Moore Oklahoma, Our Hearts Are With You

Today is a day filled with dark clouds and tears for the horrible tragedy in Moore, Oklahoma.  I cannot post my regular column with a heart so filled with pain for those who lost their lives, their loved ones, and their homes.  This catastrophe brings back such dark memories of another deadly twister that rocked the lives of those in the nearby city of Joplin, Missouri, two years ago and of countless tragedies that have no rhyme nor reason.

Our prayers, our hearts, and our tears are with you today.   May you find a small ray of peace at the end of the storm.

Giving Thanks

Jill Henderson

The tradition of giving thanks didn’t start with modern culture.   In fact, it goes back much, much further than the moment that Pilgrims and Native Americans broke bread.  It goes all the way back to a time when all humankind depended on the bounty of the earth for every imaginable facet of life – a time when man was truly of the earth.

Weather Prognostication the Old Fashioned Way

By Jill Henderson – Show Me Oz –

Weather is the barometer by which humankind revolves and Ozarkers talk about the weather the way stock brokers talk about share prices.  In nearly every conversation, the weather is often the opening topic and over the years, I have come to believe that the official greeting of the Ozarks is, “How’s the weather over ’t your place?”  Like people everywhere, Ozarkers love to grumble about “bad” weather, but usually they do it with humility and humor.

At Home in the Kitchen: Herbal Vinegars and Oils

By Jill Henderson – Show Me Oz

Summer’s harvest is never complete until a few bottles of garlic chili oil are tucked away in the pantry and a handful of spicy golden vinegars grace the windowsill.  Both oils and vinegars add a lot of flavor to almost any dish and are ready when you need them as dressings and marinades.  Herbed oil is great stir-frying,   sautéing or braising meats, tofu and vegetables.  Some herbed oils are best made with dry ingredients, while others require the crispness found only in freshly-picked ingredients.  So, while the height of summer is still a way off, now is the best time to begin gathering materials and deciding which blends will work best for your style of cooking.

A Beeline for Spring

By Jill Henderson – Show Me Oz
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Today is the Vernal Equinox, the celestial event that marks the point in time when day and night become equal in length and spring officially begins.  Of course, here in the Ozarks, spring has been well under way for several weeks now.  Even before the first daffodil bloomed, the signs were all around us, especially winged kind.  I always know spring has arrived when  the moths begin beating against the windows at night and when sleep-drunk wasp queens drift on the breeze and buzzing bees begin searching for the first flowers of the season.

A Gardener’s Odyssey

By Jill Henderson

It was a chilly night in February when my husband and I left our home in Missouri for a six month tour through Southeast Asia. We had just sold our farm, replete with herb, flower and vegetable gardens, fruit trees and berries, all neatly edged in native stone.

From Monoculture Farmer to Homestead Beekeeper

By James A. Zitting

Some of my earliest desires to live sustainably on the land were fueled in my early 20’s by reading Mother Earth Magazine and books by Gene Logsdon, Masanobu Fukuoka, and others. These readings planted a desire in me to live the country life in a different way than I had been raised.

Blackberries & Homemade Wine

By Jill Henderson – Show Me Oz -

(Excerpted in part from A Journey of Seasons: A Year in the Ozarks High Country)

Blackberry season is now in full swing and as usual Dean has been out gathering bucketfuls of the sweet-tart fruit.  I don’t usually go out picking with him, mostly because I don’t like the idea of being surprised by a big snake in the grass or heavy brush.  But because the blackberries are so plentiful this year, and because Dean has already stomped down the thickest vegetation around the patch, I finally decided to go with him.