China Bayles' Book of Days (31 page)

• Pyrethrum is derived from
Chrysanthemum coccineum
, the painted daisy. You can grow the plant or obtain pyrethrum from your local garden emporium. Dried and powdered, the flower heads are used as direct-contact insecticidal sprays and dusts and are effective against soft-bodied insects.

• Herbal sprays. Make a strong insect-repellent tea by steeping 2 cups of fresh herb leaves in 3 cups boiling water for 2-3 hours. Strain out plant material. Add 1 teaspoon liquid castile soap or nondetergent soap. Dilute with 2 cups water before spraying. Herbs with repellant personalities: painted daisy (see above), sage, mint, thyme, rosemary, tansy, wormwood, feverfew, rue. Experiment to see what works on your particular pest. And do remember that a few bugs aren’t going to eat up your entire garden.

• Diatomaceous earth. This is a nontoxic substance made from crushed fossils of freshwater organisms and marine life. The tiny mineral crystals are sharp, and cut through the skin of soft-bodied insects. Dust on plants, sprinkle on the soil surface.

Learn more about the life of Rachel Carson in this definitive biography:

Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature
, by Linda Lear

We still talk in terms of conquest. We still haven’t become mature enough to think of ourselves as only a tiny part of a vast and incredible universe.

—RACHEL CARSON

MAY 28

National Pickle Week occurs about this time every year.

McQuaid drained his coffee cup. “Whatever Phoebe Morgan has on her mind, it’s confidential. Which means I won’t be able to tell you about it.”

“A confidential tête-à-tête with the Pickle Queen?” I snickered. “Sounds like a real sweet dill to me.”

McQuaid put down his cup with a loud groan.

I leaned forward. “What’s green and swims in the sea?”

“Excuse me,” McQuaid said, standing hastily. “I’ve got to get ready to see Ms. Morgan.”

“Moby Pickle,” I said with a chortle.

—A DILLY OF A DEATH: A CHINA BAYLES MYSTERY

A Dilly of a Death
: About China’s Books

One of the things I like about China’s adventures is that each one is different. Sometimes, books in a series can begin to seem repetitive, but I never feel that way about China, primarily because each book is “flavored” differently. Some books are serious, nearly tragic, and are hard (and sometimes painful) to write. Other books are funny.
Chile Death,
for example, and
A Dilly of a Death
, which features the biggest little pickle factory in Pecan Springs, Texas.

The idea for
Dilly
came when Bill and I were visiting the Fredericksburg Herb Farm. We were curious about a big wooden vat, which (it turned out) was full of vinegar, for the herbal vinegars made on the farm. Bill and I exchanged glances, and the idea arrived simultaneously: “The body in the vinegar vat! A pickled victim!”

That isn’t the way it turned out, however. In the process of doing the research, I visited the Goldin Pickle Factory. When I told Steve Collett, the owner (and former president of the American Pickle Packers Association) about the body in a vinegar vat, he turned pale. “Don’t do that!” he gasped in horror. “People might stop eating pickles!” I had to admit that the idea was a little . . . well, distasteful. Luckily, Steve had an alternative suggestion for disposing of the victim. I don’t want to spoil the suspense, so you’ll have to read the book to learn what Steve proposed.

There was more fun ahead. Since the book contained a few pickle jokes we decided to have a pickle joke contest on our web site.

The winner: What do you call a pickle lullaby?
A cucumber slumber number.

Read more about the mysteries of pickles, and enjoy a few pickle jokes:

A Dilly of a Death: A China Bayles Mystery
, by Susan Wittig Albert

www.mysterypartners.com
. Click on China Bayles, on
A Dilly of a Death
, and on Pickle Jokes.

MAY 29

May is National Salsa Month.

Splendid Salsas!

In Italian and Spanish, salsa is just another word for sauce. But the salsas you can make with the herbs in your garden are out-of-the-ordinary sauces. Here are two fruity salsas, simply splendid enhancements to the flavors of fish, chicken, and other foods. Or layer over cream cheese and serve with crackers. They’re at their best when freshly prepared.

GINGERY-MINT FRUIT SALSA

1 mango, peeled, cut in ½-inch cubes
½ papaya peeled, seeded, cut in ½-inch cubes
1 kiwi, peeled, cut in thin slices
1 8 oz. can chunk pineapple, drained
½ medium red onion, chopped
½ red bell pepper, seeded, chopped
¼ cup chopped fresh mint
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
½ cup orange juice
¼ cup lime juice

Combine all ingredients. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving in a colorful bowl garnished with sprigs of fresh mint. Great with grilled salmon, chicken. Makes about 3 cups.

A PEACH OF A SALSA

2 ripe peaches, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ small red bell pepper, chopped
½ small green bell pepper, chopped
½ red onion, chopped
1 small jalapeño pepper, finely minced
¼ cup pineapple juice
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro

Dip peaches briefly into boiling water to loosen skins; peel and dice, discarding pits. Toss with lemon juice. Mix in remaining ingredients and refrigerate at least one hour to blend flavors. Makes about 3½ cups.

A TRIO OF SPLENDID SALSAS

• fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped yellow bell pepper, chopped avocado, diced jalapeño pepper, with minced cilantro and orange juice

• cooked corn kernels (canned or frozen), chopped peaches, red onion, bell pepper, with garlic and white wine vinegar

• white or black beans, sun-dried tomatoes, chopped green onions, garlic, and cilantro, with Italian dressing

For more salsa inspiration:

Nueva Salsa: Recipes to Spice It Up
, by Rafael Palomino

MAY 30

Memorial Day (originally called Decoration Day) is observed on the last Monday in May.

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
—“IN FLANDERS FIELDS,” BY LIEUTENANT COLONEL JOHN MCCRAE,
CANADIAN ARMY DOCTOR (1872-1918)

The Memorial Poppy

The first Memorial Day was observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The state of New York officially recognized the holiday in 1873, and within 20 years, it was celebrated in all of the northern states. Southern states chose other days to honor their dead until after World War I, when the holiday was changed to honor Americans who died fighting in all the country’s wars.

In 1915, moved by the poem “In Flanders Fields,” Moina Belle Michael wrote a response:

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

Struck by the symbolism of the red poppy as a tribute to those who were dying in the Great War, Moina Michael wore the flower on Memorial Day. After that, she began selling artificial poppies to her friends and coworkers. All of the money she raised went to benefit needy servicemen and their families.

With energy and dogged determination, Miss Michael worked tirelessly to promote the poppy as a symbol of patriotic sacrifice. In 1920, the flower was officially recognized as a national emblem of remembrance by the American Legion. In 1922, the Veterans of Foreign Wars began selling poppies nationally, and soon the poppies were being made by disabled veterans in the “Buddy Program.” Moina Michael died in 1944. Four years later, the United States Post Office issued a commemorative stamp honoring “The Poppy Lady.”

The Flanders poppy (
Papaver rhoeas
), also known as the corn poppy, is a hardy annual wildflower native to Europe and naturalized across North America.
Papaver rhoeas
has a long history of medicinal use as an analgesic, a sedative, and an antiasthmatic. While many states prohibit growing its cousin, the opium poppy (
Papaver somniferum
), the corn poppy does not contain enough opium alkaloids to warrant its ban. Corn poppy seeds are safe to use in cooking.

Read more about Moina Michael and the Flanders poppy:

The Miracle Flower, The Story of the Flanders Fields Memorial Poppy
, by Moina Michael

MAY 31

And there was the woad, a garden gorilla which some fastidious states have unfeelingly designated as a Class A noxious weed. My woad looked as fierce as the ancient Britons who terrorized the Romans when they painted themselves with it. . . .

I sighed. “I think I’d better put in a call to the woad police. Before it goes to seed.”

“I’ve got news for you,” Ruby said, pulling off a dried seed pod and handing it to me. “What color do you get from woad?”

“Blue,” Allie replied. “China’s got enough woad here to body-paint a whole clan of Picts.”

—INDIGO DYING: A CHINA BAYLES MYSTERY

From Plant to Dye Pot

Plant dyes are as old as human history. Textile remnants from as early as 3500 BCE show traces of color. Indigo and woad were used to produce the sacred color blue; red by madder; green by a wide variety of plants. Color was used in food (calendula colored cheese, as well as women’s hair!) and in cosmetics, brightening lips, cheeks, and eyes. And although it’s debatable whether or not the ancient Picts actually painted or tattooed themselves with woad, many other plants are used as body dyes, henna, indigo, and turmeric among them.

If you have an herb or flower garden, you are probably growing several dye plants. All of these have been used to make color and can be grown easily: purple basil, French marigolds, yellow cosmos, hibiscus, coreopsis, marjoram, madder, tansy, Saint-John’s-wort, zinnia, weld, and yarrow. (If you’re growing woad, watch out. It’s wildly invasive.) Many more dye plants grow wild: goldenrod, sunflower, purple loosestrife, broom sedge, nettle, mullein, mustard, sumac, dandelion, and dock, to name just a few. If you have the raw materials and the interest, dyeing is easy and fun. But beware: it can lead to deadly doings, as it does in
Indigo Dying
, which chronicles China’s colorful adventure into the dye herbs.

Read more about dye plants:

Colors from Nature: Growing, Collecting & Using Natural Dyes
, by Bobbi McRae

Indigo Dying: A China Bayles Mystery
, by Susan Wittig Albert

If the predominating hue of the rainbow is green, more rain may be expected; if red, wind and rain.

—TRADITIONAL ENGLISH WEATHER LORE

JUNE 1

What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.

—GERTRUDE JEKYLL

June: Bride’s Month

An herbal wedding is wonderful at any time of the year, but a June herbal wedding is a unique and memorable experience for the bride and groom, the family, and all the guests. If there’s a wedding in your future—or any other celebration, for that matter—it will be a special delight if it’s rich in herbs. Of course, if the wedding is next week, everything is probably already settled, and the most you can do is to tuck rosemary into the bride’s bouquet and add some sprigs of lavender and mint to the bridesmaids’ flowers. But if you have some time for planning, think about the many ways that herbs can be used as a delightful wedding theme—as China and her friends did, when she and McQuaid got married in
Lavender Lies
.

ROMANTIC HERBS

We treasure herbs because of the special meanings they have acquired. Here are some herbs that brides over the centuries have included in their weddings, with the loving messages they convey.

• Apple blossom: We choose each other.

• Borage: We have courage for the road ahead.

• Clover (four-leaf): Good luck to us!

• Clover (white): We promise.

• Daisy: We are full of hope.

• Fennel: We will be strong.

• Ivy: We will be faithful, clinging only to each other.

• Lavender: We are devoted to each other.

• Lemon balm: We will comfort each other.