Bountiful Beauty
Tulips have been one of my favorite flowers. Their symmetry and sturdiness, Dutch charm and being one of the early bloomers of spring have been enough to make them so for me.
Now I have another reason to love them – they won’t let me starve. Yes, they’re edible!
Since being laid off of my job in January and still having no offers despite applying for jobs on almost a daily basis, my natural Scottish (and some Dutch) frugality has had me looking at more and more survival information. With gifts like these from God, I have no excuse for feeling or acting like a victim. Thankfully, I planted these a few years ago. Not that they’ll feed us for long, but in the meantime, I sure am enjoying their beauty, and I might even put a petal on my salad tonight!
From www.alloveralbany.com– “There seems to be pretty wide consensus that the petals of tulips are OK to eat. They reportedly range in taste from "a mild bean-like taste, to a lettuce-like taste, to no taste at all." Apparently some people are allergic to them, so keep that in mind, and you should never eat flowers that have been treated with fungicide or pesticides.
There are conflicting reports about the bulbs. Some say no, they're poisonous. Others say yes, if you know what you're doing. It seems that people have eaten tulip bulbs, but they don't taste very good. During World War II, people in Holland were forced to eat tulips and it doesn't sound like they were good eats. Here's how one Dutch person described it:
"Even though much of Western Europe had been liberated from Nazis control, Holland remained under their firm grip. I remember the hunger. We were forced to eat tulip bulbs and sugar beets because there was no other food," Father Leo Zonneveld told Pat Gravely in an account of life during the Second World War that appears online, which was written for the Veterans History Project.
"Bread made from tulips is not very good; I can tell you that! The skin of the bulb is removed, pretty much like an onion, and so is the centre, because that is poisonous. Then it is dried and baked in the oven. My mother or older sisters would grind the bulbs to a meal-like consistency.
"Then they would mix the meal with water and salt, shape it like a meatloaf, and bake it. I can still remember the taste of it: like wet sawdust." Um, no thanks.
If we had a patch like this, we’d be doing OK!
TULIP TRIVIA ALERT!! - They came to Holland from Austria by way of Turkey.
2/23/12
Tropical Vacation!
Don't we wish?! Here's a tip to help us feel like we're on one right in the middle of winter. The only requirement is a little bit of delayed gratification.
How to grow your own pineapples
7/27/11
If you're concerned about politics and our government, please join me and learn the difference between a democracy and a republic, common law and civil law. Here's a link:
http://www.hisholychurch.org/study/gods/cog7rvd.php
5/20/11
Are you a taxpayer, parent, educator, grandparent, student?
http://massresistance.org/
5/19/11
Diabetes drug as potential cancer treatment
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203278404574413273870984920.html
5/18/11
My husband, Michael has survived base of tongue cancer. He is over a year cancer-free. Thank GOD! I hope the following link will motivate you to make sure and get a dental/oral checkup. Lovingly, Deb
http://ht.ly/1cHoLU
Hummingbirds arrived to our back yard yesterday...not this kind, I hope!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12513315
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