looduskalender.ee

Thank you, Alice for those pictures. They are lovely! Your Cat is so cute!

I think possums are sweet! You said that They are not very tidy, they eat like little pigs, . Their name is funny in my Finnish ears. The Finnish word 'possu' means actually a pig! It has not always a negative meaning, it depends. Some times I call my dogs as 'possu'...just because I love them, even though they sometimes carry mud and garbage in and eat like small 'pigs' (not always!!).

Alice.. thank you for the picture of Small (and the possums.. you have a small invasion there.!!)
Small seems determined to live life as it comes. Hope she enjoyed the sights from th tree-top. Please give her a big cuddle from me.

I just read the hedgehog story on the home page -- I think possums behave a lot like them and the cats mostly get along with them. And the way they eat with loud gusto and what they eat -- most anything.
http://www.looduskalender.ee/en

This evening while, fully light, I saw one of the baby possums wandering through the front garden. It should have been asleep, but at least it was looking for grubs.


Ms Small's eye has been bleeding something terrible since night fall but she had a good romp on the front steps (and she ate). Now she is sleeping curled up in a tiny ball.

Alice,is the vet.sure of his/her diagnostic ?
Apart from bleeding ( a serious problem) Small seems fairly O.K. ?

She has a tumor under her inner eye lid and a lot of skin in there bleeds easily and I think there is some infection. She took some massive doses of antibiotic and there was virtually no change. I didn't pay to have a biopsy done (as I could not afford to have her eye removed, which is the only treatment they thought might work) so I suppose they could be wrong on the cause of the tumor. I have some hope and I am superstitious enough that I don't mention the word cancer very often.

I understand. But for the eye infection there are some very effective little tubes of antibiotics,if she will let you apply it.?

I am supposed to use a cold compress on her eye and I use some drops that I think are meant to dilate the blood vessels. The doctor called her eyelid friable. She hates the compress and blinks at the eye drops, but this afternoon one of the little brown fleur de lis (seeds I guess from the birch trees) got into her eye and she did not seem to notice -- so there must not be too much pain (those things scratch on my skin). I should be able to get something in. I am not sure how much infection there is, but some I think

Ms. Small - she is really a very lovable cat. I can see why you took her in - or let her take you in - when you first met her. Thank you for the pictures.

Those apples - do you know the name?
They look a little like Estonia's great triumph in the world of apples, the Transparente Blanche (de Reval), a k a Valge Klaar. But I don't think they ever crossed the Atlantic**, except maybe with a few homesick exiles.
(and in these days of supermarkets and long transports the TB bruises far too easily for commercial purposes).

**EDIT: They did, actually, about 1870, as Yellow or White or Russian Transparent; mostly used for crossings.

I think the tree is a transparent (but I could be wrong!) and they bruise something awful, but they make great applesauce and pretty good pie. My dad planted several 4 apple trees when we first moved into this house - there are now only 2 remaining.

edit: yes Transparent is the full name. It is an old traditional variety not available in the stores and rarely in farmers markets because they bruise so easily.

Today I will use a few remaining apples to bake into a cake. They are a bit mushy for just eating.


I looked in Small's eye last night the lump is much bigger, which I guess explains why she is bleeding more.

Wonderful and weird, Alice! So you have had a piece of Estonia all along in your garden? And you can tell Ms. Small that she has been climbing in Estonia, too.

The best for apple sauce, and when perfectly ripe beautifully golden white and juicy but too mushy for eating within hours of coming down from the tree sounds precisely like Valge Klaar / Transparente Blanche.
Pomological expertise seemed to be in reasonable agreement about its origins in Estonia (a Russian province then, of course), some time towards the later part of the 18th century, and possibly in northern Estonia, last time I checked a few years ago. And your trees - and mine - are still bits of that original tree.
Transparente Blanche was obviously brought in to USA, and is still grown not only for more apple breeding, but also eating LINK. Apologies all round for doubting US taste in apples.

Liis -- did you notice that article's examples of capitalization

Northern Plains to the Pacific Northwest

and I bet I would have written northern plains -- although we do talk about the Great Plains.

Now that you mention it, yes ...
I didn't notice, I was so fascinated by apple history, and that the Transparente had even travelled across the Atlantic. Pomological success indeed.
In addition we have the s vs z in capitali??ation. Or ...?
There used to be the titles too: it was said that all significant words should have capital initial letters, simplified to all reasonably long words. Whereupon the first words encountered would be "Ion" and "throughout".
It is mostly a graphical help for readers, I guess.
My Transparentes are ripe too - only three grafted-on branches - but this hot summer has baked many to beige-brown on the tree, and the birds attack all berries and fruits wildly; fallen apples have barely skins left within an hour. No "glassy" Transparentes this summer.

It is going out of fashion to capitalize words in titles -- I think science journals have done away with it. When I edited a multi-field journal I stuck with capitals for the titles in all references. I think it is very helpful, especially when the readers are in a variety of fields. I tend to think all words except prepositions should be capitalized.
And of course History is very conservative and has mostly stuck with proper capitalization of titles.

My father was very pleased with the news that he has many jars with a bit of Estonian agriculture in them -- he made LOTS of applesauce this year.

This evening I caught one of the possums munching on a 1/2 apple it had dragged behind the woodpile. It was well hidden but it was chomping so loudly I could not miss it.

Your munching possum: there are tales of hedgehogs carrying apples away on their spines to their young ...

Since source refs were mentioned: the Transparente (to keep its European/French spelling) is a bit of agriculture from Estonia, and born in Estonia, but maybe not strictly an Estonian breeding achievement. Seen politically, the apple was exported from Czar-time Russian territory to USA. Owner of the original manor garden would most likely have belonged to the very intermixed Baltic nobility, with Baltic-German, Russian, Nordic (Swedish) roots and a power in their own, independent of current political rulers. But they very likely had Estonian gardeners.
An Internet portal to the world of these manor houses, from near-hovels to castles: LINK HERE

That is a fabulous documenting of the manors in Estonia. I have yet to do more than scratch the surface.
I hope all the Estonian members will see this it very complete.

Wikipedia is said not to be trusted. Because of this?

Der Klarapfel stammt aus Riga (Lettland) aus der Gärtnerei Wagner. 1852 wurde er nach Frankreich geliefert und von dort über die Baumschule Leroy über Europa verbreitet.
Die Sorte Transparent ähnelt dem Klarapfel stark. Manche Quellen nennen sowohl weißer Transparent als auch Yellow Transparent als Synonym zum Klarapfel, andere nennen Yellow Transparent als separate Sorte.
[Klarapfel originates from the Wagner market garden in Riga (Latvia). In 1852, it was brought to France and from there spread in Europe via the Leroy tree nursery.
The Transparent cultivar is very similar to Klarapfel. Some sources regard both white Transparent and Yellow Transparent as synonyms for Klarapfel, other regard Yellow Transparent as a separate cultivar.]
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wei%C3%9Fer_Klarapfel

La Transparente blanche est une variété de pomme apparue en Lettonie et introduite en France vers 1815 (vraisemblablement ramenée par des soldats lors de la campagne de Russie en 1812 comme la Colapuy).
[Transparente blanche is an apple cultivar that appeared in Latvia and was introduced in France around 1815 (probably brought by the soldiers during the Russian campaign in 1812, like la Colapuy).]
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transparente_blanche

Those are very but very different stories. Attempts to find out what it's all about showed that there might be two different original cultivars.
Some sources say they are just one cultivar, synonymously named Bely Naliv (sometimes translated as 'white juice' but can be perhaps translated as 'white ripe[ness]'), Papirovka (related to papyrus or Papier?), Alebastrovoye (alabaster), and Pribaltiiskoye (Baltic).
Other sources make a distinction between Bely Naliv (alternative names: Genuine Bely Naliv, Pudovschina, Dolgostebelka) and Papirovka (alternative name: Baltic Bely Naliv). Descriptions of the two cultivars differ, the most salient points being:
Bely Naliv - starts bearing fruit in the fifth-seventh year after planting, bears fruit less regularly than Papirovka, produces up to 150 kg fruit per tree, fruits have (usually) 10 very poorly propounced ribs and a wine-sour taste.
Papirovka - starts bearing fruit in the third-fourth year after planting, bears fruit every year, produces up to 300 kg fruit per tree, fruits have a narrow seam going from the blossom end to the stem and a sour-sweet taste.

Until pretty recently being a farmer meant working to improve the growing stock (I guess all those working with animals still try to breed better stock) so I would expect apple trees would have varied some.

This apple thing set me thinking about Johnny Appleseed (1774 – 1845) who was my Grandmother's hero.

Wikipedia (for a bunch of reasons I thought wikipedia the most trust worthy on this -- and many sites are targeted to children)
He planted nurseries rather than orchards, built fences around them to protect them from livestock, left the nurseries in the care of a neighbor who sold trees on shares, and returned every year or two to tend the nursery. Many of these nurseries were located in the Mohican area of north-central Ohio. This area included the towns of Mansfield, Lucas, Perrysville, and Loudonville.

Appleseed's managers were asked to sell trees on credit, if possible, but he would accept corn meal, cash or used clothing in barter. The notes did not specify an exact due date—that date might not be convenient—and if it did not get paid on time, or even get paid at all, Johnny Appleseed did not press for payment. Appleseed was hardly alone in this pattern of doing business, but he was unusual in remaining a wanderer his entire life.

He got the seeds for free from cider pressers -- people with presses wanted more apple trees.

I suspect it was his restraint on money matters as well as the apples that appealed to my grand mother.

It is interesting that he was planting seeds, so the trees he planted would have been quite variable. (Of course he lived before the Transparent was imported here)

I thought it interesting that Liis' site got the dates for the apples to mature here just about right, although the climate in the Oregon counties it mentions is very different than where I live -- colder in winter and hotter in summer.

Alice, sorry, we occupy your summer topic with an apple avalanche! But your picture of those apples was so tempting and accurate, and the Transparent's travels so fascinating.

, indeed.
Thanks, unp - apple history is always interesting - adds spice to the eating.
Is the apple still grown in Russia? Do you know it (or them )?
Thanks too for always precise information - and terms!

The Transparente Blanche / Valge Klaar / Weisser Klarapfel became such a success, so many claim the honour of being its original "home". In books I have seen Latvia (the Riga area), Estonia (Tallinn area or Tartu area), Russia (districts bordering to the Baltic states), and more. There may also be a difference between growing place/owner/discoverer of original tree and its (first? foremost?) commercial distributor. Without an original tree or very reliable records of it, it would be a major feat to sort out. It was probably a chance seedling, I haven´t seen it mentioned as a systematic breeding result.
Since the Transparente Blanche isn't commercially very interesting in these days of supermarket roughhandling and transport, probably nobody is willing to finance a major investigation of itd origins, sadly.

Apples are even more difficult in that they can develop strains/varieties/? over time. A nice example is the Swedish Åkerö, a very special-tasting and beautiful apple (mother tree still standing, just; planted/germinated? around 1760): by now at least 2 distinctly different-looking kinds, one green, one the original yellow-pink-brick red. Relationships may be resolved with present-day DNA analysis, but there will still be the question - how many DNA differences make a different cultivar/variety?

There are 2 altogether different Transparentes around: "ours", the Transparente Blanche, and the Transparente de Croncels, but they can hardly be mistaken for each other.
Alice - the Johnny Appleseed "lucky seedling" way seems more fun somehow than today's breeding engineering!

@
a response to Alice's possum :
so when this possums walking around in your garden, maybe for us the hedgehogs, running well in our garden.


He looks pretty friendly, but I think they have sharp teeth.
They probably also eat much the same as the hedgehogs?

I hope the cat's eye will heal properly.