Liz, I've grown wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) from purchased seed, but my favorite here in TX is Monarda citriodora, spotted bee balm or horsemint (meaning simply "large" mint). It's too hot here for angelica, but I suspect for you it will do very well. Glad you made it through the spice book--it's hard for us to understand the economic impact of the spice trade, back in the day.
That much snow?! Sounds like a lot for where you are! Hope the shoveling doesn't cause you trouble--too bad the ducks can't pitch in. :) It's been lovely today (70) but freezing tonight. I need to move the chicken waterer inside the coop.
The snow has come! and we in the Lower mainland have had a couple of feet dumped on us. cannot remember when that happened before. My Geoff, who keeps track of these things, thinks it was about 10 years ago. all to do with cycles and gravitational waves, whatever they are! I spent this morning digging out the car and the duck pen. No help from the ducks of course ,who thought the whole thing was for their amusement.
My friend in Texas has told me that there is a big storm coming that way too, so hope all will be well for you folks down there.
I have finally finished the huge task of reading the "Spice book" my goodness, quite the challenge but very interesting, I learnt a thing or two and it prompted me to get some different herb seeds for the Spring. Has anyone grown wild Bergamot and Angelica ? If so any advice would be helpful, thanks.
Oh Susan, I love Barred Rocks, but I am sensitive to Chicken's eggs which is why we had ducks, Avian Flu wiped out all the commercial local duck farms, but strangely did not affect many of the back yard flocks. I could not get eggs, which is one reason we got the birds. Also Geoff wanted something he could do . He loves them and as you know they are all named.
As for the limes, I dry thin slices in my dehydrator (or you could use the oven on a very low heat) takes a while. If you cannot get limes lemons would do just as well.
I add the Arabic mix to everything, especially stews and stir fries, and into a spiced cake I make.(Banana loaf)Its a very useful mix as you can adjust the spice to your taste
We had a friend hatch them in her incubator and she kept them in a big box by her log stove until they were big enough to come to us. The are indeed, very funny.
I do hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday and New Year.
I wonder what 2024 will bring us? At the moment the weather here in BC is wet and chilly and we have been promised low temps and snow in high arears. Which is annoying as it has been so warm it has tricked the garden into thinking its Spring and there are buds popping out all over.
I must tell you I am reading SPICES the history of temptation which you, Susan recommended some time ago ,it took the local Library a while to find it. A very interesting book, and I only have 2 weeks to read it!!!
The Eagles are back eyeing my friends Ducks and Chickens, (that's why ours are penned and wired all over) and the Bear did not go to bed at all and has been a bit of a pest.
I thought I saw a note about China Bayles, so after supper I will come back into the thread and check it out. Turkey stew ......again! ha
Good to hear from you again, Liz. The spice book may give you a whole new view of something we think of as almost trivial--but which was an economic engine for colonial powers. Glad you're interested! Such a good idea to wire over the ducks/chickens. We do, because of hawks when we have chicks out there. Hope Bear goes back where he belongs, which is far away from people! Enjoy your turkey stew . . .
Yes the Hawks and Eagles are more of a problem than the Raccoon and Coyotes we knew if we wanted to keep our birds we would have to make a Duck Fort Knox.
I am enjoying the Spice book, I use a lot of herbs and spices in my cooking, I grow and dry the herbs and I buy quite a few spics as I like to try new foods and cheer up old recipes. one of my favourite mixes it Arabic mix which is : 2 tbsp dried limes,2 tabsp ground black pepper,2 tbsp of ground Cumin, 2 tsps of pepakia (I us1/2 tsp) 2tbs of Cinnamon, 1 tabsp Curry powder 2 tsp ground Cloves 2 tsp ground Cardamon and finally 2 tsps of grated Nutmeg, mix together and put in an air tight jar. the amount to add to dishes depends on your taste.
Have to laugh at your Duck Fort Knox. That's what I think about my chickens--both chain link and chicken wire around the pen and wire over the top. And now just 2 senior hens (Barred Rocks). I've decided no chicks this spring.
Thank you for this, though I've been reading your books since the first one was published. You and China were also the driving force behind my Herb Shop when I first started out. We, my son and I, are now an established farm market that feeds our community and a very unique herb shop that not only supplies a multitude of herbs, but also a great variety of local food products that are produced within 2 hours of our farm by other small farm businesses.
I will always remember your kindness when you gave a talk at Fernwood Botanical Garden in SW Michigan on my birthday and invited me to join you up front. I was like a deer in the headlights, but it is a big event in my past will always be remember.
I've been to a few of your talks in this area and am alway watching to see if there will another. Thank you for sharing China and Ruby with us. I dearly love both of them.
Karen, how wonderful to hear that you are still in the herb/farm business! I found your FB page--https://www.facebook.com/nelsonsherbs/.
And thanks for the Solstice bonfire photos! We couldn't have one this year--we're under a burn ban. But maybe for New Year's Day. Also want to say (re your FB post) that I dearly love the Persephone Days: such a wonderful time to rest and reflect and grow, under the surface of things.
I'm thrilled to know that your work has been successful, that your shop and your farm are giving so much back to the community (what a job that is!), and that you still remember our few moments together so many years ago. We never know what intersections we'll come to on this journey, do we?
Thank you so much, and thanks for the memories. I’m very lucky to have my son as my business partner. He was working on his PhD in Environmental Science when he came to help me with farm and found a passion for the land.
Loved to read about your Son coming back to the land. My Son, who is an Architect, lives in the UK and has bought a small farm in Northern Spain. Lots to do, but it has ancient grape vines among other things growing on it. He hopes to spend the next three months working on it the building to make it habitable. It was empty when he bought it, it has been empty since 2016, the last owner left with much of the furniture, china and other articles in tacked He tells us that the Villagers are thrilled it will at last be lived in. It is near the Pilgrims Way and he hopes to turn some outbuildings into places for people to spend the night and when he retires, live there.
What a lovely adventure, Liz! I'm sure his work is a great benefit to the villagers--and since it's near the pilgrims' trek, he'll be a boon to them as well. I hope he'll be writing about this at some point--such an interesting undertaking!
Yes we hope to get a chance to visit in the future. But that will depend on how well G. is and he sends me texts and photos so I am watching the progress ,slow as it is, as he also has to work for a living!!
Thank you for all the backstory. Yes, I have read them more than once. And when I had my garden, I tried to grow many of the herbs you write about. I have read every book you have written, I think. And I am enjoying Substack also.
Susan, I love the backstory of China. Am working my way through the series for the third or fourth time. I am up to Spanish Dagger. I have some in paperback, hardback & Kindle! It gets tough to remember where each one is! I got interested in growing herbs in the mid 70's, so anything related to herbs got put on my reading list! Thank you for the update on China and Have a Merry Christmas!! See you in the New Year!
OMG. If you're reading for the 3-4th time, you're spotting all my mistakes and discontinuities! Love it that you care enough about China to read her with such care but shudder at the implications. 😏 Spanish Dagger (I wrote it in 2006) was interesting to me because it introduced me to the hemp industry. It was 2018 before the Feds legalized it and 2019 before Texas got on the bandwagon. There's a good (if technical) summary post here: https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/2021/07/07/industrial-hemp-faces-challenges-in-texas/ (Interesting paragraph on the CBD crop.) Kind of ironic, when I think back on that book. Thanks for the reminder! You have a wonderful holiday, too . . .
I feel that Gender Queer and the Warmth of Other Suns are books that everyone should read. If there are genetic variations of eye color or height why not gender as well. And Isabel Wilkerson made me realize the incompleteness of my education on history.
Cuba worried me, but I never feared it as I did nuclear war in the fifties. I suspect that that may have been a result of reading skills that exceeded my understanding. For whatever reason those books have stayed with me.
I think it was more terror than interest. As a six-year- old I feared nuclear war. I did read Station 11. Not a great choice during a pandemic. Right now collapse of all sorts seems way too real.
I have to say that the Seattle Library book bingo each summer has gotten me to read books I would never have tried. Station 11 was one, Gender Queer was another. I discovered W Kamau Bell.
I get the terror, remembering back to Cuba. Just finished A Woman I Know (Mary Haverstick) about the CIA's involvement in the JFK murder--brings a lot of that back. Books can take us to difficult places. Gender Queer was a groundbreaker. Good to see it on KU on Amazon (free to KU subscribers).
Ah am I right in thinking that was the "Bay of Pigs" the Cuba confrontation ? I too was young and can remember standing in front of the TV and thinking we were all going to war. It seems we are back in that place again, Do we ever learn>............
It was after the Bay of Pigs fiasco (1961, JFK's first year). The Cuban Missile Crisis (Oct 1962). I had 3 little children and remember being downright scared. And no, we never learn.
What a strikingly beautiful cover, Susan! (I apologize for missing this post yesterday.) I love reading about the backstory and series arcs. I am so thankful to have found you in the early 1990s. And now that all of your China books are on Audible, I'm enjoying listening to them when I travel. I'm so excited there is more China coming. Thank you, and I wish you and Bill and your family Happy Holidays and I will see you again on January 1st!
I agree--that's one of the best covers in the series. I'm lucky to be able to get those early books into audio. I'll do a post on that one day soon, since so many of us are audiobook fans. See you in 2024!
Oh that is wonderful I listen to audio books too, and am hopeful that I might have a list of the China Bayles books from some lovely person out there as I am working my way through them from the Library. Our local Library is very good at getting me books.
Such as the SPICE book which is very interesting but I am not sure I will be able to finish it in the two weeks .
I have always believed that every person has a right to their opinion. I may not believe I have to change my to opinion to match theirs. If it is a matter that involves votes, I use my energy to work for my options. That may include backing a candidate or not backing a policy that is not logical to me.
I probably have "too many nots" in the statement. Hope I get my thoughts over.
Susan- I am so glad I have 'met' you and spent this online time with you and your friends and your writing. May you find blessings of light in the coming winter's darkness and greet a new year with the energy of a rested heart and mind. This space has already blessed me. Now there is something to look forward to in the coming year.
And you, too, Leslie. I love this time of year. We don't do much festivizing over the holiday these days, but instead use this time to just be quiet--such a great privilege in this chaotic world.
Reading your and China's backstory, I've realized there are some titles I've missed reading. What wonderful news! Nothing I like more than putting more books on my "to read" list -- except reading them, of course ❤️
Liz, I've grown wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) from purchased seed, but my favorite here in TX is Monarda citriodora, spotted bee balm or horsemint (meaning simply "large" mint). It's too hot here for angelica, but I suspect for you it will do very well. Glad you made it through the spice book--it's hard for us to understand the economic impact of the spice trade, back in the day.
That much snow?! Sounds like a lot for where you are! Hope the shoveling doesn't cause you trouble--too bad the ducks can't pitch in. :) It's been lovely today (70) but freezing tonight. I need to move the chicken waterer inside the coop.
Hello gang,
The snow has come! and we in the Lower mainland have had a couple of feet dumped on us. cannot remember when that happened before. My Geoff, who keeps track of these things, thinks it was about 10 years ago. all to do with cycles and gravitational waves, whatever they are! I spent this morning digging out the car and the duck pen. No help from the ducks of course ,who thought the whole thing was for their amusement.
My friend in Texas has told me that there is a big storm coming that way too, so hope all will be well for you folks down there.
I have finally finished the huge task of reading the "Spice book" my goodness, quite the challenge but very interesting, I learnt a thing or two and it prompted me to get some different herb seeds for the Spring. Has anyone grown wild Bergamot and Angelica ? If so any advice would be helpful, thanks.
I have requested the Spanish Dagger from the Library, (another three month wait!!!)
Oh Susan, I love Barred Rocks, but I am sensitive to Chicken's eggs which is why we had ducks, Avian Flu wiped out all the commercial local duck farms, but strangely did not affect many of the back yard flocks. I could not get eggs, which is one reason we got the birds. Also Geoff wanted something he could do . He loves them and as you know they are all named.
As for the limes, I dry thin slices in my dehydrator (or you could use the oven on a very low heat) takes a while. If you cannot get limes lemons would do just as well.
I add the Arabic mix to everything, especially stews and stir fries, and into a spiced cake I make.(Banana loaf)Its a very useful mix as you can adjust the spice to your taste
We had ducks for several years, too--loved watching ducklings enjoying the creek, like fluffy yellow corks.
We had a friend hatch them in her incubator and she kept them in a big box by her log stove until they were big enough to come to us. The are indeed, very funny.
Hello Susan and all out there.
I do hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday and New Year.
I wonder what 2024 will bring us? At the moment the weather here in BC is wet and chilly and we have been promised low temps and snow in high arears. Which is annoying as it has been so warm it has tricked the garden into thinking its Spring and there are buds popping out all over.
I must tell you I am reading SPICES the history of temptation which you, Susan recommended some time ago ,it took the local Library a while to find it. A very interesting book, and I only have 2 weeks to read it!!!
The Eagles are back eyeing my friends Ducks and Chickens, (that's why ours are penned and wired all over) and the Bear did not go to bed at all and has been a bit of a pest.
I thought I saw a note about China Bayles, so after supper I will come back into the thread and check it out. Turkey stew ......again! ha
Good to hear from you again, Liz. The spice book may give you a whole new view of something we think of as almost trivial--but which was an economic engine for colonial powers. Glad you're interested! Such a good idea to wire over the ducks/chickens. We do, because of hawks when we have chicks out there. Hope Bear goes back where he belongs, which is far away from people! Enjoy your turkey stew . . .
Yes the Hawks and Eagles are more of a problem than the Raccoon and Coyotes we knew if we wanted to keep our birds we would have to make a Duck Fort Knox.
I am enjoying the Spice book, I use a lot of herbs and spices in my cooking, I grow and dry the herbs and I buy quite a few spics as I like to try new foods and cheer up old recipes. one of my favourite mixes it Arabic mix which is : 2 tbsp dried limes,2 tabsp ground black pepper,2 tbsp of ground Cumin, 2 tsps of pepakia (I us1/2 tsp) 2tbs of Cinnamon, 1 tabsp Curry powder 2 tsp ground Cloves 2 tsp ground Cardamon and finally 2 tsps of grated Nutmeg, mix together and put in an air tight jar. the amount to add to dishes depends on your taste.
If anyone tries it let me know how you got on.
Liz, I've never used dried lime. Is it something like this? https://www.amazon.com/Sadaf-Dried-Lime-Ground-SadaSadaf/dp/B01B4G1WSW/ref=sr_1_3_sspa How do you use your Arabic mix?
Have to laugh at your Duck Fort Knox. That's what I think about my chickens--both chain link and chicken wire around the pen and wire over the top. And now just 2 senior hens (Barred Rocks). I've decided no chicks this spring.
Wonderful summary of the backstory! May you and Bill have a wonderful holiday season and I look forward to reconnecting in the New Year! 👍🎄🤶😊💖
Thank you for this, though I've been reading your books since the first one was published. You and China were also the driving force behind my Herb Shop when I first started out. We, my son and I, are now an established farm market that feeds our community and a very unique herb shop that not only supplies a multitude of herbs, but also a great variety of local food products that are produced within 2 hours of our farm by other small farm businesses.
I will always remember your kindness when you gave a talk at Fernwood Botanical Garden in SW Michigan on my birthday and invited me to join you up front. I was like a deer in the headlights, but it is a big event in my past will always be remember.
I've been to a few of your talks in this area and am alway watching to see if there will another. Thank you for sharing China and Ruby with us. I dearly love both of them.
Karen, how wonderful to hear that you are still in the herb/farm business! I found your FB page--https://www.facebook.com/nelsonsherbs/.
And thanks for the Solstice bonfire photos! We couldn't have one this year--we're under a burn ban. But maybe for New Year's Day. Also want to say (re your FB post) that I dearly love the Persephone Days: such a wonderful time to rest and reflect and grow, under the surface of things.
I'm thrilled to know that your work has been successful, that your shop and your farm are giving so much back to the community (what a job that is!), and that you still remember our few moments together so many years ago. We never know what intersections we'll come to on this journey, do we?
Thank you so much, and thanks for the memories. I’m very lucky to have my son as my business partner. He was working on his PhD in Environmental Science when he came to help me with farm and found a passion for the land.
I love your books!
Hi Karen
Loved to read about your Son coming back to the land. My Son, who is an Architect, lives in the UK and has bought a small farm in Northern Spain. Lots to do, but it has ancient grape vines among other things growing on it. He hopes to spend the next three months working on it the building to make it habitable. It was empty when he bought it, it has been empty since 2016, the last owner left with much of the furniture, china and other articles in tacked He tells us that the Villagers are thrilled it will at last be lived in. It is near the Pilgrims Way and he hopes to turn some outbuildings into places for people to spend the night and when he retires, live there.
What a lovely adventure, Liz! I'm sure his work is a great benefit to the villagers--and since it's near the pilgrims' trek, he'll be a boon to them as well. I hope he'll be writing about this at some point--such an interesting undertaking!
Yes we hope to get a chance to visit in the future. But that will depend on how well G. is and he sends me texts and photos so I am watching the progress ,slow as it is, as he also has to work for a living!!
What a joy, for you and your son, together, to share so much of your twin passions!
Thank you for all the backstory. Yes, I have read them more than once. And when I had my garden, I tried to grow many of the herbs you write about. I have read every book you have written, I think. And I am enjoying Substack also.
Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Susan, I love the backstory of China. Am working my way through the series for the third or fourth time. I am up to Spanish Dagger. I have some in paperback, hardback & Kindle! It gets tough to remember where each one is! I got interested in growing herbs in the mid 70's, so anything related to herbs got put on my reading list! Thank you for the update on China and Have a Merry Christmas!! See you in the New Year!
OMG. If you're reading for the 3-4th time, you're spotting all my mistakes and discontinuities! Love it that you care enough about China to read her with such care but shudder at the implications. 😏 Spanish Dagger (I wrote it in 2006) was interesting to me because it introduced me to the hemp industry. It was 2018 before the Feds legalized it and 2019 before Texas got on the bandwagon. There's a good (if technical) summary post here: https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/2021/07/07/industrial-hemp-faces-challenges-in-texas/ (Interesting paragraph on the CBD crop.) Kind of ironic, when I think back on that book. Thanks for the reminder! You have a wonderful holiday, too . . .
I feel that Gender Queer and the Warmth of Other Suns are books that everyone should read. If there are genetic variations of eye color or height why not gender as well. And Isabel Wilkerson made me realize the incompleteness of my education on history.
Cuba worried me, but I never feared it as I did nuclear war in the fifties. I suspect that that may have been a result of reading skills that exceeded my understanding. For whatever reason those books have stayed with me.
I think it was more terror than interest. As a six-year- old I feared nuclear war. I did read Station 11. Not a great choice during a pandemic. Right now collapse of all sorts seems way too real.
I have to say that the Seattle Library book bingo each summer has gotten me to read books I would never have tried. Station 11 was one, Gender Queer was another. I discovered W Kamau Bell.
I get the terror, remembering back to Cuba. Just finished A Woman I Know (Mary Haverstick) about the CIA's involvement in the JFK murder--brings a lot of that back. Books can take us to difficult places. Gender Queer was a groundbreaker. Good to see it on KU on Amazon (free to KU subscribers).
Ah am I right in thinking that was the "Bay of Pigs" the Cuba confrontation ? I too was young and can remember standing in front of the TV and thinking we were all going to war. It seems we are back in that place again, Do we ever learn>............
It was after the Bay of Pigs fiasco (1961, JFK's first year). The Cuban Missile Crisis (Oct 1962). I had 3 little children and remember being downright scared. And no, we never learn.
What a strikingly beautiful cover, Susan! (I apologize for missing this post yesterday.) I love reading about the backstory and series arcs. I am so thankful to have found you in the early 1990s. And now that all of your China books are on Audible, I'm enjoying listening to them when I travel. I'm so excited there is more China coming. Thank you, and I wish you and Bill and your family Happy Holidays and I will see you again on January 1st!
I agree--that's one of the best covers in the series. I'm lucky to be able to get those early books into audio. I'll do a post on that one day soon, since so many of us are audiobook fans. See you in 2024!
Oh that is wonderful I listen to audio books too, and am hopeful that I might have a list of the China Bayles books from some lovely person out there as I am working my way through them from the Library. Our local Library is very good at getting me books.
Such as the SPICE book which is very interesting but I am not sure I will be able to finish it in the two weeks .
Liz, all the books are in order here: https://susanalbert.com/ .
Thanks Susan
Reading the backstory was fun. I have always liked the China Bayles series best. It's nice to know what's on the horizon. Have a wonderful holiday.
You too, Penny. I very much enjoyed "Molly's Christmas Wish" https://pennyjleisch.substack.com/p/mollys-christmas-wish What a blessing you've been to your animal friends! (Hope that hand is better.)
I have always believed that every person has a right to their opinion. I may not believe I have to change my to opinion to match theirs. If it is a matter that involves votes, I use my energy to work for my options. That may include backing a candidate or not backing a policy that is not logical to me.
I probably have "too many nots" in the statement. Hope I get my thoughts over.
Susan- I am so glad I have 'met' you and spent this online time with you and your friends and your writing. May you find blessings of light in the coming winter's darkness and greet a new year with the energy of a rested heart and mind. This space has already blessed me. Now there is something to look forward to in the coming year.
And you, too, Leslie. I love this time of year. We don't do much festivizing over the holiday these days, but instead use this time to just be quiet--such a great privilege in this chaotic world.
Reading your and China's backstory, I've realized there are some titles I've missed reading. What wonderful news! Nothing I like more than putting more books on my "to read" list -- except reading them, of course ❤️
Oh, that reading list! Miles long, I'm sure. There are so many wonderful books out there. And never, ever enough time to read!