Rose Harvest & Conserve of Roses

I was at a potluck dinner with my family last evening and took a little tour around the amazing garden that my friend Joel tends. He wanted me to identify a few weeds, it was of course my pleasure as I love the weeds. One of them was a lemony sorrel that we nibbled. As we continued around the yard and gardens I found myself enamored by all the roses. One of them was an enormous climbing rose from a mountain house of my past that is still close to my heart. It had been transplanted a few years back and is absolutely magnificent.

As we wandered I was listening to my guide tell about the cippolina onions, the fava beans and all the fabulous plantings, but my mind was on the roses. After we rounded the house leaving most of the vast gardens behind, we came upon even more roses.

I asked if I could harvest some of them. “Of course” he said.

As I was walking into the house to get something to harvest them into, I found my oldest daughter and three of her friends chatting away on the porch swing. “Come with me” I said. I think they thought I was going to have them set the table or some other unwanted chore, but they did follow. I grabbed a paper grocery bag and took them to the largest rose bush, the climber.

Two of the girls are exchange students so I was a bit concerned about the language barrier, but with my first sentence I realized they could understand me perfectly. “Find the yummiest looking rose you can. One you would want to eat if it were candy or a piece of fruit.” They looked at each other and giggled.

Once they all knew what they were looking for (yumminess) I had them each harvest* 15 roses from the climbing rose, then one each of the big roses from the fancier varieties.

It was such an amazing and timeless image of these young girls, young women really, harvesting these flowers of love on this last day of May. The lyrical cadence of their voices moving together in harmony was like heaven. I thought for a moment of getting my camera, but let the thought go just as quickly. The moment would have been lost if any external attention was brought to it.

They stood together after finishing their task amongst the roses for some time. Whether it was in the teenage distraction or the scent of the roses making them linger, I don’t know, but for me (observing discreetly from a distance), it was a golden moment and perhaps one that will be remembered by them as well.

"Their lips were four red roses
on a stalk."
~ William Shakespeare

Today I awoke to the responsibility of preserving the rose petals.

I decided to try something new.

I found several old fashioned recipes for things like rose-petal soup, rose-petal scones, rose jelly and the like.

I wanted something that would be for use later in the year when the roses are not at their peak. I wanted to preserve the magic somehow.

Jelly seemed like an ok idea, except that I didn’t have any lemons and wanted to make something with what was in the house already.

I settled on taking inspiration from some medieval recipes.

This is my version of Rose Conserve:

Harvest unsprayed fragrant roses, remove the petals, let wilt overnight.

Into a glass jar pour a layer of organic cane sugar then a layer of rose petals.

Do this several times ending with sugar.

Simple. I know. The real beauty for me is the harvesting, the sorting and the smelling. I don't mind a complicated recipe now and again, but I didn't want to cook or cut or grind these. I wanted them to stay as they were.

I imagine a couple of things may happen with the sugared roses.

One is that the water in the roses will mingle with the sugar and melt it down creating interesting and fragrant syrup.

The other more hopeful outcome is that the roses will preserve between the layers of sugar and the moisture will all wick to the top and I can pour this off and use it in another recipe. (I won’t know what kind of recipe until I taste the liquid.)

The other possibility is that it will come to naught, but in any case my house smells like heaven.

For now enjoy the pictures and I’ll keep you updated with the progress.

Touch your cheek to the cheek of sugar.
Get the taste of it. Give perfume to it.
Try to alleviate the pain of separation
With the help of sugar.
Once you become the conserve of roses,
You are food for the Soul,
Light for the eyes...
When I say "conserve of roses,"
I mean the Grace of God and our existence.

Rumi

*With the blossom of the flower just kissing your palm, wrap your fingers towards the base of the flower and with your thumb and fingers pinch off the flower cleanly at its base, leaving the blossom in your palm. Then toss it gently in the bag.

California Poppy

Peacock Feather Necklace

We love this necklace!
It's a purple agate with sterling rivets to attach the sterling silver chain. The peacock feather is affixed to more rivets securing it to the agate.
This is made here in Portland, Oregon by the lovely artists at small things designs newest venture Stone & Honey. We always have a few of the honeycomb necklaces available as well. We currently have this large purple agate necklace and a smaller green agate with a different feather and a small honey colored one with honeycomb on it.
Sadie (pictured) has been eyeing this one and finally tried it on. Doesn't it look great with her green tank?
Each piece is completely unique, hand made and one of a kind.

beeswax floating candles

Tiny floating candles made from pure oregon beeswax. They burn for about twenty minutes and smell like heaven.
Available in pairs, packaged in a glassine envelope for $1.50 or 5 in a cellophane (biodegradable) bag for $3.

Hawthorne Harvest

If there is an herb for each month, Hawthorne definitely belongs to May.
Of course Sweet Woodruff would get her knickers all in a twist about that statement, however, Hawthorne is the first one I think of this time of year.
Each May I harvest Hawthorne near May Day for the Love Potion that I will make the following year.
Hawthorne can also be added to teas and baths for heartache as well as for anxiety that is centered in your chest.
Some might say that is is good for gladdening the heart, and however true this might be, Hawthorne is kind of a bad-ass. Have you seen those thorns? I call on her for protection and healing, specifically in areas of the heart. Looking for a little gladdening? I would suggest a more happy-go-lucky plant like calendula or sweet woodruff.
Here's a little honey bee, having it's way with the pink bloom. I would love to get my hands on some Hawthorne Honey. Local Beekeepers?

I have to be honest, I don't really know the difference between the pink and the white Hawthorne flowers. You can see that the white flowers have pink stamens and the pink flowers have white centers. The trees grow in the same areas, often so close together they are like one tree. You can also graft them together so that they are on one tree. Although they grow so abundantly, to be considered weed trees to some, that I see no need in planting them. I use the pink & white blossoms (along with their leaves) all together and harvest as I am called by the trees.
I always tell folks that when they harvest they ought to be thoughtful with harvesting ethically and all that goes on with that, but to also be thoughtful of the exchange. This for that. The honoring of the offering of the plant.
Always ask yourself "what is the intention?" and "how much do I really need to harvest?"
My intention was to enjoy my day in the sun and to gather some flowers and leaves for tea, possibly a small bottle of tincture and for the Love Potion.
Even with all of those things in mind, I really
didn't need that many flowers.
I was loving the trees and enjoying my time and then it occurred to me: I hadn't brought an offering.
Some common offerings are cornmeal, tobacco, food for small animals, etc. Personally, I usually bring something shiny for the fairies. I peeked into my bag and found some copper pennies and a big, beautiful vintage shell button. I tossed them under the tree I had spent the most time with and just as I turned away I got snagged, hard, on a thorn.
"Pay attention". The tree seemed to say. "The shiny things are nice and all, but I really wanted you to notice my thorns."

The last part of this story is about Hawthorne's scent.
I'll never forget the time when my herb teacher Cascade was teaching our class about Hawthorne and she had us all smell it. I was enraptured with the scent. To me it smells like raspberries, the salty sea, green apples and hot sun. I was surprised when I pulled my nose away from the blossoms to find all of the other 20 or so students expressing disgust to the scent in varying degrees. I felt a bit embarrassed by my revelry, yet Cascade laughed and said to me "you have an old nose". Meaning my scent sensibility was not tainted by the modern lack of acceptance of anything other than what is appropriate to scent laundry soap.
I can't get enough of the sexy scent that Hawthorne emanates. I have it drying in my dining room and am loving it.
It's been almost a week and the Hawthorne is almost dry, but I'll tell you this; I still have a piece of thorn stuck in my finger and each time I feel the irritation, I am reminded again and again of my love for this feisty, insistent, strong and beautiful tree: Hawthorne.
xo

Herbal Iced Tea - sage, dandelion, thyme & honey

We had some friends over for dinner a few days ago and I wanted something for the kids to drink that wasn't soda.
Not that I'm opposed to the occasional sugar indulgence, but the last time we allowed soda while having a bunch of kids over, we were finding soda cans everywhere for days.
With iced tea, even if it's yummy, it does not encourage overindulgence the way a fridge stocked with all natural Orange Cream Soda does.
Honestly, it all began with the dandelion syrup that I had begun earlier in the day that got neglected as I prepared dinner.
Earlier in the day when I had gone out to check on the chickens I saw, to my delight, some fully blooming dandelions. I picked about 2 cups of the tops and put them in a saucepan with just enough water to cover them. As they cook, the flowers reduce down and then the water does as well.

This was as far as I got. (If you want to continue on with making the syrup, you add sugar and boil, then pour over pancakes, ice cream etc. I will post the exactness of the recipe soonish.)

So I had about 2 cups of strong dandelion brew and I wanted iced tea. hmmm. Would children-who-do-not-belong-to me drink this?
I went back out and harvested garden sage and a small handful of thyme
I put the sage and thyme in a heat proof glass vessel and poured boiling water (24oz) over them, put a cover on it and let it sit for about 20 minutes. I wanted it to be lightly sweetened, so I poured (8oz) boiling water into the mostly empty honey jar that had crystallized honey lining the inside of the jar. The boiling water melted it down as I stirred and scraped down the sides to help it along.
I filled a metal pitcher with ice and poured the strained dandelion brew, the tea of thyme and sage and the melty honey sweetness all together.
It was surprising even to me in it's yumminess.
It was so good.
The children loved it as did the adults.
Please note that they were offered iced tea, not dandelion-sage-thyme iced tea.
I have learned my lesson on that one again and again. Once after making muffins for my girls and having them deemed "the best muffins ever" I took a risk and told them they had beets in them, they felt so betrayed and will now ask whenever presented with a chocolate muffin "are there beets in it?"
oh well.
"Would you like some iced tea?"
xo

purifying against bad dreams

Recipe to remove bad dreams - directed to a child -
1. place a bowl of salt water (2-3 tbl of SEA salt in 3-4 cups water, stir counter clockwise until dissolved) in her room wherever she thinks is the right place (tell her it will absorb negative energy) if she doesn't care put it at the foot of her bed.
If she thinks there should be more than one bowl, do that.
In the morning dump the salt water down the sink or toilet and rinse or flush it down.
2. Have her call on one of her stuffed animals or dolls to stay awake while she sleeps to guard against bad dreams.
3. Give her a bell to have by her bedside as a safety for her to ring if she gets scared.

there are a million other things you can try, but these are good starters

good luck.
xo