Halloween Candle Making!

Halloween or Samhain is a traditional time to make candles since it marks the start of the pagan new year and also a time when (at least the Northern Hemisphere) enters a time of darkness.

Since the day was sooo cold, I decided to stay in all day. Aside from a little housework and the completion of the apple butter, I decided to make candles to commemorate the holiday. These candles will be gifts for the later winter holidays.

I made Lemon Verbena and Sage Candles with essential oil of Lemon and Sage. These are perfect candles to be burned in the kitchen since the are in jars and the scents are complimentary, but they can be burned anywhere in the house (following safe practices of course). I added powdered herbs that I dried from the garden. Herb lore tells us Lemon Verbena has the energy for purification and love. Lemon brings longevity, purification, love and friendship, while Sage's energy is for immortality, longevity, wisdom, protection and inspiration. I can't think of a better gift to give to my friends and family than these energies!

I added the herbs to the brick of pure beeswax being melted in a double boiler. I also added some natural green pigment for color. Once the wax was melted I added the essential oils and blended. I placed the waxed wicks in the jars I selected (these are fantastic Italian canning jars!) and used only soy wicks. I anchored the wicks with a little melted wax and poured the candles in sections to avoid the wicks slipping. I supported the wicks with some handy chopsticks.

Once the candles cool completely, you will probably find a depression near the wick, simply melt a little more wax, add color and fill in...trim the wick once the candle cools and close up the candle. Package as you like and keep for yourself or give as a gift. I hope these gifts will bring my friends and family comfort and light!

Happy Gardening!

Frosty Morning

One of the things that drove me into the kitchen today was the frosty cold morning! I thought about getting up early and heading out to the garden for some work, but the fact that we had our first heavy killing frost last night/this morning prevented me from working out there so early...but I did sneak out in my jammies and wellies to grab a few shots of the frozen, frosty beauty.

Happy Gardening!

Mmmmmmm Apple Butter

Not a long post, just pulled the apple butter out of the canner...I cannot wait to dig into one of these!

Happy Gardening!

The Marvelous Apple

I love apples, I hope that the trees I planted a couple of years ago are prolific and provide my home with bunches of delicious Lodi and Winesap apples....but until then I content myself with going to Lynd's Fruit Farm (http://www.lyndfruitfarm.com/ ).

Established in 1919 and currently in the 7th generation, Lynd's is 160 acres of beautiful orchards, brambles pumpkin an gourd fields right here in central Ohio. They are marvelous!

I headed out early yesterday morning for my annual picking, I picked about 30 pounds of winesap and 30 pounds of goldrush apples (1 bushel total) and brought it home alongside some spectacular pumpkins and squash for decorating and eating!

Some apples end up in the root cellar for later eating, some will end up being apple chips. The bulk have been split up to make both applesauce as well as apple butter.

Since I make everything in large batches, the recipe is as follows...just cut it down for smaller batches

15 pounds of apples (a mix of sweet and tart apples) cored, peeled (roughly) and sliced...I love my apple peeler, it makes quick work of a lot of apples

2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice

the juice of one lemon and zest of one lemon

2-3 cups sugar

1/2 cup honey

Cinnamon & Nutmeg to taste

Cook the ingredients for 20-3 minutes on medium heat to soften the apples. Turn off the heat and allow to steam covered for an additional 10 minutes. Pass the apples through a foodmill to remove stems or core bits.

Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to two weeks. Freeze or can for longer storage!

Happy Gardening!

GORGEOUS!

I made a visit to my favorite Columbus treasure, the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens last week. One reason for my visit was to view the exhibition “Hungry Planet” a photo exhibition on global diets….more on that later. The other reason was to get a chance to wander through an outdoor fantasy garden of blown glass pumpkins, gourds, fruits and vegetables created by Michael Cohn and Molly Stone of Cohn-Stone Studios. These pieces were so finely crafted and detailed, I was definitely in awe….I may have to save my pennies (and a lot of them) and purchase a small item from their collection…they are pricey, but stunning!

Michael Cohn and Molly Stone have been making glass art pieces at their studio in Richmond, California, since 1980. Many of their pieces are inspired by nature and the horticultural world. Molly is an avid gardener as well as a glass designer/ blower and has created an art garden showroom as a part of the glass blowing studio. Their work has been exhibited throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Scandinavia, Japan and South America; it is included in numerous museum, corporate, private art and botanical garden collections and has been featured in a variety of garden venues. http://www.cohnstone.com/

Click on the image above for a better look at the pictures I took and visit http://www.fpconservatory.org/ for more information or to plan your visit!

Happy Gardening!

Two Year Tree Update

Just about this time two years ago, my dwarf apple trees arrived from the National Arbor Day Foundation. These trees were tiny twigs with a few roots at the bottom of them. I selected two varieties of apple tree (Lodi and Winesap), these are delicious varieties and they cross pollinate well. While the trees are not ready to bear fruit, they are nearly ready to begin training on the trellises. I will begin to coax them along the lines of the trellis system in the spring, but I wanted to show you an update of their progress so far!

The trees are healthy, bushy and spouting side branches. They have also grown about a foot taller than the tiny sapplings I put in the ground two years ago. I am excited to a have the trees and more excited at the possibilities of the fruit they will eventually bear.

Happy Gardening!

Greenhouse Update

A few weeks back I put the new greenhouse kit on half of one of my raised beds. This kit, from http://www.framitall.com/ provides a 4' X 4' covered space to extend the growing season. With the cool late September, I thought for sure we would be getting frost near the first of October...well it is the second week in October now and the weather has turned to "Indian Summer" with highs in the upper 70's. Harldly a need for a greenhouse I thought.

However, as the picture above illustrates, the greenhouse raised the temperature enough to simulate summer conditions inside and really enhanced the growth of the vegetables inside. The first picture is the califlour, brussel sprouts and lettuce I planted outside the greenhouse. The picture on the right is what is inside the greenhouse (broccoli, radishes, carrots and lettuce)...there is a dramatic difference!

I am going to harvest the radishes tonight and then put down another crop as well as carrots and see how they reach into the colder months with my new favorite thing!

Happy Gardening!

Watch That First Step!

My journey began as I detailed in my last blog entry, but once I got on my way, I was not disappointed. The beauty that awaited me was definitely what I needed to be inspired!
Cantwell Cliffs is located in the northern reaches of Hocking County. Its remote location discourages visitation, but those who travel the extra distance will not be disappointed. It is probably the most picturesque area in Hocking County.

Cantwell Cliffs was named for Josiah Cantwell, a pioneer in the in Hocking Hills State Park area. Various springs and drainage systems here make up the headwaters of the stream known as Buck Run that flows away down the valley. The forces of nature have etched an endless mosaic of crevices and patterns on the towering sandstone portico, the erosion caused by Buck Run accounts for the deep valley, steep cliffs and rock shelter under the cliff. This hiking trail isn't for the faint of heart. There are challenges aplenty, I had to remain alert not only for the beauty I was after, but for my own safety.

The landscape is a reddish-brown sandstone cliff shaped like a giant horseshoe that towers 150 feet over the gorge below. The trail lead me eventually to Lookout Point on the east rim, where I was rewarded with a striking view of the cliff and a rock shelter. Along the trail, I encountered inclines and descents, slump rocks (large boulders) on the valley floor, a recess cave and an especially narrow passage nicknamed "Fat Woman's Squeeze." I even found a fallen but yet still alive Beech tree to recline on and meditate for a few minutes!

Not only are the cliffs and gorges amazing, but the plant and animal life are abundant…this is a place where the spirit of nature is definitely alive and pulsating! The trees, plants, subsoil structure, fungi and lichen are abundant and beautiful. Click on the image above for a larger view of the composite image I have created.

Happy Gardening!

Misadventures in Inspiration!

I am not sure everyone considers what I do an art, but I for one do. Gardening, cooking, healing, writing, completely non professional photography, these are both my calling and my artistic outlet. I read in a book a while back about artists dates. These are dates with your self, your inner artist, doing things and going places that feed your creativity. For me these can include the Columbus Museum of Art, Frankling Park Conservatory, I have gone to Cleveland, Chicago and many other places to visit and feed my yearning for knowledge, beauty and art. I try to do these little trips once a month.

This morning started with a plan to take myself on an artist date, I wasn't sure what form that would take so I put it out into the universe (and facebook) for suggestions. I ended up planning on going to the Hocking Hills to commune with nature.

I prepared myself with a shower, put on my "adventure" pants (that is what I call my North Face cargo pants), collected my journal, my Petersons field guides and I was off...oh wait, I need my camera...cuz you cannot go on an adventure without it. It was not in my bedroom (and I tore it up looking for it), it wasn't in the work room where it normally is (again with the tearing up). In fact it was nowhere in my house to be found. Where in the world was my camera...perhaps it was in my car...more tearing, no camera...well I must have left it at work...I can swing by on the way out of town, pick up the camera and be off....ummm, nope. I came back home and tore up the house once again...no camera, well I either left it in the garden the last time I took pictures (in which case it would be water logged....and um, no it was not there) or I left it at the coffee shop, library or the thousands of other possibilities....ugh!

I really liked this camera, it was small but powerful, took great pictures with it's 7.1 megapixel goodness, it was easy to upload...we are not happy! I eventually resigned myself that the camera was just gone. After all, it was 6 years old and I had been thinking about a new camera...perhaps my artist date will be shopping for a new camera.

I stopped at 3 places this morning, I looked at some schmancy SLR cameras which candidly I think will just set themselves up on the tripod, take the shots for you...they will probably drive to the destination for you...you can probably just stay home...but they do come with a hefty price tag. I am in no way a professional photographer, I take pictures of my garden and in the woods...sometimes I take pictures of things in my house, I am not sure I need something you take along on Safari when covering it for National Geographic.

After some additional comparison shopping I decided on a pretty schmancy Nikon digital camera, it is the camera just below the SLR class, can has standard settings as well as can be customized for pretty much any kind of picture taking you want. With a fancy memory card, stylish carrying case and batteries I was out of the store and out several hundred dollars. That's the bad news....the good news was it was still early enough to go on my date so I headed down to the Hocking Hills, took a 10 mile hike and took hundreds of pictures....they will be featured in a later blog post. I felt awed by nature and complete inspired!

Oh, and above is a picture of my new camera, case and accessories (and a bit of one of my cat's tail)....taken with my old camera, I found it about 5 minutes after getting home from my adventure...grumble grumble

Happy Gardening!

When it is cold, I think of summer!

Yeah, I was not expecting a windchill of 37 degrees F on the first of October, but what are you going to do...those who doubt climate change can kind of kiss my patooty...this year's weather has been, in a word, FUNKY!

But I am not one to grumble, I just find things to do, this morning, I cut the last of the rosemary from the garden and am in the process of drying it. This rosemary will be used for making burning bundles later this year. I also harvested the thyme and oregano and they are drying as we speak. I continued my work on my holiday presents.

I celebrate all the winter holidays because I have friends and family that do the same, so my gift list is what you would call eclectic ;-)...but never fear...gifts from the garden never dissapoint no matter what the occasion.

In the past I have made flavored oils and vinegars with small herb bounty from the container herb garden I have kept for years, but with this years addition of an herb garden I was able to grow more and different herbs...and that got me thinking of different products to make.

Instead of oils and vinegars this year, I am going to make syrups! Herb flavored syrups are so versatile you can't believe. Sweet herb syrups can be used to flavor everything from your morning pancakes to your evening cocktail, they add flavor and moistness to cakes and quick breads and they can also be used to treat ailments both directly and indirectly....directly by the attributes of the herbs and sometimes indirectly by acting as a carrier for other less delicious medicines!

Since I had a glut of Lemon Verbena in the garden late in the year, I decided to make Lemon Verbena syrup and include a bottle of soda with my holiday gifts. People can use them together to make a delightful lemonade or they could use the recipe (below) for a sparkling cocktail anytime of the year!

Lemon Verbena Syrup

(Makes about 9 cups)

8 cups sugar

8 cups water

4 cups fresh lemon verbena leaves

Bring water and sugar to a simmer in a saucepan, stirring to disolve sugar. Add lemon verbena leaves. Bring to a very low boil. Then immediately reduce the heat to bring back to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Strain the lemon verbena leaves and discard. Decant and either seal with cork and wax (can be stored for several months in a cool dark place) or refrigerate for up to one month.

Pear/Lemon Fizz

(makes one drink)

1/2 ounce pear flavored vodka

3/4 ounce Lemon Verbena Syrup

1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice

Champagne (for floating)

1 fresh (or dried depending on the time of year) lemon verbena leaf for garnish

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add vodka, syrup, and juice. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass, float champagne and add the leaf for garnish!

Happy Gardening!