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Back when I was teaching middle school science, I came across a note that told me the colonists occasionally used the juice from a plant called pokeweed to make passable ink. I had an art pen, the kind with a metal nib, so I demoed the ink from some squashed berries for my students. The nib pen didn't give me the ability to create round hand flourishes, of course, but it was another thing to become a fond teaching memory. Adding a bit of oxalic acid stabilized the berry ink, too so I could keep a bottle of it so students could try it over the next several weeks. If you are interested, pokeweed berries are out there this time of year.

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