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#vanilla

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I'm telling y'all, it's important to just hang out with the plants in the garden and look at them.

I was just spending time with the vanilla vine whose flowers I've been attempting to pollinate, feeling bad that the pollinations seemed to not have stuck. I was looking at the withered flowers wondering if they would fatten up or what? (because some of the flowers fell off, but some withered and stayed on the plant.) when I realized that some of the withered flowers were actually attached to green tubes! 😱

So in pic 1 below, here's what's happening:

It's an inflorescence (I think that's the word) where flowers come in one or two at a time. So the bud at the left and top have not yet opened. On the right behind my hand is a flower that I recently pollinated and that's withering. Most of the yellow-green "sticks" are places where flowers used to be, but have fallen off. Then at the bottom, you see three pods that look like fresh green beans, and I believe these are pods that have gotten pollinated and are growing! The pod in the middle still has a dried flower at the bottom.

Once I realized what I was looking at, I realized there were a bunch of other pods on the plant (see pic 2).

So I looked up when they should be harvested and it turns out they get harvested before they dry on the vine: vanillery.com/ripe-green-vanil

The pods are so sneaky! They totally look like the rest of the vine, so a dumb predator (like me) wouldn't notice they were there, allowing the pod to mature and release its thousands of tiny seeds. Such a smart plant.

So yay! If I hadn't just been spacing out, standing in the garden, looking at the plant, I might not have ever noticed 😱

#plants #gardening #nature #hawaii #vanilla #orchids @plants

TIL that Vanillin can be synthesized from Guaiacol, which is also a part of the Capsaicin molecule 🌶️. Now I'm obsessed with the idea of very spicy vanilla is flavoring agent.

I think it's a good thing that I didn't become a chemist 👩‍🔬, and don't have access to a laboratory🧪. Also my wife does not allow me to use her pastry chef equipment 👩‍🍳.

Continued thread

Also, it looks like this plant is getting some new growth, branching new vines off the main one. Which is great!

It seems to like this spot, growing all over a bush. It has access to sun on the outside of the bush (which is where the flowers are), but shade inside the bush for the lower parts of the vine.

Looks like this vanilla vine might be flowering soon. This is exciting because it's almost in reach and I will try to hand pollinate. Every other time I've seen vanilla flower, the flowers have been 30 feet up in a tree 🤷

Time to watch some videos on hand pollinating vanilla.

Christinien

Wenn auch Du auf meinem #Minecraft #Server spielen möchtest, kontaktiere mich.

Wir spielen #Vanilla #Freebuild #Survival, ohne extra Farmwelt. Man kann den eigenen Bereich mit einer Goldschaufel claimen und sichern. Ansonsten gibt es noch einen Bahnhof auf der Netherdecke. Teleports oder /home gibt es nicht. Wie gesagt, wir spielen Vanilla. 🙂

Wir spielen bereits auf der 1.21.4 (#Java Edition). Es gibt also alles, was das (Creaking-) Herz begehrt. 🙂

Wenn Du mit uns zusammen spielen möchtest, kontaktiere mich. Ich muss Dich dann freischalten. Aus Sicherheitsgründen, ist de Server nur auf #whitelist.

I re-started this azolla/water spinach pond in a kiddie pool, and it seems to be going well.

I set these vanilla cuttings in the water, to keep them wet till I picked a spot for them. And it turns out they kind of like it! Who knew...

MURDER MYSTERY DESSERT COCKTAIL

¼ oz salted caramel liqueur
¼ oz cinnamon syrup
½ oz spiced apple liqueur
½ oz SC vanilla brandy
1½ oz Flor de Caña Column Still Aged Rum ❹

Garnish: maraschino cherry
Method: Stir, double strain, garnish

This is an original of mine, created after receiving two gifts at a murder mystery dinner with friends. The gifted bottles are pictured in the background: Flor de Caña 12yr, and homemade spiced apple liqueur.

🔗 https://potentpotables.app/drinks/murder-mystery-dessert-cocktail/

#alcohol #cocktail #cocktails #saltedCaramel #liqueur #cinnamon #syrup #spiced #apple #vanilla #brandy #rum #columnStillRum #maraschino #cherry #garnish #coupeClass #servedUp #drinkstodon #fedithirst