The Magic of One Seed

                                                      A whole bowl from just one flower! 

 

The real reason I am elated about these seeds, besides the fact that they're delicious lies at the beginning of the seeds journey. In early Spring my 3 year old brought home a little sprout housed in a plastic dixie cup that he had planted at school. We put it out back and got busy so busy that the next time little Z went outside to check on the plant he stormed inside crying because it had died. Well I happen to know plants sometimes have a magical regenerative quality if you give them extra love and attention and really at that point I was willing to try anything to mend my little guys heart. I gently told him to pick out a special spot in the garden, we talked to the plant propped the poor thing up with a twig and couple rocks and hoped for the best. Honestly, I just thought that for the moment the crisis was averted, went to the store and bought a bag of sunflower seeds for us to plant. To our surprise about a week later the sprout was standing on it's own again. After another week it tripled in size, that's when we began to document it's process.We took a photo every two weeks, every time Z squealed with joy and was amazed when the plant was "taller than daddy!"

The flower bloomed, inviting a myriad of  lovely summer guests to delight in the joys of it's nectar and beauty- and in the case of the birds and squirrels, it's seeds! Then it drooped it's giant head and took a well deserved rest! Last night while we were playing around it the yard I noticed a few seeds had dropped from the droopy mammoth and decided it was time to shuck them. Only I have never shucked a sunflower before so it quickly became a family activity. I held out my dress and caught the flying seeds as my husband wiggled the top around and Z picked the ones off the ground that I missed. I'm sure Martha Stewart has mastered the art of "shucking" or "de-seeding" a sunflower and I'm sure it's efficient and crafty, but I wouldn't want to do it any other way. As we were all sitting around our dinner table huddled over this bowl full of seeds a sense of joy washed over me. The kind of joy you feel when everything seems perfect, the kind I imagine zen masters are talking about when they say "be here now" I felt that many times through this process, just udder joy and perfection from one itty bitty seed.

Learning A Life Lesson From a Cucumber

Something in your way? No problem, just grow with it :)

Blackberries!

A couple weeks ago my three year old burst into the house super excited with a purple mustache. I have to admit, I was kind of terrified at first wondering where that juicy purple ring around his mouth came from and he opened his sweet little hand and showed me what he found growing along our fence line. Fresh. Ripe. Juicy. Blackberries! One more reason my backyard is magical!

8 Tips For Making Hair Care Products From Fresh Herbs

I met a lovely woman a few months back at a seed swap and she shared with me her way of washing her hair. Basically she walks around her garden in late summer collecting herbs, puts them in a container, covers them with vinegar and lets them sit for a year before she pulls it out to use as a shampoo. The whole ordeal sounded so romantic to me, and her hair looked nice -not what I would expect from someone who said they never washed their hair with regular shampoo. I'm not ready to completely give up my coconut milk shampoo but with an abundance of herbs and a surplus of cool jars I thought I'd give it a try. After some trial an error and loads of research here are some useful tips to making a good hair rinse/shampoo:

1. I use it more as a rinse once a week after washing

2. Use whatever mix you want but rosemary is the herb that really conditions and strengthens so try to use that as a base and throw in lavender or sage for fragrance

3.Wash all herbs really well, the last thing you want is a bug in your shampoo!

4. All parts of plants have different qualities and purposes, it takes a little longer but it's well worth it to pick the leaves off the stem first. 

5. You don't have to wait a year, a week will work just fine

6. Use plain white or apple cider vinegar

7. Store in a dark cool place, heat and light can rob herbs of their potency.

8. Strain before using

I

Perfect Summer Sammie

Now I didn't bake a loaf of bread for this sandwich but I did hand pick the loaf. I'm an omnivore at this point in my life, it's just what works for my body, I was however a vegetarian for the better part of a decade so when it comes to whipping up a veggie sandwich it's second nature.I layered the following on a nice Jewish Rye bread I found at The Fresh Market
Sliced cucumbers- I linke to slice them long ways like sandwich pickles
Sliced tomatoes-from the garden
Sliced avocado
Big pieces of spinach
On coated each slice of bread with a rich herbed goat cheese from the farmers market and spinkled with shredded rainbow carrots.
I didn't even notice it was missing the meat!