Herbology ** Trip To Turkey

[Guest guest]

Hey Kathleen,

 

ROFLMAO! Very good. But you know us city folk and quasi city folk, We

> don't

> know about stuff like that.

>

Well y'all maybe better be learning cause times are gonna get tougher afore

they get better. Nothing like having your own organic veggies, fruits and

berries canned or in the freezer .. along with a good supply of wild meat

and fish.

 

As for Herbology .. I ain't a Herbalist but we grow a dozen or so of our

own and I know how to use them.

 

Folks might check this .. I can't vouch for them ..

http://www.americanherbalistsguild.com/

 

Or .. write to the Real Medical Herbalist .. Martin Watt <

info .. check out his creds ..

http://www.aromamedical.com/biography.html .. and get his opinion on where

to start.

 

Most folks know that I sold AVNP on 1 October 2009 .. John Croskey is the

new owner. So I am sorta semi-retired now but find that there is more work

to do now than before. Crappie are spawning .. Bass will be coming off

spawn and be ravenous in another ten days or so .. Wild Turkey season is

open .. and we've been planting and planting and planting. Come nightfall

today our entire garden (a tad over 1/2 acre) will be in the ground. Got

an early start this year .. last year we feared frost through the end of

April here in West Tennessee .. but we threw caution to the wind this year

... if it happens .. it happens .. and we'll replant as necessary. Got

Peaches & Cream Corn popping up and looking good .. didn't plant it till the

first week of May last year.

 

It would be easier to list what we have not planted rather than what we have

... I'll just say that this year we put in two new crops .. Celery and 50

each one year old Asparagus roots. Got them alongside our Strawberry patch

... good companions they are. Also put in a couple of new variety tomato ..

Siberian Black. Looking down from the second floor window, at the fenced

garden (we have 5 dogs .. 4 being Lab pups that love to dig) looks like a

nice photo. Also in the orchard we put in more Red Raspberry, Blackberry,

and Blueberry .. the old ones are all looking good and standing tall. Put

in some more fruit trees .. two Plums, two Apricots and a Fig .. and

everything (Berries and Fruit trees) have bloomed. Last year we had frost

the last of April and I was outside at Zero Light Thirty spraying water on

the trees .. it helped a lot. Our Strawberries look like a patch of white

... covered with blooms .. danged yard looks like a patch of white too ..

this is worst year in history for dandelions. Cut the grass one day and

the next day white dandelion blooms are standing tall and thumbing their

noses at us. ;-)

 

We're looking forward to a fine garden this year .. got plenty of straw

twixt the rows and soon as things pop up a bit we'll put more straw around

plants and top that with 2 year old compost that is so rich I thought about

selling it by the pound. ;-) We use a lawn sweeper to collect grass

clippings in summer and leaves in the fall .. and throw all our kitchen

scraps in one of the two big compost piles we have fenced in. They are

just too big to deal with in the manner some folks prefer .. so we turn them

once .. sometimes twice in a year .. using a pitchfork. It works. Last

summer during the hottest times I could dig down and with 2-3 spades of

compost fill a can with worms.

 

Doubt if we'll ever match the sizes of Watermelons and Broccoli heads we got

the first year we planted here .. 2008. The Broccoli heads were dang near

as big as my head .. one main Broccoli head was good for three meals.

Don't know why that year was so grand .. last year they were big but nothing

like 2008. Also last year we had volunteer Watermelon, Cantaloupe,

Cucumber, Tomato, Pepper, Eggplant and lots of other things pop up all over

the garden .. it was like a jungle .. couldn't walk in there. Decided this

year to pull up the volunteers as they emerge. We did allow volunteer

Lettuce, Cilantro and Arugula to stay in place this year and have been

eating it for some time now. Which brings to mind an article I pulled up

on these plants. I'll post it in a few.

 

Some folks are turned off by Cilantro and Arugula .. I am addicted to it.

In fact, I think there oughta be a law saying its illegal to eat fresh fish

without Arugula leaves on the side .. and a big bowl of chopped Arugula

leaves smothered in finely chopped Garlic and Extra-Virgin Olive Oil.

Turkey is surrounded on three sides by seas .. and when one orders fish in a

Turkish restaurant .. they get a plate full of Arugula leaves. Having lived

there 26 + years (19 + years the last trip which ended in Summer 2007) I got

sorta used to it. I used to tell visitors from other countries that they

had to have Arugula .. and Raki (the national drink .. co-distilled Grapes

and Anise Seed) with fish .. or they would get fined if the Raki police

showed up. ;-)

 

John Croskey and I will go to Turkey for 2 weeks in June .. Martin Watt is

coming down from Limey Land and will meet us in Istanbul .. it will be his

second trip. For them it will be an adventure .. for me just a pleasant

return to my second home. We'll fly in to Istanbul and see it .. then take

the sleeper car on the Orient Express to Ankara. After a couple of days in

Ankara we'll rent a car and do a Round Robin .. Gordian, Izmir, Troy,

Ephesus, the Rose Fields of Isparta, Antalya and all the ancient cities

along the Med Coast .. then Konya and Cappadochia. In some of these

ancient cities they'll find wild aromatic plants growing twixt the marble

roads chariots used to travel. I'll introduce them to various grower and

distiller friends I have there and generally have a great time. Already

told them they better bring some larger size clothes cause time we get back

they will have gained a few pounds .. Turkish cuisine is superb .. the

bridge twixt the East and West and a wider variety of foods is hard to find

... I miss a lotta that great chow .. and also Efes Beer .. on of the world's

finest.

 

I'll do a trip report with photos when we return. Gonna introduce them to

some interesting folks .. they'll be surprised at who some of them are.

During my years in Turkey I was a Big Fish in a Little Pond .. now I'm a

Minnow in a Shark Tank. ;-) But .. the Turkish friends one has when they

were walking to work and carrying their lunch remain friends after they are

driven to work in a limousine along with bodyguards and police escorts.

Contrary to what many folks know .. Turks are gentle folks and almost

without exception they are culturally kind, generous, hospitable and very

loyal friends .. almost loyal to a fault. This aspect of life in Turkey is

what I miss the most.

 

> Kathleen Petrides

> Bead Hussy

> http://www.BeadHussy.com <http://www.beadhussy.com/>

>

Wishing for you all happy sniffing and if you garden, hope you have an

abundance of Mama Nature's Bounty this season.

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-)

 

Butch ... http://www.AV-AT.com <http://www.av-at.com/>

 

PS: For the new folks .. below are some links to the fields, stills and

Aromatic Treasures of Turkey .. they will be expanded one of these days.

 

My writings/photos on distillation of Rose Otto can be found here ..

http://www.av-at.com/stuff/distillation/rosadamascena1.html

 

Here is a link with lots of good photos of wild aromatic plants of Turkey ..

http://www.av-at.com/stuff/triptoturkey.html .. the List Mom took many of

these photos during one of her trips.

 

Martin Watt visited the Turkish Rose Fields in Summer 2000 - the following

was published in the Winter 2000 edition of the European magazine

" Aromatica " .

http://www.aromamedical.com/articles/rosedistillation.htm