THE RISE OF THE YEAST AND THE ORIGIN STORIES OF PEACHES AND LEMONS

A SMOOTHER ROAD TO GROWING YEAST: DAYS 10-14 (SEPTEMBER 6TH-10TH, 2020):     

    In my previous blog post, I had to break the first week-and-a-half up into multiple different subsections due to the fact that I was constantly changing factors of the experiment, such as how frequently I was feeding them, how much I was feeding them, etc. However, over the past week (September 6th - September 10th), growing my starters has become so much easier. I've recorded very similar observations each day, with each starter smelling yeasty (fermented), each appearing to have a brownish-white color, each appearing to have risen each day, and each having no liquid layer when I observe them.

The rise of the yeast - This photo was taken on Day 14, September 10th, 2020 at 2:40 PM. From left to right, you can see (1) control 1, (2) peach 1.1, and (3) lemon 1.2. This was before I fed my starters for that feeding time and it shows how the starters have started to rise between each feeding.

     Now, in order to get a better understanding of the fruits I used in my peach and lemon starters, it is important to understand where they both originated and how they have been used by different cultures.


THE BACKSTORY OF THE PEACH AND THE LEMON:

    After reading an article, I quickly learned that the peach (Prunus persica) is native to northwest China (where it originated). According to froghollow.com, it is believed that the first peaches were "domesticated along the Yangzi River, where they had found fossilized peach stones believed to be from 6000 BC".
    Peaches also play a significant role in Chinese culture as they are believed "to fend off evil spirits and provide vitality", meaning they symbolized both protection and strength in a way. I also learned that at the beginning of each New Year, people hung peach blossoms on their doors all over China as a way of warding off evil and bringing in strength for the New Year.

A peach blossom in spring - Above is a picture of a peach blossom that came from the FloraQueen website. 

    Now, while finding information on peaches was relatively easy, I had a harder time learning about the lemon (Citrus x limon), which was probably do to the fact that it place of origin is still undetermined; although, scientists believe it probably originated in northwestern India. 
    I quickly learned that lemons have played a major role in a variety of different cultures and that they actually largely grown as an ornamental plant up until the 10th century. It was through trading and colonization that lemons spread around the world. According to thenibble.com, "Spanish conquests spread the lemon throughout the New World". 
    In present day, it is still used as both an ornamental and a medicinal plant in many different cultures; many cultures have used it to treat diseases, such as scurvy. While lemons don't seem to truly belong to any specific culture, they do have a major impact in eastern countries, where lemon farming is a large part of the economy.


The Lemon Tree - Above is a picture of a lemon tree that came from the USCitrus website.

TO BE CONTINUED...

    In conclusion, my starters have been coming along nicely over the past week and recently, I've learned that peaches and lemons both have their very own unique origin stories. While peaches can be pinpointed to a specific culture, it is harder to track where exactly lemons came from and which cultures they have the most significant role in impacting. Nonetheless, this new information has given me more insight into the backgrounds of the fruits I'm using in this experiment and has enabled me to further find some of the differences between each of my starters (which is very important, considering they're starting to look very alike).

Author's Note: I'm Calyssa Stevenson and I'm currently a second-year student at North Carolina State University, studying Horticultural Science. This blog is meant to serve as a way to document my sourdough journey for my Genetics Lab. I'm very excited to see what comes of my sourdough starters in the future! Thank you so much for reading! :)

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