These beautiful Turkeys are starting to show up quite regularly on the trail cameras.
Trail Cameras from this week: Not much on the cameras, but we are seeing some healthy deer and healthy turkeys.
Below: In the last 20 years, the black bear population has expanded eastward from the Mississippi River. There are two subspecies of bear in Mississippi which are the Louisiana Black Bear and the American Black Bear. Prior to 2005, there were no documented black bear cubs in this are of Mississippi for 40 years. We have documented 5 cubs in as many years on our trail cameras, so the population is definitely growing larger in this area. The average range for a female black bear is 5000 acres, so we are pretty sure that the bear in the picture below is one of the bears we have seen on our trail cameras. Now this female will be tracked by GPS. NOTE: We have seen bears crossing the road in front of the farm in the past,, but we have never seen a bear as we travel through the woods on this farm. Bear obviously pay attention and avoid us.
Science TIP: What is Enzymatic Browning?
First of all, what is an enzyme? Enzymes are proteins that accelerate chemical reactions. Enzymes are important in our bodies, in seafood, in fruit, in vegetables, and in anything that is living and growing. However, sometimes it would be advantageous for the enzymes to take a rest!
How does Enzymatic Browning affect the food we eat? As a piece of fruit or a vegetable grows and ripens, there is no stopping point. If we purchase bandannas on one day, they continue to ripen. If not consumed, the bananas will turn brown and eventually rot. The brown you see on fruit and vegetables is usually a form of oxidation which is added by enzymes. In the food industry, the name for this process is enzymatic browning.
Can Enzymatic browning be delayed or stopped? Enzymatic browning requires exposure to Oxygen. The food industry has an entire bag of tricks to delay enzymatic browning in the food we purchase (this will be discussed in a future blog). However, there are things you can do to also delay this browning once you purchase food. Here are a few simple things you can do: 1. Covering food cuts down on the oxygen exposure which reduces the oxidation and thus the browning. 2. Placing food in the refrigerator reduces the temperature and slows the chemical reaction. 3. Freezing food almost completely shuts down the chemical reactions, but not all foods respond well to freezing. 4. Adding lemon juice (an acid) to delay the chemical reaction.
Below you see samples of enzymatic browning in an avocado and a banana. If you peel a ripe avocado, you can add a little lemon juice to delay the browning until you are ready to serve. The lemon juice is acidic and the acid delays the chemical reaction.
Babysitting in DC: I flew to DC to babysit and Louisiana weather appeared. Actually, the storm named Ophelia made landfall in North Carolina and dropped rain on DC for 48 hours. Ophelia dampened our plans for the weekend, but Calder, Beckett, Oryne and I were still able to visit the Air and Space Museum between rains on Sunday.
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