In A Vase: Finally, Zinnias

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We are past Labor Day, that great holiday marking the end of summer in the United States; and finally I’ve cut some Zinnias for our vase.

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These are lovely Zinnias.  I love their soft but vibrant pink petals.  I’ve admired them every day for weeks now, but have refrained from cutting any to bring indoors.  I’ve only cut off spent blossoms in order to inspire the plants to push out more.

These Zinnias are a tender spot for me.  No, not a warm and fuzzy tender spot.  They are a guilty tender spot.  You see, I bought them.

When the several dozen Zinnia seeds I had carefully ordered and later sowed out in the beds failed to produce; I bought a few potted Zinnia plants from our friends at the local farm stand.  They were so far along that I planted them, pots and all, in a few prominent spots mid-summer.

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Now how much gardening skill does it take to grow Zinnias from seeds??? 

I’ve done it often in the past.  And, in retrospect there are now a few of my home sown Zinnias blooming in the butterfly garden.  But my grand winter plans for rows of Zinnias, ripe for cutting, failed to materialize in the vagueries of spring.

I first sowed the little seeds in wet paper toweling, as I often do with bean seeds, and then planted each little packet into the beds.  Needless to say, it didn’t work well this time….  Next year, back to the trays or little pots for sowing those precious seeds.

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But enough of gardening angst.  We’ll celebrate these lovely Zinnias blooming so vibrantly with the Blue Mist Flowers, Salvia, purple Basil, Pineapple Mint, Catmint and Garlic Chives.  One thing I enjoy about these vases is how I can capture the essence of things blooming all over the garden into one tiny vase.

The Blue Mist flower self seeds, and is also a spreading perennial.  It is popping up in nearly every part of the garden this summer.  I’ve been spreading the Garlic chives around for several years now.  Another self-seeding perennial, they are also blooming in surprisingly random places in the garden at present.

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The “Jade” Buddha was given to us by a friend at Chinese New Year.  I included it today after learning, just this week, the story of the “Emerald” Buddha of Thailand.  This “Emerald” Buddha statue has a long and mysterious history which likely began in southern India in the years before the Common Era, and continues today in modern Bangkok.  The stones were picked up while walking along an Oregon beach.

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The season is turning yet again, and it feels like as good a time as any to ponder our successes and shortcomings of the last few months.  It is a good time to process gardening, and life lessons, learned; while at the same time entertaining plans for the seasons coming.

Another gardening blogger wrote of sketching her cuttings beds for next season, now.  Plans made now will likely be more realistic than those we plot over the winter catalogs in February, don’t you think? 

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I’m building some new beds in the sunny front garden.  I’ve already planted some new Iris roots, and am ready to plant bulbs as soon as some rain comes to soften the soil a bit.

Once the weather turns more towards autumn in a few weeks, I’ll also move some shrubs from their pots to the Earth.  The trick at the moment is to spend enough time watering and weeding to keep things alive until it rains again.

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But despite my failed Zinnias and a half dozen other misadventures this year, we celebrate those gardening efforts which have worked out well.   Gardening offers a series of second (third and fourth…) chances to ‘get it right.’

Though brutal at times, nature also offers us the opportunity to try, try, again each season; in the continual pursuit of our green and growing dreams.

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Please take a moment to visit Cathy at Rambling In The Garden to enjoy more beautiful gardening successes, captured for a moment in time In A Vase this week.

 

Woodland Gnome 2015

Dark Butterfly

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“Light always trumps darkness. It always has, and it always will.

Therefore… if you believe that your world is darkening…

if you believe that the culture of your nation

is growing dimmer by the year…

don’t blame it on the dark!

Darkness is only doing what darkness does.

“If darkness is winning the battles, my friend,

it is because light is not doing it’s job.

You are light.

So wake up. Wake up.”

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Andy Andrews

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Photos by Woodland Gnome 2015

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Things Change: Butterfly Garden

Pineapple Sage fills the butterfly garden last October.

 

The butterfly garden was built four springs ago during our first year on the property.

Finding the garden full of butterflies and hummingbirds when we first settled in, I wanted to plant even more nectar rich flowers  on the sunny west facing slope between our house and the ravine.

We constructed a raised bed, roughly 8′ deep, which stretched the full length of a fairly flat area between walkways.

 

March of 2010, our newly built bed is ready to plant.

By then we had discovered the voles.  So we laid down landscaping fabric and filled the bed in with purchased garden soil and compost, hoping to create a bed the voles couldn’t reach.

And that first season we planted three butterfly bushes, three rose bushes, white and purple coneflowers, several different Salvias, lots of Basil, Cleome, Monarda, giant Zinnias, and probably a half dozen other things I’m not remembering.

Late June of 2010, the newly planted garden is taking off.

It was gorgeous, especially in late summer and early autumn, when all of the Salvias came into bloom.

Back then, the Rose of Sharon shrubs weren’t quite so tall on the bank above the garden.

There were a few spindly little deer nibbled Rose of Sharon shrubs below the bed, too;  but they were too short to make significant shade.

The garden in 2011

The bed has changed a little each season.  I’ve added several new rose bushes and some Iris.  Two of the Buddleia davidii  died over winter.

But perhaps the most significant change has been a change in the light reaching the garden from full sun to partial shade.

June of 2011 with full sun, the herbs and perennials grow happily.

And I was inspired to keep planting in tiers down the slope, setting out shrubs as they outgrew their pots, more iris, and lots of little Rosemary and Lavender plants on the sun drenched slope.

Like with any growing family, over time, things change.

By mid-August of 2014 surrounding shrubs shade the actual raised bed..

The Rose of Sharon in front of the bed, given a little love in the form of careful pruning and Plant Tone have just taken off!  They’ve grown from knee high to “out of reach” in just these last few years.

The little re-blooming lilacs moved from pots into the ground quickly quadrupled in size, casting their shade back onto the original raised bed.

Plants along the edges of the bed have gotten enough sun to grow. The Pineapple Sage made it through the winter, and has grown high again this year. It will burst into bloom late next month.

I started work in the butterfly garden in early spring, cutting back last year’s woody growth and weeding.

Our long cold winter delayed appearance of the perennials.

But I kept puttering out there, transplanting bulbs “in the green” from pots into the ground, pruning and feeding the roses, and finally as the weather warmed, planting Basil, Zinnias, and scented geraniums.

April 2014, Comfrey and Parsley

But the butterfly garden never quite came together this summer as it has in past years.

We had a nice crop of roses in May, but the Monarda, Echinacea, and Cleome just didn’t appear as I had expected.

And while I waited for them to appear, weeds sprouted in their place.

Late May 2014

But I was busy elsewhere and let them get away from me.  Life happens, doesn’t it?

And, as you surely know, I’ve invested a lot of my “gardening hours” in other parts of the garden this season.

So last week, when I finally had a stretch of days at home, it came time to face the sad state of our once stunning butterfly garden and see what could be done to fix it.

The roses are already shaded by over arching Rose of Sharon shrubs here in mid-May.

With  encouragement from the weather, we used the cool August morning to our advantage, and waded in.

I pulled out weedy growth by the handful, and my partner gathered it all and carted it off to return to the Earth in the ravine.

The main offender, Mulberry weed, or Fatoua villosa, has leaves enough like our herby perennials that it can easily hide out near other plants.

It grows thickly from seeds left the season before, and easily shades out more desirable plants returning from seed.

It was the featured weed of the month in a gardening magazine I happened to read last week.  When I learned that it can shoot its little seeds up to four feet away from the mother plant, I realized it could be tolerated no longer!

Mulberry weed is growing among the perennial Ageratum, at the base of the Echinacea here.   This is on the opposite side of the pathway from the raised bed.

The ground was soft and moist enough to allow us to pull the weeds, roots intact, with minimal effort.

I was happy to find a few of the Salvias and Monarda we’d been watch for struggling on among the weeds.

Zinnias and Penta, on the front edge of the bed, got a bit dirt covered during the great weeding….

But the main problem with the bed wasn’t really the weeds…. it was the shade.  Leggy growth on perennials can only be explained away in so many ways….

Although I thinned out some of the over-arching Rose of Sharon branches, that won’t be enough to restore this bed to its original sunny exposure.

Rose of Sharon, which has grown from knee high to “out of reach” in such a short time. Butterflies and hummingbirds just love these flowers.

 

It is time to acknowledge that the growing conditions here have shifted, and adjust with new plants.

 

Leggy growth is a sure sign of too much shade.  This poor rose was recently grazed by deer, in spite of the scented geranium planted in front of it.

The roses will stay, of course, and the herbs and Lantana planted along the very front edge will just have to manage for the remainder of this season.

We also have one good stand of Pineapple Sage on the  end of the garden.  But once the weeds were pulled, there was a lot of bare real estate to replant.

Early August, before I got busy working on the butterfly garden.

Visiting deer remain a  complicating factor for this garden, which limits plant choices.  All of the Heuchera I moved out of pots to this garden in the spring have been grazed.

The scented Pelargoniums, onion sets, Basil, and Comphrey were supposed to help keep the deer away… But the roses and missing Heuchera bear witness to the deer and their hunger.

So what nectar rich, deer resistant, shade loving plants might survive in this garden?

Hardy Begonia, before I divided it and replanted portions in the butterfly garden.

Most of the obvious selections, like Impatiens, Hosta,  or Solomon’s Seal have already proven too tasty in summers past.

Even Coleus, which produces flowers in the sun, tempts our deer from time to time.

But  hardy Begonias have survived  on a shady bank, in another part of the garden, since we planted them there in 2009.

Hardy Begonia begins its season of bloom in August, and blooms until frost. Here, on a shady bank.

 

These beautiful plants bloom in the shade, attract butterflies, spread, and return year after year.  Luckily, we have a large pot of them started from cuttings last summer, which survived the winter, too.

Ferns will also fill the space beautifully, hold no interest for deer, and spread a little each year.

We had a large clump of Japanese Pained Fern, Athyrium niponicum in a pot on the deck which needed dividing anyway.

So I began the rehabilitation of this once lovely garden with divisions of fern, Begonia, and two hardy ferns picked up at Lowes.

 

Divisions of Japanese Painted Fern and Hardy Begonia will spread to fill the shadiest portions of the butterfly garden.

Once plants fill the space, weedy growth will not be much of a problem.  And once the Begonias establish, they will bloom here reliably season after season.

A bag of compost is always a good investment when re-working a garden space, and I added it generously to this bed as I planted.

I grew this particular Begonia for more than a decade in my last garden before moving it here, and I have no idea what its cultivar name might be.

 

Plant Delights Nursery offers a dozen different hardy Begonias which I’m looking forward to trying here.

Begonia grandis, ‘Heron’s Pirouette’ is growing nicely in a pot on the deck.  I’ll take cuttings and have more plants to add to the now shady butterfly garden by next season.

Begonia, ‘Pewterware’ should arrive in the mail later this week.  A new plant in the catalog, I’m looking forward to watching it grow.

We also have Saxifraga stolonifera, or Strawberry Begonia, spreading like crazy in a large pot in the front garden.   I’ll move a few of these around to the front edge of this garden for spring blooms.  We saw them in full bloom at Forest Lane Botanicals this year, and they make an impressive display for a few weeks each spring.  They provide a pleasing ground cover during the rest of the season.

There is space left to add a few more ferns to the garden around the Begonias.

Autumn ‘Brilliance’ fern remains evergreen in our garden. I’ll add a few of these to the bed as they come available, and will also add some evergreen, winter blooming Hellebores.

The Patton’s have promised that a shipment of ferns will be in at the Homestead Garden Center later this week, and I’ll hope for an interesting selection.

We have plenty more Japanese Painted Ferns in pots to divide, but they are deciduous ferns.  I’d like at least a few evergreen ferns to fill the bed over the winter.

One thing I’ve learned over the years:  good gardeners experiment continuously. 

We continue to experiment and to observe; to try new plants and methods, and to learn more than we currently know.

We change and grow with our gardens.  And we find ways to transform disappointments into opportunities.

That is our philosophy in our Forest Garden, and thus far we’ve been rewarded richly  for our efforts.

 

Words and Photos by Woodland Gnome 2014

 

 

“Powerful Stuff,” Epsom Salts

Like most serious gardeners, when I get a little “ding” I generally just keep on going and choose to ignore it.  That’s probably why I have absolutely no idea how I injured my thumb last week.  I get lots of dings between work in the garden and the kitchen.  They almost always heal right up and I stay in motion.

One of the best values of the home pharmacy!

This thumb injury, right where the nail meets the skin, started out that way.  But, I made the cardinal mistake of working outside without gloves over the weekend.  Add in all of the dish washing, and general cleaning up, and I exposed the little nick in my skin to some nasty bacteria somewhere along the way.  It was sore on Saturday, worse on Sunday, but by yesterday it was throbbing as I typed.  And it kept getting worse.

If you’re like me, you do most of your own “doctoring” and avoid the AMA crowd whenever possible.  Trying to remember all of the home remedies for infections, I remembered Epsom Salts.  We try to keep some around all the time because it’s useful for so many things.  Well, I finally found a carton in the garage next to the Plant Tone, covered in cobwebs and potting soil.  Not exactly sterile looking.  The last time I had used it was on the roses in early summer.

The flower bed I reworked and bordered this weekend

Epsom salt, or Magnesium Sulfate, is not really salt at all.  Originally found at a mineral spring in Epsom, Surrey, England; it is a combination of Magnesium and Sulphate, both very healing to the body.  Epsom salt is an extremely versatile crystalline product (probably why it’s called “salts”) which enhances growth, bloom, and general vigor in many types of plants; greens your lawn; kills insects; soothes muscle aches and pains; reduces inflammation; and draws toxins out of the body.  (More uses for Epsom salts here)

By the time I realized that my whole thumb was red and throbbing, it was late in the day yesterday and I had no interest in heading to the store or the urgent care.  A long soak in a bowl of hot water and dissolved Epsom salts finally brought some relief.  Temporary relief that is.

I went on the offensive with mega doses of vitamin C, topical antibiotic cream, and even some colloidal silver; which was the antibiotic of choice before the pharmaceutical industry made so many  specific antibiotics available.  A full assault on the nasty microbes attacking my thumb at least kept the infection from spreading any more, and we got a few hours of sleep here and there.

You can feel the pain draining away during an Epsom salt soak.  Whether we’re talking tired muscles, infected finger, or any of a number of other maladies; Epsom salt is a powerful healing agent.  It can penetrate through the skin, across the cell membranes, to bring healing and draw out toxins.  Soaking for 20 to 30 minutes, every four hours or so, made a huge difference.

Snapdragons from Homestead Garden Center, grown by the Patton family, moved into their new bed on Saturday morning.

Given no other option, the finger might have healed up in a few days with the healing protocol I’d started.   But I’ve read too many stories lately about fast moving infections, and by this afternoon decided to pay the price and get the script.  The doc was great, except for the forceps under the nail to make sure nothing was still lodged there.   AND, she told me that she would have suggested the Epson salts soak had I not already initiated it.  So, with the antibiotic coursing through my system I’m beginning to feel better, but will keep soaking the thumb until at least tomorrow.

Do you have Epsom salts in your pantry?  It is basic equipment for a serious gardener.  It, along with pure water, is as good for the gardener as it is for the garden!

What have I learned from this little misadventure?  It always pays to reflect and tote up the lessons to carry forward.

Newly planted snapdragons

1.  Always wear gloves when working in the garden.  Protect the skin from nicks, and the nicks from the nasties in the soil.

2.  Put a clean bandage and an alcohol wipe in the gardening vest, right next to the pocket knife.  I’ve never done that, but will going forward.

3.  Don’t ignore little injuries hoping they’ll go away.  I don’t mean to sound like a wimp, but a little more care on the front end could have prevented this infection.

4.  Spring for two packages of Epsom salts.   Leave one in the garage with the plant foods, but keep another one in the pantry for healing.

Tonight I’m still a nine fingered typist, but managed to get a few photos of the garden before dusk.

Here are Tuesday’s Snapshots from the forest garden.

The Begonia under the azaleas loves the cooler weather. She’ll need to be dug soon to survive the winter.

The chocolate vines caught this little leaf on the way down…

The last of the blue berries on the butterfly tree in the ravine

The pond at the end of our ravine

The Panolas look happy in their new pot.

African Blue Basil

The Lantana just doesn’t quit until it gets hit by a hard frost… or two….

Our latest Camellia to bloom is a lovely shade of deep pink.

Will this be the last Zinnia of the season?

Stay well, be careful in the midst of all that gardening fun, and keep the first aid kit well stocked!

All photos by Woodland Gnome 2013

Related articles

• Epsom Salts: What They are and Some Gardening Techniques (gardening.answers.com)
• Tips for Using Epsom Salts for Plants (gardening.answers.com)
• Epsom Salt *MaGiC* (glutenfreeandglam.wordpress.com)
• DIY Beauty: Soak away sore feet (kineticfix.com)
• Marvelous Magnesium

What’s Blooming Now?

This gallery contains 28 photos.

Just as in the springtime we watch the landscape erupt into Forsythia and daffodils; then Magnolias, fruit trees, Dogwoods, Azaleas, and tulips; so the autumn also has its own progression of color and bloom. We have  passed  the midpoint of August, and goldenrod paints the roadsides and empty places golden.  Staghorn Sumac has grown its … Continue reading →

August 1

August first, and the dogwood trees are full of berries, their leaves showing the first hint of autumn color.

The first day of August is one of the important turning points of the year.  Traditionally known as the day of First Harvest, Lammas, or Lughnasa or Lughnasadh; August 1 is a day for celebrating the first fruits of the harvest

In medieval Europe, peasants were expected to present the first wheat harvest to their lords on this day.  In Ireland, and other Celtic nations, bread was baked from newly harvested wheat and either presented at church; blessed, broken, and placed around the barn to protect the harvest; or carried up a mountain or hill and offered to the traditional gods and goddesses who cared for these lands before the Christians came, then buried in the Earth as a sacrifice.

Squash vine blooming on the first rainy morning of August.

Today is a day for celebrating the harvest of summer and preparing for the shorter, cooler days of autumn which are just ahead.  Lammas is the first of the three traditional harvest festivals in traditional Celtic communities.  Autumn Equinox falls near the end of September, and then Samhain on October 31.  Just as Thanksgiving Day celebrates the ending of the harvest in the United States, so Lammas, August 1, celebrates the beginning of the harvest throughout much of the northern Hemisphere.

Leaves are already turning red on this seedling oak tree.

 

This is a good time to gather for family reunions, to throw a party for close friends, to bake bread, gather the last of the berries, and observe the turning of the season.  Days are noticeably shorter now.  The dogwood leaves are beginning to show tinges of red here in Williamsburg, Va.  We’ve had our first cool nights in a good long time, and cool damp mornings with a fresh breeze from the northeast for a change.

In August our thoughts turn to preparations for the school year ahead in many families.  It is time to begin gathering school supplies, taking off for those last family excursions, and buying new shoes and school clothes.  Teachers are plotting the year ahead, revising lesson plans, and savoring the last few days of summer break.  College freshmen will leave home in the next few weeks to begin life on their own in their first dorm room.  It is a time of nervousness and excitement as room mates make plans and parents prepare to see their children move on.

Yes, August is for savoring.  As we feel the long hot days slipping away, we appreciate each summer day a little more.  We hang on to the goodness and pleasures of the season.

I’ve been watching hummingbirds in the garden the last few days, and the ever increasing crowd of butterflies feasting on everything with flowers.  Their enthusiasm is contagious.  It is no wonder that so many traditional religious faiths imagine “heaven” to be in a garden. 

For those of us who are the gardeners, August is an important month of transition, and there are some key tasks wanting our attention:

My garden has another three to four months of life in it before I will even think of frost.  With such a long growing season, there are definite transitions in what is coming and what is going.

This is a good time to wander around the camera and take photos.  A garden always looks different in photos than it does in person.  The camera brings focus to particular views; it frames and edits what we see. This is a good time to take photos of all parts of the garden- the parts you like, and the parts which need tweaking.  Work with the photos as you make plans for the coming seasons. 

Bulb catalogs are out now, and we have a window for ordering the bulbs we’ll need to plant by mid-November.

This is also the time to make our final purchases for the year of compost, mulch, potting soil, tools, and pots.   Many garden centers and hardware stores in are process of moving out their gardening equipment and bringing in Halloween and Christmas merchandise.  (Yes, it is WAY too early to see Christmas decorations in the stores, but we all know they show up earlier each year.)  Most everything is on clearance prices at the garden centers now. This is a last opportunity to stock up on things we’ll need for the next several months.  Have you ever tried to buy potting soil in February?

Beautyberry shrubs are full of tiny berries. They will turn bright purple by early September.

Lavender and Basil benefit from cutting back now, and will keep producing for the next several weeks. Keep up with the weeding so plants don’t get over gown with grass.

Fall is the best time for planting trees and shrubs in my area.  As an added bonus, they are on sale right now.  Planting in early fall gives them a chance to adjust and grow new roots into the surrounding soil before the ground freezes.

A new Hydrangea has been growing in a pot on the deck. New shrubs do best when planted out into the garden in autumn.

August is also the time to cut back.  Many perennials have finished blooming and look ratty at the moment.  Unless you are waiting for seeds to form, daylily stalks need removing; brown leaves of Iris need cutting; verbenas, Echinacea, and some annuals will benefit from a hard cutting back.  Harvest fresh flowers of Zinnia, Echinacea, rose, and many others plants to stimulate more flower production.  Cut off fading flowers promptly, before seed is set, to stimulate more flowers.  This is especially important on flowering shrubs, like Buddleia, which will just shut down if the flowers are left to set seed.

Cut back spent flowers before they can set seed to keep new flowers opening for several more weeks.

Harvest herbs regularly.  Oregano, Basil, Marjoram, and mints will keep producing for many weeks to come, if the flowers are cut back regularly.  Harvest generously and the plants will reward you with renewed growth.  Herbs can be dried, infused in oil or vinegar for cooking, made into pesto and frozen, or used fresh for cooking.  Some lavender plants will send up another flush of flower stalks if the spent flowers are removed, and the branches trimmed back slightly.

Roses give another strong burst of bloom in October in our area, so it is important to keep up with the pruning.  Cut off any spent blossoms by cutting the whole stem back to just above a leaf with five small parts.  Any diseased or brown leaves should be removed and thrown away.  There is time to feed rose bushes once more with Espona Rose Tone and Epson salts to stimulate those autumn blossoms.  If there is evidence of black spot, give another spray with an organic fungicide like neem oil.

Blackberry and raspberry canes which bore fruit this year need cutting back to the ground when the harvest is over.  New canes should be tied into the supports.  New fruiting shrubs should be planted now.

Fall vegetables should be planted in August.  It is a good time to start kale, collards, and spinach; carrots, snap beans, onions, radishes, and lettuce from seed.  Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts transplants can be set in place.  Autumn is the time to plant garlic for harvest next summer.  Many of our tomato, cucumber, and squash plants have given up for the year.  We need to clean them away, add some compost to the beds, and plant our fall vegetables. 

If our tomatoes, squash, peppers, and melons are still healthy and producing, we can clean up any damaged leaves and give them a shot of Neptune’s Harvest to keep them going into fall.  I often harvest my last tomatoes around the first of November.  Even though the days are shorter, surviving plants seem to get a fresh start when the temperatures cool down.  Keep producing plants well watered and pick the fruits as soon as they ripen.

Figs are beginning to ripen, and can be harvested over the next several weeks.

Potatoes are ready to dig as soon as the tops yellow and die back.  Sweet potatoes still have another month or so to grow before they are ready.

Strawberry runners can be rooted in pots and then cut away from the mother plant, or can be pinned down to the garden soil and allowed to grow in place.  Runners rooted now should bear next spring.

Figs are beginning to ripen.  Check the trees over day or so for ripe figs.  They will continue to ripen here over a long season into October.

One of the toughest jobs in August, especially when August is hot and bright, is the weeding.  Grass and weeds can overtake a bed so quickly.  It is important to use cool and damp mornings to stay after the weeds so our crops and flowers aren’t crowded out.  If certain grasses and weeds get started, their underground stems and roots will just keep sending up new plants forever.  Weeds allowed to set seed will plague our beds for years to come. 

Black eyed Susans, the first of the autumn flowers, are just beginning to bloom.

Finally, August is a good time to start new stem cuttings.  When growth gets too rampant on Basil, Coleus, Begonias, Plectranthus, Impatiens, and other leggy plants, we can often root the bits we cut back.  Most will root in a glass of water.  Some wonderful plants, like cane Begonias and purple heart can just be stuck into moist soil, and they will root in place.  Annual plants and tender perennials started in fall from stem cuttings can be overwintered and saved for next season.  This not only saves money, it insures that the variety you like best is available. 

August is a month of transition.  We complete what we began in spring, close out, clean up, and savor the harvest of our efforts, even as we make preparations for the new beginnings autumn brings.  It is a time for family and fellowship, for celebration, and for sowing the seeds of our next harvest.

All photos by Woodland Gnome

Pomegranate ripening

 A bread recipe to celebrate Lammas

Measure 3c. self-rising flour into a large mixing bowl.

Add 1 tsp. sea salt,  1 TB olive oil, 2 TB honey, and 1 tsp. active dry yeast

Also add some dried onion flakes, snipped herbs,  finely chopped chilies, and  grated sharp cheddar cheese if you want a heartier loaf.  (the extra yeast helps the bread rise if cheese and other heavy ingredients are added)

Stir ingredients lightly with a spatula, and form a well in the center of the mixture.  Pour in a 12oz bottle of a favorite beer.  Mix until the mixture is thick and all ingredients are moistened.  Run a little water into the bottle to rinse and add to the mixture if more liquid is needed.

Turn out this wet dough into a prepared bread pan.  Pat the top of the loaf with a little additional flour, cover with waxed paper, and let rise in a warm spot for an hour.

When the bread has risen to fill the pan, preheat the oven to 400 F.  Brush or spray some water onto the loaf, and sprinkle with sea salt and sesame seeds.

Bake about a half hour until the loaf is fragrant and browned.

Allow finished loaf to cool on a rack until it an be handled, and enjoy with friends and loved one.

Butterflies Everywhere….

This gallery contains 27 photos.

What a wonderful sensation to wander out into the butterfly garden and stand in the midst of dozens of butterflies flying around from flower to flower sipping nectar. Sometimes four or five butterflies are all drinking from the same plant, shoulder to shoulder with the bumblebees. What joy to be a butterfly in July when … Continue reading →