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Lettuce Eat Local: We are not newcomers to cucumbers

By
Guest Columnist
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Amanda Miller
Columnist
Lettuce Eat Local

I’ve checked back through my recent articles several times now, scrolling through both my file folder and the online archive. I’m looking for something I’m sure must be there but that I have no actual memory of, perhaps because it doesn’t exist — where are the cucumbers?? Have I seriously gone all summer without writing about cucumbers? 

Because while you will find them as conspicuously absent from my garden as from my recent column history, they have blessedly not been absent from our summer life. I do this thing where I may or may not plant cucumber hills, and am not too worried about them either, since I’m certain someone else will grow way too many and give them to me. It might be selfish to rely on others’ generosity, but I’ll be honest, it also tends to be extremely effective. 

It’s playing vegetable roulette even more dangerously than any normal Kansas gardening always is. Some years I pay the price of my cucumber leniency and it’s a sad, crunch-less and burpless season for us; and then some years it’s like this one, when cucumbers have been our constant companion. 

We’ve snagged them from the box of “take me” that was brought to the foyer at church, we’ve picked them from traveling friends’ gardens (with permission), we’ve always answered affirmatively when asked if we want some, and we’ve even had them magically appear on the table while we were out. Someone mentioned to me recently that this is the season of needing to lock your car and house doors so people don’t deposit extra garden produce in them, and I responded with, “Oh no, this is the season to fling the doors wide open!” At some point, you can probably reach the level of Too Many Cucumbers, but that’s a hard-won place to get to. 

And while some of my in-laws can’t even stand the smell of cucumbers — they shall remain unnamed, bless their hearts — Brian will eat them in things and even sometimes by themselves. I always enjoy a good cucumber salad, whether it’s creamy or vinegary or herby or gingery or anything, but a lot of the cukes this year have been so wonderful I don’t even want to salad them. The kids and I just walk around chomping on them like little weirdos. 

Is Kiah fussy? Give her a cucumber, the perfect cold and crunchy teether that is its own handle. Headed out for “town chores”? Toss a few cucumbers in the backpack for later. Are we going for a walk? Grab a cucumber for each of us and go find the stroller. Ready for storytime? Here kids, have a cucumber to munch while I read. I’ve packed them along to all our Sunflower Summer adventures, used them in catering and classes, brought them as snack to our book study, and this week even took them on the airplane for Kiah and me on our way to Alabama. 

Safe to say, they’ve been around with us. I keep thinking the season has got to be over by now, and soon, it really will be — maybe it is even now, and I’ve already chomped on my last one. But we’ve sure had a good run of it this summer, thanks to the generosity of neighbors, and who knows, maybe I’ll even plant a few of my own next year.

Cucumbers with “Cucumber Stuff”

Great title, huh? That’s what I have to call it though because that’s what this is, at least according to Benson. I don’t know why I had the idea to sprinkle nutritional yeast on sliced cukes one time, but it was so good, it’s become a thing for us. It’s clearly stretching it to call this a recipe, but we think it’s a lovely method for enjoying cucumbers that are so good you barely want to do anything to them. Benson likes to help arrange the slices and sprinkle the spices, so it’s fun to get him involved (mostly fun, until I get a super-salty piece; we’re still working on even distribution). 

Prep tips: you do want to use coarse salt for this, as fine table salt is easier to get too salty and lacks that little crunch that we want. Even if you’ve never heard of it, most groceries carry nutritional yeast.

sliced, chilled cucumbers

coarse/kosher salt 

nutritional yeast

white pepper

optional red pepper flakes

Arrange the cucumbers in a single layer on a plate or tray. Sprinkle with salt, followed by a good dose of nutritional yeast, a light dusting of white pepper, and red pepper to taste (if using at all). Taste and adjust as necessary. 

2 ½ – 3 ½ Gravy

By
Debbie Dance Uhrig
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It’s been a very busy week on the home front and not enough time to get everything achieved. But…. I have a solution, entertain, yep that will do it every time. Our family enjoys having friends over for a meal or dessert, perhaps just coffee. The great thing about doing this is it makes you get the house in order! If you need a little gumption this is definitely one way to get it going.

This weekend we are hosting a neighborhood gathering for friends that are re-locating to South Carolina. After living in the Ozarks this will be quite a change. The forests they have in common, but everything else will be a pretty big

flip. Seafood galore, lots of grits and strong southern cuisine. I’m a little jealous of the great foods they will get to experience except for the boiled peanuts, they can keep those. Our gathering will be a pancake and sausage breakfast. With that said, let me give you a good tip. Saturday, we renewed our membership at Sam’s

Club. While we were shopping, I spied a box of pumpkin baking mix by Krusteaz. It was for bread making, pancakes, etc. If you get the chance pick up this delicious mix, it was outstanding. I’ll probably flip a few pumpkin pancakes next weekend along with the standard buttermilk. That reminds me I also need to get out the fall décor before Saturday.

I named this column 2 1/2 – 3 1/2 because it’s the measurements I use for good biscuit gravy. It’s 2 1/2 cups of milk to 3 1/2 tablespoons of flour. That’s all you have to remember for perfect gravy for 2-3 persons. Once you have it memorized, it’s like the world is your oyster. Every gravy maker is different. I remember when I first came to the Ozark Mountains, I was at work making gravy, when my part-time assistant, came unglued because I didn’t have enough oil in the skillet. I was so happy because the sausage meat wasn’t greasy, and she was wanting to put a half stick of butter in the skillet! I usually settle for just the oil that remains in the skillet for my sausage gravy. I work the 3 1/2 tablespoons of flour into the remaining drippings, add the milk and make a smooth dish. Of course, you are going to add salt and pepper and any other seasonings you desire. Sometimes I’ll put in a little dry mustard to take it up a notch. And, I prefer to use a hot sausage.

There’s something soul-warming about a good batch of biscuits and gravy. It almost puts things in perspective, if that makes any sense? Tonight, as I write I’m surrounded by memories focused around my childhood and beyond. The many stories and special times associated with a pan of biscuits and gravy. Watching a nostalgic expression appear on a loved one’s face while tucking away light fluffy biscuits and creamy gravy. And you wondered if it was appreciated? Indeed, every moment in our kitchen, is a treasure. Simply yours, The Covered Dish.

Kansas Froggin’

By
Steve Gilliland
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July 1 is traditionally the opening day of Kansas Bull Frog Season, a hunting season that gets little fanfare, and frankly a season that’s as underutilized here in Kansas as is squirrel or rabbit season. Nonetheless, hunting bull frogs can be an action-packed way to spend a hot summer night, and will reward you with a feast of sweet tasty frog legs.

My introduction to frog hunting came when I was in third or fourth grade. Across the road from the neighbor’s house was a deep drainage ditch that always harbored a few frogs. The three neighbor kids had a BB gun, and when we weren’t behind their barn trying to shoot their big boar hog in the butt with it, we were at the ditch tryin’ to shoot frogs. We were such poor shots with that old BB gun that the frog population always kept ahead of us, so there were always plenty to chase. When we did kill one, it was retrieved and cut open to get back our BB (the ultimate in recycling!)

I can think of no other hunting sport where there are so many legal ways to harvest your quarry, even though shooting them with a BB gun is NOT among them. For starters, you can don old sneakers or waders and walk, or you can hunt from a canoe, kayak or any kind of boat. Frogs can legally be caught by hand, with a dip net, by hook and line, speared with a gig, or shot with a bow or a crossbow outfitted with a bow fishing rig that uses a barbed arrow attached to the bow or crossbow with a reel or string, and even though most frog hunting is done at night, any of these methods can also be employed during daylight hours to harvest frogs.

Nighttime bull frog hunting has additional challenges, but after dark is the standard tried-and-true time to hunt them. A bright flashlight or headlamp is perhaps the most important tool for nighttime frog hunts no matter the method you choose. Most ponds, lakes, rivers, streams (and yes, even drainage ditches) contain bull frogs; you’ll hear their deep, soothing “harumm, harumm, harumm” nighttime calls piercing the darkness. The trick is to creep silently up on them, whether by boat or by boot, then shine the flashlight or headlamp into their glowing eyes, which temporarily blinds and stuns them, allowing the hunter to capture them by whatever method.

Perhaps my most memorable frog hunt was an ill-conceived safari I took with a coworker when I was a kid. I worked with this guy named Frank who was at least 15 or 20 years my senior and the strange thing was I didn’t even like the guy! To say Frank was eccentric was like calling Chernobyl a small hazardous waste spill. The guy had built a huge box kite that he launched from the back of his old flat bed truck by driving like a maniac through a field, then hoisting it into the sky with a winch! Anyway, for whatever reason, I agreed to take him frog hunting that particular night. It was well past 10 as we drove along a dirt road to a creek where I had never hunted frogs before. I seem to remember that I drove, and somehow in the process of getting off the road far enough to park, I slid my old pickup into the ditch. We decided to hunt frogs then worry about that predicament latter. The fact that my truck was in the ditch kinda soured the whole experience for me, and after wading the unknown creek for awhile, we returned to the “stuck-truck” empty-handed and proceeded to try wresting our transportation from said ditch. After a time of “nothing working,” we trekked up the road to the nearest house and knocked on the door. By then it was past midnight, and as we waited for the owner to stumble to the door, or to

shoot at us, whichever came first, some kids heard the commotion and stuck their heads out a couple upstairs windows right above us. As they stared down at the two wet, stinking absolute strangers below, their brief conversation I’ll take with me to the grave. “Who is it?” asked one kid. “I don’t know” answered a second. Then a third kid chimed in “Looks like a couple bums to me!”

So here are my tips for a fun and successful frog hunting experience. First of all, go with someone you actually like. Secondly, don’t put your truck in the ditch. Thirdly, find yourselves a farm pond, lake or stream full of bull frogs and have at it with whatever method of harvest you choose. When you get home, butcher the frogs by cutting off the big, white, meaty hind legs, skin them with a pair of pliers, rinse them, pat them dry, dredge them in a milk/egg mixture, roll them in flour or cornmeal and fry them just a short time until they’re golden brown. Their sweet taste will amaze you and you’ll be hooked on Kansas Froggin’. Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors!

Steve can be contacted by email at [email protected].

Our Brain’s Happy Hormones

By
Guest Columnist
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0

Our brain releases chemicals into our body that impact functions in our body, such as our mood. There are four chemicals that commonly support “feeling good,” and they are also known as “happiness chemicals.” These four chemicals are dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins.

Dopamine provides us with pleasure, motivation, and learning. Known as the reward chemical, dopamine may help us feel determined to accomplish our goals or meet our needs. Oxytocin is often known as the love hormone, and it creates a feeling of trust and security in maintaining relationships and bonding with others. Serotonin is often known as the mood stabilizer, and is the chemical that helps in regulating our moods. It often helps us with accepting ourselves, the people around us, and feeling significant within our relationships. Finally, endorphins are the natural “pain killer” in our body that releases a response to pain or stress to help in alleviating physical pain, anxiety, or depression. When we have a deficiency in each of these hormones, it can affect us in negative ways.

Dopamine deficiencies can lead us to procrastinate, have low self-esteem, lack motivation, have low energy, feel fatigued, struggle to focus, and feel anxious or hopeless. Natural ways to increase dopamine levels in our body may include mediation, self-care, creating long term goals, creating a daily to-do list to maintain organization, celebrate small wins, regular exercise, and being creative through writing, music or art.

Oxytocin deficiencies can leave us feeling lonely, stressed, lack motivation, have low energy or fatigue, feel disconnected, feel anxious, and experience insomnia. Some natural ways to increase oxytocin may include physical touch from a loved one, socializing, massage, acupuncture, listening to music, regular exercise, meditation, or giving others compliments.

Serotonin deficiencies can lead to low self-esteem, feeling overly sensitive, feeling anxiety, having panic attacks, mood swings, feeling hopeless, feeling nervous about social events, experiencing obsessions, and experiencing insomnia. Natural ways to increase serotonin may be spending time outdoors, meditating, regular exercise, cold showers, sunlight and massage.

Endorphin deficiencies can lead to anxiety, depression, mood swings, aches and pains, insomnia and impulsive behavior. Natural ways to increase endorphins may be laughing, creating music, art or writing, eating spicy foods, regular exercise, stretching, massage, and helping others.

By working to become aware of deficiencies we may be experiencing within our body, we can implement natural skills to increase release of the happiness chemicals. This is one positive way we can take care of our mental health and increase our mood in a positive way.

Curstie provides outpatient therapy for across the lifespan for adults, adolescents, and children starting at age 4. She utilizes a trauma-informed approach for people struggling with anxiety, depression, abuse, trauma, interpersonal issues, grief and social and emotional wellness. Her practice includes play therapy, solution-focused therapy, strengths-based therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness

strategies. Follow The Prairie Doc® at www.prairiedoc.org and on Facebook featuring On Call with the Prairie Doc® a medical Q&A show providing health information based on science, built on trust for 22 Seasons, streaming live on Facebook most Thursdays at 7 p.m. central.

Wheat Scoop: Wheat’s Origin Story

By
Guest Columnist
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Kansas Wheat

For audio version, visit kswheat.com.

K-State’s Wheat Genetics Resource Center unlocks future potential by exploring wheat’s wild past

 

Long, long ago in a land far, far away, bread wheat came into existence. Researchers are still unlocking the secrets of the wild relatives of that ancient wheat to improve modern-day varieties – and a collection of seeds housed on Kimball Avenue in Manhattan is key to this work.

 

Bikram Gill and John Raupp with K-State’s Wheat Genetics Resource Center sat down with Aaron Harries, Kansas Wheat vice president of research and operations, on a recent episode of the “Wheat’s on Your Mind” podcast to share wheat’s origin story and how the collection continues to provide valuable genetic resources for modern wheat breeding programs.

 

To understand this potential, one must go way back to the origin of wheat as a species in the Fertile Crescent – where the crop helped start human civilization more than 10,000 years ago. At that time, wheat did not yet exist. It would take two major evolutionary events that mixed three different grass species to make the first bread wheat genome.

 

The first stop on this timeline was the merger of two wild ancestors that resulted in the eventual creation of wild emmer wheat (genome formula AB).

 

“As a species in nature, nature produced bread wheat around half a million years ago,” Gill said. “Two grasses, they happened to have fun. They hybridized – and that produced bread wheat.”

 

The second stop on the timeline came more than 10,000 years ago when that wild emmer wheat was combined with an ancient goatgrass (genome formula D). That genetic mix resulted in the first crop cultivated by humankind.

 

“In some farmer’s field, some goat grass hybridized with emmer wheat, which originated in Syria,” Gill said. “And that farmer was smart enough, he selected that plant. And that’s our bread wheat.”

 

From there, Mother Nature kept mixing in wild wheat relatives to this new bread wheat – and farmers selected the most successful versions to plant again.

 

“After wheat originated, these wild wheats kept cross-hybridizing with domesticated wheat,” Gill said. “There were no breeders, but nature was doing breeding for the first 10,000 years. They were cross-pollinating and farmers were selecting new types out of that.”

 

This origin story is important because it explains why the wheat genome is so complex. Wheat is a hexaploid, meaning it has six sets of seven chromosomes. Most genes in wheat exist in three copies – one each from those A, B and D genomes. As a result, there are 16 billion DNA letters in the wheat genome – the human genome has three billion letters – meaning you could type out the genetic code of wheat in 12-point font and the type will go around the world.

 

This triplication and redundancy make wheat very hard to genetically analyze.

 

“It’s essentially three different genomes coexisting in one,” Gill said. “It’s like three married people living in one house. Each can be independent, so that causes the problem. How do you sleep in one room without messing it up? Wheat is a very elegant genetic system.”

 

While hard to pick through, that complexity also makes wheat a more durable crop.

 

“This is called genetic buffering,” Gill said. “It’s almost like there are three soldiers or three genes. So, one goes out, the second one is there. The second goes out, the third one is there. Wheat can tolerate the extremes of environment because of this buffering caused by the redundancy of the genes.”

 

With this understanding of the origin and complexity of wheat – how does that relate to wheat breeding programs? Fast forward to 1979 when Gill did a postdoctoral fellowship at K-State and was first exposed to the genetic stocks used to map genes and breed wheat. He took that experience with him to his second postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California-Riverside, where he was blown away by the genetic diversity of a collection of wild weeds.

 

Gill started to form a vision of a resource that would combine the two – a collection of wild wheat relatives with unlocked genetic potential and a wheat breeding program that could replicate Mother Nature’s process of pulling in traits to make better varieties for farmers to plant.

 

In 1980, Gill wrote a grant and flew on a small plane to Hutchinson, the then-headquarters of the Kansas Wheat Commission to pitch his idea.

 

“They had never funded K-State until then,” Gill said. “I presented my vision – we want to establish the Wheat Genetics Resource Center because that’s where we’re going next. A yield bump is going to come from this because of that genetic diversity. Nobody knew what wild wheats were in the Great Plains at that time. I said I know that this is where the next big evolution is.”

 

Backed by approval from K-State’s wheat breeder at the time, the commissioners agreed to provide the seed money. Gill gathered an initial collection of 500 genetic lines, including seeds from collections in Japan, Israel, Russia and other countries. He immediately dove into early projects identifying Hessian fly resistance and leaf rust resistance in lines of Aegilops tauschii (Tausch’s goatgrass), which was relatively easy to cross into wheat.

 

“We are just doing what happened in nature,” Gill said. “That’s how bread wheat arose, so we are essentially repeating the same process except we’re doing it in the lab.”

 

Raupp has served as the curator of the Wheat Genetics Resource Center since August 1980. He noted the collection is up to about 4,200 lines, ranging from Aegilops tauschii which grows anywhere from Turkey to western China to one species that is only found in the Sinai peninsula of Egypt and a little bit into Israel.

 

It’s his job to maintain the stocks of this genetic material, making sure scientists and breeders have access to the seeds they need to complete projects. That doesn’t mean these seeds only sit in a gigantic refrigerator. To maintain their integrity, the seeds must be planted, grown either in a greenhouse or an outdoor plot and often hand-harvested to replenish seeds before they are no longer viable.

 

“While they’re easy to grow, they require a lot of time to clean and maintain,” Raupp said. “My biggest job is just maintaining the collection so we have enough seed on hand to provide the researchers so that they can do their work.”

 

Today, Raupp noted he annually fulfills about 100 different requests for those seeds from researchers in neighboring states to those in countries on the other side of the planet. Aided by modern research techniques like genetic sequencing and CRISPR, these researchers continue to unlock more of that ancient genetic potential to improve the wheat varieties of tomorrow – from sawfly resistance to higher protein content to how root morphologies aid drought resistance.

 

“It’s been a gold mine,” Harries said. “You go treasure hunting in this collection that you’ve created here. A lot of the traits that we have for stripe rust, leaf rust and viral traits all come from those wild wheat relatives. And that work is far from over.”

 

Learn more about wheat’s origin story and K-State’s Wheat Genetics Resource Center by listening to the full “Wheat’s on Your Mind” podcast episode at WheatsOnYourMind.com.

 

 

 

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Written by Julia Debes for Kansas Wheat

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