Our New Herb Garden

 This is a sphere our daughter-in-law, wife of our youngest son, welded. She welded this sphere out of horse shoes our son removed from horses to replace their worn horse shoes. Every amazing item our beloved daughter-in-law welds is composed of used horse shoes she has to clean of rust and dirt before she can even begin to create her works of art. There is a whole lot of hard and very dirty work involved in simply making the horse shoes usable in her horse shoe compositions.

 My husband built the pergola in the background last year. This year he made an herb garden. The main feature of our new herb garden is the two spheres welded by our daughter-in-law, and the herbs.

 We are going to mount the spheres on tree stumps from our woods, soon.

 The herb garden also borders the driveway and our front yard. The sidewalk divides the herb garden from the front yard and walkway from the driveway.

 My old cat Miss Marple likes to sun herself in the new herb garden.

Even more is going on in the back yard and gardens. Our deck was rebuilt last year, we are in the process of making an outdoor kitchen/cooking/eating area now. Life in this part of Washington is coming to terms with the high and dry summer heat and learning to live with it and love it.We will have a covered eating area near the barbecue and smoker.This corner of our new (replaced) deck is where I've placed pots of herbs and flowers that will be moved later when our outdoor kitchen is done. My new chicken house is the building seen here in the background.

Life here has been glorious, we're so happy and blessed to live here. We're enjoying the many blessings of being near our sons and their families and also, now that we're retired , we're enjoying and appreciating the ability to set our schedule and time for ourselves. ( Hey, if we want to take a nap or just kick back and read a good book, we can !)

We have made many changes to our new home and farm for the better. We've improved our pastures, made vegetable and herb and flower gardens. My husband has invested much time and money in making our bee yard better for the bees and for increasing our honey production. Our poultry yard provides more eggs than we can use, but we're able to share the bounty with family and neighbors. My sheep have increased beyond my wildest dreams simply because sheep really do thrive on pasture ... amazing ! My husband and I love our new home more than we could have ever anticipated and I am thankful beyond what I can express. God is so good !

Thursday Tea In The Garden ~ Blue Bottle Herb Garden



Summer is here and it appears the extreme heat we're experiencing is here to stay until fall. I have been out working in my gardens early in the morning . I did not have tea in the garden, instead I had my morning coffee loaded with real cream. I remembered my garden hat too. I have suffered heat sickness far too many times in my life to risk being miserable simply because I forgot my hat.

 The morning is a good time in the herb garden. I have a bright blue umbrella to shade me and so much to watch as I sip coffee, tea, or cold beverages. My husband & I often read there together in the early evenings.

 I hung a little pocket of sedums on one of the blue bottle trees.

 The sage , lovage, and oregano are growing and ready to pick for yummy summer meals.

 My chives , transplants from my husband's father's garden many years ago, needed pruning. I've cleaned and chopped the prunings up for the freezer to plop into stews and soups later. The chives will grow up again soon for more fresh cuttings.

 This old chair sits at one of the gates to the garden and opens up into wet land where wildlife seems to thrive. Coyotes and raccoons also love to use this area as access to our poultry and livestock.

 Red squirrel helping herself to the sunflower seeds from the feeder we keep full. She appears to be a nursing mama and was not at all afraid of me. She ate seeds as I watered my herbs within a few feet of her.

 A little brown bunny ate herbs and fallen birdseed while I sipped my coffee. She was not afraid of me either.

" I myself have a coffee memory . It works best when fed large quantities of freshly roasted and ground caffeine. Early in the morning it's the only way it works at all. " A.J. Orde
 You might enjoy sipping your tea or coffee while visiting Judith *'s  Lavender Cottage Garden and for an enchanting armchair trip to England check out Nib's End *. 

Comfrey Balm ~ Green Goo of Goodness

 Step into my herb garden and you'll see my blue-bottle tree , a blue bird bath, a dovecote my husband built me that houses a pair of white doves, and many herbs that grow abundantly all year long with little tending. Comfrey is one of those herbs. Sometimes it is considered almost a weed for it's ability to thrive and take over a flower or herb bed. I don't have a problem with that though because any comfrey I don't keep for our pantry or medicine chest is promptly pulled up in the fall and fed to our sheep and chickens. They LOVE it ! We can't grow enough for them.

 

 Comfrey ( Symphytum officinale ) ointment for bruises and cuts. It encourages the growth of scar tissue. " 'New Book of Herbs ' by Jekka McVicar.   Here is a comfrey plant that grows in the shade of the dovecote. You can see the slugs love to eat it too. I am going to show you a simple healing balm recipe using comfrey. First I cut baskets' full of comfrey, washed it and then dried it all in my small dehydrator. After I had a few gallon ziplock bags full I stored most in my pantry for future use, then I began to make my healing Comfrey Balm. You will need 1 pound of petroleum jelly or soft paraffin wax  and 2 ounces of dried or 5 ounces of fresh comfrey leaves.

 Melt the petroleum jelly in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water. Add the comfrey leaves and simmer, stirring constantly for about an hour.

 Here you can see the petroleum jelly is dark green and the simmered comfrey leaves look like spinach.

 Pour the mixture into a jelly bag or strainer , squeezing and smashing the leaves to get as much liquid out of them as possible, after all, it is the healing properties of the comfrey you're after for the balm.

 I poured the comfrey balm into the jar the petroleum jelly came in and store it labeled and covered in the refrigerator. It can be kept and used for about 3 months. So there you go, some wonderful Green Goo of Goodness !

I use this balm all the time for my feet. I have always had very dry feet that crack and bleed all year around and this truly soothes and heals them. I also use the balm on my other cuts and bruises. For years before I made a balm I would cut the comfrey, chop it up and simmer in a pot of boiling water, cool a bit, and soak my hurting feet in it. You can do that too, but this balm is so simple and affordable, much better than so many other healing creams you pay a lot for in the stores.  Comfrey grows very well in city lots and suburban yards too.

 A baby comfrey plant popped up in the oregano & thyme.

Comfrey : " This invasive plant may be considered a weed by many, but the nutrients it contains are useful to an organic gardener. The leaves are naturally high in protein, potash, and potassium, and make a wonderful mulch or liquid fertilizer. Medically, its potential for healing external wounds and broken bones is unchallenged, hence its common name "knitbone" and "boneset". Currently one of the key constituents ,allantoin, which stimulates the growth of new cells , is undergoing research. Do not take comfrey internally unless it has been prescribed by a qualified herbalist. "  'J McVicar  New Book Of Herbs '

I am linking with *

Herbal Favors for the Table ~ Thursday Ladies' Luncheon

 A very simple & practical table adornment you can give your guests to take home with them. A herbal gift that offers guests something pretty, practical, and useful .

 This Thursday Ladies' Bible Study I am featuring in my Tea-Cup Tuesday post was very special. The lesson was one I have taken to heart and impressed me with truths from God's word ( the Bible ) that has impacted me in many ways I may relate later. ~Anyway, I cut herbs from my herb garden to adorn each place setting the night before the study / luncheon and formed them into 8 bundles, each containing rosemary, thyme, and sage wrapped with burlap and tied with raffia.. I put each bundle in a bowl of water to make sure the sage did not wilt, then decided the individual bundles grouped together looked pretty good. I didn't need a fancy centerpiece, I'd keep the short herbal bouquet that way until my guests were leaving. They were each able to take away their bundle of herbs to possibly be used for their upcoming Thanksgiving dinner.This tiny bundle can be stuffed into a chicken or turkey as is ! If my guests are not roasting poultry, the herb bundle can be hung in the kitchen, dried, and used for any other recipe calling for such herbs. Practical too.

 We also celebrated my daughter's birthday , along with sharing encouragement and inspiration in God's word. ( the Bible ) A special blessing is to have one of my granddaughters at the table with us, reading aloud the scriptures, learning from older women about what is truly important.

The china I used in this table-setting is Rosebud Chintz by Spode. The china was a precious gift from my Aunt Ruby. Our luncheon consisted of shrimp pasta salad, deli sandwiches, tossed green salad, and birthday cake for dessert. There was coffee, peppermint tea, and cranberry juice to sip as we ate.

I enjoy the many tea-time blogs & posts I read from so many other ladies. I especially appreciate seeing how they use the china and teacups they are richly endowed with being used practically. Using the lovely china and tablescapes to set a table for sharing good times, celebrating family & friends, to encourage and uplift people in their lives. Do you have a friend, relative, or neighbor who would be cheered and delighted to be invited for a cuppa and a snack ? If you need any inspiration for a tea-time recipe & good time then check out the blogs listed below.( Just remember you don't need anything fancy , expensive, or even too much fuss to offer what is most important, hospitality that shows you simply care ).

* Sandi
*Terri
*Martha
*Bernideen
*Antiques & Teacups

Blue-Bottle Herb Garden

 The dovecote my husband built me for my herb garden makes me happy . I especially love the detailing in the roof ridge that mirrors the roof ridges he put into our larger dovecote , the goat house, and also the grape & kiwi arbors.

 I keep only 2 doves in my herb garden, my Blue Bottle Herb Garden. You can see how we decided on the name...

 ...there are blue bottles everywhere in this garden.

 These blue bottles are holding the prongs of upside down tomato cages together to form supports for my comfrey . Comfrey loves to get big and floppy , and does so very quickly, often taking over this shady corner of my herb garden if left unattended too long. I use a lot of comfrey for my livestock, poultry, and also make poultices out of it for my feet which have a tendency to get very dry and crack & bleed. Comfrey poultices are great for this. ( I will do another post on this later.)

 Our dog Hawk keeps me company as I weed the garden.

 This old bike holds an old milk crate stuffed with blue bottles and flowers. It is leaning up against a picture window we had to replace after a big earthquake here a few years ago caused the window to split & crack. I like the window in this garden and it helps  keep the woods on the other side of the garden fence at bay.

 Fennel has a lovely licorice scent and thrives in my garden. The fennel has seeded itself in other parts of the herb garden too. It is like growing feathers ! You can see some of the sage and Lady's Mantle growing at the foot of the fennel.

 Lovage also thrives here. I have metal cages and stakes around and through the lovage to keep it from bending and breaking. I love this herb. It tastes like celery, the leaves are yummy chopped up and used in salads, eggs, soups. Anything celery adds flavor to would benefit from lovage. It has a little stronger celery taste, so not too much is needed. The stems grow up to 6 feet in my garden and are hollow so if you strip them of leaves ( or not ) you can use the stems as straws in any drink you might garnish with celery such as tomato juice, delicious!

 My rosemary grows quickly in this garden, and thrives all year, even in the coldest winters. Since my older rosemary plants are now unruly bushes I decided to start 2 new rosemary bushes and encourage them to be more orderly and well-behaved. I placed a large tomato cage upside down over rosemary planted in a large pot. The blue bottle holds the prongs of the cage together. I like the touch of blue it adds.

My blue bird bath sits in the thyme portion of the garden, along with a sun-dial ( not shown here). There are several varieties of thyme in this garden and when they bloom it looks like the bird-bath is perched on a beautiful carpet of color. Our honeybees love the thyme garden especially. My Blue Bottle Garden is a source of herbs my husband and I use for cooking . Some of the herbs are especially beneficial to our health. The garden is also a place of delight on sunny days to soak up the sights, sounds, and scents of Cedar Pond . God is so good and we are truly blessed !

I am joining the Thursday Farm Blog-Hop*. Please check out all the blogs offering useful and inspirational information regarding all things farm,gardening, crops, food preservation keeping poultry & livestock...decorating too. You don't need to have a farm to appreciate all you can learn as you visit these blogs !*

Duck Eggs With Lovage & Chives

Eggs, farm fresh eggs laid by my poultry. Chickens, ducks, & turkeys I tend. They are fed not only commercial poultry feeds, but fresh greens from our gardens. The large white egg in the lower left of the picture is one of many eggs laid by my flock of ducks.

This is one of my Pekin ducks. Yes, she looks like the duck you see in the insurance commercials . ( I love those commercials )My Pekins are spending most of their time sitting on a clutch of eggs. Since my flock of ducks has been very prolific this spring in their egg laying I take quite a few for our consumption.

I have a herb garden where I cut herbs for home cooking, and when you have an abundance of farm fresh eggs and farm fresh herbs you have the makings of some good eats ! Above you can see the lovage I am growing in my herb garden. Lovage tastes like celery,is very tasty in salads and also...

...with eggs. Here are some of my eggs pictured with herbs from my garden. Lovage ( upper right ), chives, and thymes. ( left )

The duck eggs are the big and bright orange eggs. My ducks free-range which enables them to eat all the grass and greens they desire. The greens are what give eggs their bright orange, almost red-orange color. If your eggs are this richly orange you are eating some good eggs ! I whipped these eggs up with freshly chopped herbs, seasoning salt, and cooked them up for dinner the other night. My husband & I sprinkled grated cheddar cheese over them, served them with buttered toast and YUM !

I am joining the Thursday Farm Acre Blog Hop* today. Please check it out, you will learn so much as you visit the blogs participating in this Thursday event even if you do not have a farm or acreage . I hope your weekend is full of blessings and the enjoyment of this beautiful world God has created for us. "It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands , and I ordained all their hosts. " Isaiah 45:12