Guilty Pleasure...

...I have to admit to loving bitter greens. It started years ago as a forced effort which then evolved into an acquired taste, but now I can say with confidence that I actually crave them quite often. Especially at times when they are at my feet for the picking. Like Pavlov's dog, my salivary glands start their ritual even as I bend to pick the garlic mustard flowers. I love dandy greens, chard, kale and the like...but give me a bitter green with a little extra zip, like arugula or mustard greens, my whole body rejoices. Today I made some mustard (the condiment) using yellow and brown mustard seeds and garlic mustard leaves. A sincere thank you to Rose Barlow at Prodigal Gardens in Wisconsin. She has, unknowingly, held my hand, encouraged and inspired me with her quiet dedication to wild eating. Rose unselfishly shares many wild foods recipes on her website, which is where I discovered her mustard recipe awhile back. I have waited, impatiently, for the profusion of garlic mustard around the farm and made the mustard yesterday.Rose recommends letting the mustard mellow for a few days but I couldn't help but dig in and slather it on a hunk of cheddar and sourdough....WOW!! It's got kick! Here is Rose's recipe: My only addition is the name!! I simply cannot improve upon this recipe...except I did use a food processor to blend it all together. Thanks, again, Rose! This mustard rocks.

KickAssMapleMustard

1 cup whole mustard seeds (yellow/brown)

1 cup white wine vinegar or Garlic Mustard vinegar

1 cup Garlic Mustard, minced

½ tsp salt

¼ cup Maple Syrup

1. Soak the mustard seeds in the Garlic Mustard vinegar overnight.

2. Put into a food processor and add the rest of the ingredients. Pulse to blend well

3. Let it all sit together in a covered container for several days to mellow.

4. Put in small jars (1/4 pints work nicely).

Note: Mustard keeps well in the fridge for many months or you can can it in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes to seal.

UPDATE: As Rose promised, this mustard mellowed beautifully in two days! Much less bite, so don't be timid. It is scrumptious!

Eight years later...

I caught sight of this tree carving along the trail at the park yesterday. Couldn't quite stop thinking about it the rest of the afternoon.....Carol and Sean, I wonder...has your love endured? Have you remained as steadfast, in sunshine and storm clouds, as the tree that bears your mark? Or, has your skin grown tough through the years, bearing love's scars, healed over but still holding some tender memory of the pain? Might the exuberant Springtime of your pairing still be apparent eight years after it grew here amidst these natural surroundings ? I imagine two people...hearts happy and hopeful, surrounded by wildflowers and an avian choir, in a moment so enchanting that it was destined to be captured and born witness by this tree and those who pass by it forever. I don't know you, but I dearly hope this monument still serves you well. I hope seeing it reminds you of youthful dreams and blushing love; of springtime sunshine and singing birds. I hope you might also return here for contemplation and renewal, at times when it is needed. If there are children, I hope you walk with them here and tell the story of your blossoming love to their smiling, upturned faces. If, sadly, you have parted ways...well, I hope you still might come back on occasion, and search out this tree along the path. It holds a precious part of you and may perhaps remember the day you came together eight years ago. Go visit. You might both need a big hug.

Walking and Talking in Warwick

“Progress has not followed a straight ascending line, but a spiral with rhythms of progress and retrogression, of evolution and dissolution.”

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Spring Breezes smell like this....

Again the blackbird sings; the streams wake, laughing, from their winter dreams, and tremble in the April showers, the tassels of the maple flowers.
~ john greenleaf whittier

((Click on this bottom picture for a closer look. Is it me or is there a tiny bug wearing sunglasses in the lower right corner? Freaky))

Feelin' Shades of Purple

Thinking...

...what I might do with this chickweed:

pesto?
salad dressing?
or straight up with a squirt of lemon juice and olive oil with a few pine nuts?
decisions, decisions.
I'll report back when I decide.but for now, back to work.
UPDATE: It was pesto...almost always... pesto.

Walking....

Common Violet
Viola Palmata

Chickweed
Stellaria media

Spring Beauty
Claytonia virginica

Bloodroot

Sangunaria canadensis

Lesser Celandine
Ranaunculus ficaria

The Staff of Life...

At the end of the week, I made up a batch of goat chevre to serve for snack at class yesterday. There is no great mystery to making fresh cheese...it is actually a very simple process. One gallon of fresh milk (I use goat's milk but you can also use cow's milk) + one small packet of culture+ scrupulously clean utensils = over 2 lbs of really good cheese. Add to that, a bit of salt and chopped herbs, if you desire. Of course, I always desire fresh herbs on my cheese. Yesterday I used some chives, rosemary and a little thyme along with some fresh cracked black peppercorns.
I've just added two fresh cheesemaking classes to my schedule (details soon to follow) in May, because everyone should have this skill down before the summer gardens gift us with fresh basil and juicy heirloom tomatoes!! Trust me, this simple country pleasure is one you (and your guests) will ooh and ahh over. Now, if somebody out there can teach a crusty breadmaking workshop, I will be set for life.

Making Choices-Coming Clean

Many years ago I made a conscious choice to purchase organic foods for my family and to buy a share in our local Community Supported Agriculture farm. I chose to feed my chickens organic mash, grow most of our own medicinal and culinary herbs and make many of our home remedies and body care products. It goes without saying that these choices are more costly than standard commercial choices. I'm not really complaining here...these choices have been very important to me and the long term rewards are well worth the cost. Less important sacrifices can always be made somewhere. But, True Confessions Time: The place I have always seemed to draw the line, when it came to cost,was for 'natural or organic' cleaning products....dang, they are just so expensive! I gave up most standard cleaning products, like chlorine bleach, long ago, and I never did use bug sprays, air fresheners, pesticides, weed killers or chemical fertilizers...so those final few cleaning products under my sink seemed so glaringly out of place. They've irked me long enough...I just had to figure out a way to ease my earth consciousness, as well as save a few pennies by making my own cleaners. I started my research a few months ago and quickly realized that there are many simple cleaning recipes that utilize household staples, such as vinegar and baking soda. I was thrilled at the prospect of replacing those final holdouts under my sink with safer alternatives. I have been so inspired that I have dedicated the April Herbal Hands Workshop to the subject of natural house cleaning. Saturday, April 5th: Spring House Cleaning- Natural Ways to Clean your Home! By simple blending of inexpensive household ingredients, essential oils and herbs we can easily create a wide variety of non-toxic cleaning products that are healthy for humans, pets and the environment. We will also discuss various ways to cleanse your body and space of psychic ‘dirt’, creating sacred space, clearing ideas for moving into or out of a home, and ‘clearing the air’ after a disagreement. Vow to give your home a thorough cleaning this spring! We will also make a take-home natural cleaning product that is safe, effective and inexpensive to make! A few recipes will be posted in coming days....

April Fool

This picture wasn't taken today....but it was taken in April, circa 2001. After a particularly horrible late afternoon thunderstorm, the sky opened and gave this part of the world one of the most beautiful rainbows I have ever witnessed. What had started as a faint double rainbow gracefully merged to become a brilliant full rainbow. Cars stopped all along the road. It was neat to see that a rainbow could still strike awe and wonder in so many people driving home from a long day at work. I was so wrapped up in the beauty and the excitement of capturing this fleeting moment, that I was unaware that my son had decided to designate himself as the 'pot of gold'. It wasn't until a few weeks later that I actually got a close up look at my own little April Fool giving the photographer a little flash of his own. Sigh...he's nearly nineteen now... and still thinks it's funny. Some things never change...

Cheating...

...Spring in the greenhouse. I went in to check on things and found that despite the chill outside, it was 85 degrees in here! Everything is growing vigorously, including the beloved weeds.The dead nettle (Lamium purpurea) was teaming with ants who apparently like the nectar in the flowers. It is said that a tea made of the fresh leaves and flowers can 'lift a melancholy mood'. If the ants won't mind, I might give that a try today.

Dead Nettle and happy ant

Elders

"Saaz" Hops

'Cascade' Hops

Silly Saturday

Not sure why this tickles me so much. The last long rays of the sun before it goes down below the horizon have a strange way of altering our perception of everything. Sort of like a mirror in a funhouse. Our 'shadow side' is something that we generally try to hide or look away from. But tonight, for some reason, I can't get enough of this one. It makes me giggle. Maybe it's the thought of all those cars driving by while I shot a variety of other poses...yeah, that must be it. hehheh. I'll share some more traditional photos tomorrow on Serious Sunday.