Stinging Nettle

Stinging Nettle is one of those wild plants that you try to avoid when hiking or walking through the woods and creeks, but to the herbalist it is a plant very rich in chlorophyll and has tonic properties for hair and skin. When gathering, long sleeves and gloves are needed but after it is dried or cooked it can be handled with no problems. It can be found growing close to streams and creeks and prefers shady moist conditions. My eight year old border collie, Kate has developed some skin allergies so I will use the dried nettle on her food to help. Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable by Juliette Levy has more information for it's use if anyone is curious.

Dyers Coreopsis

The dyers coreopsis(calliopsis tinctoria) is starting to bloom. This is it's second year so it is 4 ft. tall. I will pick the flowers off every other day and dry them in a paper sack. The dried flowers are soaked and simmered for less than an hour and then  yarn is added after being mordanted with chrome.4 oz. of dried floweres will dye 1 pound of yarn or fiber to a nice brick red.

Kitchen garden update

Here is the Kitchen Garden that I said would be finished this spring. I still haven't transplanted all my herbs but am in the process.My THH(turkey hunting husband) did a wonderful job on the fence. One of the best features  NO DOGS!

Goat's milk ricotta

With all the fresh goat milk I'm getting, I've been making alot of soft goat cheeses. An easy one to make is ricotta. Ricotta is made from the fresh whey of cheese that you have just finished, in this case goat milk cheddar. The whey is heated to 195 degrees when another quart of fresh milk is added and then heated back to 195 degrees. The tiny Ricotta particles come to the top and it is ready to drain. I let it drain for about an hour, add a little salt and voila'. I think some homemade lasagna with some fresh spinach will be on the menu this week.

Silk Scarves and sisters

Last week my twin sister and one of her daughters and my oldest sister and her daughter(who live in Illinois), were at my house along with  Paige to dye some silk scarves. I mixed up some dyes and my neice cut up the bannana bread she baked and we dyed and ate ourselves into creative bliss. This is an inexpensive and fun way to make handmade gifts.

corn shucking time

It's been a long time since I've posted, what can I say,computer problems. The cold is finally giving me some rest from the outside responsibilities and time to spin and knit. Today my husband and I shucked our field corn that we have grown for cornmeal and brought it into the barn. What we don't want to keep we will feed to the chickens and turkeys. We planted the garlic last week and I sowed lettuce and spinach in the cold frame. The late cauliflower and brussel sprouts are almost ready and none to soon.

Goodness gracious garlic

Last week I harvested my late garlic, which is a stiff neck variety call Chesnok Red. My early garlic game out about a week and half earlier and it is a soft necked silver skinned(don't know the variety). Soft necked garlics keep better than the hard neck so I want to test this theory this winter and see. As you can see by the photo the hard neck did very well, some are as big as baseballs. I will be preparing the garlic bed for planting this fall by adding compost and rock phosphate. I will be planting  early, mid-season and late season garlics. I'm not sure of the variety yet but I really like the Chesnok Red.