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.

Finally!

The perfume box set is launched

Orla Kiely Journals

Orla Kiely has good taste. It's simple and satisfying.
I have a similar love for her designs as I do for Lotta Jansdotter's.
Nice bold colors, but never overwhelming.
Her new journals come in several formats. The bound journals are gorgeous. The oatmeal colored one is embossed with the same pattern you see on the multi-colored one.
They also have ribbon book marks.
The little pocket journal is so sweet. It comes in green, red & brown or in a package with one of each color.
They're practical and sturdy, but mostly I just love how pretty they are.
(available at Flora-link here for address)

Green

I'm in an anthroposophical study group in which we are looking at the relationship between art and spirituality. We are a diverse group that has met once a week for almost 3 years.
Color comes up often. We occasionally do experiential art exercises and a year ago last spring we discussed doing exercises based in the experience of color.
One color at a time.
It should be noted that in Waldorf Art in the lower grades the children begin painting not to create art but to have an experience with color. They get one color at time with only water to expand or contract the color. They just experience the one color. Next week another color. It is unsatisfying for some parents as their children bring home not a sweet house with chimney and a bit of smoke but a page of Blue. In our product over process culture this leaves a bit to be desired and sometimes confusion for parents.
But once you've painted just blue for 3o minutes you understand the Blueness of it and as you use color in the future your singular color experience will have deepened your connection to and your understanding of the interconnectedness of all colors.
Our group is comprised of artists. A potter, sculptor, painter, puppet maker, book arts guru, basket weaver, blacksmith and herbalist? Yes I am the one who is not quite like the others and yet it works. When we were talking about the color exercise we considered how to as adults have a singular color experience and I had a moment of inspiration in which I wanted to create a scent that evoked a color and as we worked our way through the colors one by one I would challenge myself to create a scent to match the color.
This stewed and brewed within me and I, in my overly busy life had to let this one "extra" thing go.
Then on a day last winter when the store was so busy and I was about to feel sorry for myself that no one was coming in AKA I'm a failure and no one loves me. (Pity is not pretty I know.) I adjusted my outlook to one of: I'm so lucky to have my own store and I will act is if I'm in a little girl's fairy tale dream of having a perfume store. (It's all true, I just needed to look again.) And with that I decided to "play". I spent the rest of the day playing around with essential oils, absolutes & waxes and made some little tins of perfumed balms.
I had a great afternoon and amazingly the scents were all wonderful.
I came back to them over time and had customers smell them and I thought about them occasionally.
One of my favorite customers loved a spicy-citrus one and asked me to make some for him so I did.
Time passes. Months.
I find some adorable little balm containers that I just have to have. I buy them and wonder what I can put in these little things. I begin experimenting to find a product to go in them. Just for fun because the containers are so darn cute.
During this time I am trying to create a line of teas under the io brand and even though I have been blending teas for more than a dozen years it was just too big of a project to succeed at as a store owner and manufacturer working mostly alone about 45 hours (minimum) a week.
Blah, blah blah.
More time passes.
Last week my friend Tom was over and I was showing him my new perfume. It's green, the container is green and the scent evokes green. Tom says "you did it, you made the smell of green."
Wow, I had forgotten about that so long ago inspiration from the art group and here we were more than a year later with a tiny green fruit of my labor and inspiration.

P.S. there is more exciting news coming soon about the scents (yes plural.)
I'm so excited!
xo