Wapato: Bringing Back The Sacred First Food

Friday, November 23, 2012


Living in the Pacific Northwest I am familiar with Wapato Island (renamed Sauvie Island) as well as the town of Wapato in Washington, but it wasn't until last night that I learned about the wapato plant. OPB ran a fascinating short called Bringing Back Wapato about this traditional food of the indigenous North Americans and how it's making a comeback. 

Along with salmon and deer, berries such as huckleberries and chokecherries, and roots such as bitterroot, wapato is known as one of the "First Foods", which hold cultural and spiritual significance to native people. There's a current movement to reconnect the younger generation with this important part of their heritage. On the Yakima Nation Reservation they are relearning how to harvest, prepare, and cook with wapato, just as generations before them did.

So what is it like? Wapato (Sagittaria latifolia) is an aquatic plant that grows in marshland and produces edible tubers that have a flavor similar to potatoes and chestnuts. Doesn't that sounds delicious? In addition to roasting over a fire, they were traditionally preserved as a flour which Meriwether Lewis described could be made into bread-like cakes.

You can watch a video from the Bonneville Power Administration showing folks from the Yakima Nation harvesting wapato...





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Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Ruth Gordon and Hal Ashby, 1971

"I love to watch things grow. They grow and die and then they change into something else...what kind of flower would you want to be?"
-Maude

Today I am thankful for plants and friends and good food. 'Tis the gift to be simple. Wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving!



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Save 30% Off All Books At Timber Press

Wednesday, November 21, 2012



Just had to share some good news that I just received from Timber Press, the wonderful Portland-based publisher of garden books. They are having a very generous holiday sale right now with 30% all their offerings...

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You've raked the leaves. You've mulched your beds. And it looks like a long time till spring. Or, let's be honest, maybe you haven't actually done those things yet. Either way, we've got something to keep you occupied this holiday season. Lots of somethings, actually, and they're all 30% off right now. So go ahead, buy several for the gardeners on your gift list and maybe a few for yourself. We won't tell.


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My Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes

Tuesday, November 20, 2012


You should not blog about Thanksgiving recipes while hungry--it's like shopping when hungry. I'm about to do something I'll regret like go into the kitchen and eat half a bag of tortilla chips standing over the kitchen sink. Once I finish here...

I thought it would be fun to share my favorite Thanksgiving recipes today. I'll begin with the stuffing which I first made in 1995 (I still have my dog-eared, gravy-stained stained copy of Gourmet) and have made nearly every year since. It's truly amazing, involving sausage, corn bread, fennel and Pernod.

I'm not into stuffing but I'm into this. Sweet and earthy, it's the perfect accompaniment to turkey.

I finally got wise to brining a few years ago and now I'm a brining fool. I've experimented with several different brines and this has been my hands-down favorite. It works great with a whole chicken and I bet it would also be wonderful with a pork loin. 

You might think "sublime brussel sprout" is an oxymoron. Until you try this recipe. It takes eons to make but it's totally worth it. 

Another gem from Gourmet, this one not quite as vintage being from 2006. The best pumpkin pie I've ever had.

The above things are non-negotiable but the salad can vary from year to year. I really love the Roasted Beet and Blood Orange Salad with Spicy Greens Recipe from 101 Cookbooks. Last year I spotted this Spicy Green Apple Salad from the fabulous Thai cooking blog She Simmers--it sounds like it would be the perfect thing, bright and light, to cut through some of the heaviness of the traditional Thanksgiving meal. 

What are your favorite Thanksgiving traditions? I hope you all have a wonderful day, whatever you do, whatever you eat! No excuse me while I go find those corn chips.



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Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head

Monday, November 19, 2012

And I can't find an umbrella anywhere in this house. You know how some houses have sock gremlins that steal single socks? Pretty sure we have one with a fetish for umbrellas. But this one shall do...


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Country Living Blue Ribbon Blogger Awards

Thursday, November 15, 2012



This is the second year that Country Living has offered their Blue Ribbon Blogger Awards honoring the best new blogs in gardening, decorating, crafts, and cooking. I was so, so excited when I found out back in September that I'd been named one of the finalists in the Gardening category out of 2,830 submissions. What an honor to be recognized by such a great magazine--did you see their post on Neko Case's Vermont Farmhouse or the dreamy Connecticut Kitchen Garden that I see images from on Pinterest every other day?

Making it that far was excitement enough and then there was the most heart-warming get-out-the-vote movement for the Reader's Choice Award. A great big hug to all you friends, family, and readers who voted for me: you did it! I've bagged both the Judge's Pick AND Reader's Choice Award in the Gardening category.


The Fabulous Beekman Boys were judges. I'm star struck--love them.

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You can see all the other winners on the Country Living website. It's been fun to learn about these great new blogs (you've got to check out that Calvados Ice Cream on Gourmandistan!). 

Thanks again for all the cheers! I started Bell and Star back in April and have enjoyed it so much--this is great encouragement to keep on keeping on.


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How To Make a Dutch-Inspired Floral Arrangement

Wednesday, November 14, 2012



Rachel Ruysch, Floral Still Life, 1700



A lot of floral designers are going Dutch lately, finding inspiration in Flemish floral still lifes. I love the wild and romantic mood, the flowers spilling out of their containers, the inclusion of fruit and branches and leaves. My usual M.O. with floral arrangements is to buy a bunch of tulips at Trader Joes or scavenge whatever I can find in the yard and stick everything in a vase. Making a Dutch still life-inspired floral arrangement does require more thought and work, but I was surprised by how easy it really was.

Below is my step by step guide. Since flower arranging was an entirely new process to me I watched this YouTube video first which helped get me started with some of the fundamentals...


A goblet or urn shaped vessel works well for cascading designs.

Here are the flowers I bought from the market along with some honeybush greens, camelias, and rosehips I collected from my yard. Total cost $23.

Floral foam I bought from The Dollar Tree. Soak until it floats.

I organized my flowers by type. The YouTube video advises odd numbers of everything which is probably a good idea but I ignored that without any disastrous results.

Start to build your arrangements in layers. I began with a base of eucalyptus branches.

I added all the flowers by type, sticking them into the foam randomly before moving on to the next flower. Here we have grapes, kale, and protea.
 
Camelias and honeybush folliage have been added. It's beginning to look like something!


Keep layering and keep turning the vase to avoid gaps until, voila! 



Things I learned:

  1. You will likely need more materials (flowers, fruit, foliage, cacti) than you ever imagined.  
  2. You will still save a lot of money by making your own bouquet and it only took me one side of Van Morisson's Astral Weeks to complete the whole project AND clean up.
  3. The produce isle is a great place to gather materials. You can add things like artichokes, clementines, and lady apples by piercing them with a wooden skewer. 
  4. Your yard (or neighbor's yard!) is also a great place to gather materials. I loved the cool glaucous mint leaves of the honeybush growing outside my entryway in this arrangement--something I would be unlikely to find at my local florist.
  5. Embrace birth and death. The Dutch often incorporated memento mori into their arrangements and the flowers are often fully open, past their prime by modern standards, but looking all the more natural and luscious for it. 
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My Favorite Fall-Planted Bulbs

Tuesday, November 13, 2012


When I was 21 I was completely uninterested in gardening but I WAS interested in bouquets of grape hyacinth. At the time, I lived in this old farmhouse in Ashland and dark grape hyacinth had naturalized all over the back yard--I've never seen anything like it. I used to trudge out in the wet grass with my scissors and cut bouquet after bouquet which would fill little vases and jam jars in every room. Ever since then I've been crazy about the smell of muscari. Where I live now I've planted a few of the common purple variety here and there but I really flipped for the pale blue variety Valerie Finnis. The color is indescribable--almost a woad blue which you can stare at forever and not figure out if it's a cool grey blue or a warm periwinkle. Several years ago I planted some bulbs in a ring at the base of my dogwood but every year their numbers diminish. I'm not sure who to blame: slugs or squirrels, but this one is too good to give up on. You can buy 1,000 bulbs for under $150 from Van Engelen which would keep the slugs busy and me happy for quite a while.


Here's another diminutive AND early bulb. It's a great antidote to Portland's dreary winters: the charming and extra, extra early little daffodil Tête-à-Tête, which is known to poke it's little yellow head up through the snow. Mine bloom when the crocuses do here in Portland. This one's great for forcing or using in pots too.


I hope I don't make anyone cry here but there's something I find garish about most crocuses. Maybe it's just that I don't like the purple, yellow, white combo you often see them in. I do however love the sunny crocus Cream Beauty which starts out more dark orangy yellow and fades to a creamy butter yellow. Plus, with its bright orange stamens it matches my house perfectly!


Lollipop, Lollipop, Oh Lolli-Lolli-Lolli. Alliums are so fun and I particularly like Allium Ambassador for it's dark purple color and perfectly round shape. Plus, if you have the patience, the seed heads on the spent flowers are absolutely magical backlit by the Summer sun. 


I'd tried 3 times to grow this checkered lily and last year I finally hit gold. It's such a gorgeous freak of nature. I'm pretty sure the fairies make their party dresses out of the flowers.


This year I'm trying out a new Fritillaria thanks to my Mom (who also gave me the Checkerboard last year, ain't she sweet?). Ivory Bells looks equally as stunning. I hope the foliage on mine has that dusty green color like the photo. I haven't planted it yet and I'm not sure if I want to put it in a pot or find a home in the garden bed. Stay tuned...


I had to include at least one more daffodil on my list--I pretty much love all daffodils but the ruffly doubles are my favorite and Bridal Crown is one that I really adore. It grows in clusters of small cream flowers with light orange centers. Very classy.


And I have to close with a tulip. This is the most swoon-worthy tulip ever. I'm pretty fickle when it comes to tulips which is easy to do when you treat them as annuals as I do, tossing them out after they have bloomed. Angelique is one I'll go back to again and again though. If you love the blousy, peony-shaped tulips like I do, this is one for you. Normally I don't allow pink in the garden but I make an exception for Angelique (and there is also an orange version now which I'm dying to try).

 And finally, I wanted to share some tips for buying and planting bulbs for anyone who is new at this:

1. Order early if you want something new or rare--I recommend ordering as soon as the catalogs ship as I've seen some things sell out in a flash.

2. Shop ultra early or ultra late for the best deals. Most sellers have introductory offers when they first introduce their Fall offerings and again late in the season, though things will be picked over. I've also had good luck buying close-out bulbs at the grocery store which I've planted into December.

3. I think those bulb planter tools are a pain in the tuchus. I prefer to just dig a big hole at the required depth and plant all my bulbs at once. It's way easier and it looks more natural this way, as if the flowers have grown in drifts.

4. Layer your bulbs. When planting you can dig your hole and then plant according to depth with a layer of daffodils, a layer of hyacinths, and a layer of crocuses, etc.

And a post script: I haven't shown you any bulbs from one of my favorite sellers so I wanted to do that now. Old House Gardens specializes in heirloom Spring and Fall bulbs. I highly recommend you order their beautiful catalog which is full of history and beautiful photos. An example:

Most people have never even seen a brown tulip, let alone grown one. Here’s your chance! 18th-century ‘Absalon’ is intricately patterned with swirling flames of dark chocolate and chestnut brown on gold. It’s a true broken tulip, a Dutch Bizarre from the Hortus Bulborum – and sure to cause a buzz. 





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Plant Lust Swap @ Schoolhouse Electric

Monday, November 12, 2012



Last month I went to an old fashioned plant swap hosted by Plant Lust at Schoolhouse Electric. It was raining pretty hard but my Mom and I braved the weather like good Oregonians to go unburden ourselves of some unwanted plants and hopefully pick up some new things to try. Like a crazy person I waited until the morning of the swap to dig up my plants in the rain. I wonder if I was the only one.

It felt good to pass along some things I didn't have room for (like the weeping sequoia I greedily accepted from my neighbor, later realizing that it can grow to 25 feet tall which would not work in my little city garden).  I also had some Russian sage and succulents and a few other things I've already forgotten. See? Easy come, easy go.

Here's my new plant loot:


I came back with a nice big Japanese Forest Grass. I love running my hands through its smooth papery blades. AND I hear it's a favored habitat of Boston Terriers.


And keeping with the chartreuse theme a nice Golden Feverfew which I love for bouquets and for adding a nice shot of brightness to the garden wherever needed. This is one tough plant and grows for me in sun or shade.


And finally, a seriously magnificent-looking euphorbia that's new to me: Euphorbia Mellifera (aka Honey Spurge). I hope I don't kill it--I hear it's iffy in Portland which makes me love it even more.


There were lots of fun plants and friendly faces at the swap including fellow garden bloggers Scott of Rhone Street Gardens and Ricki of Sprig to Twig and of course the gracious co-founder of Plant Lust Loree of Danger Garden who was helping out with plant labels, plant ID, general advice, and even sharing some of her fabulous homemade baked goodies.


The kind folks at Schoolhouse Electric extended a discount for the day for plant swappers. I was tempted at every turn, as I always am at their store, but didn't buy anything that day. I did however have to stop and take some photos of the beautiful little flower shop inside the showroom, Anna Mara Flowers. Anna Mara was working on some pretty Autumnal bouquets and had some superb terrariums and fancy leaf begonias, which I have a weakness for. Look at her charming business card with the little sprig of bittersweet attached with twine--so cute!

Thanks to Plant Lust for putting together this fun swap and to Schoolhouse Electric for hosting. Hope we get to do it again next year!
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Drying Herbs

Wednesday, November 7, 2012


I love the moody Fall vibe of these new photos from Portland-based photographer Parker Fitzgerald. This story about drying herbs for Fall cooking for Kinfolk Magazine was shot in his garage and styled by the very talented florist and stylist Amy Merrick. My sweet pal Skye Sarenana Velten models...







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