Streissguth Gardens is a hidden garden located just west of St. James Cathedral on Capitol Hill in Seattle. A family labor of love this delightful public park is open for strolling.
Botanical walks
Sunflowers
Hollyhocks en pagaille
Blooms
Roses
Posted in People on the Move | Tagged hidden gardens, public gardens, Streissguth Gardens | Leave a Comment »
A summer staple for my family is a hearty garden fresh potato salad. We have this sustaining dish with almost every outdoor meal and prepare it for guests as well.
Walking through the garden I found onions, nasturtium flowers, peas, purple potatoes and new eggs from the hens. Ready for 4th of July picnics it’s time for a fresh as can be garden potato salad! Best of all you don’t need to leave your yard and head to the grocery store.
Directions:
- Roam your garden and pick what’s ripe.
- Make the vinaigrette dressing with a dollop of Dijon mustard, a clove of garlic, red wine vinegar, a bit of salt and olive oil.
- Quarter and boil your potatoes, drain them and put them in the bowl.
- I add the eggs in with the potatoes to hard boil as the cooking time is about the same. Peel and slice the eggs.
- Add in whatever other tasty items you can find in your garden.
- Drizzle with the dressing and enjoy.
Fresh garden potato salad
Posted in Cooking | Tagged garden potato salad | 1 Comment »
Anise hyssop is a lovely plant that grows well in our climate. This edible licorice flavored member of the mint family can be grown from seed, divided from another plant or purchased at a nursery.
Minty anisey and delicious!
Here are some of its many uses:
- Cut flowers
- Dried flowers – the flower heads dry to a pretty navy blue
- Pot pourri – it blends well with lavender and lemon balm
- Tea – it makes a nice tea on its own or can be combined with lemon balm and/or chamomile, it is reputed to calm nerves
- Addition to fruit salad – the minced leaves add zest
- Flavoring for sweet breads or cookies – mince flowers and add them to the dough for an anise touch
- Sprig in a glass of ice tea – simple but tasty
This plant will self seed and it’s roots will run underground as will other members of the mint family but it is not invasive. It is beloved by rabbits but supposedly avoided by deer.
Let me know if you find other delicious uses for this delicate herb!
Posted in Cooking | Tagged anise hyssop, using herbs | Leave a Comment »
Right now is a good time to harvest garlic. Braiding it then hanging it in a cool, dark place is a great way to store it for later.
If the garlic isn’t well dried it will rot.
First dry the garlic until the leaves are limp and the outside of the bulb is getting papery.
It’s ok to leave some of the dirt on the bulbs.
Gently brush off the dirt and trim the roots off. Be careful not to bruise the garlic as it will spoil more quickly if damaged.
If you’re new to braiding then getting someone to help will make a smoother braid.
Line up three bulbs with good long stalks and begin to braid.
Make sure there is some space between the bulbs so they can continue to dry.
With each cross over add in another bulb until you have a braid that is about a foot long. If you go longer it can be quite heavy and hard to hang. It’s also nice to keep the braids a bit shorter to have more to give as gifts.
Ready to hang. If you are a big garlic user then hang in your kitchen, if not put in a cool, airy place and take off heads as needed.
Here is the finished braid!
Posted in Crafts, Growing | Tagged garlic braid, harvesting garlic | Leave a Comment »
Oregon grape laden with berries
The Oregon Grape in the park near our house is a luscious deep purple blue color and the berries are just a bit soft to the touch. On the way home I picked some berries then made jam with my harvest. This deep blue jam has a great flavor and pairs nicely with sourdough bread or vanilla ice cream.
The two species we have growing in the Seattle area are the tall Oregon-grape (Mahonia aquifolium) and low Oregon-grape (Mahonia nervosa). The berries from both of these can be used to make jellies, jams or fruit leather.
Here’s how to make the jam:
Prepare the Oregon Grapes
- Collect berries that are a deep blue purple color and slightly soft
- Wash and pick through your harvest removing leaves, stems and any berries that are over or under ripe
- Put berries and enough water to just cover in a pot and cook until soft. This usually takes about 10 to 15 minutes
- Run the cooked berries through a food mill to separate out the seeds and skins from the pulpy juice
Turn fruit into jam
- Measure how many cups of berries you have, you will need an equivalent amount of sugar
- Check how much pectin you will need and measure this out. I like to use Pomona Pectin
- Get your canning jars and lids ready for filling
- Add the amount of calcium water needed to your fruit mixture
- Bring to a boil
- Add in the well mixed pectin powder and sugar
- Bring to a second boil and pour into waiting jars
- Process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes
Ripe and ready to pick
Enjoy!
Posted in Cooking | Tagged jam, Oregon Grape, wild edibles | 2 Comments »
Growing up in the desert in Arizona rose hips always sounded so exotic but now that I live in the Pacific Northwest I can find these vitamin C rich tasty fruits everywhere. While all bushes make hips, Rosa rugosa is the variety that has the biggest, sweetest fruits.
You can see why these fruits are also called “rose tomatoes”
They are ripe now and can be easily harvested. Be careful of thorns and make sure that no chemical sprays have been used.
This will be ready to be picked in a few more days. Hips are ripe when soft to the touch.
Rose hips contain 25 percent more iron, 20 to 40 percent more Vitamin C (depending upon variety), and 25 times the Vitamin A, and 28 percent more calcium than oranges!
Freshly picked rose hips
Here are my top three favorite ways to use these tasty and healthy fruits:
- Rose hip tea – you can use fresh or dried hips to make this comforting beverage. Just soak 3 to 4 hips in boiling water for 10 minutes then add honey or agave syrup to taste. This is great on a cold winter night.
- Dried rose hips – split hips, remove seeds and spread in a clean area until dry. Once thoroughly dry put in jars or bags. If not completely dry they will mold. These can be added to recipes or just eaten as is.
- Rose hip jelly
Seeded and ready to dry.
To make the jelly:
Ingredients:
- 3 cups rose hip juice
- 2T lemon juice
- 4 cups sugar
- One package of pectin
Directions:
- Wash the hips
- Remove the seeds
- Put fruit in pot and just cover with water
- Cook until soft then mash with a potato masher
- Put the fruit in a jelly bag or line a colander with a couple of layers of cheese cloth and strain out the liquid. To have clear jelly let the juice run out without putting pressure on the bag. This can take several hours.
- Combine the juice with pectin and lemon juice.
- Bring to a boil. Add sugar, boil hard for 1 minute.
- Pour into sterile jars then water bath can for 5 minutes.
Posted in Cooking | Tagged rose hip jam, rose hips | Leave a Comment »
Wire fences are functional but sometimes lack color and beauty. To beautify your fence or trellis try this simple trick of hanging glass between the squares.
To attach wire to the glass I use sticky metal tape.
Pick your glass from a stained glass store or if you are in the Seattle area, Bedrock Industries has a great selection. Cut two pieces of wire and lay them along the sticky side of the tape. Smooth them along the edges of the glass and fold the edges of the tape over to cover any rough edges and attach the wire.
Once wire is attached go wild!
Here is a dangly piece. Be careful if you do this as the wire can break and the glass may shatter.
Posted in Crafts | Tagged glass decoration, wire fence | Leave a Comment »
Opening up a drawer and smelling lavender always brings me back to visits to my aunt and uncle’s Montana ranch. Making these sachets is quick and easy and they last for months.
All you need is dried lavender and squares of pretty fabric. If you want a sachet with a stronger smell then you can add a few drops of essential oil but this isn’t necessary.
Strip dried flower buds from stalks.
Cut fabric to size of sachet desired then turn over edges and sew with the right sides together.
Turn right side out, fill with dried lavender then stitch or tie the open side.
All set!
Posted in Crafts | Tagged lavender, sachets | Leave a Comment »
Ripe and ready
Shrub is a drink that is sweet, tart, bubbly and cool; the perfect mixture for a hot summer day. The unusual name comes from sharab the Arabic word for syrup. This colonial era beverage was much sought after as it both quenched the thirst and preserved the fleeting flavors of summer fruit. It fell out of favor with the advent of soda pop but is now experiencing a resurgence as it can be enjoyed with bubbly water and ice or blended with alcohol for a unique and refreshing cocktail.
Ingredients
The three basic ingredients in a shrub are sugar, fruit and vinegar. Almost any type of fruit can be used and it doesn’t have to be in pristine condition. Most sugars will work but white refined sugar competes the least with the fruit flavors. Cider or red wine vinegar is usually used but if you have other types on hand give them a try and see how it tastes.
How to Make
Once you have your ingredients together you can either do a cold or hot process. To do the hot process mash the fruit, mix with the sugar and cook until you have a light syrup. (A third vinegar, a third fruit and a third sugar is a good blend.) Strain out the seeds, mix in the vinegar and store in the fridge.
One cup sugar
One cup red wine vinegar.
Berries ready for mashing.
One cup mashed berries.
To do a cold process mix the sugar and mashed fruit then let sit for a day or two in the fridge until the juices are coming out. Strain out the seeds, add the vinegar and put back in the fridge. This makes for a fruitier, fresher tasting drink than the hot process version.
Sugar mixed with berries ready for the fridge to sit and let the juices come out.
Strain out the seeds.
Sugar and berry juice mixed together.
Vinegar, berry juice and sugar all blended together and ready to mellow in the fridge.
This delightful blend will be quite concentrated so add in bubbly water or ice cubes before drinking. Gin pairs nicely with this raspberry version of shrub.
Mixed with ice and bubbly water the shrub is ready to refresh!
Posted in Cooking | Tagged raspberry, shrub, summer drinks | Leave a Comment »
The herb fennel is so plentiful and grows so well in the Pacific Northwest that some people think of it as a weed and do their best to eradicate it. Horrors! This plant is useful from its seeds to its roots and should be cherished!
According to Wikipedia this herb was well known to the ancients:
The word “fennel” developed from the Middle English fenel or fenyl. This came from the Old English fenol or finol, which in turn came from the Latin feniculum or foeniculum. As Old English finule, it is one of the nine plants invoked in the pagan Anglo-Saxon Nine Herbs Charm, recorded in the 10th century.
In Greek mythology, Prometheus used the stalk of a fennel plant to steal fire from the gods. Also, it was from the giant fennel, Ferula communis, that the Bacchanalian wands of the god Dionysus and his followers were said to have come.
Florence fennel has a wide bulbous base and is used sliced in salads, Bronze fennel is a decorative garden plant and common fennel is what is commonly found in local gardens.
Bronze fennel
Here are my six favorite uses of this versatile herb.
- I like to put the tips of the leaves in salads. If you use too much they can overpower more delicately flavored lettuces but a few sprigs give a nice anise flavor.
- The full leaves are good for garnishing dishes; they look especially pretty with salmon.
- The fennel flowers or “pollen” can be collected and the bright yellow powder can be dusted on pasta.
- The hollow stems can be cut into lengths and used as straws to add a slight licorice flavor to cocktails.
- Fennel seeds are a key ingredient in both Chinese Five Spice and in French Herb de Provence. The seeds should be collected when green then dried and either ground for Five Spice or sprinkled into the Herb de Provence.
- I love the flavor of toasted fennel seeds. To make them gather green seeds and over a slow heat in an iron frying pan roast them until they are fragrant and crisp. They can be added to granola, eaten to freshen the breath after a garlicky meal or used in cookies.
Seed pods from last year – what a waste!
How do you like to use this wonderful plant?
Fennel with Feverfew in front.
Posted in Cooking, Growing | Tagged Fennel, herbs | 3 Comments »
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Fall
Pack cucumbers in tightly and fill with brine.
Several different types of sunflowers thrive.
The pulp goes into the bucket to be pressed. Social