Update on the Ishreal Thibodeaux White Mirliton Preservation Project – November/December 2020
By David J. Hubbell
Background:
On June 20th, 2020, Mirliton.org announced the we were kicking off The Ishreal Thibodeaux White Mirliton Preservation Project in an attempt to bring back, from the brink of extinction, this rare ivory white variety of the mirliton grown and cared for over four decades by Opelousas, Louisiana’s Ishreal Thibodeaux. If you haven’t already checked out the Update on the Ishreal Thibodeaux White Mirliton Preservation Project – July 2020 , August/September 2020, or October 2020 please do so by clicking on the respective links. They contain an in depth look at all of our growers and efforts from the start of the project.
The month of November was one of peak production for the Ishreal Thibodeaux Mirliton growers in Louisiana, followed by a winding down and getting ready for the 2021 growing season. While some of the growers in Baton Rouge and further north would start to encounter frosty conditions in December, there had still been plenty of time for at least two great crops from Chef John Folse and an unofficial grower in Folsom, Louisiana. Both produced 80-90+ Ishreal Thibodeaux’s each, many going toward our next round of spring growers.
Chef John reported back in November, “Our mirliton vine is still healthy and prolific in Baton Rouge here in late November. We still see numerous small mirlitons and many flowers producing numerous small vegetables. It really has been a banner year in our efforts to preserve this rare and special Ishreal Thibodaux variety.”
Image 1. First group of mirlitons picked by Chef John Folse at White Oak Estate and Gardens.
Image 2. Some additional yields picked at White Oak Estate and Gardens in Baton Rouge.
Image 3. The largest Israel Thibodaux Mirliton picked this year from Chef John Folse’s Trellis in Baton Rouge. 1 pound 14.5 ounces!
As the readers will observe, White Oak Estates and Gardens in Baton Rouge has quickly become the center of Ishreal Thibodeaux White Mirliton production in the United States. We appreciate all of Chef John’s efforts in documenting his yields as well as his techniques. As you will see here, on November 30th, Chef, his gardener Brian Ainsworth, and staff took great care to prepare the mirliton vines against the impending freezing conditions on that date.
Image 4. Large Ishreal Thibodeaux vine at White Oak Estate totally covered in anticipation of 30 oF.
Image 5. Four Ishreal Thibodaux Mirliton beds covered from frost at White Oak.
White Oak is also preparing for the future with there overwintering of over 35 pots of the Ishreal Thibodeaux Mirlitons shown below. Chef John notes: “… Brian and I are getting 20 three-gallon pots ready with proper soil to plant the mirliton as they show vine potential. “Later in December he reported the following projection – “35 potted by next week all doing well and vine protected in the covered vine house with heaters.”
Image 6. First round of Ishreal Thibodaux White Mirlitons potted for overwintering.
Image 7. Sprouted Ishreal Thibodaux White Mirlitons potted for overwintering.
Just as we reported in the last update that our Carolina growers, Chris Smith and Keith Mearns, are having success with propagating cuttings, gardener Brian Ainsworth and his wife have found success in rooting Ishreal Thibodaux White Mirliton in the White Oak Estate greenhouse from cuttings.
Image 8. Mrs. Ainsworth displays a successfully rooted mirlitons vine from a cutting.
If you’d like to see more about the Ishreal Thibodeaux White Mirliton Preservation operation at White Oak Estate and Gardens in Baton Rouge, please click the photo below and check out Chef John Folse’s video included below:
Image 9. Virtual Visit to White Oak Estates and Gardens
In addition to our official growers, our Metairie grower Paul d’Anna reports one of his contacts whom he gave an Ishreal Thibodeaux vine to in the spring produced 92 mirliton this year. Paul shared with me the that the vine didn’t really take off until September. Up to that point it was about 18” long. He said that neither he nor the grower did anything special. They just watched for potential issues due to squash vine bore and protected it from the evening sun especially in July and August. They also have guarded against anthracnose by removing the bottom 4 feet of leaves once the vine has really started to take off. Paul also said that the gentleman in Folsom cut his vine back due to the freezing weather in December. Mirliton.org acquired a good number of these to be able to supply growers to the second wave for 2021.
The last, but not least, of our official Louisiana growers, James Cobb shared this great picture of his vine and reported “These 2 of mine will be used to get new vines growing, hoping to make way more next season.”
Image 10. James Cobb’s two beautiful Ishreal Thibodeaux White Mirlitons.
We are really looking forward to James’ success in 2021.
As we have previously mentioned Carolina growers had some good success with their attempts at cuttings are basically in the overwintering stage to get an earlier start in 2021.
Finally, the Ishreal Thibodeaux Mirliton in Mobile is doing well despite the late start. It is slowly growing and we will try to avoid cutting it back and simply take measures to protect it so it will have a great head start in the spring.
Image 11. David Hubbell’s mirliton slowly adjusting to being transplanted in Mobile.
Tee Shirts:
In the last update, I alluded briefly to the new The Ishreal Thibodeaux White Mirliton Preservation Project tee shirts, but failed to share more information about them. At the beginning of the project, Dr. Lance Hill had a great idea to create a shirt for our initial growers commemorating their participation in the project. Working with a local Louisiana artist, the following design was created and several shirts were printed. It was then decided that we would make these shirts available as a special offering for those wishing to donate $30 per shirt to Mirliton.org. We posted our first ad in late November and almost immediately sold out of many popular sizes. The good news is that we received a second shipment and have more available for the $30 donation (which includes postage and handling cost). To order you own, simply click here or send me an email at rpcajun2r@gmail.com.
Image 12. The official tee shirt of The Ishreal Thibodeaux White Mirliton Preservation Project.
Image 13. The official tee shirt of The Ishreal Thibodeaux White Mirliton Preservation Project.
Education and Inspiration Through Food:
In addition to the great documentation on the growing process at White Oak Estate and Gardens, Chef John Folse provides us a little further inspiration with the following recipe for a Mirliton Pie. Check this out and please “Like” and “Subscribe” to Chef’s new YouTube page.
Image 14. Chef John Folse’s Mirliton Pie.
I was also invited to do a follow up call with local Mobile gardening radio show about the efforts so far. Mobile’s horticulturist, Bill Finch, is a great supporter of the traditional Gulf Coast vegetables and is very interested in mirliton. I am including the link to the show for those interested. The discussion on the Ishreal Thibodeaux’s starts around 18 minutes in: Plain Gardening with Bill Finch Hour 2 12-13-20 – FM Talk 1065
Thoughts for the 2020 Growing Season:
This fourth update hopefully showcased what I consider to be a successful end to our efforts in 2020. As I write this on the last day of the year and look back on all the negative things that have impacted the world and even my personal life, I have to think that by far the formation and initial successes of this project and the efforts of the growers has been for me the brightest spot in my year. What started as a simple text from Chef Folse in March asking for help locating more Ishreal Thibodeaux white mirliton vines has grown into a movement to not only preserved that single vine, but to save and propagate a special variety for others to experience. Thanks to the guidance of Dr. Lance Hill and the efforts of these growers we now have roughly 14 new vines plus over 100 potted plants for the second wave of growers for 2021. The fate of the Ishreal Thibodeaux White Mirliton vine could have easily become another causality of 2020, but thanks to the unselfish efforts, dedication, and desires of our first team of growers we are happy to report that we feel we have a great foundation to build upon in 2021. If our future efforts can have similar success, then by next year at this time we will be poised to have hundreds of Ishreal Thibodeaux White Mirliton vines plus a network of growers going into 2022 and should have successfully restored if not exceed the number of vines growing in the United States to probably record numbers.
As a final note, I have gone through my list of growers for the second wave and will finalize their commitments for 2021. If you are interested, please check out this link. Thank you all for the interest and support in 2020 and we wish you and your family and friends a safe, healthy, and wonderful New Year.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please send them to me David J. Hubbell at rpcajun2r@gmail.com. Thank you.