Lavender Shortbread Lavender shortbread is the essence of the English, and is great served with tea. Preheat oven to 325º. Beat together 1 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons lemon zest, and 1 cup unsalted butter, but do not over beat. Shortbread takes a light hand! Sift 3 cups of flour with 2 teaspoons lavender buds, pressing… Read more »
Category: General
Lavender Limeade
Lavender Limeade This recipe initiates you into cooking with lavender! I love to watch people’s expressions as they cautiously take the first sip— and then look at me in amazement! Next thing you know, they are telling me: this is a product! Why don’t you bottle it? It is easy to make, and delightful to… Read more »
Lavender Cannellini Bean Salad
Lavender Cannellini Bean Salad A surprising salad for picnics or a light lunch. Marinate together for at least 30 minutes: 1 large onion, chopped, 2 small sage leaves, chopped, 3 small cloves garlic, crushed, 1-2 teaspoons dried lavender, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, six tablespoons virgin olive oil, two tablespoons balsamic vinegar, juice of one lime,… Read more »
Earthquake, Farming, and Light from Below
Serpent like line runs through lavender. She runs west of our home, severing irrigation pipes and alarming us more than a little! In my imagination, she is a dragon who woke up writhing wildly in the early hours of Sunday morning. Believe me, we noticed her! The walls of our home twisted and everything in… Read more »
Saving Seeds and Sovereignty of the Farmer
Harald Hoven demonstrating collecting lettuce seed. One of the more important issues from Harald Hoven’s seed saving workshop at the Medicine for Earth and Man Biodynamic Conference this last weekend in Fair Oaks, California, was that of farmer sovereignty. In learning to grow and collect our own seed, we are exercising our human right to collect… Read more »
Managing Powdery Mildew During Veraison
Riping Chardonnay grapes One of the challenges of grape growing is that of controlling powdery mildew or botrytis after the grapes start developing their sugars (veraison). During the growing season we use elemental sulfur, but as we get within 5-6 weeks of harvest, we must stop. The sulfur is known to leave a… Read more »
Learning Biodynamics from the Pros: Biodynamic Conference in August
Three volunteer bean plants originally planted from Biodynamic seeds provide enough beans for two of us. This is the third generation of this particular seed line. On August 14-16 will be a Biodynamic Conference at the Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks, CA, Medicine for Earth and Man: The Earthworm, the Cow, and the Bee…. Read more »
Gratitude & the Great Turning: Five Things to Do
A garden is a great place to prepare for the Great Turning. You can tell almost immediately how well it is being tended. In a tended garden, there is a feeling of peace, busy peace, perhaps, with bees and hummingbirds, monarchs and swallowtails, but also a calm contentedness that comes when the weeds are not… Read more »
Finding your Sense of Place: Snakes on Amazon!
Find your sense of place again by reading Snakes! Leaping Goat Press has just released a second edition of my first novel Snakes, originally published in 2011 by il piccolo editions, Fisher King Press. It has a new cover described in an earlier post. As I have re-edited the book, I realize how much the writing of the story has formed my writing sense of self…. Read more »
Lavender Harvest Begins!
Lot Natalie in the early morning. The bees always alert us to the timing first! When they arrive, it means the calyxes are beginning to open, and we need to harvest lavender for the dried product pronto! We want to get it just after the opening of two or three calyxes so the flowers do… Read more »
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