herb hike

I am pleased beyond words to report that one of my dreams of our farms and it's nature has come true!  A month or more ago, my yoga teacher Tracy had a spark in her eye when I walked into class as she saw me walk in.  She asked me about our land and if it had water and woods as well as field.  I answered "of course!"  and she told me that the iridologist there at the store was interested in finding a good spot to hold a wild herbs walk and class.  My first thought was "do I want a bunch of people up?" then the V8 commercial, palm to forehead, hit me saying "hello!  this is exactly what you have been dreaming of!"  So a couple of Fridays in a row Nathan and his wife Ida came up to our place and we walked through the woods and on the trails to see what we could find.  I have always known there are plants here that could be medicinal but knowing what they are was beyond me.  The class date was scheduled and we were ready to go!

This past Saturday morning everyone arrived with open ears and minds read to learn just like I was.  We had a perfect morning as the rain held off and the temperature was mild.  We began right by the driveway as he pointed out the black walnut, slippery elm and wild cherry trees.  Then walked along the tree line from the back of the house and down the trail as he pointed out all sorts of herbs and allowing us to sample some by feel, smell and even taste.  He explained the medicinal purposes of each and what parts of each plant were useful whether it was the root, flower, leaves and/or stem.  He showed us the differences in leaves, their veins, edges and sorts.  I was in sheer herbal heaven. 

The walk lasted a few hours.  Then they gathered a bit of passion flower vine and leaves to show us how to properly make a tincture once we got back to the store.  We took a break for lunch and all met back at the health food store where he had a slide show prepared for us showing more herbs and also talked about making teas, tinctures and salves.  We also were able to purchase a copy of his herb book which I am in awe over.  It is by far the most valuable herb book that I own because not only does it explain and have diagrams of plants and pictures of herbs with descriptions of each and telling their many uses and preparation techniques but also I love it because it shows plants that are native to my back yard.  I have vowed to myself to study his work and become the lady who knows all about the land she has been blessed to live on.  I feel I have been granted this dream come true for a reason and maybe will be able to use it in wonderful ways. 

They plan to do more hikes next year and I really am excited.  I am positive that this alone will get me through the cold winter months with a smile on my face in anticipation of our next hike!

Remember when I had the urge to begin a Farm Documentary?

And my Herbal Morning walk?

It just really goes to show you that new dreams can become reality.  I don't know what I did right to deserve this one coming true.  Maybe if I keep dreaming and wishing the greenhouse one will come true too!

Friend or Foe

We are talking gardens here.  Friend or Foe? How do you know?

Well it's like this.  Our garden looks horrible right now.  It is full of weeds and tiny things blooming that should not be allowed to bloom there.  Things that will drop little seeds that will sprout after the garden has been turned which will hopefully be very soon.  But the truth is, it has just been too wet to till up the garden.  Never-the-less, it will be done this week.  At least the potato patch.

I am going to narrow this down to the one corner of our garden, to show you what is Friend and what is Foe.  I truly should be shot for letting weeds grow around my herbs.  If I had nothing else to do this wouldn't happen right?!?!

It is pretty basic.  If you have herbs in your garden, learn to identify them.  Learn which ones will live through a mild and hard winter.  We had a very mild winter this year in Tennessee, so lucky for me, a bunch of my herbs made it that would not have during a heavy winter.  If you are new to herb gardening then some of this will just be a long learning experience from season to season.

Having herbs is very handy, very healthy, very tasty and can be very rewarding.  Here is a rundown of  your basic garden herbs.  These are on the Friend list.

Basil

wonderful on tomatoes and in pasta sauces

does not make it past a hard freeze in fall

easy to start from seed and will reseed itself in the garden if allowed to bloom

freezes well in ice cubes, dries like a dream for later use

Oregano

 my oregano made it through the mild winter here but has not in previous years

good in tomato-based sauces and on pizza

dries very well for later use

Cilantro

made it through the winter

grows fast and will flower and reseed itself in various places

the seeds will be Coriander - and can themselves be ground and used in dishes

freezes ok, dries well, better used fresh

Thyme

this is the third season for my Thyme plant

I use Thyme in meat dishes, in soups, you name it

dries well and freezes well in cubes

Dill

Dill is easy to grow from seed and will reseed itself in the garden if the seeds are not collected

dries very well

seeds can be used in dishes as well as dried sprigs

Parsley

last year was the first time I had planted parsley in the garden

it made it through the winter just fine and is the thickest little thing

can be used in many dishes as well a garnishment

can be grown easily from seed

Rosemary

very good in dishes and on yeast rolls with butter and salt

this plant made it through the winter but my last one did not and you can tell this one suffered a bit even through the mild winter we had

I've not grown this one from seed, only bought plants

freezes in cubes well

There are many more varieties of herbs, these are just the ones I have experience with.  

Now here are pics of the Foes.  I don't know their names, just their faces.  And as they are pretty, as shown here, in their lovely blooming state, they can be vicious in the garden and must be removed.

So, basically, if it is in your garden and you didn't plant it.... get it out!

It's not a pretty little gift from the plant fairy.  Weeds will take over... kill them.

Working up the garden

When I hear my wonderful husband say, "I'm going to work up the garden!"  it means he is fixing to till between the rows in order to loosen that hard as a rock dirt so the roots of the plants can breathe better.  This is a wonderful thing and very necessary and if I'm out there while this is going on everything is usually alright.  It is when I am not out there that things go awry. 

The night before last I planted dill seeds (for the second time) and lavender seeds it two little nice and neat rows in the front right part of the garden which belongs solely to me and contains mostly herbs.  Needless to say if I had the following little project completed at the time of working up the garden this morning I would still have the two lavender rows that I planted.  Bless his heart, he felt so bad.  No big deal.. I have seeds soaking to replant them tomorrow and in the mean time I made some markers to my herbs so next time he'll know what I've done.

This is a simple, quick craft that requires only a few household items that most people I know already have. 

Items needed: used canning lids, wire coat hangers, pliers, a hammer, one nail and a permanent marker.

First cut pieces of the coat hanger using the pliers or wire cutters.  They can be any length you choose.  I got three out of each hanger.  Next hammer a hole in to the canning jar lid with the nail.  I stuck mine between pieces of wood on our porch.  It worked great and I didn't poke a hole in anything other than the lid... the second time.

Next take the wire pliers and bend one end of the wire cutting over to make a loop.  Thread the canning lid onto the wire and loop it on over so the lid doesn't come off.  Label the jar lid and you are ready to stick it in the ground or pot where you need to label what you've planted.  So as to savor your efforts.

Well Pickle Me Spears!

Tuesday night while canning the fifth batch Shaun's favorite pickles he said to me "you don't have to just make the pickles that I like... why don't you make yourself some dill ones like you like". Besides from being sweet, I've been pondering on this question ever since. I made dill pickles last year from a packaged mix and wasn't happy with the results. For one I used a mix that could not be canned. Of course I used jars but I want a long storage time too and the taste just wasn't what I wanted either. So I decided to find a good recipe for Kosher Dill Pickles to make for myself cause if I'm gonna make em they're gonna be good!

I've decided to go ahead and used the Lime canning method to crisp up my pickles... I am going to make spears. If I were going to use smaller pickles I probably wouldn't do this. There's just something I like in this method because it also involves patience. When I use pickling lime it revolves around my daily routine of a working schedule. First I'll wash and cut my cucumbers in the evening. Then place them in my big pot to soak in 1 cup of lime to 2 gallons of water. This process almost pickles me... it makes my skin crack on my fingers. It goes away. I let this sit overnight then the next morning I rinse them 3 times and put them back in the pot alternating layers with ice. I cover the batch with water and place is in the fridge until I get home from work. This is where the fun begins. From this point I will drain the spears for my dills. (P.S. Using lime and cold bath soak will insure me that my spears will stay crispy like I like. I may loose a few seeds but that's OK.) Then I will pack them nicely into my quart jars inserting 1 teaspoon chopped garlic and dill heads into each jar. Not sure how many dill heads just yet since I'll be using what I've grown this year, I'll have to see how much I have.

On the stove in another pot I will bring 4 cups white vinegar, 12 cups water and 2/3 cup pickling salt to a rapid boil. This mixture will be poured into each jar covering the spears and leaving 1/4" head space. Then I'll put my hot lids on and process them in hot water for 15 minutes. The recipes I have looked at say to leave them alone for 5 to 8 weeks so it looks like dill pickles take even more patience. That seems to be a good ingredient to most recipes. :)

I've never felt like I was one to study or research but when I was looking up recipes for this I found myself deep in research looking through herb books and old canning books that I have. I guess it's all in what interests you. This is the research and studying that I've always thrown myself into and enjoyed... for the love of cooking!