Barbara Young enjoying the sunshine on the Sun porch with tropical plants.

The sun porch is a great place on sunny afternoons in winter. Barbara reads on her Kindle or sits and plays solitaire amidst the keiffir lime, curry tree, cinnamon, bay rum, allspice and other plants we over-winter here. Just behind her, here's the view, below.

The garden today. Most of the light snow is gone, still lots of green things growing.

Hope for spring, these jonquils are already this tall.

The exciting event this week was a friend of Josh's niece who lives in upstate NY, came to photograph us. She, Lois Bieliefeld, is working on what she calls, The Bedroom Project. She's traveling around the country, photographing people in their bedrooms. (Yes, she calls and asks first and makes an appointment). She's a professional photographer - you can see some of her work on her website, and the bedroom project is for both a gallery show and for an upcoming book. It's something she's been thinking about for many years, the idea of photographing people where they are most comfortable, and where they spend half their lives. No, it's not risque or erotic, just simple photos of people in their most comfortable room. She asked us, it sounded fun so she came. From here she headed into Arkansas, then Mississippi, over to Texas, through Oklahoma and north through Kansas City, photographing people in their bedrooms all the way. Here she is, standing in our bedroom.

Lois Bieliefeld in our bedroom.

Molly, who's always included in everything that goes on simply because she's so curious, laid in her bed, observing the photo process. Eventually she got in the photos, too.

Molly isn't quite sure about all those lights and cameras.

Lois photographed Barbara first, in her bedroom. You may notice the very large, fan-shaped lights. They run off of enormous (car battery size) photo batteries she carries with her.

Lois visiting with Barbara while she photographs.

More photos in Barbara's room.

Mexican oregano on the left, Sicilian oregano on the right.

In spite of 18 degrees and a dusting of snow, the Mexican oregano and the Sicilian oregano all came through fine. The flavor is different in winter, more dense and "darker" but still quite tasty. Most years they remain green throughout the year, just like thyme and rosemary.

Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) gets mistaken for forsythia, which blooms later.

The winter jasmine is in bloom this week, and will continue sporadically for the next couple of months. The second part of the Latin name, nudiflorum, refers to its lack of leaves when it blooms. It's always a cheery sight in January.

Romantic Kit for 10 makes 10 nice Dream Pillows.

So that's the news from the garden this week. If you're looking for a unique plant-related gift for Valentine's Day, we've got a special Romantic Kit for 10 on our website. Great for all ages and you create 10 little Dream Pillows to give. Check it out here. And if you want more information about Dream Pillows, visit my Dream Pillows blog. I've been writing about and creating formulas for Dream Pillows for over 20 years and have written 2 books on the subject.

Valentine's Gift, Dream Pillows

Tuesday, Feb. 8

We have a winner! Evangela Potts, a friend from long ago in the former Joplin Herb Club, emailed this morning to say the angel is sitting beside a clump of chives. "Vangie" as we knew her, was just a kid back then. In fact (and I didn't expect anyone to actually know the variety) she said it looked larger than most chives, and she was right. It's a commercial variety from Richters' Herbs called 'Grolou' which is larger, more prolific and an outstanding variety. Thank you everyone for your guesses and for checking out our website. And for Vangie's being the 5th one, we'll be sending her the Valentine Special Dream Pillow. And for anyone who wants to order one, order today and we can get it in the mail in time for Valentine's Day.

Since February is the month of Valentines, roses and Dream Pillows, let's have a contest. This is for anyone who is currently a follower of this blog (or for anyone who reads it and hurries up and becomes a follower).

In case you don't know how, just click the Follow button above the list of followers, on the upper right side of the blog. You'll be given several options, including signing up for a Google account (which is easy and nothing bad happens to you when you do, it's free and you won't get spam or anything) or you can follow anonymously. Of course I'd rather you follow publicly so I can know who you are but maybe you're in hiding and need to be invisible. Then follow the next step which is to say which way email account you would like to be notified when I post a new message on this blog. That's it. It's simple, painless and easy. Hit the Follow button.

So, the contest. I'm doing it for a couple of reasons. Actually three. First, I want to draw attention to our completely, newly redesigned website, LongCreekHerbs.com, easier to use, new photos, a garden tour and you can even download free photos of our garden for your computer desktop. We're proud of the nice changes and hope you will be, too.

Second, I want to promote our Valentine's Day Special. It's a Romantic Dream Pillow, with my Dream Pillows and Love Potions book, mailed to you or anyone you choose in a box stuffed with fragrant, dried roses and rose petals. It's a unique, thoughtful Valentine gift for your someone special. It's $14.95 plus shipping and you can see it on our Dream Pillows page.

And my third reason is to get more people who already read my blog, to sign up to Follow it.

This open to anyone who is a follower of this blog. The contest?

Take the Virtual Tour of our herb garden from the home page of our website. Send me the answer to this question: What is the plant the terra cotta angel is sitting beside?

Email the answer to me at Longcreekherbs@yahoo.com. The 5th email with the right answer wins.

And what is the prize? It is our Valentine's Day Special, mailed to you or someone you choose. There's still time we don't have a 5th email with a right answer yet.

Dream Pillows and Bhut Jalokia Peppers

We were honored and pleased to have our friend and last summer's intern/WWOOFer, Adam, come for a visit this week. Last summer he kept the garden in fantastic shape, planting, tending and harvesting throughout the season. Adam shares my passion for good food and cooking, so we cooked the garden all season long. Adam came to Long Creek Herb Farm a year ago last May, when I was still recuperating from my January surgery. He was a lifesaver for the garden! We convinced him to stay the summer and see the season through and enjoyed his wonderful spirit. From here he went on to Washington state to work on an organic production farm. He was only home for a short while to visit his father, and came by to see us. I was a bit embarrassed to show him the garden. With some back-pain issues this summer, and constant rain, it didn't look dressed and ready as it had when he was in charge. He harvested peppers, lemongrass and a variety of herbs to take back with him.

Our friend, Arne Arnsteadt, an organic grower in Ava, MO, sent this picture of his giant castor bean plants. He's dwarfed and looks child-size under the enormous canopy. He cut them down yesterday, resorting to a chain saw for the job.

I've been harvesting the pepper crop, trying to keep ahead of frost. We generally don't have a frost until Halloween, or after, and lots of fingers are crossed that will be true this year. My figs will ripen if they have another 10 days of warmth. This week it's been in the upper 70s and sunny, so the figs are racing to get ripe.

Here are a few of the pepper varieties I grew this year (click to enlarge to see the labels). My favorites this year include Jamaican Spice, Fish Pepper and a new one, the Elephant Tusk. I also grew a few plants of the bhut jalokia. If you were following last year you may recall that a jalapeno pepper is rated at about 2,500 ~ 8,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), a cayanne is rated at 30,000 ~ 50,000 SUs while an orange habanero is rated at 150,000 ~ 325,000 SHU and the bhut jalokia (also called naga jalokia) clocks in at a whopping 800,000 to 1,041,000 SHUs! While a habanero pepper has intense heat, it also has flavor, especially when moderated with mango, pineapple, peaches or cream, but the bhut jalokia has little flavor. It's simply the hottest pepper in the world, according to the Guiness Book of World Records. Here's what they say: "It was measured at 1,001,304 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), at the New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA, on 9 September 2006." So why do I grow it? Because I can!

Someone asked me on Facebook what allspice looks like, so I took photos today of my allspice, bay rum, lemon bay rum and cinnamon. These are the great little rooted cuttings I found when I was in Florida last February and they've grown a great deal this summer. I use the leaves for seasoning. With all 4 plants, I like to crush a couple of leaves in some heavy whipping cream and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. Next day I remove the leaves, whip the cream and add a bit of sugar. It's very tasty! The leaves work well in cookies and other desserts, too.

I moved all the plants out of the sunporch yesterday and sprayed each one with ultra-fine oil spray. I'd sprayed once already but it rained before I got the plants indoors and washed off the spray, then it turned cold. Within slightly over a week, mealy bugs had formed a community on one of the unsprayed plants, so to be safe, everything went out for a complete spraying. Now they're all tucked inside. They'll go out and get sprayed several times during the winter to prevent bug problems. Our cat, Squeak's daybed is right under the orchid shelf, just below the cinnamon and allspice plants. She whiles away the daylight hours curled up, dreaming.

One of my other jobs today was photographing some of our products. Our website is getting a complete make-over and the webmaster wanted fresh photographs. Squeak got to be a model for the Purr-fect Catnap Pillow with Catnip but she got so excited it interrupted her nap. I also took several photos of our various Dream Pillows and the Cat and Dog Cookie Kits, too.

If you're a retired English teacher and my occasional grammatical error bothers you, I'm sorry for that. I'm mostly sorry you can't read for content and intent, instead of criticism. I work long days, I stay up late, updating my blog. (The definition of a blog is, web diary, my thoughts, written to share). If you want to obsess over writing, check the writing format for Twitter messages. Language is a living thing, it grows and changes with the times.

Now, like Squeak, I really am off to dreamland! Happy gardening to all and thank you for checking in.

Plants in Bloom, Feb. 6, 09

Plants are tough. How could something withstand the ice of last week, the constant low teens temperatures, then with only a couple of days of warmth, burst into bloom? As soon as the ice melted off the edge of the pathway by the kitchen door, this cluster of snowdrops (Galanthus) was in bloom. They are the first spring bulbs to bloom each year and originated in Asia Minor.

Also in bloom today is the helleborus, sometimes called lenten roses, which starts blooming in January and often remains in bloom through the end of May. Extracts of helleborus have been used in folk treatments and experimental therapies in Romania and Germany.

The dragon's blood sedum (Sedum spurium) is at its best now, as well. In the summer you can't quite understand where it gets its name as it is just another greenish sedum. But in the winter, it turns a brillant dark crimson and "spills" out onto the rocks, like the spilled blood of a dragon. Dragon's blood is one of those interesting plants that will grow just about anywhere, from on top of a rock with only a thimble full of soil, to the edges of the lawn, in a rock garden, on top of an old cellar or between the bricks of a pathway. While it does bloom in summer, the flowers do not compare to the brilliance of the leaves in winter.

Henbit also begins blooming now. I know there are more gardeners who declare war on henbit than those who don't, but it's a "weed" that is so incredibly innocent it's hard to understand all the wrath thrown at it. You can look on Fertilome or Scotts products and see it listed as, "a noxious weed," which their product controls. Home owners spray herbicides on their lawns, or use a granular form, to eradicate the plant. The home owner buys the product, spreads it on their lawn and in a few weeks, the henbit magically dies. Oddly enough, henbit magically dies whether you spray it or not. It's season runs from early February through April or May, then it yellows and dies, whether you spray it or not.

Henbit really doesn't cause any harm to the garden, although it does take up space you may want for your lettuce or other early crops. Pull it and it's gone, without any poison chemicals required. However, since it begins flowering so early, it spreads lots of tiny seeds throughout the season and will continue coming up. If you leave it alone the plant will be covered with hundreds of small, lavender flowers. You may see it covering an entire lawn or roadside and it's attractive, then it dies in late spring and is replaced by other green growing things. Harvest some henbit and chickweed and cook up a pot of early spring greens. Serve it with a batch of cornbread and you've got a traditional Ozarks supper.

(And if you look on the side of the package of either Fertilome or Scott's weed products, you'll see photos of other very edible, very tasty, "weeds."

Or, if you have a handsome goat, like Mr. Billy A. Goat, here, he will likely eat any of the henbit you gather for him.

We have compost piles at the edge of the garden where we compost a lot of the garden debris, but many times it's easier to simply toss things over the fence, where Mr. Billy is waiting. He, and his herd of nannies, will taste, and often eat, any of the weeds or garden trimmings that get tossed to them.

February is the month for planting seeds for spring plant. Tomatoes, peppers, herbs, achocha, all those things that will get planted outside after danger of frost, are ready to be started now.

We're making Dream Pillows and Dream Pillow Kits in the shop and Valentine's Day is always a popular time for those. We have a few customers who buy our Kits for 25 and 50, and use them in nursing homes as a craft activity. The nursing home residents like making the Dream Pillows and the staff love it because everyone sleeps really well afterward. To read more about Dream Pillows' uses, check here, or go to our Dream Pillows page.

It's Electric!

Being without power for a week accomplishes making us all more grateful when the power finally came back on (Tuesday, noon). Thanks to Bill & Betty Daly, we were treated to heat, lights and showers in their comfy lakeside condo. It was like a vacation and very much appreciated.

Some of my seed potatoes arrived this week, and the potato seed (not to be confused with seed potatoes) from Nichols Garden Seed in Oregon, are up and growing. In spite of no light nor heat for days in the seed flats, these little seed came up. Rose Marie McGee at Nichols said she thinks the seed will product 'taters as fast as seed potatoes in the ground so it will be fun to see.

Shortly I'll be posting a page of used herb books I have to sell, along with seed. Watch for news. Meanwhile, with Valentine's Day coming, I've posted an entirely new blog about Dream Pillows with links to stories I've written and more. If you're interested in how Dream Pillows can help people who have nightmares and restless sleep, or how useful Dream Pillows are for giving pleasant dreams or romantic dreams, click on the Dream Pillows book at the upper right of this blog page.

I've been writing about, and creating formulas for Dream Pillows for over 20 years. It's not hocus-pocus, simply working with how our minds perceive fragrance during sleep.

Dream Pillows are made entirely from herbs and flowers. Some of my blends are based on formulas I adapted from books from the 17th and 18th centuries. The Restful Sleep blend was given to me by a pharmacist, the late Jerry Stamps. I was having nightmares and restless sleep over the loss of my children, 30 years ago (the story can be found from the links on the Dream Pillows blog). He made the blend for me and it really worked. It eased the nightmares and gave me better sleep almost immediately.

I even have a dream blend to use if you have guests who just won't go home. It will give them restless sleep and strong nightmares, the very first night. Next day they will be packing their bags and heading home.

All this, from flowers and herbs from the garden, and a lot of fun, as well.

If you want to give someone a Romantic Dream Pillow for Valentine's Day, or anytime, you can order here.

Pleasant Dreams and Restful Sleep to you.

Remember Electricity?

This may go down in the history books as the "Big Ice Storm of 2009." Tuesday it hit, ice all night, then sleet, then some more ice and freezing rain. Power went off that night but came back on Wed. morning. Then it went off, for certain. It's now Saturday afternoon and we still are without electricity.

Fortunately we'd put some water aside, just in case. But by yesterday we'd used most of that up, both drinking water and sponge bath and flushing water. We have heat, back up heaters of wood stove and propane wall heaters have kept us warm. Kerosene lights and candles lit the early evening. And we can light the gas cook stove for boiling and frying. By yesterday we'd started draining the hot water heater and emptying the water in the not so hot, hot tub. And talk of the ill fated Donner Party started to circulate.

Today, though, with none of us seeing much reason to get out of bed anymore, we decided to abandon ship. Our great friends, the Dalys, who live in Hawai'i but spend their summers at their condo on Table Rock Lake, have offered their space to us many times. So today, the idea of a hot shower, of news on t.v. of what's happened in the rest of the world this past week, just sounded too good to turn down. So, like the Beverly Hillbillies, we just packed up and moved to the city.

The road to our house still has not been plowed out. It's ice covered, with sleet on top, slush under that and ice under that. There are thousands of trees that have fallen across the roads and fences all over the county and lots of limbs down in our yard, too. Josh had cut several of the trees that had fallen across our road and yesterday, after 5 tries to get his car out of the driveway, and 3 exciting, sliding, swerving, spinning and frustrating tries at getting his car up the big hill above the house, he finally made it over THE hill. This morning, while the sleet/ice/slush was still frozen, we loaded up Barbara, agile at 93, and Molly, the dog, into the car and we all fled the scene and to Bill & Betty's comfy condo. We know just how those Clampits felt when they moved to Beverly Hills!

Without power we can't run the computers or ship products so we're almost a week behind in our shipping. If the power has not returned by Monday we'll ask our employees to work from another location for the day to get orders processed and ready to ship on Tuesday. We've heard that Carroll Electric, which supplies our power, had over 1,000 electric poles snapped off by the ice and it's unlikely they had that many poles on reserve. And farther down in Arkansas the ice storm was worse than here.

So all in all, we're fortunate and healthy. No potatoes will get planted this week, that's for sure. The lettuce, bok choy and onions that are already in the ground are covered by ice. The indoor plants from the normally sunny and warm sunporch are huddled together in the kitchen, awaiting warmer weather. With the temperature in ths 50s today some of the ice is melting but it will take a week for it to all go away and months to get the limbs and broken trees cleared away. Thanks for all the phone calls and nice comments people have left, asking if we're all right after the storm. We are, and doing much better now that we've all had showers!

All this going to bed at 6 and sleeping and sleeping, has given everyone a lot of time for dreaming. I started writing about dream pillows - those herbal mixtures that change the kinds of dreams you have - more than 20 years ago. You may run across some of my dream blends in herb shops around the country or find people teaching about them from one of my books. We offer all the bulk blends, dream pillows and supplies in case you're looking for something fun for Valentine's Day gifts. Romantic Dreams pillow would be a good choice. Or Pleasant Dreams for what I call, "a generic GOOD dream." Or possibly you know someone, child or adult, who has nightmares and trouble sleeping, and if so, Restful Sleep is the recommendation. You can find more information about dream pillows in various articles I've written if you click on the Jim's Columns button on our website and search through the postings.

With hot showers and warm beds, we bid everyone Pleasant Dreams for today.

Ravishing Rubies Red Hats

Ravishing Rubies Red Hats

We have several Red Hats groups visit the garden during the summer. Most bring sack lunches and make a morning of it. The Ravishing Rubies (aka Blue Eye Red Hats) came to visit and enjoyed a Dream Pillows workshop in the gazebo. Everyone made a dream pillow to take home and learned about the various herbs that effect dreaming. (All of the recipes for my formulas are in Making Herbal Dream Pillows, Storey Publishing).

They had cold pressed mint tea and Lemon Balm-Blueberry Cake for dessert after lunch. We gave out little envelopes with instructions to place the herbs I handed them (to smell and taste) into the envelope, put it on the dash of the car and they would have a potpourri record of the herbs they'd enjoyed. Alternatively, they could empty the packet into a pot of boiling water in which there was an couple of onion slices, a stalk of celery and a couple of pieces of chicken, and make soup!

Many of my dream pillow formulas are available on our website on the Dream Pillows pages, both as ready made pillows and as bulk blends for those who want to sew their own. We also offer Kits and individual Bulk Herbs for other projects, too.