Wild Weather and Good Tea

Wild nights are my glory. - Mrs. Whatsit, A Wrinkle in Time

Wild days, too. Here I was, quietly minding my own business and watching the clouds drifting through out of the corner of my eye when the world went dark, small hail began falling from nowhere, and a brilliant flash illuminated the little ice pellets bouncing like miniature toy balls on the ground followed a moment later by a roll of thunder that seemed to be a wheel traveling into eternity, shaking the earth around it before fading away. Even as the storm cell recedes and the birds come out of their hiding places, the thunder rumbles on though ever-decreasing in volume.

Yesterday our county recorded the lowest ever barometer reading since they started recording in 1881: 29.15 inches of mercury. This record low pressure front that has moved through is trailing plenty of unstable weather which makes for interesting weather watching. I didn't realize that I was so fascinated by the weather, but I suppose it helps to have interesting weather to watch! Most of the time there isn't much to see here.

The Cottage is situated in a valley that nestles up against a mountain in Southern California, where the weather patterns are generally quite stable. It does mean, however, that I am having to learn that the inland valley microclimate is a whole different microclimate than the coastal microclimate in which I was born and raised. The range of plants available to someone seeking to create a water-wise garden is quite wide, though the number of typical garden vegetable plants is far more limited! I am having fun researching the native plants that I could choose for my small space, and even more fun learning about the various medicinal and ceremonial uses for them. I haven't made any decisions yet, but with share when plans come into the works.

In the meantime, I will share with you a favorite tea blend I make with a lovely and fragrant native herb (and which has been a staple in my pot with all of this crazy and cool weather!):

For 1 cup of tea combine 1 tsp or 1 teabag of good, plain black tea with 1/2 tsp of dried or 1 tsp of fresh white sage leaves, broken up into small pieces. Steep for 4 minutes in just-boiling water and remove the tea and sage. The sage is quite strong, so I will sometimes soften it with just a hint of local wildflower honey or agave syrup though stevia or sugar will work also. If you prefer green tea this will work, but it would be preferable to use garden or common sage to allow the flavors to work better together! Sage is quite a warming herb and enjoys being mixed with other herbs like rosemary and thyme to help clear up congestion and breathing difficulties when suffering from a cold.

A Year and a (few) days!

Goodness! It has been a year since I started writing here at the cottage! (Actually, a little over, since my welcome posts was on the 4th of January). It seems almost surreal to think that this little blog has been around that long, and through so many changes in my life. I'm so glad it has allowed me to meet so many new and fascinating people, and I hope that there will be many more new friends made through these community connections.

On a different note, since we here at the cottage are in an area that has implemented water rationing and it gets mighty hot and dry in the summers, we have decided to turn our garden over to native plants. Of course, there will be several natives that are plenty useful - White Sage, Yarrow, and Artemisia come to mind - so I won't be without my herbs. After two years of trying to find out what vegetables and fruits we could grow here and finding that everything was burned to a crisp by the end of July we have finally made the decision to not fight with the environment around us. We will still be growing tomatoes, but instead of forcing them to face the full heat of the sun, we will plant them in a large pot on the porch, where there is some shade and it is just a little bit cooler. Other herbs will come inside on a convenient windowsill, and the ones that can handle it will stay outside in hanging pots along our porch overhang.

I feel better knowing that we are moving closer to what this patch of ground might have once been, and also that we will be providing natural food and habitat to those lovely birds that I so enjoy seeing in our yard (and who seem to enjoy taunting the cat).

Garden Update

I haven't mentioned my herbs much lately. Or my garden. Mostly because I didn't do much with them early enough in the year - I've got a pair of heirloom tomatoes that are unhappy in the heat and some pretty standard herbs. Something keeps trying to devour my lemon balm and I may have to give up on keeping a plant going this year if I can't figure out what it is, but my lemon verbena seems to be doing fairly well. The peppermint is doing well, but the spearmint is not. Basil and sage are thriving, but the oregano is struggling again this year. I also devoted some pots to flowers that would feed and draw hummingbirds, of which the petunia is doing well but the verbena won't blossom (I suspect the same kind of critters eating on it as on the lemon balm) and the phlox seems to be toast.

Hopefully I will be able to do some more research this winter into what will grow here in the heat and sun and will not turn out to be sadly needing shade in this extremely sunny yard. I suppose that with the way the house reflects heat it cooks anything near it, and there is really no way to create shade. In the meantime I am glad that I have several reliable sources of dried herbs for the things I enjoy using!

Is it Gardening Time Yet?

Sometimes I feel like a little kid asking "are we there yet?" - except I want to get out and plant my herbs and flowers! With this unseasonably warm weather here I am feeling the need for plants again. This last weekend was spent haunting nurseries and dreaming about what I might grow this year.

I can't wait to try berries of some variety, and will probably select Red Raspberries since not only are the fruits wonderful, the leaves are quite useful as well. They are especially prized for women, but can assist everyone with stress and nervous tension. Just watch the dosage and do not consume early in pregnancy.

My sweet gardenia is putting out leaves again - I thought I had lost her early last fall when I was away for a few days during a heat wave. I came home and her poor leaves were all withered and crisp. Fortunately, careful watering and encouragement have helped her regain some vitality. It seems the women in my family have a soft spot for gardenias - they were my grandmothers favorite flower and we always picked up a gardenia corsage for her on special occasions. My mother also loves gardenias, and now I have one that I am tending. While I enjoy the delicate, waxy flowers and gentle fragrance it is the connection with my family that brings me the most satisfaction from this quiet plant.

Epiphany Greetings

Happy Epiphany! This is a time for new things, new sights, and dreaming of my herb garden! Last year I tried many new plants in new places, and discovered that many of them were very unhappy; this year I am trying a new layout and returning a few old friends to places where they were happier.

It seems to me to be a time for dreaming about my herbs with the coming of the light back to the world. Today, the feast of the Epiphany, is the day when the Light of the World was revealed to the Gentiles for the first time. The Wise Men (Three Kings) arrived in Bethlehem to worship the baby Jesus, and the world saw the Light of His Star. The gifts they brought him were precious oils, resins, and gold. Frankincense and Myrrh are still used today for their grounding and healing properties, as well as for incense. Myrrh gum is often added to natural mouthwashes and toothpastes as a disinfectant. Frankincense is used for the stabilizing nature of it's essence.

I can't grow either Myrrh or Frankincense in my little corner of the world, but I can, and do, grow other herbs associated with the holy family - the most obvious being Rosemary. The legend says that during the flight to Egypt, Mary spread her cloak on this bush, and afterward it bloomed blue and held a beautiful fragrance in her honor. Rosemary is very useful not only for flavoring in cooking, but as a tea for people who are tense or depressed, especially if that is due to stress. It is a wonderful herb in the bath, as well. It encourages circulation, and the essential oil is wonderful for enhancing the memory - in older times students often studied with a sprig nearby and wore a sprig to exams.