Tuesday, February 25, 2014

The Big Brook of Ostrander

Rebirth. The beautiful Northwest Pacific is waking up from its winter slumber! Cleavers and all sorts of green babies are popping their little heads out to great the coming of father sun! His return is much needed and much appreciated! It's my first day off since last month and I borrowed my friends dog who was as happy as I to romp up the valley to great the sun and run back down the hill to take a dip in the beautiful brook! We are refreshed and will sleep well tonight! I harvested a handful of cleaver to juice tonight. I am reborn!

Stopped by the local pub to use their wifi and publish my fantastic little journey back to life! My DNA is ecstatic! I am truly blessed! Namesta!

Sierra Nevada and pc

beautiful sky!







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Jean Jacket, Copper and Me

A beautiful day for my first day off in 24 days!

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Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Blizzard 2014; KTown Style! This was the first snow. It was light and you could shovel it with ease two days later....




...then, on the third day, it warmed a little and then snowed the wet snow. That, my friends, was a horse of a different color. We spent 2 hours getting sludge off of the roof. BH did the work, us girls swept the water away from the doors and knocked on the down spouts which were shooting little mud slushies that we'd clear and sweep, clear and sweep. Today, you can't even tell it was RAINING in the store last night. The day in the life.
...so in conclusion, my lovely little cleavers, chickweed and purple dead nettle were smuched under a goof foot of snow and sludge. My hyacynths are popping up as to say, yes! it is another day!
Namesta!
©Allisonians
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Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Purple Dead Nettle~ Lamium purpureum



~~~~~~~
GOOD INFORMATION; FROM LINK BELOW
"You can harvest dead nettle with abandon because it is an invasive weed from Europe that spreads like mad, much to the chagrin of landscapers and gardeners. Some botanists will dispute whether a given plant that appears to be purple dead nettle might actually be henbit, Lamium amplexicaule, but in terms of edibility there is no meaningful distinction, so munch away and call it whatever you like."

http://firstways.com/2011/02/17/purple-dead-nettle-a-weed-good-to-eat/
~~~~~~~
A Modern Herbal
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/n/nettle03.html

As for me?
I was cleaning a property last year. And had to know what/who this glorious creature was!? I pulled some and planted a smidge and it has come up with abandon in the middle of one of the coldest winters to date here (in my humble life's aproximation).
So, Purple Dead Nettle tea for me please!
And juice of Miss Cliver, oh, cleaver will do!
And salad of chickweed, a little will be, what I long for
as winter's fine hunger astonishes me more!
I drank a wonderful drink that I made of
Ginger, paprika, cinnamon and honey! It makes me thirst for more just thinking of it!
So
Blessings,
Green Blessings,
For you and for me!
Blessings,
Green Blessings,
Lets all meet for tea!

Tonight I make Dick Greggory's
'Always in the Soup'
It's calling me!
And hope to share and gather~~~
Wabi Sabi!

©Allisonians
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Banana This; Recycle Old Peels~ fertilizer or silver polish

There are things you can do with that old peel.

1. Do you have a green thumb? House hold plants and outside gardens require fertilization. A great way to give your plants nutrients is with a banana peel. The banana peel is very rich in potassium and phosphorus, which give that added boost to your plants soil, especially so with roses. Here is how to use a banana peel to fertilizer your soil for your plants. Remove the peel from the banana. Place the banana peel on a cookie sheet to let it air dry. Grab a paper bag or envelope. Crumble the dried banana peel and place it in the bag. Let the banana sit at room temperature for about two days. When your caring for your plant, give it a potassium treat of crumbled banana peel. Mix well in the soil to ensure the roots are fed evenly.
2. Have you been thinking about pulling out that old silver? Well there is no time like the present. Bananas peel can also be used to polish silver. Yes, polish silver. Take the old peels and place them in a blender. You want the peels to become smooth and creamy. Once they have, grab a cloth and small amounts of the creamed banana peel and begin polishing your silver. The shine will be breath taking.

SOURDOUGH STARTER with WILD YEAST

SOURDOUGH STARTER with WILD YEAST
Wild yeasts exist in the air around you and to some extent on the wheat berries. There are wild yeasts on grapes (unsulphured) and apples and other fruits. It is those wild yeasts which are 'captured' to make a sourdough starter. The process takes from 3 to 5 days. I wish I had specific amounts for you, but you could start with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour and mix in enough warm (not hot) water to make a thin paste. DO NOT make it too soupy. That, in fact, is the trick to a good starter, according to the French bread makers, and I think they should know. And after you've fooled around with the flour and water thing, you might wish to branch out into adding those unsulphured grapes, apples, sour milk, etc as a catalyst in order to capture other strains of yeast. Each of these strains has a slightly different taste. In fact if you move to another area, you might end up with a starter that produces an entirely different flavor. For instance, San Francisco sourdough bread is well known and has a distinct taste due to the wild strains in the air there. On day one you mix the flour and water (and add any catalysts to encourage fermentation) and place in a warm spot. After 3 days, the dough should be moist, inflated, and slightly sour. More flour and water is added (mixed in) and left to sit in a warm spot. After 2 days the process is repeated. Then the next day it is done again. Note the order: 3 days, 2 days, 1 day. At this point you should be able to make a loaf of bread using part of the starter and adding back what you took out in the form of more flour and water. Rule of thumb: Use about 10% starter to size of loaf. In the case of a 2 lb loaf this is a bit over 3 oz of starter (3.2 to be exact). For a 1 lb loaf 1.5 oz would be used. A book that describes this process in great detail is The Village Baker by Joe Ortiz, copyright 1993, published by Ten Speed Press, Berkley CA. If it's not still in print, try the used books stores, that's where I got mine. Or try your local library. If they don't have it, they might be able to get it for you. ©2008 by Ernestina Parziale

Thank You For Visiting!

Thank You For Visiting!
Have a Great Day!