Last night was Trick or Treat, and these glowing pumpkins with personality lit up the backyard, welcoming all to the gardens. Tonight is our annual Garlic Dinner, the neighborhood is already beginning to smell of the 'stinking rose'.
An informative sampling focused on herbs and tea with an occasional sprinkling of fairy dust and a glimpse into family activities too. The contributions to this blog are the combined efforts of the sisters of The Rosemary House and Sweet Remembrances.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Happy Halloween!
Last night was Trick or Treat, and these glowing pumpkins with personality lit up the backyard, welcoming all to the gardens. Tonight is our annual Garlic Dinner, the neighborhood is already beginning to smell of the 'stinking rose'.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Gourds
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Castor Bean
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
And the Winners Are. . . . .
. . . . . . . Lemon Verbena Lady won the Sweet Remembrances Cookbook with several Rosemary House herb packets and La Tea Dah won the Rosemary House Afghan!
All the names were tossed into a rattan teacup, and these two munchkins, with their eyes closed, each picked a name from the cup. It had been predetermined that Angelica was selecting the afghan winner and that Cedar was selecting the cookbook winner. Congratulations to our winners! Please contact us at therosemaryhouse@aol.com with your mailing address so we can send these off to you.
Thank you to all who participated - we appreciate the support you have shown us over this past year. All your comments of encouragement and gratitude are acknowledged with heartfelt thanks. When we first started blogging, we felt that we were the only two reading the posts! You have shown us that we have readers scattered across the US and beyond, and to those of you that live close enough to attend our events, we appreciate that you let us know you are reading and enjoying the journey we share.
Here's to the next year! Nancy and Susanna
Monday, October 27, 2008
Boscage
Boscage is an old French word for a mass of trees or shrubs; wood, grove, or thicket. And, indeed, we have a bosky patch of land. We have done a lot to it over the past 24 years, but every time I look, there is more to do. It is compelling and giving shape to my retirement years. We have left most of the property wooded. Over the years we have fenced in a series of raised beds, cleared some of the shrubby growth away from the stone walls, installed a mucky little pond for the spring peepers,and established garden beds around the house. Two years ago, we put an addition on the front of the house and changed the foundation planting. Now I am making lazy beds in the front yard and planning gardening projects for next spring. The expanded deck on the side of the house is almost done and I have plans for planting around it.
Ongoing Challenges~
How to garden on the edge of a woods challenges me. First, the woods harbor deer. As you know, they make their rounds nightly. I am not interested in fencing the property although I am planning new kinds of ways to fence off smaller patches inside the vegetable/nursery garden. The 5' fence surrounding those beds was effective only when we had a dog. Deer can jump 8' from a standing position. I understand that that they are leery of a series of barriers and that is what I intend to create. I am not interested in spraying my plants to discourage the deer. My primary defense is to plant deer-resistant plants. My garden, like any garden, is always an experiment.
The second challenge is the invasive plants: garlic mustard, Japanese stiltweed, oriental bittersweet, barberry, and Winged Euonymous. Japanese stiltweed seems to be winning. This year I am aggressively addressing this problem. I am trying to wipe out the plants before they seed. If only I could convince the deer to eat these plants!
The third challenge is to keep the yard and garden manageable. I am not getting younger and I am concerned about creating something that I can't manage in the future. In my favor, and one of the joys of Westchester (NY), is the lack of manicured lawns and gardens.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Spoooooky
This year the greenhouse interior was particularly ominous.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Anise-Hyssop
Agastache foeniculum or Anise hyssop is a beautiful plant in the garden with a delicious licorice taste especially fun to use in tea. The flowers dry nicely holding both their flavor and color for use in wreath crafting. It is a perennial growing to about 3 feet in height. Considered a short lived perennial you will have to replace it every 5 years or so. It is quite hardy growing as far north as Wisconsin and Vermont, in fact it tends not to perform as well in the South due to the intense summer heat. This beautiful garden plant blooms in late July and August. Bees and Butterflies love it.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Joe Pye Weed
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Tea Cup Planter
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
In Bloom in the Garden - Sun chokes
Not from Jerusalem and certainly not an artichoke, how could we have perpetuated such an appalling misnomer? Since our country’s beginnings when the Spanish called it girasole, their word for flowers attracted to the sun (now loosely translated into Jerusalem), this plant has been misrepresented by its own name. Called artichoke because the early settlers compared its flavor to globe artichoke, it is properly Helianthus tuberousa, a name meaning tuberous rooted sunflower. Sunny flowered it is, blooming now from Nova Scotia to Georgia you can spot it easily. Even our gardening-challenged neighbors have pointed and said “What’s that plant?”.
The edible tuberous roots are starch free and contain inulin, a carbohydrate the body converts into a natural form of sugar making them particularly valuable in all diets especially diabetic or other restricted diets.
Pseudo-potatoes, mild and flavorful, they can be made into delicious dishes by preparing them the same way you would the more popular potato. Smaller, only two to four inches or so they are also slightly lower in calorie count and have their own flavor, so don’t compare them to other veggies.
Steam them, boil them, cook with an oven roast for 30-45 minutes or fry them. They mix well with green vegetables, giving a crunchy texture many find highly desirable. Saute the sliced sunchoke roots with onions in oil for a few minutes then stir fry in some chard, spinach, beet greens or broccoli for an epicurean dish. Season as you wish with salt and pepper or a bit of garlic, savory and a touch of mint is nice or try a dash of nutmeg for indefinable goodness. Bake them, add to casseroles, cream of celery soup, slice thinly for salads, pickle them, or cut as crudites for dips. Their nut like flavor is similar to water chestnuts.
The beauty of sunchokes is they are ridiculously easy to grow. Sun or shade, rich or poor soil, wet or dry places, weeded or cultivated, they always produce a crop. Once planted you will always have them for they are remarkably hardy, pest free and easily propagated. Strong perennials, sometimes growing to 12 feet tall, should be planted a foot and a half apart in an out of the way corner where they will make an effective screen or summer hedge. You must harvest them or tubers left in the ground will multiply and get out of control. That’s a word to the wise.
Growing easily everywhere, this wildflower can be left in the ground until needed so storage is no problem. No need to spend precious energy processing or freezing sunchokes. When you dig them , you can count on a pound of the knobby tubers per plant. It’s easy enough to perpetuate your supply by leaving the smallest ones in the ground for next years harvest.
Known to the Native Americans as “Askibwan” a name not likely to catch hold (meaning “raw thing”) they taught the colonists to use the roots as food. Even if you choose not to nibble on the root the golden yellow daisy like flowers, more a floppy daisy than a sunflower, and always growing in a cluster of three are a pretty bonus to the garden. Pick them now for an enjoyable fall flower arrangement with no damage to the crop.
Monday, October 20, 2008
One Year Anniversary ~Blog Giveaway!
Susanna has selected this beautiful comforter; exclusive to The Rosemary House, as her choice. It features the many different uses of her favorite herb, Rosemary, sacred to marriage, bees love it, ancient symbol of friendship, and for remembrance of course. There's even a small Rosemary House logo in the corner.
Nancy is offering a copy of her Recipe Collection which features 200 tried and true recipes that have been served and enjoyed in the tea room during the first 15 years of operation. She will also include two original Rosemary House products - Roastmary and the Mayor's Magic Mustard Mix. These two seasonings are used in several of the recipes.
Capture the excitement of cooking with herbs!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Ginger root
Medicinally, ginger is terrific for nausea and our sister swears by it for motion sickness. She takes two capsules of powdered ginger an hour before the trip, one capsule halfway through the ride and one at the end of the trip.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Tisane
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Children's garden signs
Monday, October 13, 2008
Plants ~ Herbs
Thursday, October 9, 2008
SereniTea Wednesday
Then, the three tiered tray was presented to the guests. The sandwich platter included:
Apple Walnut Sandwich on white bread, Warm Blue Cheese and Walnut Rollups, Chicken, Lettuce, and Rosemary Triangles. Zucchini Bread with Cream Cheese Filling, Cheese and Cherry Tomatoes. (Sandwich platter shown is arranged for a group of 4.)
The middle tier featured the oven fresh scones; traditional English cream and Lemon Currant served with orange slices and fresh figs from our fig tree. Mock clotted cream and strawberry jelly.
The dessert layer included chocolate zucchini brownies, apricot sage cookies, and pumpkin mousse. Endless pots of properly brewed loose leaf tea are enjoyed throughout the day.
This event repeats itself every Wednesday (by advance reservation); but the menu is always varied!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Apricot Sage Cookies
Apricot Sage Cookies
1/2 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 c. chopped dried apricots
2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh sage
1/2 c. cornmeal
1/2 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.
Cream butter, sugar, and egg until smooth. Sift in flour and baking soda. Add apricots, sage, cornmeal, and salt, blending until combined.
Drop mixture by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets, about 1" apart. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes until golden brown. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Yield: 2 doz.
Fresh garden sage is the base for this flavorful cookie.
This recipe was shared by LaDonna from Gracious Hospitality.
Monday, October 6, 2008
A Victorian Tea
Recently, A Victorian Tea was presented by the Volunteers of The Mechanicsburg Museum Association. They amazingly transformed the Freight Station Museum into a 'tea room' for the day. It was obvious that a lot of preparation and coordination went into this fundraising effort.
The tables were set with beautiful china and silver patterns; there were tea cozies on each table (available for purchase in the gift shop after tea) and they even decorated the chairs with assorted chair back covers. The scene was set with the beautiful tables, the greenery provided by the Garden Bouquet (a local florist), and musical entertainment by The Praise Trio. What a very special afternoon to remember.
Steaming hot pots of Darjeeling Tea were presented to each table to mark the beginning of the event. This was followed by individual plates of Chicken Waldorf Salad on Croissant; Smoked Salmon on Whole Wheat; Cucumber with Veggie Cream Cheese on White; and James Beard Cream Biscuit served with clotted cream (mock) and Strawberry Preserves. All hearty portions, two servings of each sandwich!
Friday, October 3, 2008
We've been adopted!
We have, of course, started to feed them, cuddle them, pet them, and otherwise adore them, to the point that they have now become 'our' kittens. They have free roam of the gardens, and have learned where to access the cat food. They scamper, chase their tails, climb up the dogwood tree, snooze together, catch flying insects and provide entertainment.
They had a great time with this ball of yarn;
Just wait until we introduce them to fresh catnip!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Roaring Twenties
This past Sunday we celebrated a Roaring Twenties Afternoon Tea. The menu included:
"The Golden Age" Ginger Joy and crackers, Step Back in Time Lemon Caesar Salad, Just Ducky Chicken & Ham Sandwich, Hotsy-Totsy Ham Salad in Corn Muffins, Swanky Herbed Party Sandwiches, Nifty Cheese Bacon Puffs and Ritzy Shrimp Tea Sandwiches. Traditional Cream Scone served with cream and jelly along side Orange Pineapple Ambrosia. Dessert included The Bee's Knees Peanut Butter Cups, Puttin' on the Ritz Chocolate Streusel Bars and All Dolled Up Cream Crunch.
We were pleased to welcome Alice Dupuy as she shared delightful stories about the reckless jubilance of the 1920's.