Arts and Grafts

Science Cutie strikes again! No, that’s not the title of a new sci-fi romance (although I like the sounds of it already), but instead, one exceptionally cute smarty who has been feeding me blog topics. Today it’s grafting.

By which I mean plant grafting, not animal grafting. Although imagine what you could get if you could graft a cobra to a panda?? An abomination, that’s what.

Grafting is a method of asexual propagation in which buds or shoots are “bonded” to a host, or stock, plant. There are many methods of grafting, and they are all typically used when the plant being grafted either won’t root well or possesses a poor root system. Additionally, gardeners may create Franken-plants to support a more delicate plant by grafting it onto a tougher, woodier relative (as with roses) or to ensure it doesn’t grow too tall (as with many fruit trees).

Although interspecies grafting is possible, it’s not a perfect science. Some plants make better stock, others thrive better as scions (the bud or shoot being grafted). The less related two species are, the less likely it is that they will be compatible. Some genuses in the same family may graft well, while others fail or are only briefly successful.

It is remarkable that grafting can be so successful, though. Grafting in animals is much more complex and much more prone to failure. Animals have much more complex immune systems that can better recognize “non-self” proteins. Plants…not so much. But you can’t just watch one episode of Martha Stewart and attach buds willy nilly with painter’s tape to your mom’s mauled roses (like I did). There are a few conditions that must be met.

First, the species need to be compatible, as I have mentioned. The cambial tissues layers must also meet in order for the scion to bond with the stock plant. Cambial tissue is a layer just underneath the inner bark. This is a vascular layer that will help provide moisture and nutrients from the stock to the scion. However, the graft can still dry out, so it must be kept moist until healed.

If you want a real step-by-step, however, check out some of my sources, or some books at your local nursery.

Soon you too can graft plant-based abominations for fun and profit!

Or maybe just fun? Let me know if anyone makes a profit.

Sources

–. “Compatability/Incompatability”. Grafting. Cornell University. Feb 13, 2015. < http://www.hort.cornell.edu/grafting/specific.grafting/compatibility.html&gt;

–. 1998. “Grafting”. Plant Propagation: Asexual Propagation. University of Arizona. Feb 13, 2015. < http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/mg/propagation/grafting.html>

–. 2015. “Learn To Graft Your Favorite Plants”. Better Homes and Gardens. Feb 13, 2015. < http://www.bhg.com/gardening/yard/garden-care/how-to-graft-plants/>

Rose photo is mine. Rose belongs to Whitman College.

Crystallization (video)

Because I love sharing fun science stuff, here’s some fun science stuff involving time lapse, super HD photography of various crystals forming in solution.

Beautiful Chemistry has a lot of videos like that, from crystal formation to metal displacement, and they’re all awesome!

Eating Duck, Duck, GOOSE

I was on a roll posting things there and then suddenly poof! I swear I wasn’t just eating bon bons…well, I’m doing that now…but that is beside the point! Life happens, we move on.

Specifically, we move on to ducks.

DUCK

Some cutie wanted to know why it is safe and acceptable to eat duck medium-rare or rare, but not chicken. Why indeed! Honestly, I hadn’t thought about it. Apparently I do not eat enough ducks. Also, Googling this will get you a lot of cooking forums where folks suppose that ducks and geese are bacteria free.

Ducks and geese, like everything else, are exposed to bacteria in their daily lives and thus susceptible to bacterial contamination. The difference between them and chicken is actually in the muscle itself.

Although not as red as beef, duck and goose meat is considered “red”. As migratory birds, they possess fast-oxidative muscle fibers (which I described oh so long ago…). Like beef, these muscles are dense, so bacteria cannot penetrate deep into the tissue. As a result, as long as the outside of the duck or goose is cooked, the inside can safely remain pink. Of course, as the FDA always likes to remind us at the bottom of the menu, “any raw or undercooked meat or eggs carry a risk of food-bourne illness, &etc”. But The Risk is still greatly decreased.

Chicken on the other hand, is a considerably less dense white meat. Bacteria can penetrate deeper into their fast-glycolytic muscle tissue, so cooking chicken all the way through is necessary. If you don’t, that pink center will only get warm enough to incubate whatever could be living in there. And that would be gross.

Don’t be gross.

The End.

Sources

Armentrout, Jennifer. “Cooking Duck Breast: Is Medium-Rare Safe?” Fine Cooking. Feb 9, 2015. <http://www.finecooking.com/articles/cooking-duck-brest-medium-rare.aspx&gt;

Sherwood, Lauralee, Hillar Klandorf and Paul Yancey. 2005. Animal Physiology: From Genes to Organisms. Thomson Brookes/Cole, Belmont, CA.

–. 2015 “Meat and Poultry Temperature Guide.” Food Network. Feb 9. 2015 <http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/articles/meat-and-poultry-temperature-guide.html&gt;

Raw Power- Clarification

Some things have been been bugging me since I posted Raw Power the other day, and I want to make a clarification. First of all, food poisoning is serious business. Bacteria like E Coli and Salmonella can make you very sick, some strains can even kill you. Things like improper butchering or storage techniques allow for bacterial contamination and proliferation, as a result, humans invented cooking to kill any potential bacteria living in their food. Eating raw meat means you trust yours or the restaurant’s butcher and the chef that prepared it. Although there are grades of bacterial exposure (called inoculum) that range from unnoticeable to the body to lethal, it does NOT take much time for bacteria to proliferate to a lethal inoculum size (which varies between species). It can take as little as 20 minutes for a population on your food to double. So ALWAYS keep food cold and separate from other things when not preparing it and wash everything well and frequently.

Sushi, conversely, is a greater concern for parasitic contamination. Preparing sushi means choosing fish that have been carefully inspected for any parasites. They’ve also been flash frozen at incredibly cold temperatures to kill any lingering buggies (your freezer is not cold enough to do this). If you’re making sushi (or steak tartarre, for that matter) tell your butcher so they can help you choose the best and safest cuts.

Lastly, I addressed bacterial contamination at large, but it remains to be said that E Coli, Salmonella and other enteric bacteria reside in the gut, so contamination with such bacteria is indicative of exposure to fecal matter (usually due to nicking the intestines during butchering). These do not just live in your environment if you are a safe cook. Be a safe cook.

Again, there are safe ways to eat raw meat, but you and the meat have to be safe. The FDA is strict about testing for the serious stuff like E Coli and Salmonella, so I focused on other types of bacterial exposure. However, I realized my post might have minimized the dangers and thus I wanted to clarify some things.

That is all.

Superb Owl Sunday

Aw damn…aw shit I MISSED IT. I was so busy with work I forgot about the most important event of the year: Superb Owl Sunday. I know I’m late to the game, but I’d like to put in the Barn Owl for Most Superb Owl.

Seriously. That is one Superb Owl.

I have heard the suggestions of osprey or guys really enthusiastic about America, but those are ridiculous ideas. Neither of those are owls. Barn owls, however! Besides being damn fine raptors, they are an excellent natural mouse trap; a family of owls will consume 1300 rats per year! How can a fish hawk or star-spangled bros compare? I don’t see either of THEM eating that many rodents.

Barn owl populations are greatly threatened by human activity and development; they’re hit by cars and they can fly into barbed fences or power lines. To help them out (besides watching for animals when driving), get an owl box! Just don’t bug them once they get settled. They don’t like that.

Sources

Frendt, Don, Andy Harmer and Phil Johnson. 2011. “Natural History”. The Hungry Owl Project. Feb 2, 2015 <http://www.hungryowl.org/education/natural_history.html&gt;