Growing Food Without a Plow

Ever since I was a wee child, we have had gardens. Not every year, though. We'd have them for a couple of years and then need a couple more years to sufficiently forget about things like weeds with taproots, bugs, blossom-end rot, dragging heavy hoses, gnats, and vine borers. Growing vegetables is a lot of work.

I may have mentioned that in my high school yearbook, the 10-year prediction listed for me was, "still trying to find ways to get out of work." It took me about 5 of those years to figure out that it isn't a bad thing to find easier ways to do things. I choose to believe it was written as a compliment.

This explains my love of wildcrafting or foraging. How much easier is it to take the colander out into the yard and pick nutritious wild greens, than it is to clear space in the garden, plant, weed, protect from roving bunnies and groundhogs, water....? Well, you get my drift. Over the past 20 years I've studied and worked to identify and taste the wild vegetables, fruits and roots that can be eaten in place of the ones most often domesticated and grown commercially or in the backyard. Many of them are either escaped from colonial gardens or are feral cousins of something we eat everyday. Some of them just proved to be too much trouble for the average Joe. For instance, the current grain craze, quinoa is closely related to lambsquarters.

In the meantime, after moving to the farm several years ago, I set about adding edibility to the landscape here. Hardy figs, currants, and elderberries were some of the first plants to go in. Bob caught the bug and added some sweet cherries, pears, and hazelnuts (we have wild cherries and tons of black walnuts in the woods naturally) and sugar maples. I keep adding - Jerusalem artichokes, serviceberry, gooseberries, horseradish, blueberries, and finally this week persimmon and sour cherries, with some goji berries still on the way. This is my goal, you see. Lots of food bearing, perennial plants that require very little work or attention.

At the same time, in addition to all the wild herbal medicines growing here, we've gradually added lots and lots of perennials that have taken and are colonizing. On the acreage here, there are many different miniature environs - a meadow, woods, swamp, and typical "yard". If it can survive our zone, we have a place for it.

The point of this post is really to try to remind people that as they choose plants, whether they be for vast acreage or a potted shrub to guard their urban doorway, try to choose something that earns its way wither by providing food or medicine. Beauty is valuable too, but it feels like at this time we should be more utilitarian until we are feeling more secure. It feels good to me to know that there is food everywhere I look outside, and it requires no work.

Sure, I'll throw in some tomatoes, peppers, beans, and cukes this summer. Mostly I'll purchase my veggies from a farmers market. Still I really encourage everyone to learn ONE wild edible this year. Just one.

Here are some good options to learn: garlic mustard, chickweed, violet leaves, violets, mustards, cresses, dandelion, black raspberries, wineberries, and lambsquarters. There are many many more, but that could give you something to think about if you've never tried anything wild.

Harvesting Cattails

Here's a video series about harvesting cattails that Xavier and I did for HerbMentor.com. This series shows you exactly how to harvest all parts of the cattail through the various seasons, as well as how to actually prepare the cattails for your dinner plate. 


So far, parts 1-4 have been released on YouTube. 


Part 1





Part 2





Part 3





Part 4

I Need An Herbal Timeout!

I need to get my herbal focus on and get ready for my presentation next Tuesday, April 5th!  Sooo I do have some things to share with you, my award and our landscape, but I'll talk about them next week.  Although it is very cold for this time of year and we may have snow again overnight, I'm not going to be out in the garden!  You won't be missing a thing.  I promise.  Will take photos just in case.  So talk amongst yourselves and I'll be back in an herbal minute! 

After a snowstorm

(I traded the book away on paperback swap)
"I am so glad I don't have to go out. A whole day before me in which to think and be." ... "It is rather like living in a vast cosmic mood-swing here now."
-(the morning after a snowstorm) May Sarton, Journal of a Solitude

A Yippee Kind of Day!

These look bigger than they are.  These are 'tete a tete' variety of daffodils.  I have talked about them in other posts in different years.  You all know who live in deer country that the deer don't like daffodils. Yeah!  They love tulips though and we have some stray tulips in the back garden that before we notice them up and blooming, they are eaten.  Just the blooms, not the stem!  I keep thinking I'm going to move them into the fenced area up front.  It never seems to happen.  Well, off to have lunch with my master gardening friend and I'm being honored tonight with the master gardener emeritus award.  Hope you are having a great day wherever on the planet you may be.  Talk to you later.

busy day breakfast (or lunch, or dinner...)

I'm kind of addicted to this at the moment, and could eat it 3 times a day. My sister and I joined a gym recently and try to get there early each day so it doesn't eat into our days too much (we don't need any excuses not to go). When we get back, I'm hungry, and this has been a great healthy breakfast. I'd like to add that although we both have lots of weight to lose, we are more focused on getting more fit and gaining strength and stamina. Stronger bones is part of the plan, too.
So here we go...
The ingredients are any flavor of Greek yogurt, some granola or cereal (I'm liking the Kashi Crunch flavors), and some nuts.I am passionately in love with Chobani Greek yogurt because they don't use any HFCS or aspartame and it is very difficult to find a yogurt that doesn't include one or the other. Additionally, they donate a percentage of their profits to worldwide charities and I can get behind that :-). Kashi has a lot of great ingredients in their cereal too.The yogurt goes into the bowl first (sort of the way mashed potatoes go on a plate before the gravy, etc...), then the cereal, and then sprinkle with some nuts.The yogurt has 140 calories, 1/2 C of the cereal is 100 calories, and the nuts probably add another 40 or 50 calories. So we're making a satisfying, delicious bowl of goodness for 300 calories! Lots of my friends make their own yogurt and granola, and that's great. I do not, and really like the convenience of this - almost a guilty pleasure! It keeps me going until lunch and feels sort of like I had an ice cream sundae for breakfast.

B is for Basil or it could be O too!

A while back (not saying how long) Becca from A Southern Garden by Becca mentioned she wanted me to discuss what herbs I had planted in my garden and how I used them.  Well, Becca, you are a lucky woman because as I can see by yesterday's post, you already have planted your basil!  It looks beautiful and healthy.  We won't be able to plant basil until at least mid-May and maybe not until June!  Here is a quick lesson on basil.

Basil  Ocimum basilicum  In the above photo, I have given you my favorite book about basil.  Thomas DeBaggio was an herb gardener extraordinaire who just passed away in late February.  He was a class act and knew the ins and outs of herbs growing them for his herb farm in Virginia for many years.  He teamed up with one of my favorite modern herb authors, Susan Belsinger on this book about basil.  Susan lived in Italy for a number of years.  When you think of basil, you always think of Italy first.  It is funny to think that basil is not native to Italy, but to Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean and South America.  It came to Europe about 2,000 years ago and was used more for its alleged supernatural powers than for culinary uses.  What I like about the book is that it talks about the individual varieties of basil and then the recipes in the back of the book take some of those basils and uses them in ways you may not be thinking.

I also want to give a link to my fellow guest blogger at The Herb Companion, Ramona Werst from Texas who is passionate about her basil and may be a great link for all of my southern readers.  She also has a free 25 page e-book about teaching you to Love Your Basil.

There are between 30 and 150 basil species.  Maybe more.  I have grown a lot of them.  My favorites to grow and use are sweet basil of different varieties, including 'Pistou' and 'Boxwood', they both are small leaf and small size basils, cinnamon and lemon basils for jellies.

In the summer we use whole sweet basil leaves paired with tomato slices, feta cheese and black olives and balsamic vinegar and olive oil and maybe some avocado.

Then there always has to be a pizza or two.

I'm not sure what is on this pizza, but we just sprinkle sweet basil leaves chopped up after it comes out of the oven.  You can put chopped basil leaves on just about any pizza whether you make it or not.

Here is my favorite Pesto recipe.  It's from the Cheap Thrills Cuisine and Washington Post.  At the link, you can find most of their recent recipes.  I think maybe from 2000 onwards.

Presto it's Pesto
You'll need a food processor a blender.
Pick 4 cups of fresh basil leaves.
Put 2 cups of basil in processor with 1/2 cup of olive oil.
Puree on pulse speed.
Add 6 large peeled garlic cloves and puree again. (I only use a clove or two at the most.  Add all 6 if you can tolerate the garlic.)
Stir in 1/2 cup of pine nuts.  Puree.
Add the remaining basil leaves.  Pulse until it forms a runny paste.
Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese.
Recipe makes one cup of spicy pesto sauce.
Use as a base for cheese pizzas.
Try on garlic bread.
Pesto's great as a flavor enhancer for sauces.  Just a 1 teaspoon or so livens a sauce.

This recipe is easily cut in half.

Growing Basil

Because we are cold here in southwestern Pennsylvania at night sometimes until mid to late May, you need to wait to plant basil seeds or plants until the last minute.  The soil temperature needs to be at least 50 degrees and may be more like 55 to 60 degrees before you can plant it.  I have planted my basil plants early some years and have not lost them, but they just don't grow.  They literally pause until the weather warms up.  If  your area is expecting frost, don't plant them until the danger of frost is past.  Even temperatures in the 40's is too cold.  You will have to cover them or bring them inside.  If you are planting seeds, you should start them inside about April 1 or so.  They should be ready to plant around May 15th and even two weeks later will be OK.  This information is only for the herb gardeners in the Mid-Atlantic area.  For all of you in the deep south like Becca, you can plant now, lucky you!  We don't have that much space and time to start seeds, so we generally buy our plants.

Harvesting Basil

You want to start clipping your plants frequently to keep them from going to flower and then seed.  In my experience, lemon basil quickly goes to flower, so you must keep clipping flowers and make sure that it doesn't not flower too quickly.  The Herbal Husband suggested that I clipped the leaves every few days and make jelly.  I did that with great success.  The smell as you are clipping is just the best.  Lemon basil and cinnamon basil were the most jellies I made last year.  I had several plants of each and it worked out very well.

Here is the link for the scented basil jelly recipe from Renee's Garden.

You can also harvest leaves and process them with some water and place them in ice cube trays and freeze them for winter use.

Insects and Diseases of Basil 

Unfortunately four-lined plant bug does like basil, but again the damage is mostly cosmetic and there is only one generation a season.  I usually don't have any other problems.  Here is a link for Johnny's Seeds grower's library about 3/4 of the way down, click on Basil Diseases.  This pamphlet talks about insects and diseases of basil.  Fusarium wilt can be a problem with sweet basil only so be sure to get fusarium resistant seeds because the disease is spread through contaminated seeds.  It does not seem to affect the specialty basils.

Because I can't have large quantities of tomato sauce any longer, this is my go to recipe when I have spaghetti.  I need to run make our lunch.  I made myself hungry!  I'll add more to this post later.
It isn't raining or snowing out either so we are going to work in the garden this afternoon.  The first daffs are up!  Yippee!  Talk to you soon.

The Attack of the Angelica!

Had a beautiful work day yesterday and probably could have done some more today.  Well, yesterday we worked on moving the angelica out of my herb garden.  Most of it any how.  It will be a gradual process, but once it gets going, it sends roots to China!  Here is the space later on, especially on or near the wall.  It is much better.  Thanks Herbal Husband!

Hope you had a great day.  We went to see The Lincoln Lawyer with Matthew MacConaughey.  Very good performances, good cast and a very good performance by Matthew MacConaughey!  Worth seeing if you are thinking about it!   Got to run make dinner!  Talk to you later.  Way behind on my guest blogging and posts for my buddy, Becca and you.

My First Herbal Flower! Happy Spring!

Well, spring is here, here's my first herbal flower, the humble dandelion!  If you are allergic to latex, don't eat the flower.  However, besides the latex issue, the flowers and greens are delicious as long as you aren't spraying your lawn with chemicals.  Worked in the garden this afternoon.  It was a wonderful day!  Hope you had a great day wherever you may be.  I'll show you more tomorrow.  Talk to you later.

Young and Old, Herbally Speaking!

There is a lot to talk about in this photo from 19 years ago, but focus on the right side of the photo.  This is a photo of our young bay tree.  I'm thinking because bay trees are so expensive and small in the beginning that this is a two year tree.  1990 is when I started my herb garden.  So our bay tree is 21 years old!  Break out the bay rum!  Sorry I had to do it!  Actually I need to make the aftershave bay rum for you know who!  Something else for my herbal list.  Didn't get a lot of my herbal list accomplished this winter that's almost OVER!  It is not a complicated process, but I need to get my workspace put back together.  Was too exhausted yesterday!  So here is our bay tree as of yesterday.  It is a bear to get in and out, but it is very fragrant and worth the hassles.  Much cooler today.  Was hoping to get outside and dig some things out of the herb garden, but it might have to wait.  Got to work on my workspace!  Talk to you later.

Mourning Gloria, by Susan Wittig Albert

One of the very pleasant aspects of my so-called job manifested last week with the arrival of #19 of the China Bayles mystery series by Susan Wittig Albert - Mourning Gloria.
Susan sent me a preview copy of her book, due out in early April.The book arrived here on the 14th. The deadline for the May/June issue of The Essential Herbal was the 15th, on which day my email inbox is generally flooded with 90% of the contents of the upcoming issue. I finished the book yesterday - that should tell you something right there. It sucked me in from the first page, and if there hadn't been so many critical activities going on here I would have read straight through to the end.
In this adventure, China manages to weave her own interest in psychoactive plants with a mystery that unfolds in ways you just do not see coming. Circumstances surrounding a shocking death are nearly missed, but their discovery puts several others in jeopardy.
The recipes for all the tempting herbal dishes discussed in the book are great too!
I always hate when a good book ends because I know I'll miss the characters. This time it was bittersweet because the magazine was nagging at me pretty seriously. So.. til next time, China!
You can read http://www.abouthyme.com/China/ExcerptMourningGloria.pdf
Check it out! If you haven't read any of the other 18 China Bayles mysteries, dive right in.
or PRE-ORDER A COPY

Before and After!

This is my workroom window before and here it is after!

And the view outside!  So if you in the market for new basement windows, check out Pittsburgh Glass Block Co.  This is NOT a paid endorsement.  Just very satisfied customers!  If you are in the Pittsburgh area, please give them a call.  Our installer, Tom was the nicest, very efficient and cleaned up the mess!  Most of my basement mess is in my dining room and living room!  Got to run and start putting things away!  A big check mark on the renovation list.  We are rolling!

It has been an absolutely beautiful day in the 'Burgh!  Little cooler tomorrow.  Better for the first day of gardening.  Can't wait.  Talk to you later!  I'll get back to herbs in the next posts.  Have a scanned photo to show you of a young bay tree!  I found out how old it is!  Will share with you tomorrow!

Just Had to Let You Know!

We finally found a company to cut back our ivy that is growing up on our roof and in the gutters!  Of course, it is not cheap, but at least we have found someone to do it!  We have gotten several estimates, but no one has come back to do the job!  At least we didn't pay any money or lose any!  They are also going to take out some trees and trim some bushes as well!  Yippee!  What a relief!  Hope you had a great day!  Will show you what we are getting in tomorrow's post tomorrow!  Ha!  That's a tongue twister!  Talk to you later.

A Shoutout for the Ladies of McIntyre Garden Club!

Well, I just want to give a shoutout to the ladies of McIntyre Garden Club.  We had a delicious soup, bread and dessert lunch and then my flavor infusions program.  Repeating myself with the same program, but I think they enjoyed it.  I really did.  Thanks ladies for having me!  Hope you had a great day.  Talk to you later.

The Sugar and Spice Hour!

You might need to click on the cartoon above to read what's underneath..  It's from my master gardening friend, Shelley!  Maybe she's trying to give me some herbal words of wisdom!  It's not too much like what I do for my presentations, but I thought we might all need a chuckle today.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Holy Basil – The Incomparable One

Holy Basil – The Incomparable One
by Ym-health

This article ran in the Nov/Dec '10 issue of The Essential Herbal, and I was sure that I'd added it to the blog, but apparently it was a note on the Facebook business page but not blogged. If you know how much I love holy basil, you'll know that I don't mind repeating myself here one little bit!

“Oh Narada, wherever Tulsi grows there is no misery. She is the holiest of the holy. Wherever the breeze blows her fragrance there is purity. Vishnu showers blessing on those who worship and grow Tulsi. Tulsi is sacred because Brahma resides in the roots, Vishnu resides in the stems and leaves and Rudra resides in the flowering tops.”

(Padmapurana (24.2) Lord Shiva tells the sage Narada of Tulsi’s power)
The Essential Herbal Yahoo group had a discussion 5 or 6 years that led me to an herb that has become the very first herb I reach for in almost any situation. Oddly enough, the conversation on the group was about weight loss and how stress hormones increase belly fat. I started doing some research in order to discuss the topic, and stumbled across Holy Basil, a plant that had somehow found its way into my garden that year. What luck! I immediately started a tincture.

Holy Basil goes by many names – Ocimum sanctum and O. tenuiflorum, Sacred Basil, Tulsi, and Tulasi, it comes in a green leaved variety (Sri or Lakshmi) and a purple variety (Krishna) as well as another green leaved variety that is used in Thai cooking. While it is a basil, the first two are rarely used in cooking.

In India, Tulsi has been considered a sacred herb for at least 3000 years. The benefits ascribed to this herb are nearly unbelievable, however testing is being conducted and it is proving to be an extremely valuable and health-giving plant.

Going back to my own experience with it… I made the tincture and didn’t really do much with it for a while. Later that fall, my terminally ill brother moved in with me while waiting for a liver transplant. It was an extremely difficult time, and I was completely unable to get a grip on my emotions. I went to a counselor who was hell-bent on giving me anti-depressants, but I declined. Shortly thereafter, I remembered the holy basil tincture and took about 50 drops. Within an hour, I could feel a complete shift in the way I was looking at the situation, and it enabled me to function fairly well. The next “trial” would be on my tax-guy sweetheart. It made a huge difference in the way he got through tax season that year. It was amazing.

So just what does this miracle herb do? It is primarily classified as an adaptogen, reducing stress and the way our bodies react to stress, strengthening the immune system, and is a neuro-protector that works as an anti-depressant. That just scratches the surface, however. Components in holy basil work similarly to aspirin on inflammation and aches and pains, fevers, colds, and flu. It neutralizes free radicals and protects healthy cells from radiation. It is useful for stomach problems and ulcers, as well as heart disease. It has blood-thinning properties as well as reducing blood sugar. In fact, according to Deepak Chopra, M.D. Founder of The Chopra Center, “In a recent study of forty patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) people taking two and one-half grams of dried Tulsi leaf powder every morning showed significant reductions in their blood glucose levels first thing in the morning as well as after their meals. In addition to lower glucose levels, they also had a mild reduction in their cholesterol levels.”

A cup of the tea works very well as a preventive or on mild illness, while I use the tincture almost exclusively because it is just very convenient. A tea blend that I make (Cuppa Happy) is truly wonderful. For the past 4 or 5 years I’ve been singing the praises of this herb. My local herb farmer (Kathy Musser at Cloverleaf Herb Farm) grew an entire flat of baby plants in the Lakshmi and Krishna varieties for me to tincture and dry for teas this year, and teased me about how many of her customers told her I’d sent them for it.

They are growing beautifully, and I tend them lovingly each day, treating them with the reverence that they deserve!

Meltdown? My recollection of TMI

I will admit that it is starting to fade. It's been over 30 years and I was just a kid looking back, working in a job that was way outside my comfort zone. Lets just say that if it had ever occurred to me that they would hire me, I would never have gone to the interview just to appease my mother. Before 911 came to town, County Control and County Emergency Management departments shared the sub-basement at the courthouse in downtown Lancaster. I learned during the following 11 months that it takes a special kind of person to stay on the phone with victims of violent crimes, or to be involved in the most horribly intimate moments of strangers' lives on a daily basis, and it isn't me.

3rd shift can be boring in a job like that once the bars are all closed. We usually had 3 people on the police side of the room, and 2 others across the room working fire and ambulance. One slow night, I pulled out one of the procedure books. There were all kinds of worst case scenarios and little bits of information on what we should do. I recall reading that if, when answering one of the phones, the party on the other end said something like... "an ill wind blows from an island three miles north" it would mean an emergency on 3 Mile Island. There wasn't much about what was to be done after getting the call.

So the night that they actually did call, I guess they didn't have the procedure book handy because they didn't use the secret code. We believed them anyway. We were short-handed that night, and I think the 4 of us were playing cards. I can't remember exactly what time it was, but it seems like it was around 5 or 6. There was quite a bit of time left on the shift for everyone to freak out before shift change at 8. The accident had happened 2 or 3 hours earlier, but they didn't call for a couple of hours... I'm thinking they were too busy. The head of Emergency Management was in a car heading north for a meeting that day, and (before cell phones) when we requested many, many times that he find a phone and call in, he refused, demanding that we switch to a less popular radio channel and tell him what was going on. See a pattern developing here? Nobody seemed capable of following procedure. It wasn't that they didn't want to, it was that they didn't know it existed. We were all so complacent.

I remember answering phones for the next 2 hours. People reporting in that they were going on vacation, could the police keep an eye out? Sure... no problem. It was eerie, and I couldn't say a thing to anyone - not the policemen that were calling in that they were now on duty, not the people who thought they heard something funny on the scanner, nobody. I wanted to tell them to all run! There was an unspoken agreement that we would stay calm and quiet until we knew something real. At 8 o'clock, I went home and didn't tell my roommate before going to sleep. At 10 o'clock, the person in charge of Emergency Management called me and woke me. Was I SURE that nobody had called earlier. I reminded him (?!?) that all means of communication in to base were taped 24/7 and he could easily pull the tapes from the night before. Now they were saying that they'd called, but we hadn't responded in any way - not that it made one smidgen of difference. When I woke up later that afternoon, I told my roommate. It was on the news shortly afterward, but the news didn't resemble what I knew. The local college was starting to empty as parents came to pick up their kids. They were smart.

For the next week or 10 days, I would go to work each shift and shared the space now with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. We had a red telephone in our office with no dial. You picked it up, and it went right to the White House. They all wore little glass dosimeters. Every day when I was not at work the television news would reassure me that the containment was holding and we were safe. Every night I would return to work to find that was not the case - nobody really knew, but the local news station wasn't about to tell us that. They just kept blathering away.

It wasn't that they were withholding information exactly. It was because it was very, very difficult to obtain any real idea of what was going on in there.

I hope that all these years later Japan has better means of reading the situation, but it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't. It was an enormous shock to me at the time to learn that our best and brightest didn't have any idea of what to do during TMI, but now I know how it is. We build and hope for the best - or at least that it will work until we aren't around to worry about it anymore.

free issue of herb magazine - The Essential Herbal

Every year or two we put up a new magazine for you to read at no charge. Although TEH is a print mag, when one sells out, we occasionally put it on-line. It has only taken me about 6 years to realize that the March/April issue is always the one that sells out first, so it would seem that every year about this time people are eager to dive into herbs, gardening, and getting outside and doing things for themselves. Whether it be food, foraging, medicine making, pleasure and beauty, or any of the myriad other uses of herbs that might be their own particular interest, there's something inside The Essential Herbal Magazine.
So here's the link:

http://www.ym-health.blogspot.com/documents/mar-apr-2010.pdf

We would be thrilled if you would share this issue of the magazine and the link provided with any of your friends or groups who are interested in herbs. Spread it around. It's completely free, so enjoy it!

A Roller Coaster Ride and A Big Addition to My Parsley Post of February 28th!

Yikes, with sincere apologies to Barbara Swain, I have finally added 3/4 cup of lightly packed chopped parsley to the parsley salad recipe!  I kept reading the 3/4 cup minced celery as parsley!  Sorry Barbara!  Everything is corrected FINALLY!

As you can see the snow went bye-bye last night and it's in the high 40's or low 50's here today.  The sun is out.  It's looking good.  The rivers are receding, I think.  As I keep saying to you, it is March in the 'Burgh!  In the final stages of getting my handout together for April and still working on my PowerPoint.  It's a lot of work.  Second presentation on Wednesday.  Should be fun.  Similar to the garden club last week.  Well, I've got my handouts proofread so I need to correct them.  Talk to you later.

More March Snow in the 'Burgh!

Woke up to heavy, wet snow this morning!  But it is nothing when we think of the people of Japan and the tragedy that happened there today!  Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Japan today in their time of need.  We continue to pray for the people of New Zealand.  Talk to you later.

Hey, Just Waiting for the Snow!

This was the other day and my buddy the squirrel was hanging out on the windowsill grooming!  It is raining out today and more snow is headed this way for tomorrow!  Still March in the 'Burgh and just in time for the St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday!  Hopefully you are having a great day wherever you may be!  Working on my Power Point presentation for my April talk!  Yesterday I thought I had to start over, but fortunately I didn't!  Talk to you later!

Joining the Red & White Quilt Exhibit!

I'm joining in the Red & White Quilt exhibit hosted by Taryn at Repro Quilt Lover.  It is conjunction with a major exhibit of red and white quilts sponsored by the American Folk Art Museum in New York from March 25 to 30 at the Park Avenue Armory.  Admission is FREE!  Nothing is free any more especially in New York.  650 red and white quilts in one location!  Hope some of you get to see them!

My quilts from top to bottom are the Double Irish Chain in time of St. Patrick's Day, a Basket quilt and a Feathered Star quilt.  They were all purchased at antique shops or shows.  Hope you allow me this small diversion from herbs!  Just do a post about your red and white quilts and you may win some great red and white quilt magnets!  Go on over to Repro Quilt Lover at the link above.  I'm going right now!

The earth is waking here

Got outside and wandered around the area nearest the house yesterday. At this time of year it is easy to feel like there is nothing out there, but if you slow down and look closely, it can be surprisingly thrilling! The hydrangea blossoms from last summer have withstood some amazing winds during this winter. As fragile and delicate as these appear, they have toughed out several days of 40 and 50 mph gusts. Perhaps I should find a way to use them for roofing shingles, because they seem better able to handle the wind....
I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a bit of garlic growing along the fence. Some of it didn't get harvested last year, so it looks as though we'll find out what second year bulbs are like.
Some of the walkways have been mulched, and they grow colonies of this fungus. It reminds me of brass bells, or maybe cliffside dwellings. I'm sure that they are very important in the lives of the fae.
The cutting celery was a huge surprise. The bunnies liked it very much last summer, and I didn't get much. In fact I suspected that it was gone. Pulling back a little debris in the garden, there it was! Can the bunnies be far behind?
One of the tiny field cresses. It has the laciest rosette, and in the chill of pre-spring it has a burgundy cast. Soon tiny stalks of white flowers will rise followed by coin shaped seed pods that will rattle in the wind.
I think this is baby cleavers. This early in the spring, my plant sense is a little cob-webbed and it takes a few weeks before I really recognize my old friends.
The chives! How strong and insistent they are as they shove their way through the grassy mat they left behind in the fall. The current cover of The Essential Herbal is from this very patch, taken last April. It won't be long before the glorious pink blossoms will host the recently awakened bees.
Athough this looks like some sort of mosslike growth, it is the beginning of the chamomile patch. The entire area is this glowing chartreuse, a very unusual shade of green in nature - at least here.
Ah.... the luscious, soft, fuzzy, and oh so fragrant first leaves of the anise hyssop. One of about 100 plants that I hope to soon transplant into their own patch. I dried the leaves last summer and was sold out by October!
There was a lot more, but these were the most exciting to me.
When I see this stuff, I can't help but notice that there is a sort of equivalent sap rising in me as the spring approaches. I'm ready to be done with this hibernation.

A Big Shoutout for the Ladies of Guyasuta Garden Club!

This is my new and improved storyboard for my Flavor Infusions presentation.  I had a great time with the Guyasuta Garden Club.  Great questions and a wonderful, delicious lunch.  Thanks for coming and participating and allowing me to inspire you all, ladies!  It was a fun day!  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be!  A mild day finally!  More rain to come!  Talk to you later!

OK, Couldn't Stay Away! Making Herbal Butter!

Hi, just wanted to come by and show you that the chives are up and growing in the herb garden.  I needed some this morning when I made the herbal butters for tomorrow's class.  They are going to try a butter with my favorite butter dried mix (second and third photos) from The Village Herb Shop.  I truly sprinkle it on mayo in a sandwich to give it an herbal boost.  It is a very delicious mix.  I think dill based.  Then they will try a fresh herb butter (the bottom photo) and here is the recipe:

Herbal Butter
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons fresh herbs, chopped (your choice)
• 1 clove of garlic, pressed
1. Finely chop herbs and mix into softened butter, add other ingredients.  Put in a covered container.  Refrigerate for 24 hours before using.
2. Herb butter may be kept refrigerated for two weeks or frozen for up to six months.  Put butter on vegetables, pasta, fish, meat, poultry, bread, etc.
Courtesy of  Pete Louquet, Tom Hamlin and Don Haynie, Spring and Summer Herbal Sampler, Raphine, VA:  Mid Valley Press, 1993, page 10.

The nice thing is that you can make it with or without the garlic.  I'm making it for tomorrow's class without the garlic.  I think they will enjoy and you will as well.  Got to run.  Hope you are having a great day!  I'll talk to you tomorrow after my talk!

Marching on...

I woke up this morning to a dusting of snow. It was quite a surprise. That's when I realized it is spring here - because the snow was shocking. That, and the fact that next weekend begins DST here! I LOVE the extra hour of light in the evening! It brings me out of my hermitage and I wake up to become social again.
We got in the last items from our shopping trip to NY. The cinnamon boxes were my favorite purchase. They are beautiful and highly fragrant. If you've been following my adventures of trying to make herb bowls, you'll know that these are the ultimate success!
We got some lightweight cotton totes too.
So now we have all kinds of fun items - magazines, books, dvds, kits for making soaps or balms and salves, dried wild-crafted herbs, tinctures, henna paste, carved wooden boxes, soaps, lotion bars, herbie implements, seed kits, seed-saving kits, magnetic poetry...
... all KINDS of cool herbalicious stuff!
Come look around at Ym-health.blogspot.com and get a little taste of spring yourself!
So free shipping offer for domestic orders over $100 just keeps looking better and better, doesn't it? And that includes subscriptions or renewals too!

March in the 'Burgh!

I was going to name this post "Now This is Just Getting Silly".  But it is March in the 'Burgh!  A few years ago (17 or so years ago) we had a two foot snow storm for the St. Patrick's Day parade!  This is nothing compared to that!  Getting ready for a presentation on Tuesday.  So I may take a short timeout to get my herbal ducks in a row.  Got to run!  The Herbal Husband with all of his calculations is helping with my presentation board! Talk to you later!  Maybe tomorrow!  Can't stay away too long!

Check out the parsley recipes post a few days ago.  I have added additional information.  Barbara Swain the original author of the parsley salad recipe stopped by.  I added her comments to the post!  Very cool to "meet" the actual authors of my favorite recipes!

Here's My Dinner from The Herbal Husband's Birthday!

I wanted to share my dinner from The Pines Tavern the other night.  Here's my salad baby field greens, pine nuts, prosciutto, balsamic vinaigrette, Gorgonzola cheese, some apples and those big juicy raspberries!  They were pretty good even if they weren't ours!  The Pines Tavern has a big garden every spring and summer and I always enjoy the salads there.  Here is my entree:  sea scallops,  lobster risotto and asparagus with a dusting of herbs.  It was delish!  Hopefully, you had a good day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.