ANNETTE'S HERB GARDEN
ANNETTE'S HERB GARDEN
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| Pressing flowers has been a popular pastime for hundreds of years. How wonderful it is to open an old family album or book of verse and find between its pages a small spray of flowers saved with loving care throughout the years.
A flower press generally consists of 2 pieces of wood, cardboard, and absorbent paper. Lay out your botanicals, top with absorbent paper and cardboard. This completes one layer. One can do 8 to 10 layers in a press. Top with the second piece of wood. Store-bought presses will have wing nuts in each corner of the wooden boards for tightening the press. In the following days, check the press and re-tighten as needed. If you are handy and have a drill, you could make your own press, or simply use two wooden scrap boards up to a foot long, cut cardboard and construction paper of the same size. Use two belts to tighten your press, and re-tighten as necessary. You could simply use old books - phone books work great. Skip several pages between botanicals. For added absorption, sandwich plant material in between pieces of facial tissue. Top with additional books for more bulky botanicals. The phone book is also a great place to store the pressed material - one can take advantage of the alphabetical order and store the plants accordingly - such as "B" for blue blossoms, or whatever scientific method you prefer! I generally leave my plants in the press for 2 weeks, check, and if necessary keep a little longer. The stationary featured below was created by gluing pressed flowers and herbs to paper, and is just one idea for using pressed flowers and herbs in crafts. Let your imagination go wild, but most of all have fun! |
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| If you wish, you can send the full-sized image to your printer. If you have image-editing software, you can add your name and address to the image and print out your own personalized stationary, as in this example. You can adjust your printer settings or save the image to disk and adjust the image size to print out note-pad sized or full sized paper. Or, you can save the images to your computer and use them as backgrounds or wallpaper. Please, these images are for personal use only.
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| 3 ears Indian Corn 8 stems German statice 1 bunch each of thyme, rosemary, sage and mint 2-3 dried orange slices 5 stems red rose hips 1 small pomegranate 5 heads orange safflowers 3 chili peppers 3 chives flowers 5 bay leaves floral wire hot glue pot or "Tacky" craft glue Lay the 3 ears of corn next to each other and wire them together around the husks just above where the husks attach to the cob. Form the point where the husk meets the cob, glue 4 stems of German statice heading up from this point and 4 stems heading down. Take small bunches of each ;herb and glue around the statice base, at least 3 bunches of each. Glue the orange slices and rose hips around the outer edge of the statice. Glue the pomegranate in the center and the safflowers and chili peppers around the pomegranate to finish. |
| A recipe, or a craft you can eat? The symbolism of Friendship Soup is a welcome addition to the kitchen of any lover of fresh herbs.
2 red peppers, finely chopped In large skillet, saute' the peppers and onions in butter or olive oil until semi-soft. Add the cream and chicken or vegetable stock and blend well. Place water in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir in rice and barley. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 45 minutes or until tender and all the water is absorbed. When done, pour stock and cream mixture into pan with rice. Place herbs in a muslin bag or use an herbal soup spoon and add to soup. Simmer on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove herbs and serve while hot. Garnish with finely chopped red and green peppers. |
