Hello Friends!
The military continues to occupy Washington, D.C. but not without valiant resistance. The President’s claims that the occupation is due to high crime rates is a big fat lie. There are numbers and reports from reliable sources that all indicate crime rates are dropping. Not coincidentally, the President threatens to send the National Guard to blue states and cities, when still other reliable sources of information show that crime rates in Republican Red versus Democrat Blue states are higher. One of the reports is even on Congress’s own website! Forbes goes to into a bit of detail about the difference in crime rates that basically boils down to guns. Repubicans who claim to be so concerned about crime should look at their own states and cities, because the numbers show that from 2000 to 2020, murder rates were 12% higher in Trump-voting states.
Meanwhile, my city continues to mourn those murdered and injured in the Annunciation shooting last week. My heart is broken over it and I sobbed yesterday even though I only know someone who knows someone with kids who go there. The Democrats in the Minnesota State legislature are putting forward bills to ban assault weapons in the state, but the legislature is so evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans that the ban is not likely to pass. How ridiculous is that? How many children have to die before the Republicans wake up and understand that more guns only makes the problem worse?
If it weren’t for my meditation practice, my sangha, and the garden, I’m not sure I’d be able to find any sort of equanimity and grounding to keep me from despair.
This week the weather turned chilly, intimations of things to come. Temperatures will warm back up this week, and I am glad for it because I have tomatoes and peppers out in the garden that are trying to get ripe.
I opened one of the jars of rhubarb-aronia jam James canned last weekend, or as James has dubbed it, “rhubronia”:
Not only is it pretty with a wonderful consistency (no pectin needed), it tastes divine. There is a little tart rhubarb tang tempered by the astringent earthiness of the aronia berries. Here is the recipe. James made the refrigerator jam recipe but only used about a quarter of a cup of sugar and it was just right for my liking. This will definitely become part of the yearly jam making lineup!
We still have some plums and I suggested James make a plum-sour cherry jam. I think that would be a tasty combination. And I have yet to try the plum-elderberry jam. Stay tuned.
The last couple of weekends I have been out picking dry bean pods. The Hidasta red beans did so much better this year than last year and I will definitely grow them again. The black-eyed peas that were flattened in a severe thunderstorm in August revived and are covered in long, thin pea pods that are starting to dry out. The skunk beans are magnificent. Not only are they pretty, they are big, substantial beans that are fantastic as baked beans and in a thick stew.
Beans are so easy to grow and save, but I love them most for their variety. The only trouble when shelling them is trying to keep them from becoming projectiles shooting across the kitchen when I crack open the dry pods.
Just when I think I’ve figured out how to unzip a particular variety of bean pod without sending them skittering across the floor and under the refrigerator, I get a pod that proves me wrong, and before I know it beans are ricocheting off tables and cabinets and disappearing. That’s one reason I like big beans so much. They are easier to find and pick up off the floor. The black-eyed peas are little and I will discover a few that went missing sometime in December. That’s all part of the fun though.
Marlon the Contender peach tree did not flower this year. It was disappointing since they had fruit when we welcomed them to the garden last year. All the fruit dropped off before getting ripe, not a surprise given the trauma of being transplanted, but I hoped this year there would be some fruit. Nope. Instead, Marlon has concentrated on growing.
They were about six feet/2 m tall when we brought them home. After this summer’s growth spurt, they are over 10 feet/3 m tall!
One of the medicinal herbs I added to the herb spiral this year is boneset. The plant likes their location and has grown beautifully. And the white flowers are lovely.
Boneset is traditionally used for, among other things, colds and flu. It is also an anti-inflammatory, and can be used for joint pain. I have not harvested any this year to save for any remedies. I wasn’t expecting the plant to grow so well the first year. They are perennial so will be back next year, at which time I will feel pretty good about using their gifts.
I planted celosia this year on the premise that the flowers are edible and make a pretty and tasty pink tea. They also allegedly are attractive to pollinators.
The flowers are pretty. I never made tea. I have not seen a single pollinator visiting the flowers. I haven’t decided if I will grow them again next year.
I did make some borage tea because it was supposed to be refreshing with its cucumber-flavor. The tea definitely tastes like cucumber. I poured it out after a few sips though because my mouth started to go numb. That is not supposed to happen, so I suspect I am a bit allergic to it and so will not be growing it again.
I also made wild bergamot tea, also purportedly refreshing. I should have known better than to not flavor it with anything else because the plant can be used as an oregano substitute, which we have done with good results. I don’t know why I was surprised to take a sip of the tea and discover that it tastes like oregano! I like oregano as a flavor in sauces and other dishes, but oregano flavored tea? Uh, no.
You never know until you try something how it might turn out. All part of the adventure!
I will make a valiant attempt to catch up on comments and blog visiting in the coming days. Take care of yourselves and take time to feel the breeze, watch a bee on a flower, and touch the earth with your bare skin.
You had me nodding and smiling in complete empathy on two counts, Stefanie ~ the beans shooting all over the kitchen (why, when they have the whole floor, do they always end up under the cooker? 😂) and experimental herbal teas. I must admit there are several brews I’ve had to bless the compost with, no matter how good they are supposed to be for health, I just can’t drink them! Lemon verbena remains my all time favourite although it’s a tender plant which won’t survive winter here so I have to dry plenty. This week I’ll be picking hawthorn berries to dry for winter teas (good for the heart) but the elderberries are really disappointing so it looks like no cordial this year which is a real shame. Your garden looks so pretty, I hope you find much solace there. 💕
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I’m so glad I’m not the only who is always chasing after beans Lis! 😀
As for tea, I don’t expect everything to taste great, I mean stinging nettle tea alone is not exactly delicious, but with a little mint it tastes just fine and does wonders for my allergies. But when various sources say a tea tastes great and then it doesn’t I’m left wondering whether it’s me or them. But the more I try different things, the more I suspect it’s them and there is something seriously wrong with their taste buds 😉 I’ve not tried lemon verbena but I’ve got lemon balm growing that is doing really well and should survive the winter. Sorry your elderberries were disappointing this year. I hope next year they provide an embarrassment of riches.
And thank you!
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Borage tea makes my mouth numb also… and my kids refused to eat the flowers… still, it is one of the best bee plants I know. And it thrives in drought.
So, naturally, the garden is filled with the borage family plants right now.
I have never made bergamot tea. I use that for hand cream though.
There are no beans in Vermont this year… I have pod envy 🙂
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I’m glad to know I’m not some weirdo regarding borage tea Eliza! I’ve got so many bee plants in the garden that the borage didn’t even hold particular attraction for them. If the plants reseed themselves they can stay, but I won’t be deliberately planting them.
I meant to pick some wild bergamot to make a salve but never got around to it. Or the yarrow, or…so many things. You know how that goes, I’m sure.
I’m sorry about no beans in Vermont. That is a very sad thing. I hope there was an abundance of something else to at least partially compensate.
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It is a scary time, Stefanie. I think another intimation of things to come is that extrajudicial killing of 11 people on a speedboat who may or may not have been drug traffickers. Even if they were, the precedent of just killing civilians without trial or evidence is terrifying. It’s been happening for years with military targets, of course – Obama was particularly prolific at drone strikes – but this is a major extension of what’s considered “military” or “national defence”. Stay safe over there – I like your approach of staying grounded in nature and the present moment and will try it here too.
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Andrew, I had a bunch of links queued up about the extrajudicial killings but I just couldn’t pile on any more. It is horrific and not ok and I fear now that line has been crossed that in future no matter who the president is, the barriers for such actions will be so low as to be nonexistent. I’m scared of what this country has become and how it is affecting the world. You stay safe too! You have a new house to look forward to! 🙂
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Yes, I know what you mean about not piling on any more. I think it goes back to what you said in your other post about “no words, and too many words”. Increasingly it feels as if once I start talking about all the ways in which things are not OK, I’ll never stop.
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You sent me down a boneset rabbit hole and I learned that it is host to over 40 butterflies and moths! I’m going to have to find some. Did you grow from seed or a plant?
I have asked myself many times how many children have to be killed before enough Republicans change their minds. I don’t know if it will ever happen. But I also try to remind themselves that movements for change are VERY long, and maybe it will happen after my time on Earth. In any case, it’s maddening. Nature truly is a balm for the soul! I’m glad you have your garden and your meditation practice.
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Sorry about the rabbit hole Laila, but I’m glad it was so fruitful! I grew my boneset from a plant because I didn’t think I would want more than one plant. It has turned out to be so pretty though that I hope it spreads itself around 🙂
You are right about keeping a long view of things. What we do now might not bear fruit for years or more, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep working for the good. Hugs and flowers to you my friend!
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It is a scary and infuriating time. I’ve been doing a version of the ostrich with my head in a hole by living only a few minutes at a time, taking care of my 7-month-old grandson. It tires me out physically, which is also good right now.
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I went outside last night and tonight. Yesterday? Totally fine. Today? These little ant/gnat things were all over me and my clothes. Gah! Tis the season. On the other hand, I haven’t seen the stink bugs make their grand appearance yet, and I like those a whole lot less. My mums are about to get sprung, and I have a sunflower of about 5 inches tall doin it’s business finally.
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What a wonderful pink flower! Enjoy the last bits of summer because it really turns! (I have no word for the current tragedies)
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Thanks for the updates – I enjoy seeing how your plants / trees are doing. I need to plant some more veggies since it’s spring here. Will also try and walk barefoot in the park 🙂
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I love your jam’s couple name. Those beans look beautiful. So your bergamot tastes like oregano? Is that because of the variety of bergamot? When it’s mixed with Earl Grey, it doesn’t taste like oregano (to me). Or, does it? heheh There’s often some Oil of Oregano in my mouth, it’s been a great remedy for me over the years, so maybe I have become overly accustomed to the taste of it.
The news nearly always makes me cry these days. The many shootings and stabbings and attacks (not to minimise the two which have been so close to home for you). The violent acts Andrew references too: no evidence, no details, no context (and a record of errant actions of a similar nature on the continent, let alone far away). In the past couple of weeks, I’ve outwardly gasped at something… and I thought I was past the point of gasping.
But it is heartening to see the images of resistance. And the stories of individual people who are taking actions every single today to live with integrity and compassion.
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Wild bergamot tastes like oregano, not sure if the regular bee balm sort does. I’ve had Earl Grey tea and don’t taste oregano so maybe it gets lost in the other flavors or it is a different kind of bergamot?
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You do much better at more frequent blog visiting and commenting that I do, and I so so so appreciate it Stefanie. You were one of the first bloggers I met when I started the journey – and you were studying librarianship – and I have enjoyed going on your journey with you all these years. I am so sorry that you – and Americans like you – are struggling right now. I am thinking of you.
-Anyhow, I will move on to say that Rhubronia sounds delicious, and this about the celosia – The flowers are pretty. I never made tea. I have not seen a single pollinator visiting the flowers – made me laugh. Your garden and subsequent cooking adventures are a joy.
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Aw, thanks WG!
James is not a fan of rhubarb and isn’t thrilled with it combined with aronia either, so more delicious jam for me! So good on toast and pancakes 🙂 And I am always glad to make you laugh and share joy! You share plenty with me so I’m only giving some back 🙂
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