Christmas Trees

 

A SHORT HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS TREES

"Evergreen boughs have been essential seasonal decor since ancient times as part of pagan winter solstice celebrations.  Evergreens at midwinter festivals were traditional, signifying the victory of life and light over death and darkness”.*

In many countries it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.

There is some debate over the origin of our modern day Christmas trees. Both Latvia and Estonia claim to have been home to the first Christmas tree.  Latvia traces its Christmas tree traditions back to 1510, when a merchant guild called the House of the Black Heads carried a tree through the city, decorated it, and later burned it down.  Meanwhile, Estonia has countered those claims, saying it has evidence of a similar festival hosted by the very same guild in its capital city Tallinn in 1441.

Today most historians believe our traditions started in Alsace, part of Germany at the time but now France.  Historical records indicate that a Christmas tree was raised in the Strasbourg Cathedral in 1539 and that the tradition had grown so popular throughout the region that the city of Freiburg banned felling trees for Christmas in 1554.

Still, the tradition caught on among German families and slowly evolved through the years to what we know today.  Protestant reformer Martin Luther is often credited with being the first to put lights on the Christmas tree with candles after a nighttime stroll through the forest with twinkling stars above. German emigrants took these traditions with them as they resettled in other countries. By the 18th century Christmas trees were all over Europe.

In 1848, Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert  from Germany captured the imaginations of royal watchers around the world when the Illustrated London News published an illustration of their family gathered around a decorated Christmas tree.  Queen Victoria was a trendsetter of her time, and so the tradition took off around the world.

Germany’s Christmas tree tradition also likely arrived in the United States in the late 18th century, when Hessian troops joined the British to fight in the Revolutionary War.  In the years that followed, German immigrants also brought the tradition to the U.S. and, over time, historian Penne Restad writes that they “became a point of fascination for other Americans.”

American families adopted the Christmas tree more widely after 1850, when the Philadelphia-based magazine Godey’s Lady’s Book republished  the royal family’s Christmas scene from Illustrated London News.  The magazine made a few tweaks, editing out Victoria’s crown and Albert’s royal sash to transform them into one version of an American family.

Today, the lighting of two beloved U.S. Christmas trees are part of our country’s ritual for ushering in the holiday season.  In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge oversaw the lighting of the first National Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C.

A decade later, in 1933, New York City lit the first Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center which has since become a must visit for tourists and New Yorkers alike each holiday season. Both trees have been illuminated every year since, save for a few years in the 1940s when they went dark due to blackout restrictions during World War II.

CHRISTMAS TREE FARMS

Many citizens of New Jersey would be surprised to learn that we are the home of the first Christmas Tree Farm in the United Sates.

In 1901, W.V. McGalliard planted twenty five thousand Norway Spruces on his property in Mercer County near Trenton.  Seven years later those Christmas trees were sold for one dollar each.

Today there are 83 Christmas tree farms in New Jersey.  Their locations are posted on the internet.

During the 1940s,  90 percent of all natural Christmas trees sold in the United State were harvested from forests.  The most popular species during that era, Balsam Fir, Douglas-fir, Black Spruce and White Spruce, were all readily available growing wild in forests.

Luckily following World War II more trees began to be planted on plantations.

Today 30 million Christmas trees are harvested every year on tree farms.  25% of these trees are grown in Oregon and shipped throughout  the country.  Christmas trees are grown in all 50 states including Hawaii and Alaska.  Today 98 percent of all Christmas trees are grown on farms.

Evergreen trees generally  take 6 to 10 years to reach maturity.  All of these trees are trimmed once a year to give them a pleasing appearance in the home.  The best-selling trees are Scotch Pine, Douglas Fir, Fraser Fir, Balsam Fir and White Pine.

The tallest living Christmas tree is believed to be the 122-foot, 91-year-old Douglas fir in the town of Woodinville, Washington.

In the first week, a tree in your home will consume as much as a quart of water per day. 

*Carole Cusack is a professor of religious studies at the University of Sydney.

The information in this article comes from a few different sources.  Thanks to the Smithsonian, National Geographic & The History Channel. 

Have a safe & happy holiday season,                                                         

James

 

sweet potatoes

 

SWEET POTATOES  (Ipomoea Batatas)

Sweet Potatoes belong to a large family of tropical vines,  many  with thick fleshy roots which includes Morning Glories.  Today 'sweet potato vines' are a popular ornamental plant used by gardeners in pots to add trailing interest in a arrangement, often referred to as a 'spiller'.  These are not good sweet potatoes for eating because they are too hard to chew and lack flavor.

HISTORY OF SWEET POTATOES

Our popular edible orange or purple Sweet Potatoes have been cultivated in Central and South America for over five thousand years.  There are also white and yellow varieties.  Researchers believe its origin was in the Andes Mountains where it was grown by the ancient Peruvian people in what became the Inca Empire.  The great Inca Empire survived for centuries before the arrival of Columbus and his compatriots. 

The Spanish Europeans believing anyone who was not a Catholic was fair game plundered  the New World.  The Conquistadors stole shiploads of gold and silver and shipped it home to Spain. 

On Columbus' forth return journey to Spain he also bought back to Spain many of the vegetables we eat today.  Potatoes, tomatoes  and chili peppers to name a few.  In the centuries to follow these New World foods were going to change and enrich the cuisines of the Old World, Europe and Asia.

There is at least one vegetable on our Thanksgiving Day tables that traveled without the help of Europeans, the sweet potato. 

Researchers have discovered evidence that the sweet potato made the trip first from the mountains of Peru to the west coast of South America and from there began its incredible journey.  The sweet potato traveled five thousand  miles to the islands of Polynesia four hundred years before King Ferdinand and Isabella's ships landed in the Americas.

Capt. James Cook's crew picked up some of the root vegetables in Polynesia in 1769.  Examining the genetic blueprint of Cook's sweet potatoes allowed scientist to trace the Polynesian Sweet Potato's evolution all the way back to Ecuador and Peru.  Additional research suggest the sweet potato was a staple in Polynesian diets since 1,000 AD.

It is now well known that the Polynesians were a mighty seafaring culture traveling hundreds or even thousands of miles for trade.  Many scientists credit the Polynesian travelers for spreading the sweet potato on their trading expeditions.   

Some researchers believe the sweet potato may have traveled without any human assistance, but was spread by birds carrying it in their wings or internally passing seeds though their bodies.

Today we add to the confusion by lumping sweet potatoes and yams together, often confusing the two.  Actually the two are not even related.  Sweet Potatoes are from the morning glory family and Yams are related to lilies and grasses. 

White potatoes are only distantly related to sweet potatoes.  Although they both came from same region white potatoes belong to the nightshade family (Solanaceace),  which also includes many other important crops like peppers, tomatoes, tomatillos, eggplant, tobacco and others.

SWEET POTATOES ARE A SUPER FOOD

Today the edible sweet potatoes, especially the orange or purple type are highly nutritious and considered a super food    They are a great source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals. In order to get the highest benefit it is important to eat the skin also.

Sweet Potatoes are rich in antioxidants that protect your body from free radicals. (Free radicals are unstable molecules that can damage DNA and trigger inflammation.)  Eating them can help fight off chronic illnesses like cancer, heart disease, and aging.

As if these advantages aren't enough, the fiber and antioxidants in purple sweet potatoes are advantageous to stomach health.   Sweet potatoes contain two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble.

Test-tube studies have found that antioxidants in purple sweet potatoes promote the growth of healthy stomach bacteria. Yellow sweet potatoes lack many of the benefits we are discussing in this article.

When the Portuguese introduced the sweet potatoes to Africa they brought the white and yellow varieties.  Today many humanitarian groups are introducing the orange sweet potatoes successfully increasing vitamin A intake in their daily  diets. This has proven to cut mortally rates in Africa by 25 percent.  

Sweet Potatoes are known to be beneficial to individuals with type 2 diabetes due to the high levels of magnesium and fiber, which can aid in reducing insulin resistance and stabilizing blood sugar.  Talk to your doctor before adding them to your daily diet.  

Happy Autumn Everyone,                                                                                

James  

Songbirds dying in NJ

 

AN UNKNOWN ILLNESS KILLING 

YOUNG BIRDS IN NEW JERSEY

 

An unknown illness affecting young birds that has been sweeping throughout the United States is now reported in New Jersey. 

 

The morbidity and mortality event has been occurring in nestling and fledgling songbirds in the mid-Atlantic, extending into the Southeast and eastern upper Midwest, according to NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife officials.  Since mid-May, numerous young birds, mainly blue jays, starlings, and common grackles, but also robins and cardinals, have been found with eye and neurologic issues, and in some cases these birds have been found dead in large numbers, officials said.  Some, but not all, of the affected birds are showing neurologic signs consisting of head tremors, leg paresis (partial paralysis or weakness), ataxia (falling to the side) or inability to stand at all, and excessive vocalizations.  Also, most of the birds are in good body condition, likely still being fed by their parents, officials said.

 

Cases have been reported in Washington, DC, TN, KY, VA, WV, MD, DE, IN, OH, FL, PA and NJ, officials said. 

In 2020 there was reports of similar problems with young birds in Utah and New Mexico.  At this time there is no evidence that the two events are related.

“Many theories have been posed as to the cause of this event, however no cause has been determined at this time,” officials said. 

Dr. Nicole Lewis, the wildlife veterinarian for the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, has collected about 30 birds, all of them hatchlings and fledglings, that have died of the affliction, but estimates that it has killed upward of 100 birds in the state.

"We're seeing a lot of eye swelling with the discharge around it," Lewis said of the symptoms.   "The birds kind of seem like they're blind.  Or we're also seeing neurological signs, such as impacting their brains, they're stumbling and they're falling over.  They're not right."

These symptoms, Lewis said, impair the birds' ability to eat and fly, and eventually they die from it.  Birds have been found alive with these symptoms and taken to wildlife rehabilitation centers, but none has seen the conditions improve, and most have died.

Though the nature of the disease has yet to be discovered, some known diseases, such as the West Nile Virus, which has killed millions of birds and can affect humans, have been ruled out.  There have also been no reports of the disease affecting humans or any other animals.

When a dead bird suspected of having this disease is collected, a necropsy, the equivalent of a human autopsy, is performed and tests are run in hopes of ruling out other diseases. Once everything known, such as West Nile and salmonella, is ruled out, further testing is done to try to understand where the disease is coming from, Lewis said.

"There's a lot of different options and a lot of different testing that goes on," Lewis said.

In New Jersey, blue jays have been the species most affected, but Lewis has also seen grackles, starlings, robins and one cardinal that have died from the disease.

Don Torino, president of the Bergen County Audubon Society, has been concerned with these mysterious deaths.  "Birds are in trouble as it is," Torino said. "It's scary."

Torino said this disease is another concern for birds that already face significant dangers, particularly climate change and loss of habitat.

Torino has not found any birds that have died from the disease, but has been constantly seeking updates from scientists and officials.

"This is hopefully something we can get a handle on pretty quickly," Torino said.

But Lewis said it's a laborious process, involving a lot of trial and error to try to figure out what the underlying causes may be.  Lewis has been working with experts from other states that have had birds die from the disease to determine what the disease is and how it spreads.

One possibility that has been bandied about is a connection between the disease and the Brood X cicadas, since they emerged at about the same time and place.

"We have been discussing that," Lewis said.  "It is certainly on the table as a possibility, but we have not ruled that in or out.  That's a bit of a challenge."

Lewis added that the areas that have the heaviest bird deaths have been those with a large cicada presence. According to Lewis, there has been information circulating about a fungus that the cicadas may have. But with so many uncertainties, it's difficult to label anything a direct cause.

One way the disease could potentially spread is at congregational spaces for birds, such as feeders.

"It is very possible that the adults are feeding at feeders or in a local spot where they congregate and then going back to feed their young and giving it to them," Lewis said. "That's a possibility, but we don't know as of yet."

                                       What to do if you find a dead bird

Lewis has been requesting that people who find dead, young birds email her at Nicole.Lewis@dep.nj.gov, and let her know. 

"I've been getting a lot of emails alerting me, and it's extremely helpful," Lewis said.

Or you can call 1-877-WARN-DEP and for any additional instructions.

Lewis has been collecting birds from all over the state, driving to get them.  So if you find a dead or sick fledgling, and she thinks it's worth collecting, you may be getting a visit from a wildlife veterinarian.

“Dead birds should be handled with gloves, double-bagged and kept cool until picked up.

 

                                                WHAT CAN WE DO?

If you have a bird feeder take it down and clean it out with 10% bleach solution.

Do the same with birdbaths, empty them out and clean with 10% bleach solution. 

Hopefully this will curb the transfer of this virus from affected birds to other smaller birds who have not displayed any symptoms yet.  As of now goldfinches and sparrow are among birds not affected.  The birds will be able to fly to other wild sources of food and water.

Avoid contact between your pets and sick birds.

Hopefully with our assistance scientist can quickly find a resolution to this crisis.

Have a wonderful summer,

James

 

 

Potatoes

 

POTATOES

(Solanum tuberosum)

Thousands of years ago, high in the Andes mountains of Peru, ancient people grew and harvested the potato as their ancestors had already been doing for hundreds of years before them.  This dependable food source enabled them to feed their population which would later become the mighty Inca empire.  The Inca were admired and feared by neighboring tribes who were victims of raids for slaves and human sacrifice.  The pyramids and temples of the Inca remain today as a testament to their great civilization.

The Inca ate potatoes baked with edible clay boiled, peeled & mashed and they also made potato starch.  Inca's had a technique for persevering potatoes; 'chuno'  which could last for years without refrigeration.  It was the food that protected them in times of poor harvest against starvation and fed their powerful Inca army.   Chuno was made by spreading potatoes outside to freeze on cold nights, then thawing them in the morning sun.  Repeated freeze-thaw cycles transform the spuds into soft, juicy blobs that resembled today's gnocchi, a potato dumpling from central Italy.  

The Inca reigned for thousands of years before the arrival of the first Europeans from Spain.  In the 1620's the Spanish who were devote Catholics brought Christianity to the New World, as well as strange and deadly diseases for which the natives had no immunity.  In return the Conquistadors took shiploads of gold and silver back to Spain as well as new plants and foods including potatoes.

When potatoes reached Spain they were met with skepticism.  The tuber looked unappetizing and lacked flavor on its own.  In spite of this the potato would soon change the world and fuel the industrial revolution.  

Potatoes were hardier and easier to grow than wheat.  When wheat or corn is knocked over by a storm the entire plant is damaged.  Potatoes, growing underground are able to withstand this damage.  Wheat was also very susceptible to diseases and crop loss.  Because of this problem there were often times of starvation in European countries which lead to unrest and riots.   It is believed that potatoes brought an end to these cycles of  starvation.

Rulers of these nations saw the potential of potatoes and worked hard to get their people to eat them.  When potato plants bloom, they send up five-lobed flowers that spangle fields like fat purple stars.  By some accounts, Marie Antoinette liked the blossoms so much that she put them in her hair.  Her husband, Louis XVI, put one in his buttonhole, inspiring a brief vogue in which the French aristocracy 'swanned' around with potato plants on their clothes.  The flowers were part of an attempt to persuade French farmers to plant and French diners to eat this strange new species.

Thomas Jefferson loved fried potatoes so much he brought the potato home to America.

From 1845 to 1849 Europe was struck by the Irish Potato Famine, also known as the great hunger or the great starvation.  A natural virus, 'water spore' spread the disease called 'late blight' to potato crops throughout Europe.  One hundred thousand people died on the European mainland but the Irish suffered the most.  Over one million Irish people starved to death and another one million fled Ireland for counties around the world.  In those four years Ireland lost twenty-five percent of her population.

Today the potato is the fifth most important crop worldwide, after wheat, corn, rice and sugar cane.

Potatoes contain a good amount of carbohydrates and fiber, as well as vitamin C, vitamin B6, potassium and manganese.  Their nutrient content can vary depending on the type of potato and cooking method.  Potatoes also contain antioxidants.

The potato skin has more nutrients than the interior of the potato. The skin has lots of fiber, about half of a medium potato's fiber is from the skin.  Eat the skin to capture all the natural nutrition of a russet potato.

Although the potato is now associated with industrial scale monoculture, the International Potato Center in Peru has preserved almost five thousand varieties.

Growing Potatoes In Containers

Gardening with children

It takes a lot of land to grow enough potatoes to feed an entire family, but luckily potatoes can be grown in raised beds or even containers.  This project can be done with little space as long as you have six hours of sunlight a day. This is a great educational project for gardening with children.

It is best to start with 'seed potatoes' from a garden center which haven't been treated with chemicals to preserve the potato and might inhibit growth.

Select a container that is at least 12" wide and 12" deep.   Add 5" of soil to the container and plant your seed potatoes, eyes facing up 4" apart and 4" from the side of your container.  Wait until the sprouts  emerge before watering and as the potatoes grow add soil over them.  This will make stronger plants and a bigger crop. Don't cover the plants completely as it needs sunlight to grow. Potatoes require a constant moisture level and don't like to dry out. Your crop of potatoes should be ready to harvest in 70 to 120 days, depending on the variety.

You can research growing potatoes or gardening with children on the internet and YouTube.

Thanks to The Smithsonian for the information in this article.

Happy Autumn & Keep Keeping Safe,                                                                           James