Wahsega Valley Farm

Drying herbs

I decided that basil would be the first herb I'd dry in my new Sedona dehydrator. That wouldn't take any time, right? Holy moly; I was wrong! It took lots of time. But now I have some home-grown organic basil and still have half the plant left to dry once it gets chilly. No point in drying all the leaves yet; I love fresh basil.

I decided to take the leaves off the stems since they were quite large and the space in-between the trays in the dehydrator is quite small.

Here are the leaves before the drying process.

And after, with Sophie checking them out. (And look! There are autumn leaves already coming down.)

The dried basil will shrink up a lot more once I shred them up a bit.

Next on the drying list is lemon verbena and then lemon grass. After that, I think I'll see what happens to tomatoes and peppers since I still have so many coming in. I've canned a bunch of tomato sauce and salsa, but think I'll try dehydrating some just to check it out. It's nice having options!

I've been super busy and will try to drop in here more often. What with the holidays right around the corner (yep, they are!), I've started making some gifts. The garden is less work, but I'm still getting okra, tomatoes, peppers (sweet and hot), winter squash, green beans and small melons. We'll be checking the sweet potatoes very soon. And the chickens are giving us four eggs a day now. They are such a hoot and on Sundays Mike and I sometimes hang out in the run and watch "chicken TV". They are so entertaining and much more fun that most of what is on the television. 

Garden update

Just thought I'd add some recent pictures of my deck garden... only I forgot to get any pictures of my herbs and the garden as a whole. Doh! But below are some of my peppers and tomatoes; they are doing quite well in their pots.

Here are the bell peppers... they are beautiful! I'm leaving most on the vine until they start to turn red - unless I can't resist them.

And here are some of the banana peppers; I have only one bush and it is prolific! I've been eating one pepper a day along with whatever I take to work for lunch. They are very mild and crisp and "refreshing". I love 'em!

And, below are a few of the tomatoes. The larger ones are "Brandywine" tomatoes and are soooo good. The smaller, grape tomatoes are called "TammyG" and I'm in love with these little guys. I've been grabbing a handful of them before going to work each morning and adding them to my lunch. I reallly want to grow some heirloom tomatoes, but that will have to wait awile yet...

I wish I'd gotten some pictures of the herbs; don't know why I didn't think of it. I've been using them a lot in cooking and I must say that it feels like a luxury to just walk out on the deck and cut what I need. Last night I used some oregano and the night before that I needed some basil. The only two herbs I wish I had for cooking that I don't are dill and chives. Next year!

And speaking of cooking, I made a vegan potato gratin that Mike has fallen in love with! It has no dairy, but he looooves it. I am ecstatic! All the vegan experiments haven't been hits with him - though I have loved most of them - but this one was. I will post the recipe tomorrow or the next day for those who can't or don't eat dairy, but in the meantime, here is a picture of how it looked right out of the oven:

I continue to have too much fun in the kitchen and am looking forward to winter when I start making our own bread. It's just too hot here in the summer to bake - though we've had an unusually cool summer for us this year.

Saturday morning at the market...

Mike and I got up early this morning to go to a new local area farmer's market nearby. We'd heard it was inexpensive and just starting out - so thought we'd give it a try. It starts at 8:00 a.m. and goes until noon - and after 9:30 most of the good stuff is gone we were told. So we were there at 8:00! Which worked out fine since Zena rarely lets us sleep later than 6:30 in the morning anyway.

And what a beautiful day! Oh my goodness, to get a 60-degree morning here in July is unheard of, so we enjoyed being out in it immensely - and spending time together. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the humidity was low. I took my camera in case I saw any interesting shots...

Here is part of the little market as we were walking to it:

We bought fresh corn from some guys who have a farm not too far from our acreage, so we chatted with them awhile. Here is their truck loaded with the corn...

... and some cucumbers, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, beans and yellow crookneck squash ready to sell.

The next place I wanted to go was the Indigo Bath and Body booth. I talked to Jennifer and Justin and Jennifer has been making soap since she was 13! They smelled heavenly, but I didn't buy any since I still have plenty I've made myself. Justin's t-shirt says, "Real men use handmade soap!"

Here is a picture of Mike testing out some basil lemonade, something I had never heard of. It's made with lemon juice, basil, sugar and some "secret ingredients". It was pretty good!

And here I am picking out some patty-pan squashes. I love patty-pan squash; they look so cool - and yeah, they taste good too.

And me again - with the sun in my eyes and my face looking weird. I was really enjoying our cool summer weather!

Mike was "starving" so he stopped to get a big ol' cinnamon bun. Okay, I had two bites.

We bought too much and it really wasn't all that inexpensive. We ended up with a round zucchini, round lemon cucumbers (so cute!), watermelon, okra, corn, mole sauce, multigrain bread, jams, honey butter for Mike and some sweet potato bread that Mike just had to have.

But it sure was fun being out in the beautiful weather first thing in the morning together. It was like a little mini-date for us since Mike is usually at work Saturday mornings.

After leaving the market, which is right next to the Chattahoochee River, we drove down a bit to take a shot where all the rocks are in the river. I couldn't get a really good vantage point, but this will have to do. It only shows a narrow part of the river and not all the big rocks where people hang out. You can't see it in the picture, but there were several people fishing and quite a few herons hanging around them hoping to steal a fish I guess.

When we got home, I checked my tomatoes and here is what they look like today. These are some of the grape tomatoes:

And here are the standard sized tomatoes, not yet red, but getting bigger daily:

I also have at least 13 banana peppers almost ready and 9 bell peppers. I'm drying more catnip, stevia and mint leaves. Here are some of the mint I just picked; I think these are the lemon mint:

This was a super fine morning. I could use more like it!

After putting away all our goodies, we went shopping for a new "outfit" for Mike to wear at my high school reunion next Saturday. He's going to look nice all spiffed up!

Sunday morning with the girls

I spent about an hour on the deck this morning before the sun hit, making it unbearably hot. Sophie and Zena joined me as I trimmed back some of my herbs and checked my tomatoes and peppers. I cut the catnip way back as it was thinking about blooming and have the branches drying in my laundry room, along with some stevia. I took some pictures of my buddies and plants and a few other things...

Here are some of my banana peppers almost ready:

And two types of tomatoes chugging along:

Here is Sophie loving being outside, sniffing up all the smells: 

And Sophie smelling freedom! She and Zena aren't allowed outside, other than on the deck when either Mike or I are out there, and Sophie has attempted an escape several times. In this picture, she has that crazed freedom look in her eyes.

And here is growing Zena and a cactus:

Good friends:

Herb textures:

Zena in the fresh catnip:

The catnip hanging to dry:

And finally, my breakfast! I made Heidi's Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa and loooooved it! It is so good. I changed her ingredients a bit; I used almond milk instead of lowfat cow milk, blueberries instead of blackberries, I didn't toast the pecans 'cause I like them better raw, added some ground flax seeds, and I used my agave/fresh strawberry mix for the sweetener. It's definitely a keeper.

Oh, before I forget... the pictures below are from yesterday, but they apply to my garden outside. Here is Sophie eyeballing someone through the kitchen window!

Aw... a cute little chip- munk. But look what he was doing! Digging a huge hole knocking the dirt out as easy as he pleased! I'm wondering if he was who chewed up my herbs instead of those poor rats? Sophie and I kept our eye on him until he left, but we're both thinkin' maybe she needs free range out there.That's not going to happen, but maybe we need that fake snake I keep forgetting to get. After the chipmunk jumped out of the pot, he climbed up - with ease - to the fountain for a drink. He was in great shape!

And now I have too much to do. I'm hoping to get the hair meeting pictures posted tomorrow. If not then, Tuesday at the latest.

Herbs, divas, danger and beauty

I miss my herb class. I've not been able to study in at least a month now and am missing it. There is no time-frame for completing the course, so it's not a problem, but... I miss it.

Yesterday when I got home I had one of the herb magazines I subscribe to, The Herb Companion, waiting for me in the mailbox. It was enough to rejuvenate me a bit - with articles on herbs to plant to attract honey bees, making plant-based fragrances, selecting the best containers and soils for herbs, and best of all... how to plant a healing garden. I read it cover to cover. They've recently redesigned the look of the magazine and I must admit I miss the older "look". The new design just looks like every other magazine screaming for attention - very contemporary and bold, while the older version had a quiet, quaint look to it. But the content is still just a good, so I reckon I'll live with it.

On page 11, the magazine gives a link to The Organic Divas, and I found this there:

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Diva, Are Your Killer Looks Killing You?

Keep These Tips In Mind When Putting On the Glam...

• The average woman (and Diva, we know you’re no average woman) uses 9 personal care products daily exposing her to 168 chemicals each and every day.
• The U.S. cosmetic industry is self-regulating which is, to be honest Diva, a little like putting you in charge of the candy bowl at Halloween. No matter how good your intentions, stuff happens...
• European beauty secrets? Au contraire! European Union Divas have easier access to healthier products. The EU banned the use of 1109 chemicals in its personal care products—including sodium laurel sulphate, found in most shampoos. The FDA has banned the use of 10 chemicals in US personal care products. Don’t you deserve the same safe, high quality beauty products as your European sisters?
• According to our friends at the Environmental Working Group, 9 out of 10 ingredients used in personal care products have not been evaluated for safety. How’s that for lip service?
• Some cosmetic companies argue that the level of harmful chemicals in any one product is not enough to harm you. Don’t buy it, Diva. Even small doses of some chemicals can have serious consequences in children and young women. And since you reach for the same product every day, several days a week for months or years, that “small exposure” can add up to major exposure over an extended period of time.

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If you live in the US, you should be spittin' bullets! We deserve safe products for cryin' out loud.

And, if you are interested in a list of commonly used synthetic cosmetic ingredients known or strongly suspected of causing cancer, birth defects or endocrine disruption, click here. This is one of the reasons I started making so many of my own products!

And, check out these links for more information:

• Not Just a Pretty Face
• Safe Cosmetics
• Cosmetic Database
• Think Before You Pink
• Environmental Working Group

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On a lighter note, Mike read my post where I wrote about going outside to cut some oregano for a meal I was making the other day only to discover I'd not bought myself an oregano plant - and he surprised me with one yesterday! It's Greek oregano and smells wonderful and I love Mike for going out of his way and getting it for me. I think I need to put it in an extra special pot.

Greek Oregano
Image from Our Little Kitchen Garden blog

Gardening weekend

I'm going to be busy this weekend planting all my new herbs and tomatoes and peppers; I can't wait! Our last freeze date was the 15th, so I'm good to go. We went by Home Depot to get some more herbs last night and I found some catnip and several different basils I like. And some stevia! Most of them are culinary herbs; I need to get more medicinal ones too. Mike and I also bought five emerald green arborvitae for landscaping our yard since we want to put it on the market next summer. It has minimal landscaping right now; it looks nice but needs a more jazzed up curb appeal. I hope to spend all day Sunday gardening if the weather cooperates.

My herbal class has been on the back burner the past two weekends; it might end up being a winter study course me - or maybe I'll get back to it more in the heat of the summer when I'll be back inside again. Right now there is just too much happening on the home front to spend a lot of time with my nose in a book. But I miss it and will squeeze it in again as soon as I can. Right now I will consider planting and growing my new herbs as part of the class - the hands-on part y'know.

Tea for the nervous system

I made a most beautiful looking and tasting tea this past weekend. Well, "made" is relative I suppose. I certainly didn't make the plants and I used a recipe in my herbal course for testing the taste of the combined herbs. I'm supposed to taste each herb separately in an infusion or decoction and have just begun the process. But this was an actual tea combined with several of the herbs. I had run out of my old packaged herbal teas and decided why buy them anymore when I have the raw ingredients at home? Here is a picture of the tea:

Isn't it pretty? And I really like it.

This tea is for the nervous system, which, as it says in the study course, "is our link to our environment. It has three basic functions: to receive, to interpret, and to respond. ... It is the most important system of our body. It is what provides integration and coordination to our lives. It allows us to see, feel, touch, act and react, create."

And much more!

There are herbs to be used as tonics, sedatives, demulcants (a new vocabulary word for me!) and stimulants for the nervous system. The tea I made is a tonic and is one that "feeds, tones, rehabilitates and strengthens the nervous system."

There is quite a bit to learn about what the nervous system does and how it reacts to herbs. It is quite comprehensive to say the least.

Cast iron teapot

Since starting my herbology class, I decided that I needed a new teapot - one like I've wanted for years and years but just never got around to buying. With the herb class, one of the many things I will be doing is creating my own teas - for medicinal purposes and just for tasting good too. I'm quite excited about it because once I start growing my own herbs and flowers at our farm I will be able to make fresh-from-the-plant teas! How cool is that? And I can gear them for all kinds of different ailments or mood or just flavor. Since I rarely drink coffee and prefer herbal teas, this will be a lot of fun for me.

I'd been looking around for a cast iron teapot because they hold the heat for a long time compared to the ceramic and glass ones I have. That means I can make four cups of tea at one time and have it stay warm until I'm finished with it all. I like that... and I love the way my new pot looks. Take a look; it has an Aztec design and I got it from Mountain Rose Herbs.

Since it's cast iron, it is relatively heavy, and is lined on the inside with enamel so it won't rust. It has its own strainer too, see?

And, it came with its own trivet to sit upon.

I just love it.

And speaking of my herb class - whoa! I just received the rest of the lessons and have perused them. There is so much to learn! Oh my goodness, this is not going to be a walk in the park. There will be lots of book study and hands-on study as well. Finding the time will be difficult since it is quite comprehensive, but I'll squeeze it in. I want to! It's quite inspiring and there are topics on diet and taking care of oneself separate from the herbal aspect of it. It's sort of a whole body thing, but includes spirit too... things of the heart and soul y'know. It even includes stories throughout. I like it because it's peaceful, creative, helpful and moving on many levels.

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"What a joy is life when you have made a close working partnership with Nature."

- Luther Burbank

My herbs are here - my herbs are here!

Look and see!

I got the herbs for my herbal class and tomorrow will start some hands-on work with them. I am enamored. Ha-ha. I've always loved what herbs offer in the way of tasty teas and bath and body preparations, but until this past month really didn't give a hoot about their medicinal properties. Suddenly I am awash with intrigue and like a sponge trying to absorb everything - and there is a lot to absorb.

Doors are always opening...

I also received the carrier oils for my face cream and a few other things, and some new and very exciting essential oils that I love the smell of and who possess interesting properties. I can't wait to try them out - in creams and butters - and perfume. And maybe my next batch of soap too - which I think might be a citrus one - for summer y'know!

There is too much to do to write more; I've got some arrangin' to do - and need to find some big glass jars for the lighter ones who have a lot of bulk.

Herb garden dreaming

I'm going to create a container herb garden on our deck this spring. We have a sunny yard that would be perfect for a big garden of all kinds of things, but since we don't plan to stay after next summer, we don't want to plow up the yard. So... some containers on the deck will do until we move to the farm. And, with my growing knowledge of herbs, I'm going to try something new and different. I've grown many types of basil and mints in the past and had a huge rosemary bush in my front yard that I had to leave behind. All of my herbs from those days were culinary. Now I want different kinds for different reasons.

Spring is poking around right now... there are daffodils smiling in the sun and a few trees blooming. Silly things, it will freeze again, but still... it means spring is almost here.

I think it's time to go pot shopping and decide what I want to grow!