Via site feedAlthough I don’t plan to order more than one (in order, as the site suggests, “to form a colorful bouquet”), I do intend to order one of these ginkgo fly swatters from Modern Motive.
Even though it seems but one step away from total ginkgo kitsch.
Ginkgo Fridays: DIY
Try Stamp Zia’s Ginkgo Paper project for some summer ginkgo fun.
Ginkgo Wednesdays: Photography
Image courtesy of tanakawho.
Pearl Moscowitz’s Last Stand
I found Pearl Moscowitz’s Last Stand
Pearl Moscovitz’s Last Stand is the story of the street on which Pearl grew up, and the ginkgo trees planted there. In fits and starts, the trees begin to disappear, one to lightning, another to make way for a bus stop, and most of them to make room for new development, until there is only one tree left. Pearl saves the last ginkgo tree with some charm, great food, and a little activism.
Ginkgo Sundays: House and Garden
Ginkgo birdbath available from Plow & Hearth.
Ginkgo Fridays: Textiles
Ginkgo leaves scarf by Joann A Lot.
Ginkgo Wednesdays: Photography
Image courtesy of muskva.
Festival of the Trees #13
Wrenaissance Reflections hosts the upcoming Festival of the Trees. Deadline for your entries is June 29. To submit, email to treefest (at) wrenaissance (dot) com, or use the submission form at BlogCarnival.com.
Chilled Sweet Beancurd-Water Chestnut and Sweetcorn Soup
Ingredients: (makes a large pot of soup) 2 can creamed sweetcorn 150 gm ginko 150 gm water chestnut, finely diced 2 blocks fresh soft tofu (about 400 gm) 1.5-2 ltr water (depending on how watery you want it to be) 20-30 tbsp sugar (or to taste) Method: 1. Mix sweetcorn, ginko, water chestnuts, water and sugar. Bring to boil and let it simmmer for 15 minutes or so. Let it cool down. 2. Prior to serving, blend beancurds with a little bit of water) until mashed. (Run the beancurd through boiling water before this step) 3. Pour into the sweetcorn mixture. Add in some ice and eat it cold. Note: Will use “Tau Fu Fah” instead of soft beancurd to see if it yields better results.
Recipe courtesy Little Beancurd.
Ginkgo Sundays: House and Garden
Dining table by Russ Riddle.
Ginkgo Fridays: Paper
I’ve looked before, but this is the first time I’ve found ginkgo wrapping paper. Wooster & Prince Papers, available from Paper Mojo.
Ginkgo Wednesdays: Photography
Take a good look, and you’ll understand why ginkgos are also known as maidenhair trees.
Image courtesy of Matthew Turner’s Photos.
Ginkgo
Acrylic and ginkgo leaves with resin on canvas, by artist Melissa Wagner.
Getting to Know You
This morning you find yourself hugging a tree: it’s your front yard gingko, bare-leafed and rough, the trunk just narrow enough to get your arms around. It’s one of those moments when people and trees come together, when the mind empties out like spilled milk and you are that tree; and when the UPS man climbs out of his truck, surprised to see you hugging a tree but too polite to ask why and hands over a package to sign for, you think: Who is this woman—and isn’t it time to get to know her? And when the neighbor who just moved in next door with six cats and an old red pickup comes jogging down the road, you holler, Kettle’s on! C’mon in. And though her eyes widen to see you stroking the bark of the gingko—she turns and trots up your walk. And you know this is exactly what you were longing for when you first embraced that tree: a cup of green tea and a neighbor who looks bewitching today in her purple cape, her tall rubber boots and a rusty frizz of hair that sticks straight up like an antenna, like a genie dropped in from some distant star and in your own front yard.
Ginkgo Sundays: House and Garden
Three-piece ginkgo bath set from Wal-Mart (online only).
(Yes, you read that right. And it’s not half bad.)
Ginkgo Fridays: Jewelry
This ginkgo necklace from Kristin Laing is one of my favorites. I’m putting it on my Christmas list.
Weekly Ginkgo News Roundup
Down in New Zealand these days it’s fall, and that means only one thing for female ginkgo trees and those unlucky enough to be in their vicinity: smelly nuts. Seems everyone around in Te Awamtu agrees that the female trees need to go, but so far no one’s actually made the decision.
Pastors Pam and Ariki Ashford, of the Assembly of God, said they had battled with the council to get rid of the gingko tree outside their church for the past 15 years. “When you stand in one and squash one it smells like dog spew,” Mrs Ashford said. Mr Ashford said he’d noticed many pedestrians, including school children, preferring to walk on the road rather than through the whiffy fruit.
Via Waikato Times.
Meanwhile, at Logan International Airport in Boston, MA, USA, officials are very focused:
Logan’s $10 million landscaping plan relies on thousands of trees, flowers, and bushes that don’t draw insects. It pays attention to the smallest detail to balance appearance and safety. The gingko trees had to be all male, because females drop seeded stinkbombs that attract birds and bugs. Plantings shunned certain shades of red and violet because they attract Japanese beetles. Roses, too.
Via Boston Globe.
Introducing the Weekly Ginkgo News Roundup
The staff here at Ginkgo Dreams has (since there’s only one of me) always had a nose for ginkgo-related news, which is why it’s surprising that it took me so long to develop the Weekly Ginkgo News Roundup.
Through WGNR I intend to present the latest in ginkgo-related news. Some weeks will be fuller than others; I can already tell you that this week’s Roundup is on the short side, but the stories have a definite ginkgo scent.
Expect to see it each Thursday. Or not, if there isn’t any.
Housekeeping
I seem to have had a long-standing problem with both comments and e-mail, both possibly now fixed.
Would a few readers be so kind as to either leave a comment or to drop me a e-mail through the Contact link on the sidebar?
Thanks for both your help and patience.
Ginkgo Wednesdays: Photography
Image courtesy of Matthew Campagna. See Project Seoul for more of his photography.
Indoor Gingko Leaf Mural
Ginkgo mural by artist Nancy Ostrovsky.
Festival of the Trees #12
Jade at Arboreality hosts this month’s Festival of the Trees.
Buddha’s Delight
While this isn’t the first recipe for Buddha’s Delight featured at Ginkgo Dreams, it’s the first meant to be served as a cold salad.
* 1 cup baby bok choy or bok choy hearts * 1/3 cup bean sprouts, brown tips removed * 4 slices peeled lotus root, cut crosswise to ¼ inch thickness * ¼ cup canned gingko nuts, drained * 1 cup trimmed sugar snap peas * ¼ cup dried wood ear mushrooms, soaked in hot tap water until softened, drained, and torn in half * ¼ cup canned straw mushrooms, drained * ¼ cup dried lily buds, soaked in hot tap water until softened, drained * 1/3 cup sliced water chestnuts * ¼ of a small red bell pepper, seeds and ribs discarded, cut into strips about 1½ inches long and ¼ inch wide * 2 tablespoons dark sesame oil * 2 scallions, white part only, trimmed and sliced diagonally into ¼ inch pieces * 6 large garlic cloves, peeled and sliced ޠinch thick * 2 tablespoons soy sauce * 1 tablespoon sugar * 1 tablespoon Chinese black or balsamic vinegar Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add the bok choy and cook for 10 seconds. Then add the bean sprouts and lotus root, and cook for 5 seconds. Add the gingko nuts, sugar snap peas, mushrooms, dried lily buds, water chestnuts, and bell pepper. Return to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Drain in a colander. Run cold water over the vegetables for 3 minutes. Place the colander on a plate or bowl to catch the excess water, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Heat a large wok over high heat. Add the sesame oil, then the scallions and garlic, and stir-fry just until the garlic is fragrant without turning brown, about 10 seconds. Transfer to a small bowl. Place the chilled vegetables in a serving bowl. Add the sesame oil mixture to the vegetables. Combine the soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and pour over the vegetables. Toss well, and serve immediately. Servings: 4 to 6.
Copyright © 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
From Michael Tong’s The Shun Lee Cookbook: Recipes from a Chinese Restaurant Dynasty
Ginkgo Sundays: House and Garden
Changing of the Seasons, tile with ginkgo from Door Pottery.