Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Cataract Surgery
Cataract surgery fast, painless and effective
3 days ago
TRIBUNE PHOTO/LARRY BECKNER
Nancy Mayernik, LPN, left, and Dr. David Boes, work to remove a cataracts from Polly Kolstad eye at the Orthopedic Center of Montana.Flathead Lake Cherries -Toby Phillips
When life gives you a box of cherries (Flathead Cherries) – story from Polly
I knew I would
like Toby from the moment I first saw him.
Stocky legs capped
with sturdy boots came through my door lugging two boxes of fresh Flathead
cherries.
Toby Phillips had
arrived to help us with our wheat harvest bringing with him the sweet harvest
of cherries.
He had spent the
previous day picking and culling forty pounds with his father in law, Hugh
Hockaday, at the family orchard on Angel Point near Lakeside, Montana.
Has anyone ever
been disappointed with a gift of cherries?
Flathead cherries
come from northwest Montana and are grown in abundance around Flathead Lake. Orchard growers in this area are famous for
their quality fresh cherries. This is
the peak of the season. Though the
harvest is a little late, it is a good year for Flathead cherries. Picking began around the first of August and
will continue for another week to ten days.
The Hockaday
cherries are Chinooks; pollinizers that look like a Bing and come on a little
early.
“The cherries are
of good size, a lot of them had very little element damage (bugs or rain),” said
Hockaday, who has been running the operation for over fifty years.
Other big sweet
cherries that do well in the area are Bing, Lambert, and Queen Anne. These cherries ripen after the Washington and
Oregon cherries are off the market.
With a little
help, cherry trees live a long time. It
takes three to four years before they produce.
They peak at 12 years and may produce another 12 years. But Mother Nature wasn’t too kind to the Flathead
orchards that were devastated by the 1989 freeze when the temperature plummeted
from 50 degrees to 40 below the next day.
The Hockadays lost about 500 trees.
Over the years,
they have recovered and are very “picky” about the care of their trees. They cultivate them repeatedly over the
summer to keep the weeds out and to allow all the moisture to go to the
trees. Any split, cracked, or bruised cherries go on
the ground, left for the deer.
Hockaday moved on the property with his dad in
1946 when his grand dad had a stroke. Grand
dad bought it in 1910. There were some
trees there then, and he planted a bunch for commercial sales. Even then, cherries were big business.
“Grand dad hired girls to pick in the morning
and pack in the afternoon. Then the
cherries were loaded on ‘steamers’ (boats) and took to rail at Somers,”
explained Hockaday.
Today, the Hockaday orchard is strictly a
U-pick at a dollar a pound. Many people return year after year for the tree
ripened fruit which, according to Hockaday, is a lot sweeter because they don’t
irrigate and pump them full of water.
We have been eating cherries one by one
off the stem. My hands are beautifully stained
from handling and pitting the plump red fruit.
I’m eager to not let one go to waste, so I have prepared many
recipes. Still, I have a windfall of
Montana’s sweetest picking.
“Just throw them
in bags and freeze them,” suggests Phillips, “that’s what we do.”
“Then, in the cool
of winter take out a bowl of cherries and relish the delicious memory of
summer.”
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Where to get Flathead cherries:
Flathead cherries
are available at supermarkets and various farmers markets. When you shop, look for shiny, firm, plump
fruit with no marring on the skin or broken stems. The darkest cherries are the most ripe. They do not ripen after picking. Wash before eating. Store them in the refrigerator and they will
keep for about a week. If you choose to
pick your own at a U-pick, pick them with the stems on. They stay fresher that way. The Hockaday
orchard provides ladders, and boxes.
How good are cherries for you:
Sweet cherries
are a good source of potassium (260 mg in every cup consumed). Evidence shows that a diet rich in potassium
may help to control blood pressure and reduce the risk for hypertension and
stroke. Cherries are packed with antioxidants
including anthocyanins and melatonin.
Research indicates cherries my help maintain healthy joint functioning
and support a healthy cardiovascular system.
You can enjoy the
nutritious benefits of cherries in several ways: one serving is equal to 1 cup
fresh cherries; ½ cup dried cherries; 1 cup frozen cherries; or 1 cup cherry
juice. Calories in one cup of
cherries: 84.
Sweet cherries
are simply delicious: put them on top of your cereal in the morning, add them
to fruit salads, or layer them with granola and yogurt for a fresh parfait.
Pitting cherries:
These red round
gems have to be pitted. There are good
cherry pitters on the market. I have a
hand held device that works like a spring loaded bobby pin. It is called a “cherry chomper.” Pizazz in downtown Great Falls carries three
different cherry pitters, including the cherry chomper.
Recipes:
Sweet Cherry Jam or Topping
4 cups pitted sweet cherries
2 ½ cups sugar
½ cup lemon juice
Put ingredients in a heavy bottomed pan and mash together
lightly. Cook, stirring while mixture
boils, for five minutes. Cook five more
minutes until thick and syrupy. Ladle
into hot jelly jars. Seal with paraffin
wax. Will fill two pints, or four small
jelly jars.
Sweet Cherry Pie
Prepare pastry for 2-crust pie: Measure 2 cups flour into large bowl, and
with your hands, make a well in the center.
Pour in ¾ cup vegetable oil, and ¼ cup water. Mix together.
Divide into two balls of dough.
Roll out one ball between waxed paper and fit into a pie plate. (9 inch).
Roll out second ball between waxed paper, and set aside.
Prepare pie filling:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 Tblsp. Fresh lemon juice
4 cups pitted sweet cherries
2 Tblsp butter
Combine sugar, flour, and salt. Add lemon juice to cherries and toss with
sugar-flour mixture to mix thoroughly.
Turn into pastry lined pie pan. Dot with butter. Add top crust and crimp edges
so juice does not escape. With a knife,
make three slashes on the top. Bake in
hot oven (425 F) about 40 minutes.
Cherries Jubilee
4 cups pitted cherries
½ cup water
1 Tblsp. sugar mixed with 1 Tblsp cornstarch
¼ cup Kirsch (cherry liqueur
Vanilla ice cream
In a small dish, combine water with sugar and
cornstarch. In a skillet, heat cherries
with cornstarch mixture over moderate heat, until thick and clear. Add Kirsch just before serving. Scoop vanilla ice cream into cocktail glasses
or dessert dishes and spoon cherries down over ice cream. Serves 6.
Sweet Cherry Blondies
1 -1/3 cups flour
1 -1/3 cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pitted, halved cherries
½ cup chopped pecans
In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder,
salt, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Mix on low
speed of electric mixer until blended.
Spread ½ batter on buttered and floured 9 inch baking pan. Toss cherries with small amount of flour. Scatter cherries over batter. Spread remaining batter over cherries. Sprinkle pecans on top. Bake @ 325 degrees for 30 – 35 minutes until
wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool and cut into 16 squares.
Cherry Coca-Cola
Salad
2 cups pitted sweet cherries
1 can (l lb. 4 oz) crushed pineapple
1 pkg. cherry (6 oz) gelatin
1 -12 oz can Coca Cola
Drain juice from pineapple, add enough water to make 2
cups. Heat to boiling. Stir in gelatin until dissolved. Pour into large bowl. Add cola.
Stir. Add cherries and put into 1
– ½ quart mold. Chill until set.
Wilmington, NC
Travel story from Polly: Wilmington, North Carolina
A wedding can
take you to places you’ve never been.
Let the romantic occasion
become a journey, and you are immersed into fun and adventure in a far off
place that perhaps you have only occasionally heard of.
Recently, my
husband and I packed in a multitude of culture while attending a much
celebrated marriage in the southeastern part of North Carolina.
After flying
across the United States, we found ourselves in Wilmington, a city nestled
between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Coast.
Although it does
not actually border the ocean, the eastern portion of the municipality
overlooks the Sound, the Intercoastal Waterway, and barrier islands that lie
between.
Long ago, sailors
described the river as the “Cape of Fear” named for the high winds that raised
havoc with the ships.
The old part of
the port city rises from the riverwalk where voices of the past whisper from
the remains of shipyards, the Cotton Exchange, the city market, and restaurants
and shops housed in refurbished wharf buildings. Friendly guides relive the Revolutionary
and Civil War history from horse drawn carriages, trolleys, and even push-off
segways.
Before the Civil
War, Wilmington was an active seaport shipping great quantities of naval stores
(tar, pitch, and turpentine), wood products, and rice to Charleston, Baltimore,
New York, and the West Indies. The war
dramatically changed Wilmington as it became the Confederacy’s main blockade running
seaport. As the Union took over the
area, Wilmington was different, but they never gave up. Eventually, the southern families that owned
property were able to move back and restore their fine homes, churches, and
mansions that encompass an area of more than one hundred blocks.
Having survived
the hostilities between the North and the South, Wilmington showcases the
largest National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina, in fact, one of
the largest in the U.S.
Today, visitors walk
and tour the old district tripping along charming brick lined streets that the
locals refuse to give up.
“It’s a bumpy
ride,” said our trolley guide, Wes, explaining the ongoing controversy that
prevails to asphalt over the well worn red pavers.
He claimed that a
solid army of residents comes out at night with picks and shovels to attack any
hot mix truck that may invade the lovely magnolia lined streets.
Stories unfold as the historic plaques proudly
grace grand porches and holy steeples, structures that are maintained as they
were in the antebellum days. The city is
proud to have a historical committee that is diligent about keeping up the street
side and iron gated properties.
Built in 1848,
our Bed and Breakfast, the Rosehill Inn, has been lovingly restored by
innkeepers, Tricia, Bob, and Sean Milton. The two story white Georgian style house,
was once the home of Henry Bacon, who in the 1880s, served as the government
engineer in charge of the Cape Fear River improvements. He was the father of Henry Bacon II, who
later became the architect who designed the Lincoln Memorial in Washington,
D.C. Not only have the Miltons preserved
this historic inn, they meet and greet you at the airport. And in the eleventh hour, Bob takes the side
streets to whet your taste of the landscape that will awaken you in the
morning. Now that’s southern
hospitality!
Only a heavy
sleeper could snooze through the melodic carillon that is regularly rung from
the First Presbyterian Church down the street. The church, with its finials and
soaring stone spire, topped with a metal rooster, can be seen from any
vantage. It is said that the Reverend
Joseph R. Wilson, pastor from 1874 until 1885, would not have been proud of
son, Tommy’s, sling shot antics that shattered neighbors windows. However, he
would acknowledge that Thomas Woodrow Wilson grew up to be the 28th
President of the United States.
A few blocks away, the house where Anna McNeil
Whistler was born still stands. James
McNeill Whistler’s mother; yes, the lady in the painting, was proud to have
been from Wilmington.
Of particular
note along Market Street, is the pre-Civil War Bellamy mansion. Built in the scale seldom rivaled in the
States, for the family of physician Dr. John Bellamy, the house was seized and used
as the Union military headquarters at the end of the war. In September 1865, the U.S. government
pardoned Dr. Bellamy for his allegiance to the Confederacy and allowed him to
return with his family to the mansion. Finding
their home in a horrible state, the Bellamys were never the same. Much
political grief ensued even into the 1930s and the tale is still told how the
last surviving daughter refused President Taft entry when he knocked to just
have a look at the grand home. Restored
to its palatial style, the mansion is today a museum that is open to the
public.
If you are
looking for big shoes in sports, you’ll find them here. Wilmington just happens to be where Michael
Jordan grew up. He played basketball for
Laney High School, though, ironically, he was cut from the varsity shooters as
a sophomore. He never gave up, and
eventually made the team, leading them on to the state championship. Today, the high school gym is named after
Jordan.
The Riverwalk,
the heart and soul of the downtown Wilmington wharf, is an adventure on any
given day.
As we strolled
along, we came upon Darrell Chambers, a Scotsman, polishing and cleaning the
engraved silver on his bag pipe. A
member of a well known pipe band, Chambers showed us the intricate parts of his
tartan instrument. And then, without
prompting, he stood and played lovely tunes to honor his countrymen. We lingered for some time as he played on,
pausing briefly to boast that “there are more Scots here in Wilmington, than in
Scotland.”
Walking
along the Cape Fear River, you can’t avoid the fog horn of the Capt. J.N.
Maffitt, a tour boat. Originally
constructed as a “liberty launch” for the U.S. Navy, the boat was used to
convey sailors from ship to shore, on “liberty.” Soon, the lapping waves along the pier signaled
the arrival of the 600 passenger riverboat, Henrietta III, as it docked at the
completion of an afternoon cruise.
Across the river, the heroic
battleship North Carolina rested in calm waters, making World War II
history come alive with its’ narrated tours.
A well known sideshow to the battleship is Dophin Habitat - Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
Travel Story from Polly:
Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas
Just off the neon
boulevard of Nevada’s Las Vegas “strip,”
amongst the cacophony of casinos, is a unique animal habitat that houses
Atlantic bottlenose dolphins.
Sgt. Pepper,
Lightning, Duchess, Maverick, Huff N Puff, and Sage sound like characters from
Beatles songs.
In fact, they are a
family of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins enjoying the four connected pools, an
artificial coral reef system and sandy bottom that replicates the dolphins natural
environment.
Some years ago,
Steven Wynn, the owner of the hotel, wanted to bring these intelligent marine
mammals to a research site that would benefit the community and educate
children in Clark County, Nevada.
Thusly, in 1989, a
facility, the Siegfried and Roy Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat, was built,
and staffed with dolphin care specialists. From above and below vast pools, the world is
invited to come learn and observe the lifestyle and often, sense of humor,
exhibited in this group of hairless, finned cetaceans.
Referring to
their enriched lives and how endeared the dolphins are, Mimi Tilton, Public
Relations Manager MGM/Mirage, added that “we love them as they love us.”
“We are very involved in their health
here, and in the research process of the species, especially relating to their
reproductive system, hearing, and aging,” said Jim Hudson, curator of animal
care.
Hudson has a longtime interest in
animals. Beginning with elephants and
camels, he has been involved in animal training around the world since 1979. Here in Las Vegas, he has been at the habitat for
eight years overseeing the dolphins specialized care.
The Las Vegas facility, a member of the
Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums, piggy- backs their research with
Texas A&M, Ohio State University, and Oklahoma State University.
Dolphins are
social animals. They enjoy communicating
and interacting with one another. They have
a special system of seeing and hearing called “echolocation,” the ability to
locate objects by emitted sound waves and interpret the resulting echo. This system of sonar allows a dolphin to
“see” without using its eyes. They use
echolocation to navigate and to find food.
Dolphins also
have a highly developed sense of touch.
They can hold their breath up to seven minutes, but will typically
breathe two to three times per minute.
Researchers have found that they learn sign
language quickly and easily.
In the United
States, Atlantic bottle nose dolphins can be found along the East Coast from
Cape Cod to the Gulf of Mexico. Adult
bottlenose dolphins weigh up to 650 pounds and their actual size varies from 6
– 12 feet. Males are slightly larger
than females. Living in a protected
facility, these mammals will live longer than their counterparts in the wild. Within
the Habitat, on average, a one-year-old bottlenose dolphin is expected to live
for more than 25 years.
With ten trainers
and one intern from UNLV, it’s clear that they are devoted to their animals.
They may have favorites, “but they are not pets,” emphasized Hudson, adding the
fact that dolphins don’t do tricks.
Their jumps, spins, flips and tail walks are part of their natural
behaviors. It is how they play,
exercise, and communicate.
The dolphin pod
living at the habitat include: Duchess, a 30 year-old female, the mother of, Huff N Puff, a 7 year old female; Maverick, a
5 year old male, and Sgt. Pepper, a male, born 10 months ago. The other dolphins are: Lightning, a 25 year
old male, and Sage, a 10 year-old female.
In addition to
the daily dolphin viewing, and educational programs for students from
kindergarten to university age, the habitat offers a Trainer for a Day program
whereby four participants stand side by side with the trainers and feed, train,
and signal behaviors with the dolphins.
The various people the dolphins are exposed to through this program
stimulates their brains and gives them variation in their environment.
I was fortunate to shadow Hudson, poolside, and
interact with Duchess, accompanied by her baby, Sgt. Pepper, who tried to get
into the act.
Swimming up to me, with a seemingly ever-
present smile, Duchess was eager to respond to hand movements. With a signal, she opened her mouth and
talked, revealing over 100 identical cone-shaped teeth in her cavernous
mouth. She swam away and flipped
vertically into the air when I gave her the “candle” sign. With a flick of the
hand, she would pose poolside raising her “fluke” (tail) high into the
air. Time after time, she returned
wanting to play and interact with me. After each maneuver, she skidded up pausing to
be stroked on the top of her head; even asking for a “kiss.” She felt like a wet hot dog or rubber.
But, even at
that, after all that fun, that didn’t stop me from giving her one big smooch
right on her bottlenose snout!
If you go:
Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat
Open Daily
11:00 am – 5:30
pm weekdays
10:00 am - 5:30
pm weekends
Admission
Adults - $15.00
Children 4-12 -
$10.00
Children 3 and under, free with adult
The Mirage Hotel
Las Vegas, Nevada
More information, call: 702-791-7188.
.
Terrace Restaurant - Swan Lake, MT
The Terrace
You may know him
as a Billings auto dealer, car collector, guitar player, surf boarder and water
skier, but from Memorial Day to Labor Day, Sam Campbell and his wife, Therese,
gather their nine children and head to the summer business, The Terrace Supper
Club, on Swan Lake.
While many would
agree that some of the best eating is in family run restaurants where
consistency is the key, the Campbell’s have been able to channel fine cuisine
for more than a decade along Highway 83 between Bigfork and Swan Lake.
Along with their
children (most of whom have grown up working in the restaurant), the Campbell’s
have been operating The Terrace for thirteen years. Sam and Therese bought the restaurant which
had been closed for three years in 2000.
They reopened in May 2001 with their “American” menu as Sam describes, “from
east coast to west coast.”
It’s the evening
meal that matters to Sam who established this supper club harkening back to the
fifties and the sixties.
“If you want a
steak, ribs, shrimp, lobster, we have it,” says Sam, who originally grew up in
Great Falls but spent many summers on Swan Lake in the 1960s where his folks
had a place.
Early on, working
in restaurants interrupted Sam’s lingering lake activities.
“I started out at McDonalds when I was fourteen;
I bought a car from my dad and wrangled fries and have been off and on and in
since then,” he says.
In the 1980s, Sam
was affiliated with three different Bonanza Steak Houses. For some time, he owned T-Birds Rock n’ Roll
Bar and Therese worked at the Fifth Quarter Restaurant in Billings. For the last seven years, she has run the
restaurant at The Terrace.
“Running a
restaurant/bar is fun but a lot of work,” admits Therese, whose combined food
experiences have contributed to the family’s attributes. Their children have been the waiters,
waitresses, cooks and chefs. Currently,
son, Tucker, leads the helm in the kitchen.
They serve drinks
and food you will find yourself telling your friends about.
First, there is
the bar, dubbed The Moon Doggie Lounge, decorated in memorabilia featuring
Sam’s collection of surf boards, water skis, and vintage guitars. While waiting for a table from the cabaret
chairs, you can enjoy the décor and order a cocktail, a local beer, or a glass
of wine. You may select wine by the glass or by the bottle.
In the wine
closet Sam has reasonable bottles for fifteen dollars and up to one hundred
dollars for labels like Camus.
Undoubtedly,
there is an immediate sense of excitement and occasion about the place as the
deck is usually buzzing with crowded umbrella tables overlooking the beautiful
Emerald Bay.
“Everybody fights
for the deck, it’s so nice we are on the bay,” notes Therese.
Yet, to be in the light filled dining room
speaks pure pleasure and a bit more private.
Then, there is
the food.
The Terrace
treats cuisine with original enthusiasm.
Their best dishes
are simple in composition with a Campbell twist.
The menu opens with an array of appetizers
which include peel and eat shrimp served with their signature zesty cocktail
sauce. Sweet onion rings (Walla Walla or
Vidalia) are sliced, lightly battered and fried, as are tender calamari strips. Morel mushrooms, bought from local pickers,
then sautéed in butter, wine and herbs are a gourmand’s delicacy. You may want to order more than one plate to
stave off any squabbles over the last bites.
Almost everything
that follows reaches the same height of casual perfection.
The salmon is
lightly dusted with tempura batter for the fish n’ chips. Their 18 ounce Delmonico Rib Eye hand cut
prime steak is, according to Sam: “bigger and better than Emeril’s.” You won’t
find a hamburger on the menu, but a steakburger, ground sirloin grilled to your
perfection. They have a special way of
preparing Alaska King Crab legs, a gastronomic treasure! French fries are fresh and hand cut to order. Loaves of hot baked bread are brought to the
table.
Children have
their own calling: Dinners for Beginners.
One offering the kids won’t forget is the spaghetti in marinara sauce
with a giant meatball on top.
For dessert, end
dinner with a Montana touch: The Terrace Huckleberry sauce drizzled over New
York Cheesecake, or, Montana huckleberry ice cream.
Throughout the
menu, there are plenty of special sauces: madatcha, (on the Montana hot, wild
wings) marinara, peppercorn, Béarnaise, and zesty cocktail, which speak to the
seriousness of the kitchen. All recipes
are their own: secrets that they don’t
reveal.
Four times a
summer The Terrace has karaoke and throughout the season you may catch a live
band playing. Check it out: Sam is a musician, sings and plays the guitar,
and often sits in with the band.
The mix of the view
and the comfy, the nostalgia and the whimsical makes the The Terrace a good
place to stop. The restaurant is just eight miles from Bigfork (Mile Marker 79)
on Highway 83, and six miles from Swan Lake.
Or, come by boat on Swan Lake and turn into beautiful Emerald Bay.
The Terrace is
open: Memorial Day – Labor Day, Wednesday, through Sunday: from 5 pm on.
As locals and
tourists head to the pure mountains and lakes of Montana, the Campbell’s at The
Terrace Supper Club seek to please.
“We serve a
little later when light is on the lake in the summer,” says Therese.
Reservations
appreciated, but all welcome.
Phone: 406-837-5141
Website:
Theterracesupperclub.com
Saguaro Cactus
Saguaro Cactus – Travel Story from Polly
As a southwestern
visitor for a couple of weeks every year, I had always wondered about the
Saguaro cactus that signals a strange welcome into the vast Sonoran Desert.
Like stoic
sentinels guarding that zone, the giant Saguaro marches up mountains, harbors
highway roadsides, appears in the urban landscape, and even lives hazardously
along golf courses.
There are no two
alike inhabiting only the Sonoran Desert, an area that includes parts of
Arizona, California, and Mexico.
Many are just
green spiny pleated trunks rising out of the shadows of a paloverde tree or a
bursage bush. Yet others, who have the good genes of geriatric survival, have
arms that reach up to the sky, and may be thirty feet tall. There’s no blooming until they are about 50
years old, and the mature giant finally gets an appendage around its 75th
birthday. But then, the strange and unusual tree may tower in the desert until
it is 200 years old, and sport multiple branches.
It is not
permissible to take the Saguaro from the desert. Only certain people may obtain a permit to
get the giant cactus. If caught stealing one, a hefty fine is imposed.
Fascinated by
this multigenerational plant, I ventured out to the Desert Botanical Garden in
Phoenix, Arizona where the silhouetted Saguaro grows prolifically.
With a basket in
hand full of Saguaro “artifacts,” Nancy White, the Assistant Director of
Education at the Desert Botanical Garden, walked and talked about the Saguaro
which fits into the ecological landscape of the characteristic desert. It gets less than 10 inches of rain per year,
has a high evaporation rate, and can survive extreme temperature
fluctuations.
Nature has finely
engineered the Saguaro, which can weigh several tons, for the Sonoran
Desert.
“Think of a
Hummer vehicle loaded with the family and the dog,” explained White.
The columnar
structure of the pleated accordion-like surface allows the Saguaro to expand or
contract depending on the amount of water it is storing at any time. The Saguaro holds so much water, that it can
go for many months without new water from a rain.
The Saguaro is
able to withstand storms and winds that blow across the desert by a system of
lateral roots that run just below the surface of the ground for about the same
distance as the height of the saguaro. As
soon as it rains, these roots, and other hair like roots suck up as much
moisture as they can. Often, these roots can intertwine around rocks and give
the saguaro a phenomenal structural strength.
As we stood under
a three sided wooden structure, White pointed out the lateral poles. The center
structure of the saguaro is supported by an interior skeletal system, a series
of wooden rods that form a circle. These
round wooden sticks give the Saguaro great structural strength. They have been
used by native people as one of their strongest building materials. The Saguaro ribs are the side poles in this
wooden structure.
In late May, the
Saguaro sprouts creamy white blossoms with yellow centers from the top of the
plant, and clustered near the ends of the branches. The blossoms open during
cooler desert nights and close again by next midday. Not all of the flowers in a single Saguaro
bloom at the same time. Instead over a
period of a month or more, only a few open each night, secreting nectar into
their tubes, and awaiting pollination.
These flowers close about noon the following day, never to open
again. If fertilization has occurred,
fruit will begin to form immediately.
Bats and some
moths feed on the nectar, thus pollinating the plant to produce a pink fruit
about the size of a kiwi that has bright scarlet pulp with tiny black seeds.
The fruit ripens just before the fall rainy season. It is said to be one of the tastiest foods of
the desert. However, it is hard to pick
the fruit before the birds and other insects get them.
The native people harvest
the fruit with a long tool made from the dead skeletal wood of the Saguaro. They make preserves and syrups from the delicacy.
Fruit that is
left on the tree drop their seeds. They germinate and start growing under a
nurse plant. In about ten years, the new
saguaro will be about the size of your thumb.
Eventually, the nurse plant may die as the Saguaro takes the water from
it. To survive in most cases the saguaro
seed needs the shade and protection of a nurse plant, such as a paloverde or
bursage.
The typical
mature saguaro is a happy hotel for the birds that inhabit the Sonoran
Desert. The Gila Woodpecker drills holes
in the saguaros. That’s just fine with
the Saguaro as it forms a “scab” that internally becomes a compartment, a
nesting house for the bird.
The nests
maintain a comfortable temperature even during the warmest summer days due to
the protection from the sun and the natural air conditioning provided by the
saguaro. Many kinds of birds have been observed living
in the nests of the Saguaro including the woodpecker, cactus wren, elf owl,
screech owl, sparrow hawk, and white winged doves.
From her basket,
White pulled out an odd looking dried up boot from a dead Saguaro. Sometime ago, it was the inside home to many
birds. She also had the sturdy cross
section of the Saguaro core, and dried pieces of the fruit. Through her “show and tell” and her
informative tour, my many wonders of the cactus giant were answered.
There’s much more
to the amazing world of the Saguaro Cactus.
In fact, you might think that the new cell
towers sprouting up in Phoenician neighborhoods, sporting an organic look, are
real Saguaro cactus!
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