I block out time on Sundays to play in my kitchen. Today, I’ve made a new batch of watermelon rind pickles — lacto-fermenting for 3 to 4 days, arugula pesto loaded with raw garlic.
New to me, is pine needle balsamic vinegar which will take 6 weeks to brew, made from the bright green tips of my white pine trees.
I thinned my row of radishes and I’m about to make a salad with it.
There is medicine-making and there is medicine in the act of making.
I have a sweet tooth. And, my husband Chris is always delighted when I bake. While I try to find fairly healthy recipes, I also like to “herb ’em up.”
Here’s a cup of sugar with about a half a cup of chopped rose geranium. I can either sift out the green bits before I bake, or leave them in.
This infused sugar will be going into a rhubarb buckle recipe. Layer herbs and sugar and shake to bruise and release the oils in the leaves or petals.
Great herbs to try: lemon balm, bee balm, spearmint, rose petals, or violets. You may already be thinking of others!
Life can be so sweet.
I brought a big green salad, watermelon, and strawberries with angel food cake to our classic family Memorial Day get-together.
We walked in the woods with the dog, and then came back home to my sister’s place for dinner.
Whenever I cut up watermelon, I think about the quantity of rinds! Last year, I made a great sweet pickle with the rinds.
This year, I am playing with lactobacillus fermentation.
As you can see from the photo, I haven’t yet found a fermenting crock I really like. So, here’s the trashy way to weight down your veg — with a plastic baggie filled with water. Not too proud to pickle with plastic.
I’ll get something good soon. (This photo alone may spur me to action!)
Anyway, here’s a salty brine, dill weed from the garden, bay leaf, garlic, mustard seeds, and peppercorns. Should be ready in 3 to 4 days.
Let the summer picnics and pickles commence!
An hour the first day. Two hours the second day. Now, we’re up to 8 hours outdoors. They are free! Ready to be (re)planted.
Not a great seedlings year for me. I got sick, and distracted. But, I do love the miracle of seed to leaf to fruit to table.
Self-seeded spinach, lettuce, dill, mizuna, plus the perennial asparagus, chives, and marjoram. And, some dandelion greens. Thank thee!
I love a crazy salad, made from my garden, some self-seeded greens of last fall, and foraged friends around the edges:
Spinach, mizuna, violet leaves, mugwort, dill sprouts, marjoram, garlic chives, dandelion leaves, asparagus, wild onion, and basil tips with a gingery Asian dressing. Yum!!!
This is a weird Reuters news story that I stumbled upon — involving ayahuasca, a sacred plant, a shamanic healer, and a Canadian “addictions counselor.”
Peruvian prosecutors say Canadian was lynched after killing shaman
Whether it’s nicotine, caffeine, frankincense, palo santo or cacao, our Western culture has lost a sense of the sacred usage of these powerful friends and allies.
It’s no wonder the power leaked out “sideways.” I understand that our culture needs major changes — greed, capitalism, unchecked egos, divorce from Nature — have all created soul sicknesses. These sacred plants CAN help, but they are powerful. And they, I think, demand being treated with honor.
A sad story all around. And the loss of the shaman is the loss of an ancient library, “books” of knowledge left unread. As is the death of every human.
We must honor our plant allies, great and small, as we honor All Life.
Picking tips of lemon balm, peppermint and bee balm for afternoon tea.
I could weep with joy for the coming of Spring! I am literally and spiritually drinking in the energy of new growth.
Enjoy!!
May we re-value clean water, fresh air, and fertile soil as well.
This little pansy made it through the big Nor’easter and was completely covered by heavy wet snow. When we think of the word pansy we may think of weakness. We need to check ourselves. Everything and everyone has their particular gift and strength.
