Herb Garden Dreams
Chocolate Box Cottage Diary, Volume 2
Week 19: May 14, 2022
We are establishing an 
herb garden this year, which will provide plants for tea, medicine, crafts, and enjoyment. When I feel fancy I call it my Apothecary Garden.
I struggled a bit, no, a lot, in planning the herb garden. Enclosed by a board fence and measuring 37×31 feet, is a generous space. I still don’t have a firm plan. I’ve have decided to be okay with that, to allow inspiration and curiosity to shape the garden. It will probably be messy the first few years, but in time I trust it will become what it wants to be and I will enjoy stewarding it.
I discovered a few herbal treasures to add to the herb garden today at the first ever Growers and Crafters Market in our community including a variegated willow with cream and pink leaf tips and an upright form of Oregon grape. Thank you, Maura! Meanwhile, Jenna raised 2 1/2 flats of herb seedlings for me, to order. Lucky me! I brought home a jar of crystal clear dandelion jelly Cynthia Gibson made and Sam and I enjoyed some scrumptious baked treats too.
Small but especially fragrant Original Poet’s daffodils bloom later than other daffodils, for a nice change. Garden tools are at the ready on the back wall of the greenhouse. The Peace roses went in the herb garden first. I am so anticipating their peachy scent for bouquets and potpourri!
The greenhouse is brimming with plants! Zloty Lan, favorite chamomile variety for tea, grown from seeds outdoors using the winter sowing method.
The next tree destined for firewood: a dead, standing Douglas fir tree. I have my eye on the second tree, also a Douglas fir. It is “decorated” with a bonanza of resin. Next time I will bring a suitable container for collection. Close-up of fir resin, useful for drawing salves, beeswax wraps, and more.
We brought home another load of firewood and the snow is gone. There will be mushrooms soon, and trilliums are just starting to show delicate flower faces.
Can you see it? View from Sam’s grader. One of four coyotes Sam’s crew spotted on Little Applegate road one day while grading the road.
This week I pulled out the Bosch Universal mixer and made a big batch of Whole Wheat Buttermilk Bread. I shared my family’s favorite recipe in this video, which included all my treasured tips and breadbaking wisdom. If you own a Bosch or are considering one, give this recipe a try. It might become your family’s favorite, too.
One of the tips I shared in the video is to weigh the dough for even sized loaves of bread. Scale is a KD-8000.
Plump loaves of Old Fashioned Buttermilk Bread, otherwise known as Whole Wheat Buttermilk Bread, made with freshly ground whole wheat flour and homemade buttermilk.
Beef Goulash, a pantry meal made with home-canned tomatoes, dehydrated diced zucchini (instead of pasta), herbs, frozen corn, and local ground beef. Topped with cheese, Beef Goulash is fast food at our house.
Homemade buttermilk ad sour cream from local raw milk.
Happy moments with Mom and my sister Marti on Mother’s Day!
My Mother’s Day gift from Sam was a Clementine 
orange tree, several small herbs, and 3 rolls of chicken wire. The wire will be used to reinforce the garden fence so I can keep our little elderly (and deaf) 
dog in the garden with me. I could ask for nothing better – except to have all my kids with me! Miriam went to church with us this morning, knowing there could be no better gift.
Spring interrupted is appreciated even more and we are grateful for the much-needed rain and snow we received in the past month. Trees, grass, plants are all sporting the flashiest shade of green!
How are things in your corner of creation?
Blessings,
Michele
