photo credit: berrimbillah

We are familiar with the expression that “Diamonds are woman’s best friend”, but I think roses also fall in the same category.

If you are thinking of buying roses, Red seems to be the most popular color for Valentine’s Day, however for other occasions you may want to select a different color.

I would like to expand your horizons about the different colors of roses and their symbolism.  So next time you are shopping for these beauties, you might want to think twice about the color you want to purchase.

Then again, you can always select a bouquet of mixed colors, which is just as beautiful.

Red rose is the traditional symbol of love and romance.

Pink rose is a symbol of grace and elegance, admiration and appreciation.

Yellow rose is a symbol of warmth and happiness, joy and friendship.

White rose is a symbol of innocence, purity, honor, reverence, marriage and new beginning.

Orange rose is a symbol of passion, desire, enthusiasm, fervent romance, excitement.

Lavender rose is a symbol of enchantment, and feelings of love at first sight.

I hope you don’t worry too much about the color, since women love roses, period!

If you know that the special person in your life loves certain colors, then it does not matter what symbolic meaning has been assigned to these colors, just go ahead and go for her favorite color.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!!

A couple of weeks ago, on Saturday, we had a gorgeous day.  It was sunny, pleasantly warm, with the temperature  in the low 50ties, but what was so peculiar about it, is that it’s still the middle of winter.  Mother Nature reminded us of this reality during this past weekend.

As you know, I love nature and gardening, so I could not resist to go outside and check out how my garden is doing this time of the year.

I was very surprised, and quite confused, when I noticed some of my spring plants are already popping out of the ground.  It definitely is way too early for them to be peeking out, but then again, it’s the call of Mother Nature.

I enjoy sharing everyday events with all of you, so I grabbed my camera and took some pictures, just to give you some hope that even though you might not see signs of spring in your area, spring definitely is on its way.

These are my Daffodils peeking out of the ground.

Red Sedum is squeezing out from between the old shoots from last year.

Hyacinths are poking through, and a nearby tulip is trying to compete as well.

In case you are wondering why I have a Christmas Cactus at the top of this post….well wonder no more, since the poor thing is confused, and decided to bloom now, rather than for Christmas, as it’s expected blooming season.

There is a very nice story behind that cactus as well, so here it comes.

Few years back, I worked with a really nice bunch of ladies who also knew how much I loved plants and flowers, and I had a Christmas Cactus on my desk.  While I was going on vacation, instead of taking the plant home, they offered to take care of it for me, and they did a wonderful job.

When I came back to work (two weeks later), I noticed that my plant looked great, vibrant, full of life.  I was very grateful that they took such good care of my plant, but they both had this certain look on their face, that something was not right.

As honest as they were, all true friends should be, they informed me that this was a replacement plant, as they “killed” the original one, without knowing what really happened.  “It just died” – they exclaimed!  I did not mind.  It was just a plant, and plants do die.  No big deal.

We all laughed uncontrollably about it.  They felt so much better by telling me the truth, and I could not believe that they actually went to so much trouble finding another cactus for me, an out of season plant during that particular time of the year.

So, when the time came for me to move and leave the company, I took the cactus with me, and now every time I look at it (it is hanging in my kitchen window), I think of our friendship and reminisce about all the great times we spent together.

I hope you enjoyed the Christmas Cactus story, and the early signs of spring.

photo credit: Marit & Toomas Hinnosaar

Poinsettias are one of those plants you find in every store during Christmas season, and at the curb shortly after Christmas.   It really does not have to be that way, since with proper care you can save your Poinsettia until next December, and admire fresh blooms for Christmas.

If you consider yourself a frugal shopper, and you love plants, you may wish to follow these steps to save your Poinsettia until next year:

1. Expose your Poinsettia plant to indirect sunlight for at least 6 hours each day while it is blooming.
2. Keep it slightly on the dry side, so please do not over-water.
3. Do not fertilize during flowering time.
4. Apply all-purpose fertilizer, after the plant has finished blooming.
5. Cut it back in early spring.
6. Fertilize monthly.
7. New growth will begin to appear later in the spring.
8. You may keep it outdoors for the summer, once all danger of frost is gone.
9. Fertilize more frequently during the summer months.
10. Prune the plant, to keep it from getting leggy.
11. Bring it indoors in early fall, once the temperature begins to cool.
12. It will set buds and produce flowers during November or December.

For Christmas blooms, follow this schedule of daylight and darkness for 8-10 weeks:

1. During October, November and early December, keep it in total darkness for 14 hours each night (no peeking).
2. Any stray light will upset the schedule.
3. Allow 6-8 hours of bright sunlight.

Once you follow these steps, you should be able to save money by not needing to purchase a new Poinsettia for the upcoming Christmas, and enjoy the old Poinsettia in a new full bloom.

Please share your experience with Poinsettias, if you have plants that have been saved from the previous year.

If you have been following my posts, you already know that one of my hobbies is gardening.

The growing season is over, but my organic garden is still supplying me with some of the herbs and vegetables.

One of these vegetables still in supply, is a red beet.  Not everyone likes red beets, but my family and I happen to like red beets, and I either cook borscht from beets, or make vinaigrette salads.  Actually red beet borscht is one of the main meatless courses at a Traditional Ukrainian Christmas Eve dinner.

I will post my red beet recipes in future posts, but this time I would like to tell you a little bit about the health benefits of this vegetable.  You may not have been very fond of red beets before, but you might reconsider, once you are aware of its health benefits.

• Red beets are high in carbohydrates and low in fat and it is an excellent source of folic acid

• It is loaded with antioxidant that helps the body against heart disease, certain cancer especially colon cancer

• It is believed that red beets, when eaten regularly, may help against certain oxidative stress-related disorders

• The fiber in red beets helps to reduce serum cholesterol by 30-40%, and help in normalizing blood pressure

• The iron content in red beets is of a very fine quality and it makes a powerful cleanser and builder of blood

• It contains folic acid, thus recommended to be consumed by pregnant women, to lower the risk of spina befida and other neural tube defects in newborns

• Red beet juice stimulates the function of liver cells and protects the liver and bile ducts

• A mixture of red beet juice and carrot juice is an excellent aid in healing gout, kidney, and gall bladder problems

Even though most of the health benefits from consuming red beets is from the root of the plant, the leaves and stems should also be consumed, since these contain such nutrients as: beta-carotene, folic acid, chlorophyll, potassium, iron and vitamin C.

So, if you were not so fond of red beets before, are you ready to give it a try now?

You have nothing to lose, and lots of healthful stuff to gain.

There still seems to be some controversy over a tomato; is it a fruit or a vegetable?  I will leave it up to you to decide, because I have a new issue with tomatoes.  One of my tomatoes grew a “spare” part, which looks like a nose, giving this tomato some character.  So I decided to dress it up a bit, and call it  “Mr. Tomato Head”, to accompany the ever famous “Potato Head”.

Here are my “before” and “after” pictures of this peculiar looking tomato.  Did you ever see anything like this?  Pretty strange, wouldn’t you agree?

Well, besides this strange specimen of the fruit/vegetable, the other ones were quite normal.

I love the taste and texture of homegrown tomatoes, so fresh and ripe, right off the vine, ready to eat….yum!  Tomatoes can be used in so many dishes, like sauces, soups, stews, sandwiches, salads, etc.

I enjoy making vegetarian canapés from a fresh slice of rye bread, spread with a thin layer of garlic butter, and layered with thin slices of a fresh tomato, fresh basil, salt and pepper. It makes such a light and refreshing snack or lunch.

This year I planted only 3 tomato plants, but they produced an abundance of tomatoes, and so many of them ripened at once, so I used them to make a homemade tomato soup.  If you ever had tomato soup made with fresh tomatoes, you will agree that it is simply delicious.

I will share my tomato soup recipe in my next post.

Where oh where has the summer gone……?:)  I guess I am ready to sing the blues, because my garden is already displaying its signs, of the beginning of an end, of the summer season.  Fewer and fewer of the perennials are blooming, so the annuals are taking advantage of the space to spread out their crowns and show off their blooms.

So, let me share a few more pictures of the floral beauty I have been enjoying this year.

Black-eyed Susan flowers are adding a splash of gold tone to the green foliage.

The Snapdragon plant is really an annual flower, but the fallen seeds sprout the next year into new plants, or sometimes the roots survive a milder  winter season, and grow new shoots in the late spring to form a vibrant summer plant.  The above plants are a product of self seeding which I transplanted later on throughout my garden.  I also have these plants in a very pretty, velvety deep maroon, pink,  and lemon yellow colors.

Dahlia was my Mom’s favorite flower.  She loved flowers as much as I do.  She had numerous Dahlia’s in all varieties of colors and sizes.  Some of her Dahlia flowers were as large as 10 inches in diameter….so beautiful!!!  This is my second time planting Dahlias in my garden.  My Mom passed away during the summer of my first ever Dahlia’s bloom, so this year (five years later), I planted Dahlias in my Mom’s memory.

This annual plant, Torenia,  looked very interesting to me, and since I never noticed it before, I decided to include it in this year’s flower patch.  I am fairly pleased with it (I wish it had a more frequent blooming cycle) , but next year I will try some new plants.

This Hibiscus bush is a very interesting plant, because even though it is a bush (6 ft tall), it actually dries up for the winter, and starts afresh in the spring.  It grows in the North side flower bed, and it does a very nice job blocking the street view of the large AC unit, plus adoring that side of the house with HUGE white flowers.

This is my relaxation spot of the flower garden, which is located at the edge of my patio, where I can relax while listening to the trickling sound of water, in the water fountain, surrounded by annuals: Dahlias, Vinca, Marigolds, and Snapdragon.

This is the West side flower patch, by the front entry to our home, and it is my seasonal garden, since I plant bulbs in the Fall for Spring blooms (Multi-color Tulips, Blue-Grape Hyacinths, Giant Hyacinths, Daffodils, and Crocuses), then replace these with annuals for the summer (Silver Fox, Petunia, Ageratum, Dianthus, Sweet Alyssum, Snapdragon, Portulaca, Dwarf Marigolds) , and again, I add Fantasia Mums for the Fall season .

I hope you enjoyed all the pictures of my flowers, which I have been sharing with you throughout this year’s growing season.  I would like to hear from all of you about your gardening experiences, and the type of flowers you  love to plant.

The time is getting near to clean up my garden, and my flower patches, to prepare them for their winter rest.

If you read my previous post about my organic gardening, you know that this year I was finally able to locate sorrel seeds, and added this herb to my garden.  Sorrel in a hardy perennial plant, so I have a very good start to have my own supply for a while.  Also if I let it bloom, it will produce seeds for future planting.

Fresh sorrel could be a little challenging to find in a local grocery store, so the best place to look for it is in a specialty food stores, or to grow your own.  I had a difficult time to even find seeds, until I inquired about it in our local gardening/farming store.  They did not have it in stock, but were familiar with this herb, so I was very pleased to be able to order it.

Let me introduce you to this vegetable/herb, if you never had a chance to experience its taste or appearance.

Sorrel is a green leaf vegetable/herb native to Europe.  In appearance sorrel greatly resembles spinach (but has lighter green color, and longer leaves), but in taste sorrel can range from comparable to the kiwifruit in young leaves, to a more acidic tasting older leaf, due to the presence of oxalic acid.

Young sorrel leaves may be used in salads, soups or stews.  One should use the small tender leaves for salads, since they have the fruitier and less acidic taste, but for soups or stews the older leaves are more suitable, because they add more tang and flavor to the dish.

Sorrel has high levels of vitamin A and C, and moderate levels of potassium, calcium, and magnesium.  From a nutritional standpoint, sorrel can be an excellent food for many, but a problem for others, since the oxalic acid may aggravate the conditions of people with rheumatism, and kidney or bladder stones.

If you love sorrel when you first try it, learn to love it in small doses in the beginning, because sorrel has natural laxative properties, and might be a trial for the tummy.

Sorrel is easy to cultivate in any type of soil, however there might a slight problem is protecting it from rabbits and deer, because they will make sure the supply diminishes quicker than it is able to replenish.  Also, if you want to keep it organic, as I do, you have to watch out for other pesky insects, like moths, or slugs.

Sorrel is used in Easter European cooking (Ukrainian, Polish, Russian, Romanian), and the French also are using it in soups, salads, and for making a green sauce to serve with fish.

I like to snack on a few fresh, tender sorrel leaves, on a hot summer day, but I mostly use the fresh leaves to make a Sorrel Shchav (type of borsch/soup).

My future post will include the Sorrel Borsch-Shchav recipe, and a picture of the finished product.

I have just picked some fresh cucumbers from my garden…..they are so fresh, and so much tastier  than the ones from the store (no wax on these babies….).   Garden fresh cucumbers  actually do have a very nice taste, and can be eaten with the peel on, but I prefer them peeled.

Cucumbers may be used in a variety of ways: in tossed salads, as cucumber tea sandwiches, sliced and served plain or with a dip, used in numerous appetizers,  etc.  I love my cucumbers in a cucumber salad,  dressed with sour cream, or vinaigrette style.

Ingredients:

• 2 cucumbers (preferred seedless)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbs. onion, chopped
• 1 Tbs. dill, chopped
• 1Tbs. white vinegar
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Peel the cucumbers, and slice thinly (you can also use a food processor, or grater).
2. Add 1 tsp. salt, mix, and place in a colander for 15 minutes to drain.
3. Place the drained cucumber slices in a bowl.
4. Mix in chopped onions, dill, and vinegar.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Fold in sour cream.
7. Serve.

Tip: Cucumber salad is best served as soon as the sour cream is mixed in, otherwise it will begin to get watery.  I use Light Sour Cream, or Oikos Greek Organic Yogurt, for lower calorie count, or Italian Dressing, for the vinaigrette style.

It’s hard to believe that July is already passing us by…..where has the time gone….???

July was a beautiful month this year; not too hot and not too cold.  Perfect weather for blooming flowers.

Here are my blooms from July:

Moondrop Coreopsis, Hosta, Pink Phlox

Hosta                                                           Moondrop Coreopsis

Hot Pink Phlox plant and flowers

Hot Poker Plant and flowers

Rose of Sharan bush and flower

Once my garden produces an abundance of fresh herbs and vegetables, the time is right to cook Botvinka.  Soups are very popular in Eastern Europe, and are the first course of a lunch of dinner meal, just like tossed salads in the US.

The name for this soup derives from the description of the tops (botvinka (in Polish)- leaves and stalks) of very young red beet plants, which are the major ingredient in this soup.  This dish is full of  goodness of fresh, young, green leafy vegetables, and because they are so tender, they require very short cooking time.

I prepared this recipe in a vegetarian style, but you can use chicken, or beef, broth as the base, if you prefer it that way.

Ingredients:

• 10 cups of water
• 2 Tbs. salt
• 3 bay leaves
• ½ cup onion, chopped
• 2 Tbs. canola oil
• 2 medium potatoes, coarsely grated
• 2 carrots, coarsely grated
• 2 Tbs. butter
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 cup chives, chopped
• 2/3 cup Dill Weed, chopped
• 1 cup red beet stems, chopped
• 2 cups red beet leaves, chopped
• ¼ cup fresh Parsley, chopped
• 1 Tbs. Maggie Seasoning
• 2 Tbs. Tomato Paste
• ¼ cup sweet cream (half and half, heavy cream, or whole milk)
• ¼ cup Sour Cream or Oikos Organic Greek Plain Yogurt
• 3 Tbs. Balsamic Vinegar
• ½ tsp. black pepper

Directions:

1. Fill a soup pot with 10 cups of water, add salt and bay leave and start cooking.
2. Chop up the onions and sauté for 2 minutes in canola oil.
3. Chop the garlic and add to onions, and sauté another minute.
4. Add onions and garlic to soup stock.
5. Prepare all your vegetables:
6. Rinse and pat dry all vegetables.
7. Remove any damaged leaves and stalks.  Cut off thins roots from any beets attached to stalks.
8. Coarsely shred potatoes and carrots.
9. Chop the red beet leaves (botvinka), chives, dill, and parsley. Set aside.
10. Add potatoes and carrots to soup stock, bring to boil and cook for 10 minutes
11. Add all remaining vegetables, and cook another 2 minutes.
12. Mix tomato paste with cream/milk until smooth, and add to the soup.
13. Bring to boil, and cook for 1minute.
14. Add pepper, Maggie Seasoning, and Balsamic Vinegar.
15. Cook for a minute and turn off the heat.
16. Put  sour cream in a cup, and add some  hot soup stock (2 Tbs.) at a time, and keep on mixing it until it looks smooth, not lumpy.
17. Add to the pot of soup.  DO NOT boil again, because the sour cream with curdle.

You can serve with chopped dill, and a spoonful of sour cream as a garnish.