'Tis the Season of the Pumpkin

PUMPKIN TRIVIA

The word "pumpkin" showed up for the first time in the fairy tale Cinderella. The word comes from a French to English translation of "pompions." It wasn't until the 17th century that they were first referred to as pumpkins. Autumn announces the season of Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Halloween became popular once immigrants from Ireland and Scotland arrived in the mid-1800’s. Their October celebration marking the end of harvest season became Halloween. They had a tradition of carving faces into vegetables which they lit with candles to keep the spirits away. Although they originally used turnips, pumpkins are easier to carve and they became our Jack O'Lanterns.

Turnips carved to keep spirits away

At the first Thanksgiving feast in 1621, the pilgrims did not serve pumpkin pie; they made stewed pumpkin. Pumpkin pie originated in the colonies.. Colonists cut the tops off pumpkins, removed the seeds, filled the pumpkins with milk, spices, and honey, then baked them in hot ashes.

Pumpkins are 90% water and are packed with vitamins, minerals and are a good source of fiber plus they are relatively low in calories. They are gluten free and pumpkin flour can be used in place of wheat flour. Each pumpkin has about 500 seeds which are easy to toast for snacks.

Every single part of a pumpkin is edible. You can eat the skin, shell, pulp, seeds, leaves, green vines and even the blossoms but not the woody stem.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Remove the seeds from the pumpkin and clean off any pumpkin debris. Wash the seeds and lay them out on a baking sheet overnight to dry.

The next day, pre-heat the oven to 250°. Spread the seeds out evenly and lightly spray with olive oil spray and season with salt to taste.

Roast the seeds in the oven until the seeds become golden brown, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Check and stir them occasionally as needed.

Let them cool and enjoy! Store in a covered jar. Use on salads or just to munch.

#     #     #

Interested in herbs? 

Looking for Hostess, Holiday, Birthday or Gardening Gifts?

 Check out the Herb Sampler on this Blog  

SPECIAL Price reduction.

The Second Edition Herb Sampler (2019) is available through Amazon. 

Just click this link to find it.

DRAGONFLIES: Six-Legged Scouts in the National Parks

 

(From July 2014 Facebook Note)

Today I was a "citizen scientist" and spent 4 hours this morning at Hodgdon Pond in Acadia National Park catching dragonfly larvae for a University of Maine research project tracking mercury in the water.

Hip high waders, long-handled net and a small plastic spoon to scoop them from net to a holding tub (can't touch them) and me slogging through muck.

Dragonfly Team: Ranger Michael, me, Julie and James

And getting STUCK - suction that wouldn't release my boot -  my co-"scientists" - Julie and James worked very hard to get me unstuck as Ranger Michael was at the far end of the pond. We all ended up falling down in the muck.

Aeshnidae, Libellulidae, and Gomphidae larvae (NPS)

We captured 60 larvae and identified at least three different families. We also scooped up a leech, a salt water clam (? fresh water pond?), caddis fly egg cases, a snail, back-swimmers and either a moss animal or an egg mass of some kind. We chose the largest samples, measured them (Average size 16-22 mm) and put them into bags with an information tag in each bag. The samples will be frozen and sent to University of Maine at Orono for analysis and to confirm the identity.

(I don't remember which is which!)

The toxic form of mercury, methylmercury, increases in concentration in the food chain. (NPS)

Excerpt from study

Why use dragonfly larvae?

Dragonfly larvae live in the water for 1-4 years or more before becoming adult dragonflies. Aquatic systems like lakes, ponds, and wetlands are often where methylmercury (the more toxic form that gets into living things) accumulates.

Dragonfly larvae also eat small fish, tadpoles, and bugs that in turn contain methylmercury. As the dragonfly larvae eat more, the amount of methylmercury in their bodies increase in a process called bioaccumulation. When other animals, such as larger fish, eat the dragonfly larvae these animals also accumulate methlymercury, but at higher concentrations due to biomagnification up the food chain. Dragonfly larvae are abundant and they are found across the country. They are in the middle of the food chain, so they are potentially useful for determining the health of an ecosystem.

Visit the University of Maine Facebook page Six-Legged Scouts in National Parks/About to find out more about this project. 

#     #     #

Interested in herbs? Looking for Gardening Gifts?

 Check out the Herb Sampler  description on this Blog  

SPECIAL Price reduction on Amazon. Click here. 

The Second Edition Herb Sampler (2019) is available through Amazon. 

Heart's Ease - 2022 Herb of the Year™

 

Viola tricolor easily self-sews
.(Photo: MurielBendel, CC BY-SA 4.0) 

Heart’s Ease, also called Johnny-Jump Up, is the 2022 Herb of the Year™ of the International Herb Association. This delicate little woodland herb will jump up out of the warming spring earth in April. It is in the violet family (Violaceae) and parent of cultivated pansies. The herb is native to Europe and came to the United States with the colonists.

They are good container and edging plants, a lovely addition planted amid spring bulbs. The edible blossoms are interesting garnishes and decorations and are reported to have a wintergreen flavor. The face-like flowers draw bumblebees and honeybees for nectar and pollen.

This plant is an annual, biennial, or short-lived perennial depending on where it is grown in the USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 3-8. The flowers can produce up to 50 seeds in each capsule and will easily self-sow, but it is not invasive. It prefers well-drained, moist soil and will grow in full sun to partial shade.

The plant grows from 6 to 8 inches tall. The flowers have 2 lips and are tri-colored, as the name implies, in violet, white and yellow. The drooping head allows rain and dew to fall on the back of the flower. Its leaves have a variety of shapes. The lower blades are heart shaped and the middle and upper leaves are oblong ending in a point. Unlike some other violets there is no leaf rosette at the base. 

The many other names for this plant include wild pansy, call-me-to-you, and come-and-cuddle-me. It is linked to Cupid in Roman mythology and is often associated with affection and love.  The name pansy comes from the French word pensée, which means thought and its drooping head, suggesting deep in thought, relates to the florist’s symbolism of thought.

Pansy (Photo: Laurie Collins)

In Midsummers Night Dream Oberon says:  

Yet marked I where the bolt of Cupid fell,

It fell upon a little western flower,

Before milk-white, now purple with loves wound,

And maidens call it love-in-idleness

The juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid

Will make a man or woman madly doat

Upon the next live creature that it sees.

CKagan, Master Gardener

 #     #     #

SPECIAL Price reduction.

Interested in herbs? Looking for Gardening Gifts?

 Check out the Herb Sampler on this Blog  

The Second Edition Herb Sampler (2019) is available through Amazon. Just click this link to find it.

 

By the Light of the Silvery Moon/Lunar Planting

Here’s a personal post from my NOTES on February 17, 2014. There was snow on the ground. In 2021, the Snow Moon will appear on February 27.

[Interested in Lunar Planting and interesting facts about the named Full Moons? Sign up with email on the right menu to receive early  notifications of upcoming posts about the Worm Moon and Lunar Planting.]

Doing the before-bed things and wandering through the house with the last of my decaf Earl Grey tea - goodnight closed garage door, goodnight boots by the door - I headed back to the dining room thinking I had left the light on. I flicked the switch and the room got brighter. Off again and I looked up at the bright skylights.

Over to the window. "The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow, gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below." What a sight! Bright moon. Clear sky. Pale blue snow with dark ink tree shapes falling in long shadows.

The full moon fell on Valentine's Day but it was still big and bright Sunday night. 

The February full moon is called the Snow Moon as February usually has the heaviest snowfall. Okay, that fits. Looking forward, March's full moon, on the 16th (March 28, 2021) is called the Worm Moon as the beginning of spring and softer ground brings earthworms up and robins out.

What About Lunar Gardening and Planting?

Pick anytime through history and somebody is trying to figure out how the moon affects our planet. While some scoff at the idea and call it folklore, others swear by it and others say “why not?” I am nevertheless wary of anyone who cites their “grandpap” as an authority.

Moon planters believe that the same gravitational force that affects the tides cause above ground crops to leap right out of the earth. And when on the wane with only a light pull and earth’s gravity the stronger, root crops dig deep in the ground.

Cheri Melton, a Cochise County Master Gardener, uses this method but provides no scientific back-up for the claims; however, she notes that it does add a rhythm to planting cycles and helps her pace her gardening.

Even further into astrological affects, some believe that the zodiac signs present when crops are planted can increase growth and production. There are air, water, fire and earth signs, each with plus and minus properties.

Whether you believe the moon affects plant growth or not, it's still an interesting idea and helps promote the annual almanac sales. Almanacs which, by the way, predicted heavy snow this February  (2014).The Old Farmer's Almanac predicts NO SNOW for February 2021. HA HA. 

~ Carol Kagan

More information at the following links:

Cochise County Master Gardeners, Arizona: Gardening and Farming by the Moon  

Cochise County Master Gardeners, Arizona: Lunar Gardening Exploring the Zodiac Signs

**********

Are you interested herbs? Check out the Herb Sampler on this Blog  

The Second Edition Herb Sampler (2019) is available through Amazon.

TUSSIE-MUSSIES or NOSEGAYS

Excerpt from my book, Second Edition Herb Sampler (2019) available through Amazon.. 

In earlier times, with the lack of indoor plumbing plus goat and horse carts in the streets, small nosegays, or "tussie-mussies," of herbs and flowers were carried in the hand or pinned to clothes to freshen the air and mask unwanted odors. 

In the Victorian Era certain flowers or herbs were  included in tussie-mussie gifts to convey a special message to someone. To decode the message, there were small books that detailed meanings of different herbs and flowers. A list is available in the Herb Sampler or at various sites online. 

Today, Tussie-Mussies are often used for small, informal weddings not only assembled to convey wishes but also are less expensive. Flowers or herbs for wedding vow renewals are often selected with personal memories considered. On these bouquets personal or meaningful items can be attached to the streamers.

Creating a tussie-mussie for a hostess, graduation, shower, or special occasion gift is easy. Make selections from the herb and flower garden, choosing one or a few center flowers and other filler from greens such as mints, parsley, and oregano. This is a small bouquet and not many stems are needed. Tussie-mussies are meant to last for just one day and should be kept in water until presented to the recipient.

Hostess gift: geranium flower (friendship) in the center, add oregano (joy), baby’s breath and parsley (festivity), sage (good health and long life) and basil (best wishes).

Baby christening: white rose bud (purity) surrounded by lavender (luck and purity), mint (cheerfulness and virtue) baby’s breath (festivity), and sage (good health, long life).

Graduation: black-eyed Susan (encouragement) centered among baby's breath and parsley (festivity), sweet basil (best wishes), marjoram (joy and happiness) and yarrow (good health).

Lavender-Luck,
undying love, purity

Cut the stems about a 4-5", strip the lower leaves, and put the stems in water. Start at the center with the main flower and gather the other flowers and filler around it. Keep it small! 

Wrap floral tape around the stems starting about 2" from the bottom and working up, securing it with a straight pin. Trim the bottom of the stems evenly.

A paper doily or cone can be used and decorated for the occasion to slip over the stems. Or just wrap the stems with ribbon, lace or raffia starting from 1” from the bottom. Other embellishments such as beads, charms or trailing ribbon can be added. Consider adding something with a personal meaning for the recipient. A card listing the meanings of the herbs can be enclosed.

There are a few ways to preserve the sentiments of the day. Dry the flowers and leaves and combine them as potpourri in a glass container with lid. You may want to tuck in a small cotton ball with fragrance. Press the plant materials for several weeks then arrange and frame them. 

Are you interested herbs? Check out the Herb Sampler on this Blog  

The Second Edition Herb Sampler (2019) is available through Amazon.