My friend gave me these beautiful dandelion greens from her CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm box.  Of course, I took them, cause you know how much I love green food, and wild stuff.  Not sure if these are wild or cultivated.  

 

I haven't ever seen dandelion greens this big, and I wasn't sure how to prepare them.  So I went looking through all my cookbooks:  Not much there, except, it did say to use the young leaves, because they are the most tender.  What do you think?  How can I tell if they are young?  Fresh, I can see.

 

I'll start by adding the little ones to today's salad, then cook what's left.  Keep checking back, I'll let you know if you should try them.......or not.  ;D

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is Chris's dog, Isabella.  She had fun planting with us.  She ran, she played, she chased us.  She wore herself out!!!  But you can see that she is satisfied with the work we did.  Isabella approved!

 

Did I tell you that we planted 100 daffodil bulbs?  WE DID!!!  In this garden alongside day lilies, at the top of the driveway, and all over his hillside.  Looking forward to spring!!!  It's going to be SO pretty!!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

What a gorgeous day to be in the garden.  We spent Friday morning with Al and Chris planting daffodils in Al's garden.  This is the best time to plant spring flowering bulbs, because it's still nice enough weather to work in the garden, and the ground isn't frozen yet.  

 

It doesn't look like much right now, but just wait til March when all those daffodils bloom!!!  I also planted 10 cloves of garlic along the back edge.  They'll come up in the spring too, and be harvested in late June.  

 

If you haven't planted your spring flowering bulbs yet, do it soon.  The cold is coming, and it's really NOT fun planting when you're cold.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

We were on our west facing deck a couple days ago, thinking how beautiful this fall has been.  It's well into November and the colors are still bright.  

 

As we were sitting there, the clouds parted just in time to light up the hills, and let us see the sunset.  Wish you were here.

 

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!

 

I know this isn't a particularly pretty picture, but it does help me make a point.  So take a good look, cause I want you to be able to recognize it even when it has no leaves.  

 

This is what POISON IVY looks like in winter.  After it has dropped all its leaves, it is just a nasty vine growing up the trees.  See all those hairy red roots clinging to the tree bark?  Not all vines climb trees like this, but it is very typical of poison ivy.  And we have lots of it here. This is on the Creekside Trail.

 

All parts of poison ivy contain a nonvolatile oil, urushiol, which causes inflammation of the skin.  ALL PARTS, including the roots!!!

 

SO BE SAFE, BE CAREFUL, AND DON'T TOUCH IT!!!  

 

 

 

 

Nancy and I went for a walk in the woods on Sunday.  What a beautiful sight.  Everywhere we looked, something caught our attention.  The Maple and Beech and Oak  trees are bursting with color, and the creek is running.  We stopped often with mouths agape, enjoying the sights and sounds.  It felt like therapy after a long stressful week.

 

It reminded me of a word I read in a magazine:  SHINRIN-YOKU.  It is a Japanese word that translates to 'forest bathing.'

 

Forest bathing is just one of many Nature Therapies, including garden therapy, and ocean therapy.  They are exercises and activities that improve our health by being  immersed in Nature.  These therapies can restore our mental and physical health, and extend our lives.  If you'd like to read more about Nature Therapy, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_therapy?wprov=sfti1   The article is very interesting.

 

We are so fortunate to live here in Five Forks.  All we have to do is step outside and we are in the forest.  We have safe roads on which to walk, and the Creekside Trail is beautiful in all four seasons.  

 

I hope you are getting out into nature every day, and breathing the fresh air.  Think of it as therapy.  It's free, and we don't even need to go anywhere to get it.

 

 

HAPPY NOVEMBER!!!

 

 

 

 

It's that time of year!!!  Time for the Camellias to bloom.  This one is Camellia japonica, species: unknown to me.  

 

Camellias are very interesting.  There are several common species:  Camellia japonica, with large glossy leaves;  Camellia sasanqua, with smaller glossy leaves; and Camellia sinensis, the leaves of which are used to make Lipton (and other brands of) tea.

 

Japonica and sasanqua Camellias are well suited to grow in western North Carolina.  They like the climate, and they have many uses in the landscape.  The larger japonicas are great for focal plants, growing up to 10 feet, and blooming from fall into spring.  Sasanqua Camellias are smaller and often used as hedge plants, sheared gently to allow their natural growth habit to shine.  They also bloom from fall into spring.  

 

The Sinensis Camellias are tropical and subtropical, better suited to hillsides in China.  They grow low to the ground, and the leaves are harvested when they are very young.  The leaves are dried, and used to make white, yellow, green, and black teas.  Interesting, huh?

 

Deer proof?  Somewhat, because the leaves are kinda tough.  But, not totally;  when their favorite foods are scarce, deer will eat anything.  Some people put little cages around their Camellias, so the deer can't get to them.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

Photo of WWI veteran, Joseph Ambrose (1896-1988) here attending the dedication parade for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982, holding the flag that covered the casket of his son, Clement, who was killed in the Korean War.  I copied this picture from Wikipedia.  It is priceless.

 

 

Today is Veterans Day:  the eleventh day of the eleventh month, and has been recognized as a day of remembrance in the United States since the end of World War I in 1918.  On November 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the armistice, Woodrow Wilson issued a message expressing what the day means to Americans.  Please go to    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_Day?wprov=sfti1    and read for yourself what he said.  

 

At first it was called 'Armistice Day,' commemorating the end of World War I at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month.  It is still is called 'Armistice Day' in other countries, but in 1954 it was renamed 'Veterans Day' in the United States.  It is a day to celebrate the service of all U.S. military veterans.  

 

 

To all our veterans:  THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!!!  

 

Check out this Denver Daisy growing in Roxanne's rock garden.  It's not even planted in the garden; it's growing out of the rocks.

 

Those two are amazing.  They can grow anything.  I love their garden.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

photo:  compliments of Wikipedia 

 

 

Remember all those trees that fell down last week from hurricane Zeta?  Well, some of them on Beaconhill were White oaks:  the most desirable logs for growing shiitake mushrooms.  

 

Since August, I've been looking for white oaks to cut down, in order to plant my mushroom spawn plugs.  So now we don't have to cut down anything.  They fell over in all the wind.  And FREE for us to harvest.  Jon got out his chain saw, and cut several 3 foot logs.  Now all we have to do is plug them.  

 

The process seems simple enough;  and in a year or so we'll have mushrooms, growing in our own backyard.  I'll let you know when they're ready to harvest.  I have an idea that, just like the garden, it all happens at the same time, giving us more than we can possibly use.  

 

We're planting shiitake, red reishi, and chicken of the woods.  I'm SO excited to try something new.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!