By Debra Knapke
Here’s the latest podcast on “Garlic: The Indispensable Condiment.”
Previously published in Edible Columbus (Winter 2016, p. 8-9), you can find the printed article here.
“My final, considered judgment is that the hardy bulb [garlic] blesses and ennobles everything it touches – with the possible exception of ice cream and pie.” The Unprejudiced Palate (1948)
For recipes, see Good Eats: Garlic Scape Pesto.
Check out Debra’s last podcast on Late-Season Garden Maintenance Tips
https://anchor.fm/teresa40/embed/episodes/Late-Season-Garden-Maintenance-e20857
By Michael Leach
Magic lanterns hover then zig-zag over the lawn. Giggles and whispers and cricket serenades fill the night air. The yellow flashes of pinpoint lights inside the lanterns are too dim to illumine the smiles and looks of wonder.
Flashes of light are everywhere. Miniature hands reach out, gently enclose a blinking star that flew down from the sky so far above.
The star hunters are barefoot and step lightly in the cool, grass. Baths await, but for now the tiny green soles rejoice in the sensation of walking on silk, watered by the dew of heaven. They don’t know it, but bare feet on dewy, soft grass will bring them back here in an instant, back to collecting flying stars on a warm, velvet night.
Old mayonnaise jars, with a layer of clover, grass and leaves on the bottom, are sealed with lids. A dozen air holes were punched into the lids with a nail before the hunt began. This gives the little stars breath and food for the night. They will be released come morning. Perhaps the little hands will catch some of the same stars again.
The children don’t want to believe the lights are insects. They can’t picture lightening bugs emerging from the lawn, the flowers in the tidy, colorful borders, or the hay field beyond the fence. They will believe this in only a year or so. For now, these are winged stars making an ever-changing constellation called Summer Memory.
Near the rented vacation farm house runs a little creek; its cold water, so welcome after playing in the hot sun, then wading knee deep. Toes squishing in the muddy area of the bank.
There’s squealing, splashing, squealing. Delight fills the languid, humid air.
A rope swing dangles temptingly from the fat, black tree branch overhanging the wide part of the creek. The water here is deep enough for a comfortable landing when dropping from the swing, but not too deep. Besides the children are good swimmers, and the adults are as close and cautious as a cardinal’s parents when it’s just out of the nest.
Squeal!
Splash!
Memories will return at the sight of a massive tree limb overhanging a slow-poke creek. The best summer memories last a lifetime. They return now and then, even in winter. Magic lanterns never lose their glow.
The Back Story — I wrote this as an assignment for the Grove City (OH) Writers Group: “Describe the best summer of your childhood.” Almost the same day the assignment came, I heard an account from my sister of the “adventures” my great-nieces and great-nephew, ages 7, 5 and 3, savored at rented farm house near Asheville, NC. Hearing about hunting lightening bugs and playing in a creek brought back memories of similar summer escapades. Perhaps you, too, have summer memories to share with us.
The Heartland Gardening bloggers are heading to the Grove City Wine and Arts Festival, this Friday and Saturday. Look for us at the Writer’s Table where we will be answering garden questions and selling/signing our book “Heartland Gardening: Celebrating the Seasons.”
The festival, now in its seventh year, draws 30,000 wine and art enthusiasts from all over Ohio and beyond. Sample wines from 20 wineries including Grove City’s own Plum Run Winery. Admission is free; and wine sampling tickets are 3 for $5 or 8 for $20, including a sampling glass.
To learn more, visit the Grove City Town Center website.
Debra and Michael will be promoting our new book Heartland Gardening Celebrating the Seasons as part of the Local Authors Expo, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Southwest Public Libraries Grove City (OH) location. The event highlights the creative efforts of writers from Grove City and the surrounding area. Along with book sales, several authors, including Michael, will read from their works
Teresa, meanwhile, will be supervising the installation of landscape border then volunteering with the Master Gardeners Volunteers at a fairy gardening workshop at Hurt-Battelle Memorial Library in West Jeffferson (OH).
For more info on the expo please visit www.swpl.org.
Debra will be discussing how to Grow, Muddle and Cook with herbs with Ann Fisher on WOSU 89.7 NPR-All Sides on Friday, May 11th at 11:00am
The Art of Fashioning Liquid Refreshment
By Debra Knapke
My first mojito… a warm summer evening and a cool drink made of spearmint, lime, sugar and rum. Not having a lot of experience with cocktails, this drink was a revelation: a way to get rid of an overabundance of mint from one’s garden and relax at the same time.
The art of creating drinks with herbs is not a new craft. In the past, herbs and alcohol were used to make water safe to drink. One drink – a shrub – was made with vinegar, fruit and herbs. This preserved fruit drink added Vitamin C to the diet in a time when fresh fruit was dear. The below shrub combines lavender and blueberries which are usually in flower and fruit at the same time.
Photo by Jennifer Martin
Recipe: Blueberry-Lavender Shrub
1 pint blueberries, lightly crushed
1 c. sugar
1 c. apple-cider vinegar
8-10 lavender sprigs with flower buds only, no leaves
Combine slightly smashed blueberries with sugar in bowl and stir. Cover with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator to macerate – fruit releases its juices in the presence of sugar – for 1 day. Place lavender sprigs in the vinegar and infuse in a dark place for 1 day. Use a fine mesh strainer: pour blueberry mixture through and press lightly to squeeze out any remaining juice. Strain vinegar over the blueberries in the same strainer. Scrape any remaining sugar into juice. You may need to pour the juice back through the fruit to capture all the sugar. Pour through funnel into clean bottle. Cap and shake vigorously, and mark date on bottle. Store in refrigerator for a week before using. Can be refrigerated up to six months.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, herbs muddled and drowned in alcohol became the infamous patent medicines which were said to cure all that ails you. And if they didn’t, at least you didn’t care after tippling several small glasses of Dr. Pierce’s Family Medicine.
A more refined use of herbs and alcohol is the making of liqueurs and aperitifs. But beware: many of these are high in alcohol and are sometimes better used as a flavoring for a cocktail or diluted with seltzer or club soda. A note about water: Tonic has quinine, Mineral Waters – Perrier, Pellegrino – are naturally carbonated, Seltzer is plain water that has been carbonated, Club Soda is carbonated water with added minerals
For the temperate drinker herbs can be muddled with hot water to create tisanes (herbal teas) or infused with cool water and stored in the fridge for when you need a pick-me-up. This summer, experiment with different flavors. Try combining cucumber and spearmint or strawberry and basil.
Bon aperitif!
Debra will be discussing how to Grow, Muddle and Cook with herbs with Ann Fisher on WOSU 89.7 NPR-All Sides on Friday, May 11th at 11:00am