Queen's Edge Farm: Herb Society Meeting

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Herb Society Meeting

Tonight I am attending my first herb society meeting in town. It's a workshop on Herbal First Aid. The speaker is why I am going. I really want to attend one of her classes, but they are in Austin, and I don't want to drive that far for a weekend seminar. She emailed me to let me know that she would be in town today, so Lauren and I are going.

Taylor has his finals tonight, so please pray he does well. He has been studying since Monday, and one exam was a take home exam, that he had to turn in tonight, then finish the essay on campus.

It is very hot today, 93. The puppies have been in the backyard all day by themselves. Mostly sleeping, I went out just now to fill their water bowl, and put a little water in the wash tub for them to lay down in if they get hot. I need to get a little plastic pool for them this weekend. It is supposed to be 100 tomorrow!

Please pray for the city of San Antonio. One of the old (1895) Catholic universities burned down a couple of days ago. If you are interested in reading about it go to www.ksat12.com and look for Our Lady of the Lake University. I am not Catholic, but it's still sad, the campus building was beautiful. Almost looked like a Castle.

Off to town now....
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Back from town the meeting was interesting. I was a little under dressed. Who knew that a garden/herb club meeting meant flowery dresses and hats??? LOL!

I talked to several members, they were very friendly, and eager for me to join. One lady I talked with (found out later she was the society's president) said that an hour before the meeting she was up to her elbows in mud, so for me not to worry about how I was dressed. That most of them worked at nurseries or lived in the country, so the meeting is always viewed as an opportunity to get cleaned up a little. Next time I will know.

The refreshments were a little different than what we were used to. Lauren went and raided the car for snacks. The menu was a little exotic (everything was made with herbs) and included:

dill quail eggs (yep, little Barbie sized, hard-boiled eggs sprinkled with dill - they tasted just like chicken eggs)
miniature scones spread with dill cream cheese (take your favorite biscuit recipe and use a shot class to cut out the biscuits - call them scones)
Mango, corn salsa with Tostito chips
Several herb inspired dip
Jalapeno cream cheese, and dill cream cheese filled celery and cucumber slices topped with the cream cheeses
The iced tea was also an herbal tea (the taste was familiar but I couldn't place it)

The workshop given by Ellen Zimmerman out of Austin was on Herbal First Aid. I learned a lot, and will post the information she gave out here later.

Things to do Friday:

sign up for CCW class
take puppy to vet for eye
pick up pool
buy bulk bay leaves
clean house
go to TC for shop
get oil changed, tires checked, and air filter replaced

2 comments:

Temi said...: I'll be waiting for that herbal first aid info........................... oh and P.S. I am not very patient...LOL; May 9, 2008 at 7:22 AM
Amy E said...: Plant yarrow, comfrey, echinacea and aloe vera. According to the herbalist, these are the foundations of a good first aid kit. We also learned how to make an herbal poultice.; May 9, 2008 at 8:21 AM

Grandma's Yummy Cinnamon Rolls

2 pkgs active dry yeast or 5 tsps if using bulk yeast
1/2 cup warm water (not too hot)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening, butter, margarine
2 tsps salt
2 cups milk, scalded
1 1/2 cups cold water
10 to 12 cups flour (white or whole wheat)

Yield: 4 loaves

Soften yeast in warm water, springkle in a tsp of the sugar
In LARGE mixing bowl blend sugar, shortening, salt and milk until shortening is melted. Add cold water, cool to luke-warm. Stir in yeast. Gradually add flour to form a stiff dough. Knead on floured surface until smooth and satiny, 5 to 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover with foil or damp towel. Let rise in warm place (85 to 90 deg) until light and doubled in volume about two hours. Punch dough down by plunging fist in center. Knead dough for about 5 minutes.

Roll out one fourth of dough to a 16 X 12 inch rectangle. Brush with 2 TBSP of melted butter. Combine 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1/3 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon (or more to taste). Sprinkle mixture over dough. Starting with 16 inch side, roll jellyroll fashion. Either cut into 16 1 inch slices or leave as a whole loaf. Place on a greased pan, cover and let rise in warm place until light, about 30 to 45 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees about 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Mix one box 10X sugar with 2 tbsps water. If too stiff, add more water until icing consistency, add a drop of vanilla too. Spread on baked bread while bread is still warm.

2010 Homestead Stats

Laundry Soap

Homemade Laundry Soap:
1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder
~You will also need a small washpan or bowl that holds about 2 gallons.

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the washpan. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Transfer soap (using a funnel if necessary) into empty plastic laundry holders, milk containers (I use my empty glass milk bottles and old Fab containers) Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use ½ cup per load.

Wild Mustang Grape Jelly

Wild Mustang Grape Jelly

5 cups grape juice (about 3 1/2 pounds of ripe grapes)1 (1 3/4 ounce) box of sure-jel pectin7 cups sugarBefore getting started it is best to clean the entire kitchen, making sure the sink is empty. Bleach the sink and all utensils used in making jelly (I do this as I sell my grape jelly as part of my homesteading business.)

Wash the canning jars in warm soapy water, and rinse well. Set off to side.

Place a large pan of water on the stove to heat. Once it starts steaming, place lids and rings in the bottom, and 2-3 jars (depending on if you use actual jelly jars or pints) to sterilize.

Next make the grape juice using clean washed grapes (make sure you use rubber gloves when picking or washing wild grapes)To 3 1/2 pounds of clean grapes (6 cups of grapes) add 1 1/2 cups water.Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 10 minutes.Strain and squeeze out all of the juice with cheese cloth (see paragraph below)
I didn't have cheese cloth, so I poured the grape mixture into a large spaghetti strainer with a large pan underneath. I had to stir it around some as the skins and seeds would sink to the bottom, and clog the colander up. Stirring allowed the liquid to drain out. I then used a large metal spoon and squished it some to get more of the juice out.

In a very big pan, put 5 cups of the juice (it’s okay to add no more than ½ cup water to even out amount)Add the fruit pectin to the juice.Mix well.On high heat, bring to a full rolling boil, and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.Stir in sugar all at once, and bring back to a full rolling boil, again boil hard for 1 minute stirring constantly.
Remove jelly from heat, skim off foam
Use a large spoon inserted inside the jar to lift CAREFULLY out of the water. DO NOT TOUCH THE INSIDE OF THE JAR OR THE RIM WITH YOUR HANDS.
Ladle jelly into hot jars, place a lid and ring onto jar (do not tighten yet).
Set jars to the side. After a while you should start hearing “pings” as the jar seals.
When jars are completely cool, tighten rings and store on pantry shelf.**SIDE NOTE: Wild Mustang Grapes are normally ready the end of June, so be prepared. Keep an eye open for vines on the side of the road, or any that friends and family may have growing in their yard. Many people just let them grow and don’t do anything with them, so it shouldn’t be hard to find a good supply. Also, the more you pick off the vine, the more the vine produces new grapes, so you probably won’t EVER run out of grapes to use until the vine dies or you get sick of making jelly. Good luck and feel free to contact me at queensedgefarm@yahoo.com for questions.