Pioneer Woman at Heart

  The wild black raspberries are on early this year.  They are small, but tasty.   I have a lot of plantain in the flower beds, and I am happy to say I have a wild growing mullein plant again.  So happy for that. The heat if finally letting up a bit, but no sign of rain. My husband took the truck to work the other day, so he could get the gas can refilled.  A deer jumped out of the ditch and smashed into the side of the truck.  I'm still waiting on the collision repair guy to call so I can take the truck in for repairs. I sure hope it doesn't take a year to get an appointment. I finally baked us a chocolate angel food cake.  It's good and light, but there is not much chocolate flavor to it.  I don't get to make one very often, but it's a nice light dessert for this hot weather.

Mullein planted in a pot last year and survived winter, but it's small. Mullein that popped up in a bed close to the house, along with burdock.  Big difference in size.  I think this bed will be my weed bed now, aside from the mints.  I need a bed in the ground somewhere for those. Burdock.  I never planted this in a pot, as it grows wild all over the place.

My latest favorite infection fighting tea.  My antibiotics (blech) were not kicking the phlegm from the sinus infection, so I brewed up 1 tsp. dried homegrown thyme and added 1 tsp. dried mullein weed and honey.  I drank this 4 x day and poof!  Much better.  Cough nearly disappeared after about 3 mugs of it too.

It was time to send this book back to the library.   I flipped through it and scanned one recipe.  It gives you a twist on some foods.  For example, there is a recipe where you shave the broccoli stalks to make a salad .  There are even a few recipes for using apple peelings and cores - apple win e jelly was one.

I finally made it to the store to get vodka to make a mullein tincture. I used fresh mullein .  I've read that you do not want to cut more than 40% of your plant , but I am typi cally careful not to over harvest mine.