Garden Time For Me

Patches found a cool spot!

I have been having a productive week here working outside in my garden. It is sunny, warm and breezy. So not too hot and the breeze keeps those nasty little black flies (or better known as, "May Bugs" here in NY) away from me. Tell me, why do my cats have to get on my lap if I sit down to take a break? I tell them, "You are outside! Not the time to be sitting on someone's lap!" Every break I take, I have a cat on my lap.

Lemon Balm

The bed with the Lemon Balm is coming in good. This bed used to have chives and oregano in it too, now I don't see any of that. Just lots of lemon balm. It takes over the bed. I love it. Smells so clean and fresh. I add it to salads and make tea with it or add it to lemonade. Drying it for winter use too. I have more than enough for us.

Strawberry and Mint coming in!

Strawberries are already blossoming and that is usually one of our first crops here in NY. I have never had much luck with trying to make my own strawberry bed. This year, I have a plan from a picture I found on Pinterest. I am hoping that will work better for me. I'd really like a regular strawberry patch in my garden.

Apple Tree is in full bloom!

Working outside after our long winter is just so relaxing. I am doing physical work in the garden, which is now much harder for me since my knees became so bad. I think my desire to do it, makes me just do it. Hurting or not. I feel such a satisfaction of looking at my garden and watching my food grow. This is the only way to be able to afford the food we love. Not living on high carbs makes you eat more fresh food, such as produce from the garden. Salad is my favorite food of all! Fruit is next.

Raised beds in the backyard

I hope you are able to get out and enjoy some sunshine in your garden today. It is another benefit of gardening..........fresh air, sunshine, the music of listening to birds sings and the breeze flowing through the tree tops, exercise (if doing any activity like gardening) and soon, food from your own hard work!

Copyright © 2013 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2013  Kathleen G. Lupole

Perennials In The Garden

My strawberry plants.

When setting up your homestead, take into consideration the many plants that you put in your garden, and around your property, can be perennials. Plants such as strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, asparagus and rhubarb will get you started. And most of them are fruits! Most of my berries are wild, but I have planted some strawberries in the last few years. Adding blueberries this year, as well. We have wild ones but I want those bigger, plumper berries.

Rhubarb will take over if allowed!

Our rhubarb has been growing quickly and soon we will be harvesting it. As soon as the snow was gone, some of these plants were poking their sleepy heads up, as if to say, "Ah, spring!"

Chives, Lemon Balm, and Oregano!

Chives, lemon balm and oregano grow in this bed. They come up every year on their own. That is one of the reasons why I love them so much. They go by their own schedule! This is why I recommend adding perennials to your garden. Less work. If you want to work, wait until harvest time! Then you can work at harvesting and preserving your produce.

Asparagus bed *

I am planning on putting in an asparagus bed sometime. That is a plant that will give you plenty to harvest and you can freeze or can it. Looking at the prices in the stores, your best bet is to grow your own. I am eager to do this and think I have a little time to put it in yet. Our garden weather is cool and wet this year. So I will get them planted in a few weeks. You don't harvest them in the first year anyway.

Blackberries!

This is just a few of the perennials I have growing. Some such as the berries are wild but they give us plenty of food too. So if you can get your planting and work down, as you get older you may find your gardening becoming easier. Do you have any perennials growing in your garden? Are there any you would like to grow? Tell me about them! I love to hear how my readers are gardening to build up their food supplies! Please leave a comment and I will share it on this blog in a future post.

* Photo Source: Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this image under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
 

Signs Of Spring At Peaceful Forest Homestead

Rhubarb!

Spring time is in the air here in upstate New York! After the very hard winter we had this year, it is very welcome. Our snow seemed to take a long time to dissipate. In fact, along both sides of our road there is still snow. Even so, as soon as the snow is gone and probably if you dug down under, you will find signs of spring. Signs of new life coming up.

Strawberry Plants!

As I take a walk around my yard, even with chilly temperatures, there are many signs of plants that will give us food. Rhubarb is one plant that appears early. It will survive even freezing temperatures. My strawberry plants are also showing signs of life. I have already been eating the chives. They seem to have a sweet taste in the early spring.

Chives!

The bed with the lemon balm, chives and oregano is showing much new growth. This bed will fill up fast and I harvest from it all spring, summer and fall. The more I harvest, the more I get. These plants can all take over your beds or garden areas. But if you use them, then what does it matter? Share them if you have too much.

Lemon Balm & Oregano!

We have tiger lilies growing along both sides of our road. In many places along the state forest roads, they are plentiful. The lilies in this raised bed was given to me by one of my NY homesteading group members. It is not a tiger lily, but another kind. I think it is yellow, but I can't remember for sure. Tiger lilies along the road are showing their bright greenish yellow heads already too. People may not know this, but lilies can be eaten. The spring shoots are a wild food that is very edible. In fact, the entire lily plant, right down to the flowers and leaves can be eaten any time of the year.

Lilies!

It is so easy to start a bed of any of these early spring foods. I usually will dig a little into the ground to break up the grass, add some compost and put a plant in that and cover it over. I like to contain them by putting rocks around them to keep them neat and orderly. The strawberry plants are the only ones that seem to take over. I pulled up all the strawberry plants in my raised beds, because they became a jumbled mess two years ago. But you can see, they keep coming back!

I hope to have a good spring, and will post about the various plants I can forage and grow. It is good information to know, even if you don't need to use them presently. You never know what could happen. It is good to at least have foraged, cooked and ate some. That way, if you ever need to, you will know how to identify and cook them to eat. Share that information with your children so they will have that knowledge too!

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole

Lemon Balm: Food Or Medicine

Lemon Balm picked from my herb bed.

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) seems to be a herb that many people are curious about. I will be honest with you, I did not know much about it myself until I started growing it. A local lady had some plants to share on Freecycle so I went to her house and she offered me some lemon balm.

I planted it in the center of one of my raised beds. This bed is round, and I couldn't have any plants that I would need to dig around underground for, since this used to be our house's previous owners' dump. There were old rugs, tin cans and much, much broken glass in this bed. So I put big rocks around it in a circle of sorts, and added a lot of compost to it. I decided to use it for a herb bed so that all I had to do was to harvest  the herbs. Once they were growing, I would not have to dig around in the bed. It has worked great. I have chives, oregano, and a couple of flowers as well, as the lemon balm growing in it. The lemon balm though, will take over the whole bed if you allow it to. I cut it back often and harvest it almost all summer long. I also cut it way down in the fall after the frost has hit it.

Lemon Balm has a very good reputation, as it is a herb that many mothers will give to their children. It is known for being a relaxing herb and one that will relieve stress. Well publicized is the fact, that it relaxes you and will cause you to fall asleep if you are having trouble sleeping. It is also used for digestive upsets. But is used for far more than that!

Dried lemon balm stored in a tin.

I use it as a dried leaf tea or infusion. Infusions being made by adding about an ounce of it or so, to boiling water. I use a handful of the dried leaves and put in a quart size canning jar. Then fill the jar with boiling hot water and cap. I usually do it overnight and let it sit, at least eight hours. In the morning, you can strain out the herb if you choose or not. Add sweetening if you want and drink it through out the day. To make tea, put the dried or fresh leaves in a tea ball and add boiling water. Let it sit for a little bit and then take out the tea ball. Add sweetening or drink plain. Either way is good.

An oz. about a handful in a jar, add boiling water.

Lemon Balm extract has been found to contain acetylcholine. Acetylcholine is a messenger compound that is found to be lacking in the brain cell cultures of Alzheimer's patients. It has also been used for period cramps, headaches, toothaches, digestive upsets, nervousness, colds and sleeplessness. Poultices of the leaves are used for tumors, sores and insect bites. In Europe extracts of lemon balm are sold for genital herpes and cold sores. Germany approves it's use for sleeplessness stemming from nervousness, and also for digestive upsets. It contains 8 antiviral compounds, 8 sedative compounds and 12 anti-inflammatory components. The leaves contain antibacterial, antihistaminic, antispasmodic and antioxidant activity.

I also use it in cooking and adding it to ice tea for the lemon scent and slight taste. It is not as strong as a lemon, but it is a good addition to any dish. I notice that at times the lemon scent is stronger than other times. Sometimes I will cut long stems of it, and put it in the kitchen in a vase, just to give us that wonderful lemon scent in the house. So refreshing! Many times I add it to stuffing, potato casseroles, spaghetti sauces, chili, soups, stews. Just about anything, as it is not a real powerful lemon flavor. Fresh leaves are a welcome addition to our fresh salads all summer long. I make salads with a variety of wild, as well as my own homegrown greens.

Capped and wait overnight to drink.

I researched this information from various sources.  But my biggest and most reliable source, I use for all my herbal use for wild foods or medicinal plants are the Peterson Field Guides. This one is my constant use book, Eastern Central Medicinal Plants and Herbs written by Stephen Foster and James A. Duke. This book is exceptional! I highly recommend it if you are using wild plants for any use.

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

Clinical studies and double blind tests have not been done and are therefore not endorsed by the FDA. Information provided is for educational and experimental purposes only and my opinion only. If you have any questions, please consult your physician.