Monday, June 22, 2009 - Mulberries are in season
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The mulberry grows in the upper regions of the US and many other countries. While some curse its messiness ( it does tend to stain sidewalks, roofs and bird droppings purple) It is a very easy to identify wild plant that produces excellent nutrition that is easy to take advantage of.
The fruits, called drupes look like blackberries, but they don't taste the same. Mulberries taste sweet, and blandly grapey/boisonberry-ish They are ripe when they are a deep red/black color and come off the branches easily. Some mulberries produce white fruit that is fully ripe, but I have never seen it.
Mulberries can be used in any recipe that calls for berries- cobblers, fruit salads, pies, jams, and syrups. They are not very flavorful on their own, so when using them mix with other berries or use citrus juice to bring out the flavor.
they do not keep well, so any berries that do not get eaten the first day, you really need to cook, freeze, or dehydrate, unless you are planning on having them ferment in your fridge or on your counter!
Harvesting them is FUN! Children can take an old fitted or flat sheet and hold it spread out by the corners, while an older child or adult shakes the branches on this tree. Be sure to wear old clothes- some parts of you and your kids will end up PURPLE! Do not eat any that have already hit the ground before you got there- for the Above mentioned reason. after you get a couple quarts in the sheet,, you need to move them to a shallow container, because they are fragile and will be crushed by their own weight.
When you get them home, cover them in cold water and let them sit for a few hours, hen sort.
Hard or grey looking berries go right to the trash ( or pet that eats berries, if you have one) you will have some bugs, some sticks and leaves too- toss those. then bag up the ones you will be saving and freeze them.
Mulberry syrup recipe
1 and 1/2- 2 quarts fresh or frozen cleaned mulberries ( mostly ripe- but throw in a few tougher ones that are nearly ripe for tartness).
2 cups of water
a handful of shamrocks- see previous post for info) whole- remove seed pods, flowers and roots. this provides lemon flovor( optional)
OR- 2 tbs lemon juice
1/4 cup orange juice
1 and 1/2 cup sugar
In a saucepan, boil all ingredients except sugar for 20 minutes. Let cool til you can touch it. Strain seeds and shamrocks through strainer or cheesecloth squeezing to get out all the juice and water, which you keep. Throw the fruit mmush and seeds away. Return juice/water mixture to the pan and add sugar. Boil stirring occaisionally.It may take 1/2 hr to an hour depennding on how juicey the berries were. Stop boiling when desired consistancy forms on a spoon when cooled.
This is very yummy on pancakes!
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Tuesday, June 9, 2009 - Summer Adventures Part Two- Me
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Wild foods!
This summer, we have all been learning more about plants. Trinity has her garden, Harley is making herbal medicines and I am exploring wild foods again. This summer, we have tried these easy to identify foods growing right in our back yard! ( and here I have links to foraging sites about each one)
Dandelions young leaves taste like lettuce- older leaves are bitter
Yellow Wood Sorrel(aka Sleeping Beauty, aka Shamrock)- sour- tastes like lemons
Ground Ivy ( aka Gill Over the Ground, aka Creeping Charlie)- strongly herbal, Raymond liked it, the rest of us didn't really enjoy it as a salad green, but might make good tea or flavoring.
Common Chickweed tastes like corn, sort of, chewy.
White Clover- fragrant and tasty- as long as they are green/white.. brown is not good for salad, but can be turned into flour.
DISCLAIMER: please do not ingest wild foods unless you are positive of their identifying characteristics, and equally positive that either they have no poisonous look alikes, or that they possess NONE of the look alikes' identifying characteristics. The wild foods mentioned in this particular blog are very easy to identify and most people know them well. They also do not have poisonous look alikes-but do be careful to go to the links and positively identify them anyway:)
Yesterday, we harvested wild clover form our yard and the empty lot near our home. We gathered 2 zippered sandwich bags of the white flower heads. That seems like a lot, but as I type this, I can see our yard, and we have barely made a dent in the population!
Anyway, these two bags, when rinsed, sorted and chopped make about once cup. I love the scent of clover- it filled my house as i chopped them on the cutting board:)
Clover Corn Bread ( Recipe from " Identifying and Harvesting Edibleand Medicinal Plants")
To tell you the truth, I probably should have allowed the clover to dry after I rinsed it, but i didn't figure it mattered.. it did. this stuff didn't dry out enough, but it does smell and taste very good to me. Harley commented that it tasted like salad and bread mixed together, but I betcha that if he didn't know what was in it he would have loved it. Rowan enjoyed it, and Trinity has not had any yet. it is not a SWEET cornbread recipe- what my Tennessee relatives called "Johnny Cake" ( like the commercially made corn muffin mix) this is a whole grain and corn meal quick bread that is not sugary.
anyway... here goes...
3 Tablespoons vinegar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 and 1/2 cups apple juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup barley or whole wheat flour ( we used whole wheat)
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup finely chopped dried or fresh white clover flowers
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Preheat oven to 300. Combine liquid ingredients in a bowl. Combine dry ingredients in another. Add the liquid to the dry mixture and blend thoroughly. Pour batter into an oiled 9x 13 pan and bake for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Hope you try it- this is the perfect time of year to harvest the clover.
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Thursday, January 1, 2009 - Funny things kids say....
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Trinity and I enjoy nature programs. We were watching one on Netflix the other day when there were some familiar birds on the screen. Trying to figure out what they were- I asked my daughter who is an animal encyclopedia,
" Are those boobies?"
" No, I think boobies nest on the ground they don't fly up to the cliffs like that..." She said.
Rowan also happened to be sitting there... shaking his head and laughing....
"OF COURSE boobies don't FLY!"
WHO on earth came up with these bird names anyway????
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Friday, October 24, 2008 - A quick Friday Fill in
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And...here we go!
1. Right now, I'm feeling _________sore... and tired. and spacey____.
2. _____Heaven____ is where I want to be. ( can we find a better place?)
3. How does one ______clap with one hand?____?
4. ________Perspective_____ keeps me on track.
5. Please don't ______feed the bears!________.
6. ___Jesus_____ fills me with joy.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to __practicing tomorrow's songs___, tomorrow my plans include _worship team____ and Sunday, I want to __go and have a great time at smallgroup!___! |
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Thursday, August 14, 2008 - Friday Fill-Ins
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 Here we go:
1. The last meal I had at a restaurant was When my small group (Aspiring Princesses) and I went to Speth's resteraunt in Wisconsin
2. people tapping me on the shoulder or pulling my hair to get my attention is something I intensely dislike.
3. The full moon has an enigmatic red spot on it in the plot of the book I am reading- see my bookshelf for "Dark Moon".
4. __________ is one of my favorite local expressions.-- well, this one, I can't really think of an answer for!
5. Sometimes it's best to just get up and do it instead of planning how to do it, especially when it comes to housework! I joined a group on Yahoo called Friends of the Organizer Lady and one of the principles I am learning is that if it takes less than 30 seconds to take care of the problem- DO IT NOW! It's really making a big difference in my life.
6. Saving Sarah Cain is the best movie I've seen so far this year!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to worship service, tomorrow my plans include resting and Sunday, I want to work on my blog |
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Tuesday, July 15, 2008 - JesseRow a.k.a. Rowan Jesse
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My baby turned 7 today!!!!!!!!
Happy Birthday to Rowan Jesse!
Fun Facts About Rowan:
birth order- #4
Name meaning: Rowan is a kind of tree in the rose family that has a mysterious past linked to the ancient Celts. Jesse is a Hebrew name meaning "God sees"
Who named him- Me. This is how we decided who gets to name which child- I got the first girl and the second boy, Raymond got the first boy and second girl- if there are any more the other kids will get to name him or her.
Why- Actually, his name was almost Hunter.... but it was hard to find a middle name I liked, and , of course, my family is really good at making up silly nicknames that are similar to the real one... one day while I was discussing what to put with Hunter, I got fed up and just announced I was naming him Rowan. I like the actor Rowan Atkinson, and I just think Rowan is a nice, unusual name for a boy. I wanted to use Jesse as a first name, but my husband didn't like it. We gave all our kids weird first names and trendy/normal middle names, so I continued in that tradition. Rowan came right after we lost our daughter, Petra Elexis, and I thought that God must have seen how sad we were and sent Rowan to give us reason to go on.
Favorite color: orange, and now also blue.
Favorite food: Mac n Cheese, Spam
Favorite drink- any kind of pop
Favorite book: Bunnicula
Favorite game: Wiiplay
What he likes to do- Play with my spaghetti ball, my metal slinky....go to the park.
Favorite song: Through the Fire and the Flames by Dragonforce
Pet: Esther the corn snake
Links to some of Rowan's favorite websites:
PBS Kids
Rowan is......stubborn, spunky, and exudes a contagious joy about ordinary things ( much like his father). He looks like his Daddy, but with blond hair. He is a great singer, tough and also loves to read. He is one of those strange kids who read the dictionary and think it's FUN. He likes to paint, draw and invent things. Rowan also has ADHD, and it can be a challenge teaching him at times, but it is also very rewarding because he loves to learn.... although I am HAPPY that he does NOT have to sit STILL all day and be quiet like he would have to in public school!
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Saturday, April 12, 2008 - Got boys? have fun making a crossbow from pen and pencils!
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This was just so neat I HAD to post it .
I am sure that Harley will have a great time making his!
You can probably build your very own mini crossbow without getting up from your desk. No knives, wood, electric appliances or any other expensive equipment are needed. All you need are some basic office supplies, ten minutes, and these instructions.
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Line up two of the pencils parallel to each other and secure them with tape, leaving at least a centimeter untaped at both ends in order to leave a space for the rubber band later. Repeat for the other two pencils.
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Create a cross that looks like a lowercase "t" with the two pairs of pencils. Secure them in that position with either tape (electric tape works best), rubber bands, or glue.
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Unscrew the tip of a cheap or useless pen. Unscrew the other side of the pen, and then take out all of the inner mechanisms. (Save the ink cartridge because that will be used as the ammo later.) After doing that, you should end up with a hollow tube.
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Secure the tube to the vertical side of the cross with tape.
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Stretch a rubber band horizontally across the crossbow, anchoring it between the two pencils and going over the pen in the middle.
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Wrap a piece of tape around the middle of the rubber band where it passes over the pen.
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Tie a rubber band between the pencils and the bottom of the hollow pen. This is to add elevation, which will come in handy later.
- Put the ink cartridge back into the tube so that it's sticking out slightly.
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Stretch the rubber-band to the end of the tube.
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Grab the ink cartridge, pull it back further with the rubber band, and let go.
- Try experimenting with different types of bolts (the "arrows" used by your crossbow). Some bolts might work better than others, due to their size, shape or weight.
- The bow isn't very good at long distance shooting, so if you want to pierce something, shoot it from very close up.
- Use a bendable ruler for the base. It will give a little more flexibility, offering more power when the projectile is released.
- Use a binder clip as a trigger.
[edit] Warnings
- Do not aim this at people or animals, even as a joke. Accidentally letting go of the rubber band from something as simple as someone bumping into you might cause a serious injury.
- If made poorly, the crossbow won't work well and will be hard to handle.
- Do not look into the end of the crossbow while loaded. Use common sense.
[edit] Things You'll Need
- 1 pen
- 4 pencils
- 2 rubber bands
- Tape
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About Me
Well, I'm a Mom, a Medical Assistant, a knitter, kite flyer, nature lover...Around here we have special needs, ( Asperger's, ADHD, Bi-polar) a few animal pals, some tattoos and a homeschool. It's our 6th year. This is my 16th year of marriage to a Mr. Visionary who happens to be a walking miracle.
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