To weed or not to weed...

...an easy choice when a weed is a weed. A harder one when it is a useful but wildly producing herb. Lemon balm is the first case in point.

Some herbs in the garden come back without invitation year after year, almost to the point of being a nuisance. Obviously, this bushy herb, shown below in the left corner, is prolific early in the season and continues to offer its foliage through early autumn. Already, I'm pulling it as it spreads like a weed, trying to appropriate areas for itself that are designated for broccoli, snow peas and onions. (Its neighbors.)

Rather than tossing aside large handfuls of this herb, I'm looking for ways to incorporate it better into our family menu. Here is a link to a website that has ample recipes for using this aromatic that is "lemony with a hint of mint."
http://www.preferredconsumer.com/food_drink/articles/lemon_balm_recipes.html

Another repeat offender that is being rather invasive this year? Dill.

Here you see a batch of dill seedlings I pulled because they, too, are attempting to make a home in the "wrong" part of the garden. I have allowed an "herbal hedge" of dill to start growing in back of the flower garden corner of of my little cottage garden, so any other dill I ruthlessly pull before it flowers and drops seeds. Fortunately, fresh dill is also a versatile herb, and ample recipes offer a wide variety of ways to use even these frothy seedlings.

http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blherb5.htm


Following the recipe links above brought me here:


http://homecooking.about.com/od/condimentrecipes/r/blsauce19.htm
So my first venture may be this creamy mustard dill sauce poured over grilled chicken or eggplant with a side of pasta tossed in a fresh lemon balm pesto. Pretty delightful use for "garden waste" in my opinion!



Happy eating!

Sabbath Rest...Speaking God's First Language

Upon visiting a botanical garden, author Brian McLaren observed: "This isn't just about botany and ecology - this is also about theology. These trees are part of God's first language."

It takes a special sort of person to truthfully echo Paul's words when he admits he is "debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise." (Romans 1:14) But right alongside that jester muse comes the mime--the one who inspires us to again echo Paul as he observes "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse;"(Romans 1:20) a truth poetically restated by McLaren.

From such a world and its imagery, we learn things like this: that "bleeding hearts" can nonetheless be lovely--this flower and the tradition behind its naming serve to remind us of that deep truth. And this can be to us a point of hope and encouragement, both from the tender side of our Creator's heart and from the grace-filled wisdom gifts of our ancestors. (Someone in heaven surely has a crown jewel ever-sparkling for having named this sweet plant.) May we learn to still our tongues long enough to hear Him speak that first language...the language of His Creation.

Happy listening!

31 Days of Drawing Near to God...a review

Time is precious in the planting season, making it far easier to maintain a morning quiet time via a one-month daily devotional than through a deeply theological chapter book. This one even comes complete with built-in prayers and related Bible readings. But don't think 31 Days of Drawing Near to God by Ruth Myers is a light-weight book just because it is offered in manageable chunks. Right away, she details the book's theme as being a record of her finding the truth of her soul's beauty to God, despite the "plowing time" in life "when the steel of the plow was cutting deep into my soul."

She begins by exploring basic human needs for love but quickly goes to softly touch the more delightful aspects of human relationship with a loving God, bringing the two into harmony with sections like: Everything About Him Says Something About Me.

Indirectly, she reminds that the joy of the Lord is a strength to His children. "Isn't it refreshing to be in the company of a glad person?" She reminds that God IS that glad person. More in tone than in any specific words, she affirms her assertion that "The secret of a satisfied heart is not the pursuit of satisfaction or happiness. Satisfaction and happiness are by-products of the pursuit of God."

Without glossing over life's challenges, griefs or contradictions--even sharing such plowing in her personal life--her spirit of hope hovers nevertheless over the text, affirming an ever-present lifting of the likes of Psalm 36:

How priceless is your unfailing love!

Both high and low among men

find refuge in the shadow of your wings.

They feast on the abundance of your house;

you give them drink from your river of delights.

For with you is the fountain of life. (vs. 7-9)

I imagine a seed, carved from the mother plant and thrust deep into the ground. What if it, in the strangeness of the change, should prove to hopeless to break open and allow life to spring upward into the bright sun. Seeds are not so aware that they would fail to thrive in such a way; but not so, humankind. Ruth Myers offers that bit of hope that leads us to grope upward, knowing the sun does shine above and our sweet transformation will be a garden of treasured growth to the Master Gardener!

(I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.)

Mushroom Hunting Pilgrimage

Remember my pal, Cindy Bee, from my winter pilgrimage to the wool festival? Well, today I'm featuring her again--this time as a 'shroomer--a skill I've never learned but often wish I had. Leapfrog on over to her blog to see some delightful pics of hunting mushrooms on the expanses of her land (not quite the square suburban backyard small enough to spit a watermelon seed across that I have!)

http://thebeeladyfromhilltopfarm.blogspot.com/2011/04/looking-for.html?showComment=1306063461992#c8856836443958607172

Happy 'shrooming!