Gardening

Welcome to Gardening Page!

• herbs

The information here has been accumulated from

all over the place, including but not limited to:

• social networking
• internet searches
• etc.

and is part of my personal information library.

Please feel free to share any of the posts here with your friends.

How to Prepare for Juicing

When to Harvest Potatoes

Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

Plants that are Toxic/Poisonous to Animals & Humans

Tons & Tons of PLUMS

Processed Meats Too Dangerous for Human Consumption

Canning tips you may not see in the manual

Lavender – listed here & under Herbs

Sweet Potatoes

Corn

Sweet Peas

Cucumbers

Tomatoes

Bell Peppers (yellow,green, red & orange)

Peppermint

Onions

Broccoli

Rose Hips

What You Need to Know About Rose Hip Seed Oil

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PDF Files:

Edible Rooftop Gardening

Edible Wild Plants-Wild Foods From Dirt to Plate

The Wooden Spoon Diet

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Videos:

Harvesting & Preparing Cattails, Pts 1-6

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Kim’s Herbal Guide

History of the pumpkin

Pumpkins are an awesome plant and has a rich backstory to boot. When you think of them, you usually picture a woman with a long dress and apron holding a precariously perched pumpkin pie over a long table filled with food. But with all the uses of pumpkin, hopefully that picture will change a little.Pumpkins weren’t called pumpkins at first. In greek the were called pepon, which means “large melon.” Then the French come along and it changes to pompon. Of course, it jumps the English Channel where it becomes pumpion. And then at last it rides the waves to America where it was changed to pumpkin at last.Back before Columbus, pumpkins weren’t the huge, round squashes of today. Mostly, they were of the crooked neck variety, not always orange but usually many colored and shaped. The First Nations developed a growing system called “The Three Sisters.” These are corn, beans and squash. Working in harmony, the corn provides a steady trellis for the beans while shading the squash, the beans fix nitrogen for the corn and squash and also shading the squash, while the squash itself shades the roots of both plants above and protects them from rain erosion.

During colonial times, the Nations taught the colonists how to grow The Three Sisters and they became the favored crop. Looking for that lady with the pumpkin pie? Not gonna find it. At least not like the picture. The origins of the pumpkin pie were simple. They cut the tops off, poured in some cream, honey, eggs and spices, buried it in ashes and allowed it to cook. After it was finished they scooped the insides out like custard. Sounds great!

The Natives were a bit more economical with pumpkin. They would slice it into strips and roast them over a fire, boil the flesh, bake it and dry it. The pumpkin also kept for a long time so storing it through the winter wasn’t a problem and provided nutrition all through. They also dried the shells of pumpkins to make bowls and other useful items. The seeds were eaten and used as medicines.

In modern times, pumpkins aren’t eaten as much as they’re a toy, especially during the fall. There are still many who eat them, like that canned pumpkin pie filling, or feed them to livestock but nothing beats carving a pumpkin on Halloween. The Jack O’ Lantern was first carved in Ireland using turnips but as the tradition found it’s way over to America, pumpkins were found to be far better and easier to use.

So the next time you eye a spooky Jack O’ Lantern, just remember that it’s ancestors helped to build America far before it was America and saves many lives. Enjoy the bright colors and shapes of the different varieties of pumpkins and eat up!

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