Sauteed Beet Greens

I stopped at the Mount Joy market the other day, and stopped at the Creekside Farm stand to chat with Josh. My eyes fell upon some beautiful baby beets, and I picked up a couple of bunches. Josh said, "You're going to eat those greens, aren't you?"
It hadn't really dawned on me, to be honest, so I asked him if he had any suggestions on cooking them. He told me I was going to be back next week for more - and he might be right.
His suggestion:
Cook a couple of strips of bacon and some spring onions (which he just happened to have - this boy is no fool), and then toss in the chopped greens. A little salt and pepper, and that's it!
Around here we just don't use a lot of bacon, preferring ham hocks for the traditional regional dishes that we grew up with, so bacon is more of a ... ahem... condiment. Because of that, I generally have some of the crappy pre-cooked stuff in the fridge.
Using that meant 2 things - this dish took less than 10 minutes to whip up, and also it required a splash of olive oil.
After the gastronomical excesses of yesterday, this was a perfect meal.
That's the thing about farm markets. You talk to the person who grew the food, and they can usually suggest ways to cook it. In fact, the first time I roasted beets was at the urging of another farmer.
One note - Next time I will use red onions, because they pick up red from the beets. I know in my brain that it doesn't make one bit of difference, but have a "thing" about onions taking on odd colors from other ingredients. Well.. mostly reds and purples.
Try this if you get the chance - it is delicious!

turn the page, a new chapter

Waking up yesterday morning, I realized something was different and it would never not be different again.
My sister and I have always thought that it was pretty cool that we got to have kids that got along like siblings. They are each our onlies; she has a son, I have a daughter. They know each other's friends well, and we have found great pleasure in the kids' friends too. Yesterday, the first of this group was married. We'd managed to escape this particular trauma for longer than most parents, but the day had finally arrived.Sonny has been part of the extended family since he and Rob became friends in 7th grade. He met Andrea a few years ago when the kids all took jobs at the Renaissance Faire nearby, and the rest is as they say, history.

The wedding was beautiful, planned down to the finest detail, and the food was absolutely amazing. Still, I couldn't at first shake the feeling that the walls were closing in. And then, as I looked over at Maryanne and saw her tearing up it hit me - they weren't ever going to be a gang of kids anymore. Our children had moved up a step on the ladder. They are adults, and we can't deny it.

Somewhere between the crab cake table and the 4th or 5th waiter bearing tasty morsels - or maybe it was the wine - I surrendered. I watched the kids dance together, and I watched Molly converse with the adults without a care in the world. I watched her move through the whole thing full of confidence and excitement, and realized that she is fully prepared for the world.

Sonny and Andrea (now known as "the Harmans") beamed as their day went on, and they both looked like they were clear on their course, sure of each other - and sure of themselves.
The antics on the dance floor were hilarious.

Our friend Val was there, and that was just a bonus. We haven't had a chance to sit and talk for years, and that was wonderful. Here she is with Maryanne and Bob.



And so, another chapter begins. I hope this book never ends.

quote Life

Posted by a FBF:
"we are rowing down a river of burning garbage with snipers on both shores. Many of us know we’re not crewing a ship, but a tea cup with sails made of memories of the
worst and the best of what we’ve lived. And, there under one of the small rowing benches,... is the Life Force protected under a worn tarp, still glowing. Our work: to ...carry that forward unharmed."
- Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes

gardening humor

Plant alphabetically!
Alyssum in the first row, Bulbs in the second, and so on.
That'll put your Weeds way in the back!
-Anon.

Got Back Some Herbal Space!

In the space where there once was tansy is now the basil (lemon, cinnamon and sweet) bed with the lemon verbena that was in the house for the winter.  The lemon verbena has come back nicely since being attacked by white flies.  I think I will put the lemon verbena in the garage this coming season.  I think it will stay dormant and have better air circulation.  Some seasons our lemon verbena holds its leaves and actually gets a little stronger.  That's what happened this past season.  We went to Florida for a week and came back to a bonanza of leaves and then it struggled through the winter on a windowsill.  It is doing just fine now.  I'll be making lemon verbena bread soon.  The Herbal Husband's favorite.  Here is the recipe if you would like to make it as well.  I'll be able to monitor the basil as well and make jelly and salads when necessary.  We got the new kids planted today.  We'll take a break tomorrow since it is supposed to be in the high 80's.  Too hot to work.  Hope you are having a great weekend wherever you are.

quote book

"A book is like a garden carried in the pocket."
- Chinese proverb

Queen Elizabeth In Hiding!

I just had to do it!  Sorry, Your Majesty!  After the scandal broke the other day with Fergie (The Duchess of York), we spotted Queen Elizabeth starting her faithful blooming!  This time though she is slightly hidden as if she is embarrassed by the whole ordeal.  Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  We will be planting the new kids we bought yesterday.  I'm going to make some Pickled Radishes from Herb Companion magazine's blogs.  Hope it works for you.  I'll let you know how mine turn out!

quote planting

"When you pour a packet of seeds into your hand and begin to place them the proper distance apart in the furrow, you become not just a participant, but a custodian of like."
- D. Landreth Seed Co. catalog

Hell's Belles - NYC is wild and wooly!

Hard to believe, but we sent the file for the Jul/Aug issue of The Essential Herbal to the printer, and headed back to NYC to see our dear friend Laura Daniel in a staged reading of Hell's Belles about 300 feet off Broadway. Here is a review of the play when it was performed earlier in another venue...Review with pictures.Two trips to NYC in 2 weeks.... I'm ready for some slow time!
It was a lot of fun, though! To begin with, we hadn't seen Laura on-stage for an embarrassingly long period of time, and it is just so cool to see someone come to life and be so... HUGE! She played Salome, Janis Joplin, Judy Garland, and Joan Crawford - and slipped into each character seamlessly. It was breathtaking! The others in the cast were exceptional performers too, and I expect to see them all in other parts - coming soon, to a movie near you ;-).
First we wandered around the city for a little bit, and stopped in at Rosie O'Grady's for a delicious lunch. There was a restaurant across the street with kilted waiters, but since it was early in the day... that just seemed like it might have required alcohol. On either side of the Irish Pub there were restaurants - one Italian, another Chinese. I love NY!
Being from an area that can smell chocolate from 4 nearby towns on a good day, with Hershey being one of them, I was a little shocked at this - an entire block of Hershey. If you've ever been to the town of Hershey, you'll know what I mean. Hershey is a quaint little town, with nothing like this!
So it was Fleet Week, and the Navy was in town! It was very reminiscent of a 50's movie to me, and we sat at a small table in the middle of Times Square for 45 minutes or so listening to a band playing pop music.
Maryanne and Rob took to the stage after the reading was over. Don't they look natural? Honestly, the two of them should never be left alone for any length of time...I'd worry about the fate of the world.


Traffic was really something in the city. The holiday weekend and whatever else was going on had Maryanne a little... concerned. Those taxis. I'm pretty sure they were the inspiration behind the bus in Harry Potter, the way they seem to get very, very skinny to slide between lanes, and then fluff back out to fly down any opening! Laura is still fresh as a daisy after her performance.
We went up to the roof to relax for a few hours before heading home. It's such fun to talk about old times and dish about old acquaintances. The four of us have never once been at a loss for words in the nearly 20 years we've been friends. Years pass, and it just continues to get warmer and easier.
I love to look at the vistas from the rooftop garden on Rob and Laura's building. Just standing there and imagining all of the people, all of the life going on in all those buildings and apartments! The sounds and energy from the streets rises to the roof, but it is muffled to something that is more bearable.
Penn Station in NY was crazy. We forgot about the upcoming holiday weekend and it looked like a lot of people were taking 4 days. There were some long delays and a LOT of very visible security - dogs, soldiers, police, and rifles. Not at all like last week, when although I'm sure there was plenty of security, it was not stationed every few feet.
The proof of the magazine was waiting when we got home. I love my printer. They got the go-ahead this morning, and it's almost like we never left.

Guest Blogging for The Herb Companion Magazine!

If you are seeing damage like this on your herbs, you may have the bug that I have been dealing with for years now.  Unfortunately, this bug likes members of the mint family!  Here is the damage on my oregano.  Check out my guest blog for The Herb Companion entitled Herbal Pests:  The Four-Lined Plant Bug.  Hopefully, it will help you fight off this herbal pest!  Very hot here.  You know the saying when it's hot, buy more plants!  I just made that up.  I'll show you the new kids in the coming days.  Hope you had a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later!

quote violets

"Violets dim yet sweeter than the lids of
Juno's eyes or Cytherea's breathe..."
from A Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare

quote Life

"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing."
- Arundhati Roy

vlog test - wandering in the garden

I've been wanting to try posting a video to the blog for a while, but it's amazing what all I don't get around to. This is just the one corner of the gardens, where the lavenders, sage, elderberry, SJW, and holy basil live. Picture quality is not quite what I'd like... but this is fun! Oh the ideas...

quote Life

"If your knees aren't green by the end of the day, you ought to seriously reexamine your life." - Bill Watterson

Herbs in Bloom!

One of my favorite edible flowers is the Dianthus.  This one is called 'Cheddar Pinks'.  They have that star shaped appearance and as you can see are growing without much soil on top of a red flowered thyme!

This is a happy thyme called 'Linear Leaf'.  I'm married to an architect so sometimes we need those architectural names in our herbs.

Herbie, the Hedgehog is guarding a dear little thyme that is surviving under this about to bloom rosemary santolina.  I'm not sure what kind of thyme it is, but I am admiring its herbal tenacity!  It has gotten hot here FINALLY!  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be!  Talk to you later!

quote May wine

"From my youth I recall that elusive smell of woods in spring—a sweetness ascending from mold and decay but with the breath of young life rising from it. That is the odor that permeates the house when May wine is poured into the May bowl. "
- Adelma Grenier Simmons, Herb Gardening in Five Seasons

Memorial Day Gifties - us to you!

For the next week - until May 31, 2010 - Here at THE ESSENTIAL HERBAL we'll be giving who place an order worth $50 or more (not including shipping) the option of either taking free shipping OR we'll slip one of our molded soaps into the order at no charge.The molded soaps are mostly one of a kind, and they aren't available for sale. At the end of most of our pours, I generally pull over a fancy mold and use it to catch the rest of the soap. Sometimes there are a couple of kinds of soap in one bar. Sometimes they're layered, sometimes swirled, and we will choose one for you :-).
Please let us know in the comments section of the shopping cart if you'd like the soap or free shipping!
So visit our website, and see what we have! We'd love to drop a soap in there!

The Sweet Smell of Angelica!

The angelica has started to bloom!  Everything this season seems to be going at warp speed!  It's too bad there is no smellovision or similar way to smell the fragrance of the angelica.  Here are a couple posts that I wrote in the early days.  One post has a recipe for crystallized angelica that was a Bertha Reppert original and the another is a post about purple angelica.  Mulberry Creek Herb Farm is no longer mailing herbs.  You have to visit them in Ohio.   Hope you have had a great day wherever you may be!

Lifeshighway, The Answer Is. . .

that there are 18 or 19 true mints.  There are more combinations or hybrids.  I'm not sure of the number exactly.  There are three mints that should never be used as food, Corsican mint (Mentha requienii), Japanese mint (Mentha arvensis var. piperascens) and the pennyroyals (Mentha cervina, Mentha pulegium) all of these contain a toxic oil that can cause convulsions and coma.  The mint family, the family Lamiaceae or Labiatae is a combination of herbs and ornamentals that includes Mentha.  The mint family includes among other herbs, basil, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, oregano, lemon balm, catnip, lavender, hyssop, horehound, patchouli and sage.  I think you have heard of at least some of these if not all of these herbs.  The other link that they have is that their stems have four sides.  The ornamentals include Bee Balm (Monarda), obedience plant (Physostegia virginiana) and Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia).

There is a wonderful herb farm in Ohio and I have written about them several times in my blog called Mulberry Creek Herb Farm.  While they no longer ship plants, their on-line catalog will give you a lot of information about mints.  Papa Geno's also has a lot of information.  The photo above is silver mint.  Most of my other mints, peppermint in the backyard, spearmint (yes, it is a mint) in the front yard, orange mint, basil mint and pineapple mint are all in the ground.  They are easily pulled out when out of bounds.  I would love to have them all in containers, but we don't have room to take them in in the winter.  One problem I do have with the peppermint especially that when it flowers, it does spread seeds.  So I am pulling plants out across the garden to make sure that it does grow in too many places.  I hope I have helped be less herbal challenged, Lifeshighway.  I will take a photo of each of mine and will post them in the coming days.  If you have more questions, please let me know!  Hope you have all had a great day!  Talk to you later.  

quote life

"The true meaning of life is to plant trees,
under whose shade you do not expect to sit."
- Nelson Henderson

it must be summer

The gardens are really going to town right now. It is still shocking to me to be putting plants in as this is our usual time to be planting, but all around the perennials are making it seem like I missed the boat - like that time a few years ago, when I planted before the frost date, and had to do it all over around Memorial Day.
The valerian is in full flower. The fragrance is heavenly, and last year I found that tincturing the flowers rather than the roots made for a pretty good medicine. It is milder than the action of the root, but very relaxing. It doesn't require that the plant be dug up, either. That's one of the best parts.
Here is my Papaw tree. It is 3 years old. It needs some new soil, and I just happen to have a couple of scoops from deep in the woods. We'll see if that doesn't help, but seriously, this isn't Papaw country. Putting some coffee grounds in with the soil around the blueberries this year really helped them grow, so we'll add some here too for the acid.
This little weed is Herb Robert, one of the wild geraniums. The flowers are perhaps 1/2" in diameter, but they are massed in front of one of the flower beds. They should come out, but are so pretty that they may stay during their bloom. Certainly they will reseed and return next spring, so I won't feel too bad about that.
The elderflowers are coming right along. These are from an early variety, but the other bushes of canadensis or nigra have tight little buds now too. Elderflowers are edible. You can dip the whole umbel into crepe or pancake batter, and make fritters with them. They can be made into a cordial, and they can be used in teas and skin preparations. It takes a lot of flowers to amount to anything when dried, and that means less berries. This early variety is not as tasty, so I don't mind losing the berries and using the flowers.
The cinquefoil (aka five-finger grass) is already in bloom. Yesterday afternoon I noticed buds, but they were open last evening. This is usually a late June bloom around here. It is a noxious field weed with roots that can apparently withstand the magma beneath the earth's outer crust, but the flowers look so innocent. I need to do some research on this plant, and find uses. It is so tenacious; that in itself tells me to look into it.
There are mint patches in various places throughout the property, and this is the chocolate mint. It yields a spectacular essential oil and hydrosol. Delicious in both cooking and tea, it is close to peppermint without the same bite. Mints can be hard to tell apart, but the stems and veins of the chocolate mint - along with the vague chocolate scent - makes this one unique. It creeps slowly out into the yard, so as I sat weeding it last night, the mint beneath me filled the air with its scent.
Chive blossoms are just lovely. They are one of the first herbal flowers of the season, and they wave gaily, their delicate blooms hoisted aloft on sturdy blue-green stems. The blossoms make a beautiful pink vinegar, and they can be torn into pieces and scattered on a salad. This bee seems to agree with me.
Lastly, the St Johnswort. It is blooming already! Typically it blooms around June 21st, as it was named for St John, who is honored on June 21. I've mentioned before that having blogged for 5 years, I can look back and see where things were at this time in years past. SJW, I don't need to check. This is early.
There are 5 patches of SJW scattered around the gardens here. 3 are in bud, 2 close behind. The buds and tips of this plant can be used both internally and externally. Internally, it is often used for mild depression and nervous conditions. Externally it works especially well on sores that are caused by the various herpes viruses - like cold sores, chicken pox, shingles, and genital herpes. The nerve endings in our skin respond well to SJW.
It is well preserved in alcohol for tincture and in oil for external uses. It can also be dried for teas.
There is so much going on outside, and we're still busily putting the finishing touches on the upcoming issue before sending it off to the printer. It is somewhat strange to be looking at all this beauty while thinking about the oil being pumped into the Gulf of Mexico. Even at this distance, I can't help wondering how this will affect us all.

poem

"Oh Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees

That half a proper gardener's work is done upon his knees.

So when your work is finished you can wash your hands and pray

For the Glory of the Garden, that it may not pass away!

And the Glory of the Garden, it shall never pass away!

- Rudyard Kipling

It Has Survived!

Just when I thought apple mint was going to take over my front garden, it has slowed down and found a small space to reside.  I forget that it is still in the garden so might use it in a tea blend soon.  I like it because it has that grayed green color and is fairly tall and upright by itself without the aid of The Herbal Husband's sticks and strings.  I do love him, but sometimes the sticks and strings can be a bit too much!  I just keep repeating to myself,  "He is a good helper in the garden and he does love plants including the weeds!"  I actually swept the house because it is pouring outside! Didn't get to dust!  Ooops!  I guess I should have dusted first!  Hope you are enjoying your day wherever you may be.  Off to see my boyfriend, Russell in "Robin Hood."  White horse, Russell Crowe and Kate Blanchett.  I'll forgive him for kissing Kate and then there's the violence.  Oh, well, Russell will make it OK! 

Bathe yourself in roses

It's easy to fall in love with roses. They offer us beauty and can be an effective source of herbal medicine. This article looks at the many ways we can use roses for our health and beauty. From wild rose salad dressing to decadent facial cream to wild rose petal mead... read on! 





The exotic beauty and alluring smell of roses has enthralled humans for thousands of years. Roses have been found entombed with the ancient Egyptian pharaohs and were highly prized by the Greeks and Romans. 


The Chinese started cultivating roses around 5,000 years ago and in the late 18th century these roses spread to Europe where they were further hybridized.

Josephine, Napoleon's wife, adored roses and strived to grow every known rose species in her gardens outside of Paris. Many credit her for the popularity of roses today. In the late 18th century Europe the rose was so highly valued it was used as a type of currency.

Wild rose petals about to be infused with honey.
A special treat that is also wonderful for sore throats. 

Roses as medicine

Simply the scent and beauty of roses are medicine within themselves, however, the entire plant offers us a wide range of medicinal uses. 

Roses excel at cooling and soothing. I’ve personally seen it work wonders on muscle pain, wounds, sunburn and bug bites.

I generally add a small amount of rose petals to formulas for healing the intestines for people with leaky gut or an inflammatory bowel condition such as IBS or Crohn's. 

Rose petals are also a frequent part of formulas for a variety of women's health complaints from menstrual cramps to menopause complaints. 

When using roses for medicine I like to use all the parts. When the wild roses are blooming I harvest the petals, the rose buds, leaves and twigs. All of these can be dried or extracted into alcohol. 

You can also buy high quality organic roses from Mountain Rose Herbs. 

The Wild Rose is my most important plant ally, and one that I am continually amazed by. If there is a single plant who has provided me with the most healing, it is this one. My relationship with this thorny beauty deepens each year, and every season the briar teaches me more about boundaries, vulnerability and self-expression. This plant teaches raw, wide open love complete with scars, thorns and an abiding sense of self-knowledge. She teaches that beauty is a bone deep quality, one that we hold in every cell regardless of the pain we’ve lived through or the battles we’ve weathered. In hard years, her petals unfurl skewed and wrinkled but this doesn’t mar her attractiveness. Rather, they add to an already complex character and give her more of the strongly scented medicine she’s known for.

Kiva Rose, herbalist

Roses as food
The most common way that roses are used as food is by eating the fruit of the rose often called the rose hip. The hips are high in a multitude of nutrients, most famously vitamin C. 

Rose petals are also a fun way to eat roses. Like rose hips they are high in nutrients and especially high in polyphenols, an important antioxidant. Fresh rose petals can be made into jams, wines, honeys, vinegars, sprinkled on salads, and enjoyed in tea.

Now I know at this point some of you are wondering, “But if I don’t have wild roses, can I use the roses in my front yard?”

You certainly can use domesticated roses. First, you want to be sure that they haven’t been sprayed with harmful chemicals. Secondly, your best bet is to use roses that are aromatic. Roses that have no smell may not be as good for medicine or food, so use your nose to find the best roses.

And if possible search out your local wild rose. They like to live in moist habitats and usually grow in dense thickets. This can be along rivers, irrigation ditches, and riparian areas.

Using roses

When the wild roses bloom in June I harvest gallons of rose petals and then spend hours in the kitchen making luxurious herbal medicine. 

Some of these petals are made into a tincture. I use brandy or vodka as the menstruum. Adding a bit of honey turns this into a yummy elixir. 

Some of the petals are infused into honey - this is something I commonly give as a gift. 

Some are dried for teas. I love adding a large handful of rose petals to my daily nourishing infusion. 

Here's one of my favorite tea blends. I often give this as gifts. 

Tea for the Heart
one part rose petals
one part hawthorne leaves and flowers
one part linden leaves and flowers
one part lemon balm
stevia to taste

Blend together (I often make this in large batches). 
Steep two teaspoons in 8 ounces of water for 15 minutes. Strain
Add honey to taste. 

Enjoy! 

You could also add 1 - 2 cups of this mixture to a quart of just boiled water, let steep for 4-8 hours,  and strain. This extended brewing time offers more medicinal benefits. 

I love infusing wild roses into oil to turn into a luxurious facial cream. 



Rose petal powder is a great toothpaste! 

Each year I also infused rose petals into apple cider vinegar. This can be diluted to use on sunburns (thanks to Kiva Rose for that tip!), or it can simply be used as a decadent and delicious salad dressing. 


One year I made rose petal mead. The resulting brew was absolutely priceless, such a delicate taste of wild roses. 

If you are unable to work with fresh rose petals you can buy rose buds and powdered roses at

Mountain Rose Herbs. 

The powdered roses from Mountain Rose Herbs are great for making pastilles for sore throats or you can use it in a variety of cosmetic products like facial scrub. I love dried rose petals and rose buds in my tea.


Botanically speaking...

Wild roses have five petals, five sepals, and multiple stamens.



Roses are famous for their prickly thorns but technically they aren’t thorns but prickles. True thorns are modified stems that always originate at a node. Prickles are growths on the epidermis or the outer layer of the stem. 

All wild roses have prickles and sometimes the placement of them can lead to identification of a particular species. As for me, I’ll probably keep referring to rose thorns, something about the word prickles just isn’t the same.



The leaves form leaflets that have an opposite growth pattern and serrated edges.

Summary

Wild roses are found growing north of the equator. There are an estimated 35 indigenous species in North America and historical records show they have been used for food, medicine, and tools by the first peoples of North America. The Okanogan of the inland Cascades in WA state ate the flower buds but not the hips and used the thorns for fish hooks. The Athabascan reportedly placed the thorns in the center of warts, which were said to disappear within a few days. All interior Salish used the baldhip rose species widely for medicinal and spiritual purposes.

In the modern world there are books and even whole social organizations dedicated to roses. They are grown all over the world and given as gifts as a sign of love and friendship. If they only offered us beauty it would be enough but these tenacious plants offer us food and medicine as well as lessons on protection and boundaries.



Wild Rose

Botanical name: Rosa spp.

Family: Rosaceae (Rose)

Parts used: petals, inner bark, leaves, fruit

Properties: cool/dry, astringent, anodyne, nervine, aphrodisiac, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, mood elevator

Used for: wounds, sunburns, love, broken heart, hot flashes, gum health, bug bites, food, rashes, pelvic decongestant (cramps and PMS), post partum sitz baths

Plant Preparations: Tea, vinegar, tincture, elixir, tooth powder, glycerite, rose water, honey, mead

Here's a video showing how to make your own rose petal water.

This article was written for HerbMentor.com.

quote gardening

"When I began to dig and plant, I little knew the joy which would grow out of the soil, and descend from the skies, and gather from far-off places and times to gladden my soul."
- Candace Wheeler

Free Can Be Beautiful Too!

My free peony 'Tom Eckhardt' just started blooming.  Will try to update this post later when more blooms are open.  We finally have it in a space that it likes!  Whew!  Why was it free, Lemon Verbena Lady?  Well, I participated in a local symposium where I heard Roy Klehm, owner of Klehm's Song Sparrow Farm and Nursery speak about peonies and he was giving away free peonies!  Life doesn't get any better except if they were herbs!  There I said it!  OK, I need an herbal timeout in the garden.  I have to finish planting my herbal kids.  I'm buying a few more later today.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be!

If You Have Chive Blossom Flowers, Make Vinegar!

I filled a quart jar with chive blossoms yesterday and filled it with white wine vinegar.  In two weeks, it should be done.  I really like this vinegar because it imparts an mild onion flavor to salad dressings, sauces, soups and stews.  I really can't have too many raw onions any more, so this vinegar works very well for me.  Hope you had a great day wherever you are.  Talk to you later.

quote a gardener's life

"This I think is a gardener's life. Hope renewed, failures forgotten, knowledge and action wedded, bookish plans and practical applications, winters of study, summers of work, a yearly opportunity to turn our failure into sucess."
- Adelma Grenier Simmons

A Great Season of Bloom!

Two feet of snow didn't seem to harm our rhodies!  Rhodies all over the area are blooming like crazy.  This spring has been really beautiful!  Here is another shot of our front garden.

Hope you had a great day.  We planted some more kids in the garden!  Hopefully we will be done soon!  I'm running out of room!  Really!