Calming Edible Roses

Most people think of roses just in a garden but they can be eaten. Certain types of edible roses are tastier than others like Rosa damascena, Rosa gallica, and the one featured in this article Rosa rugosa.  They can be dried for tea, or cooked directly into jellies and syrups for dessert ingredients.

Wild rose (Rosa rugosa) in thorny bush, Northern Maine,
Copyright 2020 by Helen A. Lockey

In tea, they are thought to help with improving your digestion, elevating your mood, and assisting with blood circulation. In jelly they just taste great and smell just like fresh petals, I bought my first jar at Harrods in London.

Freshly picked wild roses and red clover flowers, Northern Maine
Copyright 2020 by Helen A. Lockey

When choosing roses to harvest make sure they have not been sprayed with any chemicals.  When you go to harvest your rose petals pick the petals early in the morning when the flowers are the sweetest and most flavorful. Then wash them in clean water, pat them dry and put on a plate.

Dried wild rose petals and red clover buds, Northern Maine
Copyright 2020 by Helen A. Lockey

Then place the petals in a sunny, dry place in your house. Depending on the conditions, the drying process can take three to five days. Then store them in an airtight container. They will stay aromatic for up to one year. When you go to make tea, take a teaspoon full of petals, pour hot water over them and steep for 3 minutes before drinking.

And if you don't have access to roses or have the time to dry them you can always buy them at a store or online. I recently bought some rose petal tea online at the Tea Spot. That also applies for the rose syrup and rose petal jam (although this can be hard to find).  Enjoy.

Healthy Salad Ingredients To Boost Your Immune System

Salad, what is salad? It's a mix of iceberg lettuce, tomato, croutons, and dressing, right? No, salad is a cold dish that contains at least one raw or cooked vegetable and can be combined with meat or fish. In this blog post, I'm going to look at a vegan green salad ingredients and show what they contain to make your meal the healthiest it can be.

Delicious fresh green salad with black beans (multi-B vitamins, protein),
fresh corn (B12), yellow bell peppers and tomatoes (Vitamin C),
Florida. Copyright June, 2020, by Helen A. Lockey

If you want to get more nutrition in your salad then consider using a darker green lettuce varieties like romaine, escarole or endive (bitter greens that aid in digestion).

Fresh spring mix salad greens full of color and vitamin K,
Florida. Copyright June 2020 by Helen A. Lockey

Then add any number the following ingredients for vitamins: blueberries (vitamin B6, C), shredded carrot (vitamin A), tomatoes (vitamin C), hemp hearts (vitamin E), cooked sweet potato (antioxidant beta carotene, vitamin A), spinach (calcium), avocado (omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin K, E, C, B6), arugula (calcium, vitamin K, C, foliate), steamed broccoli or cauliflower florets (vitamin K, C, B), celery (vitamin A, anti-inflammatory), cucumber (vitamin C, A), bell peppers (vitamin C higher than oranges), red onions (folic acid), mushrooms (B vitamins and Vitamin D when wild harvested), and hot peppers (vitamin C).

Fresh blueberries (vitamin B6) and pumpkin seeds (zinc) add tasty
nutrients to your green salad. Toss it with a bit of virgin olive oil (healthy fat) and
apple cider vinegar (probiotics) and you have a living vitamin pill.
Copyright June 2020 by Helen A. Lockey

And for minerals, protein and other important nutrients consider adding: pumpkin seeds (zinc), shredded raw turnip (zinc), shredded beets (iron), sweet corn (B12, iron), cooked beans or tofu (protein, iron, and calcium), kimchi or sauerkraut (probiotics), radishes (potassium, magnesium), and lentils (protein that is more digestible than beans).

Fresh greens, from left to right: basil, curly leafed kale, sage,
Florida. Copyright June 2020 by Helen A. Lockey

You can also add any number of fresh herbs to increase your vitamin C intake, especially with parsley and cilantro. Be adventurous; try herbs you've not tried before like a generous handful of basil. If you like pesto then you'll love this floral herb in your salad. The only herbs you might want to go light on are sage and rosemary because both of these have very strong, overpowering flavors.

Strawberry (Magnesium), string bean (Vitamin K),
cucumber (Vitamin C) , shredded carrot (Vitamin A),
hemp hearts (Vitamin E), and chick peas (protein)
Florida, Copyright June 2020 by Helen A. Lockey

It's best to limit your fresh fruit ingredients, so as not to spike your blood sugar. Also, most fruit do not digest well with salad greens; the exceptions are blueberries and apples.

These are just a few of the many delicious ingredients you can add to your green salad, use your imagination and explore the yummy world of vegan salads (you could even try some edible flowers).

Herb Gardening, From A Beginner's Perspective

Recently I have been trying to grow my own culinary herbs. Two and a half months ago, or so, I bought large potted plants of lemon balm, oregano, lemon thyme, tarragon, chocolate mint, sweet mint, sage, parsley and three types of basil (Genovese, African Blue, and Cinnamon). What a bounty I thought, I'm going to be overflowing with herbs in two and a half months time, yippee. Herbs are easy to grow, right?

Outdoor Italian Oregano plant, South Florida, Copyright 2020 by Helen A. Lockey

My oregano and lemon thyme loved their new home and tripled in size. The oregano was outside and the lemon thyme was inside along with my parsley plant. They seemed to prefer air conditioning to tropical heat.

Sweet Mint alongside Chocolate Mint plant, South Florida,
Copyright 2020 by Helen A Lockey

It took a little experimentation to figure out that my mint plants liked lots of light and lots of water. Once I found the right location they thrived and doubled inside. That was until I repotted the chocolate mint and it didn't take to its new growing environment. It's still here but struggling.

Tarragon plants, South Florida, Copyright 2020 by Helen A Lockey

I also discovered that my tarragon was hungry and thirsty. So I gave it some worm castings and put it in a tray of water. It thanked me by doubling in size.

Purple African Blue Basil flowers, South Florida,
Copyright 202 by Helen A Lockey

My African Blue basil went wild with purple flower heads that the local bees adored, but it didn't produce very many edible leaves.

Rosemary plant, South Florida, Copyright 2020 by Helen A Lockey

My rosemary died from overwatering, so I had to brave the elements to get a new one. I'm immune compromised, so this was a scary shopping trip for me. I put the new plant in a sunny, dry location and gave it some fertilizer. It's doing wonderfully.

Cinnamon Basil, South Florida, Copyright 2020 by Helen A. Lockey

My cinnamon basil really liked its location on top of my rain barrel, especially after I gave it some fertilizer. But then half of it started dying. I repotted and split it into two haves to revive at least one. One survived and the other died. Unfortunately whatever affected the first plant started affecting the second plant and it soon started dying. I cut off the dead bits, moved it to a sunny spot and crossed my fingers. As of this writing, it is still alive.

Chef's Trio Basil pot, South Florida, Copyright 2020 by Helen A Lockey

My Genovese basil culinary trio pot, three different types including a purple, struggled from the beginning. And the purple culinary basil didn't make it much past repotting. The other two are hanging on, a bit tentatively, but still hanging on.

Garden Sage, South Florida, Copyright 2020 by Helen A Lockey

My big beautiful sage that survived replanting with flying colors started to die about two weeks ago. I thought it was because I brought it into the house, so I took it outside into the sun where it got sunburnt. So I moved it to the shade where it did well until a heavy rain that over-soaked the dirt . Then I moved it to a slightly shaded sunny area but that didn’t help. It died last week. 

I decided to replace my sage plant by buying one online but none were available. In fact none were available at stores in the real world. I thought I could start another from seed but found out that sage plants take a very long time to grow, the plant I had was probably around three years old. 

Lemon Balm, South Florida, Copyright 2020 by Helen A Lockey

On a happy note, my lemon balm has not only thrived, it has started producing hundreds of small leaves and stems and is starting to look like a bush now. It really likes sunlight and so is sitting in the sunniest part of my back patio.

Bottom line, herb plants are easy to grow if you can get safely out of your house to buy new ones.