Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Weed Walk Wednesday

The Red Raspberries are ripe and ready for picking. High in vitamin C the leaves can be made into a tea for morning sickness and is a good herb to take for the entire pregnancy. According to folklore raspberries were originally white, when Ida (a nymph) pricked her finger while picking berries for the crying baby Jupiter, the raspberries were tinged red from her blood.They also make a great cordial. so off we go to get our wild raspberries before the birds have eaten all of them, but when we get there we find something did beat us to the berries - a Bear!
See how all the bushes are broken and crushed. However we managed to pick enough berries to make our cordial and didn't run into Mr. Bear!
Raspberry Liqueur Recipe
1 1/2 lbs. fresh Raspberries
1 cup sugar
3 cups white zinfandel
1 1/2 cups 100 proof vodka
2 cups water
Crush berries and sugar together in bowl. Let stand for 1 hour. Transfer to 2 quart container and add zinfandel, vodka, and water. Cover and let stand in a cool, dark place for 3 days, shaking frequently.
Use a fine-mesh strainer to strain out solids.Transfer liqueur to clean container and let stand for 1 week.Filter into final container and age for at least 1 month more before serving. 
Cordials from the Kitchen 
Pattie Vargas
& Rich Gulling

pond

pond
New pond to be installed

Fairy Garden

The fairy garden is coming along fine. The grandchildren love hearing all the folklore about the plants in the garden, such as the foxglove which the fairies use for their clothes. Then there is the thyme that is a must for them to sleep upon. One evening as the fireflies started to appear, my grandson got very excited and was sure he saw the fairies moving about the garden. We watched and listened as we talked about how the fairies love to dance and needed the light to see and the bluebells provided their music. We also placed some jewels about the garden because they like shiny objects, but made sure we did not add any metal items. We also added a gazing ball because as you know fairies are very vain! It is a great way to get the kids involved with gardening and add a little adventure at the same time.

Fairy Garden

Fairy Garden
Another view of the garden

Fairy Garden

Fairy Garden
View of my Fairy Garden