Calendula, are you growing her?

Calendula

 (Calendula officinalis)  Pot Marigold

My Calendula was singing her own praises this morning. It is past time to plant our winter crops and calendula needs to come out for the cold frame this year.

"Pick me! No Pick me!," They chatter like school children to be sure I gather every single plants seed heads. Oh, and their flowers, "leave nothing to waste they plead".

 I collect the flowers in the early morning this time of year and put them in paper bags to dry. Calendula makes a great skin soothing oil or ointment. So one paper bag gets the seed heads, ready brown and dry or still a little immature and green. The other bag I use for the opened flowers.

Each plant fights for survival by every clever means they can find over these millions of years. Calendula reseeds itself very well as they grow and drop their curly seeds under themselves. Calendula is an annual so I knows it's job is to grow tall, flower, seed and die and get out of the way for their seeds to take off for another year.



Usually in the summer I put the bags of herbs to dry in the back seat of my car. Usually they are dry in a couple days. My car smells unique everytime I get in her.

After they are dry I will put the flowers in a jar and cover it with usually olive oil. I label and store it on a saucer in case it seeps. After about 2 months I strain and store in the refrigerator for skin rashes.

If fresh herbs are put in oil to sit the water in them can create a place for botulism to grow so I always use dry herbs in oil.

I use the dried petals pulled from the flower as a saffron substitute in rice sometimes.

There are smaller starts of calendula in the same area. I will dig and transplant them out in the front barrels. Calendula will flower well into winter until a solid frost.

I gave the worms the leaves and stems as I promised to utilizes all of the plants.

If you are asking yourself if I am crazy hearing plants in my head, I assure you, I may be crazy, but I am not dangerous.

Weeding is what you do when you haven't learned to harvest your weeds!

Buckwheat Sprouts and Greens

SPROUTS!

Imagine for pennies you can grow and eat a live vegetable that will grow in any climate, rival meat in nutritional value, ( and tomatoes in Vitamin C), matures in three to five days, may be planted any day of the year, requires neither soil or sunshine, has no waste and can be eaten raw.

Buckwheat up close and personal !

Sprouting is as easy as 1,2,3,.
1. Put a 1/4 cup of buckwheat groats in a quart jar and cover with 1 cup filtered water for about 2 hours.
2. Pour the soaked groats into a sieve and rinse thoroughly, when you feel the rinse water and it isn't gooey it is ready to sprout.
3. Put the groats back into the jar put a sprouting screen lid on the jar and leave the rinsed sprouts in the jar at an angle upside down, repeat rinsing and setting upside down 3 times a day for 2-3 days then eat or refrigerate and eat within three or so days.  Rinse once a day and store in the refrigerator.

This is indoor gardening . The rules are simple.
1. The garden must be watered and tended at least twice preferably three times a day like an outside garden. 2. Drainage  is essential to healthy plants. That is why the jar is kept upside down and at an angle to allow air circulation and good drainage.
3. Sunlight makes everything green when they are ready.

You are in charge of your own quality control!
The three important things for safe sprouting is:
1. Look over your sprouting seeds and remove anything broken of foreign.
2. Use clean jar screens and water.
3. Smell and observe the sprouts for off smell, mold or anything different.
Bacteria need moisture and protein to grow and sprouts have both.
When in doubt throw it out!

As with any new adventure there will be failures. You only loose a few cents worth of seeds so don't become discouraged. It isn't hard to forget to rinse or forget to eat them in time. They are great for the compost too.
Don't give up! The tastes and nutrition are worth the new routine to pick up.

  

As you can see, buckwheat seeds look like little triangles.
We want to sprout the seeds so it is important to look over your seeds and check for too many broken pieces.
When possible pick the broken bits out.
The sprout seeds need to be sold as sprout seeds to avoid chemically treated industrial seeds.

YOU ARE YOUR OWN QUALITY CONTROLLER!
Get picky about how fresh seeds are.

Once the magic of water to seed takes hold it is fun to watch the seed with all the information it needs to grow into it's parents.
I use the sprouts in salads or drinks when the tail is as long as the seed is in size.
 This is the time to dry them for grinding for living food flour.
One of my favorite is to make food bars out of the sprouts, flax seed, fruits and nuts.

Growing buckwheat greens.

The seeds when they are very young get laid gently on an inch or so of soil. I put them thicker than I might think so they grow thick.

Now I cover the seeds gently with 1/4 inch soil and water it.
This tray doesn't have holes but it can sit on the kitchen table if I don't over water.
Soak and drain the soil before layering the seeds and soil.
It only takes sprinkles of water to grow well.

Check out this green beauty!
 With scissors I can trim off the leaves easily.

They taste mild, I don' mean bitter like dandelions, I mean mild like alfalfa.
I try to add their bright leaves to all my dishes.
Then I cut the stems for living food noodles.
Living food means raw food full of their enzymes and energy.
They are as light as lettuce in taste.

The stems get near two inches long and are crisp and delicate.
The redness of the long stems announces the high rutin content.
 Rutin is one of the bioflavinoids that help our capillaries stay strong. Buckwheat is also very high in lecithin that reduces cholesterol.

I sprinkled Italian seasoning, dulse and buckwheat greens in with the stems for a cool nutritious salad.

Enjoy!

" Green Drink" gathering

Two hummingbirds beckoned me into our garden this morning. They invited me to join them as they joyfully danced with each tasty flower! I suddenly needed a "Green Drink"! Buddy agreed, he likes some of my concoctions.


If you, my friend, would care to gather with me, I invite you to try one of the simple gifts of the plants: "The Green Drink".


Experts agree we need to eat or drink a wide variety of foods to insure providing excellent sources of all the building blocks our magical bodies want and need. I create a salad in a glass that energizes, and alkalies my body, mind and spirit.


"Common Sense"  Please be slow and careful about eating anything out of your usual habits. If you suffer allergic reactions, breathing or digestive problems, then this isn't a good idea to consume a variety of new foods at once. If I was starting something new I would put foods I know I am OK with in my drink and one new one "just two leaves" and sip and experience my bodies reaction.


Oh and never put anything in your mouth or drink that you are not two thousand percent sure of its identification!!! This rule has kept me alive and I eat "WILD Things!"


Check out Mountain Rose Herbs for weed seeds. I suggest growing a weed to learn it through each seasons' changes.
 
Use your imagination and create fruit green drinks, With enough blueberries I can hide a big helping of spinach in a fruit smoothy. OK it isn't green?
Try a Thai drink with lemon grass coconut milk, purslane, and maybe lemon tyme. Try Greek, Mexican with alittle jalopenoe pepper, Italian or create your own favorite blend. To be honest mine is different each time. 

I usually use just a few leaves of each herb in Italian seasoning blends.I put my gatherings right in the blender. I like alot of fresh basil, so I pinch the branches that are trying to go to seed. The leaves get small and tight at the top. I pinch under the leaf node where other leaves are coming out . Everywhere a plant is cut it usually grows two branches, this makes for a happier, bushier basil.

Now Greek Oregano is next. I need to gather early in the morning to avoid the swarms of at least 8 different kinds of bees that love him. Greek Oregano has great flavor for cooking, fresh or dried. Medicinally, Greek is my choice for it's antimicrobial and fungal properties.

Italian Oregano spreads like mint in the garden,  "give mints an inch they will take a mile".

Greek Oregano grows as a clump more and stays where I ask it to. So Igather a couple of leaves from low on the stem.I need the newest, freshest looking leaves from below the tiny white flowers. If you are into growing dried flowers, both oregano's are beautiful! John Kallas, PhD.  I highly recommend his work shops, three day weekend trips and best of all, he finally put out his book! It was worth the wait! The photographs, recipe's and in-depth explanations of garden variety of weeds is unparalleled.

Where was I?  Oh yea, Dr. Kallas says the scale of highest in nutrition of the greens goes amaranth, lambsquarter then kale and on down. The top two are weeds we generally pull out to plant less nutritious choices.

Seriously, with weather patterns changing you may want to know what to eat that adapts very quickly to radically changing growing conditions. I believe our creator didn't make any junk. Not one of us or one creation on this planet is without significance. Have you ever wondered if the reason ,say dandelions, grow so healthily in your garden may be because you need to eat them and God wanted you to notice their gift?

I pick several amaranth leaves from the newest top growth. Delightfully, lambsquarter tastes like spinach and that is a good base for the stronger herbs so I pick several leaves. Lambsquarter leaves are tender and tasty all growing season. Unlike most plants, the leaves are good to gather, top to bottom .

Lambsquarter

Kale is here in my garden, but it doesn't seem to fit in this day. Off to the strawberry patch for two fresh new leaves. And now two raspberry leaves. I think garlic and onion are fantastic in here, if their timing is right. I like chives, and garlic chive leaves and flowers to keep from overpowering the blend.

In the kitchen, I rinse the greens in filtered water. Then  I add a couple tablespoons of plain organic yogurt and a dash of Bragg's Aminos, "which, tastes like soy sauce but is better for you." Onto the blender for a thorough thrashing to release everything into the drink. To my pleasure, my green drink is blue. I forgot I added borage and johnny jump-up flowers to the blend,  being inspired by the hummingbirds.

Borage

Now here I can pour this through a sieve and drink it. New comers to the green scene may need to start here. For myself, I want the fiber. If I don't add something that will stay a little firm the tiny fibers of the drink try to stick in my throat and tickle uncomfortably. I suggest adding soaked sunflower seeds or soaked nuts, about two tablespoons to chunk it up. The nuts or seeds give protein and fat to create a protein shake that alkalises my system, detoxes with chlorophyll and nourish my very soul with the blessing of the green things!

Heads up, after drinking a  raw, live food  packed with enzymes,  have a meal planned. My body gets so hungry after the drink wears off it insists I eat now!

Cheers, "to all things being perfect, possible and magical, amen!
I would love to hear your questions or comments, Gratefully, Pixie