A Herb or Not a Herb?

Useful plants is how I've always described herbs. My tree peony isn't useful, as far as I know, for medicine or flavoring or any of the other multiple ways herbies make use of plants. But there must a niche in the concept of usefulness that contains the usefulness of plants to memory, association and symbolism.
My youngest son brought me this 'Japanese tree peony' for mother's day, many years ago, before they became popular. It was the most unusual plant he could find at the nursery. I should have suspected then that he would grow up to be the wonderful and unusual young man that he is. If you were the mother of a strong willed child who marched to the beat of his own drum, then you will understand why I say that. But all of my children are unusual individuals.
See how this plant recalls associations for me? When it blooms every May, I always remember the day he gave it to me.

May magic

"They always called it Magic
and indeed it seemed like it
in the months that followed--
the wonderful months-- the
radiant months-- the amazing
ones. Oh! the things which
happened in that garden!
If you have never had a garden
you cannot understand, and if you have had a garden you will know that it would take a whole book to describe all that came to pass there."
The Secret Garden, by F.H.Burnett

Mrs. Beeton and The Martha

Herb is fishing up north of Wawa Ontario somewhere, and I'm right now watching a wonderful juicy Masterpiece Theatre Victorian version of the life of the original 'The Martha' ... Mrs. Isabella Beeton. The actress portraying Mrs. Beeton has a body language and facial expression and control that in her character's times of adversity will touch a chord. From beyond the grave her narration logically analyses and explains her life ... and reveals the human background to her 'Book of Household Management'.
Immediately I thought of the Gutenberg Project, and, applying Google, I found a zip file as well as a fine website allowing us to read the original online... I'd love to find a free online photocopy with the original typeset, like the American Victorian household management book I mentioned in an earlier post from the University of Michigan. Something to put on the to-do list for another day.
I must mention, that when I read 'Just Desserts' years ago, I had a new appreciation of Martha Stewart's rise to fame. There was a human story behind both of these household diva superstars. Never having been a soap fan or a watcher of television celebrity, I'm probably not as jaded as the average American to stories like these.

a little bit of my world

The path to the herb garden. Nothing fancy, and nothing here that anybody can't do. I've begun dragging the herb pots out of the garage.

Step inside the herb garden. Forgive the mess, I haven't begun my spring maintenance yet.

The wildflower path, who knew these plants would go so crazy! I heart my Michigan spring.

Catching up on the spring photos

A bee working the Early Meadow Rue. Note that ants and ground beetles will pollinate the ginger growing below.

Mayapple

Bloodroot

A better photo of Lungwort

The veggies are under lights...

Stinging Nettles and the GCHS Brush with Fame

I was surfing the 'net this morning and came across
this cute article about a (Stinging) Nettles Day
celebration in Devon England:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/05/national_be_nic.php

In the story was a link to this very nicely done page
that you could call an "on-line herb study" of nettles:

http://www.nettles.org.uk/

It ALMOST makes me wish I had a boatload of nettles
growing in my yard, but... maybe that statement IS
going a bit too far. I had a minor brush with a stinging
nettle (I immediately understood what it was) while
weeding a few years back.
While doing my usual bare-handed weed-pulling I
naively grabbed a single nettle plant and
I still recall the instant recognition of something I'd
only, until that moment, read about in books.
The seed had probably been brought in with a bag of
composted manure since the plant is not common in
my immediate neighborhood.
After reading these websites on the nettle I'm suddenly
interested in nettles, one sign of a true herbie.
I could probably put out the word and find a
gardening friend who would be willing to part with
some nettles... probably if I did her weeding.

You say nettles don't float your boat? and what did the
title of this message mean, the Genesee County Herb
Society's mysterious "brush with fame"?
Well, a few days ago on another surfing expedition,
I ran across a cooking blogger who listed
"the ten strangest cookbooks on his cookbook shelf",
and our GCHS "Herbal Favorites" was number 8!

The writer of
LunaPierCook (link) explained our selection:
it was the Nettle Soup recipe (as well as the highly
herbed Lavender Ice Cream recipe) that did
us in. But at least for a strange cookbook list, we
were in good company, along with Dixie Dave and Anthony Bourdain.

Happy May Day

Charming people celebrating Spring.

Garland Day

The Maypole Dance

and Morris Dancers

"A little madness in the spring
is wholesome even for the king."
-- Emily Dickenson

praying mantis

At our last Backyard Herbalist class, one of my students gave me a bag of praying mantis egg cases... the praying mantis has a long Latin name just like plants do... Tenodera aridifolia sinensis. They are carnivorous insects that will feed on almost any other insect they can overcome, including their own kind.


The case is a mass of hardened foam containing from 50 to 400 eggs, that the female secreted on twigs in late summer or autumn.


Purchased cases can be kept in a jar in the refrigerator until you want to release them in the spring. Attach the egg case to a stem a few feet off the ground.


I can have fun observing this case for signs of a hatch while I work on cleaning up the flower bed this weekend. Actually, the case doesn't change in appearance once the young hatch, and it may take up to 8 weeks, but I'll be around and looking for these interesting "pet bugs."

emerging herbs

dutchman's breeches


angelica


lovage


pulmonaria (lungwort)


hepatica (liverwort) - unfortunately, my first hepatica didn't like the location where I planted it. However! it apparently sowed a substitute plant for me about 10 feet to the very middle of a clump of soapwort. The photo is awful, but it is what it is.

I'm ignoring the FDA controversy

to post a photo of my ginger coming up... an ugly photo, but the leaves are like furry cat's ears, soft enough to pet...

...and posting photos of my spring beauties. Transplanted, with permission, from private property along the Flint River.



Why no ranting about the FDA? It's not the first time the FDA has threatened the so-called "alternative medicine" biz.

Here are some of the spring ephemerals that made it through the weird weather blast from the Arctic that Michigan experienced last week.
At one of my Lady's Garden Clubs today, everyone was reporting their mushy hyacinths and narcissi.
You recognise this corner ... I had no idea the hardy cyclamen would be hardier than the native bloodroot. And look, some of the winter aconite actually are setting seed, even through the adverse weather.


My first bloomin' weed! A Buttercup, a.k.a. Ranunculus somethinornother... when the buttercups bloom, can the dandelions be close behind?

damage assessment

The arctic blast after all of those warm days in March 'did a job' on my spring bulbs. The snowdrops, crocuses, dutch irises and eranthus that usually enjoy long, cold early springs were hurried out in record time. The earlier than normal blooming hyacinths and daffs whose stems turned to mush will recover and bloom again next year.
May we all be here to see them bloom properly again.
The later to wake and rise bulbs in the same plantings will be fine, but the beds will be sparser.
The twinflower and bloodroots were hit hard, but surprisingly, the hardy cyclamen coum is still blooming prettily. The primroses are blooming fools. Scilla and pushkinia are perking up after laying down on their beds like femme fatales in a soap opera.
Spring Beauty, which the very mention of makes Herb laugh as being some kind of silly spring gardener joke, are just beginning to bloom.
And I'm out pruning woodies whenever I manage a conjunction of (my) schedule with outdoor temperature and sogginess of lawn. I wanted to tackle the roses yesterday, as the forsythia have been blooming for a few days, only the wind was turning the thorny stems into lethal weapons. But there is always something else to do.

a little arrow on tax day

I wrote an editorial this morning about pollution and paying taxes, but the political nature of it made me post it over on my environmental blog (link).

just sayin'

My very own piece of folk wisdom, "it always snows on the daffodils", has been validated once more... snowed last night. Here is a photo of some of my daffodils a few days ago, I'll have to take a snow picture after breakfast.

Happy Spring, Michigan!

ready for the rhubarb

This recipe makes topping for four fruit crisps. Use one portion and freeze the remaining three in separate containers, for preparing easy desserts on those days when you've spent all day out in the yard.

Crisp Topping for Fruit Crisps

2 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar
2 sticks (8 ounces) chilled unsalted butter, diced
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 t. grated nutmeg
2 cups walnuts, chopped (opt: pecans)

Cut together the flour, sugar and butter as for pastry. Stir in the
oats, nutmeg, and walnuts. Work together (with your fingers)
until the texture turns crumbly.
Ready to use, or to package and freeze.

To use:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Crumble topping over a pie plate or shallow casserole of prepared fruit.
I like cinnamon spiced fillings of rhubarb, or apple, or peach, each
thickened according to my favorite pie recipes.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until topping turns golden and the fruit
starts bubbling. Remove from oven and cool slightly before serving.

Oh ye of little faith

Tried following a "winter sowing" technique this year, and the parsley is UP!

I had no faith... none of the lists I read listed parsley as a winter sowing candidate, and then, after I set the sown milk jug out on the patio, the temperatures plunged into the teens for days.
I chalked it up to a 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' experience. What a pleasant surprise!
Next year I'm winter sowing!

more photos from yesterday in the backyard: Twinleaf

A rare plant for Michigan... at least I never met anyone growing it. Or seen it shown in a lecture or discussion hereabouts. Named after President Thomas Jefferson, also called twinleaf.
Jeffersonia diphylla pops up early, and this year I caught it before it even begins to 'green up'.

(with flash)

first wave of spring in my Michigan backyard

The primroses from Januaries past... they are hardy.


I always call these Dutch irises, I. reticulata, I think... my memory for the Latin nomenclature is shot these days.


Hardy cyclamen has a nice big tuber this year... not the easiest plant to situate, but I think it likes this spot.

Back!

Dropped off the face of the earth... no e-mail for three days, and too much to do.
But I'm back: all it took was a bribe of a nice Italian dinner to get the computer guy over to do his voodoo magic on my "settings" which *somehow* got out of whack.
But Thanks, Tony!
Good grief, if I could only read fast enough over his shoulder to figure out what he did to restore my connection.
I should take a class.

Speaking of classes, I brought this quick Lemon Tea Bread last week for my class to sample. The recipe is one of favorites of the ladies of the Genesee County Herb Society, and can be found in our book, "Herbal Favorites."

Lemon Tea Bread
Yield: one loaf

3/4 cup milk
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh lemon balm
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh lemon verbena
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon thyme leaves
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. fresh grated lemon peel

Juice of two lemons
Confectioners sugar

Method:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Grease a loaf pan or 3 small loaf pans.
Heat milk, stir in herbs, let steep 15 minutes until cooled.
Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in lemon peel.
Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, stirring, alternately with herbed milk. Do not over stir. Pour into pan, and bake for 50-60 minutes.
While loaf is baking, combine lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar to form soft pourable paste.
While baked loaf is still hot, poke holes in top with skewer. Pour glaze over hot loaf and allow to cool.
Remove from pan, place on decorative plate. Here is where some sprigs of fresh herbs, preferably lemon-flavored, would make a lovely garnish. Slice to serve.

A spring peepers' chorus in Michigan

Saw this little guy in my backyard. He was sitting in a patch of Cerastium, a.k.a. Snow in Summer. The peepers are singing loudly in the wet spots out in the fields, the prettiest voice of all the amphibians. It's funny, all these years Herb thought I was talking about birds when I said 'spring peepers'.
Click on photo to see close-up. To get an idea of how small he is, those are spruce needles behind him.

As soon as the ground thaws

I found this recipe for Sunflower Soup in the archives of KGI, Kitchen Gardeners International (link).
Link back to the original for a good article about Sunchokes, a.k.a. Jersalem Artichokes, a native sunflower with an edible root.
The photo is from Monticello's website. Thomas Jefferson noted the native plant.

My personal favorite use for Sunchokes is to braise/roast them along with other root veggies in the pan with a pot roast of beef. Sunchokes have a flavor all their own, and with pot roast gravy they are outstanding.

Sunflower Soup

Two types of Jerusalem Artichoke are available in France, one white and thin, the other round and pale pink. Either one will do but both discolour if exposed to air so cover with cold water or cook quickly after peeling.

Start off by peeling and chopping a large onion and sweating it gently in a covered cast iron pan with a knob of butter and a pinch of salt.
Meanwhile peel and chop a good handful of Jersusalem Artichokes and add them to the pan.
If you want a thicker soup, also add a diced medium-large potato.
Continue to gently cook the vegetables, without browning, for about 10 minutes.

Now add 1 liter of chicken stock (or vegetable stock, if you prefer).
A shake of white pepper, a small pinch of dried sage, bring the pan to the boil and then let the soup simmer for about half an hour.

Turn off the heat, allow the mixture to cool a little and then put it through the blender. Add a little water if you think the mixture is too thick. You should have a soup that is creamy in both colour and appearance.

Test the seasoning, add salt and white pepper if necessary, and reheat. Now you can stir in different finishing touches, for example: a soup spoon of double cream (highly recommended) or a tiny pinch of saffron.
This recipe makes 4 generous bowls of soup.
"Bon appetit!"
About the author, Gill Thompson, is a roving reporter for Kitchen Gardeners International. She lives in the Midi-Pyrénées region of France where she and her husband live in a charming sun-baked house with a lovely garden.