eating green(s)

Little S found some elm trees in the back of our garden. I haven't seen an elm for ages, not since they were all taken down, because of the Dutch Elm disease. They are beautiful little trees, with leaves, seeds and flowers all out at once. Live fast, die young. We call the seeds manna, they're edible, and tasting them again was indeed heavenly. They tasted like spring, childhood and joy.

I think there's a growing interest in eating local, and wild. Not only are the herbs we can find now brimming with life and energy, they are also messengers and teachers. They are all little stories, telling us about the time of year. Listening to these stories, and rejoicing in them, is a way of celebrating spring. Getting to know them, learn where they live and how to find them, also works its revitalizing charm on us. Here's a few of our favorites:

Ramson herb salt. It's crazy green, looks amazing sprinkled on anything.

 

Ramson pesto, with sheep cheese and nuts. Intense colour & flavour.

Goutweed pesto. We use goutweed in soups, waffles, salads. Very versatile - can also be used for dyeing.

Stinging nettle bread. I use a big bowl of stinging nettles for two loaves of bread, it was much more green in real life.

We also eat the young beech leaves, they taste a bit lemony, like wood sorrel.

Some of us also likes to eat the first dandelions ...

Summer's over

... and I will slowly return to the everyday routines. Ever so slowly. Summer was too short - and less summer'y than I hoped for. But there certainly were some highlights - which I will share with you soon!
But for now, perhaps you'd like to take a little walk with me in my garden - around sunset, my favourite time of the day?

My Happy Japanese Indigo

Now I must knit something, goodnight and see you soon!

Balancing

Well, I fell off the radar (again), but it was a really good thing! I've spent the last couple of months balancing things in my life, in search of The Good Life. And I'm doing well!


I also fell in the dye pot, and I've actually spent quite a lot of time in there, having so much fun. To me natural dyeing is Natures magickal way of telling me some of her secrets. And it's therapeutic as well, I fell more happy and in focus dyeing with plants.


Collecting the plants for dyeing can take me places in the neighbourhood where I haven't been before. Sometimes I'm on my own, but mostly I bring my kids, making it a treasure hunt as well as fun lessons in biology. We always find much more than we were looking for, things to examine as well as things to put on the seasonal table.


The colors bring me so much joy. Mostly I know what color to expect, but often I'm surprised as well. Watching colors appear makes me dizzy with enjoyment. The resulting yarn, silk scarfs and wool fleece also brings me joy; so many wonderful hours of dreaming, getting inspired, planning and creating.


I feel the need to add, that in my opinion, chemicals and natural dyeing are an absolute contradiction! - I find it hard to understand how it it possible to take these gifts (plants and flowers) from Mother Nature, and in return offer her pollution in form of chemicals. As in all other aspects of life, we need to be responsible! Imagination, experience, studying and a bit of luck makes good ingredients in the dye pot, and makes it possible to achieve thousands and thousands of beautiful colors without chemicals.

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Thank you, Mummybear, for reminding me! - All the yarn, wool and silk in this post are dyed with common reed (Phragmites australis/tagrør). I pick the flowers when they are glistening and purple, before flowering. You can see them in the basket, at the front. The different shades of green results from differences in the nature of the dyed items, and from the amount of flowers in the dyepot. For example; hand spun yarn and industrial spun yarn absorbs the dye differently, wool and yarn from various breed of sheep absorbs differently, silk and wool absorbs differently and so on …

The Joy of Boredom

Min ældste datter har fået sommer besøg af en god veninde. Hele dagen har de leget med kyllingerne, cyklet, badet i en nærvedliggende sø, spist is, snakket og hygget sig. Men pludselig blev alt så kedeligt! - De anede simpelthen ikke hvad de nu skulle finde på. Da jeg havde hørt på klagerne et stykke tid, foreslog jeg dem at gå ud i haven og gøre noget med de overvældende mange roser. Så var de væk længe. Og her er hvad de lavede.



















De lavede rosenstier i hele haven, løb leende i spiralen og forseglede deres venskab med et hjerte og deres forbogstaver lavet af rosenblade. Hvilken fryd at kede sig!

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My eldest daughter has a friend visiting for a couple of days. After a long day of catching up, watching the chickens, biking, eating ice cream and bathing in a nearby lake, they suddenly got very bored! - They simply didn't know what they wanted to do. After listening to their complaints for a while, I suggested they'd go out in the garden and do something with the abundance of roses. Then they were gone for a long time. I went out searching for them, and this is what they did.

They made rose petal paths all over the garden, they ran laughing in the spiral and sealed their friendship with a heart and their initials made of … rose petals. Oh, the joy of boredom!

Pink!

- er eddiken

- som vi har lavet med purløgsblomster (efter idé af Lisa)

Hun glemte at nævne, at den smager fuldstændigt superlativt!

- er de små alfer som bor i roserne

- som tilfældigvis har en vis lighed med A's hirsedukker. Hendes yndlingsfarve er forresten - pink.
(har du lyst at lave sådan nogle, kan mønster købes her)

- lyser roserne i skumringen

- er glasuren på de lækre banan muffins med fuldkorns spelt - pyntet med hyldeblomster.
(Tak, Sunde Fe, for opskriften :)

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Pink!

- is the vinegar…
- we made with chive blossoms (inspired by Lisa) - she forgot to mention it tastes absolutely superlative!

- is the little fairy that lives in the roses…
- which incidentally has a certain resemblance to A's millet dolls. Her favourite color is - by the way - pink!
(Sewing kit from here)

- are the roses glowing in the twilight

- is the ising on the banana muffins - sprinkled with elder flowers

Alfe kager

I aftes - da S egetlig burde puttes i sin seng - gik vi ud og plukkede mælkebøtte blomster. Vi havde nemlig set en opskrift hos Lisa i 5 Orange Potatoes. Hun laver mælkebøtte småkager, og en masse andre fantastiske ting. Hendes blog er en guldgrube af opskrifter og ideer!

Mens S plukkede kronbladene af blomsterne, sagde han at det ikke var mælkebøtte kager, men alfe kager vi skulle bage. Og han fortalte mig et eventyr om nat-alferne, som bor i skummet på vandet i en bæk. Og om en mand, hvis gedekid gik ud i vandet for at drikke, og dens ene ben kom i klemme mellem stenene i vandet. Manden fik reddet kiddet, men det blev meget sygt, og for at gøre det raskt igen, måtte han bede alferne om hjælp. Han fik lov at tage vand fra bækken, og plukke guldblommer som voksede ved bækken, så han kunne lave helbredende te til kiddet. Og kiddet blev raskt og snip, snap, snude, så var eventyret ude.

Så malede vi mel til kagerne, og stjal et par æg fra hønsene.

Jeg hjalp med at måle ingredienserne, og han rørte selv dejen.

De blev ikke helt som jeg regnede med, men jeg kom i tanker om at amerikanske cookies ikke er som vores småkager - cookies er blødere, og jeg kan bedst lide sprøde småkager. Eller også skulle jeg have lavet dem mindre og bagt dem i længere tid … men de forsvinder alligevel som dug for solen! - Og - oh, spænding - hvad er mon dét på pindene dér? - Fortsættelse følger!

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Fairy cookies
Last night - when S actually was supposed to be in bed - we went out to pick some dandelion flowers. We had seen a receipe at Lisa's blog 5 Orange Potatoes for dandelion cookies. She is making lots of great things. Her blog is a gold mine of receipes and ideas!
Pictures:
· While S was removing the florets from the base, he told me that the cookies were called fairy cookies, not dandelion cookies. And then he told me a fairytale about the night fairies, that lives in the foam on the water in a brook. And about a man, whose kid went out in the brook to drink the water, and one of its legs got caught between the stones in the water. The man rescued the kid, but it got terribly sick and he had to ask the fairies for help to save the kid. They let him pick some flowers - mountain arnica - and take some water from the brook, so he could brew a healing tea. The kid got well, and they lived happily after.

· Then we made some flour and stole a couple of eggs from the hens. I measured the ingredients, and S did the rest.

·The cookies didn't turn out the way I expected, but then I remembered american cookies are softer then the danish ones, and I prefer them crisp. Or perhaps I should have made them smaller and baked them longer… but anyway, they dissapear like dew in sunshine! - And - oh, exitement - what's on the needles? - To be continued!

Frodig og fredfyldt

Det kunne måske godt være mig selv jeg refererer til, men det er nu min have - mine nære omgivelser. Dét med frodig og fredfyldt håber jeg selv at blive, hvis bare jeg bor her længe nok. Jeg kan næsten ikke rumme min glæde og tilfredshed ved at være herude på landet. For knap halvandet år siden boede jeg midt i byen, og mine tre børn er født på 4. sal på Nørrebro i København. Det er ubeskriveligt godt at have givet dem dette landlige liv i bytte for stenbroen!

Der dufter så sødt og fint af æbleblomster overalt, at vi bliver helt svimle og næsten kan føle alfernes vingesus

And spring arose on the garden fair,
like the spirit of love felt everywhere;
and each flower and herb on earth's dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.

~ percy bysshe shelley

Men her er også dramaer som fødsler og død. Vi venter spændt på Tykke Berthas fødsel. Ingen tvivl om tvillinger!! - men hvornår?? - Jeg anede ikke at det ville være så spændende at vente lam! Og døden, i form af små nøgne fugleunger der falder (eller bliver skubbet) ud af reden, akkompagneret af gråd og tænders gnislen fra mine børn. Verden er både blid og barsk, og man lærer om det hele hjemme i sin egen have.

Og i den mere pragmatiske afdeling har vi sået bønner i hjemmegjorte potter. Foldet af avispapir uden brug af lim eller hæfteklammer. Brug aviser uden for meget farvetryk, vi bruger Information (den kan også anbefales til læsning). Kunne dog ikke lige lade være med at vise et par potter med billeder: grøn baby power! Jeg fandt vejledningen til at lave dem her.

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· Fertile and peaceful - and I'm not referring to myself, but my garden and close surroundings. But perhaps I'll become just that, if I stay here long enough. I almost can't contain my deep satisfaction and happiness by living in
the country. Less than one and a half year ago, we lived in the city, and my three kids was born on 4th floor in Copenhagen. I'm not able to describe how good it feels to have given them this in exchange for the city life.
· And right now the smell from the appleblossoms makes us all dizzy, and we can almost feel the whirr of fairy wings.
· But there is drama as well. Births and deaths. Bertha, a sheep, is expecting twins - no doubt about that! - but when? - and death when tiny naked young birds fall (or gets pushed) out of the nest accompanied by the cries of my children. The world is harsh as well as gentle, and you can learn about it all in your own garden.
· And in the more pragmatic compartment we've been making pots for sowing beans. Folded newspaper, no glue or staples. I found the tutorial here. Have you noticed the pictures on the pots: green baby power!