Farm Foraging: Queen Anne’s Lace Jelly and Syrup

Making food and drink from edible wild-growing plants is truly a gift that brings us closer to the land and its bounty. It illustrates, in a very practical way, the benefits of not using chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers): we don’t have to worry about what’s been sprayed on our property…because nothing has been. And that means I can collect the frilly white flower heads of wild-growing Queen Anne’s Lace for jelly and know that I’m getting exactly what I think I am and nothing extra.

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Winecraft: Daylily #2

The daylilies just keep coming, bursting forth with their irrepressible cheeriness each morning, truly living in the moment…each bloom has just a single day in the sun, so they make it a glorious one! I had to try to capture that exuberance in a bottle, hoping to honor it by making a truly special, ephemeral wine: a wine that would remind me of the hot days of summer with each sip.

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Precious Pollinators: Busy Bees And Pink Petals

This really is the “blooming” time of year here on the farm, and a new rose-like bramble has put forth lovely, freewheeling pink blossoms. The bees seem to be enamored of the new flowers, and were busily buzzing among them, pollen hanging like saddlebags from their legs. The bumblebees, in particular, couldn’t seem to leave these blushing blooms alone! Continue reading “Precious Pollinators: Busy Bees And Pink Petals”