Last week we took a Deep Root class trip to Minneapolis to visit the Kestrel Design Group (so much fun). In the course of the week Peter MacDonagh, Kestrel’s Director of Science + Design, showed us this incredible the Baobab Tree (Adansonia digitata) of Sagole, South Africa. This is similar to the Teapot Tree that can be found in Madagascar. The Teapot Tree can hold >31,200 gallons of water, and the Baobob pictured here can probably hold in excess of 40,000 gallons of water. Holy moly.

 

These Baobabs could do a tremendous job keeping our highly urbanized areas dry, although I can’t quite think of how to fit them in to the streetscape…

Also, Friday Follies — yay!

This week I made a delicious Moroccan Spinach & Chickpea dish from Serious Eats. I know I usually post a sweet recipe for Friday Follies, but the truth is that I don’t bake all that often so you’re going to start seeing more dinner dishes here. This one I really liked. I’ve said many times that I’m a lazy cook, and it’s true. My ammendments to this recipe:

– Couldn’t find curly spinach, so I substituted dino kale
– Didn’t want to bother with the food processor, so I left the pieces of crisped bread whole

It was still great! I proclaim this an easy, forgiving, and delicious weeknight meal.

Baobab image via Wikimedia

Food image and recipe from Serious Eats