My folks are drying out some doug-fir lumber that they sawed up on their small-scale mill (all from trees sustainably thinned out from a crowded forest). These will take some months to dry out, but once done, helps avoid cracking from shrinkage.

#washington #pnw #lumber #sustainableforestry

Put an ice pack on the back of my (well sealed) elemental bromine sample. Bromine is one of the few elements that is a liquid at room temperature.

In this video, the ice pack forms a cooler area at the back of the glass sphere, causing bromine to condense into small droplets, which then fall down and collect to form small streams of liquid bromine.

My best guess is the bromine collects at the bottom, then revaporizes due to pressure loss within the sphere. #science #chemistry #bromine

Picking out the best tree collards after temperatures hit -5⁰C (23⁰F). You can propagate these from cuttings, and since this a breeding mix, there is going to be a mixture of characteristics. All pulled through the frost, but I got to do a taste test of the ones exhibiting no wiltiness. The prettiest ones were not necessarily the best tasting.

#gardening #perennialtreecollards #washington #vegetables

Going through more old plant photos. I'm struck by how colorful California coffeeberries (Frangula californica) are.

They're a close relative of Cascara, but they're evergreen and are more of a southern Cascadian plant (grows in SW Oregon southward into Northern CA). This plant is in a pot in Tacoma and is quite happy here.

Their berries look like coffee berries, but tragically lack caffeine.

#nature #washington #oregon #pacificnorthwest #botany #cascadia #pnw #plants #nativeplants