I planted some lettuce, radishes, and scallions and I harvested parsley and red pepper. I was going to pull up the dill which has gone to seed, but spotted some lovely little butterfly caterpillars on there. So that will wait. I chopped up the comfrey and I think next year I will have the world’s best compost! (There’s some deer scat in there, too.) Just as I was heading in, my garter snake friend slithered by. At oneness today.
I’m having lunch with an old friend and needed to deadhead the basil. A very fragrant bouquet!!
I meant to make a peach basil smoothie, but I harvested too much basil. So, I made vegan pesto with nutritional yeast and sunflower seeds. I’ll use that in a pasta salad for the day. (The peaches need one more day to ripen in their brown bag.)
This smoothie is banana, blueberry, spinach, with almond butter, pomegranate juice, oat milk, and a shake of cinnamon. Oh wow!!
The strawberries, eaten while I greeted the day, and the sungold tomatoes are so juicy after last night’s rain.
Basil and strawberries in my smoothie. Chard for dinner — I want to try a new recipe. Tomatoes as a gift for my parents who I’ll see later today.
Actually it’s all a gift from the earth, sun, rain, and air. (Plus, microbes and fungi, but that’s a different post…) Enjoy your gifts today.
I had an "ah hah" moment — I need to harvest BEFORE I weed, otherwise I’ll never get to harvesting! LOL
So today, I harvested a bunch of dill and started some lacto-fermentation cucumber pickles. Also, I harvested sage, lavender, peppermint, thyme, and added dried rosemary for a batch of Four Thieves vinegar insect repellent.
This is a good day.
I went out to sit with rose this morning. I have a (gifted to me) 17th century old Bourbon rose, with the most wonderful fragrance. I had never wanted to harvest the blooms!! And cut short the beauty. So this morning I just sat with rose. After a while, I asked about this problem. A breeze came up and all these pretty pink petals came twirling down. Ah hah! I harvested these petals and spent blooms. And my heart opened wide and I cried happy tears. Thank you, Rose!
I’m re-starting the monthly Herbal Friends Workshop: the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. Here’s the schedule:
Tuesday, October 16 – mugwort
Tuesday, November 20
Tuesday, December 18
Tuesday, January 15
Tuesday, February 19
Tuesday, March 19
Tuesday, April 16
Tuesday, May 21
Tuesday, June 18
I hope you’re enjoying these beautiful autumn days.
Despite slugs, robins, bindweed, and squirrels, I still manage to harvest enough strawberries for the morning oatmeal. I’m grateful for this small harvest and grateful for my own tenacity!
What dreams can we fulfill this year? Imperfectly. Dancing with frustrations.
More and more, I’m eating and drinking flowers. Plants put their all into flowering and fruiting. In the past, especially with herbs, I’ve pinched off the leaves but left the flowers behind.
Now one of my favorites is lemon balm glycerite. So great in any cup of tea or infusion! Lemon balm is great for the nervous system and mellows my mood. This year, I waited for the little yellow-white flowers to unfurl before harvesting.
“Relax!” says lemon balm and her quiet flowers.
I’ve been out thinning radishes with a plan to eat the greens. Also, cutting back the Tulsi buds and weeding out some chamomile. Adding a stalk of bee balm for a quart of this delicious fresh tea.
I love to dine on what I used to throw out! I’m certain each plant has a gift for us. Just as each person in our lives has a gift for us.
Moving beyond the end goals and enjoying the process is a good practice for me; to slowly savor life. To enjoy people as fully human and not just functionaries — the checkout person, the FedEx carrier, the sales call.
I imagine how rich life will be when we value all gifts.
