Blessings From the Garden

Dear Friends,

Welcome today to Merry Hearts Cottage! It is a beautiful, hot day. Just right for hanging clothes out on the line and picking a few herbs and greens to eat and for medicine.


We had a friend come over yesterday, and walked her through our weedy yard, showing her the names of things we have growing here that are good for man and beast. She was especially impressed to learn that burdock is not only edible, but quite tasty!

We decided to experiment eating red clover blossoms, since we have an abundance of them this year. Usually we just pick them and bite off the juicy, sweet petals, but we thought we'd try something more substantial. We made a pesto out of the blossoms and leaves, pureed with olive oil and salt, which would make a nice sandwich filling or pasta topping. Then we made blossom stir-fry, by picking the freshest blossoms, removing the leaves, and frying them in red palm oil with some onions, nutritional yeast, and an oat-flour sauce. Yum! They were a little chewy, but good.


The last thing we made was a sort of GardenBurger out of dried, powdered red clover blossoms mixed with soaked wheat, blended with water till mushy. We added parsley, onion powder, and salt, and baked them in the oven in muffin tins. When baked till crispy, they were actually addicting!

Audrey's Clover Burger

Who would have thought that all this time we could have been taking more advantage of the healthful plants that the Lord has provided, in medicine and in food? There is so much to be learned on the subject. We are intrigued by the title of the book From Crabgrass Muffins to Pine Needle Tea by Linda Runyon. It looks like a fun read, so it will go on our long list of books to buy. We'll let you know when we do!

Oh, dear friends, may you be blessed with all you must do today. Let us all allow the Lord to carry those burdens that seem to much for us in this life. He is more than able to carry them all, and only awaits our asking.

Love,

Marqueta

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For the Beauty of the Earth
by Folliot Pierpoint

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.

Refrain

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light.

Refrain

For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind’s delight,
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight.

Refrain

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild.

Refrain