Roasted Roots

Earlier this fall I took the grandbabies out to my friend Ulrike's place for pumpkins and a hug, and she gave me some of her husband's turnips that he raises to feed the deer that show up in their back forty. (They are both wonderful craftspeople, she with her pressed flower creations and he makes the most beautiful collector quality bows for hunters.)
Wow! You should see her herb garden! A huge garden with sturdy picket fences surrounding it, the herbs she loves mixed with the flowers she presses, and all in raised beds to keep it German neat and tidy.
But I'm always wandering off... back to the turnips. What to do with turnips? I'm used to roasting potatoes but I got a couple of new vegetable-based cookbooks this summer and Pat has been supplying recipes with the CSA veggies... so somewhere along the line I got the idea to roast a mixture of other root veggies along with the potatoes, a roasted root veggie melange so to speak. The mixture of sweet and pungent roots, roasted together, is delicious!
Here's the general recipe:

ROASTED ROOTS
Wash and dry veggies (and trim if needed): I used turnips, Jerusalem artichokes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots. Parsnips would be nice too. Dice the veggie roots into cubes.
Place veggies in oiled pan (half sunflower and half olive is nice), sprinkle with good salt and fresh ground black pepper, and your choice of herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano, savory) and toss to coat lightly.
Roast at 400 degrees, tossing every 15 minutes or so, until golden browned. (At least an hour, depending on the size of your dices.) Do twice what you need and the next day you can quickly reheat the leftovers in a non-stick pan. The leftovers could easily go into a soup or stew as well.
Easy and good for you!

UPDATE:
I went back and read this recipe again for some reason, and Yikes! I forgot the garlic! Add about 5 fresh crushed and chopped cloves of garlic to the veggies and toss them in the oiled pan. How could I have forgotten one of my very favorite veggies? Sorry.

A couple of exciting things lately

It's been a whirlwind around here with all sorts of thing swirling in the mists. First frost last night, and it's about time!
More importantly, we have a new writer joining the ranks of regulars at The Essential Herbal, and that is Alicia Grosso, beginning with the Jan/Feb '08 issue. Alicia is probably best known for her book, "The Everything Soapmaking Book", but her knowledge of all things herbal and crafty is going to bring a wonderful new energy to the magazine. She will be bringing us news of interesting techniques, additives, and well... whatever strikes her fancy! You can read her profile (and those of all of our writers) by following this link. We have so many soapers amongst our readers, and many who'd like to try it. In her first article for the magazine, she'll be giving clear, simple instructions for that first batch, along with a couple of recipes. Welcome Aboard, Alicia!

Another great opportunity arose the other day, when we went to The Rosemary House to take a day long seminar with Rosemary Gladstar. I am SO glad we went! For many years, I've been hearing nothing but good stuff about this lady, and of course had read her books. Betsy May, another of our writers, is taking Rosemary's apprenticeship course, and has spoken very highly of her. What one says about her - besides her obvious knowledge - is that she is a kind and gentle soul, inspiring others by sharing information and experiences.
Indeed, that was the woman standing before the crowd. During the course of the day, we were treated to huge gobs of information, delivered in such a way that it seemed more like an intimate conversation. It's difficult to put into words, other than to say that it did not feel like a class. I did not feel like I was "learning". It was more like drinking it in. The handouts were treasure troves of inspiration. The very best part though, was her laugh. At certain times during her presentation, something she said would cause her to remember something that had to do with the subject, and she would allow a pure, clear bubble of laughter to emerge. It was joyous, and made me laugh too.
At the end of the day, she made "longevity balls", a luscious treat made with honey, sesame butter, almond butter, and a vast array of herbs and carob powder. I volunteered to help, although I see that I should probably NEVER wear that shirt again! Yikes.


OH! And I added a new page to the site that shows all display advertisers from the current issue. Check them out! And be sure to let them know you saw them on our site :-).

The Grand Blanc Farmer's Market

Closed for the season yesterday, hope to see you all back again next year!

Farmer's markets are pretty, aren't they? And small markets like this one are great because the people are so darn friendly. I took these pictures back in August, but every Sunday was just as lovely.
I bought farm-raised chickens from Hampshire Farms this summer - they taste more chicken-y than the insipid boneless skinless blobs of flesh from the grocery store. I know they were raised humanely and fed well with organic feed grown right there on the farm. Nice to think about. And the leftovers made outstanding stock.

This little block long street in Grand Blanc goes directly from the City Hall to the Physician's Park. It's a nice place for outdoor events. The city planners want to put up stores there to generate revenue, but this useage as an event venue is great in the meantime. We need walkable places where the cars aren't zooming past!

The free acoustic music and the presence of the Heritage Museum folks were homey touches (and I bought a nice handmade rug) and on the last day the vendors on the end with the grill looked like they were having a good time. I should have taken a picture of my friends staffing the Master Gardener information and outreach table, another friendly touch. We spent some nice times kibitzing. Next year I'll have to bring my camera and get some more pics.

I especially appreciated the Sunday market in Grand Blanc because the vendors were all selling their own products and their own local produce. They didn't drive to Detroit's Eastern Market to pick it up early in the morning and resell it to me in the afternoon.

My friend Pat was selling her certified organically grown veggies, so lucky for us, we were able to pick up our CSA half share at the local market here in Grand Blanc every week instead of the farther drive to the Flint Market or the even farther drive to her farm.

I didn't have to spend time in the produce department at the grocery store at all this summer. Between what we grew in our small yard (tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and herbs, sour cherries, rhubarb and strawberries) and the 1/2 share of the CSA we had nearly everything I wanted.

We pick our own blueberries and raspberries at our favorite local berry farms, and get our apples and cider at Porter's Orchard in Goodrich. But on visiting the market on Sunday I had the chance to pick up the necessary odds and ends that Pat didn't grow - pumpkins, plums, sweet cherries, real apple cider vinegar (the organic kind with mother) from Al-Mar Orchard, and local organic eggplant and onions from Lawrence Farms.

Next week is the last official week of our 20 week CSA agreement, but Pat has bonus food still to harvest because the weather has been so darn good, and we'll get to go to the Flint Farmer's Market to pick it up there.
I think I posted this before, but here's Pat again... a happy memory for the winter.

Happy Halloween to Word Fiends

This game sucked me in for more time than I care to acknowledge:
http://www.dedge.com/flash/hangman/hangman.swf
I've got a bunch of things to post, but no time today. Catch you tomorrow!

sell one loaf and buy hyacinths

How did that ancient Persian saying go ... to paraphrase, if you are fortunate enough to have two loaves of bread, sell one and buy hyacinths to feed your soul. Something to think about.
Persia, isn't that Iran?
I was just thinking yesterday while I was yanking out the tall purple verbena (bonariensis) about what I had written about my various plant collecting manias.
I had simply forgotten the grasses. I've grown over thirty ornamental grasses, most before they became popular. By the time Art Cameron was giving his grass talks I was winding down.
Not that I could ever afford to do it (collecting) right, but I used to hit every plant sale, plant exchange, wild plant rescue, plant clearance, and seed exchange I ran across.
I was the quintessential coupon clutching mom who finagled the food budget to cover the annuals and the bulbs.
Adding a bag or two of scilla or crocus to the shopping cart every week while doing the food shopping adds up when you figure the spring bulbs start showing up in the bins in late August. This week I finally broke down (they were half off) (I'd just been exposed last week to another mad bulb planter's powerpoint at our Master Gardener meeting) (it's tradition, TRADITION! - she said in her Fiddler on the Roof voice) and added two bags of pink hyacinths to my grocery cart. Life goes on.

Oh, back to the grasses ... a little pointer to folks who are just beginning and may recognise yourself in what I've described: if your budget is tight and you need to buy small good plants just to get the start of a collection, try Bluestone Perennials Nursery mail order catalogue.
And promise me you'll recycle the packing peanuts.

Sunflower Soup Casserole

Remember the sunflower soup I wrote about? Well, I was out in the herb garden trying to get a handle on the maintenance while the weather is still good, and upon yanking the Jerusalem artichokes that grew under the fence I was surprised by how big they are this year. So 2007 was a banner year for Jerusalem artichokes, who knew?


I got a bucket full in no time at all and brought them indoors, trimmed and washed them, and popped the smaller ones unpeeled into the pot of chicken stock I had simmering on the stove.
(Do you make chicken broth? Store broth is Nothing like homemade. Mine is herbed and so rich it gels when cooled. And now we are getting our chickens from the farmer's market and I am not going back to factory farmed chicken, there is that much difference in chickens too.)

Kayla ate a few with her pasta that night. Without tasting them Herb thought they were new potatoes and that she'd choke, but they were soft and easy for her to swallow whole (that child does not chew!) but the texture when boiled is really too soft for adult enjoyment. We are not fans of soft boiled vegetables.
So what to do?
Then I remembered the Sunflower Soup recipe and tried it.
It turned out pretty good with the distinctive flavor of Jerusalem artichoke, but it was smooth and bland and frankly, beige, like eating chicken gravy.
Well I say, when you have gravy, make noodles!

My recipe
I added leftover cooked 'whole wheat' linguine to the Sunflower Soup, added some leftover chicken and some frozen peas, and it was delicious.
When I began to think about it, it is healthy as well. There is no fat (as in the fat in gravy) because I cooked the onion in the broth, and the thickening was all done by the blenderizing of the J. artichokes.



J. artichokes, by the way, have some amazing health benefits having to do with their chemical makeup not reacting with the insulin our bodies produce. I remember reading about native Americans, who as a group have a high risk for diabetes, when put on a diet of indigenous foods, suddenly experiencing weight loss and blood sugar corrections. (You can Google it.) The Jerusalem artichoke is a North American native plant.

If you are interested and want to try to grow a few Jerusalem artichokes, find a friend who has a patch - they seem to be one of those enthusiastic plants that produce enough progeny to be readily shared... or do what I did when I didn't know anyone who grew them. Go to the veggie department of your grocery store and pick up a package when they show up, and plant them in a sunny spot with room to grow (up - they are about 8 feet tall). You will have enough to share in no time at all.

And if you don't like the J. artichokes, healthy food or not, their native sunflower blossoms will be good for your soul.

And speaking of good for your soul, here is another shot of one of Pat's Brandywine tomatoes, probably the last fresh tomato of the year for us... ain't she a beauty?

facing the autumn with grace

The ginkgos are yellow, the serviceberries are orange, the maples are a little dry and crispy leaves are flying everywhere. The unusually nice weather has given me time to do a good job of gathering and 'putting by' my garden's harvest. Not that there isn't a lot more to be done, in putting the yard to bed. You'd think I had forty acres (and a mule) by the way I talk, but it is only a small suburban lot.

I'd love to have some 'real land' (she said in her lumberjack voice) to work with, but I have borrowed views to enjoy, and I know my familiar soil, and it is all already so ever much to do, and the older I get the more I understand that someday it will all have to come to an end. Toward this, ahem, end, I'm severely limiting my plant collecting impulse and consciously not replacing things that I lose. The lost years of the fragrant dianthus collection, the colorful irises, the tropicals and the spring bulbs, the daylilies, the old garden roses, the varieties of daisies and veronicas and achilleas and campanulas and agastaches (I used to get the little catalogue from J.L.Hudson, Seedman, if that tells you anything) and especially the seed starting mania will have to be beautiful memories to entertain my mind when I can't garden any more.
And the herbs. Don't let me forget the herbs.

And the critters. There is such joy in the strangeness of other species of animals. I've seen animals in books and on film, and in 3-d reality in zoos, but there is something above wonderful about seeing mother nature's other children out in the open, living and surviving on their own. (Yes, Marion, Nature does too exist.)

On that note, I was out in the garden yesterday picking more peppers (almost finished for the year) for cooking and freezing and dehydrating when a literal crashing through the brush behind the shed brought me up from my task and there manifested three young deer, standing right there in a clearing among the scrubby shrubs with their bright eyes and huge ears and lovely velvety noses at attention.
I understand it's bow hunting season, and they move in response to the hunters' disturbing of their domain but I've never actually seen a deer in my yard before.
I have seen tracks and found some damage (blueberry), but the rabbits are the real culprits around here with their shrub girdling winter hunger. What a treat though, to see these three deer up close and personal.
They stood as mesmerized as I was for a few moments and took off leaping right back into the field. In one fortunate moment of grace I had collected a memory for the winter, undeserved, appreciated.

how could anyone object

... to the yearning for peace?
The Quakers sent me this link. The most charming and hopeful thing I have seen in a long time.
(And Bush needed to tap the AFSC phones without a warrant?)

The Little People's Green Acres

I'm posting this one for Kayla, and Pa, too.

Taking a Day to Catch My Breath

When an issue of the magazine goes out in the mail, and everything is settled, there is always a day or two where I am completely at loose ends. Yesterday was one. It's the strangest feeling. Instead of needing to finish this task and move on to that one, there is just the blissful nothingness.

Oh, that isn't to say that the slate is completely empty... there is always something. The hostas and shrubs that stunted my perennials this summer need to be moved to a more suitable place. The vacuum cleaner needs to be run, there are some orders to pack and ship, pack for the kid's upcoming trip and find her passport, a couple of herbal projects that need to be done and photographed for upcoming entries... but yesterday, nothing *needed* to be done. It was just me and the day and time. No sound except the birds and the occasional phone call.

At some point, I grabbed the camera and went for a walk. We are still having day-time temps in the upper 60's and low 70's here, warmest October on record for our region, so it's not easy to find Autumn. It is creeping in like a stealth season. Leaves are drying, seed pods forming, but there are few blazes of color marking the way. It reminded me of exactly the same sort of time period I am experiencing right now. The summer is over, so the mad dash to put out flowers is over, and all of the plants are quietly waiting for the onslaught of cold. I could almost feel them asking, "what are we supposed to do now?"

Outside the door, the wave of pineapple sage is vibrant next to the rust colored mums. Yet amidst the dried vines of the clematis, 3 lonely blossoms venture out, unsure if they belong. The grass is still growing and should probably be cut again. The lemon verbena is in bloom, and the all of the blue and purple sages continue to put on a show. The vitex bushes can't decide whether or not to go completely to seed, or to keep putting out flower spikes, and the passionflower vine that couldn't get its act together until September is still giving a weak showing.

The goldenrod is striking among the rows of trees. All of the yellows, golds, and tans of autumn have their own special beauty, and it is a little different when it has a green background. Of course with evergreens, there is always a green background, but usually it is more two-toned and less full-color.

One row of little sugar maples are knocking themselves out. They didn't get the memo. Alone in the march towards winter, they are the single splash of firey leaves on the trees here. Maybe the spiders whispered to them that fall was here.

There will be a bumper crop of puffballs in the fields next year, judging by the ones that are left from this spring, shooting out spores at the slightest touch. They are so easy to spot in the rows between the trees. Big old softballs and soccer balls made out of mushroom.

The poke plants are all pretty this time of year. The stems have gotten deep magenta, and the berries range in degrees of ripeness (not edible) from inky purple to barely green. This one had all forms, including some blossoms at the very top.

I know autumn will get here one way or another. Winter will follow with the biting winds and cold wet days. Just like I know tomorrow will send me back into the trenches, writing articles, pulling together ads, putting a new page up on the site that gives our advertisers another shot at our readers, and working on a new book. We'll start work on the shop for Frog Hollow Evergreens, and the orders will get shipped. But today is another day to just breathe.

We couldn't have asked for a better day

Our October landscape clean-up day at the grounds of the county Extension was lovely - that kind of crisp Autumn day in Michigan with sunny primary colors of blue and green, with beginnings of red and yellow that we all can imagine from calendar photos ...
But the companionship of nice people working together gave me a real boost ... better than a flu shot for the upcoming winter!

Carol and her daughter Mindy brought a cauldron of homemade chicken soup to warm on the grill and Vickie's Junior Master Gardeners added their cleaned and chopped freshly dug vegetables from their garden to the pot, and by noon or so we had a Harvest Soup feast. Delicious!

I brought home the cooking tip of adding Jerusalem artichokes to soups and stews, and to reciprocate, here is my recipe for the boursin-style herbed cheese spread that we ate on rosemary foccacia bread:

Herbed Boursin Cheese Spread

2 packages Philadelphia cream cheese
1 pound unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, crushed and minced
and a variety of fresh herbs, stems removed and leaves chopped:
baby chives, oregano, thyme, basil, 1 large sage leaf, 1 stem of rosemary
freshly ground black pepper

Beat the butter and cheese together until creamy, and stir in the herbs. Refrigerate overnight to meld flavors, and allow to come to room temperature before serving.

(By the way, for those of you with "inquiring minds", this is NOT a recipe I have ever served at home... it is what I call a "refreshment table" recipe, due to the cholesterol content. I figure adults can make choices even in buffet lines. You can make this cheese spread with low fat ingredients, but it just won't be the same.)

Finally, a note of public thanks to all the great volunteers who worked in the Backyard Herb Garden - you are all wonderful to contribute your time to this project and please know it is much appreciated. Thank you!

Our Environment and Baby Steps

Living where I do, it would be easy to bury my head in the sand and pretend everything is alright. It is nearly pristine farmland, and the creeks and streams run clear. Wildlife abounds, flora and fauna alike.

But civilization encroaches. Street lights are going up just a few miles down the road, and construction blocks most of the main roads going anywhere. Even if I stay on the hill, eventually the radio or TV disturbs my euphoria with news of the world.

The last few years, I don't need outside information to tell me something is up. Right now, we have lilacs and azaleas blooming out of season. Mid-winter, we have been seeing plants trying to get started, only to be cut down by the late arrival of a short winter blitz. Fruit harvests have been affected as well as winter crops. Birds don't migrate at the proper time. Bugs don't die back.

It seems insurmountable - maybe it is.

We all read about the advantages of lowering our thermostats over the winter, keeping our tires properly inflated, and using the new lightbulbs. I thought I'd add another couple of ideas that aren't covered so well.

Single Use Products - Find ways to use them repeatedly. They are still disposable, but each repeated use adds less to the landfill.

-Gallon water jugs cut in half make great funnels, and the bottom half can be used in a lot of ways. Take them into the garden to gather peas, seeds or berries. Use them to mix messy, oily potions that are difficult to clean well.

-Plastic yogurt cups or sour cream containers can be used over and over for small portions of leftovers, packing lunches, and potting up baby plants to share.

-Glass jars from things like mayo and sauces are like gold around here. Well washed, they hold various batches of tinctures and infusions.

-Plastic carry-out containers are perfect for leftovers, mixing up herb blends, or sharing food with a neighbor. They freeze well, and are stronger than the Glad storage containers on the market.

Learn to compost

There are ways that everyone can compost - even apartment dwellers. Small amounts of well composted vegetable matter can be used in houseplants (they'll love you for it), or given to a grateful friend. Why pay a fortune to have it hauled away by gas guzzling trucks, when it can become sweet earth?

Plan your trips to get the most accomplished with the least driving

This one is easy for me. My sister is my neighbor, so we combine our trips to town whenever possible. We make a loop of errands - bank, post office, grocery store, etc., and both do everything necessary in one trip. Teaching my daughter to drive means that for the first time in over a year, I am filling up the tank more than once or twice a month. Is there someone near you that you can combine trips with? It may mean a phone call, saying, "I'm going, do you need anything?" rather than riding together. Each combined trip saves.

Upsize product packages

An oldie but a goodie. I'm not talking about buying a case at a time (although in some instances, that has merits), but simply a larger package. It saves packaging, saves the number of times you need to go back to the store, AND it saves you money.

Buy local produce and products whenever possible

Consider the energy used to ship things to your area, and the real cost. Food produced locally will be fresher, more wholesome, and more nutritious. There are many good books and theories that speak to the idea that we are not meant to eat out of season food, that our bodies aren't equipped to deal with it. When you consider the true cost of those "fresh" out-of-season cherries, are they really worth it? They'll taste better in the summer, anyway!

You'll notice that most of these ideas are pretty simple. It might stand out that besides their gentle approach to the environment, they have an even gentler effect on your wallet. When we re-use things, we save money. When we conserve things, we save money. Our lives are such at this point, that time has become more important than money. Nobody has enough time. So convenience has become a part of everyday life. It is so much easier to throw things away and "get a new one". The state of the economy may have a silver lining for the environment. As more and more people find that there is less "disposable" income, we'll all be looking for more ways to re-use. Start today.

The Woolly Bear Prediction for the coming winter

Right now, country roads are being traveled by the Woolly Bear caterpiller, the larval stage of the Isabella tiger moth. Prognosticators from this part of the country have used this little guy for for decades to give a clue to the upcoming winter's weather.
The caterpillar is reddish-brown, with black bands on the head and tail ends. The width of the black bands are what foretell the weather. In fact, our local paper, The Lancaster New Era, ran a tongue-in-cheek story just yesterday, as they do each fall. Caterpillars are gathered from various parts of the state and a consensus is reached. Entomologists from Penn State were presented with a rarity earlier this week - a caterpillar with NO banding. So far, it is the only one.
I've been seeing them everywhere this past week. They cross the roads between fields, and at times it is like a tiny little march. There is a picture (with crude markings of my own lame doing) on the sidebar of a little fellow whom had nestled into the basement doorway.
So, the official prediction for this winter? Another mild winter. From the article in the paper,
"Think twice about buying the little ones sleds for Christmas, no matter how nostalgic you get. Take a picture and post the snowblower on Ebay. Ice fishers would do better to take up indoor shuffleboard.
Last winter we didn't get a decent snow until Feb. 18, and even that was an ugly mess with sleet and ice added in. The first plowable snow will arrive earlier this year - around mid-January - but there will only be three nuisance snows the remainder of the winter.
Expect many of those irritating days in the 40's - too warm to snow, too cold to shed the sweater."

Uh huh! I was just going to say that!

Nov/Dec '07 issue of The Essential Herbal

It's in the mail, and it's good. Another delightful, delicious, and diverse holiday issue is on the way to subscribers, shops, and businesses. We always sweat this one (the Nov/Dec issue) out a little, wanting it to be special. It is hard to be thinking about the holidays and family when the garden is still producing, still needing our attention. Our writers and contributors never disappoint us.
And just in case you haven't seen The Essential Herbal magazine, this is a good time to subscribe!
So - here's what's inside. A little teaser until it arrives.

Table of Contents

~Crossword Puzzle - Winter Traditions, Ym-health

~Field Notes from the Editor

~Deep Within the Core, Laura Daniel
Laura shares her aromatherapy Healing Home Remedy for living in NYC

~Preserving the Harvest, Karen Mallinger
Drying, Tinctures, and Infused Oils

~Enticing Holiday Appetizers, Susan Evans
Pine Cone Almond Dip, Baby Crab Cakes with Easy Remoulade, and Cowboy Caviar are some of the recipes in this article

~Can Wine Help or Harm You, Burno Silvester Lopes
Resveratrol and Procyanidins - the keys

~Suburban Herbie, Geri Burgert
Non Herbal Non Christmas Holiday Cookies - Rugelach!

~Never Enough Thyme, Susanna Reppert
Here We Go a Wassailing

~An Interview with Gail Edwards, Katherine Turcotte
And review of Travering the Wild Terrain of Menopause - Herbal Allies for Midlife Women & Men

~Down on the Farm, Michele Brown & Pat Stewart
Potpourri...a How-to

~List Article, Warm Winter Drinks
We gathered recipes for teas, cocoas, coffee, chai, cider - yummmm

~Planting Seeds of Summer Dreams, Betsy May
Where do you get your seeds? Here are some GREAT ideas!

~SouthRidge Treasures, Mary Ellen Wilcox
New Years with recipes for lentil soup, donuts, and rice pudding.

~Book Review, Sarah Liberta
The NEW Essential Guide to Growing and Cooking with Herbs from The Herb Society of America is reviewed, and they even provided a recipe.

~Gifts From the Garden - Herb Bundles, Rita Richardson
Lots of creative ways to use all the herbs you grew

~Louisiana Lagniappe, Sarah Liberta
Eggplant and Mushroom Pie, plus a 1-2-3-4 Herb Blend

~Handmade Gel Air Fresheners, Meri Rees

~Bring Juniper into Your Life, Maureen Rogers
Sachet, decoction, foot bath, and juniper wine are just a few of the recipes for this useful plant, and you'll find them in the article.

~Mother & Child, Pam Ferry
Children and the Holidays, keeping it merry

~Hairy, Hairy Christmas, Theresa Kavi
Scalp Soak for great hair

~Classified Ads

~Potpourri (Scented) Cleaner, Marge Clark

~Snowball Candy, Holly O'Brien

Eat Your Thistles

The herb study for last night's meeting of the Genesee County Herb Society was "thistles", so for the refreshment table I brought a tasty "Hot Thistle Dip" to go with snack crackers, carrot sticks and little toasts.
Actually the recipe has been around for a long time: I just changed the name. You probably would recognise it if I said "Hot Artichoke Dip". The platter was cleaned, and the recipe requested, so here it is...
It's quick and EASY, and you can keep the ingredients handy, but I wouldn't serve it to the family all the time if I was worried about cholesterol. I just wanted to try it because it was a catchy little hook to teach about the lowly weed that symbolizes nobility, the thistle.

HOT ARTICHOKE DIP

1 container shredded-style Parmesan cheese

1 small jar Hellman's mayonaise

1 12-ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

about 1 Tablespoon finely chopped red sweet pepper

(optional: 1 teaspoon dillweed)

Combine the ingredients in a bowl, pile into a pie plate. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until the cheese melts and warms through. Serve warm.

If you follow the link above, you'll see that Wikipedia has a quite well done page concerning thistles, which are members of the aster/daisy/sunflower family, Asteraceae (which we used to call Compositae), with links to the many interesting thistly genera within the family.
The delicious Globe Artichoke that we ate last night is Cynara scolymus, and if, as a herbalist you've ever grown a cardoon, blessed, or Scottish thistle, you'd see the family resemblance.

The Cardoon has a breath-taking blossom:

I've grown seed-sown Centaurias and Centranthuses in my borders for their pretty cerulean blue and butter yellow flowers.

Centauria montana

Centranthus somethinorotherus

One year in the last century I grew from seed Our Lady's Milk Thistle which had the most attractive deep green glossy leaves with white streaking which was said to resemble Mary's maternal milk. (I will try to find a photo to post.)
But my most memorable intentionally grown thistle was the noble Scottish Thistle, Onopordum acanthium.


It began as a beautiful and large, felty grayish white rosette which made quite a lovely and unusual statement. In it's second year it became a ten-foot tall object of wonder, however, and gave me to understand that I had to get a handle, so to speak, on my love of unusual plants. Don't laugh, you've been there, gardeners. Maybe not as far down the rabbit hole as I was, but you've been there if you're a gardener.
So here it is.
Don't laugh.
Honestly, it just kept growing! After a while I just wanted to see what it would do!


Thank goodness the noble and TALL Scottish Thistle is a biennial.

On reflection my year of the Scottish Thistle was a good memory, and I liked to read this bit about the plant on Wikipedia:

"The thistle, in particular Onopordum acanthium (the cotton thistle or Scotch thistle), is the national flower of Scotland, and is featured in many Scottish symbols and logos. Legend has it that a Viking attacker stepped on one at night and cried out, so alerting the defenders of a Scottish castle. Nowadays many football clubs in Scotland use Thistle in their name, to give themselves both a patriotic and fierce perception by others."

and: "In the Language of Flowers, the thistle (like the burr) is an ancient Celtic symbol of nobility of character as well as of birth: for the wounding or provocation of a thistle yields punishment. The thistle was subsumed as a device of The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle and is a national symbol of Scotland."

A characteristic of these lowly but noble weeds is their seeds' longevity. It is said a viable thistle seed can live submerged in the soil for decades before it decides with Nature's indecipherable wisdom, that it is time to begin again. Something to think about.

Pumpkins and Hippie Cream

I thought I'd share a little something I listened to today from Cuddles the Vampire by Hippie Cream being as it is October. The drummer is one of my best friend's brother, and I really enjoy the way they use their voices and instruments to create a completely different sound. This one just cracked me up. Organized chaos has always been a concept near and dear to my heart, and now there is theme music! I've never posted music before. Hope this works.

I posted the following to The Essential Herbal Yahoo group. Thought I'd repeat it for my fellow pumpkin pie and bread lovers (there followed some great recipes, including this one for Pumpkin Chiffon Cake, from Betty Pillsbury:

Yesterday found me visiting an Amish roadside stand, where I picked up a pumpkin roll - moist, spicy cake rolled around a cream cheese filling. It got me thinking about medicinal uses for pumpkins. I love pumpkin pie, bread, and whoopie pies (gobs to some of you), so thought it would be nice to find a GOOD reason to dig in.
Their deep orange color denotes the presence of loads of beta carotene and they are full of lutein (good for the eyes). A little sniffing around turned up articles that say the oil made from the seeds is being studied for prostate health, particularly in conjunction with saw palmetto. The seeds (pepitas) are also a folk remedy for depression, and in larger quantities, parasites and kidney stones.
This article on the use of pumpkin extract in diabetes and pre-diabetes was interesting:

"A new study from China reveals pumpkin extract regenerates damaged pancreatic cells in diabetic rats, which boosts levels of insulin-producing beta cells and insulin in the blood. The diabetic rats had only 5 percent less plasma insulin and 8 percent fewer insulin-positive beta cells compared to normal healthy rats.
Researchers say pumpkin extract could benefit both pre-diabetics and patients who already have the disease. They note diabetics will probably always need insulin injections, but the extract could drastically reduce the amount of insulin they need."
https://search.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=16600

So. Now we can feel good about these scrumptious fruits/vegetables.

Local herb classes

There are some great classes in the works for locals - Lancaster, PA. They'll be held at Radiance on Grant Street, and you can contact Sarah at 717-290-1517 to reserve a spot and get times and details.

Weds, Oct 17 from 2 - 3:30 pm: Essential oils and a distillation demonstration
Tues, Oct 23: Herb Cordials
Weds, Oct 24: Tinctures and Vinegars
Tues, Oct 30: The Witching Herbs
Sat, Nov 3: Herb Beadmaking
Tues, Nov 13: Infused Oils and Salves
Weds, Nov 21: Herb Butters and Dips
Sat, Dec 1: Bath Salts/Herbs/Oils

Also! October 27th at The Rosemary House there will be an all day workshop with Rosemary Gladstar. That's another "can't miss" herbal event!

Herbal Swap coming up

A few days ago I was sitting around, letting thoughts wander aimlessly through my head, when one of them got stuck. Wouldn't it be fun to have an herbal product swap on The Essential Herbal's Yahoo list? Michele Brown from Possum Creek Herbs had suggested it privately to me before, but that was back in the days of the full-time job.
So, 2 days later we have 2 groups of 15 people all set to get swapping. Maryanne is helping with the swap, and we are both included in the each of the two groups.
I'm really excited. This has gotten my imagination into overdrive. Pretty soon we'll be setting up the shop down at the Frog Hollow Evergreens farm (VERY soon!), and we also have the spring herb fairs and market off in the distance. If we look at it that way we can make batches of several things. We'll be the last stop for the swaps, so if we have a couple of different choices we can make sure the swap boxes have lots of variety.
Now my head is spinning with ideas!
Neck coolers, eye pillows, salves, herb beads, hand rolled incense, potpourri.... the possibilities are endless! Just what I needed to get into production mode!

Spiders are going to enclose my house

I walked outside into the fog this morning to be met with an eerie sight. Not only was the hill completely covered with thick, quiet fog, but the spiders have been busily working outside.

The whole front garden and all of the shrubs are covered with so many webs that it looks like that stuff you buy to decorate for Halloween. I noticed that the evergreens in the next field have been festooned as well.

Spiders are supposed to be good things to have around, keeping other insects in check. They also have powerful symbolism. Spiders are the weavers of the web - and internet associations aside, the web is what connects all things. I love that particular bit of symbolism. The idea that by tweaking one of the threads on a web, all parts are affected and feel the movement. It reflects how I envision the earth and the environment, and how every little thing makes a difference to all things. For instance, the use of chemicals in farming disturbs the fragile chemistry of the soil, destroying bacteria and micro-organisms that are necessary to the fertility of the soil. Introducing or removing a species in the wild can create a whole landslide of changes.

Spider webs have been used to staunch bleeding in folk medicine. The strong filaments were used to cover a wound, giving blood a network on which to coagulate.

Still... I have to admit that spiders give me the willies. There's a big one living in one of the bathtubs, and I've decided to ignore it completely. Seeing what they managed to do in one night makes me wonder if one morning I'll need a machete to get out through the door. I'll keep you posted.

Snatched a few days from the crushing jaws of life

I've mentioned it before, but something has happened in the past 6 months that astounds me. I keep chewing on it, trying to figure it out. Everything got busy. All at once. There was an imperceptible shift, and suddenly I find myself hanging onto the tail of the time monster just trying to keep a firm grip. There is a huge grin on my face all the while, but still, it is a change, and change can be difficult.

My dearest gallant knight seemed to sense that I needed to step away for a little bit, and swooped me up for a trip out of town. The magazine was at the printer(to be delivered here for mailing tomorrow), most things were in a stage that could be left for a bit, and my sister agreed to manage the farm market without me - so off we went to Atlantic City.

It comes as a surprise - even to me - that I have a weakness for casinos. The fact that they overlook the ocean makes it even better! After a period of lights and noise, I could wander out to the beach and pick up shells or watch the seagulls swoop and dive.

Our room was high above the shoreline with a great view of the ocean. I could go prop my feet on the low window ledge and read, pausing every so often to watch the waves roll in. It was so relaxing. The food was all delicious, but the first night we went to an exquisite restaurant where they served a mushroom/crab soup. It was so good we both ate every drop. When we commented on how perfect it was, they offered us the recipe! I can't wait to try it.

My mission on the beach was to find tiny shells - snail, conch, and scallop in particular - for a craft I have in mind. I found so many that the exercise from bending to pick them up combined with the walking in the fresh sea air made me feel lively and rejuvenated.

There is something about standing on the shore that captivates me. Each wave makes me consider where that water has been. What small turbulence made the wave? Every bit of wind that ravages my hair makes me wonder what that air has curled around before. It has come so far to get to where I stand. Holes in the puffy clouds create pockets of sunshine on the calm surface out beyond the waves and make me wonder what it would be like to be at sea, and see nothing except what nature hands out.

The families that play along the beach seem to notice none of that, only aware of the sand and the water and the wind. The birds pick at the shells on the beach, oblivious to the enormity of the ocean and all that comes with it. I am always in awe at the shoreline.

So now I'm home. I should be tired from the trip and the long drive. Instead, I'm crunching through the debris that has piled up, happily setting things right. Sometimes getting away is exactly what is needed.

As The Worm Turns

A note to new visitors from the county Master Gardener link: you can find my other videos, including a diary of the Backyard Herb Garden at the Extension, and a look at the Detroit Urban Farm Tour, and more, by clicking the "tag" word called video... (to the right of the screen in the alphabetical list of subjects.)
And, if you'd like to see more YouTube home-made videos on this topic, double click on the video and the magic of the internet will sweep you away to the page where this video is located on YouTube, where similarly tagged videos can be found.