Wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving

Here at Possum Creek, Thanksgiving is a time to pause in our demanding little world and reflect on the blessings and gifts that we have been given over the past year. The end of the harvest has come and winter is not far behind. Time for a little quiet pause with family and friends is very much needed after a year of hustle and bustle.

So, from our farm to yours, from our house to yours and from Possum Creek to you and your family, a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Potpourri - A Recipe

Our assignment this week was a simple one. Tina (Yahoo blogsters list) wanted us to blog a recipe. Didn't matter what kind of recipe it was. Could be a craft, culinary, oil, vinegar, soup, soap and so on. We are also talking about making herbal gifts for the holidays at The Essential Herbal Yahoo list so I thought I would kind of kill two topics with one stone and post one of my favorite potpourri recipes. It is very simple and makes as large a batch as you need it to be. It is a good seller in shops and online and looks really pretty in a bowl as you can see by the picture.

Hips N Stix with Gingerbread Boys

Part 1 Salt Dough Gingerbread cookies

1 cup salt

2 cups flour

1 cup water

2 TBS vegetable oil

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Add oil and water until well blended. Knead with hands until smooth. Roll out dough (I divide dough into smaller balls to make it easier to roll out) and using a small cookie cutter, cut out as many shapes as you can. You can find trees, gingerbread men, and seasonal cookie cutters at stores like Michaels and Hobby Lobby in the cake decorating area. Into a 250 degree oven for two hours. Check to be sure they are hard all the way through. If the weather is humid it might take more time. Let cool completely.

Part 2 Potpourri Blend

Take several cups of rosehips that are completely dried and blend with several cups of small cinnamon sticks. You can buy cinnamon sticks at the health food store or online in different sizes. For this project they need to be about an inch. Mix the hips and sticks together in a large bowl. Add fragrance oil of choice. For this blend we used Gingerbread which you can find at many of the soap or candle making websites. We used 2 ounces for our blend but we are making a very large batch (10 pounds or more). Gently stir the oil all the way through the hips and sticks. Add your now hard cookies and very, very gently stir then in the blend. This blend can be covered and sit for a few days to finish blending together.

This keeps very well in a covered container. If using a plastic container it will leave a scent in the container. Looks great in a large glass jar too.

Possum Creek introduces its new Website

I can't believe how busy I have been the past month or so. The last entry was almost a month ago with pictures of the festival we did. Time fast forwarded when I wasn't looking, I guess. Making holiday products for the website, shows and the farmers market has taken up much of our time. Add to that we're in a mad scramble to get the plastic on the new greenhouse so we can actually start using it this winter. We're almost there and need one more calm, windless day to finish.

What I have spent a good majority of my time on, and it is time well spent, if I say so myself, is the farm's website. With the help of a fantastic web designer from the Big Apple, I completely re-vamped, polished and brought the website into the modern era of web technology. Technology is constantly changing and leaving a website to sit fallow is not good business. I learned that websites much load faster, images must be smaller, sharper and quick to download and text must be concise and search engine friendly. I spent quite a long period of time researching web host companies who offered the right system, security and assurance that they would be up and running 24/7. It has been quite a liberating experience with completely redesigning the site, finding a new cart that fits what I see for the future of the farm and have it all fit together with few glitches. I know some of you know what I mean about glitches.

I haven't been completely chained to my computer these last few weeks. Plant material is coming into the greenhouse almost faster than we can pot it up. Wholesale orders call for organically grown herb plants to be ready earlier in the spring than mail-order and retail. We have to be ready to begin shipping by the end of February so that means planting and potting up begins now. There are going to be some incredible looking gardens and nursery centers this spring, because our herbs and perennials are heading all over the U.S. and in the local Chattanooga area. I will be blogging about our new selections in the weeks to come, so stay tuned.

Fall Festivals

Last weekend was a culmination of many weeks of hard work. Growing plants, mixing batches of potpourri, bath brews, salts, vinegars, making wreaths and not to mention getting it all where it needed to go was a little wearing, but once everything was set up and the tent raising was mastered, it was smooth sailing after that. We had a fantastic time meeting old and new friends. We had a perfect spot along the river (another blog entry) and the weather could not be more perfect.

I thought I would share a couple of pictures of the spot we had and some of the products we brought. Enjoy.

A Woman Possessed...

Twice this week two different people made the same comment to me. A "woman possessed" these two kind hearted souls said as they heard the list of things to be accomplished in a short period of time. How odd that they both said the same thing. Odd because they live in two different states, are in different trades and aren't even of the same gender. What could they mean I wondered? Did I sound half crazed with panic over my "to-do" list? Were my sentences running on like a train off its track? Was I even making sense?


The list of things "to-do" is of the products I want to make and package before our largest show begins in just a week. Ketner's Mill, http://www.ketnersmill.org/, is one of the largest outdoor festivals in our area. The vendor waiting list is lengthy and the judges are tough, so we were very pleased to be chosen to participate this year. It is an outdoor show which means a tent and all the assorted minutia that comes with it. It means making and packaging products, grooming plants, fluffing wreaths, sewing dolls and finding tables that fit the booth space. It means a lot of things must all fall into place for everything to work. Did I mention rain is forecasted for both days of the show?


While all of the festival prep is going on, the kids have been on fall break from school. They are usually old enough to entertain themselves and did extremely well this week. The oldest helped me plant a beautyberry bush and two blueberry bushes and rolled two half whiskey barrels into place in the yard for next spring's abundance of herbs I will need to grow. There was time to hit the mall, eat out and see a movie during the week along with a short camping trip.

There was some business to attend to this week. Cost cutting efforts are taking place with the business. You all know how that is. We got tired of paying extra fees for things we just didn't need or paying fees for things when we weren't getting anything in return for our money. Services had to be cancelled and then bought with other companies. This went on for most of the week. Today was quiet business-wise for which I was grateful. I did actually get to have lunch on the screened in porch watching the birds cavort around the new feeder I had just put up.

Next week will be hectic but manageable. The kids will be back in school so that means band and basketball practice after school along with homework and the usual chores. Thursday will be the last day to finish anything before the show or just say "to heck with it" and let it go. Friday morning we head to Marion county and begin the set up. I will fit in a little house cleaning (or not) and try to keep things organized.


The mess you see in the picture is my cubbyhole room under the steps in the basement where I keep all the supplies. I am hoping all the shelves will be bare when we come home. Oh and did I mention that rain is forecasted for next weekend....significant rain.


Possessed? Bah....not me.

Dirt....a blogster's challenge

As a member of the blogster's list at Yahoo we are spending more time with our blogs as you would imagine. This week's challenge from blog leader, Tina, is to find something that may look insignificant to most people, but actually plays a very important role in our every day lives and where does it lead us.

I chose dirt as the subject of this challenge. Dirt covers a multitude of sins as they say here in the south. Dirt is found everywhere no matter how obsessive one cleans. Dirt clings. Dirt blows in the wind. Dirt can turn dirty. Dirt can be black gold if it is organic, rich and fragrant. Dirt is everyone's and no one's problem. Dirt is here to stay or so we can hope.

The picture shown here is a pot full of dirt with the last vestiges of a basil plant giving up and calling it quits for winter. Though the days are still warm, the plant has fought the long fight of the effects of a long hot, dry summer. The dirt is dark and rich but tired from water being poured into it to nourish the plant every day. When the dirt dries out it becomes hard, harsh and crumbly. The plant becomes sad and starts its journey to compost.

Dirt.....it is in the air, on the ground, in a pot, against the house and under my fingernails. An herb farmer likes it that way. If it wasn't for dirt the herb plants, as one small part of this planet, would not have anything to spread their roots in. The herb plants would not survive (nor anything else for that matter). Most dirt is made from leftover construction materials, foundation sand and other inorganic materials. Luckily there are sources for rich organic material that can feed and nurture the herb plants. The plants cannot survive without this black gold.

Blog Challenge-Sweet Annie

A few days ago I presented a challenge to the Blogsters list at Yahoo. The challenge was to blog everything they knew about Sweet Annie, 'Artemisia annua' and provide a picture. The goal is to get them writing and creating a blog that they would enjoy presenting to the public at large. Most of these women are business owners and most own their own business or partner with others to create an unique niche. Some of these women are a little timid while the others jumped right in and completed their challenge. Might be the reward of receiving a handmade Sweet Annie wreath that is motivating them....Whatever it might be I am humbled by a group of women who pretty much started their businesses from scratch with very little money and for some, very little support from their families. Circle around several years later and these women have successful businesses, happy families and full lives all centering around their love of herbs. Please visit our links section here on our blog and on our website, Possum Creek Herb Farm, and visit the links of these very important women.

Now, on to our challenge....I fell in love with Sweet Annie about twenty years ago when someone gave me a wreath that she made from a patch she was growing. She told me with a smile to shake the wreath over an area on the ground where I wanted the Sweet Annie to grow. I followed her instructions and to my amazement I had several little Sweet Annie plants growing the following spring. Ferny green and sweetly scented (not for the allergic) the Sweet Annie grew and grew like Jack's beanstalk until I had towering trees. As the summer passed into fall the Sweet Annie changed to a bright golden yellow green with little seeds along all of the branches. As September waned and October color began taking over the gardens, the "trees" changed to a russet gold and became almost powdery. I knew it was ready for wreath making and for other projects I had only seen in magazines or in upscale herb shops. I promise that I will blog how to create one of these wreaths very soon, but I wanted to show you what can truly be done with what most people consider a "weed" in their gardens. These wreaths pictured were done last year for two upscale garden centers and for a wedding. NOTE: sorry gals, these are not one of the wreaths for the blog challenge reward. :)

You may notice that the wreaths' base is a darker green. These wreaths were done in August while the Sweet Annie was still in its "green" state. During this state it is easier to work with for those whose nose cannot handle the dust Sweet Annie creates. Misting with water or working with the Sweet Annie while the dew is still on it helps somewhat. A beautiful wreath can last forever if taken care of. Keep out of sunlight, away from moisture and heat and gently blow the dust off with a hair dryer all helps preserve the beauty. And remember, shake your wreath over a spot on the ground for next year's new plants....and the year after.....and the year after that.

Soup's On

Cooler weather calls for comfort foods. And in our family homemade soup tops the list.

This recipe has been refined over the years with some changes to the ingredients, but the one constant is fresh herbs. If you don't have access to fresh herbs then dried is fine. Just use a little less.

Sage Sausage Soup

In a large crockpot or soup kettle add the following:

One large onion and one clove of garlic (more if you desire)

One ring of smoked sausage or sausage of your choice

40 ounces of fresh tomato juice and tomato quarters

Bring this to a slow boil in order for the sausage to cook all the way through. Then, turn down the heat to a simmer or low on the crockpot.

Simmer for several hours.

Add two medium size potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks.

Add one can of pinto or kidney beans (leftovers work very well).

Add two carrots chopped into small pieces

At this point decide if more broth is needed. If so, add about a cup or two of more tomato juice or water.

Add a large handful of chopped herbs with sage being the focal point. We like to add lovage, sage, a tad of rosemary, basil, and parsley.

Simmer for another half hour (while the cornbread is rising in the oven)

Delish!

You say "tomato" I say "tomAHto"

Ah, Fall. My favorite time of the year. Harvesting is in full swing if, unlike me, you were lucky enough to get your tomatoes to grow this year. We are in a third year drought that has devastated the gardens sending tomato consumers to the farmers markets, roadside stands and sneaking into their neighbor's tomato patch for the juicy fruit. Tomato sauces, tomato pies, chili, spaghetti, canned and frozen. We have been putting "them by" as we say here in the south for winter's soups and stews.

I thought you might enjoy a few recipes for that abundance of tomato harvest. Even a green tomato recipe for those of you who can't bear to wait. :)

Green Tomato Chutney

Yield: 4 half-pints if you're canning

3 pounds green tomatoes, cored and chopped

1 pound sweet green peppers, cored, seeded and chopped

1 pound apples, cored and chopped

1 pound onions, chopped finely

1 cup raisins

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 fresh red or green hot pepper, cored, seeded and minced

1 pint tarragon vinegar (recipe to follow make ahead)

2 cups packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon non-iodized salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a heavy-bottomed, nonreactive pot. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring frequently. Follow standard pressure canner method of preserving if so desired.

Tomato Dressing

Can be served over salad greens or raw veggies

2/3 cup tomato juice

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 basil sherry vinegar (recipe to follow)

2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes, minced

2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped fine

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Whisk all ingredients together in a nonreactive bowl. Cover and refrigerate for one hour before using to allow flavors to blend. Store in a tightly covered jar in the refrigerator.

Herb Vinegar

Yield: One cup

10-20 sprigs of any favorite herb such as tarragon, basil, rosemary, chive or mint

1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns, whole

1 cup white wine vinegar (white vinegar can also be used as long as it is 5% acidity)

Rinse and dry herbs. Bruise all the herbs with a wooden spoon and place in sterilized container such as a jar. Add vinegar and seal. Store is cool, dark place for at least three weeks. Strain into decorative bottles. Store in a cool, dark place and use within four months.

A Little Rain

Finally, finally, finally we had a little rain today. Nothing much to write home about, but enough to "lay down the dust" as we say here in the south and to cool the temps slightly. Those of you who are living in this part of the country knows how miserable it has been for weeks on end. The drought and heat are costing millions of dollars in damages to farmers and nursery owners. Water is being trucked in to fill farmers' ponds, by the local volunteer fire departments, so the cattle can have some water. Schools are letting out early and curtailing sports practices until later in the day just so kids do not have to be outside. I pity the construction guys making a living in this heat. Someone said the other day that "being in the heat was like walking in slow motion through hot mud." I couldn't agree more.

Hopefully the weather is starting to cool down to more predictable temps and allow us to plant some new perennials and replace some herbs lost this summer. Hardy perennials such as rosemary, sage, chive, lavender, echinacea, and thymes can all be planted in the fall. Doing this ensures the plants get several months of cool to spread out their roots before the heat of summer comes back around again.

Spring Blooming Beauties

Spent a little time this week taking pictures of the spring blooms inside and outside the greenhouses. Enjoy.

Spring has definitely sprung

With incredibly summer-like temps the past few weeks, spring came quickly to the herb farm this year. The flowering crab apple tree pictured here is just one of many blooming trees, shrubs, and bulbs. You can almost smell the sweetness of the blossoms and hear the bees buzzing as they begin their pollenating journeys.

We have been extremely busy here at the farm this past month. Wholesale orders are now being packed and shipped or delivered locally. Spring came early throughout the U.S. and with it are the daily phone calls of "I need my order now, please". UPS is a daily visitor here as cardboard boxes full of plants are driving off to points east and west. New to us this year is the order from a large local nursery, The Barn, in downtown Chattanooga. Each Thursday we make the trek from Soddy Daisy down to the nursery in our little plant toting caravan of three vehicles. With the truck and trailer being the principle plant carrier the other two vehicles carry the overflow. On average, over a thousand plants arrive fresh and ready for the nursery customers. We're learning how to create an availability list for local accounts and to have everything ready at a moment's notice. We're a happy, tired group. :)

Building Continues

With cooler temperatures now an every day reality, the new greenhouse is a little closer to being completed. As you can see by the photo, the front framing is almost complete. The back is nearing its completion as well. Height was definitely an issue with this house as the land sloped away to a grade of almost two feet. While that is great for the water flow that we always had issues with after a heavy rain, it was tough getting a greenhouse even and plumb. We're nearing a finish date of next week on the framing. 6 mil plastic has been ordered and is expected today. It would definitely be nice to get the plastic on before the really cold weather comes. The other two greenhouses are stuffed full with over 6,000 plants. Can you tell we're getting ready for wholesale spring sales?

My Partner and Friend....

My wholesale partner, growing buddy and good friend, Pat Stewart, was recently featured in our local newspaper, the Chattanooga Times Free Press in Chattanooga, TN. Here is her story...

Cook: Herbs figure importantly in Pat Stewart's cooking
By Karin Glendenning
Community News Writer

Pat Stewart is a busy woman. With a job as a quality systems manager at William Wrigley Jr. Company as well as growing herbs for Possum Creek Herb Farm and a business, called Down to Earth, where she makes and sells garden-inspired gifts and gourmet treats, she still finds time to cook and experiment with recipes.

She has entered the Hamilton County Fair on three occasions and each time came away with a blue ribbon for her entries: Tomato Juice, Tomato Bread and Parmesan Cornbread.

"Not only do I enjoy cooking, but I enjoy people enjoying my cooking," she said.

Except for baking, when she always follows recipes exactly, she likes to experiment with food. "It's Katie bar the door for me. It's always a pinch of this or a pinch of that," she said.

"I come from a family of cookers. I grew up where the family revolved around the hominess of the kitchen and breaking bread together. Lots of my recipes are ones I got from my mother and grandmother," she said.

"When I cooked Thanksgiving dinner the first year after my mother died, my dad said "If I'd closed my eyes, I would have thought Eileen (her mother) cooked it.? That was the greatest compliment I've ever received. I thought I had arrived," she said.

Mrs. Stewart said she makes everything from scratch and likes making recipes her own. The Parmesan Cornbread is a good example of this. When she wanted to enter the fair, her husband suggested she enter her cornbread, so she went out to her backyard herb garden and gathered several varieties and came up with the prize-winning recipe.

Mrs. Stewart was born in Hixson, but her mother came here from New York, so she said her cooking reflects both Southern influences and Yankee ones. When it comes to Thanksgiving dressing, she said she always prepares her mother's recipe that uses regular bread instead of cornbread, but she has tweaked it so she uses half white bread and half whole-grain bread.

She said her specialties are her cheesecake, which she calls "the widow-maker," and her bread dressing. "I'm a purist when it comes to cheesecake. Mine is very dense and not fluffy. It's my mother's recipe," she said.

Mrs. Stewart partners with Michele Brown to grow herbs that they sell at Possum Creek Herb Farm in Soddy-Daisy. In two greenhouses she raises a huge variety of savory plants, including pineapple sage, Greek and Roman oregano, rosemary, salad burnet, lovage, sage, dill, cinnamon basil, Genovese basil, anise hyssop, chives, chamomile, chocolate mint, fennel and a selection of medicinal herbs. She also grows scented geraniums, and this year harvested a crop of garlic in her vegetable garden along with heirloom tomatoes, green beans, okra, cucumbers and squashes.

Several of the recipes she shares with readers today make use of many of the herbs she has learned to use to make her food interesting and tasty.

HERBED CHICKEN BREASTS
(Once Michele Brown of Possum Creek Herb Farm introduced me to the world of fresh herbs, I was hooked," said Mrs. Stewart. "I use Herbs de Provence, which is a combination of rosemary, thyme, savory, fennel seed, basil, lavender and marjoram. This is a great combination for any poultry or pork chops or loin." She said this recipe works best on a gas grill with indirect heat, or it may also be cooked in a 350 oven.)

Chicken breasts.
Herbs de Provence
Extra virgin olive oil

Preheat grill or oven. Rinse and dry boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Lightly coat chicken breasts on both sides with olive oil. Coat the tops of each breast with Herbs de Provence. Cook chicken breasts until done, without turning. The herb crust can be eaten with the chicken or scraped off. (The flavor will still remain.)

IRISH STEW DUMPLINGS
("As a child, I remember my grandmother and mother making these dumplings every time we had beef stew. I always thought they looked like clouds," said Mrs. Stewart.)

1 cup sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon shortening
1/3 to 1/2 cup milk

Sift dry ingredients together. Cut in shortening. Add enough milk to make a drop batter. Drop by spoonfuls on the top of simmering stew and cover. Cook, undisturbed, for 15 minutes. Don't peek!

PARMESAN HERB CORNBREAD
(Mrs. Stewart came up with recipe when she decided to enter the 2005 Hamilton County Fair and won a blue ribbon for it.)

2 cups self-rising corn meal mix
1 egg, beaten
1/8 cup oil
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon minced fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh oregano
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh sage
1/8 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450. Mix ingredients together. Pour into a preheated 9-inch cast iron skillet or greased 9-inch square pan.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle some extra Parmesan on top as soon as cornbread comes out of the oven.

BLACK BEAN SOUP

1 1/2 cups dry black beans
1 1/2 quarts chicken broth
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Clean and rinse beans. Put beans, stock and oil in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer beans approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 carrot, grated
1 medium potato, peeled and grated
3 tablespoons chopped green pepper
1/4 pound chopped or shredded ham (not a sweet, honey variety)
2 teaspoons fresh or 1 teaspoon dry oregano
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 minced garlic clove
3 tablespoons parsley
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Juice of 1 lemon

Sauté onion in olive oil until tender, then add shredded carrot and potato. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring constantly.

At the 1 1/2 hour mark, add vegetables, ham and seasonings to beans. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for the remainder of the bean cooking time. The beans and vegetables should be tender.

Add lemon juice and stir.

Optional additions of any combination of chopped green onions, rice, sour cream or Louisiana Hot Sauce add spice and variety to the servings.


CRUNCHY TUNA SALAD
("This is a kind of 'make it your own' tuna salad. There ends up being less tuna in it than anything else," Mrs. Stewart said. "My husband told me years ago that he didn't like tuna salad. I love it, so I set out to find a way to get him to like it. This was the result. This makes enough for a crowd. You can play with the recipe and reduce it or just come up with a combination of your own," she added.)

4 to 5 cans light or white tuna in water, drained and flaked
Chopped Kosher dill pickles
Chopped red onion
Chopped celery
Chopped red and/or green bell pepper
Shredded carrot
Mayonnaise to taste or enough to hold mixture together

Combine ingredients, using amount and type of vegetables to suit personal taste. Serve with savory bread or chips.

The Garden's Last Hoorah

The autumn weather has been just incredible the past few days. We're spending as much time outdoors as we possibly can by walking through the woods, gathering leaves and pinecones for future projects and just enjoying the fantastic fall colors. A hot mug of apple cider rewards us after the nippy walks.
Walking through the last vestige of the summer gardens one can't help but notice how even the weedy herbs are changing to their autumn colors of gold and brown. Elderberry and witch hazel leaves are changing to their golden colors while the Joe Pye Weed is a deep burgundy. Goldenrod's bouquet of golden flowers are still hanging on but the north winds are making short work of denuding the stems. Coneflowers are brown and spiky early this year. The goldfinches, titmice and other small birds are gathering a harvest of seed. And the Sweet Annie in its greenish gold splendor is slowly being feasted on. We couldn't help but notice the crabapple trees were completely bare of their leaves but the crabapples are hanging on for dear life awaiting a bird's hungry beak.
I can't complain about this weather because I know the cold and wet winter is coming just around the corner. Time to bring in tiny pots of chive, parsley, lemon verbena, rosemary and sage for winter time cooking. I will keep the pots going on a windowsill facing the western afternoon sun. Turning each pot weekly and going lightly on the watering, I should have fresh herbs all winter. A little snip of chive for the baked potatoes, a little leaf of lemon verbena for my afternoon tea, a little nibble of parsley for that extra boost of Vitamin C...good for what ails the winter body.
This picture is of the crabapple tree that is growing next to the newest greenhouse. I couldn't believe how all the leaves had already fallen but I see now why they did....

Sunday's Chattanooga Market

Since the beginning of August we have been participating in a large farmers market in downtown Chattanooga. The Chattanooga Market brings in area farmers, crafters and artists each Sunday afternoon from mid-April till December. Each Sunday has a theme. Some of the upcoming themed Sundays are Oktoberfest, Native American Day, Holiday Market and so on. Farmers bring their wonderful produce and canned goods while crafters and artists bring their jewelry, woodworking, tie-dyed apparel and wreaths. The local bakeries also bring their wonderful baked goods such as breads and cookies.

We have really enjoyed the crowds and the response to what we offer has been amazing. We set up a display with our quart size and four inch cups of herb plants on one side of the table and offer our bath brews, potpourri, salts and simmering mixes on the cool stair step display that Pat built on the other side of the table. People can walk around the booth choosing to sniff, touch and sample the herbs or sniff the scents from the brews, salts and potpourri.

Each week we try to bring something new to entice the shoppers to spend time at our booth. Last Sunday we brought in our garlic braids made from California white garlic, a mild and tasty garlic. The braids were decorated with a swag of rosemary, chili peppers and thyme. We also brought in a wreath, booklets and tons of handmade soap. In the weeks to come we would like to bring more seasonal items such as little decorated rosemary trees, holiday scented soaps and potpourri. Maybe even a wreath or two will show up. You never know what we might bring. We're there every other Sunday through December 10th.

Autumn on the Way

Autumn on the Way
Tina Sams
www.essentialherbal.com

Autumn is breathing down our necks. The air feels different, and it smells like fall. The light has changed, and feels more filtered. The vegetable vines are turning brown. The neighboring farmers are bringing in the corn and the roadside stands are covered with pumpkins and corn shocks. The mums are up. Autumn is such a refreshing change after the long hot summer… or at least it used to be. I’m not ready yet. It was just getting to be really fun!

You see, for four long years I lived in a townhouse with no garden. There were containers all over the patio, but the grounds were maintained by men with sprayers and equipment. Even putting small barriers up didn’t save my little plants from their weed whackers. This past summer I moved to my own version of Shangri-La. The dirt is rich and fertile – and I can plant anything my heart desires.

In fact, the garden was started 2 full months before I moved. There was no plan, mind you, just planting “stuff” with wild abandon, like a starving woman who had wandered up to a buffet table. All of the perennials will need to be moved, but the point was to plant. Tomatoes, peas, beans, peppers, and melons went in along with several kinds of squash and two kinds of eggplants. Now, I’d never eaten eggplant, but they look so pretty… In went a big patch of Jerusalem Artichokes, herbs for the kitchen, herbs for medicine, and herbs for planting. Heaven on earth, here I am.

Everyday – no matter what the weather – found me in the garden for a couple of hours. Weeding was bliss after all those barren years. There were bean runners to be lovingly trained to the trellis, tomatoes to tie to the fence, and melons to guard from the resident groundhog. The wild veggies like lamb’s quarters, dandelion, and purslane added to divine dinners of squash, beans, corn, and tomatoes. The eggplants started producing and I was given great recipes, finding them delicious.

As the summer progressed, it became necessary to force produce on anyone stopping by. The mother of one of my daughter’s friends couldn’t get out the driveway without some squash, lots of basil and a watermelon – at least. I started stealthily leaving stuff behind when I visited others. We made LOTS of pickles. I got a canner.

But now I notice the days are shortening. The garden is still full of ripening veggies, and the herbs are spread all over the place. It won’t be long though. Soon it will be over. Then what? Am I going to have to finish unpacking from the move? Yikes.

Next year will be different. There will be a plan. The squash won’t need to fight with the lavender and the peas will have their own trellis before they start to need it.

Well! Look at that. I’m already excited about next year. I just can’t figure out what to do until it gets here.

The Beginning....Again

We begin yet again here at Possum Creek. It seems that with each year comes a new challenge, a new idea or another obstacle to climb over. Last year we took the steps to establish a wholesale division offering organically grown potted herb plants for nursery and garden businesses. Great success created another issue...space. Where to put all of the herbs that we had to grow for our wholesale accounts. This year with the help of family and friends we will be installing another much larger greenhouse, our third. Since I am the grower and check writer for this endeavor I can sit on the sidelines....some of the time ...and journal what is taking shape. So, my lucky blog junkies get a play by play of what's going on in the hot southern sun. So, sit back and enjoy the cool of the air conditioning and watch us work.