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fandomhigh2017-07-12 02:28 am
glacial_queen) wrote in fandomhigh2017-07-12 02:28 am
Entry tags:
The Magic of Plants, Wednesday, Per 3
"Time to get messy!" Karla crowed when it was time for class to start. "Well, Danger Shop messy, so you'll be fine after class, but until then, I hope you're prepared to spend the hour turning interesting colors. Today, we'll be learning how to make inks from plants, but since different types of plants are in season at different times of the year, we have to rely on a little bit of technological help."
The Danger Shop opened up to a field that couldn't exist in nature. Oak trees were putting forward new leaves next to elderberry trees with branches heavy with fruits and walnut trees, their roots all but covered by fallen nuts. Flowers were in full bloom and so were many kinds of different berries. Patches of beets and carrots and ripe tomatoes could be found just by looking. Most incongruous were the workstations littered about; counters and stovetops with bowls, mesh strainers, mortars and pestles, empty glass bottles and more.
"At its base, ink is just watery pigment and you can get pigment from damn near anything," Karla explained. "People have been making ink from ground up beetles, gemstones, and yes, plants, for millennia." She frowned. "I think millennia for most of you? I don't know when your ancient civilizations invented ink. No matter. Making ink is incredibly easy, though it can be time-consuming. We'll be cheating a bit today so you can have the full experience, but most flowers and berries can produce a simple ink in about a half an hour."
She headed over to the trees, stopping between an oak and a walnut tree. "Black ink can come from three pretty simple sources. Oak galls, black walnuts, and acorns." She turned over a leaf and showed the class the big green lump on the other side. "Oak galls come from wasps laying eggs on the underside of the leaves. As the larvae develop, the tree secretes tannic and gallic acids, which result in this--an oak gall or an oak apple. These can be harvested and dried and used to make gallic ink." Karla plucked the gall from a leaf and it immediately turned dry and brittle in her hands. "We're skipping the drying process for now. Walnuts are another way to get a good, solid ink. Using boiled walnuts, you can end up with a deep, rich ink that lasts for a long time."
She snagged several of the walnuts from the ground, calling in a nutcracker to open one up and eat the meat inside. "You've got about twenty minutes to gather as many different sources of pigment as you can," she said, nodding to the baskets that were stacked by the individual stations. "Collect as many as you'd like and then head back to your stovetops. There are a variety of instructions there to explain your next steps. Be aware, though..." She held up her hand, fingertips already stained darker by the tannins in the walnut shells, "...this is not a neat process. Go!"
The Danger Shop opened up to a field that couldn't exist in nature. Oak trees were putting forward new leaves next to elderberry trees with branches heavy with fruits and walnut trees, their roots all but covered by fallen nuts. Flowers were in full bloom and so were many kinds of different berries. Patches of beets and carrots and ripe tomatoes could be found just by looking. Most incongruous were the workstations littered about; counters and stovetops with bowls, mesh strainers, mortars and pestles, empty glass bottles and more.
"At its base, ink is just watery pigment and you can get pigment from damn near anything," Karla explained. "People have been making ink from ground up beetles, gemstones, and yes, plants, for millennia." She frowned. "I think millennia for most of you? I don't know when your ancient civilizations invented ink. No matter. Making ink is incredibly easy, though it can be time-consuming. We'll be cheating a bit today so you can have the full experience, but most flowers and berries can produce a simple ink in about a half an hour."
She headed over to the trees, stopping between an oak and a walnut tree. "Black ink can come from three pretty simple sources. Oak galls, black walnuts, and acorns." She turned over a leaf and showed the class the big green lump on the other side. "Oak galls come from wasps laying eggs on the underside of the leaves. As the larvae develop, the tree secretes tannic and gallic acids, which result in this--an oak gall or an oak apple. These can be harvested and dried and used to make gallic ink." Karla plucked the gall from a leaf and it immediately turned dry and brittle in her hands. "We're skipping the drying process for now. Walnuts are another way to get a good, solid ink. Using boiled walnuts, you can end up with a deep, rich ink that lasts for a long time."
She snagged several of the walnuts from the ground, calling in a nutcracker to open one up and eat the meat inside. "You've got about twenty minutes to gather as many different sources of pigment as you can," she said, nodding to the baskets that were stacked by the individual stations. "Collect as many as you'd like and then head back to your stovetops. There are a variety of instructions there to explain your next steps. Be aware, though..." She held up her hand, fingertips already stained darker by the tannins in the walnut shells, "...this is not a neat process. Go!"
Sign in #2
Which isn't even a word I had to make up!
Re: Sign in #2
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Listen to the Lecture
Re: Listen to the Lecture
She took pictures and sent them to J.Lo. Weird and creepy was fun!
Re: Listen to the Lecture
Except maybe the inks out of gemstones thing. That just made her feel awkward now.
Re: Listen to the Lecture
Also, she was still forgetting to use the proper terms for things when referring to plants and she really needed the reminders.
Frolic!
Re: Frolic!
Re: Frolic!
Make Your Ink!
The oak gall ink materials included an old-fashioned mortar and pestle so they could really go at it, as well as a small container labeled green vitriol full of light green powder and another labeled gum arabic which was a thick and vicous liquid.
Students would find that after five minutes of soaking their walnuts, the liquid would be as dark as if they'd left the hulls sitting there for weeks. There was also vinegar and salt, which would be much easier to get than ferrous sulfate and gum arabic for the average person.
The instructions for flowers, vegetables, and berries were remarkably similar, with more vinegar and salt, as well as cheesecloth and a wire mesh for straining.
There were also scales, pots, bottles of distilled water, and pretty much anything else you could need for the project.
Re: Make Your Ink!
Thanks, science.
Still, it was fun to mix spooky labelled powders together and stir them around and cackle quietly to herself while she watched the liquid turn, as though by magic, into ink.
Re: Make Your Ink!
Re: Make Your Ink!
Though the dark rich walnut ink was also very nice.
Re: Make Your Ink!
It appeared as though she was failing on both accounts.
Have Fun!
"Feel free to write or draw on the paper to test out your new inks," she said, producing a container filled with brushes, quills, sharpened reeds, and even pens that could draw up a small well of ink. "See which leave a bright color, which fade oddly, and which are best to write with."
Re: Have Fun!
He was very, very jealous.
Further Thoughts
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... Or pretty much anything except for clothes and stuffed animals.
"Snacking?"
Still, she was trying.
Re: Further Thoughts
She reached for a handful of blueberries, squeezing them with her hand until juice ran down her wrist.
Re: Further Thoughts
Alluka giggled.
"Drinking!" she said. "So, so it'd be juice if it wasn't all in your hand?"
Was hand-juice a thing?
Re: Further Thoughts
"Exactly right," Karla said, opening her hand on berry mush. It was still blueberries, so she picked a few of the least mushed of them and popped them into her mouth, letting the rest fall to the ground. "Carrots and beets make juice. Elderberries make an excellent wine and tea, and poisons can be made from the leaves, stems, and roots."
The more you know!
Re: Further Thoughts
"Medicine!" Shiemi's personal favourite, though she had a whole long list, Sensei. "Animal habitats. Housing materials. Clothing... Ah. Maybe not in this type of meadow..."
Re: Further Thoughts
Talk to the TA
Re: Talk to the TA
Talk to Karla
OOC