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Wintergreen

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I just recently planted this little creeping wintergreen plant in a shady spot in my garden. This plant first came to my attention while I was reading Farmer Boy to Lindsay. The character Almonzo and his siblings would dig in the snow for the red, mint-flavored berries. I was reading the book during the period I was getting more and more interested in foraging, native plants and edible plants in particular. Seemed like the perfect plant for me. Plus it is meant to grow in the shade. My tiny, Brookyn garden has several different zones. One of them is pretty deep shade once the neighbor’s mulberry tree fills in with leaves. I had been considering growing mushrooms, but somehow forgot about that endeavor.

In case you aren’t familiar with this beautiful, native plant, it bears bright read, slightly mealy berries in the winter. The foliage turns a lovely red also. What makes it so interesting is that it is the source of oil of wintergreen. All the flavoring for toothpaste, gum, candies, etc. came from this plant before an artificial wintergreen flavor was developed. I squished one of the berries and sure enough it had a very strong wintergreen scent. You can use the leaves to make a tea. The plants grow in the woods and have pretty bell-shaped flowers. Take a look around when you go hiking to see if you find the plant. Here’s a link that gives some more information on growing it and has a photo with the berries.

The plant likes well-drained, acidic soil. Hopefully it will like its spot in my garden and spread all over the place. In the meantime, I’m going to do some research to figure out what I can make with the natural wintergreen flavor.

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What’s that smell?

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This is one of the rare times in New York City, when you can walk down the street and catch a wonderful odor wafting on the breeze. I don’t think I need to get into what urban odors you usually encounter.

Right now my backyard is bursting into bloom and the aroma from this crabapple tree makes my feet float off the ground when I smell it. Happy Spring!

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Making Seedling Pots

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Last night I pulled out my x-acto knife, cutting board and old newspaper to make pots for my seedlings. Neil and Lindsay gave me this nifty little tool called the PotMaker last year. You wrap 3 1/2″ wide (longer than 9″) around the base of the cylinder. Then you fold the ends under and press down on the small disc-shaped base. I had a lot of fun making them and got a kick out of the pictures that appeared on the outside of the pots. And, yes, I’m a little insane/ocd because I planned some of how the photos would fall on the pots.

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Baby Condor!

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With all the depressing stories of how badly we’ve messed up our planet, it is nice to hear a good one once in a while. This one is about the California condor. The bad part is that this enormous bird (wingspan of 10 feet) is so endangered that in 1982 there were only 22 left. They were placed in captive breeding programs, which were successful and some birds have been released. A few more problems and then I’ll get to the good part. Well, it turns out that hunters often leave their kill with lead-leaching bullets still in them. The condors eat the carrion and get lead poisoning. And some of the released birds don’t have their parents teaching them about safety, so they sit on power lines or come up to people (remember we’re the bad guys in this scenario).

Okay, now for the good news. Two condors that were released from the breeding program decided they liked one another. Condors breed for life, so it pays to be choosey. They showed mating and nesting behavior, so the good folks at the breeding program snuck their egg away and replaced it with a plastic one. Young condors often squish their eggs and we’re trying to have more condors. They tested the egg, which turned out not to be good anyway. The embryo had died, so they switched it with a fertilized egg from their breeding program that was getting ready to hatch. The pair don’t seem to have noticed that the baby looks surprisingly like the mother’s distant uncle and have taken to caring for it. It will live with it’s foster parents for a year until it’s 3″ wings grow to be 9 1/2 feet. And hopefully they won’t feed it lead-laced meat or let it sit on power lines! To emphasize how big a deal this is, it’s been almost 100 years since a baby condor was born out of captivity.

It’s hard to find a photo of a baby condor because there just aren’t many of them around. Click here to see one being raised by a condor puppet parent.

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Happy Easter

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Happy Easter for those who celebrate. Yesterday Lindsay and I blew the insides out of 6 eggs and today she and her friend dyed them. They drew the pictures on the eggs and then I traced them in wax. We used the standard Pas dyes, which I thought would be good and not permanently dye them and whatever they spilled the dye on. The technique is based on Ukranian pysanky. Take a look here for traditional eggs.

The first few egg photos are of one egg I did about our family. The light blue/green color is the natural color of the egg. It comes from our hen Edie.

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Planning the garden

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One of the bright spots of winter for me is when the seed catalogs start to come in. I can snuggle under a blanket and dream about the warm weather to come. I ordered 2 currant bushes and 2 gooseberry bushes to go along with the 2 elderberry bushes I already have.

Here are the seeds I just got. Who could resist the name Sugar Daddy peas? A friend is giving me some tomato and zucchini seedlings. I’ve never grown zucchini in my tiny yard and might regret the amount of space they take up. I am going to try and train them over my railing instead of the ground. The tomato seeds that I bought are Black Krim. I grew them last year and really enjoyed the taste.

What’s growing in your garden?

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Chickens on Martha Stewart’s Show

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Tomorrow 4/2 Martha Stewart will air a show all about chickens. She and some guests brought their own chickens to the taping of the show. The show will air on WNBC at 11am and then again on 4/4 at 9am.

And how do I know this? I was one of the many chicken keepers asked to be in the studio audience. If you watch the show, look for me. I will be the one with the head of somewhat uncontrollably curly hair (hey, it was raining non-stop and I had to wait outside in it for 40 minutes). If you look at the photo below, which isn’t from the chicken show, you will see the spot where I was sitting. You might see the front of my face when Martha talks to some audience members who  were sitting in the chairs on the left.

My friend Megan and 3 of her friends were there also. They wouldn’t seat all 5 of us together, which is how I ended up in the 1 empty seat in the front. You Megan is right in the center of the audience behind a row of people with chickens on their laps. You will be able to spot her easily because of her gorgeous red hair.

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Happy Passover

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For those who celebrate, I hope you had an enjoyable seder with friends and family last night. We joined friends and had a lovely evening.

What do you think of this box of matzo crackers? There’s always one in the family that doesn’t quite fit in…

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Green Window Treatments

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Richard Moyle from Horizon Window Treatments has written a guest blog about Green Window Treatments.

There are a number of options available for those who want to be as eco-friendly as they can when choosing their window treatments. Most major window treatment product manufacturers offer at least one product that is green in some way. But what makes a window treatment green? Understanding what characteristics to look for can help you make a better informed decision when you select how you want to cover your windows.
Energy Efficiency ñ This is probably the most common quality in a window treatment product that is advertised as being green. The majority of heat that you lose or gain in your home happens through your windows. All window coverings provide at least a small amount of insulation, but there are some products that were made specifically to increase energy efficiency by reducing heat loss and gain. Cellular (or honeycomb) shades are the most effective as they can reduce heat loss by as much as 50%. If installed correctly, they create a sealed air space that makes it very difficult for heat to escape through the window.
Natural/Renewable Materials ñ Window treatments that are made from natural materials like cotton, silk, linen or wool are green because they can be recycled or re-used. Try to avoid curtains made from petroleum based synthetics such as nylon, rayon and polyester. Also, try to stay away from curtains that have been treated to resist stains or be fire retardant as the chemicals used for these treatments are toxic. Wool is naturally flame retardant, so there is no reason to use curtains that have been treated with chemicals.
Impact on Air Quality ñ How a window treatment affects air quality is another big factor in how green it is. If you follow the previous guidelines about selecting window treatments made from natural fabrics, you shouldnít have a problem with this. Stay away from plastic and faux wood blinds as they usually contain polyvinyl chloride (PVC). This chemical releases carcinogenic dioxin into the air during manufacturing and contains plasticizer called phthalates that can trigger respiratory problems and interfere with the bodyís hormonal systems.
There are a number of options available for those who want to be as eco-friendly as they can when choosing their window treatments. Most major window treatment product manufacturers offer at least one product that is green in some way. But what makes a window treatment green? Understanding what characteristics to look for can help you make a better informed decision when you select how you want to cover your windows.
Energy Efficiency ñ This is probably the most common quality in a window treatment product that is advertised as being green. The majority of heat that you lose or gain in your home happens through your windows. All window coverings provide at least a small amount of insulation, but there are some products that were made specifically to increase energy efficiency by reducing heat loss and gain. Cellular (or honeycomb) shades are the most effective as they can reduce heat loss by as much as 50%. If installed correctly, they create a sealed air space that makes it very difficult for heat to escape through the window.
Natural/Renewable Materials ñ Window treatments that are made from natural materials like cotton, silk, linen or wool are green because they can be recycled or re-used. Try to avoid curtains made from petroleum based synthetics such as nylon, rayon and polyester. Also, try to stay away from curtains that have been treated to resist stains or be fire retardant as the chemicals used for these treatments are toxic. Wool is naturally flame retardant, so there is no reason to use curtains that have been treated with chemicals.
Impact on Air Quality ñ How a window treatment affects air quality is another big factor in how green it is. If you follow the previous guidelines about selecting window treatments made from natural fabrics, you shouldnít have a problem with this. Stay away from plastic and faux wood blinds as they usually contain polyvinyl chloride (PVC). This chemical releases carcinogenic dioxin into the air during manufacturing and contains plasticizer called phthalates that can trigger respiratory problems and interfere with the bodyís hormonal systems.

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