Maybe This Time It'll Stick

I'm sorry to say my last post hasn't been in over a year.  Life happens and sometimes you just don't feel like writing.  Essentially last year was monopolized with trying to buy a house.  We did not buy a house.  Fortunately, I got some wonderful new/old (my previous fantastic neighbors moved back!), so life here in our little duplex in Lakewood is wonderful again!
I've got an amazing garden going on out back, despite all the rain we've had this year.  My tomato plants are almost as big as I am at this point and I've been harvesting beans and peas like there is no tomorrow.  It feels amazing to be outside all the time, working in the garden, hanging out with the plants and just being part of the Universe, again.
In addition to the garden, wild crafting and making medicine, I've also been taking part in Herb School with Guido Mase and the Community Herbal Intensive at the Trillium Center in Conneaut, Ohio (about an hour and a half away from me.)  It's been a busy year.  I hope to be more vigilant with this blog and write on a regular basis again.  (I know I've said that before, but I'm hoping I mean it this time.) 

So, on that note, let's talk about some plants. 
I've talked about Plantain before, but I want to talk about her again, because she is so amazing.
There are two species of plantain growing in my neck of the woods, Plantago major and Plantago lanceolata, or broad-leaf and narrow-leaf plantain.

Broad leaf plantain

Flower head of the narrow leaf plantain.

Plantain is traditionally used for wounds.  Anything from cuts, abrasions, bee stings, and splinters.  It has a magical drawing property that will pull any type of debris or poison/venom out of your body.  This is how I used plantain two weeks ago.  I was in a hurry, not paying attention and unfortunately, stepped on a bee.  I quickly lifted my foot off the ground, removed the stinger and venom sack and grabbed a leaf of plantain out of the garden.  I chewed it up and made spit poultice, which I promptly applied to my sting.  Then I sat down and felt bad for the bee (honey bees can only sting once and then they die).  I bandaged my foot and continued to change out the poultice every couple of hours.  I did this for about 24 hours.  Then I left my foot open to breath.  It had very minor swelling and pain for the first full day after the sting, even less the following day and by the day after that (day 3) it wasn't even noticeable - save for the itching.  I LOVE this plant. 

Making Friends with Dandelion

Dandelion is one of my favorite plants.  I look forward to its appearance every spring.  It's exciting when you begin to see one or two because in a few weeks they are going to be everywhere.  I can't wait.  There are so many great things you can do with dandelion.  Eat the greens, eat the flowers, make a tea out of the flowers, leaves and roots.  You can bake with it, toss it raw into salads, add it to your smoothies, use the greens as a pot herb; the list could go on for a while.
This past weekend, for the first time, I baked with dandelion flowers.  I tried a recipe I found from LearningHerbs.com for Dandelion Cookies.  It's a simple recipe, geared towards children to get them into the kitchen and familiar with herbs.  Now that I've tried the basic recipe (which, to be honest, I feel this is more like a scone than a cookie) I know what to expect and I will be adding the flowers to all kinds of baked goods - banana dandelion bread anyone?

First things first, I had to pick my dandelions.  Lucky for me, my neighbor doesn't mow the backyard, so I had more than enough to choose from.
For the recipe you are only using the flower heads, so I just meandered through the yard grabbing flowers here and there - the general rule of them when wild crafting/harvesting plants is to only take 20% of the plant to ensure that it will continue to bloom and survive.
When I was done, I had a basket full of the gorgeous, bright flowers.

Then began the tedious work of separating the flowers themselves from the green parts.
This resulted in yellow fingers:

and then after a little kitchen magic, I ended up with dandelion cookie/scones :)

They aren't very sweet and they go great with a cup of tea. 

Dandelion Cookies (courtesy of Herb Fairies, written by Rosalee de la Foret)

1 stick of butter
1/2 cup of honey
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup freshly picked dandelion flowers

Preheat oven to 375.  Melt butter on low heat, set aside to cool slightly.
Remove all of the green stems and bracts from the dandelion flowers, set aside
Mix together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl, set aside.
Mix the dandelion flowers into the honey and butter mixture.
Add the eggs and vanilla and stir well.
Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir well.
Place by the tablespoon full onto greased cookie sheets.
Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown on the edges.

womp womp....

For a very brief period of time, we were in the process of buying a house.  I had begun cleaning out my attic, packing, planning summertime campfires, fantasizing about all the great wild plants that would be growing at my new place and storing all of my homegrown canned goods in the root cellar.
Alas, it was not to be.  Long story short, the neighbor is a complete nut job and made us beyond uncomfortable.  The only way we could, in good conscience, purchase this house is if the neighbor moved.
So, we regrouped and decided that the best course of action is to hang back for a bit, keep on where we are at and save more money.
Not really the route I wanted to take, but so it goes.  When life hands you lemons, make lemonade and hope it doesn't taste like shit.

 So, here we are.  Beltane is just a two days away, the dandelions are blooming, the violets are coming up and I've spotted my first bit of purple dead nettle in the yard!

Purple dead nettle (also know as the arch angel flower) is an unfortunate name for this plant as it is not a nettle at all, but in fact a mint!
The easiest way to identify any member of the mint family is to examine the stem.  If it's square, than it's a mint.  Being a member of the mint family, this plant is edible.  It has no aroma (that I've ever been able to detect) and it tastes rather green and refreshing.  It's one of my favorite spring greens.  I just go out into the yard and clip the plant, stem and all, into my salad.  It doesn't get very big, only a couple of inches, so I don't cut it up, I just eat the whole thing.
The leaves are quite fuzzy, which may take a little getting used to, but once you mix it into a salad or add it to a smoothie, you can't tell anyway.
Purple dead nettle is an annual and it doesn't hang around very long.  Once you spot one, pay attention; they will start popping up all over the place.  Many gardeners and landscapers hate this plant because it's incredibly invasive and can take over where ever the seeds land.  However, instead of freaking out over this highly nutrient dense plant, you should be eating it.
If you went out into your back yard right now, I'd hazard to guess you've got a bit of this growing somewhere.  As long as it hasn't been sprayed with anything, you should pick some and add it to your salad.  After this obnoxiously cold, long winter we've had our bodies need bright, nutrient dense, green things.
Thanks for reading this!

Hey!  It's me again :)  Hopefully I'll be around a lot more now.
A few major things have happened since I last posted, but a lot of things have stayed the same.
For starters, we adopted a new dog, Venkman (named after Peter Venkman, from Ghostbusters).  We found him at the Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter.  We went in there not wanting a puppy or a male dog.  We left with a 3.5 month old male collie.
Having a puppy in the house is an adjustment.  You don't rest until he rests.  You can't leave anything out he might want to chew on (he has already ruined my French press, a pair of shoes, 4 books and the leg of my kitchen island...) and forget about relaxing in your favorite chair with a book until well after 9pm when he is pooped (incidentally, so are you).
I realize this is almost like having a child.  This is one of the many reasons why I don't wish to have kids.  We've had Venkman for almost 2 months now and he is pretty good and entertaining himself, doesn't really chew on anything that isn't his and is fully house broken.  Let's see a 6 month old human do that.

We have also started to look for a house.  FINALLY.  While this is amazing and wonderful news (I'm so ready to get out of my current home) it's incredibly frustrating.  I haven't signed up for any markets, I haven't started any seeds, planned a garden, really done any sewing.... nothing that I would normally be doing at this point in preparation for the crazy summer.  I didn't want to commit myself to anything and then find out I'm moving 30 minutes away in the opposite direction, or have to cancel because I'll be in the middle of a move.  While I know this is the best decision, it's driving me nuts.  I've supplemented by filling my window seat with house plants.  At least I can have an indoor garden that I can move with me, right?

UPDATE: We have made an offer on a house!  Ack!  While I'm thrilled, I'm also terrified.  Not at the fact that I'm going to own a house (go me!) but that I'm basically giving away my life savings as a down payment.  F*ck.  There goes all my money.
The upside is this house is AMAZING.  It has a F*CKING ROOT CELLAR!  Ahh!  It sits on an acre, there is a creek out back and a small decorative pond (that needs to be brought back to life) a huge kitchen, hardwood floors, a wood burning fire place and a nice enclosed porch.
The only requirement for me that it is missing is a fenced in area for the dog.  If anybody knows a good fence builder (that isn't too terribly expensive since we've already established I'm going to be broke) please send me their contact info!
If things go well, I shall be moving by the end of May.  I don't really plan on doing much gardening this year, just a lot of cleaning up, random yard work and really studying the property so I know what I'm working with for next year.  Give me a couple years and I'm going to have a full blown homestead.  Woot.

This is a blog about herbs, wild plants and living off the land (and let's be honest, me).  So, let's talk about a plant.
Dandelion.  It's one of the first real wild edibles you are going to come across this early in the year.  I've got a few popping up in my yard at the moment, but I don't get a lot until a few weeks into May because of the temperature in my yard.  Micro climate is a wonderful and fascinating thing.  My house faces West and I have a large Maple in back and a large Plum tree out front, so a good part of my property is shady and cool.  I go for a walk everyday and walk along a street that faces south and gets full sun.  Every house along that road has daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and dandelion flowers already.  The houses on my block just started to get their daffodils.  Go for a walk in your neighborhood and pay attention to directions and temperature.  It's pretty neat to see how one block is so much farther along than another in terms of what is blooming.

Back to dandelions.  The are starting to come up right now and they are tasty!  The greens are a great detoxifier and liver tonic.  Traditionally, after a long winter of eating nothing but root veggies, preserved meat and canned goods, a fresh salad of bitter spring greens was a godsend.  While it was tasty and delicious, it was also serving to help flush out all the toxins that had built up in the body over the long winter indoors.  While I haven't made a salad of dandelion greens yet (I don't have enough out there!) I have nibbled on a few leaves while outside with Venkman.  They are bitter, but that is the point.  We need bitters in our diet!

So, until next time (which will be way sooner than this last time) head outside, look for a dandelion and nibble on a leaf or two.  Your body, most notably your liver, will thank you.

Wintertime Blues

I love the idea of blogging and sharing what I do and what I find interesting with the world.  My hope in doing so, is that it will inspire others to follow suit in doing what they love in addition to connecting me with other interesting people.  The problem is, I get side tracked, life happens and it's been 5 months since I've had a blog post.  That doesn't make for being a good blogger.  Sometimes I get really excited and I have fabulous things to share, other times I just have too much to do in other areas of my life, that blogging takes a back seat. 
In recent months, I changed jobs.  It was an awesome change and one that I am extremely happy with.  However, I had no idea how difficult it would be for me to go from working "whenever" to suddenly having a M-F, 7am-3:30pm (-ish) job.  Set schedules, at least for me, take quite a bit of time to get used to.  Getting up earlier to make sure I get everything done before I leave, getting home around 4pm and having, if I'm lucky, an hour of daylight left.  Then after you do whatever it is that you need to do, make dinner, clean up etc... it's dark out, it's 8pm and you're practically ready for bed because you have to get up so early to do it again tomorrow.  Doesn't sound like all that much, but it's literally taken me almost 6 months to adjust - and I think a lot of that is because it's finally starting to stay lighter, longer, so I feel like I have more time.
We are still renting, but we've finally started taking the steps to move out and buy a house. 
I've become completely disenchanted with my living situation.  My neighbor gets on my nerves at least once a day, her dogs have completely destroyed the back yard to the point that I don't even want to go out there anymore which makes my home feel that much smaller.  And then, this COLD.  It's painful to be outside.  Yesterday it was 18 and it felt warm.  WARM!  It's obnoxious.  I feel like a caged animal a lot of the time and I just don't want to do anything, I'm so frustrated.  I look at houses and fantasize about a small homestead, a garden, chickens, maybe a milk goat or two, and SPACE.  Lot's of space.  And no neighbors.  Being able to do laundry when we want to, pull into the driveway and not have to move for anyone.  Let the dogs out when I want and not have to worry because her dogs are out there.  I want a large kitchen with a pantry and a root cellar.  I want my own office.  I want space to meditate and do yoga.  I want a porch to sit on and look at the stars and have quiet.
There are days where I am so frustrated with everything, I don't want to do anything.  I've finally started sewing again and I got my Etsy page up and running (after like a 5 month hiatus.)  I've started my studies up again, too.  In the wintertime it's a lot of reading and working with dried herbs.  I've been compiling my own Materia Medica and putting together recipes I want to try when the snow finally melts and I have access to fresh plants again.  I'm finally starting to feel like there is a light at the end and then on Thursday, my dog, Roxy passed away.  Whoa. 
She started to have noticeable trouble breathing on Tuesday, but once she would settle down, she would return to normal.  I attributed it mostly to being 14, the bitterly cold weather and the fact that we haven't gotten as much exercise as we normally do because it's been so G.D. cold outside.  By Thursday when I got home from work it was bad ( I had been treating her with some Oil of Oregano and mullien, hoping it was a respiratory infection).  I rushed her to the vet and they got her on oxygen - Dr. Lamb (best vet ever!) was hopefully, but concerned.  Unfortunately, it was not to be.  A few hours later, we made the decision and she passed.  I was/am deeply saddened by the entire event, but I'm happy and satisfied with how it happened.  She was an amazing dog who had 14 great years. In her last week she got one more walk in and her last meal was chicken.  She was home right up until the end and she was sleeping when she passed.  There was no pain, there was no long, drawn out demise.  She just, went.  That is how it should be for everybody.  We when do finally (hopefully sooner rather than later) find our homestead, I plan on spreading her ashes and planting a green bean patch there (her favorite food.)
She was our only dog, so my house is incredibly quiet now.  It's still Jason, myself and my two turtles and tortoise but it's very lonely.  I find myself desperately longing to have a fuzzy head to scratch or a belly to rub.  Last night I was chopping broccoli and there was no one to throw the crunchy stalks too (Roxy LOVED vegetables.)  But, like I said, despite my sadness, I'm happy and content with the end of her story.  She was a beautiful creature.
So, in a nutshell, that is where I have been.  I imagine I'll be intermittent with my blogging until we get set up in our new home, plants start poking up and it's above freezing outside.

Taken Over By Fruit

My life has been taken over by fruit.  What started out as a small canning project/idea at the beginning of the year has taken over a large part of my life.  Part of the problem is that right now everything is ripe.  Everything.  Right now.  And.... I'm a canner.  A lot of people aren't canners.  What does that mean?  They give you free food.  Lots of free food.  I LOVE free food.  I hate wasting ANYTHING.  And, therein lies my dilemma.
Long nights are spent in the kitchen frantically canning fruit and veggies.  Some will be for sale, some will be for gifts and some will just be for me.
My yard has fallen to the wayside, my carpet needs to be vacuumed, my dog looks at me longingly for a walk and my diet consists mainly of smoothies and tomato sandwiches - neither require much effort, little dishes and fill me up.
I love canning, and love cracking open a jar of tomatoes I canned 4 months ago and making sauce.  I love spreading blueberry jam on toast in February while I plan my garden for this year and wait for the snow to melt.  Invited to a party with nothing to bring?  Throw a jar of cherries in a bowl, add some spices and toss it into a pie crust.  Ta da.  I love canning.

Those pears we foraged last week, they have been kind enough to not go bad while I decide what to do with them.

Remember Me?

Hey, I'm back!  I didn't actually go anywhere, my life just got super crazy for a few weeks and I had absolutely no time to write anything.  I'm going to try to change that; try being the operative word - things are still crazy.

To start with, I got a new job.  It kind of came out of nowhere, but at the same time it didn't.  I had been putting out to the Universe for months now that I wanted a new job.  Something where I would have a set schedule, work earlier in the day, be close to home, make more money and be in a position to not only work with people to help them incorporate herbs and other aspects of natural health into their lives, but where I could learn more about herbs/health myself.  My friend works at a local organic grocery store here and they have a Health and Beauty/Vitamins Dept, which she was managing.  Well, she was promoted to managing the Grocery Dept (pretty much the bulk of the store), which left the HBA/Vitamin Dept in need of a manager.  Do you see where this is going?
So far, this job is amazing.  I'm home every day by 3:45pm.  I actually get an afternoon AND evening to do things like vend at the Farmer's Market.  What?  And.....I get weekends off!  What?!  This is crazy.  Not to mention all the reps. from various companies I've had the pleasure of meeting, all the new products I get to try, all the learning/trainings I've participated in already.  It's amazing.  I'm working, learning, helping people and I'm only 2.3 miles from my home.  The Universe heard me.

While all that was happening (I also got to go to Columbus for a trade show my first week!) I've been spending a lot of time at my garden.  My backyard garden has become somewhat of a lost cause.  In addition to my neighbor's dogs the weather here in Northeast Ohio has not been favorable.  We are almost through August and the hottest it has gotten is 80.  While the temps are nice, not having full sun, cooler temps and obnoxious dogs means my garden isn't happy.  One of my tomato plants is barely 2ft tall and has ONE tomato on it.  Seriously.  I planted some cooler weather veggies and they are sprouting and doing okay so I'm hoping for a bumper fall crop of broccoli, carrots and greens.....

My garden plot was doing great until this past Monday.  I showed up to find my beans ripped from the fence and thrown in a heap in front of my tomatoes.  Some of the tomatoes were knocked over, our fall seedlings were trampled and our stick markers were broken.  Behind the fence, where there was all kinds of lush green including lots of different medicinal/edible plants, everything was gone.  Like, someone took a flame thrower and destroyed everything.  I called the City and the Westerly (the building that owns the property we grow on) and was informed that the city had pulled everything because they are going to be re building the fence (so we need to have everything moved away from the fence within the next 6 weeks) and that the Westerly hired a "professional" landscaper to do some work and he was instructed not to spray within a foot of the gardens.  Really?!  A whole 12 inches is going to protect our ORGANIC garden from whatever bullshit you are spraying?  So, basically my garden is worthless.  I haven't called the Westerly back yet after they left a message informing me what happened because I've been too pissed off.  Thankfully the other local gardeners/farmers have been having a way better year than I have so I'm still filled up on produce - it's just not mine.

Roxy was sick for a minute, but she seems to have bounced back again.  She's 14, she's missing a toe, missing a tooth, has had a tumor on her liver for 2 and a half years now, developed Vestibular Syndrome two months ago, was sick for a few days this week and just keeps going.  My brother insists I'm doing some kind of magick/voodoo to keep her alive.  Despite her age and setbacks she still goes up and down 2 flights of stairs multiple times a day, goes for mile long walks, runs around the house, has a wicked appetite and is just generally in good health - save for breath that'll melt off your eyebrows.

So, that's what is new with me.  In foraging news, we've started our wild pear harvest, we delved into some local Sumac and made sumac-ade and we are still picking clover blossoms.  I'm also going to start my plantain harvest shortly.