Iowa Plants: Wandering Jews, Hoary Vervain, and Virginia Spiderwort

I was so excited to find some of these growing by the side of our house! :)

Also called Asiatic Dayflower, Mouse Ears, Dew Herb

The shape of these blossoms remind me of lilacs. Look for them on the roadside.

And the lovely…

Garden Tour

Here is the rest of the stuff that we put in the garden.

Green bean flowers

Some of my beets

radishes and parsley

Sunflowers

Our tallest one

Something to look forward to…

4 long rows of corn

dill

3 cucumber mounds

Our baby chives (Thankfully we have some more mature ones elsewhere.)

And a mix of regular-sized tomatoes (6 plants)

We seem to have a good amount coming…

Happy gardening!

Iowa Plants: Prairie Sage

Native Americans had all sorts of uses for this plant(both medicinal and religious);but it should be noted, this is not the sage we use for cooking.

I really enjoy their color. It seems like my mum has always grown Dusty Miller in her flower patch. They remind me a little of those. :)

The Meskwaki(the only tribe in Iowa now)were some of the Native Americans who used the plant.  They burned it to drive away mosquitos etc. :)

Orange Blossom Cake

Saturday was my mother’s birthday, and my first time baking with orange blossom water and vanilla bean!

Yellow cake with orange blossom water, marmalade as well as frosting between the layers, vanilla bean and more orange blossom water in the frosting (because I couldn’t taste it in the cake crumbs after I’d baked it), and orange zest on top…

I only used a 1/4 teaspoon of the orange blossom water in the frosting. It’s very strong stuff.

See the little vanilla specks? It almost looks like I added poppy seeds.

Wild Mulberries

I gathered over 4 cups from our backyard the other day. I had been reading in a cookbook where they used dried mulberries, and was intrigued. I may not use either of the recipes; but I wanted to dry some mulberries.

Wash

Make sure to give them some time to soak. Mine had a lot of tiny bugs in them!

Dry

Adjust your oven racks so that they are a little higher up, but evenly spaced.

Preheat your oven to its lowest setting; and spread your berries in an even layer over cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

Dry them with the oven door slightly ajar. This will take hours(maybe 4). I don’t know if it’s necessary, but you could rotate your pans from top to bottom shelf every hour or two.

After awhile your kitchen will start to smell wonderful! It reminded me of a black currant tea I used to drink.

When you’re happy with how they look, take them out and store them for 7-10 days, so that any remaining moisture can evenly distribute itself. (Or just eat them… :)

Now I need to make something yummy. Maybe parfaits…

Wildlife at Prairie Rose

We’re just a short drive from Prairie Rose State Park. I’ve been there a couple of times this week and thought I’d share some wildlife photos. :)

There were a lot of dragonflies and damselflies about.

Having a snack…

This little guy would probably be about the size of the end of your thumb.

About the best I can do on this one is Green Heron? I haven’t found any calls that matched the ones I heard that day; but the descriptions seem to fit.

This little coot seemed so peaceful. :)

Iowa Plants: Varieties of Clover and Milkweed

 

 

The above clover is actually a member of the legume family. It has helped to prevent erosion, feed animals(including livestock), and has been used for tea, medicine etcetera.

Hop clover is also a member of the legume family; and while usually considered a weed, it is not a useless plant. It helps add nitrogen to the soil, and can help feed livestock and make honey. It may not be big, and it may not be mighty, but it’s still a force for good. :)

Both of these help to make Monarch butterflies happy. :)