embryo. As a preference, I always saw a single end off with a sharp serrated knife. Some people use power tools, but this is ludicrous and unnecessary.

The image below (courtesy of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew) depicts numerous cross sections that provide a good idea of just how much shell must be removed.

I try to tamper with as little of the tan bit as possible by cutting along the yellow indicators marked on the far left seed, though one may cut or chisel away any part of the dark brown shell. Simply bear in mind that the entire purpose of this operation is to allow moisture into the seed.

The seed must now soak in water sustained at a temperature of 77-80° F. Obviously this means that most gardeners without heating pads are practically confined to a summer germination attempt.

I suggest starting seeds in two liter soda bottles because they will capacitate a large number of seeds. Yet it would be equally possible and perhaps beneficial in some cases to start seeds in a shot glass or a whisky barrel. A general maxim for this plant is that it is very hard to botch the germination process. Possibilities abound.

Over the next two weeks a series of juvenile shoots should grow to the top of the starting vessel. Upon reaching the surface, these shoots usually unfurl into small floating pads. This marks a good time to transplant into a permanent container.

Prepare this vessel by adding roughly two inches of plant media. Heavy clay garden soil is ideal, but commercial aquatic mixes are readily available if you should so choose.

The roots and meandering rhizomes of the lotus will completely colonize a container of this size (4 gallons) in about a year. After this period, it is advisable (but by no means necessary) to place the system of rhizomes in a larger container.

I have noticed that this is best done in winter, while the plant is dormant (not applicable in the tropics).

During the dormant period, one may drain the existing container. After pouring off the water, it should be easy to dislodge the plant by flipping its container. The rhizome system should flop out like a pancake.

Embed this ‘pancake’ in the new container’s media and place the vessel in full sun.

A year old plant after one month of active growth.