Desert Tea / Brigham Tea

 

Ephedra nevadensis Wats

 

A stunted shrub with green twigs on woody stems.  It is known by many names,

  Desert Tea, Joint Fur, Mexican Tea, Popotillo, Brigham Tea.

 

A tea that has been used since ancient Aztec times here in the south-west.  It is used for colds, fever, headache, for a decongestant and asthma remedy, as a diuretic and for internal troubles.   It is also consumed to relieve rheumatic and arthritic pains. The dried and powdered twigs were used for poultices and  ointments for sores. 

 

I gather the woody stems and  twigs of the bush early in the spring.  It has been used as a

 spring tonic for hundreds of years

 (I bet it cures the dreaded Spring Fever). 

 It can be harvested and used fresh.  We collect  large branches in the spring or early summer and place them in a paper grocery sack, tye the sack tight around the woody stems, and hang in the pump house to dry.  The tea is used all year long.  It is a sweet, pleasant tasting tea.

 

To make the tea, strip the green "leaves" or twigs from the woody stem.  This tea needs to boil to extract the healing properties.  I simmer about 10 minutes and then let it steep for 10-20 mins. reheating if necessary before drinking.  Strain.  Add honey.   The twigs can be reused several times if desired.   If you use the powdered, dried, plant form just steep as regular tea.  This tea is also refreshing served cold.  Make a large batch and keep it in the fridge.  Serve over cubes of ice with frozen berries in them.  Add a dash of raw sugar.

Aunt LIB drank this tea every day and lived a long healthy life, 96.

Her mind was sharp and she was independent to the end.

She always said it was the Brigham tea that kept her well.

 

 

 

Brigham tea grows in higher mountain elevations in the west.

Harvest in the spring when the plant is vibrant green, just before it blooms. It will fade in color as the year progresses and is not as effective for use.

 

This tea is not recommended if you have a heart ailment.

 

 

SPRING FEVER

I feel awful,

 I'm cranky,

 ornery,

 red-faced,

 (and you all know I hate that).

My head hurts

I can't stay on track

my mind wanders.

I forget

I mis-place things.

When I can sleep,

I  dream about

Pulling weeds ---really.

I must be ill, deathly ill.

I call the doctor--not really--

I search the Internet

hoping to find a cure

or a clue to my demise.

I search for answers

and......

I find what's ailing me,

SPRING FEVER

it's real.

I have all the symptoms

there is no cure

except to wait it out

it will eventually run it's course

in the meantime

 I will plant seeds, lots of seeds, in little black pots

and set them in a sunny south window.

I will read about beautiful flowers

and draw plans for the gardens

I'll go bare-foot in the yard (as soon as the snow is gone)

I'll dig holes, lots of holes, to plant trees in

and spend my sleepless nights delivering adorable baby goats.

I feel better already.

Have you had a case of the dreaded spring fever too? 

ROASTED GARLIC

 

Roasted garlic spread over a thick slice of homemade wheat bread that has been toasted

 golden brown

 on a cast iron griddle in olive oil........

 topped with a sliced heirloom tomatoe

seasoned with herbed sea salt

and chopped, fresh basil sprinkled over-top

served along-side fresh farmstand cheese

and sliced un-peeled cucumbers still warm from the garden

 

YUM

 

one of my favorite summer meals

 

 

To make quick and easy roasted garlic, cut the top of the entire bulb off.  Do not peel just drop the bulb into a ceramic mug,  root side down, drizzle olive oil over top and put in the microwave

for 45 seconds

 

 

 Squeeze out the cloves into a dish or plate and smash with a fork

or just munch on the cloves seasoned with SALT

for a tasty treat

 

 

 

 

 

 

it's not spring yet, however the garlic is peeking through in the greenhouse

so are the weeds

the hens will enjoy the weeds, they are nutrious

green feed during the winter months

 

it was ONIONS

 

Good guess Vicky.

 

I know that onions may seem a highly un-likely treat, but I would eat bread and milk ......

and onions,

dipped in a pile of salt

 I had poured on the table,

 at 11:00 at night when we would get in from the farm.

I loved the onions with salt

and would sneak into the garden with the salt shaker 

hoping Grandpa  wouldn't notice all his onions disappearing.

 

This was so much fun watch for more questions, I am on a painting frenzy!! 

 

POTATO CAKES

 

To make potatoe cakes you use left-over mashed potatoes.  

If you make the origional mashed potatoes rich, smooth and creamy, the cakes will not hold their shape as well.

 

 I have best results mashing  with a fork or potatoe masher and adding a small amount of milk and butter.

 

 

 

Just form the cold mashed potatoes into cakes and fry in butter or olive oil

 

 

 

 

When crisp, turn and add cheese if desired

 

 

 

Try adding onions, minced garlic, chives, or grated cheese to the cakes before frying.

Serve with a spoon of sour cream on top.

 

An egg  and flour can also be added.

 

 

IRISH POTATOE CAKES

 

3 lbs. boiled and cooled potatoes

grate or mash pototoes

add

3/4c. flour (more if needed to form a stiff dough)

1 tsp. baking powder

dash of salt

3/4c. butter

mix with your hands

roll out dough 1/2"- 3/4" thick with a rolling pin and cut into circles

Fry on a hot griddle.

Serve with a fancy cream cheese topped with smoked salmon

or sliced tomatoe

 

 

Junkin' Treasures

I have always been a treasure hunter.

 

At a very young age I would hop on my "stingray" bike with it's banana seat and wire basket and pedal my fastest to the town dump.  It was located about a mile out of town, up a windy steep dirt road.  It was along side a cliff so the garbage could be dumped, burned, and then pushed over the edge.  I would spend hours and hours looking for treasures.  Even then it wasn't cool new-fangled, discarded toys or plastic (a relative new phenomenon) items I would drag home, no it was old wine bottles, old brown Clorox bleach bottles, green glass gallon jugs, rusty tin cans, old metal machine parts,  real glass car tail lights..............

 

 

 

 

On my last trip to the farm, I wandered around my little red house and took pictures of a few of my favorite junkin' treasures.

 

 

 

As a college student, I purchased this print about 35 years ago  ( in a junk store of course).  I guess it reminded me of carefree days spent outdoors instead of long days trapped in a classroom and then an 8 hour shift to pull at work after that.  I thought it looked a little like me also.  It sits on an old, antique, peeling veneer topped buffet I have in the bathroom at the little red house.

 

 

 

This glass pitcher and bowl was made by Avon.

  My mother had one sitting in the bathroom window- sill when I was young. 

 I always thought it was so beautiful.  I have collected many of them over the years.

  

 

 

 

A vintage green glass pitcher

 and salt and pepper shakers made in Italy

 

 

 

In the kitchen

A wire chicken filled with fake vegetables, an old, bright yellow baby scale that matches my yellow kitchen cupboards, and a large candle with wax sunflowers, are sitting atop my original oak "HOOSIER".

 

 

 

 

 

Rooster lamp was a score at a junk store in Nevada,  my talented husband made the hand thrown  chip and dip bowl

 

 

 

 

 

The one splurge on myself was this beautiful perfume vile.  I spied it at the  Shakespearean Festival gift shop, but I never buy anything new so I just admired it.  A year later I decided that if I was still thinking about the beautiful, sparkly, peacock I would check at the gift shop one night after the

 Cedar City Farmer's Market and if one was  available I would buy it.  I still fill guilty for buying

something new, and to make matters worse I don't even use perfume.  It gives me an awful

 head-ache.

 

However,...........

 

 I do wear a fragrance

 

when I am at the farm

 

 I call it  CORRAL #5

Drying Celery

 

Made egg salad sandwiches for breakfast the other day 

everything was home made or home grown

celery from the garden (we grow it in the green house)

  is tastier  than store bought

 

 

 Try drying the celery stocks to use in soups, and stews 

 slice celery into 1/4 inch slices

place in a food dehydrator

dry until brittle

store in a dark, air-tight container

 

 

 

 

  the leaves I just chop up and put out on a tray lined with paper towels

when completely dry store in a dark, air-tight container

I add the leaves to course sea salt along with other dried vegetables and herbs

 (tomatoes, eggplant, carrots, oregano, tarragon, etc.) from the garden

 and put in a salt grinder

 

 

 

 

Try using the fresh leaves in salad or an omelet

 

 

 

BACKYARD HEN/ BARNYARD HEN

 

Over the past few years the keeping of chickens in the back-yard has become common place.  Little mini coops are all the rage, some are even made into little hen mansions complete with wall paper, hanging chandeliers, art, and indoor plumbing.

 

My girls are not quite that fortunate.  They do live in a hen house HOTEL,

 with a walk out terrace, but it does not have pretty flowered paper on the wall, the hanging chandelier is nothing more than a metal bell with a heat lamp inside,  the only art on the wall is dust and the patterns change according to how hard the wind blows.  I wish the indoor plumbing was installed, but the hens don't seem to mind someone hauling water for them. All this aside, they are just regular old Barnyard Hens. What is the difference between a barnyard hen and a backyard hen you may ask yourself? 

 

 

They both lay eggs in all colors

 

They both contently scratch in the yard looking

for bugs, slugs, worms,

and other creepy crawlies

to devour

 

They both cluck contently as

they forage for worms

 and squawk to announce

the egg just laid in the straw lined box

 

They both come in all kinds,

varieties, sizes, and color,

and all have feathers,

 

BUT

 

 

in most cases the cities who allow chickens in the backyard do not allow

 

Roosters

 

A rooster crowing to greet the new day is one of my favorite

farm sounds

and

his call of pending danger

or come along girls I've found a juicy bug

makes me smile

 

 

 

 

 

Years ago I was taught this little song in school (by a teacher). If I remember right it is

 an old Irish Folk Song 

 I don't remember the words exactly, but it goes something like this

 

 

I had some chickens

no eggs would they lay

until that rooster

came into our yard..

 

 

They're layin' eggs now

just like they used to

ever since that Rooster

came into our Yard

 

 

BUDDY

 

a rather suave and debonair fellow

 

is just one of several Roosters we have had on the farm.

 

I guess fancy wall paper,

 chandeliers,

and indoor plumbing

 

is not everything it's

 "CRACKED"

up to be

 

a bucket of GERANIUMS

 

One of my favorite flowers is a geranium.  They come in from the gardens and reside in a sunny south facing window for the winter.  As I wash dishes they remind me of warmer weather just around the corner........... at the end of a long street, way down the road far, far away. 

 

Sat down this morning and did a quick study.

 

Thought maybe I'd just paint over it after it dried.  I have made a goal to paint more, but that requires a new canvas for every painting.  So painting over a painting saves buying more materials. 

 

Then I wondered if someone out there might like this to hang out in their potting shed so here's the deal.  I'll send this to the first person who can answer a question about myself correctly.

 

First here are the stipulations;

 

1.  You must be a  "follower"

(you can join now and participate, only available  to U.S. delivery )

 

2.  Leave your answer in the comment section

(you only have one guess)

 

and

 

3.  Promise you won't throw darts at it.

 

 

When I was young I would grab the salt shaker and go out into the garden and eat?

 

 

GOOD KARMA

On my way down south to attend an oil portrait painting class, I stopped after 4 hours of driving.  I planned my trip to drive through Richfield so I could stop at one of my favorite D.I. stores.  Usually when I go to a thrift store the item I was looking for or would have bought is already in someone else's cart and is heading out the door as I am coming in.  Well, today was different----or so I
 thought.  When I walk in, the first place I head is to the collectibles.  Sure enough there sat the most beautiful, dainty, hand-painted with purple violets, porcelain, even had it's lid, made in England TEA POT.  Smiling to my self, and thinking this must be my lucky day, I placed it in my cart and moved on looking for vintage linens and lamps.
As I was rummaging through a shelf a young man approached me and said, "Are you going to by that Tea Pot?"  After lot's of stupid answers to answer a ridiculous question ran through my head -----like "Look dude I have just driven 4 hours so I could stop at this particular store, and it is in my cart so of course I AM planning on buying this beautiful, I have been looking for it all
      
                                                              MY LIFE
                          TEA POT!"

But I didn't, I just replied a simple "YES".  Then he went on to tell me his story.  He and  his wife had been in earlier and had found the Tea Pot for their daughter's Birthday Party.  He explained that they had taken it up to the front and asked them to hold it until they could go to the bank for some cash.  Along their way they had stopped off to check at the antique store and by the time they had  finally gotten back to the thrift store the Tea Pot had been placed back out on the sales floor and now it was in my cart.  He continued saying his wife didn't dare ask for it back, but they really wanted it for the party, so being the good dad he was he came and asked me if I would give it to them.

Well, I love a TEA PARTY.  Lacy dresses with lots of ruffles, big hats with ostrich feathers, sparkly shoes, tiny sandwiches, and lots of giggles.  And who am I to say "no" and ruin a little girl's perfect Birthday party.  So I gladly (well maybe not that happy too) handed over the beautiful, hand painted with purple violet's, been looking for one all my life, dainty, even has a lid, porcelain, made in England TEA POT.

The dad introduced himself to me and genuinely thanked me.  I replied,  " You are welcome. I happen to be on the road and maybe this gesture will bring me "GOOD KARMA".  Smiling a smile that only a dad has when he gets his little girl her dream, he walked away.........with the beautiful, even has a lid,  I'll never find another in my life, tea pot.

I drove the remaining 3 hours without incident.  BUT......when I arrived to the farm I found the water lines in the heated pump house frozen  and the underground lines were still frozen a couple of days after I got the pump house thawed. ( Won' t know if pipes are busted until the spring thaw.)  So I just hauled water all week when I got home  at night from my class in St. George.   AND.......the winter squash and potatoes I had stored in the house were frozen.   

ice crystals on the potatoes

 

 

 

 

AND............. to top it all off I got a speeding ticket on the way back to Roosevelt.

  So much for

"GOOD KARMA"

 

 

 

    

TRUDY'S WINTER PARADISE

I have been telling Glen for years I want a  glass greenhouse, made from recycled windows and odd bits and pieces of wood.   I have collected many pictures and drawn plans over the years, but he never got the gist of what I envisioned
                                                              (or needed, wanted)

                                                                   until.....

my sister Trudy built her glass house complete with a wood burning stove to keep everything (plants and people) warm and toasty in the minus zero weather.  Late at night after her kids are all tucked in,  she and her husband go out to the glass house and build a fire to heat it through the night.  The heat absorbed from the sun during the day keeps it warm well after dark until the fire is built.

Over the holidays, one evening we were invited for tea.  She gathered flowers and herbs growing in the glass house, she  cold steeped them overnight and added cinnamon sticks and ginger.  We sat in the glass house cozy and warm.  Soft, flickering, candle light and  dancing flames from the fire dimly lit the leaves and our faces.  We talked til midnight, breathing the warm moist air, smelling  the earthy fragrance, and sipping flower tea.  It was Paradise!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I reeeeeaaaallllllllyyyyyy

 

 

NEED

 

a beautiful glass house tucked away in a hidden corner

 out of sight

filled with

plants

and

bubbly fountains

with

goldfish swimming

and

tiny castles

hidden amoung the flower pots

 for the

dancing faeries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BEAUTIFUL SNOW

 

I think winter is beautiful

fluffy

snow

heavy laden

on

bended boughs

 

 

 

standing silent

and

steadfast

waiting for

spring

 

 

 

 

Today

I am at the farm

I haven't any water,

the water pipes

are frozen

in the pump house.

I dig out

the bottles of water

I have stored away.

 

I build a warm

fire

and crawl into bed.

I awake

during the night

it is -15 degrees below zero.

I throw another log

on the fire,

snuggle deeper under the covers

and

 DREAM OF SPRING

 

 

 

Farm Animals

 

 

                                  by Stockton

                                       age 6

During the winter months I spend many hours sitting on a hard bleacher bench watching my kid's
basketball games.


Recently, during a three day tournament I asked Stockton and Porter (their big brother is on the team) if they would draw me some farm animals. Every game they bring their markers, colored pencils and paper to draw. I think they are amazing little artists! The pictures were so good I asked their mom if I could post them.

by Porter

age 8

DID YA HEAR?

"HEY, did you hear the latest?"

"What else should we expect, someone who know's how,  like that's

goin to happen.  NOT around here!"

"I heard she doesn't have a clue."

 " And to think she had us all fooled."

Here I am, lost out in cyber space

without a clue

I can't get NEW

pictures to load

so until I figure

things out.........which

is highly unlikely to happen

in the near future

you'll just have

to put up with

old

pictures

and

new words

of

little value

after all a picture is worth a thousand words...........

 

A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Have you made your New Year's Resolutions? Or are you like the 65 % of the country who don't?  I have thought a lot about this during the past week.  Some years I make them, but most of the time I feel that if I can accomplish everything I NEED to do I am better off than adding a list of things I know I will never get done.

      Listed below are the top three resolutions made by the majority of people every year

                                                       1.  LOSE WEIGHT
                                                        2. GET ORGANIZED
                                                        3. SAVE MONEY

Well, let me tell you what I think about the top 3..............I feel like number one and number two cancel themselves out.  If you are UNorganized and are spending your days (excuse the expression) " running around like a chicken with it's head cut off,  looking high and low,  turning over every stone,  searching far and wide",  surely that has got to burn excessive calories.  Not to mention the fact that stones are extremely heavy.  So.......if you are organized you  will NOT be burning all those  extra calories.
Number three--save money--  hummmmm.  Well, first off you need to have money floating around to save.  I have found the best way for me to save money is to hide it away and then I can't remember where I put it.  Works every time.
                                                                HOPE YOU ALL HAVE
                     A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!