Today marks World Plant Milk Day. You don’t get literal milk from plants, but if the term “plant milk” upsets you, it’s a term that’s been used for hundreds of years in English.
If, like me, you wonder where the milk comes from, there’s not single part of a plant that gets “milked”. Soy and pea milks come from cotyledons, the seed leaves, where the plant has stored protein to power a seedling. Almond and cashew milks are also cotyledon, but oil-rich rather than protein-rich. Coconut milk is pressed from solid endosperm, the white flesh, that is kept to power the seed. Endosperm is the source for oat milk too.
The reason they’re all “milks” and not juices is that the oils and proteins are all emulsified into a liquid. It’s this mix that scatters the light making the liquid a “milk”. It’s a process that’s been with us for thousands of years.
How to Play
Six plants fill each row
each column, each box of six
no bloom may repeat
Tap an empty cell
then choose your plant from below
watch the garden grow
Or pick a plant first
then tap the cells where it goes
faster hands plant more
Red borders will warn
when two alike share a line
rethink and replant
Ticked plants rest complete
all six placed in rightful soil
fewer choices left
The clock starts to run
the moment your first plant falls
how swift is your hand?
Select a plant, then tap cells
Two ways to play: Tap an empty cell then pick a plant, or select a plant below then tap cells to place it.
Cover image: Plant milks by cottonbro studio from Pexels.
