the next chapter: November 2012

We've had so many warm, sunny days this fall that I've been able to sneak in a few last-minute outdoor chores and harvests that I might otherwise have missed. Of course, as I type this, snow is falling thickly outside, so it looks like winter has arrived....

Ethel helping with the garlic

Yesterday, I finally got around to planting the garlic. I chose a bed along the western fence of our garden that I had left fallow this year, after applying a good dressing of rabbit manure in the spring. There was some red clover growing there over the summer, along with a jungle of lambs quarters which will make a nice crop of greens in the spring when it self-seeds.

I pulled all of the greenery and smoothed out the soil. It is great to see the soil after three years of amendment--finally starting to resemble the rich, organic loveliness that is the goal. Between the reliable source of rabbit manure, and the manure/bedding from the girls, my garden flourishes no matter how much I neglect it.

My plan for the bed is to plant the garlic now and then following with a planting of pole beans and/or squash vines in late spring. Since the garlic will be ready for harvest by July, it will be out of the way for the later crops. I plant two varieties of garlic, one that doesn't keep as long but has a soft stem that can be used to braid the bulbs together...which I love in theory and yet have never done. *sigh* The second variety is a great winter keeper, but the bulbs are slightly smaller and the stem is very rigid. They both require the same growing conditions, which for today means that I need to give them fairly loose, fertile soil and a good mulching since it is so late in the season and cold is just around the corner.

Soft- and hard-neck varieties

Since the soft-neck variety doesn't keep for very long I don't plant as much of it, but plan to use it up during the summer and fall after harvesting. Of the four rows I planted today, 2 1/2 were the winter-hardy and 1 1/2 were the soft-neck. Then I piled several inches of bunny manure over the top and capped that with straw bedding.

A quick word about rabbit manure: it is the one manure that is safe to put directly in your garden; it will not burn the plants like other uncomposted manures will. It makes a nice, if stinky, mulch for taller plants because there is so much grassy bedding along with the manure pellets. If you can find a source, definitely take advantage--check at 4H events, county fairs, etc.

I am happy to have the garlic in the ground; it is the one thing I grow in which we are self-sufficient, and I feel as though I have a standard to uphold!

Next I moved on to split up the daffodils at the end of the driveway, which for the last three years have sent up more and more leaves with fewer flowers--a sign, I assumed, that down in the soil the bulbs were dividing, multiplying, and making many smaller bulbs without enough room to flourish. The problem, and the reason why I've been avoiding this chore, is that the daffodils come up each spring through the heavy mat of vinca and ivy that the former owners of this house planted every last place they could think of. Arggh.

Clearing the ivy requires a ridiculous amount of sheer tugging and yanking, working through the soil with my hands to pull out roots...I already know how sore I will be tomorrow. But the fun part was finding the little gnome-like colonies of bulbs, whiskery with roots, and separating them between my fingers. I spaced them out and replanted them, covering the soil with a 2' x 3' piece of chickenwire to keep the squirrels out, and then topping it all with a heavy mulch of rabbit manure.

Finally, it was time for the big event. Okay, the big event for me--which is not everyone's idea of excitement, I'll grant you. Anyway: echinacea root harvest! I started these plants from seed the first spring we were here in our house, and they are just now old enough to try for roots big enough to be worthwhile.

Roots of Echinacea purpurea

Here's the thing with herbs and healing--this is something that I've always had an interest in, no matter the guise--from traditional Chinese medicine to modern American herbalism, or within the paradigm of women, midwifery, and reproductive health. I have no clinical studies or controlled experiments going on, but I know that over the past few years we've adapted several homemade remedies that work for us when colds come on or there are wounds to heal.

So, onto the echinacea tincture: To get at the roots, I pushed the shovel in all around the plant and then tugged it gently up out of the ground. I turned it over, cleaned off as much soil as I could, and snapped off the roots I wanted, and then replaced the plant in its hole, filling in around it and tamping it back into place. I added a thick manure/bedding mulch for good measure.

I think that I could have waited another year for these plants...I've read that finger-sized roots are best, which are old enough to have developed full medicinal potency, and I didn't have as many roots that size as I'd hoped. Of course, this wasn't exactly a summer of heavy growth for any of my unwatered native plants, so we'll see what next year brings. I chopped up the roots into small pieces and filled a pint jar with them. I poured 80 proof vodka over the roots, capped the jar, labelled it, and put it on the shelf to wait six weeks. (The alcohol should be 100 proof ideally, but I used what I happened to have.)

These last warm and rainy weeks have allowed me to harvest comfrey and plantain, healing plants whether used fresh as a poultice or infused into a healing oil which can be used as is or made into lotions, creams or balms. At this time of year, I want to preserve whatever I can because the dried versions seem to miss some essential greenness. So I picked the wide, furry comfrey leaves that grow by my garden and the smooth green plantain leaves that grow in my lawn, let them wilt and dry for a day, and then cut them up into separate mason jars. I poured in olive oil slowly, stirring with a stick to release air bubbles, until the oil topped the herbs with space to spare. Now they will sit in the sunny window sill for a few weeks, slowly infusing the oil with their goodness.

I also put together a few new items and one old standby:

First, we were out of toothpaste--which is actually a peppermint tooth powder that I've been making for the past year or so out of baking soda, stevia powder, and peppermint essential oil. I have never measured my formula, which isn't helpful, but it goes something like this: 2-3 big spoonsful of baking soda, one medium spoon of stevia, liberal sprinkling of essential oil. Mix. Repeat until jar is full or you've made the desired quantity. To use, spoon a heaping portion on a wet toothbrush and brush teeth. (Or if you get lazy about using the spoon like we do, then dip your dry toothbrush in the powder, wet with a few drops of water under the tap, and brush.)

As for the new stuff, I decided to work on a hair & scalp oil-- specifically, jojoba oil infused with rosemary, lavender, nettles, and horsetail. Once the oil has infused for 4-6 weeks, I will add a few other essential oils such as clary sage, lemon, and patchouli, and then use this as an overnight treatment for my scalp, which gets dry at times. All of the herbs and essential oils are ones that are either good for hair and scalp in general or for dandruff or itchy scalp. It will smell amazing.

Lemongrass honey and rosemary lavender oil. Mmmm.

Lemongrass Honey--this was a last minute idea and an easy one--I snapped off one of the thickest stems at the base of the plant I'm attempting to over-winter, chopped up the green leaves, and then peeled the dry outer leaves from around the heart of the stem, which I cut up into small rounds. The leaves and stem pieces I put in a small jar and covered with honey. This can steep for weeks, and will be completely wonderful in tea over the winter.

Oh and one final announcement: I have a wonderful new addition to my office, in memory of my friend Cathy's mother, Molly Malone. This hutch held her recipe boxes and china for over thirty years before she passed away last month--and now it holds all of my crafty herbal homesteading paraphenalia. An apothecary hutch? A potion cupboard? Who knows what to call it...but thank you, Molly. I have no doubt that you would approve of the new purpose for this lovely old piece.