China Bayles' Book of Days (13 page)

HERE IS A LIST OF CLASSIC HERBS TO GROW IN YOUR CLASSY POTS:

Read more about potted herbs:

Herbs in Pots: Artful and Practical Herbal Containers
, by Rob Proctor and David Macke

Horehound and Rue may be coupled together as liking a shady border and a dry, calcareous soil, and I have always heard that the latter thrives best when the plant has been
stolen
!

—LADY ROSALIND NORTHCOTE,
THE BOOK OF HERB LORE, 1912

FEBRUARY 26

This day celebrates Hygeia, the Greek goddess of healing and disease prevention. She is honored as the wise goddess of women’s health.

I think the best teachers are the plants themselves. . . . They teach us about the magic and beauty of life, the life force inherent in the green world. When you sit with a plant, observing its color and scent, aware of the community of different plants it grows with, sensing its relationship to the world, you begin to develop a deep sense of peace, joy, and wisdom.

—ROSEMARY GLADSTAR, HERBAL HEALING FOR WOMEN

A Green Life: From Susan’s Journal

When we start using herbs, growing them in our gardens, and learning about them, something magical happens. We begin to pay attention to the cycles and rhythms of nature, times of birth and growth, times of resting and waiting—and yes, times of dying. As we do this, we become more conscious of the way we live and the choices we make. How do we get to that place? Here’s what I’ve noted in my journal.

•
I need to grow herbs.
I grow as many as I can, in the garden, in pots on the deck, on my windowsills, herbs that belong to the multicultural tradition and herbs that are native to my own place. I learn about the wild herbs that are all around me, about their seasons, their life cycles. Gardening (indoors and out) teaches me to pay attention and be patient.

•
I need to use herbs
. I began in the kitchen, adding them to different foods and tasting the difference, especially as I reduced salt, sugar, and fat in my diet. Then I thought of ways I could use herbs to make the house smell good, and to make me feel good: herbal baths, herbal creams and lotions, herbal scents. I learned how to craft with herbs, dye with them, use them to make paper. I began to use them to treat my minor ailments and prevent illness. It’s all part of a healthy lifestyle.

•
I need to learn more about herbs
. There is an astonishing treasury of available information, in books, magazines, on the Internet, and from wise teachers everywhere. I try to learn something new every day.

•
I enjoy keeping an illustrated journal
, with sketches, clippings, pressed leaves, and flowers. Journaling makes me more aware of what I’m doing and, more important, why. My journal has been an invaluable source of information and pleasure.

Read about journaling:

A Life in Hand: Creating the Illuminated Journal
, by Hannah Hinchman

FEBRUARY 27

An Excerpt from
Happy Thymes: A Calendula of Herbal Dillies

China got a sneak peek at the Merryweathers’ new book, and asked permission to share a few items with you. This excerpt comes from Nelda Narendorf, head librarian at the Myrtle Masters Free Library in Pecan Springs. If you enjoy the little herb garden behind the library, Nelda is the one you should thank. (You might also offer her a hand, the next time you see her out there pulling weeds.)

You can also thank Nelda for this formula for fizzing bath salts, which appears on page forty-six of
Happy Thymes.
She claims that taking a bath in her salts is just as good as a trip to the hot springs at Mineral Wells. “It makes a pretty gift, too,” she says. “Last year at Christmas, the Merryweathers made up a washtub of it, poured it into jelly jars prettied up with ribbons and lace, and gave them to people at the nursing home. They all loved it, except old Mr. Boggings, who said it didn’t taste too good when he tried it on his mashed potatoes.”

NELDA NARENDORF’S OLD-TIMEY FIZZY BATH SALTS

1 cup Epsom salts
1 cup sea salt
1 cup baking soda
food coloring: 4 drops blue, 6 drops green
8 drops lavender essential oil

6 drops orange essential oil
6 drops neroli essential oil
4 drops peppermint essential oil
½ cup citric acid

Mix salts first, then add baking soda, food coloring, and oils. Add the citric acid last, and mix thoroughly.

Let’s be grateful for those who give us happiness; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls bloom.

—MARCEL PROUST

FEBRUARY 28

Love is the only flower that grows and blossoms without the aid of the season.

—KAHLIL GIBRAN

A Splash of Spring Color

If you have forsythia (
Forsythia suspensa
) in your garden, you can have a splash of colorful springtime magic in your home. Look for branches that have plump buds on them; the closer they are to blooming, the sooner you’ll have flowers. Snip in three-foot lengths and remove any buds or twigs that will be covered with water. Plunge the stems into a bucket of warm water, and (holding stems under the water so air doesn’t get into them) cut off the bottom inch or so. Put them in a cool, dry corner and give them occasional sun. It may be snowing outside, but before long, you’ll be rewarded with forsythia’s bright yellow blossoms and green leaves.

First introduced into Europe from the Orient in the early 1800s, forsythia is a deciduous, early-blooming yellow-flowered shrub with graceful, arching branches. In China, the seeds are used medicinally, for their antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and laxative properties. Yes, forsythia is an herb, too!

A Soft Touch of Spring

Another harbinger of warm days to come is the pussy willow, which I remember fondly as the surest celebration of spring on our Midwestern farm. These shrubby bushes grew beside the river, and when I found them on my Saturday hikes, I would carry home an armload, fill a vase with water, and marvel at their silvery gray, silky-soft catkins. In a week or two, the catkins would be replaced by little green leaves, and the cut branches would be sprouting roots.

In one of my childhood books, I read the story of the pussy willow. Early one spring, three kittens fell into a river. A compassionate willow, hearing their frantic cries, drooped graceful branches into the water to catch them as they swept past in the current. The kittens clung tightly to the branches and were saved. Each springtime since, the willows sprout furry buds at their tips where the kittens once clung. I still think of that lovely story when I see the soft catkins.

Our American pussy willow,
Salix discolor
, is a relative of the willow tree. Compassion is only one of its many virtues: see April 17 for others.

If snails come out in February, they will stay at home in March.

—TRADITIONAL WEATHER LORE

FEBRUARY 29

Every four years, February 29 is celebrated as Leap Year Day.

There is a belief in Gloucestershire and other counties, that Rosemary will not grow well unless where the mistress is master; and so touchy are some of the lords of creation upon this point, that we have more than once had reason to suspect them of privately injuring a growing rosemary in order to destroy this evidence of their want of authority.

—THE TREASURY OF BOTANY, 1855

Rosemary Remembered
: About China’s Books

Today—the day when ladies traditionally rule—is a good day to celebrate rosemary, the herb that is traditionally under the sweet sway of the mistress of the house. For readers who enjoy rosemary lore and a mystery that revolves around this beautiful plant,
Rosemary Remembered
, the fourth in the China Bayles series, might be a good choice. The story begins when China finds her look-alike accountant, Rosemary Robbins, dead in the front seat of Mike McQuaid’s truck. What’s going on here? A case of mistaken identity, or something even more sinister? With Rosemary’s abusive ex-husband and plenty of former clients on the suspect list, China has lots of investigating to do, with the help of her new friend Sheila Dawson and a disembodied spirit who calls herself La Que Sabe.

But it is Ruby who comes up with the winning clue. Ruby has come up with a winning recipe for rosemary biscuits, as well: good for breakfast with strawberry jam, or as hot appetizers for a party.

RUBY WILCOX’S ROSEMARY BISCUITS

2 cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves or 1 teaspoon
crumbled dried rosemary
¾ cup milk

Preheat oven to 400°. Grease and flour a baking sheet. Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar together. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Add rosemary and milk and mix together into a soft dough. On a lightly floured board, roll out dough ½-inch thick. Cut into 1½-inch squares (¾-inch squares or rounds, for appetizers) and place close together on the baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool on a rack, or serve hot. Makes about 15 biscuits or 30 appetizers.

Read more about rosemary in:

Rosemary Remembered: A China Bayles Mystery
, by Susan Wittig Albert

MARCH 1

The first of March is the feast day of St. David, the patron saint of Wales. It is a Welsh national holiday.

The gardener’s autumn begins in March, with the first faded snowdrop.

—ANNE RAVER

The Welsh Leek

The history of the leek (
Allium ampeloprasum
) as the emblem of Wales goes back to the battle of Heathfield in 633 CE, when the Welsh wore leeks in their caps to distinguish themselves from their Saxon foes. That’s one story. Another variant: Welsh archers wore leeks in their caps at the Battle of Agincourt, fighting with Henry V against the French. Whatever the explanation, the Welsh now wear the leek on March 1, just as the Irish wear shamrocks on St. Patrick’s Day. If you don’t have a leek handy, wear a daffodil, also an emblem of Wales. And if March has come in like a lion in your neighborhood, it’s undoubtedly a good day for a bowl of hot soup.

POTATO LEEK SOUP