Under Water

Jabuticaba - The Grape Tree That Fruits on Its Trunk

No, this is not a belated April Fool’s prank. They look as if they may have been pinned there by an over enthusiastic gardener to impress the neighbors but the fruit of the Jabuticaba really does grow off the trunk of the tree. View more images after the break...

Otherwise known as the Brazilian Grape Tree, this plant is native to South America, notably Paraguay, Argentina and (obviously from its name) mostly from Brazil. The fruit, a succulent looking purple color can be plucked and eaten straight from the tree.

It is also a popular ingredient in jellies and is also juiced to make a refreshing summer drink. What is more it can be fermented and made in to wine and strong liquor. After three days off the tree the fermentation will begin so sometimes, there is no choice. Honestly.

If you want one of these in your garden then you have to be patient. The tree takes an age to grow, but once it reaches maturity it is worth it. However, it has proven to be very adaptable and although it prefers moist and slightly acid soils it will even grow well in an alkaline type soil.

The flowers themselves appear on the tree at most twice a year – naturally. They look like some strange alien creature that has deposited itself on the trunk and branches. The habit of flowers doing this makes them cauliflorous. Instead of growing new shoots these plants flower direct from the woody trunk or stem.

You might ask why it is this way. The simple answer is that it has evolved in this manner so that animals that cannot climb very high can reach it, eat it and then expel the seeds away from the parent tree to further propagate the species.

If the tree is well irrigated then it will flower and fruit all the year round. The fruit itself is about four centimeters in diameter and has up to four large seeds. As well as being used as food the skins can be dried out and used to treat asthma and diarrhoea.

If your tonsils are swollen you can also use it to try and alleviate the inflammation. It is also hoped that the tree will be useful in the fight against cancer as several anti-cancer compounds have been found in the fruit. Altogether a useful tree if a slightly strange looking one.

Shuvalov Bell Factory

There is certainly something fascinating about bells. They are not just tools for producing high-quality and extraordinary clear sounds. Bell is also a means of fellowship of God and people. Somehow, bells draw His attention to something that’s happening in a church. For toll can be a festive or a mournful thing; it also can inform one of good news or just please your ear with music that the toller makes, more images after the break...

And there is more. Each bell is a work of art itself. There is one small bell factory located in the north of the Yaroslav region, nearby Tutaevo town, which is probably known all round the world. You can hear the toll of Tutaev bells almost in every church of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

No, of course bells aren’t being born like that. At the beginning there are lots of calculations and lots of paperwork that must be done. After all the routine, casting molds which will make the shape of a bell itself are need to be carved out. And only afterwards a long process goes in by way of which clay will be put on the stem coating after coating. Notably that even the clay used is special one. It is collected in some quarry in the Yaroslav region and then delivered to the plant. Do not ask about quarry location: Tutaev masters prefer not to breathe a word about it.

Owner and a soul of the factory is Nikolai Shuvalov. Who can tell us about bells and their making process more than he?

Clay is being put on a workpiece with the quality of clay upgraded with every single coating. When it’s finished we’re getting inner surface of the bell made of clay. Then there is a new mold being slipped on the stem which is going to make the outer face of a bell. The clay is being coated on it layer after layer, but its quality is much better now.

When the mold is finished different trimmings are being put onto the bell. It is a painstaking work as well. At first you need to make all the trimmings of playdough, mold them and then do it once more, but make them of natural bees-wax this time. And then wax letters and trimmings are being fastened onto the clay bell.

And now, after two months of backbreaking job, the final molding stage arrives. The casting itself doesn’t usually last longer than ten or 15 minutes. And when the metal is cooled off we can see that the bell is almost ready.

The tongue must be fixed to a bell. One of these or maybe some another kind of a tongue.

That is all. The bell is ready.

You can already toll it. And Vladimir Degtyarev, a toller and an artist does it with a sparkish ingenuity.

Each bell has its own voice and the clearer this voice – the more valuable the bell is. You can see notes on some bells – they are tones the bells sing.

If you will take a closer look at this bell, you will be able to read what is written on it: “This bell is founded by the willing hands of President Medvedev and his family.”

Via : Link