Kim's 300th Post!

[RavioliKid]

Here 'tis, gang! My 300th post!

I thought it deserved a whole thread to itself!

 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

[Tom]

Your DanG'd right, Rav.  The kid is on the way to a forest.  Looks good, those 4 trees standing over there waving in the breeze. :D

Don't give out of steam now.  I hope your next 300 are as good as the last ones.

[Bud Man]

SALUTE !

[woodman]

   300 here's to the next 300

kim         kim           kim          yeah        yeah          yeah

[woodmills1]

congrats on 300+ i bet if ya ask real nice you can get some special saying added to your title at the top near your name :D :D :D

[RavioliKid]

Hmmm...A special saying....

I wonder what it would be?

 :

[CHARLIE]

[size=12]Congratulation's RAV![/size]
 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

[Texas Ranger]

Hmmm, SENIOR  Member.  Don't know if I'd take that, Rav.

[Corley5]

 8) 8) 8)  Congrats

[RavioliKid]

Wow! Thanks everyone!

You make me feel so special!

[Jeff]

In my circle of forestry contacts from the different orgs, and the DNR, I have told about your Milkweed project and making fiber and paper. When that comes up, they refer to you as the Milkweed teacher.

[Frank_Pender]

Leave it to a teacher the get the cream of the crop to the top.  Very well done Rav.   You are a special teacher to stay with with group. 8) 8) 8)

[Don P]

I'm right sure milkweed floats, cream always rises :D
Welcome to seniority seniorita ;D

[RavioliKid]

Milkweed Teacher...I like that!  :D

Well, I'm about ready to "float" away for spring break. Gotta go see the brothers in North Carolina (Fayetteville) and Georgia (Box Springs - outside Altanta).

See you when I get back!

[Frank_Pender]

Have a great time Rav.  Perhaps you could look up some sawmiller in those areas and help pay for some of your trip.  Watch out for sawyers offering a can of peas for pay, though.   8) 8)  I hope you do not miss your classroom critters too much.  I always did on extended off times, like Spring Break ans such. :'( :'(

[L. Wakefield]

   Thinking of your milkweed project- I was just looking out the window yesterday and the dried stalks of last year's nettles- and it reminded me that nettle fiber had once been used in much the same way as linen. I've never managed to grow flax with long stalks, but the nettle was 4 ft tall or more. I may just go pull those babies and see if there is anything to them.

   Enjoy the south, and come back safe, Kim!   lw

[Tom]

Ah-h-h yes,  the south......    What a wonderful place.  Zippity do dah........Zippity-a    My oh my, what a wonderful day.  Smiles and laughter, fields of cotton, corn and watermelons.  Everybody else may have their thing...but that's mine.

Get off of the expressway, slow down and enjoy life at a lesser pace   :D :D

Eat More Grits !  ;D

[RavioliKid]

Hi, All!

Here I am, in North Carolina! Of course, I thought of all of you while I was passing the lumber operations.

I thought about the peas, and the thought was tempting, but I think I'll just make "do" with the leftover eggplant parmigian I got last night.

Lynn - let me know what you figure out about the nettles.

I may check in again. If not, happy Easter to you all!

[Bud Man]

It's a DanG good thing you ain't staying for more than a week cause It'll grow on ya real quick and you'll wonder why in the world Michiganderland when their is such a glorious place as: The South "  "Travel Safely And Enjoy , It's The Best Their Is"

[Jeff]

The wisdom of the teacher makes her choose the right path. She'll be home soon.

Hey Bud, have you ever been to Northern Michigan? Don't knock it till ya try it. Today we had sumthin you aint never seen. Snow that looked like packin peanuts. This afternoon now its beautiful Sunny and 45 degrees. Spring is a coming.

You southerners will Never Ever have the appreciation of Spring as those of us in the North.  You Need to have winter to know how blessed spring can be.

[L. Wakefield]

   Hi Kim- I did get over the hump of walking over to the nettle plants (that'd be a stroll of- oh, about 5-10 feet..)and breaking off a few stalks. They don't yield a fiber as long as the flax fibers I've spun, but I got fibers about 6" long, lustrous, and very strong. I could easily spin them, which I know historically has been done. If you wanted to try this for a classroom demo, it isn't at all difficult to grow nettle (LOLOL)- the difficult part is not to brush against it..but if you were going to spin them you'd probably need a flax wheel and probably couldn't get away with a drop spindle.

 I'd been interested because I am working on a pharmacy and survival garden, and nettle is one of the sources of vegetable rennet for speedy and efficient production of cheese curd of the proper consistency for processing into - well- cheese.. (Phew- got through that one OK..)

   The most popular source of vegetable rennet at the present time is a fungus of some sort- I think it's called Mucor miehli- dunno any more about it than that which I read in the catalog. I don't have the detailed recipe for getting the veggie rennet from nettle tho I have a Rx for getting it from thistle- essentially you ferment it in salt solution..and one supposedly can also get it from ladies' yellow bedstraw (Galium verum). The animal source- you may know- is calves stomachs. I don't butcher calves if I have a choice.

   Nettle is also interesting as- possibly- a pot herb (no, ya don't SMOKE it, ya cook it in a pot like spinach when it's very young, before it gets the spines)- or as a source of tea made from the dried young leaves which purportedly is very high in minerals and possibly either protein (it would have to be short chain protein)- or maybe amino acids. Nother tonic thingy. I know when I tried it years ago it did agree with me. But I have to say that right now there is a pretty hot flamewar going on in alt.folklore.herbs. Most people believe the lore I have cited, but there is one fella in France who swears cattle die from eating the stuff, dogs have died from inhaling fumes from patches of it if they are chasing game thru it, and that it is highly toxic to humans. So be warned, YMMV.

   So why, you may ask, is my nettle 4' high? (Mike kept asking that- why are they in the garden, it's a nauseous weed- I think he means noxious but I just DON'T ask.) Din' get round tuit this year picking it young. But now I might play with the fibers.

   DanG, went n spilled my guts and now you have a FAQ for nettles which you didn't even want. Enjoy the south, and watch out for spiny plants like- well- nettles..but they won't be bad yet. Try them in July-August..   :D :D   lw

[RavioliKid]

Jeff,
You're right about me findingy way home. I suppose if I stayed down here long enough, I might find the charm, but so far... ???

Lynn,
Interesting stuff about the nettles. I should learn how to spin one of these days. It sounds interesting.

I've got my father's interest aroused in getting a lathe! I think that would be so cool.

We're leaving here tomorrow. I've picked up a bunch of long pine needles to try making a basket out of when I get home. (Another one of those "some day" projects!)

[Tom]

Kim, didn't you say you were going to Atlanta?  Don't leave until you get a chance ot go to Grants Park and see the cyclorama.

http://www.webguide.com/cyclorama.html
http://ngeorgia.com/site/cyclorama.html

[RavioliKid]

Thanks for the recommendation, Tom!

I'll see if I can get my father to make a stop. I've already got him talked into the papermaking museum, and I thought I had him talked into spending the night in Atlanta, but he's already saying, "Well, the museum won't take all day, so we can set out and make some time before we stop for the night."

I don't get much entertainment value out of traveling with my father. If you can't see it from a car window doing 5 mph above the speed limit, then you're probably not going to be seeing it. >:(

[Tom]

I've travelled with folks like that too, Kim. Myself, I'de rather find a motel and call in sick if I needed an extra day.  Atlanta has Stone Mountain with the Generals carved in the face too.  You could spend a long time there if you had it.