The Pits

Okay, so there's this new book we recently received, Don't Throw It, Grow It: 68 Windowsill Plants from Kitchen Scraps, by Deborah Peterson and Millicent Selsam [635 PET]. I was reading the back cover and found that author Deborah Peterson is "a founder of the Rare Pit and Plant Council." Who knew that there's a Rare Pit and Plant Council? The Rare Pit and Plant Council has its own website, and publishes an occasional newsletter, the latest edition of which can be found here.
Photo of a carved avocado pit by ogal

There are other things you can do with pits such as pit carving, peach pit carving being the most common. Not surprisingly, there are several places online that you can visit to learn about this unique craft/art. A rather scholarly site comes from R.V. Dietrich, and there is another site dealing with the Chinese traditional fruit pit carving. If you'd like to try your hand at carving pits, Woodcarving Illustrated magazine has on online article. The article's author, Bob Shamey, says this, "the palette for my work that I love the most is cherry pits." Imagine carving on something that small! (If you've heard about the man in China who does carvings on a grain of rice, then it won't come as a surprise to you!)