Gleaning Leftover Crops For The Poor

A couple of food related articles I read recently.

1) Gleaning is a new word to me.  It’s a tradition that goes back to biblical times.

Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleaning

Gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers’ fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest. Some ancient cultures promoted gleaning as an early form of a welfare system. For example, ancient Jewish communities required that farmers not reap all the way to the edges of a field so as to leave some for the poor and for strangers.(Lev. 19:9–10., Lev. 23:22, Deut. 14:28-29, Peah).

While I must admit I have a spare bedroom full of stuff I will likely never use again, like old exercise equipment, I will give something away, old computer equipment, books, clothes,etc, before I will throw it away.  I can’t remember the last thing I did throw way.

What was the last item you gave away to charity?

A young women in Vermont, Corinne Almquist is reviving this tradtion to help feeding hungry familes in the area.

From a Christian Science Monitor article:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1102/p07s01-lign.html

Cornwall, VT. – Clusters of plump, wine-red Empire apples hang from sagging boughs, yearning to be picked. A small group of volunteers is obliging, quickly filling a truck bed with wooden boxes of fruit.

They’re led by a smiling, energetic young woman, her red hair pulled back and practical rubber boots on her feet, ready for tromping in an orchard on a day that threatens rain.

Later that afternoon Corinne Almquist will deliver some 20 bushels of apples, about 1,000 lbs., to a food shelf for free distribution to hungry local residents. Sunrise Orchards in Cornwall, Vt., where Ms. Almquist and her helpers have been gleaning, can’t sell the apples: Most have cosmetic blemishes caused by being pelted in a late summer hailstorm. Though grocery chains won’t buy them, they’re still tasty and nutritious.

2) The best desert receipe I have seen recently.  Maple Pear Upside-Down Cake.

What is your favorite desert? -

From the NYT

Maple Pear Upside-Down Cake

11 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

3 to 4 pears, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk.

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a small pan over medium heat; add maple syrup and brown sugar and cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and cook for another 2 minutes; remove from heat and set aside. When mixture has cooled a bit, pour it into a 9-inch baking pan and arrange pear slices in an overlapping circle on top.

2. With a handheld or standing mixer, beat remaining 8 tablespoons butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs, one egg at a time, continuing to mix until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Add flour mixture to butter mixture in three batches, alternating with milk; do not overmix. Carefully spread batter over pears, using a spatula to make sure it is evenly distributed. Bake until top of cake is golden brown and edges begin to pull away from sides of pan, about 45 to 50 minutes; a toothpick inserted into center should come out clean. Let cake cool for 5 minutes.

4. Run a knife around edge of pan; put a plate on top of cake and carefully flip it so plate is on bottom and pan is on top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Bible Study – Bonus Rd. Did Judas Commit Suicide?

I her blog last week Gchyayles did a post about Judas Iscariot.  I looked up his life in Wikipedia, and found there was some controversy about what the Bible says about his death.  In Mathew 27:3-5 it says he hung himself.  In Acts 1:16-19 it says he fell and “brust asunder”, which sound more like an accident.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_Iscariot

What is your view on these two apparently different version?

If Judas did die in a fall then couldn’t he have repented his sins before his death and been saved?

Acts 1:16-19

¹⁶Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.

 ¹⁷For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.

 ¹⁸Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.

 ¹⁹And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.

Mathew 27:3-5

³Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,

 ⁴Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.

 ⁵And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

Bible Study – Romans 5:6-13. Free Will vs Predestination

Being the Atheist here I have mostly question, and not that many good answers.   The primary purpose of my Bible study was to understand the guidance so many of my friends live by better.  I have learned a great deal so far, which I think you all for.

Today I think I have some pretty good questions. 

Do we humans have a completely free will to choose our own destiny, or is our fate preordained by God?

Are we all like actors on a stage, and it’s God who has written the script.?  Of course even if we are like actors, we still do experiences all the love, joy, and pain of living, so it might not make any difference if we can’t change the script. 

In looking at the 10 verse in Romans 5, I read about the two son’s born of Rebecca, Jacob and Esau.  It says before they were born God “according to election” ”calleth” the elder to serve the younger.  God loved Jacob, but “hated” Esau.  I have read that in the language the Old Testament was written in the word used for “hated” can be interpreted several different ways.

Was Esau’s destiny chosen for him by God, before he was born?  I also think of Judas.  Was he preordained to betray Jesus?

I have read that God does elected some people to perform specific duties(?).  Do these elected people have any control over whether they perform what they have been chosen for?

Romans 5:6-13

⁹For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.

 ¹⁰And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;

 ¹¹(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)

 ¹²It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.

 ¹³As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

 ¹⁴What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

 ¹⁵For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

 ¹⁶So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

The World Is Getting Smaller – Micky Mouse Comes To China

Mickey Mouse Comes To China

More proof that the world is getting smaller.  Mickey Mouse is coming to China.

I don’t put that much faith in the world’s governments wanting to get along better, but I have a great deal of faith that the citizens of the world do.

Everyday we are more and more connected to each other.  You will find products from all over the world sold in the markets in every country.  Through the miracle of the Internet we can communicate with people from all over the world.  The more we interact, the better we get to know each other, and the more we learn we all have the same dream of a better world for our children.

How many other countries do you think you have communicated with people from, in any manner, this year?  Which countries?

How many different countries do you think you have visited over your life?

From the article from the NYT, by Brooks Barnes

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/business/global/04disney.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

“After a courtship of about 20 years, the Walt Disney Company has won approval from the central government of China to build a Disneyland-style theme park in Shanghai, Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, said Tuesday.

The agreement for a Shanghai Disneyland is a landmark deal that carries enormous cultural and financial implications. Analysts estimate the initial park — not including hotels and resort infrastructure — will cost $3.5 billion, making it one of the largest-ever foreign investments in China.

The initial resort, with a mix of shopping areas, hotels and a Magic Kingdom-style theme park, will sprawl across 1,000 acres of the city’s Pudong district — with the theme park occupying about 100 of those acres. It would be a little bigger than Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., and on par with the parks in Paris and Tokyo. It is expected to open in five or six years.

Disney’s plans are ambitious: If further development of the resort happens as expected over the coming decades — still a big if — it will encompass more than 1,700 acres and have a capacity rivaling Disney World in Florida, which attracts about 45 million annual visitors.

The company’s goal is to create an engine that will drive demand among China’s 1.3 billion residents for other Disney products, from video games to Broadway-style shows to DVDs. Disney typically relies on the creation of new Disney TV channels to pump its brand abroad, but China’s limits on foreign media have made that impossible. The approval, notably, did not come with concessions from China on the television front.

Mr. Iger called the approval “a very significant milestone” in a statement, taking care to praise China as “one of the most dynamic, exciting and important countries in the world.” A spokeswoman declined to elaborate on details. Throwing open its doors to such a uniquely American — and permanent — entertainment experience is a milestone for China, which has aggressively protected its culture from Westernization in general and Hollywood in particular. Only 20 non-Chinese films are allowed to be shown in theaters each year, for instance, and those are often edited.

“Disney, perhaps the most iconic American brand of all, is supercharged in this department,” said Orville Schelll, director of the Asia Society Center on U.S.-China Relations.

Re-Post Love Songs

I can’t think of anything creative to post about so I will just re-post my favorite love songs.

What are some of your favorite love songs?

What was the first “special” song you can remember from when you started dating?

1) The favorite love song of my first girlfriend was George Hamilton IV, “A Rose and a Baby Ruth”, 1956.  For the first dance I took her to I showed up with a yellow rose, her favorite color, and a Baby Ruth candy bar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hamilton_IV

2) My current favorite love song is the Diana Krall’s version of “The Look of Love”.

3) Another favorite love song I just found on YouTube.  Roberta Flack – “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, from 1971.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberta_Flack

Bible Study – 2 Timothy 1:8-12

In our last Bible Study Mama (Judy) choose 2 Timothy 1:12 as one of her planks of faith for her ark.  Some of the wording I found a little confusing.  I am selecting it so you can help me understand it better.  I’ll start from verse 8.

2 Timothy 1:8-12 (New International Version)

⁸So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, ⁹who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, ¹⁰but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. ¹¹And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.

¹²That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Epistle_to_Timothy

In his letter, Paul urges Timothy to not have a “spirit of timidity” and to “not be ashamed to testify about our Lord” (1:7-8). He also entreats Timothy to come to him before winter, and to bring Mark with him (cf. Philippians 2:22). He was anticipating that “the time of his departure was at hand” (4:6), and he exhorts his “son Timothy” to all diligence and steadfastness in the face of false teachings, with advice about combating them with reference to the teachings of the past, and to patience under persecution (1:6–15), and to a faithful discharge of all the duties of his office (4:1–5), with all the solemnity of one who was about to appear before the Judge of the quick and the dead.

The wording in verse 12 that I am not clear on is, “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.”  Is Paul speaking of God as the one whom he believed?  If so then in the last part is Paul saying that he is convinced that God is able to guard what he, Paul, entrusted to God.  What did Paul entrust to God?

Re-Post – Ballet

I see that dance competitions are becoming popular on TV.  I thought I would put up some videos, I have posted before of my favorite style of dance to watch Ballet.  It is amazing how they can make something so hard, look so easy.

Who are your favorite dancers?

Have you ever been to a ballet?  Did you enjoy it.

Have you ever had dance training? 

I am much better at tripping over my toes than dancing on them. 

1) My favorite ballet video.  Polina Seminova

2) My favorite Ballet dancer.  Rudolf Nureyev. Watch the ease with which he makes those incredible jumps.

3) The most inspirational ballet performance I have seen.

Hand in Hand

4) Think these guys would get a few votes on Dancing With Stars?

“We Are Family” In The Plant Kingdom

(Worldpress doesn’t much care for my picture as my avatar, it keeps going back to my old one.  Perhaps they had too many complaints.   )

The more we learn about the animals, and plants, we share our world with the more we find we are not as unique as we think.  We can see creative thinking in other animals, just watch squirrels working out how to get at the bird feeder.  Now we have evidence that plants recognize their siblings.  “We are family” applies to the plant kingdom as well as our own.

First, in our Bible study I asked you to pick you favorite animal.  Now I’ll ask you to make some choices from the world of plants.

Your back on the ark and must choose three flowers to brighten your voyage.

My picks

1. Lily of the Valley – my mother’s favorite flower, her nick name was Lil.

 

2. Roses - The 2009 award winning Pink Promise.

 

3. Tulips – The Sensual Touch Tulip.

 

What three veggies would you pick for the dinner table?

My picks are easy since there aren’t many veggies I do like.

1. Corn

2. Potatoes

3.Carrots

Which three veggies would you throw overboard?

1. Brussels Sprouts

2. Broccoli

3. Lima beans

The article:

http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2010/oct/plantsiblings101409.html

Plants may not have eyes and ears, but they can recognize their siblings, and researchers at the University of Delaware have discovered how.

The ID system lies in the roots and the chemical cues they secrete.

The finding not only sheds light on the intriguing sensing system in plants, but also may have implications for agriculture and even home gardening.

The study, which is reported in the scientific journal Communicative & Integrative Biology, was led by Harsh Bais, assistant professor of plant and soil sciences at the University of Delaware.

Canadian researchers published in 2007 that sea rocket, a common seashore plant, can recognize its siblings — plants grown from seeds from the same mother.

Susan Dudley, an evolutionary plant ecologist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and her colleagues observed that when siblings are grown next to each other in the soil, they “play nice” and don’t send out more roots to compete with one another.

However, the moment one of the plants is thrown in with strangers, it begins competing with them by rapidly growing more roots to take up the water and mineral nutrients in the soil.

Bais, who has conducted a variety of research on plant signaling systems, read Dudley’s study and wanted to find the mechanism behind the sibling recognition.

“Plants have no visible sensory markers, and they can’t run away from where they are planted,” Bais says. “It then becomes a search for more complex patterns of recognition.”

Working in his laboratory at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, a major center for life sciences research at UD, Bais and doctoral student Meredith Biedrzycki set up a study with wild populations of Arabidopsis thaliana.

They utilized wild populations to avoid issues with this common laboratory-bred species, which “always has cousins floating around in the lab,” Bais says.

In a series of experiments, young seedlings were exposed to liquid media containing the root secretions or “exudates” from siblings, from strangers (non-siblings), or only their own exudates.

The length of the longest lateral root and of the hypocotyl, the first leaf-like structure that forms on the plant, were measured.

Additionally, in one experiment, the root exudates were inhibited by sodium orthovanadate, which specifically blocks root secretions without imparting adverse growth effects on roots.

The exposure of plants to the root exudates of strangers induced greater lateral root formation than exposure of plants to sibling exudates. Stranger recognition was abolished upon treatment with the secretion inhibitor.

Biedrzycki did the painstaking laboratory research, rotating more than 3,000 plants involved in the study every day for seven consecutive days and documenting the root patterns.

“The research was very painstaking because Arabidopsis roots are nearly translucent when they are young and were also tangled when I removed them from plates, so measuring the roots took a great amount of patience,” Biedrzycki notes.

“This manuscript is very important for my research since the focus of my thesis project is understanding the biochemical mechanism behind root secretions,” she says. “This research has allowed me to probe the natural mechanism of kin recognition and root secretion.”

The study was replicated by Dudley’s lab in Canada, with similar results.

Strangers planted next to each other are often shorter, Bais notes, because so much of their energy is directed at root growth.

Because siblings aren’t competing against each other, their roots are often much shallower.

Bais says he and his colleagues also have noticed that as sibling plants grow next to each other, their leaves often will touch and intertwine compared to strangers that grow rigidly upright and avoid touching.

The study leaves a lot of unanswered questions that Bais hopes to explore further. How might sibling plants grown in large “monocultures,” such as corn or other major crop plants, be affected? Are they more susceptible to pathogens? And how do they survive without competing?

“It’s possible that when kin are grown together, they may balance their nutrient uptake and not be greedy,” Bais speculates.

The research also may have implications for the home gardener.

“Often we’ll put plants in the ground next to each other and when they don’t do well, we blame the local garden center where we bought them or we attribute their failure to a pathogen,” Bais says. “But maybe there’s more to it than that.”

Bible Study – Genesis 6:13-18, The Ark of Faith

Noah had his ark, to save himself and his family, from the great flood, and to save the animals to build the new world with.

If you had to build that ark for a new world, but you could only take 5 animals, which would you pick?

1.Sheep to make wool for clothing

2.Pigs.  I can’t imagine a world without bacon.

3.Horses – for transportation to help us get around this new world

4.Dogs – Man’s best friend, also to help guard our homes.

5.Platypuses – they are just so much fun to look at, and we need at least one strange critter around to remind us that life doesn’t always make sense.

Our faith is like Noah’s ark.  It keeps us safe, floating above the floods of life that we could easily drown us.

If you were to build your ark of faith which 5 passages from the Bible would you choose as your planks?  Feel free to choose less, or than 5, this isn’t a homework assignment.    Discuss the reason why you picked them for as many as you have time for.

The planks for my science based ark

1.Evolution – life is continually changing.  With out change our world, if it came into existence at all, would have remained a fiery, bubbling cauldron, continually bombarded by objects from outer space.

2. Natural Selection – the organisms that adapt best to changes in the environment are the ones that survive, and thrive.  As this applies to human society, as our brains evolve so will the societies we build.

3.Decay – this is the force in nature that allows changes.  If nothing decayed than the Universe would never change, or probably even have come into existence.

4.Newton’s third law – For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  This gives me hope that someday I may learn to understand women. 

5. Whatever force in nature results in laughter, muddle puddles, and whip cream pies. 

Genesis 6:13-18

¹³And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

 ¹⁴Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

 ¹⁵And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

 ¹⁶A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

 ¹⁷And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

 ¹⁸But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.

Patience – Technology – Faith – Evolution

I have hijacked this topic from my blog buddy Rain’s site.  I just copied my comment to her blog.  She quotes from Craig M. Gay’s book “The Way of the (Modern) World”.  It is very thought provoking and I recommended you pay her blog a visit to read it. http://ivyrain.wordpress.com/2009/10/18/food-for-thought/

We do want it all, and we want it now.

Patience is no longer considered a virtue, and its something I have worked hard at developing all my life.

Technology is just a tool.  We decide if we use it to make our lives better, or worse.  All the nice, shiny, toys that technology produces can become very addictive.  As with all addictions we either control it, or it will control us.

Technology does have a profound effect on how we live.  The spear, and bow and arrow, turned us from prey into predators.  The discovery of agriculture changed us from nomadic, hunter gathers, into city dwellers. Information is power, and the printing press meant the ruling elite could no longer control who had access to it.  Serfs and slaves became citizens in a democracy.  All of these changes revolutionized how we live, and how we view the world.

Modern technology, the cars, computers, the cell phones, give us greater control over the life choices we make.  Our parents can no longer dictate who we marry, our jobs, or where we will live.

However all revolutions come with a price.  While we now have more freedom to make the decisions about our lives, technology has created this fast paced world, where we must make many more decisions, and make them quickly.  It becomes to easy to become a slave to technology, instead of being freed by it.

If you believe the world is becoming a worse place to live, than you will look to the past for a better answer.  You will see the garden of Eden as the perfect world.  A world we should try to emulate today, as much as possible.  God created Eden, and we need God’s guidance to make the world we now live in a better place.

If you believe the world is becoming a better place to live, than you will develop faith in what has brought about these changes.  You will believe that evolution will continue to make the world better.

I believe we humans are physically evolving to adopt to changes in our environment.  We will evolve a better brain, that we will use to create a better world.  We will make better use of the technology we develop to make the world a better place to live in.

Of course it would help if I could evolve a better brain now, but I am afraid I am stuck with the one I have.  One that has not yet evolved the patience I need to deal with all the choices technology is throwing at me.

How patient are you? 

How has your faith helped you become more patient, assuming it has.