Seasonal Notes

My dear Seasonal Note Friends, I will be taking a hiatus from my business page . I was diagnosed with lung cancer Monday (I never smoked but was exposed to 2nd hand smoke through out my childhood)so my energy will be concentrating on getting better. Thank goodness for local, seasonal, organic food. With the tremendous loving support from my family and friends, I am expecting a good outcome. Keep me in your prayers. Love to all!

Here is my latest offering from Arugula's Star Farm. Absolutely phenomenal produce!

I came home from our trip to Waco Texas with eggplants, herbs, snow peas and purple jalapeño peppers just shy of being picked. I did go to the Farmers Market there last Saturday and was impressed with the selection. I will be looking closer at utilizing my sources here-the Columbia, Spring Hill and Franklin Farmers Markets.

The nice thing about a balcony garden is being able to plant early and harvest earlier. You can use dried herbs to make herbal vinegars but I prefer using fresh. You do use twice as much fresh then when using dry herbs. Harvest your herbs in the morning, clean and dry thoroughly. Make sure your jars are sterilized and if you don't have plastic lids, be sure to cover the jars with Saran Wrap. Let steep for a week, especially if you have added garlic cloves. Remove the cloves after tasting. I ended up with 12 jars with nine different varieties.

You can never have enough basil or eggplant. Ten different basils and four different eggplants. The varieties of eggplant are all the smaller and oriental style for grilling. Then I have my peppers! Purple jalapeño, ancho, "Big Bertha", And "Cubanelle". Of course, I'm still, "dancing", rotating my pots and moving them back and forth. I harvested all my baby spinach and lettuces.

Owl rag quilt. All three rag quilts are at least four feet tall.

Our first round of fresh "greens"-baby spinach, romaine and red leaf lettuce.