By Jill Henderson –

Last week we discussed the Mint Family and how to identify its members through characteristics such as stem shape and flower presentation.   But because this series is all about “mints”, it’s only fair to give the Mentha mints their day in the sun.  After all, mints such as spearmint and peppermint are by far and away the most common and popular herbs in the entire Mint Family.  If you missed last week’s article, you can read it here:  The Wonderful World of Mints Part I: Identifying Mints in the Garden

The most common mints are Spearmint (Mentha spicata), Peppermint (Mentha piperita), and Apple Mint (Mentha suaveolens), which are well-known for their cool, spicy-sweet flavor and aroma.  These are but 3 out of 18 recognized species of the Mentha genera.  In addition, there are some 40 or more natural and man-made hybrids and cultivars.

With so many cultivars, it is easy to see how mints readily hybridize.  The exceptions are true peppermint and a few select hybrids, which produce seeds that are completely sterile.  All other mints are cross-pollinated by flying insects, which means that the seeds they produce will not come true to form.  This is a very important fact if you are growing more than one Mentha species that is not true peppermint.

If cross-pollinated mints are allowed to self-sow, the specific flavor of those cultivars will eventually be lost in a maze of new hybrids that are nothing like their parents.  So, in order to keep your pineapple, spearmint and chocolate mints from blending into an unrecognizable fruit smoothie, it is essential to either separate the different varieties by at least 20 ft. or more, or ensure that the plants never produce seed.  The latter is accomplished by aggressively pruning (or harvesting) mints before they set seed.

That being said, it is also very important to avoid starting mint from seed.  To make sure your mints will come true to type, purchase nursery-grown plants or propagate existing plants with stem cuttings or root divisions.   If you are offered a mint plant from another gardener, be sure that you like the smell and taste of the leaves before adding it to your collection.

Although mint leaves can be picked at any time of the year for fresh use, young leaves are best collected before or just as the flowers open. If your mint is well-established (more than one year old), it is very likely that you will get as many as three cuttings per year.  Use a pair of very sharp scissors to cut the stems down to within 2 inches of the soil.

Hang cut stems in loose bunches until dry.  To remove leaves quickly from the stem, loosely grasp the tip of the stem and pull downwards.  Dry the leaves on a tray or screen until they are crisp and store them in an airtight jar away from light.  It is possible to freeze mint, but the flavor and texture is slightly affected. Flowers should be collected at the height of their bloom and dried for use in tea or potpourri.

Of the two most common mints used for culinary purposes, spearmint is by far and away the most popular due to its sweet, mild flavor.  However, peppermint is much more popular for use as tea and in cold drinks.  It can also be used as a culinary substitute for spearmint, when needed.

Mint is traditionally used in drinks such as hot tea, iced tea, fruit drinks, mint juleps, and mojitos.  The freshly chopped leaves add zest to fresh fruit and vegetable salads, yogurt, dressings, creamy dips, and spreads.  Mint is an important ingredient in ethnic dishes such as dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), tabbouleh, hummus, and pulse.  It also goes well with lamb, fish, chicken, and rice, as well as vegetables such as new potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, and peas. The leaves and flowers of mint can be candied or used as garnishes.

While most cultivars of mint retain at least some of their minty qualities, these days mints come in a vast array of flavors, including:

Applemint, Austrian, Banana, Beach, Berries and Cream, Candied Fruit, Candy Lime, Chinese, Chocolate, Corsican, Cotton Candy, Cretan Calamint, Curled Spearmint, English, Fish, Ginger, Grapefruit, Italian Spice, Jamaican, Japanese, Jim’s Fruit, Korean, Lime, Margarita, Marshmallow, Menthol, Mojito, Moroccan, Mountain, Orange, Oregano-Thyme, Peppermint, Pineapple, Roman, Savory, Scotch, Silver, Spearmint, Sweet Bay, Sweet Lemon, Sweet Pear, Swiss, Vietnamese, Water, Wintergreen.

With all of the fantastic, taste-tempting flavors and aromas of mint at your service, your food will be anything but boring!

Next week we’ll talk more about mint and its fantastic healing powers.

If you missed last week’s article, you can read it here:  The Wonderful World of Mints Part I: Identifying Mints in the Garden

© 2013 Jill Henderson

Excerpted in part from my book:
The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs

The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs is a no-nonsense guide jam-packed with no-nonsense information on growing, harvesting and using 35 of the world’s safest and most flavorful herbs. In addition to the 35 detailed herbal monographs are entire chapters on growing, harvesting and using kitchen herbs to spice up your favorite dish or create healing herbal remedies. This is one book you will turn to time and time again!

Available in the Show Me Oz Bookstore

Jill Henderson is an artist, author, and the editor of Show Me Oz . Her books, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs, The Garden Seed Saving Guide and A Journey of Seasons can be found in the Show Me Oz Bookstore.  Jill’s work has also appeared in The Permaculture Activist, The Essential Herbal, Acres USA, and Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanac.

DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE?
Share Subscribe Enjoy!
…and don’t forget to tell your friends you got it from

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.

Of all the plants in the garden, mints are probably the most numerous and sometimes the most notorious.  That’s why most people immediately envision sprightly spearmint, tangy peppermint, or one of the many flavorful cultivars or subspecies of the Mentha genera when mint is discussed.  But Mentha mints only make up a tiny fraction of plants that belong to the Mint Family (Lamiaceae), which contains over 200 genera and more than 7,000 species!  In fact, it might be surprising to learn just how many Mint Family plants reside in our gardens.

To help find other Mint Family members hiding in the garden we must first learn how to recognize their tell-tale characteristics, the first of which is a square (four-sided) stem.  The best way to determine if a stem is four-sided is by rolling it lightly between your fingers.  Keep in mind that not all mints have four-sided stems (thyme, for example) and a few non-mint family members also have square stems.

The next most common way to identify a mint family member is by its leaves, which grow opposite one another along the stem.  Leaves at the base of the plant are about the same size, but when the plant begins to generate flowering stems, the leaves get progressively smaller towards the top.  Of course, the leaves are often very aromatic.

The third most common characteristic of mints are the tiny tubular flowers, which are very attractive to pollinators, butterflies and hummingbirds.  Each flower consists of five petals fused together to give the appearance of an upper and lower “lip”.   These flowers are clustered together in whorls, either in terminal spikes (spikes of flowers only at the end of the stems) or in the leaf axils, but rarely both.  Once the flowers have faded, the seed producing ovary is divided into four conspicuous nutlets.

Once you know what to look for, finding Mint Family plants in the landscape is easy.  Among the most common are basil, bee balm, catnip, horehound, horsemint, hyssop, lavender, lemon balm, marjoram, motherwort, oregano, peppermint (and their many cultivars), pennyroyal, perilla, rosemary, sage (and all salvias), savory (winter and summer), skullcap, spearmint and thyme and many others.

Not only do mints make up for a large number of our common culinary herbs, but they also include a huge variety of wild and cultivated ornamentals, weeds, and shrubs.

Next week, we’ll dive a little deeper into the Mint Family’s namesake and discuss how to grow, control, propagate, save seed, harvest and use common mint for food, medicine and ornamental beauty in the landscape.

Read The Wonderful World of Mints – Part II – Growing & Using Mint in the Kitchen

© 2013 Jill Henderson

Excerpted in part from my book:
The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs

The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs is a no-nonsense guide jam-packed with no-nonsense information on growing, harvesting and using 35 of the world’s safest and most flavorful herbs. In addition to the 35 detailed herbal monographs are entire chapters on growing, harvesting and using kitchen herbs to spice up your favorite dish or create healing herbal remedies. This is one book you will turn to time and time again!

Available in the Show Me Oz Bookstore

Jill Henderson is an artist, author, and the editor of Show Me Oz . Her books, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs, The Garden Seed Saving Guide and A Journey of Seasons can be found in the Show Me Oz Bookstore.  Jill’s work has also appeared in The Permaculture Activist, The Essential Herbal, Acres USA, and Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanac.

DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE?
Share Subscribe Enjoy!
…and don’t forget to tell your friends you got it from

By Jill Henderson

The hands of time seem to spin faster during spring than during any other time of year. So many things are happening right now that it is almost dizzying to watch. Every day I take time for at least a short walk about the property and could spend hours at my journal describing the myriad of new plants, animals, birds and bugs that I find.  Right now, it’s the birds who have my eye with their colorful plumage and brilliant songs.

As we head out to the garden for our daily chores, I notice a flurry of activity around the old bluebird box in the yard.  The birds flitting in and out of the entrance are not bluebirds, but rather a sweet little pair of Tufted Titmice. Apparently they took stealthy possession of the snug cavity after the bluebirds rejected it.

Even under close scrutiny, we were unaware that the titmice had made their nest there. In fact, it wasn’t until this very day that we saw activity around the box.  Apparently the eggs have already hatched because the pair is very active, taking turns going in and out to feed the chicks.

The bluebirds, on the other hand, have relocated to a new box I set up especially for them.  I had originally hung the box to lure the pair away from our wood stove chimney after the male found himself down the chimney pipe and inside our wood stove one early spring day.  Luckily we were able to free him, but the bluebird box was not in an ideal place – tacked to a tree behind the house.

Apparently something frightened the female away just as she was building her nest.  My best guess is that our resident flying squirrel, who spent most of the winter in the box and figured it was his, took over the box one afternoon and chased the bluebirds away.  I have since reclaimed the box and attached it to a sturdy and very slippery PVC pipe in a more open part of the yard and the bluebirds are once again building their nest there.

Among the birds still arriving from their winter grounds are two that we often think of as summer birds – the lovely summer tanager and its colorful cousin, the indigo bunting.

Summer Tanagers (Piranga rubra) are sweet little song birds found primarily in the southern half of the United States. The males are the only all-red bird in North America and their plumage is especially bright during breeding season. The females are a bright yellowish-green that perfectly blends with the color of new spring leaves. In the Ozarks, summer tanagers prefer open wooded areas and are sometimes called bee birds because of their penchant for hunting bees and wasps.

Indigo Buntings (Passerina cyanea) are a bit smaller than the tanagers, reaching only 5” in height. Female buntings are a plain, mousy-brown while the males are covered with electric blue feathers. Both male and female have thick, seed-cracking bills, but only the male has a two toned mandible, which is black on top and white below. These strikingly bright and beautiful birds have such unique and exotic songs that when they arrive on the scene they completely steal the show.

While the tanagers and buntings always catch our eye, today another bird is giving them some competition.  A lovely Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius) has been hanging out in the meadow, serenading us with its warbling song and noisy chatter. It is not a song we often hear, as these birds seem to prefer a more open habitat, especially where mature fruit-bearing trees are found in abundance.

Orchard orioles are the smallest of the North American species, which include the Baltimore, Hooded and Scott’s orioles. Adult orchard orioles have black heads, backs, tails and wings. The feathers on their belly and chest are a deep rusty-red or chestnut color. Some males are so dark that they appear all black to the naked eye. Females and immature males look very similar to one another, as both are primarily greenish-yellow, but the immature male can be told from the female by the black bib beneath its chin.

While orchard orioles are quite striking and have wonderful songs, they are interesting in other ways, as well.  Orchard orioles prefer to eat flower nectar and build delicate, pendant-shaped nests, woven with soft grass and lined with feathers, fur or plant down. These nests are precariously suspended at the very furthest tips of small tree branches. It is doubtful that the orioles will nest here, for this isn’t their preferred habitat, but while they remain, we will enjoy their love songs as we bend to our work in the garden.

© 2013 Jill Henderson

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

Set in the rugged heart of the Ozark mountains, A Journey of Seasons is memoir, back-to-the-land handbook and nature guide rolled into one.  Henderson’s 20-years of living off the land and foraging in the wilderness shines in this cyclopedic work filled with nature notes, botanical musings, back-woods wisdom and just a pinch of “hillbilly” humor.  This is one journey you don’t want to miss.

Available in the Show Me Oz Bookstore

Jill Henderson is an artist, author, and the editor of Show Me Oz . Her books, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs, The Garden Seed Saving Guide and A Journey of Seasons can be found in the Show Me Oz Bookstore. Jill’s work has also appeared in The Permaculture Activist, The Essential Herbal, Acres USA, and Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanac.

DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE?
Share Subscribe Enjoy!
…and don’t forget to tell your friends you got it from

Spring is an exciting time to be out and about, checking out exciting and beautiful native plants like this gorgeous trillium.  The vistas across the Ozarks hills are still long and relatively unobstructed by leaves, while bugs should be at a minimum for at least another week or two.  All it takes to witness one of nature’s finest seasons is a walk in nearby woods, river valleys or even farm fields.  To get the most out of your native forays, bring along a field guide to trees, wildflowers or native plants, a pair of binoculars, and a friend or two for a fun-filled day of nature-watching.  To get you started, here are a few interesting Ozark plants you may encounter on your spring walk-about.

Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)
This delicious-looking chocolate-maroon flower belongs to the elusive pawpaw tree.  Blooms appear in early spring.  Each flower has 6 distinctly-veined petals that should make identification easy. Pawpaws are understory trees that produce deliciously edible yellow-green fruits shaped like a stubby, oblong banana.  When ripe (late-summer) fruits are soft to the touch and can be eaten out of hand.  While papaws do occasionally grow on dry upland slopes, they are most abundant and productive in riverine areas and floodplains with deep moist soils.

Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)

Virginia Creeper is an elegant non-twining, climbing or sprawling native vine most commonly found in shady woodland settings.  It is an important and valuable native for wildlife, a wild medicinal for humans and quite beautiful in all stages of growth.  Unfortunately, young Virginia Creeper plants such as this one are often confused with poison ivy and unnecessarily eradicated.  Remember, poison ivy has 3 leaves, while Virginia Creeper has 5 leaves (technically, those 5 leaves are one palmately-compound leaf with five leaflets).

Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)

Pokeweed is probably one of the most beloved and controversial wild edible and medicinal plants in the eastern third of the United States.  Young poke is an important browse for deer and the berries are relished by songbirds and wild ducks (my domestic ducks would do backflips for pokeberries!).  As for humans, recent studies verify that the plant contains cancer-causing compounds.  Yet, those who have eaten young poke shoots and leaves for years swear that once cooked, poke is completely safe.  To read more about the potential dangers of pokeweed and how to properly identify and process it for consumption, read: Pokeweed: Good Green or Toxic Weed? and A Walk on the Wild Side: Pokeweed.

Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra)

Now here’s a native plant that you definitely don’t want to eat!  The Ohio Buckeye is a large deciduous tree found primarily in moist riparian habitats and lowlands, and occasionally in old fields and pastures.  The 7-part palmate leaves give off a distinctively rank smell when crushed.  The abundant yellow-green flowers of Ohio Buckeye appear in early to mid-spring and are followed by light-brown, leathery, globe-shaped capsules with blunt spines.  As the seeds ripen, the outer skin splits into 3 parts, revealing three hard, brown shiny seeds.  While this tree and all of its relatives (including the Red Buckeye, Yellow Buckeye and Horsechestnut) have been used medicinally, all parts are considered inedible and potentially toxic.  Buckeye’s are probably best known for their seeds, which have long been carried in the pockets to bring good luck and to ward off rheumatism.

American Dittany (Cunila origanoides)

Have you ever gone hiking in the woods and smelled Italian food?  If so, then you are already acquainted with one of my favorite native edible and medicinal plants – American Dittany.  This widely versatile plant is closely related to oregano and can be used in almost every way that oregano, marjoram or thyme is used – including as an ornamental plant in the cultivated landscape.   Young Dittany leaves are distinctively purple beneath, but quickly change to green as the plant puts on new branching stems.  Read more about Dittany  and how to use it in my article, American Dittany: The Wild Oregano.

Wild Mustard (Sinapis arvensis)

True Wild Mustard is one of those plants that pure-lawn enthusiasts and farmers love to hate.  A non-native species, wild mustard and many of its other non-native relatives from the Brassica Family have aggressively invaded fields, pastures, ditches and gardens all over the world.  All members of this family are both edible and nutritious, with some species being more palatable than others.  If you aren’t interested in eradication, why not gather up the early spring greens and eat them as a lightly steamed potherb?  Because these plants are often treated with herbicides, avoid gathering from roadsides, or from fields and pastures that you do not own.

Wild Blueberry (Vaccinium species)

There are three native species of wild blueberry in southern Missouri, including V. arboreum, V. stamineum and V. vacillans.  All bear small, sweet, edible fruits that resemble cultivated blueberries in shape and color.  While it is easy enough to locate patches of wild blueberries in open deciduous woods, gathering the fruit is complicated by the fact that so many creatures love the berries as much as we do.  Shrubs reach 2’ to 5’ tall and bloom in April or May.  Look for the distinctive white to barely pink bell-shaped blossoms and plan to check the ripening berries early and often.

Take advantage of the beautiful spring weather and get to know the wild plants of the Ozarks.  Many are edible, some are medicinal and others are just pretty to look at!

© 2013 Jill Henderson

If you like native plants, then check out my book -

A Journey of Seasons
A Year in the Ozarks High Country

Set in the rugged heart of the Ozark mountains, A Journey of Seasons is memoir, back-to-the-land handbook and nature guide rolled into one.  Henderson’s 20-years of living off the land and foraging in the wilderness shines in this cyclopedic work filled with nature notes, botanical musings, back-woods wisdom and just a pinch of “hillbilly” humor.  This is one journey you don’t want to miss.

Available in the Show Me Oz Bookstore

Jill Henderson is an artist, author, and the editor of Show Me Oz . Her books, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs, The Garden Seed Saving Guide and A Journey of Seasons can be found in the Show Me Oz Bookstore. Jill’s work has also appeared in The Permaculture Activist, The Essential Herbal, Acres USA, and Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanac.

DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE?
Share Subscribe Enjoy!
…and don’t forget to tell your friends you got it from

There was a time, not so long ago, when almost every woman in charge of a household sought out the wild plants that we generally refer to as weeds.  Rich in vitamins and minerals , many of these plants were welcomed to the table as nutritive spring potherbs.   Others would be gathered and made into healing teas, tonics, infusions, poultices and salves that could be used treat many types of injuries or illnesses.  One of the earliest and most versatile weeds that homesteaders and healers gathered in early spring was the lowly and much maligned chickweed.

Common chickweed (Stellaria media) is well-known around the world as both an edible and medicinal plant.  It has many commons names, some of which include Starweed, Chickenwort, Craches and Winterweed.   Those familiar with garden plants might recognize that the flowers of chickweed resemble those of pinks or carnations.  Indeed, this low-growing herbaceous herb belongs to the Caryophyllaceae family of plants that both pinks and carnations belong to.

Often considered a nuisance, chickweed is nothing if not prolific.  Each year, this annual plant produces hundreds of tiny seeds that can persist in the soil for years.  And if the name doesn’t give it away, let it be known that chickens do indeed love this tender green.

Chickweed grows in sprawling dense mats.  Leaves are tiny, ovate to broadly lance-shaped with a distinct point at the tip and grow opposite along the stems.  The lower leaves of chickweed are petiolate (having a leaf stem), while the upper leaves are sessile (no stem and clasping).  The tiny white flowers emerge from leaf axils and branch tips and consist of five two-part petals that to the untrained eye appear to be 10 separate petals.

If you have ever tried to eradicate chickweed, you already know how brittle and weak their stems are, but did you ever notice that they are slightly angular and have a line of fine hairs that run up only one side?  This is a sure-fire way to positively identify chickweed in the field, where you can find it just about anywhere moisture is present.  But don’t let chickweed ruin your day in the garden trying to pull it all out.  For while it is both aggressive and invasive, chickweed very short-lived and has a shallow root system, which almost completely reduces its competitiveness with other plants.

As an edible, chickweed is high in iron, potassium and other minerals and contains  vitamins A, D, B and C.   While many people find it to be an enjoyable edible used fresh on salads, sandwiches and the like, some find the flavor bitter or “soapy”.  The latter is due to saponins present in the leaves and stems.  In large quantities (as in pounds or kilos), saponins are slightly toxic to humans, with the most notable side effect being nausea and diarrhea.

As a medicinal, chickweed is generally considered a safe and reliable emollient, demulcent, refrigerant, and diuretic.  It is often used as an external demulcent to reduce swelling.  Internally, chickweed is diuretic and in very large amounts it is a laxative (again, due to the saponins).   Oil of chickweed relieves itching and skin irritations.  Poultices cool and soothe minor burns and skin irritations, especially itchy, dry skin. Popular in salves and ointments.

Chickweed is well-known for its healing drawing properties and if primarily used for skin disorders, including:

To use, gather the aerial portions of chickweed. If growing in or very near water allow the herb to dry completely or dunk in a very dilute bleach and water wash before consuming to avoid giardia or E. coli and other water-borne diseases.  Collect only in clean pollution and herbicide-free environments.

Chickweed can be used fresh as a poultice for burns, bites, stings and rashes.  It can also be tinctured fresh using the 1:2 ratio in 95% alcohol.  Most herbalists prefer to wilt or dry the herb prior to tincturing, which will change the above ratio.  To learn more about how to work with healing herbs, check out my book, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs: Growing and Using Nature’s Remedies and the following two-part series:

Making Herbal Tinctures: Part I
Making Herbal Tinctures: Part II

A cold oil infusion of chickweed is a quick and effective topical for rashes and other skin irritations.  Be sure to wilt the herb on paper towels for up to two days – or dry it completely – to remove excess moisture before infusing in oil.   This “oil of chickweed” can be used to prepare emulsified topicals such as lotions, creams and salves.  Its healing and soothing actions can be intensified by blending it with other healing herbs such as plantain, mint, lemon balm, rosemary, eucalyptus, lavender and comfrey.

So the next time you step out and feel like cursing that mat of chickweed in your garden – embrace it, instead.  You will discover an amazingly healthful and healing herb that grows in abundance and needs no weeding!

Happy hunting!

© 2013 Jill Henderson

Learn more about medicinal herbs with
The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs

The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs is a no-nonsense guide jam-packed with no-nonsense information on growing, harvesting and using 35 of the world’s safest and most flavorful herbs. In addition to the 35 detailed herbal monographs are entire chapters on growing, harvesting and using kitchen herbs to spice up your favorite dish or create healing herbal remedies. This is one book you will turn to time and time again!

Available in the Show Me Oz Bookstore

Jill Henderson is an artist, author, and the editor of Show Me Oz . Her books, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs, The Garden Seed Saving Guide and A Journey of Seasons can be found in the Show Me Oz Bookstore.  Jill’s work has also appeared in The Permaculture Activist, The Essential Herbal, Acres USA, and Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanac.

DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE?
Share Subscribe Enjoy!
…and don’t forget to tell your friends you got it from

Excerpted in part from my book,
A Journey of Seasons

Along with the more obvious firsts of the year, I am always glad to welcome the return of our nesting pair of Eastern Phoebes (Sayornis phoebe), also known as common flycatchers.  These little brownish grey birds are easy to overlook until they begin building their mud and grass nests on porch lights, windowsills and other protrusions beneath the eaves of houses, garages, barns and other structures.  I’ve always loved having phoebe’s around to eat bugs and cheer me up, but cleaning the mess they create while building their nests can sometimes be a drag.  If you’ve had the same experience, I’ve got a sweet solution to keeping both you and your flycatchers happy.

To begin with, Eastern Phoebes belong to a large group of birds known as flycatchers, renowned for their acrobatic aerial skills while hunting insects on the wing.  While there are many small phoebe-like birds, Eastern Phoebes occur exclusively in the eastern third of the US and are often confused with other small flycatcher relatives, such as Eastern Wood Pewees (Contopus virens), Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii) and Least Flycatchers (Empidonax minimus).  They are also sometimes confused with unrelated species such as the Tufted Titmouse and Dark-eyed Junco.

Eastern Phoebes are slim, mousy-grey above with a cream-colored breast and belly that may at times have hints of buffy yellow at the edges.  They prefer to perch on low, conspicuous branches where they almost compulsively wag their long tails up and down.   They are rarely seen on the ground unless gathering nesting materials or landing a difficult to catch insect.

Of course, phoebes have a huge voice that is almost unmistakable.  In the spring, we hear them long before we see them.  The male often arrives to the breeding ground first and calls to his mate, repeating her name (Phoebe, of course!) over and over.  The first part of the call is very high and sounds like a question, while the second part sounds more like a scolding. “Fee-bee? Feee-BE!  Fee-bee? Feee-BE!”  He will call her loudly and shamelessly until she finally answers him.

They have other calls as well.  Click here to listen to the various calls of Eastern Phoebes.

Once she arrives, the pair will call back and forth to each other as they search for an acceptable location to build their sturdy mud nest.  It is very important to phoebes that their nest be covered by some type of roof – preferably beneath a rocky outcrop, a bridge, or under the eaves of buildings.  They also need some type of ledge or protrusion onto which the nest can be firmly attached to.  In the case of houses, phoebes often prefer to nest on porch lights and on exposed rafters beneath porches and carports.

But this is where things often go wrong for phoebes.  Their choices of building platforms don’t always jive with the humans they are often closest to, such as the top of a porch light next to the front door, for example.

And while location can sometimes be an issue, usually the main problem comes from the construction of the nest.  Phoebes use mud to attach their nest to a structure.  It also keeps all of the fine grasses and moss that make up the bulk of the nest together.  When the nest is first started, mud usually gets slung all over the side of the house and on the porch below, which causes conflicts.

A couple of years ago, we moved into a new house.  When the phoebes started building their nest, my husband decided he didn’t want them messing up the rough wood siding, which would be very hard to clean.  After a few days of trying to dissuade them, I offered up another solution.

Why not build a bird house for the phoebes?

My husband looked at me incredulously.  “A bird house?”  he asked.   Well, not a bird house in the traditional sense, but rather a Flycatcher Nesting Platform.  It would solve the issue with mud and bird crap on the siding of the house, yet it would be something the phoebes could work with.  What I came up with is so simple in both concept and construction, that anyone can do it in less than an hour with scrap wood from the shop.

The plywood acts as a “backer” to the nest, keeping all the wayward mud splashes from ruining your siding, while the 2×4 acts as the nesting platform (replacing your porch light).  The 2×2 increases the strength and stability of the platform.  To build the nesting platform, you will need:

• One 12” x 12” piece of plywood (larger is ok, but don’t go smaller.)
• One 8” long piece of 2×2
• One 9” long piece of 2×4
• Various nails or screws

1. To build, center and attach the 2×2 near the bottom of the the 12” x 12” piece of plywood – about an inch or two from the bottom and centered works well.  Mark the board and clamp it if necessary before hammering or screwing together from the back of the plywood. It isn’t necessary to get all the dimensions perfect, but strive to keep the platform level.
2. Place the piece of 2×4 directly on top of the 2×2, being sure to turn the face of the board (the part that measures 4”) up and attach securely from the back side of the plywood.  This is the ‘platform’ for the nest.
3. Hang the nesting platform using two sturdy screws or nails – one on each upper corner of the plywood.
4. If you want to stain or paint the nesting perch, you can do it before or after assembly.

There are several things to keep in mind when placing a flycatcher nesting platform.  If phoebes have built a nest in the area before, placing the nesting platform close to that spot will help them transition to the new arrangement.  You may need to discourage them from their regular spot for a week or so until they pick up on the platform.  I tied billowy plastic bags over my porch light as soon as I saw their first attempts there – within days they had begun building on the perch.

Otherwise, follow these guidelines when placing a new nesting platform:

1. Phoebes need protection from hot late afternoon sun and heavy rain.  Placing nesting platforms under eaves is very important to nesting success.
2. Make sure to place the platforms away from vertical pipes, wiring, posts, trellises and other objects that snakes can climb.  Black rat snakes are one of the phoebes worst enemies.
3. Platforms should be placed between 5’-8’ off the ground.   Too low, and the birds are susceptible to cats and other four-legged predators.  Too high makes cleaning the area and disposing of old nests difficult.
4. Don’t place platforms too close together.  While phoebes are pretty social, they are also very protective of their nests.  Give them some room from one another.
5. Whenever possible, don’t place nests next to very busy areas of the home, such as the front or back doors.  Again, phoebes are social, but continual disturbance can force the mother off the nest for long periods of time.
6. Whenever possible, try to put the platform in a place where you can watch the daily goings on of these fantastic birds!

If you would like to encourage phoebes to nest at your house, now is the perfect time!  This simple, easy to build nesting platform only takes a few minutes to put together and hang.  Don’t fret if you miss out on the early spring nesting period – phoebes often have two broods a year!

Good luck and let me know how your nesting season goes!

© 2013 Jill Henderson

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

Set in the rugged heart of the Ozark mountains, A Journey of Seasons is memoir, back-to-the-land handbook and nature guide rolled into one.  Henderson’s 20-years of living off the land and foraging in the wilderness shines in this cyclopedic work filled with nature notes, botanical musings, back-woods wisdom and just a pinch of “hillbilly” humor.  This is one journey you don’t want to miss.

Available in the Show Me Oz Bookstore

Jill Henderson is an artist, author, and the editor of Show Me Oz . Her books, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs, The Garden Seed Saving Guide and A Journey of Seasons can be found in the Show Me Oz Bookstore. Jill’s work has also appeared in The Permaculture Activist, The Essential Herbal, Acres USA, and Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanac.

DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE?
Share Subscribe Enjoy!
…and don’t forget to tell your friends you got it from

If you’ve been reading my work for very long, you know that I enjoy tweaking people’s perceptions of the wilder parts of our world – especially those that we cannot completely control.  That’s why this week’s article is all about dandelions – those pretty little yellow flowers folks either simply love or absolutely hate.   But what is it about this non-native species that drives some people up the wall and how can we harness its potential to our advantage?  If you’re tired of battling those little yellow flowers, perhaps it’s time to embrace them and use them to your benefit.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t necessarily like dandelions popping up all over my vegetable and flower gardens.  In fact, I root out my fair share of them every year.  But I also don’t hate them.  In fact, I like them quite a bit.

Perhaps it is my passion as a herbalist, naturalist and wild edible forager that forces me to recognize how important dandelions are for humans, bees and butterflies.  Or perhaps it’s because I have such intense memories of playing with them as a child that I just can’t get my dander up enough to hate them as an adult.  I mean, who hasn’t picked a feathery dandelion seed head and cried “Make a wish!” before blowing (sowing) them to the wind?

Identification

Dandelions (Taraxacum officianalis) belong to the Aster Family (Asteraceae) of plants.  While most people can positively identify dandelions when they see them in bloom, there are several plants that are often mistaken for dandelions.  While these look-alikes are harmless, they also don’t have the medicinal properties or flavor of true dandelions.

The leaves of dandelions are always presented in a dense basal rosette of deeply serrated, smooth, stemless leaves that never have spines, prickles or down.  All of dandelion’s leaves are attached directly to the root crown and never grow above the basal rosette.  The flowers of dandelion are born singly atop a smooth, hollow, unbranched stem.  All parts of dandelion exude a white, milky sap (latex) that can stain the skin.

Harvest

The roots, leaves and flowers of dandelion are edible, although the roots are used primarily for medicinal purposes.  Before harvesting dandelions from lawns, make sure the area hasn’t been treated with pesticides, chemical fertilizers or herbicides.  Also, avoid harvesting from areas next to busy roads, which are often loaded with heavy metals and other toxic residues.

The leaves of dandelion are best picked young and should be cooked before eating.  Flowers are best when fully opened and can be used fresh or dry.  Mature roots are best harvested in early spring.  To make harvesting the deep roots easier, wait until after a soaking rain.  Wash well, slice lengthwise, then chop into small pieces.  To dry, spread the chopped root on a screen until crisp.  Tinctures are best made using fresh roots.

Edible

As an edible, dandelion has many uses.  In France (and gaining popularity in the US), the very young leaves are popular as a salad herb.  The root, like that of its cousin chicory, is roasted and added to coffee or used as a coffee substitute New Orleans-style.  The blossoms make a nice wine or jelly and can be used as garnishes for fruit drinks, punches, tea, salads, etc.  The flowers also add color and nutritive value to culinary vinegars and oils.  If you want a real conversation starter at your next party, try serving candied dandelion blossoms!

Medicinal

Due to their ability to replace potassium and trace minerals lost through diuresis (urination), dandelion roots are often referred to as a “blood tonic” and used to treat anemia.

Dandelion roots are nutritive, diuretic and digestive.  They have historically been used to treat digestive disorders (sluggish digestion and the resultant symptoms, such as chronic skin conditions) as well as in the treatment of bladder, liver, gallbladder and kidney ailments.

Dandelion is believed to balance blood-sugar levels, which can be helpful in the treatment of diabetes and other blood sugar disorders.  The root is a weak antibiotic used to treat certain types of yeast infections such as (Candida albicans) and minor infections resulting from cuts and scrapes.

While dandelion root is useful in many circumstances, it is most commonly used in combination with other herbs to help increase their effectiveness.

Caution

Dandelions are generally considered safe.  But due to its strong diuretic actions, medicinal doses of dandelion should not be used in cases where inflammation of the urinary tract is present – such as a urinary tract infection.  Also, do not attempt to replace diuretic drugs prescribed to you for a heart condition without the supervision of a professional herbal practitioner and your primary care physician.  If you are allergic or sensitive to natural forms of latex, or to other Asteraceae (daisy) family members, ascertain your sensitivity to dandelion before ingesting or handling.

Conclusion

Although dandelions are not native to North America, they have naturalized to such an extent that eradication is almost completely impossible.  Instead of being frustrated by them, it is probably easier to embrace them for what they are: a nutritious fodder for domestic and wild animals, an important and early source of pollen for bees, and an important nectar and food plant for several species of native butterflies.  More importantly, dandelions are a source of food and medicine for humans – and a very important component of childhood memories.

© 2013 Jill Henderson

If you are interested in medicinal plants, check out my book
The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs

The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs is a no-nonsense guide jam-packed with no-nonsense information on growing, harvesting and using 35 of the world’s safest and most flavorful herbs. In addition to the 35 detailed herbal monographs are entire chapters on growing, harvesting and using kitchen herbs to spice up your favorite dish or create healing herbal remedies. This is one book you will turn to time and time again!

Available in the Show Me Oz Bookstore

Jill Henderson is an artist, author, and the editor of Show Me Oz . Her books, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs, The Garden Seed Saving Guide and A Journey of Seasons can be found in the Show Me Oz Bookstore.  Jill’s work has also appeared in The Permaculture Activist, The Essential Herbal, Acres USA, and Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanac.

DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE?
Share Subscribe Enjoy!
…and don’t forget to tell your friends you got it from

It was a lot of fun and I hope you enjoy it!

Listen to the archived show by clicking on the link or image below.

Life In The Ozarks with Jill Henderson

Broken image links?  Click here:
http://faroutradio.com/1-17-2013-far-out-radio-guest-author-and-artist-jill-henderson/

The Vernal equinox, also known as the Spring Equinox, marks a point when day and night become equal in length for a short time all over the world.  This stellar event marks our astrological trip into spring and the long-awaited wakening from the Great Sleep.  As if on cue, the first creatures to respond were the Peepers – those incredibly small amphibians readily identified by a conspicuous X-mark across their backs – as if picked out by the Creator for a very special purpose.

Peepers, also known as Spring Peppers – or officially Northern Spring Peepers(Hyla crucifer crucifer) are tiny, ¾” to 1¼” long grayish-green woodland frogs that spend most of their lives on dry land.  That is, except during the spring mating season when male frogs move to a shallow, fishless pond and begin to sing for their mates.

I’m always on edge as peeper season moves in.  I listen eagerly for the first lone peeper to call.  The sweet, ascending whistle of the male peeper carries an incredible distance on leafless spring days.  His voice echoes off of hillsides and dodges around trees.

At first it’s only one peeper calling, but after a few days, there will be others.  Every day a few more join in the chorus until hundreds of frogs are in a total harmonic frenzy and their once sweet solitary little whistles are suddenly a raucous din. At times their calls are so loud and so numerous that they can be heard indoors with the windows closed.  Apparently the females find this serenade completely irresistible and arrive at last to be wooed by the boys in the band.

After any heavy rain, our small west pond holds about 8” of water for a short time before slowly draining back into the rocky earth.  The pond is situated on a southwest slope that drains a good portion of the front yard and meadow.  The rim of this slope runs for about 200 yards before it joins another, smaller drainage that slips down into thick forest.

The peeper pond was dug a long, long time ago.  So long, that it has slowly filled with sediment over the years and trees have grown in a ring all around it.  The berm that holds the water in the bowl has been worn down by years of wind and rain, giving the whole the appearance of a natural depression in the earth.

Yet, this pond is not visible from anywhere but the hump of the rim itself, from where one must still look down to see into it. The peepers find this protected spot, with its shallow water and grassy edges, most agreeable. Each year, masses of them congregate here to breed.

Listening to the growing chorus of the peepers made me wonder what a horde of these miniature frogs sound like up close and personal. Because they are shy frogs, even the smallest sound or movement startles them into an immediate and prolonged silence.

I’ve seen them quieted, albeit temporarily, by a lowing cow two pastures away. I’ve tried to sneak up on peeper ponds many times, but they almost always sense my presence long before I get close enough to get what I came for. With that in mind, I set out one afternoon using all the stealth I could muster to inch my way along the edge of the forest and down to the pond undetected.

It took more time than I expected to sneak up on the peepers without disturbing their song, but while I was creeping around a sense of timelessness surrounded me in a surreal veil of awareness.  As I came closer to the rim of the pond the peeper’s calls grew louder and richer in tone and I could feel the vibrations of their combined sound literally vibrate in my body.

At last I came to the very lip of the pond and was able to lay with my head inside the sacred circle.  The shallow depression acted more like a parabolic dish than a pond, amplifying the sound to incredible levels.  The very air pulsed with the movement of their voices and I lay there completely and entirely enveloped and absorbed by the tantric chant.

I closed my eyes and soaked it in, letting their voices pass through my skin.

It is moments such as this that I stand in awe of nature’s effects on humans.  Such a small thing the peeper – its size, its single small whistle, its little x-marks-the-spot.  Yet, it is truly larger than life in the role it plays in our transition from the Great Sleep into the Sweet Awakening.   I guess the Creator put the X on the peeper’s back for a reason, after all.

© 2013 Jill Henderson

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

Set in the rugged heart of the Ozark mountains, A Journey of Seasons is memoir, back-to-the-land handbook and nature guide rolled into one.  Henderson’s 20-years of living off the land and foraging in the wilderness shines in this cyclopedic work filled with nature notes, botanical musings, back-woods wisdom and just a pinch of “hillbilly” humor.  This is one journey you don’t want to miss.

Available in the Show Me Oz Bookstore

Jill Henderson is an artist, author, and the editor of Show Me Oz . Her books, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs, The Garden Seed Saving Guide and A Journey of Seasons can be found in the Show Me Oz Bookstore. Jill’s work has also appeared in The Permaculture Activist, The Essential Herbal, Acres USA, and Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanac.

DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE?
Share Subscribe Enjoy!
…and don’t forget to tell your friends you got it from

Your life is completely packed with crazy schedules and pressing deadlines and that new-fangled cell phone that you bought to help you keep up with it all is driving you absolutely crazy.  Some days you just want to shut it all off and hide from the world – even if just for a moment.  What you need is a soothing place to catch your breath, have a few moments of stillness and something beautiful to take your mind off it all.  But what?

If you can relate to that scenario, count yourself among the millions of Americans who juggle numerous responsibilities.  Over time, stress can build to dangerous levels, causing multiple health problems including eating and sleeping disorders, digestive problems, weight gain and difficulty concentrating or communicating effectively.

If there were only some place you could go to escape the world for just a moment at the end of the day.  A place that is peaceful, beautiful and soothing to all the senses.  What you need is the ultimate mini-getaway, open 24 hours a day.

Imagine slipping away from life’s stresses into your own small but heavenly slice of nature – one with the ability to sooth jangled nerves and refresh numbed senses.  Visualize yourself in a tranquil garden bursting with vibrant colors, touchable textures and luscious smells and tastes.  This is the herb garden and it can be anything you want it to be.  But more importantly, it can take you worlds away from the stresses of the day without ever having to leave home.

Why Culinary Herbs?

A garden that is meant to be an oasis from life’s daily grind should not create work, but rather it should invite relaxation. This garden must be beautiful, diverse and practical, and it must grow quickly with little effort – the perfect description of an herb garden.

In fact, culinary herbs offer more attributes to the busy gardener than any other group of garden plants. They are hardy, reliable, useful, beautiful, edible and fragrant.  They can be used to flavor food, scent a room or create a naturally refreshing bath or soak.

And while culinary herbs taste great, they also have medicinal value and can be used to craft safe and natural herbal remedies at home.  As if that weren’t enough, most culinary herbs are naturally pest and drought resistant. This means they require much less time to care for than traditional vegetable or flower gardens.  After all, isn’t more time and less work exactly what your clanging nerves are looking for?

Throughout time gardens have been praised for their powers to restore the mind, body and spirit. In the early 1900’s Hanna Rion wrote “The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses”. In the Victorian era, gardens were often surrounded by stone walls or thick evergreen hedges to give the viewer the illusion of being in a private room “walled-off” from the outside world. Recently the idea of sectioning yards and gardens into “rooms” has come back into vogue.  The idea is not only pleasant, but practical, especially when considering tightly squeezed urban and suburban neighborhoods or when a wide open rural yard cries out for a cozy hidden niche to call one’s own.

Space – or the illusion of space – is one of the most healing attributes of the outdoors.  What we want from our herb garden is a feeling of privacy, a direct connection with nature and all of its living attributes and a place of beauty where the body, mind and senses can totally relax.

Begin With Your Imagination

Those who have never grown herbs before often imagine short green plants that are, well, boring.  But while culinary herbs do indeed come in vast array of shades of green, they also come in blue, green and grey. Some even have leaves in shades of red, purple and even pink. Of course many culinary herbs also bloom – some of them quite extravagantly. And when placed properly within the context of a “room”, culinary herbs simply shine.

Imagine this:

You’re sitting upon a garden bench with your back against an airy wall of fragrant bronze fennel, listening to the hum of small pollinators working over the lush yellow blossoms as you admire the sturdy, flavorful stems of lovage, which are just now covered with frilly lime-green leaves.  These two plants have created a natural privacy screen that anchors this corner of your garden into the landscape, giving it a private and cozy feel

On your right is a mature sage in bloom. It is one the loveliest flowers in the culinary herb garden and it’s deep purple flowers have attracted a few hummingbirds to your private oasis on this warm summer day.

To your left, the golden-leaved oregano is in full bloom beside a terracotta pot of apple-scented mint, which is flanked to one side by purple creeping thyme that has wound its way around the stepping stones at your feet, creating a lush, scented carpet. The rounded forms of basil add a nice low wall to the front of the garden and you pick a handful on your way to the kitchen.

As you walk around the garden, you allow your fingers to caress the stiff needle-like leaves of rosemary, inhaling the invigorating scent that fills the air and lingers on your finger tips. You savor the bite of lemon balm on your tongue as you admire the butterflies that have stopped for a sip of water in your birdbath.

This is a garden you won’t ever want to leave and one that is easier than you think to create. Are you ready to get away from it all?

Start Small for Big Results

When you are ready to start your garden keep the following pointers in mind: Start with a small garden and add to it as time allows.  Start designing your garden by setting out pots to help determine the permanent placement of plants.

Herbs thrive in full sun, but a half day of sun (at least six hours) work for most herbs and but morning sun is always preferred over late afternoon sun in hot climates.

Most culinary herbs don’t like wet feet. If water stands or pools in the area where the garden will be, dig sand and compost into the soil to help improve drainage. Raised beds are one solution to poor drainage, but involve more effort. A simpler method is to grow the herbs in various types of pots and arrange them on top of rough landscaping gravel for a lovely, carefree garden. Pots can also be used in and around any garden to add varied height and drama.

Although most culinary herbs are quite drought resistant when mature, they need at least one inch of water per week while they establish themselves. Use a timer attached to the hose for carefree watering.

In general, herbs do very well without fertilization of any kind and can actually become leggy and less fragrant when over-fertilized. If your soil is average, your herbs will thrive with no additives.

Mulch is crucial to keeping weeds at bay. Each season, place up to several inches of organic mulch such as chipped bark, shredded leaves or pine needles over the entire garden. A more permanent mulch of pebbles and stones is very attractive and practical. Mulch also helps protect plants from heaving during winter months.

Play with your herbs. Plant them randomly or plot them on graph paper. Keep them trimmed or let them grow wild. It’s your garden; your personal get-away from life. There is no wrong way to do it – so just do it!  You’ll be glad you did.

© 2013 Jill Henderson

Excerpted in part from my book:
The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs

The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs is a no-nonsense guide jam-packed with no-nonsense information on growing, harvesting and using 35 of the world’s safest and most flavorful herbs. In addition to the 35 detailed herbal monographs are entire chapters on growing, harvesting and using kitchen herbs to spice up your favorite dish or create healing herbal remedies. This is one book you will turn to time and time again!

Available in the Show Me Oz Bookstore

Jill Henderson is an artist, author, and the editor of Show Me Oz . Her books, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs, The Garden Seed Saving Guide and A Journey of Seasons can be found in the Show Me Oz Bookstore.  Jill’s work has also appeared in The Permaculture Activist, The Essential Herbal, Acres USA, and Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanac.

DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE?
Share Subscribe Enjoy!
…and don’t forget to tell your friends you got it from

Many people who don’t live in the Ozarks are surprised to learn that there are armadillos here. This is obviously because most people do not associate these odd animals with the mid-south, but rather think of them as creatures from such dry states as Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.  While I never thought much about armadillos before I came here, I have come to learn the hard way that they are both an intriguing and terribly frustrating creature.  And while I am a self-avowed animal lover, I must admit that my frustration with this scaly critter has occasionally reached murderous proportions.

Out in the garden early one morning, I find yet another round of nighttime shenanigans by our resident armadillo.  “Fat”, as we’ve come to call him, has once again dug numerous holes throughout the beds.  I curse under my breath as I repair the damage and replace the mulch around the young plants.  Yet, I have to stop myself from thoughts of murder, for Fat hasn’t actually uprooted anything in my garden.  In fact, every single “dig” is between the plants.  I scratch my head in wonder.

Armadillos are definitely a strange kind of creature and one that isn’t native to these Ozark hills.  Distantly related to anteaters and sloths, armadillos are native to South and Central America, where twenty different species exist.  Here in the US, only the Nine-Banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) is a permanent resident.

Armadillo in Spanish means “little armored one” due to the bony plates that cover its legs, head and body.  These plates are not just bony, the are actually made of bone!  The nine-banded species is so named for the nine, flexible bands across the midsection, which allows it to be relatively nimble.

And while they can definitely be a nuisance, armadillos are also pretty incredible animals that have evolved with some very unusual and creative methods of survival, including the ability to dig quickly and deeply to evade predators.  Because armadillos only have a few small stubby teeth and a long probing tongue like an anteater, they generally eat soft-bodied insects, earthworms and grubs.  However, if the occasion arises, armadillos will also eat small snakes, lizards and occasionally carrion.

To scientists, of the most fascinating things about armadillos are their reproductive abilities.  Female armadillos bear exactly four, genetically identical quadruplets of the same sex.  In fact, each of the four young originate from the same egg and share the same placenta – no other mammal on earth can do that.

Surprisingly enough, armadillos also like to swim.  By taking in large amounts of air into their lungs to make them more buoyant, they can easily dogpaddle for some distance.  If that doesn’t strike you as odd, what may is the fact that when these bulky, armor-plated desert dwellers are faced with a body of water they actually prefer to walk across the bottom while holding their breath, which they can do for up to six minutes.

Of course, it is common to see armadillos lying dead on the side of the road – where they seem to remain almost completely intact for months on end – but it isn’t because they aren’t fast enough, it’s because they don’t see very well and have a tendency to jump straight up – sometimes as high as four feet – when startled.  Jumping is a good thing to do to evade predators, but not such a good thing to do in front of or underneath a moving vehicle.

In fact, armadillos have such poor eyesight that they often walk right by and sometimes directly into people, dogs and other predators, completely unaware of their presence.  But once alerted to danger an armadillo can move surprisingly fast, and when necessary, defend itself with dangerously sharp claws.

While normally docile, armadillos manage to strike fear into some people.  This is because armadillos, humans and three types of primates are the only creatures in the world that can contract and spread leprosy – a bacterial infection also known as Hansen’s disease.

According to an article in Science Magazine, in some places up to 20% of the armadillo population carries leprosy, but that infection of humans by armadillos is “miniscule”.  The article states that of the 150 people diagnosed with leprosy in the US each year, only 30 to 50 of those are thought to have contracted the disease from armadillos.

Although this particular article states that leprosy can be transmitted via blood or undercooked armadillo meat, every other source I found contends that leprosy is only transmitted through close contact with nasal discharge and possibly, though unproven, through contact with areas of infected skin.  It is worth noting that 95% of humans are naturally immune to the disease and leprosy is easily and effectively treatable with common antibiotics.

Because armadillos are primarily nocturnal animals, we seldom see Fat at his treachery in the garden.  But each time I wake to discover his nighttime rampages, I curse him to the wind and proclaim my intent to introduce him to our rifle.  But Dean continually reminds me that even as he digs, Fat is eating tons of destructive insects and grubs, particularly those of Japanese Beetles.  The holes that he digs may be frustrating, but in the end Fat is doing us a service – even if we don’t always appreciate it.

Although Fat remains unrepentant in his ways, we have come to accept his handiwork and see him as something more than just an annoyance.  And although  I like to rant and rave about doing him in, I never seem to get around to it – I guess it keeps us both on our toes.

Find more interesting armadillos facts at Armadillos Online

© 2013 Jill Henderson

If you liked this story, you might like my book

A Journey of Seasons

Set in the rugged heart of the Missouri Ozarks, A Journey of Seasons is a beautifully recounted memoir filled with nature notes, botanical musings, back-woods wisdom and just a pinch of “hillbilly” humor by author, naturalist and organic gardener, Jill Henderson.

Jill Henderson is an artist, author, and the editor of Show Me Oz . Her books, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs, The Garden Seed Saving Guide and A Journey of Seasons can be found in the Show Me Oz Bookstore. Jill’s work has also appeared in The Permaculture Activist, The Essential Herbal, Acres USA, and Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanac.

DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE?
Share Subscribe Enjoy!
…and don’t forget to tell your friends you got it from

Filed under: Features, Nature Notes Tagged: A Journey of Seasons, annoyances, armadillo, facts, jill henderson, leprosy, nature, ozarks, show me oz, wildlife ]]> http://showmeoz.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/alien-invaders-armadillos-in-the-midwest/feed/ 18 Nine-banded Armadillo jillhenderson Nine-banded Armadillo 9-banded-armadillo-swimming A Journey of Seasons ShowMeOz Logo http://showmeoz.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/saving-seed-begins-in-spring/ http://showmeoz.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/saving-seed-begins-in-spring/#comments Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:34:42 +0000 Jill Henderson https://showmeoz.wordpress.com/?p=3150 Continue reading →]]> By Jill Henderson – Show Me Oz

If you are one of the millions of gardeners who want to try their hand at saving their own garden seeds this year, spring is the perfect time to begin.  And the best way to have a successful seed harvest is by selecting the right plants, spacing them properly and maintaining control of the pollination process.  For the beginning seed saver this is sometimes a bit confusing, which is why I’ve put together a tidy list of the easiest seeds to save and exactly how to save them in your garden starting right now!

START AT THE BEGINNING

Saving your own garden seeds is one of the most fun and rewarding things you will ever do.  But before you put a single seed in the ground, take some time to make a plan.  Unless your aim is to try to create new and interesting open pollinated plants through the hybridization process, you will want to ensure that the seeds you save will result in offspring exactly like the parent plants.  To do this, you will need to know a little about the plants in the garden, how they are related to one another, and how they use their flowers to produce both seed and fruit.  Knowing these things will give you a jump start on your seed saving efforts, which should always begin in the spring.

If this is your first time saving seeds, you might like to read the following articles, which will help explain the botanical names of plants and the difference between open pollinated and hybrid seeds.

Avoid GMO’s – Save Your Own Seed
Saving Seeds- Open Pollinated vs. Hybrid

Of course, if you’d like to learn all about how to save your own seed in plain –talking English, check out my book, The Garden Seed Saving Guide!

EASY

Once you get the basic principles of how plants reproduce, the rest begins to fall into place.  To save your own garden seed, begin by deciding which crops you would like to save seed from.  The easiest plants for beginners includes:

• Tomato, tomatillo, pepper and eggplant – Nightshade Family (Solanaceae)
• Beans and peas – (Fabaceae Family) – all types
• Lettuce – (Asteraceae Family) – all types
• Radish (Brassicaceae Family) – common red and green types only.
• Okra – (Malvaceae Family) – all types

This small list represents almost one-third of all of the plants grown in the common home garden and all have perfect, self-pollinating flowers.  This means that these plants do not rely on pollination by insects, which dramatically decreases the chance of cross pollination between different varieties and increases your chance of seed saving success!

Keep in mind that nature is a tricky lady and all of the plants in this list might cross pollinate with others of the same species in the presence of very heavy pollinator activity.

For the home gardener, separating blocks of different varieties by 10-15 ft. with an unrelated crop in between is the best defense against unexpected cross pollination. For rare heirlooms, isolate different varieties by at least 50 ft., or as far apart as possible.

While hot peppers have perfect self pollinating flowers, they tend to cross pollinate much more readily than sweet peppers.  To avoid cross pollination, hot peppers should be separated from any other type of pepper by at least 20’, or as great a distance as is possible in your garden.

CHALLENGING

While a little more challenging, the following group of plants can be grown for seed if you follow the Single Variety Rule (below):

.

• Spinach (Chenopodiaceae Family) – all types
• Cucumber, Melon, Watermelon, Squash and Gourds (Cucurbitaceae Family) – all types

The plants in this list are not self-pollinating and rely entirely on wind (spinach) or insects (Cucurbits) for pollination. For these reasons, these crops require isolation techniques such as single variety plantings, staggered bloom time, large isolation distances, hand pollination, or caging to avoid unwanted cross-pollination.

When it comes to cucurbits, it’s all about knowing the Latin name of each plant! Before attempting to save the seed of any cucurbit, find out the full Latin botanical name of each. This is the only way to prevent cross pollination. If two plants share the same genus and species names – they WILL cross pollinate.

For the beginner, the easiest method of ensuring seed purity is to follow the Single Variety Rule, which is to grow only one variety of each species in the garden at any given time.  For example, grow only one variety of watermelon, one variety of muskmelon and one variety of cucumber per garden, per season.

While the same rule applies to common squash and pumpkins, this group of plants is a little more tricky to sort out.   All common squash and pumpkins fall under the genera of Cucurbita.  Within that genera are four species to watch for: mixta, pepo, moschata and maxima.  If you follow the  Single Variety Rule and plant only one variety each of C. mixta, C. moschata, C. maxima, and C. pepo, you can save seed without any worry of cross pollination.

With a little planning this spring, you can save enough seed in your garden this year to last you, your family and your friends for years to come!

Happy seed saving!

Jill Henderson is an artist, author, and the editor of Show Me Oz . Her books, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs, The Garden Seed Saving Guide and A Journey of Seasons can be found in the Show Me Oz Bookstore. Jill’s work has also appeared in The Permaculture Activist, The Essential Herbal, Acres USA, and Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanac.

Excerpted in part from
The Garden Seed Saving Guide
- Seed Saving for Everyone –

Whether you’re a weekend gardener, homesteader, or serious survivalist, saving seeds is a money saving skill that every green-thumb should to have. An excellent resource for beginners and experienced gardeners alike, The Garden Seed Saving Guide takes you step-by-step through every aspect of saving seeds. If you want to save money, become more self-sufficient and avoid genetically modified food crops, The Garden Seed Saving Guide is for you.

DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE?
Share Subscribe Enjoy!
…and don’t forget to tell your friends you got it from

Acres USA magazine has been in business for 35 years – publishing articles related to commercial-scale organic and sustainable farming. I am very excited to be a part of the March issue and am looking forward to being a regular contributor!

You can check them out at http://www.acresusa.com/magazines/magazine.htm 

About this time last year, Dean and I were working on a new garden bed beside the front porch.  It had been a warm spring and the weather was perfect for working outdoors.  We were both intently hacking away at the compacted soil with our shovels and rakes when I happened to look up.  What I saw took my breath away.   Not two feet from Dean stood a doe quietly nibbling at the clover in the grass.  My heart raced.  This couldn’t be happening, could it?  She was close enough to touch.  Thinking she would bound away at the slightest breath, I stood like a statue, absorbing every little detail.  She raised her head and looked into my eyes and right then, I knew she was no ordinary deer.

I whispered to Dean, “Look!”.  Not knowing the deer was there, he abruptly turned from his work and practically ran into her.  She didn’t flinch a single muscle, meeting his incredulous gaze with one of her own before returning her attention to the clover at his feet.

For a while, we just stood there completely astonished, exchanging questioning glances.  What on earth was she doing here and why didn’t she run?  She didn’t seem to be injured or sick – though she did seem rather thin and particularly small in size, even if she was just a yearling.  After a few minutes, I walked inside to grab the camera – no one was going to believe this.

When I returned, she raised her head, stretched her long neck  towards me and sniffed my hands.  I couldn’t resist the temptation to touch her back – a light brushing of my fingers across her jawbone.  But when she took a step forward, Dean instinctively put his arm out to stop her progress in my direction and gave her a verbal warning.  But instead of running, the strange little doe took one easy step backwards and stared at us – waiting.

It was then that we understood.  This little deer wasn’t injured or starving.  She wasn’t being brave or even stupid.  And as much as I would have liked her to have been a spirit deer from the magical forest, she wasn’t even wild.  This deer had obviously been around humans before and she absolutely no fear of us.  In fact, she had sought us out even as we banged away with our shovels and rakes and busy chatter.  Her behavior told us everything we needed to know about her – this little yearling on our doorstep was, or had been, someone’s pet.

I have always said that the wild animal I am most afraid of is the one that isn’t afraid of me.  And while she was beautiful and extremely gentle and had obviously been someone’s pet, she was still a deer.  We knew that if we let her stay or encouraged her in any way, we would be doing her an injustice. 

As difficult as is was to do, we tried to chase her from the immediate confines of the “yard”, but she absolutely refused to be truly frightened by our yelling, clapping, whistling, charging, brandishing of rakes, shovels and tree branches. She’d trot far just enough away to be out of our reach, but the minute we turned our backs she would come back for more.

Over the next few days, the little doe now known as Daisy, returned again and again to our door.  After lengthy discussions as to Daisy’s behavior, her origins and her current situation, we concluded that she was most likely captured in the wild as a newborn, raised in captivity and ultimately released.   But no matter how sweet or small or dainty she was, Daisy was a deer and sooner or later she would begin to act like one.  She belonged to the wild and we were going to have to do whatever it took to get her back there.

We continued to chase her out of the immediate vicinity of the yard whenever she appeared.  We did our best not to do it with anger, but rather with patience.  Once she moved to the edge of the woods around the house, we let her be.

Eventually Daisy got the message and her visits to the yard became less frequent, but she would often appear out of nowhere as we worked in the garden or down in the meadow, or when we were out walking in the woods.   At those times, we would let her say “hello” and then shoo her on her way.  Within a few weeks, we would spot her on the ridge or down in the valley watching us.  We never ran her off when she stayed a respectful distance like that – and in this way we felt she had some security as she adapted to life in the wild.

Once, when we were building our chicken coop and pig pen, she actually walked into the enclosure with me without my noticing! I turned around and there she was.  Another time, we were clearing brush in the meadow when the neighbor suddenly appeared at the boundary fence on his very loud four-wheeler.  I hadn’t seen Daisy until that moment, but suddenly she was there beside us, tail up in alarm, waiting for us to make a move.  We ignored her.  But after the neighbor had gone, Dean nonchalantly crossed the meadow to the driveway.  Daisy watched him closely and when he stopped to pick something up, she ran to his side like she would if she were following a dominant deer in the herd.

We knew Daisy would have to learn a lot in a very short time if she was going  to make it in the wild.  Besides her lack of fear of humans, she also lacked the basic knowledge of her natural habitat, including types of forage, shelter, predators, other deer and methods of evasion.  On top of that, is soon became painfully evident to us that Daisy didn’t even know how to “talk” to others of her own kind.

We had been hoping that she would be taken in by the small herd of does that frequented our meadow before they began to give birth to their spring fawns, but each time she tried to go near them they either shunned her, ran her off, or simply ran away from her.  If she didn’t make friends now, it would be several months before the does with fawns would even look at her. Meanwhile, we continued to dissuade her from making contact with us – pushing her further and further into the woods.

The good news was that Daisy appeared to be finding plenty of good forage and was in much better health than she had been when she first showed up.

As I was contemplating writing this article, I contacted Howell County Conservation Agent, Matt Franks, to ask him what he knew about pet deer.  I was surprised to learn that this is a very a common occurrence in this area.  He explained that most people don’t set out to have a pet deer, but that the majority of cases are the result of  finding a young fawn that appears to be abandoned.

He went on to explain that while young fawns are able to stand and walk within the first two to three weeks of their lives, they are not  very mobile.   In order to protect her young from predators, a mother deer will select a secluded place amidst brush, brambles or tall grass to hide her fawn while she forages.

Relying on its natural camouflage to escape detection, the fawn will lay down and remain motionless until its mother returns.  Usually the doe will bed her fawn down near convenient forage, but sometimes she will have to leave the area in search of food, leaving her fawn alone for several hours.  But unless she is killed or severely injured, she will always return to feed her young.

It is during these times of necessary absence that the fawns are in the most danger – both from predators and from humans.  Unable to run away and relying on its camouflage to protect it, a fawn will lay absolutely still, even with a human hovering over it.  With no mother in sight, the well-meaning human believes that the doe has abandoned her fawn and it is up to them to “save” it.

Agent Franks has encountered this scenario many times throughout his career.  Unfortunately, once a fawn is removed from its hiding place – even if it is just for a few hours – the mother has likely returned and searched for her fawn and moved on.  By the time Franks gets that desperate call for help, it’s just too late to successfully reunite the family.

He went on to say that “even if the mother is dead, the chances of providing the appropriate kind of nourishment is almost impossible.  Calf milk replacer just does not work and the fawn usually winds up dying of scours due to improper nutrition. Honestly, if a fawn has truly been orphaned, it is still much better to leave it to die a natural death in the woods, than to watch it die a horrible slow death caused by scours.  That’s really a sad thing to see.”  he said.

Even if you were able to raise the fawn in captivity, adult deer that have become accustomed to being fed by humans and have lost their fear of humans can also become very dangerous.  According Franks, there have been no fatal attacks on humans caused by pet deer in Missouri, but that every year several people are injured, sometimes seriously, by adult deer that have been kept as pets – even if they are tame.  Deer aggression is usually related to food, but males are especially dangerous during the fall rut.

Franks also told me that the Department receives a surprising number of calls about wild deer with “radio collars”.  Franks says that the MDC does not collar deer.  What the callers are witnessing is a pet deer that has been “tagged” by their owners and set free.  Usually these people think a collared pet deer will keep hunters from shooting them.  If you see a collared deer, you should call the MDC immediately.

Our decision to teach Daisy to fear humans turned out to be the right one and as I explained our methods to Agent Franks, he complimented us on our efforts.  “It’s not an easy thing to do,” he said “and a lot of times it just doesn’t work.”

It certainly wasn’t easy for us to watch her stumble through and counting each new cut or scrape on her muzzle and flanks, watching the other deer reject her and feeling her lonely eyes watching us from the woods was definitely hard to do.  But day by day she made it and each time we didn’t see her for a while, we would just pray it was because she was happier on the wilder side of the fence.

Then one day in late summer, we saw her on the hillside above the house.  As usual, she was watching us.  Suddenly, a yearling buck that I recognized as belonging to our herd’s lead doe, bound recklessly past Daisy and into the woods.  She immediately chased after him.  A few days later, she the two of them were grazing in the meadow together.

I nearly cried that morning as Dean and I watched the two of them together.  After all her struggles, she had finally been accepted by another of her kind – the crucial connection that would possibly save her life come hunting season had been made.  She would be safe now among her own kind.  As we watched, they moved towards the edge of the forest together.  Just before she was obscured by the trees, she turned and looked right at us – and if a deer could smile, Daisy was.

Since then, Daisy has joined up with the local doe harem and has made it through her first hunting season and her first winter in the wild.  She has grown so much that it is getting harder and harder to tell her from the others without seeing her hooves.  But every  now and then, I step out onto the porch of a morning and find a single delicate hoof print in the soil between the flagstones at the bottom of the stairs and know that Daisy has stopped by to say hello before returning again to the wild.

© 2013 Jill Henderson

 If you liked this story, you might like my book

A Journey of Seasons

Set in the rugged heart of the Missouri Ozarks, A Journey of Seasons is a beautifully recounted memoir filled with nature notes, botanical musings, back-woods wisdom and just a pinch of “hillbilly” humor by author, naturalist and organic gardener, Jill Henderson.

Jill Henderson is an artist, author, and the editor of Show Me Oz . Her books, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs, The Garden Seed Saving Guide and A Journey of Seasons can be found in the Show Me Oz Bookstore. Jill’s work has also appeared in The Permaculture Activist, The Essential Herbal, Acres USA, and Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanac.

DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE?
Share Subscribe Enjoy!
…and don’t forget to tell your friends you got it from

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

With all the cold weather we’ve had of late, it might seem a bit early to be talking about getting ready for bluebirds, but in our neck of the woods, many have already begun their search for spring nesting sites.   In the winter, bluebirds flock together in large groups of mixed adults and fledglings from last year’s broods.  But just about the beginning of March, the large groups begin to break up into smaller family groups and pairs.  So, if you would like to invite a nesting pair of bluebirds to your yard, late February and early March are the best time to put out the welcome mat.

The eastern bluebird is one of the most striking small birds found in the Ozarks. The male has a bright blue head, back and tail feathers. His soft-white breast is topped off by a deep orange patch that can be seen beneath the chin and below the wings. As is typical of many birds, the female bluebird is not as flashy as her mate and is mostly brown with just a hint of blue on the primary and tail feathers. This helps her to hide from predators while nesting and foraging for her young.

There are three species of bluebirds in the United States – the Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis), Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) and the Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides).  All are very similar in their habits and preferences for nesting sites.  The Eastern Bluebird is the dominant species throughout the eastern two-thirds of the United States.

Like their cousins, the robins, bluebirds belong to the thrush family. These small, 7” long birds are active insect eaters that often hunt from low perches such as fences, poles and power lines. Although their most-loved food is mealyworms, they will also eat fruits and berries in season. Their call is a long, “chirr-wi” or “tru-a-lly, tru-a-lly”, which is most often heard during the spring mating season when they vie strongly with one another and other cavity dwelling birds, for suitable nesting sites.

Because bluebirds are primarily grassland birds that prefer natural cavities in which to nest, man-made boxes must be built to specific dimensions and hung in just the right location.  The North American Bluebird Society has a fantastic array of information on bluebirds, including several types of bluebird boxes that you can make at home.

The Society also recommend hanging nesting boxes in “an open area with scattered trees and sparse ground cover.  Avoid underbrush, tall grass, dense woods, farm buildings and areas where pesticides are used. Good choices are mown lawns, fields, meadows, orchards, and road sides.”

Like so many other birds, bluebirds were profoundly affected by the widespread use of the insecticide DDT, which was highly effective against malarial mosquitoes and other insect pests and was sprayed copiously in both urban and rural settings.  However, DDT adversely affected the shells of many bird species, making them exceedingly thin and fragile. The overall negative effect of DDT on the bluebird’s reproduction success was only compounded by stiff competition for diminishing nesting cavities typically found in forests with older trees. With the rise in irresponsible logging and land clearing practices that focus on removing only the largest trees and heavy competition from more aggressive tree-dwelling species, the bluebird found itself pushed hard into a very tight corner.

Even after DDT was banned for use in the United States and efforts at conservation had begun, the bluebird population continued to decline drastically. By the 1960’s the number of bluebirds in the U.S. had reached an all time low. The concerted efforts of conservationists and bird lovers across the country helped save the near-extinct species through education programs, which showed landowners how they could implement better land management practices to benefit both the birds and the landowners themselves.  They also encouraged the public to install bluebird-specific nesting boxes in every available location. The result of this effort can be seen today in healthy numbers of all three species of North American bluebirds.

Many years ago, my Dad gave me my first bluebird box.  It was a pretty little thing that he made by hand using rustic recycled wood.  And even though he specifically told me to hang it in an open area away from my heavily wooded front yard, I wanted to be able to watch the bluebirds from the kitchen window.  Thinking I could get away with it, I hung the box where I could see it best.

For two years I watched with hope as bluebirds inspected the box, occasionally going so far as to bring in dried grasses to build a nest.  But every year the pair would suddenly abandon the project, leaving it available for errant woodpeckers, squirrels and the occasional pair of chickadees or titmice.

Although I couldn’t watch them as closely as I would have liked, I finally conceded that the birds rejected the box because the location was just too wooded.  By now I knew that the only reason they considered the box at all was because of the severe shortage of more suitable housing in the open spaces they preferred.  Once I moved the box to the right location, the birds immediately began to nest.

If you have bluebird boxes already in place, now is the time to clean them for the coming nesting season.  Remove old nests and other debris, check the sturdiness of the box and be sure it is hung securely.  For those wishing to attract bluebirds, build or buy a bluebird box and hang it in an open place with a mixture of open areas and trees for perching.  Since bluebirds begin searching for nesting sites in late February and early March, time is of the essence.

Now that we are in our new home, we have several excellent locations for bluebird boxes very close to the house (so I can see them from my kitchen window and still provide the best possible site).  I still have a mostly wooded landscape, but the trees here are widely spaced, providing enough open ground for them to hunt.  Last year, our  bluebirds raised two successful broods in their new home and I look forward to having them back again this year.  Who knows, maybe I can even talk my Dad into making few more bluebird boxes so I can create my own “bluebird trail”.

© 2013 Jill Henderson

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

If you long for the country life or love the outdoors, you will appreciate this beautiful and inspiring book. Set in the rugged heart of the Missouri Ozarks, A Journey of Seasons is a beautifully recounted memoir filled with nature notes, botanical musings, back-woods wisdom and just a pinch of “hillbilly” humor author, naturalist and organic gardener, Jill Henderson.

Jill Henderson is an artist, author, and the editor of Show Me Oz . Her books, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs, The Garden Seed Saving Guide and A Journey of Seasons can be found in the Show Me Oz Bookstore. Jill’s work has also appeared in The Permaculture Activist, The Essential Herbal, Acres USA, and Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanac.

DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE?
Share Subscribe Enjoy!
…and don’t forget to tell your friends you got it from

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

Ice storms in the Ozarks often have disastrous outcomes and warnings of them are often taken more seriously than those of tornadoes.  Indeed, an ice storm can wreak incredible havoc.  Besides making driving and even walking incredibly treacherous, as little as a half-inch of freezing rain can easily snap large tree branches, flatten shrubs and small trees, pull down power lines and cave in greenhouses, sheds and carports.  Accumulations of more than that can, quite literally, snap full-grown trees in half.  Yet, despite their potential for disaster, ice storms are not only beautiful, but often bring us humans closer together.

I’m sure I’ll catch all kind of grief for saying this, but I think ice storms are one of nature’s most beautiful incarnations.  In a matter of hours, the world as we know it is utterly and completely transformed into an icy fairyland of shimmering glass that is as fragile as a snowflake and as strong as concrete.

When we were first came to the Ozarks in 1992, we were living in the hills of northwestern Arkansas between Rogers and Eureka Springs.  Each of these towns were a good 14 mile drive from our rural country home.  We had been in our place for less than a year and already had learned a lot about the unpredictable behavior of Ozarks weather.

In the spring of 1993, we were forewarned of a severe winter storm bearing down on the Ozarks.  Having lived in the wilds of the western Rockies and northern Minnesota for years, we knew a thing or two about cold, snow and winter – but an ice storm was something entirely new.

Heading the advice of neighbors, we decided to drive to town and stock up on a few supplies.  Even as we were driving home, the radio weatherman was predicting the first round of freezing rain within the hour.  Just as we turned down the narrow winding road leading towards Eureka Springs, we passed a young man with a backpack on walking along the roadside with his face turned down against the frigid wind.  He didn’t raise his hand or even look up as we blew past.

By the time we reached our driveway, not two miles away, we had already decided than we could not leave this unsuspecting traveler standing in the middle of nowhere on a one of the most dangerously narrow and empty roads in the Ozarks with one of the worst ice storms on record bearing down on him.

Without much discussion, we whipped the car around in the driveway and headed back.  He seemed a bit startled when we stopped beside him and told him to get in – but he seemed happy enough to oblige.  Once inside the warm car, we gave him his options.  We could either take him as far as Eureka Springs – a mere 14 miles down the road – where he could try his luck on the slightly wider and busier road running through there, or he could come home with us and wait out the storm in our drafty trailer, which may or may not have heat and electricity for long.   For whatever reason, he chose the latter.

It might seem a bit strange to many people that we would even offer to bring a total stranger home with us, but after years of living in our van and travelling around the country, we had met many people who were not “homeless”, but “houseless”,  just like us.  And like us, these people were often mislabeled as transients and bums.  We preferred to be called nomads, explorers and vagabonds.

Having been befriended many times by this class of free people, we felt entirely comfortable offering this man – who obviously carried his entire life upon his back – a place of safety in an oncoming storm.  And it wasn’t long before he shared his story with us.

While on a break from his job as a carny in a famous circus touring the US, Jack (not his real name) had been headed home to visit his family.  When we came upon him, he had been hitching for two whole days without a single person stopping to offer him a ride.  With very little money in his pocket, he was forced to sleep in the woods along the side of the road with nothing more than a sleeping bag to keep him warm and dry.

When we pulled up beside him, he had given up sticking out his thumb, which is why he was so startled when we ordered him into our car.  Within a few moments, the danger of his situation became quite clear – for Jack had no knowledge of the coming storm and was as far from anywhere as one could be.

We had no idea how bad the ice storm would be, but in the end we got something like 3/4” of ice and lost power for an entire week.  Without electricity we had no lights, no water, and no heat.  All we could do to stay warm was huddle up in layers of blankets and occasionally turn the propane cook-stove on and off to help cut the worst of the chill.

As uncomfortable as we were inside, outside the world was fantastically beautiful.  Every single thing – every twig, leaf and blade of grass was sheathed in a shape-hugging coat of ice so perfectly clear as to act like a finely polished glass lens.  We could make out individual hairs on blades of grass and make out tiny insects trapped between the layers of ice.

Another remarkable thing about ice storms are the sounds.  In addition to popping, tinkling, tapping, and crunching, it is not uncommon to hear branches and trees come crashing to the ground.  When small branches break, the ice shatters like glass.  Sometimes the ice gets so thick that huge branches and mature trees are literally snapped in half sounding like the report of a rifle or a small explosion.

Our guest was nothing less than pleasant and helpful during our time together. He kept us quite entertained with fantastic stories of his life as a circus carny.  Because of his stories, I will never play another carnival game without thinking of our guest.  After a few days with us, we were able to find him an onward ride with a daring trucker who was heading south.  As we waved goodbye, I realized that we had just been added to his repertoire of wonderfully colorful stories and he to ours – a fair trade, indeed.  But more importantly, we were able to help another human being in their onward journey in this life.

Just as an ocean or a mountain summit can elicit the feeling that we humans are but a speck in the grander scheme of things, an ice storm makes one stand in awe of nature’s power and beauty.  And despite our constant desire to shape and control, we are truly at the mercy of nature – and of one another’s kindness.

© 2013 Jill Henderson

Jill Henderson is an artist, author, and the editor of Show Me Oz . Her books, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs, The Garden Seed Saving Guide and A Journey of Seasons can be found in the Show Me Oz Bookstore. Jill’s work has also appeared in The Permaculture Activist, The Essential Herbal, Acres USA, and Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanac.

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

If you long for the country life or love the outdoors, you will appreciate this beautiful and inspiring book. Set in the rugged heart of the Missouri Ozarks, A Journey of Seasons is a beautifully recounted memoir filled with nature notes, botanical musings, back-woods wisdom and just a pinch of “hillbilly” humor author, naturalist and organic gardener, Jill Henderson.

Available in print and eBook through the Show Me Oz bookstore.

DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE?
Share Subscribe Enjoy!
…and don’t forget to tell your friends you got it from

(Excerpted in part from the book, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs)

Among the myriad of wonderful herbs that one could grow, no honest-to-goodness herb garden is complete without at least one tall, stately fennel plant.  In fact, fennel is not only edible, medicinal and downright gorgeous, but it also attracts hordes of beneficial insects to the garden.  Despite its obvious charms fennel is one of those herbs that even long-time gardeners seem to overlook.  Indeed, I am always surprised by gardeners who mistake my fennel for dill.  Perhaps it is the fern-like leaves or the umbels of bright yellow flowers – after all, the two are closely related and have a very similar shape and form.  But once you have grown fennel in your own garden and tasted its luscious fruits and stems, you will never mistake fennel for anything else.

There are basically two forms of fennel: those that are grown for seed and those that are grown for their ‘bulbs’, however, all are hardy perennials belonging to the Apiaceae (formerly Umbeliferae), or Parsley Family of plants.

Florence Fennel – sometimes referred to as Finnochio – (F. vulgare var. azoricum) is grown almost exclusively for its swollen celery-like lower stems, which are sweet and crispy with a mild licorice flavor.  These fennels are also perennials, but because they are harvested for their lower stems, most are grown as annuals.  Florence fennel will also produce flavorful seed if the plant is allowed to flower.

Common Sweet Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is probably the most widely grown seed-producing fennel, but if you can find it, Berfena Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare dulce ‘Berfina’) is thought by many to have a stronger flavor and aroma.  Both produce relatively large seeds.

But my favorite fennel is by far and away the lovely Bronze Fennel (F. vulgare var. dulce ‘Rubrum’).   While its seeds are quite small and relatively mild in comparison to the other varieties, I actually prefer them for cooking because they are unobtrusive when added to foods.   But mostly, I love bronze fennel for its gorgeous purple and green mottled stems and leaves and the sheer profusion of its flowers, which make this herb pretty enough for the flower garden.

Fennel begins the growing season as a basal rosette of soft, plume-like leaves that quickly grow into thick, hollow, upright stems that can reach 5 ft. (1.5 m) or more. The ends of the alternate-growing leaf stalks clasp the main stem in a papery sheath.

Fennel bears umbel-shaped clusters of tiny, yellow flowers in late summer. In most varieties seeds are large, greenish-brown, and lightly ribbed. The seed heads often become heavy enough to bend the plant to the ground. The entire plant has a distinctive licorice smell and taste. Florence fennel (F. vulgare var. azoricum) is similar in appearance but its basal stems are thick, fleshy, and bulbous.

Fennel is a hardy perennial in most areas, but can sometimes be killed back by severe cold. Fennel does not transplant well.  Sow seed directly in the garden in late fall or mid-winter.  In the spring, thin young seedlings to stand 6 in. (15 cm) apart with a final spacing of 14 to 16 in. (36–41) between plants.

Fennel will readily self-sow. To keep this herb in check, remove the ripe seed heads before they shatter. To overwinter fennel, cut back all the dead stems to the ground and cover the plants with a thick layer of mulch once the ground has frozen.

Many herbs and vegetables such as bush beans, pole beans, peppers, and tomatoes will grow poorly if planted too close to fennel. For several years, I have used a line of sweet fennel as a barrier to keep my mint from overrunning the rest of my herb garden—the mint grows happily but stays respectfully on its side of the fennel.

The sweet anise-like flavor of fennel is especially good with fish, pork, seafood, and poultry, and it makes an excellent addition to soup and roasted vegetables. Tender young stalks are used like celery; slice into salads or add to simmering dishes. For a deeper, more savory flavor, dry roast seeds prior to adding them to sauces or other rich dishes. Tomato-based dishes—especially pizza—benefit from a touch of fennel seed.

Add fennel seeds to sweet fruit salads, especially those containing peaches and apples. Try fennel in desserts such as cobbler, pie, muffins, cake, and sweet or yeast breads. Fennel seed is used commercially as a licorice flavoring in many products and makes a wonderfully refreshing addition to black iced tea. Use fennel seed to sweeten bitter herbal teas or to flavor liqueurs. The thick, sweet bulb of Florence fennel can be chopped or sliced and added raw to fresh green and fruit salads, added to soups and broths, sautéed with other vegetables, or roasted whole with meats. Try sectioning the bulb and filling the hollows with herbed cream cheese; serve as a refreshing side dish or appetizer. For an especially tasty variety of sweet fennel, try growing ‘Berfena Sweet’.

The ancient Romans believed that fennel seed reduced the appetite and controlled obesity.  Today, it well-known for being a mild and reliable medicinal and has long been approved by the German Commission E.  It is a strong anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic, widely used for cramps, spasms, and menstrual pain.  The mild estrogen-like action is used to regulate menstruation and aid in menopausal symptoms.

Fennel tea is probably most often used to treat symptoms of cold and flu such as cough, congestion, sore throat, fever, and muscle pain.  It is known to strengthen and tone the digestive system, making it a beneficial herb in treating dyspepsia, indigestion, flatulence, heartburn, colic, and lower abdominal pain.

To learn more about how to use fennel medicinally, including the various medicinal actions and contraindications, please refer to my book, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs.

Fennel is a tall, graceful herb that should be planted and used much  more often than it is.  In the garden, it adds height, texture, and drama making it the perfect focal point.  If you love butterflies, plant a few extra fennel plants (along with other members of the Apiaceae Family) specifically for the black swallowtail larvae to feed on undisturbed – they’ll come back as gorgeous Flying Flowers in your garden!

Caution: Avoid medicinal use of fennel if you have liver disease, hepatitis, estrogen-dependent cancer, or are pregnant, lactating, or taking ciprofloxacin. No one should use the pure essential oil without supervision of a professional. Those who have allergies to carrots, celery or other umbel plants should avoid contact with fennel. Less than 1 tsp. (5 ml) of this oil can cause contact dermatitis, vomiting, seizure, hallucinations, and pulmonary edema.

© 2013 Jill Henderson

Excerpted in part from
The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs
- Growing and Using Nature’s Remedies -

Be prepared for the changing times with The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs. Packed full of useful information on growing, harvesting and utilizing 35 of the world’s safest and most medicinal and culinary herbs! Each herb has its own detailed dossier describing everything you will ever need to know, including using herbs wisely, starting and propagating herbs, growing herbs both indoors and out, how to deal with pests and diseases, harvesting and storing herbs and how to use them for both culinary and medicinal purposes.  This is one book no herb-lover – or survivalist – should miss!

Jill Henderson is an artist, author, and the editor of Show Me Oz . Her books, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs, The Garden Seed Saving Guide and A Journey of Seasons can be found in the Show Me Oz Bookstore. Jill’s work has also appeared in The Permaculture Activist, The Essential Herbal, Acres USA, and Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanac.

DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE?
Share Subscribe Enjoy!
…and don’t forget to tell your friends you got it from

Many gardeners know the benefits of planting crops, such as garlic, in the early fall and winter months, but did you know that many common herb, flower and vegetable seeds can be treated this way, too? Winter sowing is the age-old practice of planting seeds directly in the garden sometime between late fall and mid-winter. Because they are living organisms, seeds have the ability to sense the environment around them, which allows them to determine when weather conditions are just right for germination. As a result, winter sown seeds often germinate earlier, have higher rates of germination and have less problems with seedling diseases such as damping off. They also tend to grow faster and stronger than their indoor-sown counterparts, which allows gardeners to get a jump on the growing season.

The origins of winter sowing lie in the simple and natural processes that seed-bearing plants have used for millions of years. Once a plant’s seeds or fruit are ripe, they either simply fall to the ground or are eaten or otherwise carried away by various creatures and eventually wind up on the ground where they spend the winter in a dormant state, germinating only when conditions for the growth of the new plant are just right. This is how nature gardens.

Of course, it didn’t take long for humans to recognize this natural processes and learn how to effectively mimic it.

I’ve been practicing the art of winter sowing for over twenty years. Normally, I simply sow the seed where I would like the final plant to grow, such as in an existing garden row or flower bed. When the seedlings emerge in spring, they are thinned and/or transplanted as desired.

This method has several advantages over starting seeds indoors, including less time, money, and space. Winter sowing also frees the gardener from many of the early spring chores, such as cultivating and sowing, which are now done in the slower months of early fall and winter, depending on the climate. Simply plant the seeds as directed on the seed packet and cover with a light mulch of straw or chopped leaves to help keep the soil – and the seeds – in place, and to maintain consistent levels of moisture and temperature.

Recently, I was surfing the internet for information on seeds that require stratification (a period of moist cold) for germination and came across an interesting approach to winter sowing seeds. Back in 1998, Trudi Davidoff began participating in online seed swaps. Within a short time, she found herself with a very large collection of seeds. Never having started flower seeds before, she began to look for some way to start her burgeoning collection without taking up every inch of space in her small cottage home.

As she pondered how to accomplish her goal, she noticed how plants in the wild seemed to have no trouble at all propagating themselves. She knew that many of the flower seeds she had needed stratification in order to germinate, and suddenly it hit her – she would plant her seeds in flats and put them outside and let Mother Nature do the work for her. Her plan was exceedingly simple and very effective.

After a couple of years starting seeds outdoors, Trudi started sharing what she had learned with her seed swapping friends on GardenWeb and eventually started her own website – WinterSown.

Trudi’s method was simple. Recycle any kind of container with a lid and turn it into a mini greenhouse. Fill the bottom half with soil and seeds and tape the two halves together. Put the whole thing outside and let the seeds decide when they wanted to germinate.

This simple, but brilliant idea has slowly been making inroads into the gardening community. The principle is exactly the same as planting seeds outdoors, but with a few improvements.

With Trudi’s method, each mini greenhouse is labeled and sealed so that seeds don’t get washed away, eaten by birds or forgotten. They are easily tended to, nearly care-free, and almost entirely free to make. And should there be a failure in germination, no time or space in the garden will have been wasted. But best of all, there is absolutely no limit to the kind or number of greenhouses one can have, and they take up absolutely no space indoors.

I will continue to sow certain seeds directly in my garden beds – especially those plants that have long tender taproots like beets, carrots, dill and fennel. But armed with this new information, I will definitely be starting more cold weather vegetables, ornamentals and herb seeds outdoors using Trudi’s mini-greenhouse method with a twist.

And although January has already come and gone, you can still winter sow almost any kind of seed right now and still get a jump on spring!

As a veteran gardener, I really appreciate the pioneering spirit that Trudi has brought to the gardening world. She took a simple concept and made it new and fresh. Not only that, but she freely shared her experiences and knowledge with others, which in and of itself, is a wonderful thing.

Instead of showing you how to make Trudi’s Winter Sown greenhouses, I’ll let Trudi do the talking. Here are some great links that you can use to start your own winter sowing adventure!

Happy Gardening!

• Step by step instructions on how to turn a recycled milk jug into a mini-greenhouse (with pictures) at WinterSown.org (NOTE: this is an archived website, but there’s still lots of good info here).
• Learn and share information with other winter sowers at the Winter Sowers Group on FaceBook
• Lots of advice and questions answered about how to winter sow at the Winter Sowing FAQs on GardenWeb

© 2013 Jill Henderson

Jill Henderson is an artist, author, and the editor of Show Me Oz .

Her books, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs, The Garden Seed Saving Guide and A Journey of Seasons can be found in the Show Me Oz Bookstore.

Jill’s work has also appeared in The Permaculture Activist, The Essential Herbal, Acres USA, and Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanac.

DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE?
Share Subscribe Enjoy!
…and don’t forget to tell your friends you got it from

I like to refer to winter as The Great Sleep, because although life outside the window pane seems dull and lifeless, it is anything but. Yet to find that elusive bit of life, one must go in search of it. Even this self-avowed nature freak has to remind herself of this from time to time. So today, I took a stroll through the woods with my eyes – and my senses – wide open.

I like winter. Not because it’s cold, but because it’s probably one of the best times for hiking the vast tracks of wild areas here in the Ozarks. During winter, one can tramp shamelessly through the thickest undergrowth, peeking into hollow tree cavities and turning over rocks and logs without worrying about encountering ticks, chiggers and copperheads. Besides, winter affords the attentive explorer with sights and sounds not found any other time of year.

The first thing that caught my attention on my walk today was a large cluster of mushrooms clinging to the dead stump of an oak tree. These particular bracket or shelf mushrooms are Many-Colored Polypores (Trametes versicolor or Coriolus versicolor) named for the concentric rings of green, cream, purple and brown that adorn their upper surfaces. Here in the Ozarks, almost all polypores are commonly referred to as Turkey Tails.

Bracket mushrooms abound in the deciduous woods of the Ozarks. They are called bracket mushrooms because of their habit of protruding outward in an almost horizontal position in overlapping layers. The stem ends of bracket mushrooms are thick and dense; seizing their perch with a tenacity that belies their delicate appearance. The tips of bracket mushrooms become thinner and thinner, until ending in a smoothly rounded and softly scalloped edge. Their flesh feels somewhat like cold, human skin.

Today, the colors of these winter mushrooms contrast sharply with the wet, almost black wood of the stump on which they grow. I step back for a wider look, much as an artist might look at a painting. It is easy to admire their symmetry and composition and I make a mental note of how perfectly all of the colors in this painting complement one another. This one small piece of nature cements in my mind something that I have known all my life: nature is a fabulous artist!

Continuing through the woods with my eyes focused on the ground, I quickly find several other kinds of fungi. Some are quite beautiful and some are oddly interesting. But one, a dark brown to bluish black mushroom, which is most often found in a startling way, can be downright creepy.

Before I knew their scientific name, I always referred to these mushrooms as jelly fingers. In my mind, it was the only way to describe them. Later, I found out they are sometimes called jelly fingers, but that their botanical name is really Dead Man’s Fingers (Xylaria polymorpha). This latter moniker more accurately describes what these cold, wet, gelatinous fungi feel like when encountered unexpectedly. I have bumped into them many times while picking up rotten oak limbs from the forest floor and I can unequivocally say that wrapping a bare hand around a bunch of these little fellas is enough to make your hair stand on end!

Today, I had the leisure of finding the jelly fingers before they found me, and for the first time I was able to see how truly beautiful and unique they really are.

After leaving the jelly fingers to themselves, I discovered a dazzling little patch of what appeared to be a group of mixed lichen and moss growing in a miniature garden on a limestone rock. It consisted of a patch of delicate blue-green lichen the texture of handmade paper fanned out into thin, overlapping ruffles. The lichen was nearly surrounded by a soft, tightly mounded carpet of electric green moss blooming with hundreds of maroon, micro-thin hair-like strands covering the entire surface.

Butted against this moss was a mound of another type of moss that resembled a microscopic fern. The millions of minute, feathery, leaf-like structures were each tipped by a fiery red globule, like a crazy miniature Christmas tree. Dotted here and there among the mosses were small, upright clumps of spiky sage-green lichen that looked like fantastic coral.

Together, these plants have grown, survived and flourished upon a mottled limestone rock no bigger than 12” in diameter. They grow so closely together that it is hard to distinguish where one ends and the other begins. Over some unknown length of time an incredible symbiotic relationship has been formed to ensure their mutual survival. They have, in a sense, become one collective organism. I run my hand lightly across the plants and feel their many textures. They are a testament to the reality of harmony and coexistence among different species.

Such a small thing, this little fairy garden; living in such an obscure niche and imposing itself on nothing but the rock on which it survives. Something in my heart tells me that the exquisite combination of color and texture in this pint-sized collage could never have been invented, nor replicated, by human hands. While I fancy myself an amateur botanist and desire to know the names of the plants that I encounter, this living sculpture was such a beautiful thing that I decided against naming the parts of it for fear that doing so would corrupt my memory of it. Some things are more beautiful and mysterious when left unnamed.

I found many, many wonderful bits of living art on my walk through the woods; from the grand, sculptured branches of the mighty oak tree standing starkly against the sky, to the intricate textures and crevices of tree bark, where small insects and moths await spring. From the minute veins of leaf mold creep against the dark damp soil like frost on a window, to a magical fairy pool hidden in the hollow of a split oak where the birds come to drink, The Great Sleep is one of the most interesting and beautiful times to be fully awake.

The seemingly simple bits of nature that we don’t always see remind me that life not only persists, but thrives under the hard, cold moon of January. And as I walk through the forest, I become yet another part of the spirit and energy of the seemingly invisible life throbbing all around me. By looking and really seeing the fullness of life – even in winter – we open a door onto a deeper, more spiritual understanding of ourselves and our place in the world.

I hope you get a chance to do some exploring of your own!

Happy hiking!

Jill Henderson is an artist, author and the editor of Show Me Oz
© 2013 Jill Henderson

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

If you long for the country life or love the outdoors, you will appreciate this beautiful and inspiring book. Set in the rugged heart of the Missouri Ozarks, A Journey of Seasons is a beautifully recounted memoir filled with nature notes, botanical musings, back-woods wisdom and just a pinch of “hillbilly” humor author, naturalist and organic gardener, Jill Henderson.

Available in print and eBook through the Show Me Oz bookstore.

DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE?
Share Subscribe Enjoy!
…and don’t forget to tell your friends you got it from