My mother is a fan of overgrown and wild-looking gardens. At our coffee stand (okay, her coffee stand, but I take pride in running it when she's not here), she can be heard admonishing my gardening skills almost every week. "Let the bunchgrass take over! I like how it looks along the border of the gardens." "No, you can't trim back my mint plants! Don't you think they smell amazing??" "I know it's a weed, but I think it looks pretty growing between the bricks on the patio." Right, just try not to slip and fall on it when it rains....
This last "weed" I referred to does truly grow all around our patio, springing up between the bricks that Stefen and I (with other temporary employees and helpers) painstakingly laid out and pounded into level submission two summers ago. Who cares if the "weeds" are moving our lines and causing some bricks to stick up at slight angles on the corners? And really, who even needs to see the beautiful bricks when they're covered by such a lovely, permanent weed?!
One elderly gentleman told me as he was ordering a coffee one morning back in June that the weed growing between our bricks and moving in leafy waves across our flowerbeds was called "spurge." (I Googled spurge once and saw that although we have that here too, it is not, in fact, the name of the weed on trial here.) "You'll want to get rid of it before it takes over. A little Round-Up will take care of it." He just kind of stared at me when I told him my mom liked it too much and wouldn't let me rip it up. My grandpa offers to spray it every once in awhile, and Mom's fiance, Mike, has actually sprayed it a couple times in preparation for the fireworks and huge festivities that take place down at the park on the 4th of July. (No one wants to slip and fall on their rear on Independence Day....) Stefen and I have also spent many an afternoon weeding it out of the gardens that I deemed "veggie only" or "pretty, non-invasive plants only."
However, there is one flowerbed in the front corner of our property that I am not allowed to touch unless the weeds get unruly and try to take the bricks back from me yet again. This flowerbed is also home to portulaca grandiflora or "rock roses," giant lilies, a couple forlorn-looking baby trees, and some rogue marigolds. I am not allowed to harm the succulent weeds in this flowerbed. So for many weeks, I left them alone. I pruned them when Mom wasn't looking, and I used a dandelion puller to pry them out of the bricks when they got too comfortable. It wasn't until today that I discovered this succulent, invasive weed might actually have a purpose in life, other than to annoy me to no end.
Facebook is a place where you can learn magical things. With just a scroll of your mouse, you can see who broke up with who, who is in love with who (but wasn't yesterday), how to lose weight by only eating "these certain summertime foods," how to survive an apocalypse, and apparently how to utilize invasive plants. Joyce from Friends Drift Inn taught me this morning that what I thought was called spurge (or the-bane-of-my-gardening-existence) is actually called purslane (or portulaca oleracea), and guess what? YOU CAN EAT IT!!!!
Being the college graduate that I am, I immediately began looking for other links to back up what was still, to me anyway, a theory. Yup, Google confirmed it for me. And depending on how much you believe the Internet, Martha Washington even served it to our nation's first president. (Happy Birthday, America. Here's a salad.) The most common ways to eat purslane are either on a salad or as a pickled condiment. (You can bet your britches I'm gonna learn to pickle it!!!) Some say it has a taste similar to watercress or spinach. Others say it kind of has a lemony-ness to it. I'm here to tell you, they're both right.
Yes, that's right. I tried it. Heck, it grows in abundance here, so why not? If my mom insists on letting it live in our flowerbeds, you can bet I'm going to try and find a use for it. Having come from a scientific background in school, I knew the only way to know for sure if purslane was any good was to test it myself. A hypothesis is only a hypothesis until it can be disproved. So I picked some, I washed it, and I ate it. (Having grown up with an aunt who puts pretty little violets in her salads, I'm definitely one for culinary adventure.) Although I think it might be an acquired taste for some, it wasn't half bad. Purslane might even be making an appearance in future salads and, if it's lucky, on the shelves of my pantry next to my other home canned goods.
If you need more assurance that it's safe to consume this otherwise annoying plant, here's a link from the University of Illinois Extension to help calm your fears. Also, I haven't had any side-effects yet, so I think you're all good to go. I also read that purslane is high in beta-carotene, iron, magnesium, riboflavin, omega-3, and a whole list of other vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants!
All in all, I'm glad I finally found a reason not to hate this funny little plant. Although it is still not welcome in my vegetable garden or on our brick patio, at least it will be welcome on my plate. :)
Another Farm Girl
I'm just another girl born and raised in the country, trying to break into the world of blogging and post-college adulthood. All the while, I carry my hopes of building a rural life tucked safely in my wandering and adventurous heart. :)
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
A Three-Minute Post
I have three minutes before I have to get ready for work, and I realized I haven't blogged since May!! That's because I was graduating, and moving, and trying to sell my pickup, and buying a new car, and fixing that new car, and getting settled back in my hometown, and helping my fiance fix his new truck, and working on wedding plans, and driving to the other side of the state to find bridesmaid dresses, and getting back into the rhythms of work. Life got hectic there for a bit, but I gotta say, I'm loving it!!
I work for my mom at her off-leash dog park (the first in our ever-expanding town) and coffee stand (where my real passion is). I love making coffee. I love experimenting with new combinations of flavors and ingredients. I love interacting with people when they come to my window and ask what's new or how business is going (we've only been open for a year or so now). I love designing new menu boards and organizing the supplies up on the shelves. I love answering questions about what used to be a tiny town but is now beginning to look like a smaller version of Seattle (I don't love the Seattle part). But also, I love our gardens!
I established what I fondly called the First National Garden of Chelsea this year. We have five flower beds along the edge of our brick patio (which my soon-to-be hubby and I laid by hand the first summer my mom rented the property), and the farthest one on the right as you're looking out toward the river (did I mention our business is right on the river, next to one of the town's parks? I'm a lucky, lucky girl.) is our vegetable garden. Stefen and I planted eggplant, zucchini, scallions, bell peppers, hot peppers, and three different kinds of tomatoes. I can already see little baby peppers and zucchinis starting to take off, and my eggplants have these spectacular purple flowers hanging off of them right now. The other flower beds are just as wonderful with all sorts of flowers and random tomato plants growing in them. I'll post more photos later of all these wonderful things (I dropped my phone in a toilet earlier this week, so I am living in the Mayberry age with no technology attached to my body for the rest of the week. Aaaaah, bliss!!), but for now, I'll just leave you will this awesome picture of me uprooting a milkweed plant the size of a sapling. :D
I work for my mom at her off-leash dog park (the first in our ever-expanding town) and coffee stand (where my real passion is). I love making coffee. I love experimenting with new combinations of flavors and ingredients. I love interacting with people when they come to my window and ask what's new or how business is going (we've only been open for a year or so now). I love designing new menu boards and organizing the supplies up on the shelves. I love answering questions about what used to be a tiny town but is now beginning to look like a smaller version of Seattle (I don't love the Seattle part). But also, I love our gardens!
I established what I fondly called the First National Garden of Chelsea this year. We have five flower beds along the edge of our brick patio (which my soon-to-be hubby and I laid by hand the first summer my mom rented the property), and the farthest one on the right as you're looking out toward the river (did I mention our business is right on the river, next to one of the town's parks? I'm a lucky, lucky girl.) is our vegetable garden. Stefen and I planted eggplant, zucchini, scallions, bell peppers, hot peppers, and three different kinds of tomatoes. I can already see little baby peppers and zucchinis starting to take off, and my eggplants have these spectacular purple flowers hanging off of them right now. The other flower beds are just as wonderful with all sorts of flowers and random tomato plants growing in them. I'll post more photos later of all these wonderful things (I dropped my phone in a toilet earlier this week, so I am living in the Mayberry age with no technology attached to my body for the rest of the week. Aaaaah, bliss!!), but for now, I'll just leave you will this awesome picture of me uprooting a milkweed plant the size of a sapling. :D
"Raaaaaaaah! I'm a weed slayer!!"
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
My final finals week
Have any of you readers out there been to college? If so, you have my condolences and my congratulations---even if you didn't make it all the way to a commencement ceremony. In our country, a college education is certainly not something that is simply handed to you. And it's never just college when you're in college. It's work and relationships and roommates and grownup responsibilities and time and money and effort and stress. Sometimes it's multiple jobs and commuting to another town over an hour away to get to those multiple jobs. It's remembering to check the mail because you have actual bills to pay and credit to build. It's balancing your sometimes seemingly nonexistent social life with your ever-burdening academic life. It's remembering to go to the gym so you can shake off those last ten pounds you gained when you first got to college.
For me, this being my last year of undergraduate classes, it has been all of those elements listed above, and more. On top of this, I added both family obligations and celebrations back home; TWO part-time jobs on the weekends back in my hometown (about 90 minutes away); weddingplansweddingplansweddingplans!; an upturned apartment when the water heaters had to be replaced, and again when the upstairs neighbor's kitchen sink leaked into our kitchen, thus creating layer upon layer of black mold in our cupboards and my roommate's closet; an emergency surgery for my dog's dislocated hip and subsequent vet bills for her recovery as well as her and my other dog's mysterious acquisition of lice; group projects (the dreaded college words!!!) all due within days of each other for multiple classes, and so. much. more!
But it hasn't all been bad. There have been wine nights with the roomie, adventures here and back home with my man, walks around the neighborhood with my two wonderful doggies, lunch dates and phone conversations with my amazing mother, baking fests and teaching myself to preserve jelly and other canned goods, antique stores, scenic drives, Cabela's openings, bar hopping, Valentine's Day bowling, movie marathons, yard sales, camping trips, crafty projects, 4-H meetings, a 6-week trip to Ireland, and SO MUCH MORE!!
So as my final week before my final finals week winds down (is it Friday yet?), I can safely say that although I really did enjoy the ride, I am ready for the next phase of my life. Maybe I'll get a Master's degree, and maybe I won't. Maybe I'll retreat into the country with my soon-to-be hubby and never return (I can dream....right?). Regardless, I have a pile of homework waiting for me to dive into it, so tonight's ramblings have come to an end. Inspiring, no?
For me, this being my last year of undergraduate classes, it has been all of those elements listed above, and more. On top of this, I added both family obligations and celebrations back home; TWO part-time jobs on the weekends back in my hometown (about 90 minutes away); weddingplansweddingplansweddingplans!; an upturned apartment when the water heaters had to be replaced, and again when the upstairs neighbor's kitchen sink leaked into our kitchen, thus creating layer upon layer of black mold in our cupboards and my roommate's closet; an emergency surgery for my dog's dislocated hip and subsequent vet bills for her recovery as well as her and my other dog's mysterious acquisition of lice; group projects (the dreaded college words!!!) all due within days of each other for multiple classes, and so. much. more!
But it hasn't all been bad. There have been wine nights with the roomie, adventures here and back home with my man, walks around the neighborhood with my two wonderful doggies, lunch dates and phone conversations with my amazing mother, baking fests and teaching myself to preserve jelly and other canned goods, antique stores, scenic drives, Cabela's openings, bar hopping, Valentine's Day bowling, movie marathons, yard sales, camping trips, crafty projects, 4-H meetings, a 6-week trip to Ireland, and SO MUCH MORE!!
So as my final week before my final finals week winds down (is it Friday yet?), I can safely say that although I really did enjoy the ride, I am ready for the next phase of my life. Maybe I'll get a Master's degree, and maybe I won't. Maybe I'll retreat into the country with my soon-to-be hubby and never return (I can dream....right?). Regardless, I have a pile of homework waiting for me to dive into it, so tonight's ramblings have come to an end. Inspiring, no?
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Good morning, fellow late-night internet surfers!
Yes, I said good morning, as it's now 29 minutes into a brand new day here in the Pacific Northwest. I'm new to the world of blogging, but certainly not new to the world of social media. In fact, I began my life as an undergrad student by studying Communication Studies (subsequently discovering I hated it and moving on to Sociology and Nutrition, but that's another post or two or three in itself), so I am well-versed in the ideas of marketing oneself on the internet. But I am not naive enough to think this blog will reach very many people or become as popular as those two little girls who always seem to be singing and dancing on the Ellen show (at least the video of them doing so sure does circulate cyberspace quite frequently).
However, I am a student of agriculture at heart, and as such, I know that a single seed planted into the soil can grow up to do great things. A heart that feels submerged in darkness is only being prepared to emerge into the light as something bigger, greater, and more spectacular than anything it was before. With 18 days left of my college undergraduate career, sometimes I feel like I'm still in the darkness. But in reality, I left the darkness behind a long time ago and am about to be in full bloom.
On a different note, have you ever felt like you have so many brilliant thoughts that you just need to share with the masses, even if no one is actually actively listening? Thank God we live in an age where we can feel validated by how many "likes" a photo of our lunch receives or how many updates we have when we log onto Facebook. It's kind of nice knowing that people we haven't seen since elementary school think it's cool that we got a new tattoo or finally mastered the art of driving a clutch. On the other hand, it can be frustrating getting sucked into a cyber vortex *cough Pinterest* and realizing every original idea you thought you had has already been exploited by someone else (seriously, is EVERYONE using mason jars to decorate their wedding this year???). Regardless, I think a blog will be fun, so here goes my best effort.
However, I am a student of agriculture at heart, and as such, I know that a single seed planted into the soil can grow up to do great things. A heart that feels submerged in darkness is only being prepared to emerge into the light as something bigger, greater, and more spectacular than anything it was before. With 18 days left of my college undergraduate career, sometimes I feel like I'm still in the darkness. But in reality, I left the darkness behind a long time ago and am about to be in full bloom.
On a different note, have you ever felt like you have so many brilliant thoughts that you just need to share with the masses, even if no one is actually actively listening? Thank God we live in an age where we can feel validated by how many "likes" a photo of our lunch receives or how many updates we have when we log onto Facebook. It's kind of nice knowing that people we haven't seen since elementary school think it's cool that we got a new tattoo or finally mastered the art of driving a clutch. On the other hand, it can be frustrating getting sucked into a cyber vortex *cough Pinterest* and realizing every original idea you thought you had has already been exploited by someone else (seriously, is EVERYONE using mason jars to decorate their wedding this year???). Regardless, I think a blog will be fun, so here goes my best effort.
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