Kristina Seleshanko's Blog, page 33

Foraging for Miner's Lettuce

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Imagine it's the days of the California Gold Rush. Despite the lofty name given the period, times are tough. Gold is hard to find, and you went into debt to buy the things you needed to try to strike it rich. Food isn't abundant in the winter. In fact, you may be totally out of winter provisions. You might also be feeling tired and sickly. Then the first spring rains come, and you learn from a native friend that there's a cure for your winter ailments: A common, abundant weed that will make you feel better and fill your stomach.

Today that weed is commonly called Miner's Lettuce, because so many gold miners cherished it as a way to prevent scurvy. It's got lots of vitamin C, and is one of late winter and early spring's first wild offerings. Most often, it's eaten raw, as in a salad, but it can be cooked like spinach, too, and tastes similar to that green.

Common miner's lettuce's lily pad shaped leaf is easy to spot. Courtesy of Wikimedia and Franco Folini.Identifying Common Miner's Lettuce

There are two main types of Miner's Lettuce in the United States. The most common, if foraging guidebooks are to be believed, is called simply "Miner's Lettuce." According to most sources, it's not native to this continent, but is believed to have been introduced to North America from Europe in 1794. It's sometimes called Indian lettuce, Cuban lettuce, winter purslane, miner's green, spring beauty, or it's Latin name, Claytonia perfoliata. It grows primarily in western North America, especially in coastal or mountainous regions, from Alaska and British Columbia down through Arizona and Central America. It can also be found in the interior western states. It tends to grow in great patches and has distinctively round, lily pad like leaves. This plant loves moist areas and tends to grow abundantly from late winter to mid-spring, notably in shady, wooded areas. It particularly loves disturbed areas of soil, especially if the area has recently seen fire.
Before blooming. Courtesy of Wikimedia and Rob Hille.
Miner's lettuce grows in a rosette, up to about 15 inches high. Usually the leaves are green, but the first young leaves may be purple or even brown-green. The mature leaves have very long stems - up to about 8 inches long. The five petaled flowers are pink or white and 3/4 - 1 1/2 inches long, appearing from about February through June.




Courtesy of Wikimedia and Rob Hille.
Courtesy of Wikimedia and
glmory. More rare purple miner's lettuce. Courtesy of Wikimedia and Jason Hollinger.Identifying Siberian Miner's Lettuce

Our Siberian miner's lettuce starts purple and slowly turns green with time.
The second type of miner's lettuce is commonly called "Siberian Miner's Lettuce," or sometimes Siberian spring beauty, Western spring beauty, candy flower, pink purslane, or it's Latin name, Montia sibirica. It's native to both Siberia, and according to some sources, North America. (Other sources have the plant introduced to North America in the 18th century.) It grows over much of western North America, including Alaska down to British Columbia, down to California and Montana, and then west to Utah.






This plant is quite different in appearance from the other type of miner's lettuce. It's leaves and stems are lanceolate (almost heart shaped), succulent, thick, and about 2/5 - 2 inches wide. Early leaves can be purple, but more mature leaves are green. They grow in a basal rosette. The plant has 3 - 8 inch flowers with five pink, white, or pink and white striped petals. It usually flowers between February and August. It's stems grow about 4 - 14 inches high. Like common miner's lettuce, Siberian miner's lettuce often grows in patches, though I've also found single plants in our forest. You're most likely to see Siberian miner's lettuce in moist woods.

Close up of a Siberian miner's lettuce leaf. Growth habit of Siberian miner's lettuce. Siberian miner's lettuce flower. A clump of Siberian miner's lettuce.How to Eat Miner's Lettuce
Both types of miner's lettuce are edible raw or cooked. Usually the leaf is used, but stems, and flowers are all edible and high in vitamins A and C. This plant does contain oxalates (just like almonds, tea, rhubarb, and bananas), which can build up in the body and be toxic. So be smart: Vary your diet! (Read more about oxalates here.)

According to foraging expert Hank Shaw, The Journal of the American Dietetic Association says that every 100 grams of miner's lettuce (about as much as you'd use in a salad) contains 33.3% of the daily recommendation for vitamin C, 22% the vitamin A, and 10% of the iron.

Herbalists say miner's lettuce cleanses the body. It's high in chlorophyll and antioxidants, which may back up their claim. This wild green is also said to contain Oega-3 fatty acids, although I could find no scientific papers to back up this claim.

To harvest, cut the stems off near the soil, or cut off the leaves only. Young leaves taste best and have the best nutrition. Once the plant flowers, the leaves may taste more tangy. Older leaves, or plants growing in the sun, can taste bitter. Usually the flowers - only fresh ones - are left on the leaves and added to salads. Harvest responsibly. Leave plenty of the plant behind, so wildlife can reap its benefits, and so the plant will continue to thrive and spread.

Planting Miner's Lettuce from Seed

If you don't have miner's lettuce nearby, you can now buy seeds for it! Both Territorial Seed Company and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds carry common miner's lettuce seeds. You can even buy common miner's lettuce seeds on Amazon!

Just remember that like most wild plants, if given a setting they like, miner's lettuce will spread. So consider planting it in a container, and make sure you remove flowers before they go to seed.

Weekend Links

I'm loving learning about the wild plants on our homestead. In which I share my favorite posts from this blog's Facebook page.

This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own. Please see FCC disclosure for full information. Thank you for supporting this site! 


* The plum trees are done blooming and are getting bright green leaves. The pear, cherry, and prune trees are blooming, as are some of the blueberries. One of the apple trees is about to bloom pink, I believe. Every day there are changes on the homestead - things becoming greener and more alive. I love this time of year!  I have lots of baby plants waiting for a garden bed. Hubby did a great job getting trees down and cleared away, so now I just need to have soil brought in. (The garden area has rocky, clay soil, so creating berms or raised beds is the path of least resistance.) Oh, and did I mention they finally finished replacing our pole barn? So now, theoretically, we can finish unpacking!

* My little guy is so excited to finally have a Bible he can read himself! I used the Hear Me Read Bible with both my kids, and they both love(d) it. I can't recommend it enough if you have a beginning reader.

* Recall of asthma inhalers.

* Recall of frozen peas sold at Aldi due to possible listeria contamination.

* Recall of Hunt's chili due to salmonella.

* Little boys escape kidnappers by remembering their mom's simple rule: Adults don't ask children for help. 

* Pediatrician gives advice on protecting children from sexual predators.

* Mom and children evade kidnappers by noticing these signs.

* American Kids Badly Need a Chore Culture 

* How to make fermented pickled asparagus.

* Making ricotta cheese in an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker.

* Oh my goodness! I think I need this shower curtain that looks like rustic wood doors for our bathroom! 

* Free printable "He Is Risen" banner.
 

Oldies But Goodies:

* 5 Safety Rules Every Kid Needs to Know
* Teaching Children How to Forage 
* How I've Blown it as a Mom

 

The Best Empty Tomb Easter Ideas on the Net

Over the years, I've shared lots of ideas for making Easter more meaningful for your children. But now that my kids are getting older - the youngest not quite beyond the Easter egg hunt, but still having a much better understanding of what Easter is all about - I'm striving to set up more reminders about Easter's deeper meaning. The empty tomb is an easy, graphic symbol of what Easter truly means, and this year, I hope to incorporate some of these ideas:

Empty tomb donut, via Catholic Icing.* Empty Tomb Cake. This is a fun project to do with the kids. All you need is a Pyrex bowl or a domed cake pan. Here's a variation that might be even easier.

* Empty Tomb Donut. It doesn't get any easier than this! Just plop a donut onto a cracker and viola! An empty tomb craft/decoration/dessert! Here's a variation on this activity, which also uses a donut hole. Another variation uses half a bundt cake.

* Empty Tomb Pineapple. Ha! It's just like the donut project, but made with a slice of pineapple!

* Empty Tomb made with Cookies. Also super-easy. Use store bought or homemade cookies to make this Easter display.

* Empty Tomb Cookies. This is a fantastic way to really garner the interest of younger kids. You help them make cookies that turn into empty tombs overnight.
Empty Tomb Garden, via Uncommon Designs.
* Empty Tomb Garden Pot. If you have a green thumb, grab a pot, some small rocks, and some grass seed to create a lovely Easter display.

* Resurrection Buns. Similar to Empty Tomb Cookies, but much easier. This is a tradition in our house, and one that my children love.

* Play Dough or Salt Dough Tomb. A fun craft for grade schoolers.

* Moving Empty Tomb. A free printable for younger kids, which uses a comic strip that moves through the hole in the empty tomb to tell the story of Easter.

* Empty Tomb Made of Legos. Self explanatory...and you'll know if this is THE activity for your kid!





* Empty Tomb Play Box. This is perfect for very young children. The instructions aren't specific to Easter, but you can easily tie this into an Easter picture book, plus playtime.

Related Posts:

* 14 Christ-Centered Easter Ideas
* A Week of Easter Activities
* Making Easter Egg Hunts More Meaningful

DIY Seed Tape Video - How to Make Your Own Seed Tape

Last weekend, I had fun making seed tape with my kids. It's a fun, quick, and easy project that will save you money and frustration later. Check out the video below. Or, if you prefer written instructions, click here to see the post I wrote on DIY seed tape a few years ago.

Keto Chocolate Frozen Icy Recipe - Low Carb, Sugar Free, LCHF

This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own. Please see FCC disclosure for full information. Thank you for supporting this site!

Since starting keto, I've had very few cravings. The fat is where it's at, people! Not only do healthy fats keep you feeling full, they help prevent cravings, too.* That said, at certain times (ahem!), I do still crave chocolate. Once, in desperation, I tried eating baker's chocolate with ZERO sugar in it. I won't do that again. Ick! There is also Stevia-sweetened Lilly's brand chocolate, which many people rave over, but I haven't gotten around to ordering any yet.

So one day, in desperation, I whipped up my own chocolatey creation. Not only did it turn out delish, but it totally knocked out my chocolate craving!  

You can vary the experience of eating this quick and easy dessert according to how long you keep it in the freezer. A short freeze will give it a very icy/slushy texture, whereas a longer freeze makes it hard (so you'll need to thaw it just a bit before serving.) Give it a try!

Chocolate Frozen Icy - keto, low carb, LCHF, and sugar free.
Keto Chocolate Frozen Icy Recipe

1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream**
2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
4 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon stevia (I use Pyure)   

Only four ingredients!
1. Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl. Pour it all in and whisk.2. Pour into three different, small ramekins, coffee mugs, or cute little ice cream dishes. Place in the freezer until the desired consistency is achieved.
* Whether you experience cravings on keto is really a matter of how you eat before you start keto. I was on a lower carb/sugar whole foods diet.







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** Be sure to read the label on your heavy whipping cream (sometimes just called "heavy cream"). Some brands contain more carbs that others; choose a brand that says it has zero carbs. However, do note that it will have some carbs - the amount is just under 1 carb per serving, which means it doesn't require reporting on the label. 
Makes 3 servings. Estimated Nutrition, per serving, according to SuperTracker; calories 352; Carbs 7 g total; Protein: 2 g.; Fat: 37 g.

Early Spring Edible Weed Walk

Come walk with me and I'll show you a variety of early spring weeds that are edible, nutritious, and delicious! We've been enjoying these edibles since early February, and chances are, you have many of these edibles in your yard or surrounding areas, too.



To learn more about these edible weeds, click the links below.
Chickweed. Dandelion.(Also see my book The Ultimate Dandelion Cookbook .)Yarrow. Wood Sorrel.Siberian Miner's Lettuce - coming soon!

The plum trees are blooming!In which I share my favorite ...

The plum trees are blooming! In which I share my favorite posts from this blog's Facebook page.

This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own. Please see FCC disclosure for full information. Thank you for supporting this site!


* The plums and pear tree are blooming, and I have winter sowed tomato seedlings popping up! It's spring, my friends, and I am soooooo glad! Is my garden bed ready yet? No, not quite. But the trees are down, and my hubby is working hard on cutting and stacking all that lovely wood for next winter's use. I'm sure I won't have the garden of my dreams this year, but if there's one thing I've learned about homesteading - really, life in general - it's that baby steps, rather than giant leaps, usually work out better in the end.

* Three months ago, my doctor diagnosed me as a type II diabetic, with blood sugar so high I should be on insulin. Thankfully, my doctor also told me to go on a keto diet, and gave me three months to turn my health around...and I did! According to my most recent blood test, I have totally reversed my diabetes! There is no cure for diabetes; if I eat too many carbs, my blood sugar will go up and I will suffer the awful consequences of this disease. BUT if I continue to eat the way I have been (low carb, high fat, moderate protein), I will not suffer the consequence of diabetes - and that's a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, wonderful thing! You can bet I'll be blogging more about this, but in the meantime, just know that all diabetics (type I and type II) benefit from a therapeutic keto diet and eventually can either come off their medication, or reduce their dependence upon it.
Plant cell photo taken through My First Lab Duo-Scope.
* My 11 yr. old took this photo (left) of a plant cell. Both kids adore their microscope. I spent years looking for a reasonably priced one that would actually work, and ended up buying a My First Lab Duo-Scope. I highly recommend it! 

* Recall of Walmart's Marketside Pizza, due to listeria.

* Recall of beef due to E.coli.

* Recall of dog pig ears due to salmonella.

* Recall of Vulto Creamery cheese due to listeria.

* Did you know most sunscreens contain ingredients linked to skin cancer? Here's a great guide to choosing a natural sunscreen.

* Deep cleaning you can do in 60 minutes or less.

* Natural Homemade Cleaning Recipes.


* How to start an asparagus patch. 

* Colicky baby? Try an all natural, traditional, homemade gripe water. 

* Why you should be eating lard. 

* A simple way you can help end sex trafficking!


Oldies But Goodies:

* Oma's Old Fashioned Rhubarb Cake - so delicious!

* 14 Christ-Centered Easter Ideas

* Easiest Vegetables & Fruits to Grow.

* My #1 Housekeeping Tip

How to EASILY Remove Hard Water Stains from Sinks

This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions are my own. Please see FCC disclosure for full  information. Thank you for supporting this site!

Now that the plum trees are blooming and we are getting occasional sunny days, I have the itch to spring clean. And boy, does this place need spring cleaning! As you might recall, it was a dirty mess when we took possession of it last July, and I was so utterly exhausted (mostly from my as-yet-undiagnosed diabetes) that I didn't do a deep clean. So now I want to tackle some of the cleaning jobs that have been bugging me all winter.

One of those was our bathroom sink.

The sink itself is newish, but because the old well had a high mineral content, it had brown stains around the drain and the faucet. I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed, but they wouldn't come off. Then I bumped into a post at The Thrift Home that suggested using vinegar to clean those hard water stains.

First, let me say that I'm not someone who lauds using vinegar for cleaning everything. I haven't found it very effective for most cleaning jobs, in fact. But for this cleaning job? Worked like a charm!

How to EASILY Clean Off Hard Water Stains from Sinks

You'll need:
Paper towels (thin, clean cotton rags would probably work, too)
White distilled vinegar
Old toothbrush

1. First, clean the sink and fixtures as you normally would.


The area around the drain and faucet of my sink always looked grungy.2. Place some pieces of paper towel over the affected areas. I used half pieces, torn into strips and doubled over.

3. Pour a little white distilled vinegar onto the paper towels, until the towels are completely saturated.


4. Walk away.

That's the best part...walking away and doing something other than cleaning ;)






5. After an hour or longer (or when you finally walk into the bathroom and notice the vinegar smell and think "Oh, yeah. I was cleaning!"), remove the paper towels.

6. Use an old toothbrush to clean the affected areas. Without much scrubbing, brown gunk should come right off. In fact, if I need to do this cleaning job again, I'll try just wiping the affected areas with a damp sponge or cloth.

7. Rinse.

Much better!
You're done! So easy! And very effective.

The Best - and Cheapest! - Produce to Buy in Spring

This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions are my own. Please see FCC disclosure for full 
 information. Thank you for supporting this site!

When I tell people about my success with the keto diet - how I reversed my diabetes, normalized my cholesterol, and have lost oodles of weight - the first thing I hear is something congratulatory. The second thing I hear is that they are shocked I can loose weight and get healthy on a high fat diet. And the third thing I hear is how expensive my grocery bill must be. I will no doubt address #2 sometime soon, but today I want to address #3, to which my normal response is: "Au contraire!"

My grocery budget has not gone up since going keto (or even since going whole foods, which is what I did for years before being diagnosed with diabetes). Good, healthy food does not have to be more expensive!

Sure, it helps that a keto diet is high in good fats. Fats, among other things, are filling, so I eat less now than I used to. But I'm also a sales watcher, a price book keeper...and I shop for produce seasonally.

There are a lot of good reasons to buy in-season fruits and vegetables: Better nutrition (some studies show that growing produce out of season reduces their nutritional value); energy saving (out of season produce is usually flown or trucked into your area from a warmer clime); and, yes, saving money (in season produce is less expensive than fresh produce that's out of season).

The problem is, Americans are so used to seeing all their fruit and veggie favorites in the grocery store all year long, most don't know which ones are naturally in season at any given time of the year.

So let me help you out.

Produce that's in Season in Spring(March, April, May)
Throughout this post, I offer recipes to try with each vegetable or fruit. If a recipe is mentioned, but there's no link to the recipe, you'll find it in my cookbook A Vegetable for Every Season (available in both paperback and ebook format). It's only $2.99 for devices, folks!


Carrots
Carrots are a veggie that take months to grow from seed to store, and the cool months are when they are usually pulled from the ground. They are high versatile - a good snack or salad fixing when raw, sweet and wonderful when roasted, and easy to toss into a savory pie, soup, or stew. And - happy dance! - they are kid-friendly.

Some of my family's favorite carrot recipes:
Fermented Pickled Carrots
Carrot Fries
Carrot Oatmeal Cookies
Carrot Chips
Glazed Carrots (pictured)


Radishes
Don't skip past this one because you hate those peppery red balls. First of all, there's more than one kind of radish, and they aren't all strongly flavored. Secondly, people are doing some creative things with radishes - including using them as a low carb potato substitute! (I haven't tried that yet myself, but here's a link.)

Some of my family's favorite radish recipes:
Radish Chips
Pickled Radishes (pictured)

Peas
These family-friendly veggies are at their sweetest and best at this time of year.
Some of my family's favorite pea recipes:
Easy Garden Snap Peas
Roasted Peas
Green Peas, Mint, and Tomatoes

Beets

As a cool season crop, beets will be out of their prime soon! Grab 'em while you can!
Some of my family's favorite beet recipes:
Easy Refrigerated Pickled Beets
Russian Borscht with Beets
Beet Cake (pictured)

Asparagus
Spring is the time to eat asparagus. The later in the year it gets, the thicker and more woody asparagus gets. (It may seem counter-intuitive, but thinner asparagus is more tender.) We eat it often roasted, but it's also wonderful a myriad of ways.

Some of my family's favorite asparagus recipes:
Cheesy Baked Asparagus
Asparagus Chicken Stir Fry (pictured)
Smokey Grilled Asparagus

Cabbage
There's a reason cabbage is connected to St. Patrick's Day; it's cheap at this time of year! It also goes a long way at the table, and lasts a long time in the fridge.
Some of my family's favorite cabbage recipes:
Bubble and Squeak (pictured)
Small Batch Fermented Sauerkraut 
Borscht (Russian cabbage stew)Braised Red Cabbage

Greens
All types of greens, including lettuce, collards, kale, beet greens, radish greens, chard...They are highly versatile. Eat baby greens fresh in salads, or stir them into stir fries, casseroles, and egg dishes, or saute them on the stove top.
Some of my family's favorite greens recipes:
Sauteed Greens (works with any type; pictured)
Kale and Roasted Garbanzo Salad


Broccoli
If you love it, now's a great time to eat it. At the grocery store, be picky and choose only broccoli with tightly packed florets and beautiful color.
Some of my family's favorite broccoli recipes:
Chicken and Broccoli and Stuffing
Parmesan Roasted Broccoli (pictured)
Broccoli Tots


Cauliflower
The great cauliflower shortage seems to be over, and prices for this versatile veggie are inexpensive again. Eat it, well, like cauliflower, or use it to mimic pizza dough, garlic bread, rice...
Some of my family's favorite cauliflower recipes:
Cauliflower Chowder (pictured)
Cauliflower, Broccoli, and Cheddar Pasta Salad
Mashed CauliflowerCauliflower Tots
Healthier Cauliflower Alfredo
Better-Than-Twice-Baked-Potato Cauliflower


Avocado
Here's a fruit that is an excellent source of good-for-you fats. My kids love to eat it plain; I just cut it up into chunks for them.
Some recipes I want to try:
Avocado Greek Salad
Creamy Avocado Pesto


Brussels Sprouts
A lot of people think they hate Brussels sprouts. I think they are nuts :)  But, truly, if you hate them, try eating them fresh from the garden. Store bought Brussels sprouts, by comparison, are bitter. Our favorite ways to eat Brussels sprouts are steamed, roasted in the oven, or cut in half and cooked in a skillet.
Some of my family's favorite Brussels sprouts recipes:
Skillet Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Garlic Parmesan Sauce
Brussels Sprouts with Bacon (pictured)

Leeks
If you've never cooked with leeks, don't be intimidated. They are basically a weird looking onion, and can be used just like one. They do, however, have a more mild flavor than the spherical onions you're probably used to.
Some of my family's favorite leek recipes:
Cock-a-Leekie Soup (a Scottish Chicken and Leek soup)
Potato Leek Soup

Mushrooms
Mushrooms sprout up when the weather is wet, so spring is their last hurrah.
One of my family's favorite mushroom recipes:
Roasted Lobster Mushrooms (pictured)

A recipe I want to try:
Creamy Garlic Parmesan Mushrooms

Parsnips
They may look like anemic carrots, but parsnips are better, in my opinion! They have a unique flavor that is excellent roasted or added to stews.
Some of my family's favorite parsnip recipes:
Parsnip Fries (pictured)
Parsnip Cupcakes

Why I Refrigerate Our Chickens' Eggs

Maybe you've seen them - the homesteading posts explaining why you don't need to refrigerate chicken eggs. They are everywhere, it seems. And yes, those posts are right. But I still refrigerate our hens' eggs. Here's why.

Why Eggs Don't Need Refrigerating

As I mentioned in my post on why I don't wash our chickens' eggs, the FDA requires commercial eggs be washed before they are sold; this destroys the natural bloom on eggs, which normally would protect the edible part from bacterial contamination. Theoretically, refrigeration helps keeps commercial eggs from making us sick - but refrigeration itself can be problematic. In fact, the European Union forbids egg refrigeration because if a consumer buys refrigerated eggs, then carries them home, more than likely those eggs will develop condensation - which attracts and breeds bacteria.

But...if you don't wash your eggs until just before you're ready to cook them, the protective bloom on those eggs stays in place, So, the argument goes, there's no need to refrigerate eggs. Especially eggs from backyard flocks, where the risk of salmonella is low. ("In fact, the likelihood of getting salmonellosis is greater with other pets than with poultry," claims the website of the University extension system.)

So yep, that's right; you can leave eggs on the counter, and they are perfectly safe to eat. The European Union recommends grocery stores keep eggs between the temperatures of 66.2 degrees F to 73.4 degrees F. - easily done at home, except on the hottest days.

But Why Did Our Ancestors Preserve Eggs?

So if eggs don't require refrigeration, why did our ancestors preserve eggs in lime or waterglass (liquid sodium silicate)? For that matter, in days gone by, why was it common practice to keep eggs in a cool cellar?

The answer, my friends, is the same reason I refrigerate my family's eggs today: Because we can't eat as many eggs as your hens produced each day, and we know even the best hens don't lay well during the winter. In other words: We have more eggs than we know what to do with during the sunny seasons, but aren't getting many (or any) eggs during the winter.

As it turns out, the whole reason the United States began the tradition of refrigerating eggs is that they are not naturally a year round commodity. Today, commercial farms force hens to lay in the winter by putting them in well lit (and crowded) barns. But before that was standard practice, farmers didn't have eggs to sell in winter. So the extra eggs laid during sunny months were stored in the refrigerator to be sold during the winter months.

Yes, fresh eggs last a long time when refrigerated. I personally have stored them for six months in our fridge, and never found a bad egg.

So rather than buy store bought eggs during the winter, or rather than just doing without during the dark months, I dig into the fridge and have plenty of eggs to last us until our hens start laying again.

P.S.

No matter how you store your eggs - the fridge or on the counter top - it's always smart to check them for freshness before you use them. It's easy to do this with a float test; click here to learn how.