The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
(Vol. 19 No. 29)
IN THIS ISSUE...
2013 WALNUT COUNCIL FIELD DAY
On Thursday June 13, the Kansas Chapter of the Walnut Council is sponsoring
the Walnut Council Field Day at the John Chase Walnut Plantation, 569 2700 Ave., in Abilene.
The
purpose of the field day is to provide an opportunity for landowners,
foresters, scientists, forest industry and other natural resource
professionals to learn the latest information about the growth,
management and marketing of black walnut and other fine quality
hardwoods. The field day will begin with a background and history of the plantation provided by Larry Riat, former Dickinson County Ag Agent, who for over 30 years has been responsible for the care of the plantation. Other topics include: Thousand Canker Disease Update, Projecting Future Value of Walnut, Managing Plantation Regeneration, Soils and Black Walnut Growth, Wildlife Habitat & Killing Brome, and Thinning & Crown Competition.
Registration
is $12, lunch provided, and can be mailed to Kansas Chapter of Walnut
Council, 5197 114th St., Meriden, KS 66512. Call Larry Rutter at
785-484-2509 or email lrutter@embarqmail.com if you have questions or need more information. Or you can visit our website to see a copy of the brochure at
https://www.kansasforests.org/news/calendar.shtml.
Hope to see you all there! --Leslye Haller lahaller@ksu.edu
2013 NATIONAL FESTIVAL OF BREADS BAKING CONTEST UPDATE
The 2013 National Festival of Breads Baking Contest Schedule of Events can be found at www.nationalfestivalofbreads.com.
The doors to the festival will open at 8 a.m. on Saturday, June 22, at the Hilton Garden Inn, 410 South 3rd Street, Manhattan, KS.
Free baking demonstrations are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. From 3 - 3:30 p.m. there will be a Baking "Question and Answer" Panel, sponsored by Fleischmann's Yeast, King Arthur Flour Co., Inc., Home Baking Association and the Kansas Wheat Commission. $1.00 off coupons to the Flint Hills Discovery Center will be available, plus a Share Our Strength Bake Sale will take place at the festival.
If you have questions, please contact Cindy Falk, Home Economist/Nutrition Educator and National Festival of Breads Director, Kansas Wheat - Phone: 785-539-0255 or email: cfalk@kswheat.com. --Steven Graham sgraham@ksu.edu
KARL CLASS XI TRIP TO PERU #10
It
was yet another delightful morning in Peru. The Cuzco church bells pealed at 4 a.m. We ate a lovely breakfast of ham, cheese, eggs,
fruit, granola made with puffed millet in place of our traditional oatmeal,
liquid yogurt, and hot espresso. Having
only been a consumer of coffee for this past year, I am not really a coffee
connoisseur. However, I must say that
there was no such thing as a bad cup of coffee in Peru. Interestingly, Cuzco served espresso more as
a rule than an exception. Then, we
boarded the bus to Patabamba.
Patabamba,
in Quechua, means “upper flat".
Originally, it was Patapompa, but Spanish speakers changed it to
Patabamba. From what I could gather
regarding Quechua, it is a complex language, which was largely replaced with
Spanish after Spain’s invasion in the 15th Century. Many of the remote villages around Cuzco are
functionally monolingual speakers of Quechua. It is a beautiful language with only three vowels (i, a, u), and in some
words the vowels are completely devoiced (silence, a stop, or a sort of throaty
sound). I was able to observe the
language in action when village members relayed instructions to one another as
they prepared our most sumptuous and interesting meal of the whole trip.
Our
menu of lamb, chicken, llama, potatoes, sweet potatoes, lima beans in their
pods, plantain, and blocks of farmer cheese were baked in a rock “oven”
especially built for the occasion. The
domed rock oven was filled with wood fuel and burned until the rocks were
hot. When the rocks were hot, the dome
was deconstructed by first removing the cap stone which held all the stones in
place. The rocks that made the dome were
removed, and the raw foods were placed on the hot stones. The cheese was wrapped in brown paper before
being place on the other ingredients. When all the food was in place, green branches with yellow flowers still
in place, were spread on top of all the foods. Then large sheets of heavy plastic were laid out on the green
branches. Then the moisture-rich soil
dug to make the cooking pit was spread out on the plastic until nothing but
soil was visible. It was to stay in this oven
for 35 minutes, and voila! We were
served a most agreeable meal with cups of coca tea to wash it all down. The meats, plantain, and vegetables were done
to perfection. I ate my potatoes with
the peelings still intact, and I noticed that the villagers peeled their
potatoes. It was my favorite meal of
the trip.
Before
the meal, we were welcomed by the elders of the village. We were then invited to try on their
beautifully dyed and woven dresses, ponchos, capes, and hats for photo opportunities. Then we went for a walk to gather plants and
flowers. That was followed by a lesson
on the plants we had gathered which became the dyes the brilliant reds,
yellows, and blues from which all other colors were made. After spending a fine luncheon with the
villagers, they set up a store for us to purchase handmade clothing, wraps.
What
struck me most was the happiness of the people. They seemed to be quite contented.
As they told us about their plans for promoting the village for tourism,
which includes home-stays, I wondered if the influences that would inevitably
follow would interfere with the peace they appeared to possess. After shopping in their make-shift market, we
headed to Ollanta (pron. Oh-jahn-ta) to catch the train to Aquas Calientes, the
gateway to Machu Picchu. The trip is
winding down, but the pi'ce de résistance,
or the grand finale is yet to come. I
will have more next week.--Debra Bolton dbolton@ksu.edu
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