yellowdaze

its summer in the mountains. when its sunny here, its very hot. the evenings smell VERY sweet from the forest air, it might be the birch polypore mycelium... since we live below a mountain full of birches & i've heard others talk about the very-sweet birch polypore scent. we haven't had that many sunny days yet, but we've had enough so that i have green tomatoes, & i don't feel deprived of sun.



i am growing... so you might see these plants pictured below:
herbs~ hundreds of lavenders (over 10 different varieties), sage varieties (i forget all the name types, but there are some special ones, like jerusalem sage), oregano, chives, apple mint, spearmint, morrocan mint, egyptian mint, chocolate mint, basil mint, basil, cilantro, catnip, allspice, lemon balm, lemon catnip, thymes (lots of varieties), camphor basil,ground ivy,&anise hyssop(i forgot this name temporarily& that was bothersome)

+ roses, lilacs, buddlias(aka butterfly bush & i have hundreds), tomatoes, squashes, peas, nasturtium, broccoli, carrot, fragrant lily(its flower is intoxicating, like sweet vanilla, as are the pinks), pinks (3 varieties including a very vanilla white pink), kale varieties, aloe (recovering..), hydrangeas, fushia(just 1, a cutting from my moms that i grew up with), sunflowers, strawberries (i ate the first 2 ripe strawberries yesterday)...not pictured: pots i'll photograph later, + my indoor garden.

peach-orange hazel likes to nap underneath my butterfly bushes. the kitties that aren't hazel are the once-stray kitties that found us last fall. ava is the calico, mountain is the long haired. we also have another cat named mossy who is mountains brother, but he still hides all the time...

now i have little plant containers to wake up & visit each morning. happy cuttings of lavender cottons, rosemaries, mexican sages, wisteras, 1 lilac, lavender from here & a rose from daves house. i'm keeping them in full shade right now. in a week i will put them in the sun for a couple hours a day.

over a week ago i took cuttings from the two lavender varieties that grow here- those are already doing fine in the sunshine. same with a catnip cutting though the leaves curl if he is in the sun all day, so i don't do full sun for the catnip yet. when i drove down here i took with me one of the cuttings that i took from the curry plant which grows at the fragrance garden. the curry does fine in full sun, he has for the past week, and even has tiny new leaves that are coming out the sides of his old branches. thats quick! spring is a great time for cuttings..

some how every thing is beautiful ..



when you cut up vanilla pods & infuse them in oil for a few weeks, you create an incredibly lovely scent as well as a fixative- fixatives make perfume blends last longer. i cut a few nettles from willow creek near bodega bay & i made soup of them, now i plan to get more. the nettles tasted really good, i can't describe the flavor.. i know the nutritional profile is very good. i always cook my soup on very low heat. adding a bit of vinegar to my soups really helps the flavors. when i visit the forget-me-knot grove outside i hear the bees (always so busy making honey) & birds.. & i have my kitty on his leash. he is very pleasing.

2006 summer;

my favorite things to love are my kitty (pictured below), my boyfriend, fresh air, forest air, water, whole foods, oils, & these flowers: lavender, lilac, rose, butterfly bush & wisteria.

i enjoy these herbs often: lemon thyme, rosemary, curry plant, lavender, catnip, lemon balm, chamomile, pepper, ginger, nettle, spearmint, vanilla, oats, peppermint, motherwort, elderflower, rose. i like to make oils out of many of these herb plants as well as cottonwood buds (cottonwood is one of my favorite trees. my other favorite tree is cedar (though when i am home in california, it is redwood. it is very hard to name favorites with trees but certain ones are so incredibly helpful..though what tree doesn't help us in some way?) i like to make tinctures of cedar because it doesn't infuse so nicely in oil as does the buds of cottonwood. i love the smells of established forests; there aren't words to describe how it feels.. a warm sunny day with drifting scents of sweet forest air.

in love with health;