Renee's Garden Seed Helps Kids

You may not know Renee Shepherd's seed, but I highly recommend them. I've been planting her seed varieties for years. Possibly you saw my article on her company in the current issue of The Heirloom Gardener magazine. If not, I want to tell you a little bit about her and what she does.

Renee is absolutely passionate about growing things from seed. It is her mission in life - teaching others to be successful growing vegetables, herbs and flowers. She carries non-GMO, heirloom and hybrid seed. She has trial gardens in 3 states, making sure every seed she offers in her catalog will grow in a wide variety of climates and conditions. And not only does she grow a lot in her own garden, she cooks with just about every variety, before recommending it to her customers.

Mixed veggie assortments.

She also offers some outstanding seed assortments. Usually I avoid "assortments" because I am stubborn and want to choose my own, so I order lots of seed packets every year and only use a few seeds from each one. But Renee does something really great, I think. Some of her seed comes in what she calls, "Rainbow collections." What that means is, instead of buying 3 kinds of zucchini, as in the photo above, left, all 3 are varieties are in the same packet! Same with red and white scallions, fall or winter squash, beets (as above in the Jewel tri-color beet collection.

This logo is on the bottom left corner of our website home page.

I also wanted to tell you how generous Renee is with kids and community garden projects. She makes donations to garden projects in the U.S. and several other countries, to help encourage people to grow their own food. We at Long Creek Herbs have been working with Reneesgarden.com for 2 years, in a project that generates money for the Health, Wellness, Environment School in Jonesboro, AR (read about that project in the posting just below this one, with photos of the kids and me cooking).

Since it is seed-ordering time, I hope you will consider going to our website and click on the button marked, "Buy Seeds - Help Children." You will be given a code to enter when you order from Renee's Garden Seed. For every $1 you spend ordering seed, she donates 25 cents to the kids garden project!

Renee is also working with the local Master Gardeners near the school with a fund-raiser for the garden, as well.

I hope you will visit Reneesgarden.com and look over the selections. More important, when you place your order, please do it through my website so the kids will receive a donation from Renee, thanks to your seed order.

And Thank You, for helping this wonderful kids' garden project by placing a seed order through my website!

Cooking with Kids

The kids gave me a personalized stool, with Renee's Seed packets on top.

If you've been following my blog, you know I'm a fan of kids garden projects, and I've been working with one in particular, the Health, Wellness and Environmental Studies Elementary Gardens, in Jonesboro, Arkansas. If you use the Search button on this blog, and look under "school garden," you will find previous stories and photos. (You can help this school by visiting my website and clicking on the button, "Buy Seeds, Help Kids.") Renee Shepherd at Reneesgarden.com is generously donating 25 cents of every dollar you spend buying seed, to this remarkable school. Click here for details, or from my home page of my website. This week I drove to the school for the honor of doing 2 classes with the kids, one with the  4th grade, one with the 5th grade. (You can also follow the school on FaceBook, just look for HWES school on FB search; they'd appreciate it if you "Like" them).

Boys making tortilla chips with chili powder.

The goal was to teach the kids how to use some of the herbs from their school garden. They'd picked rosemary for the cookies, chives and mint for the salsa, and one of their hens had provided eggs. The tortilla chips are simple: spray tortillas with a tiny bit of oil, sprinkle with chili powder, cut in strips and bake until crisp.

Ingredients from the school garden.

I can't talk without using my hands and we were discussing something really important but I don't remember what it was. While the kids worked on snipping and cutting and prepping, I mixed the cookie dough. Our cookies for the day were Rosemary-Orange Chocolate Chip.

You may not realize it but children's taste buds aren't fully developed like adults, so the taste of something like rosemary isn't something kids are drawn to. Kids primarily can taste sweet, sour, salty and bitter until they're in their teens or later. But if you introduce them to a flavor like rosemary, with another flavor with it - chocolate for instance, it is more pleasant for their tastes. So each of the children tasted a chocolate chip with a rosemary leaf

That's Melinda Smith, below, who teaches, organizes and oversees the garden, writes grants and everything else to keep the garden going and teachers involved.

Melinda demonstrating the safe use of knives.

These girls squeezed lots of lime juice for the Green Grape Salsa.

Once we had all the ingredients - green seedless grapes, lime juice, poblano pepper, mint, chives and diced green onion, I whirred it up in my handy little salsa maker.

The tortilla chips came out of the oven in time for the kids to all taste the Green Grape Salsa (from my book, Salsas, from Apple to Zucchini). Almost every child liked the salsa (and we made enough to take to the Craighead County Master Gardeners where I spoke that evening).

A favorable review from one of the 5th graders.

Recipe for Rosemary-Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
Grated peel from 1 orange

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
1 - Mix flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl and set aside
2 - Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl until creamy.
3 - Add eggs and beat.
4 - Add flour mixture, stirring well.
5 - Stir in chocolate pieces, rosemary and orange peel.
6 - Drop by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheets.
7 - Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Rosemary-Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies ready to bake.

It's fascinating to see kids excited about learning. This is a remarkable school, with some of the most creative and amazing teachers. Every trip I make to the school, 12 hours round trip, I come back saying if school had been that way when I was a kid, I would have loved school!

Great helpers, it was a fun day.

Winter Morning Walks

For quite some time I've been taking my morning exercise walks before breakfast. I recently learned while listening to a doctor on an NPR program, that walking immediately after breakfast did more to lower blood sugar levels than walking before. So I've switched - eat first, then walk. It makes sense and also appears to help.

Molly and Cricket

On my morning walks I go up into our woods, following the trails I've created over the years. Our two dogs are always eager for the walk. Molly, our 13-year old Jack Russell, and Cricket, also a Jack Russell, just 6 months old, have their own routines. Molly runs ahead then stops to make sure I'm coming. Cricket wants me to throw sticks for her to chase. One morning when Molly ran ahead, sniffing the ground, I saw 2 coyotes watching her. I yelled and they ran, but they've been marking the territory every day, attempting to claim it for themselves. My job this winter will be to start clearing away lots of underbrush so the coyotes don't have as many places to hide. They're a danger to small dogs.

Cricket's pose, anticipating a stick being thrown for her to chase.

Cattails in the pond.

My walk takes me past our little pond with cattails. In early spring I gather the young shoots just as they come up through the water. Steamed, the shoots taste a lot like sweet corn. Later, when the pollen is easy to gather, I mix it half and half with flour to make cattail pollen biscuits - from a recipe from my late friend, Billy Joe Tatum.

The cattails are fluffing out, the seeds soon to blow away on the wind.

Both Native Americans and early pioneers relied on this cattail fluff to stuff mattresses and pillows. It's light as a feather, bulky and a good insulation.

After a rain the fluff mats down, looking like wet sheep wool.

Once we've walked to the end of the trail, Molly decides it's time to go back home and get warm. She has checked out her territory and led the expedition and now it's time to turn around. Cricket, of course, is ready for another stick to be thrown for her.

What are we waiting for, we've walked, now what?

There's always something to see on our morning walks. I'm not sure whether the dogs enjoy it more, or I do. There's always something new to see, sometimes a hawk, or an eagle flying overhead. Some mornings I can hear the loons in the lake cove. It's good medicine, these morning walks.
Wishing you an excellent year ahead!

Bulk Herb Specials

As the year ends, we're offering some great bargains on our bulk herbs. We will still stock our Dream Pillow herbs and blends, as well as Moth-Repelling Blend and our Seasonings. But we're closing out the by-the-pound bulk herbs listed below


Long Creek Herbs Specials, while they last!

These are all fresh, organic, sealed, packaged, bulk herbs in the amounts listed. Once an item is sold, we will remove it from the list.

To order, call our office any time, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Central Standard Time; 417-779-5450. These items are not available through our website, only by telephone order.


You can visit our website and choose other books and products to combine with your order from the herbs below, and phone in the entire order so it will all ship at one time and save you shipping costs, if you wish. Thanks!

All herbs are organically grown, fresh, food grade and perfect for cooking crafts, etc.

Bay Leaf Whole - 2 lbs avail; approx. 40 cups/lb; - Reg. price $19.95 lb.--Sale $10 per lb.

Cajun Spice blend - 3 lbs avail; ----------Reg. price $12.50; --------------------Sale price $5

Celery Seed, ground - 1 lb avail; ----------------Reg price $6.40 ----------------Sale price $3

Celery Seed, whole - 1 lb. avail; ----------------Reg price $6.35 ----------------Sale price $3

Chamomile flowers (tea/crafts) - 2 lbs avail; ---Reg. price $18/lb; -Sale price $9 per lb.

Cinnamon sticks (10 inch)- 1/4 lb avail; ----Reg price $19.95; -----------------Sale price $5

Cumin Seed powder, 1 lb. avail; --------Reg price 7.90; -------------------------Sale price $3

Curry powder blend - 2 lbs avail; -----Reg price $14.50 -----------------Sale price $5 per lb.

Garlic Salt - 1 lb avail; ------------------------Reg price $4.50 -----------------Sale price $2.50

Horseradish powder  - 1 lb. avail; ----------------Reg price $9.90 --------------Sale price $4

Lemongrass (c/s) - 1 lb avail; approx 11 cups/lb-Reg price $15 lb; -----------Sale Price $7

Lemon Peel - 1/2 lb avail; approx 8 cups/lb; ----Reg price $17.50 lb; --------Sale price $4

Lemon Pepper - 1 lbs avail; --------------------Reg price $14.20 -----------------Sale price $7

Orange Peel - 1/2 lb avail; approx 8 cups/lb; ----Reg price $8.50/lb; --------Sale price $3

Paprika - 2 lbs avail; ------------------------Reg price $9.40/lb;  --------------sale price $4 ea

Pickling Spice/Shrimp Boil - 1 ounce packages -------- Reg price $2 ----Sale price $1 each

Poultry Seasoning (contains sage, rosemary, thyme)- 1 lb. avail; Reg price $9.40; --Sale price $4
 
Thai Seasoning blend - 1 lb avail; ----------------Reg price $14.20 ----------Sale price 5.50

White Ceremonial Incense Sage - 1 lb avail; ------Reg price $65/lb; -------Sale price $12

To visit our website, click here. 

Wishing you a wonderful New Year ahead. Thank you for visiting my blog. 

Garden in winter, waiting for spring.

 

C.L. Fornari Radio Show

They always look so innocent.

I'm fortunate, and very grateful, that I receive occasional invitations to be a guest on radio shows. I take those invitations seriously and have never been late, or missed, a radio program. Until this week. However, before confessing my recent transgression, I have to tell you about a near-miss just weeks ago, with another station. I mentioned in an earlier post of being a guest on the Felder  Rushing radio show that airs across the South. I've been on his show several times and it's always a pleasure; he is generous in mentioning my products and books. That day, he mentioned our Frankincense & Myrrh Kits and they've been flying off the shelves every day since.

Felder Rushing

Just 15 minutes before he was to call me for the interview, I received a phone call from one of our employees, saying, "The goats are out and in the garden!!" My garden holds my plant collections, things I have developed, collected or worked with for years. If you aren't aware, goats love the same plants people love, and will eat with wild abandon. I made a frantic dash for the garden and chased, cajoled, begged and pleaded, finally giving up and running indoors, out of breath, just as Felder called to say, "You're on the air." Huff, puff. Barely on time, but successful.

Just two weeks later, last weekend, I was to be on the C.L. Fornari radio show (WXYK 95.1 FM). What an honor to be invited as a guest on her popular show. She is an outstanding speaker on garden subjects, a writer, blogger and all around garden expert, fielding calls from gardeners across the East Coast. I looked forward to being on the show, I even downloaded her photo you see, below, so I could "see" her while we were talking.

C.L. Fornari, Garden Guru

Once again, the goats' mischievous psychic powers took over. We have 12 goats, and when one or more get out of their pasture, one of two things happen: either the entire herd follows, which is the usual occurrence, or a few escape their fence and the rest come to the nearest fence to the house and tattle on the others and keep it up until we come and put the escapees back into their pasture.

Sure enough, I was late for the radio show. I was to be on at 8:05 Central Time, to be on for 20 minutes. I arrived instead, at 8:20, embarrassed and out of breath. Since it's a call-in show where people can ask gardening questions, I briefly considered starting off with, "C.L., I have a garden question. What do you suggest when you are to be a guest on a popular radio show and you have a dozen goats eating your garden?" However I thought that would be both foolish and disrespectful at that point. It was no joking matter, I was late. C.L. had been talking about my books and my website, and giving away some books to callers while she'd been waiting. She was gracious and generously gave me the remaining time left on the show. But I was so sorry to have missed the excellent opportunity she had given me. I hope you will visit her garden blog here.

Culprits, looking so innocent.

But that's life on the farm sometimes. We defend the garden from pests, sometimes even the 4 legged ones with horns and sometimes lose track of time chasing and cajoling. I am fortunate to know such wonderful garden folks like C.L. Fornari who invite me to be on their shows from time to time. The goats are getting better fences this winter. Holiday greetings to all and thanks for stopping by.

Frankincense and Myrrh Kit

Garden Author Dumpster Dives

Ellen Spector Platt

I've known Ellen Spector Platt for many years through the Garden Writers Association (GWA) to which we both belong. I knew of her even before that from her books, Easy and Elegant Rose Designs and some of her other books and magazines. You can read more about Ellen's work, books and background here. This year, in Tuscon, Arizona, at the GWA conference, Ellen unveiled her newest book, Artful Collage and Found Objects. The book demonstrates her amazingly creative design talents.

A fancy and highly creative way to make an elegant frame.

Ellen has been a gardener for many years, growing decorative flowers and herbs on her farm in Schuylkill County, PA She now gardens on an 18th floor garden in New York City. She is a part time instructor at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and also at the New York Botanic Garden. Ellen describes herself as a, "dumpster diver" and uses things she finds on the streets and even in dumpsters, for the collages in her book.

Everything seems fair game for Ellen's art. She combines seed pods and pressed flowers from her garden, with magazine clippings, photos and found objects and makes them world-class works of art.  

Not only is this a beautiful book with fascinating artwork, she shows you how she made the pieces so you can create a garden collage from your own materials. This book is a lot of fun and if you would like a chance to win a copy, leave a comment (click the word, Comments, at the bottom of this post and follow the instructions to post your comment).

One name will be selected at random from the comments posted.  Check back on this page for the winner's name. You will have to contact me with your mailing address, otherwise I have no way of contacting you directly. The book giveaway ends on Wednesday, Dec. 19, so be sure to leave your comment.

How Dangerous are Your Christmas Plants?

 

Every year we hear warnings about how poison some of the Christmas season plants are said to be. Some of the fears have merit, while others do not. For example, poinsettias - stores sell these plants with a warning attached, “Caution, don’t allow children or pets eat poinsettia leaves because they are poisonous.”

The truth is, poinsettia leaves taste simply awful. Not just because the growers spray the plants with lots of chemicals to keep away insect pests, but more importantly, the sap from this plant is bitter and burns the tongue. Puppies and children aren’t likely to eat anything that tastes so bad, and some studies have shown that a toddler would have to ingest 250 poinsettia leaves to cause a serious problem. The solution? Don’t put the plants where kids and pets can get to them.

Mistletoe also has a bad reputation. Nearly all the mistletoe you’ll find in stores is plastic, but if you were to go out into the Ozarks woodland and find your own mistletoe, here’s the scoop on that so-called, “poisonous” plant. If the white berries fall onto the floor, sweep them up. Even a few berries can be dangerous for a toddler, but if you’ve ever noticed fresh mistletoe, there aren’t many berries on a sprig of mistletoe. Solution? Pick the berries off before hanging, or sweep them up immediately when they fall.


By the way, mistletoe has been used in folk remedies for centuries. Injectable mistletoe extract is used in Europe but not licensed for use in the U.S. but should not be used without medical supervision.

Holly is said to have “potentially poisonous” red berries. If someone eats several, it’s true, they’ll have a reaction - vomiting. Hollies are botanically speaking, in the Ilex family of plants. That includes one variety named, Ilex vomitoria, meaning, it causes vomiting and was used by doctors in the 1800s to induce vomiting, believed as a cure. One berry, eaten by a kid or pet, isn’t likely to cause problems, but 20 berries could be fatal to a toddler if left untreated. The solution? Sweep up the berries or keep them away from toddlers.

Bittersweet

Bittersweet, which grows along our roadsides is also listed as poisonous. The unripe berries are the more toxic part and contain solanine which can slow heart rate and cause drowsiness and headaches. They are also quite bitter. Toddlers or small puppies could possibly taste the berries should they fall onto the floor. With roadside spraying and fence clearing, it’s not that easy to find native bittersweet any more.

Using common sense, like keeping these plants away from toddlers and puppies, is always a good choice. If berries or plant parts fall on the floor, sweep them up. None of these plants are poison to the touch, none are tasty or tempting from their flavor and should be enjoyed for their color and long tradition as festive holiday plants.

You can find lots of useful, money-saving information about folk remedies in my book, My Favorite Home Remedies That Work. It's $6.95, plus shipping and we ship promptly. Click here to order.