So, we have been having rain, rain, storms, rain, more rain, and still more storms and rain....for weeks. The ditches are full of water, the rivers are high, there are flash flood warnings galore, and I found algae growing in my back yard (no joke). Donna is starting to twitch and has developed a nervous tic (and mayyyyyyyyyyyy be getting a titch grumpy although I will deny saying that to my dying day) because she can't garden and weed. However we are still much luckier than our farmers in Southern Iowa who have had even more rain than we have. Like, crops molding/dying in the field bad. :( And when the sun does come out - HOLY HUMIDITY! Yesterday (after our morning storm), the sun came out and we had temps at about 100 with a heat index of 106. NOT PRETTY. We Iowans are getting a little grumpy!!!

In other news.

 it is mulberry season!!! I hope to get out and pick some today. Do you have  mulberries in your bit of the world??

Mulberry pie (this makes me wish I could make a decent pie crust!)

Mulberry liqueur (or spice it, perhaps?)

Mulberry Jelly

Mulberry Wine (sweet or dry)

and I think Mulberry Vinegar would be a really fun and interesting treat; it would be great in an old-fashioned switchel recipe (I always wonder why health-conscious exercise type people drink artifically colored, high-fructose-corn-syrup-sweetened drinks such as gatorade? Switchel or lemonade is my idea of a drink, if I need something other than water!). But I didn't find any recipes I liked online, so, here is how you make mulberry vinegar.

Take a clean class jar (pint or quart mason jars are my container of choice), and loosely fill with mulberries. Cover with vinegar. You can use any kind, but I prefer an organic apple cider vinegar, as it's less harsh than regular white vinegar and has extra good stuff for ya. Cover, and let sit in the sun (or wherever..) for a week or two. Longer is fine. You can tell when the vinegar is "done", because it will be a rich berry color and the berries will look kind of colorless and sad. Strain out the berries and compost them; rebottle the vinegar and label. Yum!

Soooooooooo the lemon balm is going insane, yeah? It's that time of year. If you have lemon balm in your garden,  you know what I mean. So, what to do with it? Drink it as tea, hot or cold - delicious! You can use it fresh, or dry it for later. Add a few springs to your jar of sun tea, yum! 

Or how about making a delicious lemon balm pesto? This freezes beautifully; you will welcome having a few jars of this in your freezer over the winter. (A wintertime staple "fast food" at my house is pasta tossed with pesto from the freezer, then you can add any other ingredients you like - leftover veggies or meats, some cream or cheese, sundried tomatoes or a jar of home-canned tomatoes...you get the idea, right? A glass of wine and dinner is served. Add some bread and salad if you want to be fancy, but.... really, the pasta usually plenty for me).

I have a recipe that I found online years ago, for a lemon balm liqueur - I don't even know where, but I copied it to my files. Why haven't i made it yet? I don't know, but I'm going to remedy that RIGHT. NOW.

Liquore Di Erba Cedrina (melissa liqueur)

1 kg. grain alcohol
140 g Lemon balm leaves (fresh)
1 kg. white sugar
1 kg water

Cut fresh lemon balm leaves and put in a glass jar. Cover with alcohol and leave 20 days in a cool dark place; shake every other day. Strain out herbs and  place infused alcohol in a big bowl. Meanwhile, prepare the sugar syrup by mixing the sugar and water and boiling for 10 minutes or until all the sugar has dissolved into the water. Let cool to room temperature, then mix sugar syrup and alcohol. Bottle, and store in a cool dark place for 2 months. This allows all the ingredients to combine together, at perfection.

The elderflowers are blooming! They are DELICIOUS. Elderflower syrup is one of my favorite summertime treats, mixed with a bit of sparkling water, it is indescribably delicious.  You can also many many other yummy treats from elderflowers, such as:


Elderflower sorbet

Elderflower champagne


Elderflower Fritters and Elderflower Cordial

Why are you still reading this? go gather some elderflowers.....

Aren't these gorgeous? These are hand-loomed 100% cotton dishwtowels. We at Prairieland herbs are blessed to be surrounded by talented people who make interesting things! Our friend Traci Leff is a wonderful weaver, and she has been bringing us these gorgeous handtowels to sell. They are only $15, and are WONDERFUL! Beautiful and durable. She also makes WONDERFUL 100% cotton bath sets (body towel, hand towel and washcloth), as well as scarves, rugs, table runners and more. Come see her stuff at our store :)

Sample Sunday! July 13, 12-5!

Rebecca Brandow, of Willow Avenue Pottery, will have her gorgeous pottery for sale.

Lynn Marie Parkey of Gauranga Reiki will have aromatherapy charm necklaces for $25, and offer free 2 minute guided relaxation meditation in her chair.

Jill Brown Photography is a new guest vendor! She will have photography cards $7 ea or 2/$12, 3/$15, and small matted
prints $20 ea or 2/$35 and 3/$45. Affordable, beautiful, local art! Barters and trades considered!

Dawn Suarez, of Candy Hoops and Morning Rain massage will be offering tarot readings ($10) , henna tattoos ($5), chair massage ($1/minute) ear
candles $25 or 3 for $60 , and hula hoops $15-$25 (some diva & karma hoops $35).  Barters and trades considered!

Randi Stone of Lovin' Oven will have fantastic, homemade baked goods for sale! She will be bringing gingersnaps, chocolate cheesecake muffins and a variety of brownies as well as a few other tasty treats!

Tracy Barton-Rouse of Compassionate Creations will have beautiful, yoga-inspired jewelry for sale!

Melodie Proffitt, of Mind and Body Massage Therapy will be offering reflexology sessions, and her beautiful artwork will be for sale.





Sally Kilkenny wil have a wide selection of gourmet homemade jams for sampling and sale, including her newest creation: Strawberry Gooseberry Jam!




New at Prairieland Herbs - "Ambiance" June luxury soap of the month, scads of gorgeous handspun yarns, KITTIES for adoption from Panora P.E.T.S, and they're only $25 during the month of June, in celebration of national "Adopt a Cat" month! Plus of course all our usual fantastic herbal bodycare prdoucts.

And of COURSE our wonderful farm neighbors, Picket Fence Creamery and Northern Prairie Chevre, as well as our "Town" neighbor, Flowers By Donna Jean, have fantastic events, specials and samples as well. Bring the family, make a day of it!

It's Sample Sunday time ! Here's what's happening at Picket Fence Creamery this Sunday, June 13. (stay tuned for more info!)

 

Join us for our "June is Dairy Month" 3-Farm Tour &

SAMPLE SUNDAY

Sunday, June 13    Noon to 5 p.m.

Admission is FREE!

 

Picket Fence Ad Copy:

Free local food samples: Key lime pie ice cream, elk sticks, fresh nut butters, Iowa wines, snack mixes, chocolate milk, Neva's cheese ball, barbecue sauce, salsa, and more! Visit with several guest vendors outside!

 

Lunch is served!

GRILLED BUFFALO BURGERS, brats, hot dogs, drinks and chips!

 

Super Deals!

Our own 90% lean ground beef..$2.99/lb. w/ 10 lb. purchase

Any steak..$8.99/lb

2 dozen farm fresh eggs for $5

Iowa Wines...2 for $22

Pella bakery pie & quart of ice cream - only $10

 

Kids:

SEE THE BUFFALO BOTTLE CALF, dairy calves and pigs, pony rides in the pasture and FREE pencils! 

 

Free 1/2 pint ice cream with $25 purchase

Free coolers while they last!

June Luxury Soap of the Month is here! Ambiance is a warm, uplifting scent - a gentle combination of sweet orange, rose geranium, and ylang-ylang. The tartness of the orange beautifully balances the sweetness of geranium and ylang. It's lovely! Soft and feminine. We have 40 bars of this fantastic soap - when it's gone, it's gone, so enjoy it while it lasts!

 And...it's getting hot and sticky, time to run our annual Body Powder Sale! Body Powders are $3.00 off - now just $8! You choose - a powder with tin and puff, or a 6 oz. refill! Body powders help keep you dry and smellin' fine when the weather gets hot and sticky. Why you should use talc-free powders.

In other farm news: Tornado season has begun! We've had some "interesting" storms the last few days. Everything is fine, it's just the time of year when we can expect fun things like hail, straight line winds, tornado warnings and actual tornadoes (an F2 touched down in southern Iowa last year, causing between $2 and $3 million dollar's damage to a large farm...all humans were okay, but there was significant damage to buildings and, unfortunately, livestock :( )  The good news is, the rain is making our crops grow! The bad news is, the rain is making our weeds grow. Ah, well...so it goes. 


A reminder! Follow us on Twitter, and "fan" us on Facebook! 

We had a busy day Tuesday! The minis got their yearly vetwork done. (they were NOT happy about it).



Maggie and Donna did a ton of planting - here is one of Maggie's lasagna beds in progress.



John did some mowing :)




and the lovely Michelle White, of Beautiful People Organic Salon, came out and gave us all wonderful pedicures. (We needed them, she had her work cut out for her!)

of course we also packed orders etc. :)

You just never know what's going to happen on the farm!

Little horses got their "pedicures" yesterday...after being released, post-pedicure, into the side pasture, Peter (the cat) discovered that chasing horse leads is a FANTASTIC way to spend an afternoon. :)

Sage is blooming like mad. Time to make Fried Sage Blossoms!

Fried Sage

Sage leaves and flowers have a very intense flavor; normally, you would use them sparingly in a dish or recipe. But frying sage truly transforms this herb; the flavor is lighter, quite different, and most delicious!

½ cup butter or olive oil
flou
30 sage leaves OR sage blossoms (on the stem)
Sea salt

Freshly cracked black pepper (optional)

Heat butter or oil in a thick skillet, over medium heat.


Lightly dust sage leaves or blossoms with flour.


Place sage in hot butter or oil, and cook until they are lightly crispy. This should take only a minute or two.


Remove fried sage leaves, and let cool on a paper towel. Repeat until all sage leaves are cooked.

Lightly sprinkle the sage leaves with sea salt; you may season with black pepper if you like.

Serve as-is for a delicious, unusual appetizer. You can also crumble the dried sage leaves over main dishes, such as pork, pasta, bean soups, or hearty casseroles.

I totally lied. I am NOT done with rhubarb posts!!!

Anita sent this wonderful link - this is EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about rhubarb. EVERYTHING.

This rhubarb upside down cake makes my mouth water. MMMMMM.

Rhubarb and ricotta galette - I love how rustic this looks! 

or how about a rhubarb meringue tart?!?

Ooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnne more rhubarb recipe post. Becuase I simply can't resist. (And because, shamelessly, I use this blog and my personal one as a sort of personal online recipe book - an easy way for me to refer back to recipes I may want to use again, or try when I have more time, etc.).

Rhubarb Ginger Syrup with Tequila. *swoon*  (I have not tried this yet, but really want to make a rhubarb lime simple syrup, as I think a rhubarb margarita would be really, really good.)

Crosswinds Farm Rhubarb Jam.

And, last but not least, alternative uses for rhurbarb: hair dye, for papermaking, or insecticide! I also believe rhubarb leaves work as a mordant for natural dyes. I will have to consult my dyeing books to be sure. Anyone tried this?

All of a sudden, we looked around, and so many things were blooming!!!!!

Are you guys tired of rhubarb recipes? I hope not. I'm just getting started. :)

I forgot this one from our website - it's an oldie but a goodie. Lavender Rhubarb Lemonade. YUM!

How's about some Rhubarb Ketchup? or, Rhubarb Lavender Jam!

Rhubarb Martini?

So I was reading the She Simmers blog, which I love, and all of a sudden she's talking about how to make spruce-tip infused olive oil. And I was like...woah. TREES! I tend to look down a the ground, when thinking about wildcrafting...looking at leaves, maybe mushrooms. BUT TREES! Yeah. Eat the trees.

Which led to this great blog about wildcrafting spruce (or fir or pine) tips and the million bajillion ways you can use them.

How about a spruce rhubarb cooler?

An Evergreen Martini, or an Alpine Martini? (before you laugh..remember that gin is flavored with juniper berries! same taste family)

And there's loads of recipes for Spruce Beer.

I have alot to learn about wildcrafting from trees....

So, I tried to pick some nettle the other day. I ended up having a LOT of help. It went something like this.

Head out to the pasture. Notice six small horses watching curiously. Notice six small horses following you.

Get to pasture, set down laundry basket. Horses immediately commandeer basket as their new favorite toy. They kick it, sniff it, pick it up, haul it around, and generally mess with it, ingnoring the fuming human saying "knock it off guys".

Horses finally get bored with laundry basket, until I bend down to start harvesting nettle. As soon as I put nettle in the basket, they eat it. This goes on for a while.

Eventually they decide to see if the laundry basket game is different/more fun if there is plant matter in the basket. Apparently it is, as they have a new round of mini horse laundry basket soccer. Complete with fuming human (being ignored).

Eventually the soccer match ends, and I can go back to picking nettle. This time *I* am the object of their attention.  They pick the clippers from my pocket, sniff me up one side and down the other, gently nibble my clothes and hair. At one point there was a snuffly soft horsey nose down the back of my pants (they gap when I crouch down). WHOO! that's an experience.

See little Del here? Note my hand? that is my pushing him far enough away to even get him in the picture. I got about 10 photos of just white horse fur before I pushed his head back a little. "Up close and personal" is the mini horse motto, apparently.

At some point the get bored with me and I can actually get some nettle harvested.

Some of it, my bunny ate. He likes fresh nettle. Some of it got put into a crustless nettle quiche, and the rest got blanched and frozen for later. Yum. nettle!

Donna snapped this picture of her pond yesterday - doesn't it look fabulous?!

May soap of the month is HERE! Euphoria! 

This soap is allll about springtime. Fresh clean breezes laden with the scent of fruits and flowers. "Euphoria" soap is scented with lavender, ylang-ylang and tangering. DELICIOUS! We have 40 bars of this fantastic soap - when it's gone, it's gone, so enjoy it while it lasts!

Prairieland Herbs is hosting a free Meditation and Breathwork class on Sunday, May 23, at 11 AM!

The lovely and talented Deniece Gaudineer has offered to once again lead us in a fantastic meditation/breathwork/movement class. This class is FREE (thank you Deniece!) and will be held at Prairieland Herbs. ANYONE is welcome! She will lead us in a heart opening meditation/breathwork workshop, or....see what happens when we all gather and what we need and desire. Please bring a yoga mat and/or sitting cushion, if you have one. Coffee, tea, scones and fruit will be available after, feel free to stay and chat, visit, craft or just enjoy good company with likeminded people. No experience is necessary for this class, if you've never done breathwork or meditation, don't worry - just come and enjoy. It's a wonderful experience.
 

Today's post is a love letter to nettles. Yes, stinging nettles. Yes, they will sting you. Yes, they are common weeds. Yes, I saw them for sale (!!!) in the local greenhouse this weekend and laughed and laughted and laughed! They are so common, that really, you do not need to buy them. Most people can find them nearby to wildcraft (harvest from the wild). They are wonderful for so many reasons: food, medicine, and fiber.  I love nettles. This is a great time of year to harvest them because they are young and tender and especially yummy.

If you don't know what nettles look like, or how to harvest them, I'd start here. I typically harvest them bare-handed, but I am in the minority here. Most people will want to use gloves and long sleeved shirts. They WILL sting you when fresh, but when dried, wilted, or cooked, they do not.  Even the "sting" is good for some people - I personally know several people who deliberately "sting" them selves with nettle to relieve their arthritis symptoms. They swear by it. So...there you have it.

Still want more info? Okay - here's some more nettle info and pics.

Now. Are you convinced that nettles are indeed a) extremely good for you (a traditional spring tonic and one of the healthiest greens you can eat, and b) delicious? Okay, now it's time to cook. I love this non-recipe for
nettle soup. It's foolproof and versatile.

Susan's recipe for Nettle Spanakopita  shows that nettles can be as highbrow or lowbrow as you like.

And here's a veritable treasure trove of nettle recipes: Nettle risotto, nettle frittata, nettle with pasta, and more! 

You don't NEED to have a specific nettle recipe to use them. Simply replace nettles your favorite recipe that utilizes cooked greens. My favorite ways to use nettles are usually in a crustless quiche (beacuse I am extremely lazy), and sauteed with garlic and olive oil and put on pizza or over pasta.

Eating fresh young nettles is just the beginning. They're also tinctured and made into teas,the mature stalks are  used for fiber, or the mature seedheads are collected and ground as a yummy and nutritious grain. And of COURSE it has many applications in skin and hair care. So this is just the first post on nettle...as the season progresses I'll be adding more information about how and why to use nettles.