Herbal Memories--Celebrating the Summer Solstice at Caprilands!

I had all of these wonderful memories flood back to me as I read MoonCat Farms post over the weekend.  I have decided to do a series of posts about my herbal visits over the years.  I have done a lot of traveling  to wonderful herbal places and I'm going to relive my favorite moments with you, dear herbal readers.  Here I am (Yes, that's me!) with Adelma Simmons at Caprilands Herb Farm.  You can't miss that beanie of hers.  Also, there is a sign above her head.  Here she is looking at a picture of my garden at the time and telling me what lovely artemisia I had!  I remember that gave me chills in a good way!

So back in the day Caprilands was an herbal Mecca of sorts.  Here is the main house.  The Herbal Husband and I visited on the Summer Solstice, a high day of herbal celebration.  We had lunch in the main house with the floors strewn with rose petals.  We had mugwort wreathes on our heads to revive the weary traveler.  Photos do exist at least of me and maybe in another post, I will share them!  Here are those rose strewn floors.

The star of the lunch was a big bowl of edible flowers, herbs and lettuce that made a grand entrance.  It has the WOW factor, doesn't it?

I remember we started with Strawberry Soup and that's why when I read Julie's post from MoonCat Farms, the wonderful herbal memories came back to me.  Here is Caprilands Strawberry Soup recipe:

Caprilands Strawberry Soup

2 cups of strawberries
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sour cream

Run strawberries through blender, add cream, blend.  Add sour cream and a few whole berries before serving.

It was decadent in its simplicity.  As I recall recipes, I will share them with you.  I remember she took a recipe from this book and another recipe from another book.  She was a very smart herbal business woman!  I remember a chicken (The more I think about it the more I think it was a seafood casserole and The Herbal Husband ate it!  He is not a big fan of seafood!  I happily make up for his dislike of seafood!) casserole of some kind.  Adelma had a fabulous cook, but in the end it was all about herbs.

You can always find Adelma's books on Bookfinder.  As you know, I get in a lot of trouble on that website.  If you click Caprilands Herb Farm link above, it does not take you to a website for Caprilands, but to a story on About.com that describes a visit to Caprilands in 2001 or so.  I tried to get on the Caprilands website and could not find it.  I read on another site that it is closed.  So hope you live vicariously through The Herbal Husband and I.  Enjoy Caprilands Herb Farm!