Fight for Harmony. Complete Online Art Exhibition - Book of Paintings by David Nicholls.

A 74 page fantasy about transforming evil into good and a harmonious self-transforming community that follows.

Giant parasitic leech enters pristine wilderness.

Astro medicates leech with milk, tears form civilized pasture. 

Parasite blossoms into assassination-proof orator hydra. 

Next generation parasite sucks life out of Astro.          Oratory enlightens parasite.

Reformed parasite makes heart-reason wedding cake, applied for mouth to mouth resuscitation.

Astro revives to see galaxy heart city, baby cakes emerge

Cakes arrive at civilized pasture, lay micro-cities

Newly evolved carnivorous toilet emerges from ground, eats cakes.

Astro builds a home for toilet

Astro squeezes life back out of toilet, finds place in community for toilet's new home

Blood-smoke from chimneys forms communal heart. 

Newly arrived flying Rafflesia predator attacks

Life drained from heart, becomes asteroid.                Light liberates parasite

Mask removed

Mask appropriated by Astro to become instrument for good

Astro opens to reveal it is just a suit, protective and nurturing culture.  Reformed mask joins heart and still living body 

Former foes unified.

Remains of community, hearts form asteroid belt.

Healing begins.

Astro sacrifices arms to join and complete community

Community members rearrange to become like Tristan de Cuna, the most remote community

and regroup - party

members rearrange to form Amazonian tribe like community  

and exchange places

Transform into Manhattan-esque community

Manhatten-esque freely communing

Community becomes Ancient Egypt-esque

Transforms into Inuit-esque community

Climaxing community

Pregnant tropical community inside artic iglo

Housefly larvae taste test

I tried eating two larvae, or maggots, from a housefly, I believe it was Musca domestica but am not certain. I have been unable to find a description of what they are like to eat anywhere in any book or on the net so decided to investigate. I could also find no detail on how they are prepared, or cooked, in regions where they are traditionally consumed by humans (apparently only rural China and Mexico).  

I boiled them for twenty minutes, considerably longer than the amount of time reportedly necessary to kill or neutralize the many pathogens Musca domestica can carry.

I was surprised how good they tasted, even excellent I would say, somewhere between pork and cheese, there is a report online they are called "cheese worms" in Mexico, where several indigenous groups raise and eat them (1). The skin is a bit problematic, slightly tough, requiring deliberate chewing. It would be worth testing if frying or putting them in a blender or other techniques eliminates this toughness. The consistency of the flesh is very soft, like cream or puss. Various cooking techniques such as making patties or fritters out of them to see if they are as satisfying as common meat seem worth investigating.

I think they deserve further investigation as possible meat substitutes or alternatives, however they do not contain vitamin B12 according to one analysis* (2).  

Despite the very deep, and partly justified, taboo against eating housefly maggots I think they may deserve attention as a simple way for anyone to produce meat, or animal protein, in a small area as well as as an apparently environmentally friendly way to produce meat (black soldier fly larvae reportedly reduce greenhouse gas emissions) (3), the opposite of common commercial meats. So a realistic view may be that beef is more repulsive than maggots, in the big picture.

A number of other fly larvae have been used as food and probably deserve investigation, such as the New Zealand native blowfly, Calliphora quadimaculata, once eaten by Maori, which is not reported to carry diseases and eats rotting plant matter, does not require rotting meat (4). 

* Tiger worms may be the easiest livestock for a small area that contains B12, not quite as simple as maggots, see my earlier post "Cooking tiger worms so not tough and rubbery"

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2006780035499549072/1585908280519215466?hl=en

References.

1)  Edible Insects of the World. Jun Mitsuhashi. 2017.

2) Vitamin B12 level in selected insects. 1984. Wakayama et al.

3) Black soldier fly larvae mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from domestic biodegradable waste by recycling carbon and nitrogen and reconstructing microbial communites. FangMing Xiang et al. 2024. 

4) Which New Zealand Insect? Andrew Crowe. 2002.

  

Dahlia tubers as food

I tried eating the tubers of a Dahlia I found growing wild in a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. I am not sure what species or variety it is, Dahlia coccinea x pinnata is reported to grow wild in New Zealand (1), it seems most likely to be this, photos below, let me know if you know. Both Dahlia coccinea and pinnata are edible cooked (2)  so it is safe to assume any cross between them is too.

The tubers are available in winter, I had to leave a marker in summer to find them as it goes dormant for winter so tubers can be hard to find. The plant produces an abundance of good sized tubers.

I tried them raw, they are crunchy like an apple with a slight taste of uncooked potato, but basically bland in flavor. I also boiled them. They remain crunchy after boiling with very little flavor, much like potato in taste but very different in texture. After prolonged boiling they get a bit softer but are still crunchy. I would say they have a slightly coarse texture, they also leave the mouth slightly dry I find, but they are basically okay.

I found them better roasted for 20-30 minutes, luscious in texture and more tasty, though still hard to describe.

Based on eating them once I would say they are not quite as good as more well known root crops, though a taste could possibly be acquired for them, they have been a traditional part of the diet in parts of South America (2). The fact that they are perennial, compete with weeds and require little or no care may still make them a worthwhile crop overall.    

The skin is sometimes reported to taste bad, I did not find this but it is a bit tough and can be slightly fibrous. 

The flowers of some Dahlias are also reported edible (3) these ones had little flavor but are colorful and good to eat.  

References.

1) New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. 

https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/dahlia-coccinea-d-pinnata/

2) Food Plants in the Americas: A Survey of the Domesicated, Cultivated and Wild Plants Used for Human Food In the Americas. Brian Kermath. 2018.

https://www.academia.edu/1139225/Food_Plants_in_the_Americas_A_Survey_of_the_Domesticated_Cultivated_and_Wild_Plants_Used_for_Human_Food_in_North_Central_and_South_America_and_the_Caribbean

3)The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America. Francis Couplan. 1998.

Hemerocallis middendorffii Seeds Tasty

Ainu Ethnobiology by Dai Williams 2017

https://ethnobiology.org/sites/default/files/publications/contributions/ainu-ethnobiology-final-web-01-09-2018.pdf

 reports the relatively large seeds (about .5 cm) of Hemerocallis middendorfii were once eaten by the Ainu people in Japan. No details on preparation are give. I tried a few, raw they are ok, but roasted for 15 minutes they taste surprisingly good, like nuts, the texture is not as good or smooth as popular nuts, a bit crumbly, but okay. Perhaps I cooked them for a bit too long. 

I am only aware of one other report of Hemerocallis seeds (in general) being edible, Eat the Weeds by Green Deane: 

https://www.eattheweeds.com/daylily-just-cloning-around-2/

he also says the pods are good to eat. I have not tried the seeds or pods of any other species or variety of daylily yet. It seems quite likely they are all edible. It would be worth testing other daylily seeds roasted to see if they taste the same as H middendorfii seeds, if they do I would infer they are also probably safe to eat. 

It is worth noting the roots of at least one Hemerocallis species are considered toxic and the flowers of some of the thousands of hybrid varieties are thought to be slightly toxic, I have had a semi-allergic reaction to some.

Getting a reasonably large nut-like food from such a small perennial is rather rare and desirable, most nut trees are too big for the average garden. 

  

The Way. Painting by David Nicholls.

The Way. (Auto-family on Road-river). By David Nicholls. 2024. Acrylic on Canvas.

 

Conscious Flow (art).

"Conscious Flow" by David Nicholls.

Painting completed 12/23. Acrylic on canvas.

 

Nymphaea alba petioles productive edible

 

The book Cross-cultural ethnobotany of Northeast India (Saklani & Jain 1994) states the petioles (leaf stalks) of Nymphaea alba (the white waterlily) are edible and are sold in markets, which suggests high food value and quality.

I find chopped and boiled very briefly the leaf stalks taste mildly of beans and have a pleasant, asparagus like texture. Not spectacular but good, I eat them often in stir fry or "stir boil".

Harvested leaves and leaf stalks are quickly replaced by new ones over spring, summer and autumn so it is a particularly reliable and productive crop (I have only been harvesting continuously like this for about 6 months, I'm not certain the plant can take this over many years but I expect it can. I also leave most of the leaves/leaf stalks alone at any one time so as not to put too much strain on the plant).

I grow it in a black plastic flexi-tub 55 cm wide. I find I can harvest the amount pictured above at least once a week from one tub which is pretty good. The black plastic raises the temperature of the water when sun is on it which may increase productivity, perhaps to subtropical levels in this temperate climate.

I have also eaten the petioles of Nymphaea odorata, probably not quite as good. Flowers, leaves rhizomes and seeds of this waterlily are considered edible (Edible & Medicinal Plants of Canada. MacKinnon et al. 2009) so I am sure the petioles are too. It is possible any Nymphaea petiole can be eaten but some may be slightly unsafe or require lengthy cooking to break down the mild toxin nupharine. I find they tend to break apart with lengthy cooking.

Hedychium coccinium shoots tasty

The book Cross-cultural Ethnobotany of North East India (1) says the tender shoot of Hedychium coccineum (orange gingerlily) is eaten raw or cooked by the Anals of Chandel District and is cultivated in kitchen gardens for this purpose. There are also a few brief mentions of this use online (2,3). There seem to be no record of this use in the West even though the plant is grown in gardens as an ornamental.

 

I've tried the shoots, they have a mild ginger flavor, not at all overpowering, good chopped up added to a stir fry. They have no fibers and a pleasant crisp texture. You have to peel away the inedible outer layer, this is pretty easy and quick. 

 

I tried what I think is the large variety Hedychium coccinium var angustifolium (narrow leaf ginger), purchased from Coast Palms and Cycads (New Zealand), sold as Hedychium coccinium "Lizzie". They have used the same photo on their website for this plant as used by the Pacific Bulb Society for var angustifolium. It also matches the description of angustifolium given by Branney (4). Mine have not flowered yet so I can't compare them to the photos directly.

It is not clear it is this large variety that is eaten in Asia but it tastes fine. I read somewhere there is no known toxicity in Zingiberaceae but can't find that reference now. Angustifolium is now considered a synonym of coccinium.

 

The plant grows well in Wellington, NZ, (zone 9). It got very tatty in winter, basically deciduous, but grew back fine in spring. It does not mind heavy clay soil and is fine in part shade. Angustifolium is probably too big for small gardens, about 2 m tall.

I'm not yet sure how productive it is, presumably it is reasonably productive if cultivated in kitchen gardens in India for food.

 References.

1)  Cross-cultural Ethnobotany of North East India. A Saklani. S K Jain 1994. 

2) An ethnobotanical note on wild edible plants of Upper Eastern Himalaya, India.

G. Murtem¹ and Pradeep Chaudhry

 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305112551_An_ethnobotanical_note_on_wild_edible_plants_of_Upper_Eastern_Himalaya_India

3) Monpa, memory, and change: an ethnobotanical study of plant use in Mêdog County, South-east Tibet, China

Shan Li et al Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine volume 16, Article number: 5 (2020)

   

https://ethnobiomed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13002-020-0355-7

 

4) Hardy Gingers. T.M.E Branney. Royal Horticultural Society. 2005.