Strawberry Season in Michigan

Fresh Picked Strawberries, photo by maggiesonmain

Strawberries are on the way to Michigan’s farm markets,fruit stands and U-pick farms and grocery store shelves. Absolute Michigan has the scoop, including a recipe for homemade strawberry sorbet!

Check this out bigger and in Maggie’s slideshow.

Fruitless

Frosty Blossom, photo by Gerry Buckel

“This is the worst that Michigan has experienced in the past 50 years at least. I don’t know how far you’d have to go back to find something similar.”
~Michigan Farm Bureau commodity specialist Ken Nye

Over on Absolute Michigan we have a report on the cataclysmic losses Michigan fruit farmers are facing in 2012.

Check this photo out bigger and see more of Gerry’s work at Your Hometown Photography.

150,000 photos and one big morel!

Weekend Find, photo by LadyDragonflyCC – See through my Eyes!

The Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr reached a major milestone that we almost missed: the 150,000th photo was added to the group by Christine aka LadyDragonflyCC!! The 100,000th photo was added 2 years ago. At that time there were about 2400 people in our group which has now grown to almost 3200 people. The group was started way back in August of 2005 and you can go back to the beginning right here.

See Christine’s photo bigger and see more in her tasty morel slideshow.

Speaking of morels, don’t miss the annual Mesick Morel Mushroom Festival today through Sunday (May 11-13) and the National Morel Mushroom Festival next weekend (May 17-20) in Boyne City.

True/False (morel)

True | False, photo by M_Wesener

When in doubt, throw it out!
~The Mushroom Hunter’s Mantra

When you’re out looking for morels, this is one True or False question you want to get right! The False Morel page at The Great Morel exlains:

The “False Morel” has several species which carry scientific names such as Gyromitra esculenta, Verpa, Hellvella, and Disciotis. The Verpa and gyromitrin species are the most often mis-identified variety. The gyroomitrin is oten referred to as the “red mushroom”, the “beefsteak mushroom” or the “lorchel”. There are several true species of the false morel, and while some will say they can prepare and eat the false morel with no problem, others have a drastically opposite reaction to them. Hence, The Great Morel suggests that you do not attempt to digest this particular mushroom.

Research shows this species of the morel family is said to contain a toxic chemical called Gyromitrin, a toxic and possible carcinogenic chemical.

…The texture or makeup of the cap or head can typically have brain-like features, with folds in the caps, which some might describe as wrinkles, and are often brittle to the touch. The color will appear reddish or a brownish red, and will darken to almost a blackish red as the false morel ages. You can see some of this darkening beginning to take place on the image below. Sizes can vary from 2 inches to 10 inches.

One of the easiest ways of determining the false morel is by slicing it long ways. See the image below of a crosscut sectioning and note the meaty texture of the stem. False morels are not hollow, which is the most definite tip that you have stumbled up one of these ugly bad boys. The false morel shown in this image is also quite heavy as it is almost solid in the stem and meaty, and often referred to as “cottony”. Some expert mycologists go into greater detail in defining the relationship of the cap and the stem.

You can click through for some helpful photos and also check out the morel identification page at MichiganMorels.com.

Check this out bigger and in M Wesener’s slideshow.

Morel Season in Michigan in March??

A real pretty White Morel, photo by rickrjw.

“We are seeing the unusual becoming the norm.”
~Nate Fuller, Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy

Michigan’s strange “Summer Spring” has seen magnolias, cherries, trillium, daffodils and all manner of plants blooming more or less at once under the pressure cooker of a week of 70 and 80 degree days. For some reason the news that morel mushrooms are being found already in Southwest Michigan has been the most shocking to me of all the action of so far. Hunters from further north in Manistee & Traverse City reported finding tiny ones as well at morels.com.

You can usually set your clock to morels in late April to early May, but it appears we have to revise our The general wisdom appears to be that although it is very early and pretty dry out there, forecast rain over the next few days could bring these delicious woodland treasures out.

Rick found this beauty last year around Boyne City. Check it out background bigilicious and see more in his mushroom slideshow.

Much more Michigan morel info on Michigan in Pictures.

Cherry-o Baby: February is National Cherry Month

cherry, photo by *Alysa*.

February is National Cherry Month and Michigan is the leading producer of tart cherries. Absolute Michigan is kicking it off with a cherrypalooza of facts, links and a cool video from the cherry harvest along with the first of our giveaways through The Daily Michigan: 5 pounds of dried cherries from Cherry Republic!

All you have to do to be eligible is to let us know that you want to win – get all the details at the link above and choose (Michigan) cherries!

View this photo bigger and in Anna’s Flora slideshow.

Because you might be humming it … Cherry O Baby by UB40.

#Mich175 = Happy 175th Birthday Michigan!!

Sugar Cookies – Michigan, photo by betsyweber

We, the PEOPLE of the territory of Michigan … mutually agree to form ourselves

into a free and independent state, by the style and title of “The State of Michigan’”

~Constitution of Michigan of 1835

While Michigan’s Constitution was written in 1835, it took until January 26, 1837 for President Andrew Jackson to sign the bill making Michigan the nation’s 26th state (more about that right here but the short answer is, blame it on Ohio). That makes today the 175th birthday of the Great Lakes State. We’ve been making a fuss of it and giving things away on Absolute Michigan all week, and joining a whole lot of people in touting the good things about our great state at #Mich175 on Twitter.

Here’s some fun facts about Michigan:

• Michigan is derived from the Indian word Michigama, meaning great or large lake. (more about Michigan’s name on Michigan in Pictures)
• French explorers Étienne Brulé & Grenoble are the first recorded Europeans to set foot in Michigan (you never know though). In 1668 Fathers Jacques Marquette and Claude Dablon established the first mission at Sault Ste. Marie, and in 1701, French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded  Fort Pontchartrain in Detroit.
• The Michigan Territory was created, with Detroit designated as the seat of government and William Hull appointed as our first governor.
• Michigan became the 26th state on the 26th of January, 1837. Is 26 our lucky number? FYI, our first State governor was Stevens T. Mason, the 25 year old Boy Governor (the youngest state governor in American history).
• Michigan’s nickname is “the Wolverine State”. It is generally believed to have been coined during the 1835 Toledo War between Michigan and Ohio, when our southern rivals gave us the name due to the wolverine’s reputation for sheer orneriness!
• The Great Seal of Michigan was designed by Lewis Cass and was patterned after the seal of the Hudson Bay Fur Company. It depicts an elk on the left and a moose on the right supporting a shield that reads Tuebor (“I will protect”).The interior of the shield shows a figure on the shore with the sun rising over a lake. His right hand is raised, symbolizing peace, but he holds a rifle in his left hand, showing readiness to defend the state and nation.Below the shield is the inscription of our state motto Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice: “If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.” (I just learned that Michigan has an Office of the Great Seal – how cool would it be to say you worked there??)
• The original State Capitol of Michigan was Detroit, and it moved to Lansing in 1847 to help develop the western side of the state and due to the need to develop the western portions of the state and for easy defense from British troops. Here’s a pic of Michigan’s original Capitol Building and an 1890s view of the current Michigan capitol.
• Michigan is the 10th largest state by area if you count the water … and who wouldn’t count the water??
• Speaking of water, we have 3,288 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, good for second to only Alaska in coastline!

More fun facts from the State of Michigan.

Check this out background bigilicious and in Betsy’s Cookies slideshow.

PS: I made a little Michigan Birthday cover photo for Facebook that you are free to grab.

Happy 175th Birthday Michigan!!

That old chestnut: American Chestnuts in Michigan

Beautiful Chestnuts, photo by jpwbee.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Wikipedia’s entry for the American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) explains that this large, deciduous tree of the beech family was once one of the eastern United States dominant hardwoods before it was nearly wiped out by chestnut blight. Curiously enough, one of the few pockets to survive were some 600 to 800 large trees in northern lower Michigan. I couldn’t find much about these trees other than that reference, so if anyone knows something about that, post it in the comments!

I do know that Chestnut Growers, Inc. is a 37 member cooperative based in Michigan with members in Lower Michigan and Washington state. Their page on sweet chestnuts says that:

In Europe, chestnuts are consumed in a wide variety of dishes, from soups, stews, and stuffing to fancy deserts. Matter of fact, chestnut flour is the secret to many of the fancy French pastries. In other parts of the world, such as China, the chestnut is a staple food in the peoples’ diet. Chestnuts have about half the calories of other nuts and have the lowest fat content of all the main edible nuts. Chestnuts have only four to five percent fat as compared to sixty-two percent for the hazelnut and seventy-one percent for the pecan. In composition and food value, the chestnut, with its high carbohydrate content of about seventy-eight percent, is more akin to cereal grains, such as wheat, than to nuts with a low carbohydrate content. Since chestnuts are starchy rather than oily, they are readily digestible when roasted or boiled.

Read on for more and suggestions on cooking. They take orders for fresh chestnuts and ship beginning in October, and are at farm markets through the fall, often with chestnut roastings at various locations around the state in the next few weeks. You can also but them online through Michigan-based Earthy Delights. I found a recipe for Michigan chestnut pie that looks tasty too.

Julie bought these Michigan-grown beauties at Zingermans. Check them out background bigalicious and see more in Julie’s Food slideshow.

Wild UP Cranberries

Wild UP cranberries, photo by Blondieyooper.

We’re gearing up for Thanksgiving on Absolute Michigan today with two features. One will help you make it a Michigan Thanksgiving and the other has a bowlful of information about Michigan cranberries.

A few years ago Waterland Living wrote about wild cranberries. It’s packed with great advice about finding and harvesting cranberries so check it out!

See April’s photo background bigtastic and in her tasty cups of things slideshow.

Flint Corn, Calico Corn, Indian Corn

Nottawa Fruit Farm 016, photo by bill.d.

Wikipedia’s entry for flint corn says that Flint corn (Zea mays indurata) is commonly known as Indian corn or sometimes calico corn. Its extremely low water content makes it much more resistant to freezing than other vegetables. Slow Food USA’s page on flint corn has some cool info and notes that this corn was the only to survive the infamous Year Without a Summer (1816), when snow fell in June and killing frosts struck in every summer month.

I found a Wisconsin Ojibway legend of the Father of Indian Corn that is very similar to one I heard from Michigan. It tells how a young man went out into the wilderness to seek another way of sustenance for his family.

For the first few days, he amused himself walking in the woods and over the mountain trails. He examined trees, plants, and flowers. This kind of physical effort in the outdoors prepared him for a night of sound sleep. His observations of the day filled his mind with pleasant ideas and dreams.

More and more he desired to know how the trees, plants, flowers, and berries grew. Seemingly they grew wild without much help from the Indians. He wondered why some species were good to eat, while others contained poisonous juices. These thoughts came back to him many times as he retreated to his lodge at night. He secretly wished for a dream that would reveal what he could do to benefit his family and his tribe.

“I believe the Chief of Sky Spirits guides all things and it is to him I owe all things,” he thought to himself. “I wonder if Chief Sky Spirit can make it easier for all Indians to acquire enough food without hunting animals every day to eat.”

“I must try to find a way in my dreams,” he pondered. He stayed on his bed the third day of fasting, because he felt weak and faint. Sometimes he thought that he was going to die. He dreamed that he saw a strong, handsome young man coming down from the sky, advancing toward him. He was richly dressed in green and yellow colours. He wore a plume of waving feathers on his head. His every movement was graceful.

“I have been sent to you,” said the sky-visitor. “The Sky Chief who made all things in the sky and upon the earth intends for me to be your Guardian Spirit and I have come to test you…

Read on to learn how corn was brought to the earth. Check the photo out background bigilicious and in Bill’s Nottawa Fruit Farm slideshow.