Healing Herbs

My medicinal herbs that I grew from seed are finally taking root and growing really well. During my reading I discovered that most plants reach their medicinal effectiveness at two years of age. So that and the fact that these plants are still so tender and young has made me decide to hold off on digging my garden just yet. I think I'll pot these up and tend to them until they get mature enough to hold their own in a garden. Plus, it will allow me to over winter them in the garage so I won't have to do this all again next year!

What you see here is lavender, feverfew, allheal, elecampagne, and evening primrose. Many of my medicinal herbs didn't germinate when I started these so I'm starting over with skullcap, burdock, and astragalus when the weather gets a bit warmer.

I also have some great cooking herbs going in pots around the yard.
Here is rosemary and the remnants of cilantro. You'll also see the beginnings of some basil there in the middle. It froze during the winter and I had to plant again. By mid summer this barrel is completely overflowing! I dried a lot of rosemary and basil last summer, and it's still good today!

Here's another pot of kitchen herbs: flat leafed parsely, oregano, lemon thyme, and sage. They're still small, but by mid summer you won't be able to see the inside of this pot! We've already been harvesting some of these herbs for cooking...the smell is amazing!

This poor little pot looks pretty pathetic! In the front is garlic chives. I'm hoping they'll take good root and multiply. The two little plants in the middle are hot pepper plants. They were on the verge of death in peat pots but appear to have come back to life in the warm soil of the pot. I also scattered some dill seeds in the soil, but they haven't germinated yet.

Pots are pretty inexpensive and look really pretty scattered throughout a garden. Mixing in garden soil with some of our compost really saves on filling them, too. I'm looking for some creative ways of recycling other objects as planters (have you seen my bookcase onion bed?)
And it's not because I'm "Green"....I'm just CHEAP!

Menu Plan Monday

This is a week of simple, frugal meals while I'm (not so) patiently waiting for my garden to come in! I'm also LOVING having the "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" sponge sitting in my fridge for quick and fresh homemade bread with our meals.

Monday: Grilled vegetable quesadillas on homemade sprouted wheat tortillas served with black beans. It's game night, we need portable food!

Tuesday: Twice baked potatoes and salad served with artisan bread.

Wednesday: Crock pot taco soup.

Thursday: Grilled pizza using artisan bread for the crusts.

Friday: Spinach fritatta and fruit salad. Made with yard eggs from a local farm!

Saturday: Homemade mac & cheese.

Sunday: Crock pot roast (organic/grass fed) and baby carrots served with artisan bread.

Gratuitous picture of some really handsome guys...

The one day when they are all clean, coiffed, combed, and (fairly) well mannered...of course I had to capture it in a picture!

Saturday afternoon...

Artisan bread in five minutes a day

In five minutes worth of prep work you can make four boules of homemade bread for the week (although, five boules would probably only last one day around here!)

All you need is yeast, flour, water and salt. Pull off a piece of dough before dinner, let rise for 40 minutes then bake - what could be more simple?

For a quick tutorial, check out this YouTube video:

I am super excited to experiment with this dough. I hope to try to get a sourdough by using 1/4 cup of whey or maybe even kefir. Plus, different flours and herbs will be interesting to play with. Let me know if you've used this method before!

The Paschal Triduum

We are entering into the most holy days of the year with the Paschal Triduum of the death, burial, and the resurrection of our Lord.

Holy Thursday

The night Jesus was betrayed. The first Holy Mass. The institution of the priesthood.

On this holy night we begin our three day vigil. We come and go in silence for the sake of those who remain in prayer. We will gather for for Mass this evening and then sit with our Lord in Adoration until midnight.

Good Friday

The day Jesus died.

An early morning Stations of the Cross to share in the Passion and Death of our Lord. At the Holy Hour (3pm) we will read the story of the Passion and venerate the Cross. That evening we will participate in the Pesame, or the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Mother of Christ.

Holy Saturday

A time of reflection and waiting - the time of weeping that lasts for the night while awaiting the joy that comes in the morning.

Easter Sunday

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia! Our Lord has risen!

Wishing you the most blessed Easter from the Creamer family!

Easter dress

I finished my Easter dress, well, everything but the hem.
I'll probably do that on Friday as a pennance, I hate hemming!
Not too shabby for 13 bucks!

THANKS U.S. Department of Agriculture

FOR NOTHING!

Like a good gardener, I waited until after the last frost date you predicted (and beyond!) but still got shafted last night as about 40% of my garden got bitten by frost!

I covered all my little seedlings with hay, but it wasn't enough for some of the more delicate veggies. I'm giving the garden a deep watering then will reassess if they can make a come back in a couple of days. Truth be told, I think I'm going to be replanting A LOT this weekend.

BAH!!!

File this under wha?.......

For all my LOST peeps, and you know who you are!
I read this really interesting theory at TimeLoopTheory.com
It is actually the only theory I've read that ties up all the loose ends.
It is really good stuff, check it out!

Vampires Beware!

We love garlic around here and I put it in almost everything. Sometimes, though, that raw bite of garlic can be a little too overpowering so I try to keep roasted garlic on hand. It's so simple to do a big batch. Cut the tops off of a few heads of garlic and pour a bit of olive oil on top. Wrap up in a foil pocket and place in a 375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes.

Once the heads are cool enough to handle, squeeze them into a container and top with a bit of good olive oil. It can sit on your counter for several weeks.

Roasted garlic is very sweet. It's a wonderful addition to just about any recipe. I really like it added to bread dough, like pizza crust or food processor french bread.
Plus, garlic has lots of health properties!

That reminds me...I need to pick up a tin of mints next time I go to the store!

What I found over the weekend

I hit three estate sales and one school surplus sale over the weekend. I didn't find a goldmine of goodies, but I did find some nice items for our home.
At one sale I found some awesome kitchen supplies. I got these very well seasoned cast iron skillets and one bread baking pan. I also got a counter mounted meat grinder still mint in the package...a 1960's package!

At the same place I found a lovely pink and white crocheted afghan.
Danny put it to use first thing this morning.

At another sale I found a wonderful stash of vintage linens.
I can already see a tiered skirt and some pillow case dresses from these!

At the same sale I found some flour sack dishtowels ~ some with chickens, some with flowers.

Also some hand made doilies and these awesome pink bowls.

At the school surplus sale I got a VERY heavy wooden desk and table for a STEAL at only 10 bucks each!

My goal this week is to get them cleaned and sanded. I may leave the desk as it is but I have plans to paint the table a high gloss black.

I also snagged a HUGE wall map of the world for Danny and JP's room. I think it will look awesome mounted on the wall and framed out with molding.

Doug and the boys are running to Houston for the day so just as soon as I finish my chores around the house I'll be starting some great new projects! I'll keep you posted on how they turn out!

Some-bunny's hungry!

Every spring I put out a few decorations around the house.
Bunnies, eggs, chicks, you get the idea.

Someone must have thought the bunnies looked a little hungry...

I found this plastic piece of lettuce from the boy's play food set
sitting on the table this morning!

Thrift-O-Rama!

You can bet I'll be up at ridiculous o'clock on Friday morning.
There are three estate sales PLUS one huge school surplus sale...
and I will fight any old lady that gets in my way.
Word.

An award!

Karen, at Nine Texans, gave me this sweet award on her blog.

Karen said:

JoAnn is a great mom of 4 busy boys. Homeschooling, working as an L&D nurse, supporting her husband in his photography business and homemaker extraordinaire. I just love reading about her crafty decorating, sewing and cooking projects. She has really inspired me to teach myself how to sew.

That is so sweet! Thanks so much for thinking of me!
I'm passing this nifty award on to some awesome bloggers...

Kalona, a beautiful example of a Christian woman. She tirelessly takes care of everyone around her and I love reading about her days. She even homeschools her grandchildren (who are absolutely adorable!) She is a wonderful inspiration!

AND

Sonya, my sister. She has a lovely blog with her AMAZING quilling work. She's always been the crafty type, but with quilling, she has taken it to another level...she has really found her niche with this! She is also a wonderful mother and grandmother and is now enjoying her empty nest as she and her husband go galavanting around the globe (and I'm still waiting to see those pictures from Israel!)

Command central

Every house has it. A central station with the family calendar and notepad. The place where work schedules, play dates, baseball games and practices, special events and appointments are masterly scheduled and arranged...

Ours happens to be in the bathroom!

It's the one place where there is a captive audience and (almost) undivided attention!
We've tried moving the calendar to more reasonable areas like the kitchen or computer work area, but it always ends up in the bathroom...right across from the potty!

Words I never thought I'd utter:
"Hold on a minute, let me go to the bathroom to check the calendar!"