It's become clear to me through posts and PMs that there are some gardeners here just waiting for the chance to discuss gardening!
So, I was thinking... how do you use gardening, or how does it affect you if you need a break, need some respite, need to relax, need inspiration....how do you use it as a therapy tool in caregiving?
What are your activities: Do you go out and pull weeds, read a magazine, design new beds? Look through garden catalogues? Go to garden stores?
And what interests have you added to your gardening? Visit estate or garden displays? Do you go to garden shows?
Does anyone design and plant Knot Gardens? Raised bed planters? Assistive gardens? Pollinator gardens (and have you thought of ways to help the bees and butterflies?)
Are your gardens primarily for pleasure or food, or a mix of both? Do you grow plants for medicinal purposes? Which ones, how do you harvest and process them? Any suggestions?
Do you grow plants that can be used in crafts, such as grapevines for wreaths and lavender for lavender wands? Do you make herbal products such as creams, lotions, chapstick?
What else can you share about gardening and the means in which it nurtures your soul?
The volunteer goldenrod is in bloom now, adding a spike of color amidst an army of volunteers in various shades of green.
At my father's house, goldenrod is more abundant, scattered among a massive trumpet vine which is also in bloom. Last week the orange and golden blooms provided a nice introduction to fall color, as have the trees here and there which are anxious to don their fall wardrobes and put their green colors away until next year.
However, if you've ever seen these guys on the big mowers, they just zoom around so quickly they don't really pay attention to the clippings and dust that are blown around.
Maybe I should have saved them and dumped them onto their trailer the next time they came over.
My neighbors now mow their own yards, so that problem resolved itself.
I do resent it though when one of them has her yard sprayed. The guys aren't that careful with the spraying wands.
You have a legitimate right to resent these kinds of messes.
A week of triple digit temps headed this way - is the sun ☀️ getting even with the moon 🌙
Thank you, the lemonade was fabulous!
Here it is already Friday again.
Everyone have a wonderful gardening weekend!
Can we have some Blue Cheese dressing, leaving the calories in?
Going to hunt for chocolate trifle now, be back soon.
Do you like light ranch dressing? I'm whipping up some in between posts. Maybe we can expand on that. The poppies have been in bloom; if anyone knows how to harvest and save the seeds, we can make poppy seed dressing.
Veronica, welcome! As to rich cakes and puddings, one of the guiding principles of a virtual reality meal is that a magic occurs when we enter with food. All the bad things such as too much sugar and calories are screened out, but the food is magically just as tasty as it was.
I love puddings; you're welcome to bring them along with a trifle(s).
You raise an interesting issue as to food varieties. I've been wondering about the trend in some tv reality programs to those of folks already living primitive or minimalist lifestyles. People have hunted for years; we still do eat animals but they're raised and processed by others. I think that separation between their growth and eventual place in our diet allows us to avoid the hard work of raising them and the unpleasant aspects of converting them into food, although from what I read more and more people are raising chickens for their eggs.
Maybe we should add a chicken coop - we could have bluish and brownish eggs - great for Easter eggs and we wouldn't even have to dye them.
Dyeing raises another issue - should we have some virtual sheep for those of us who are knitters or crocheters? We can easily get a carder, spinning wheel and a loom, although I don't know much about the kinds of looms available.
I've been hunting only once; I got bored tramping around in the snow, but doubt if I could have cleaned anything I'd shot anyway.
Still, animals are a main part of American's diets.
No hate mail emanates from the Virtual Reality Parlor. Your opinion is just as important and welcome as anyone's.
So, grab a chair, sit down and relax. There's fresh lemonade for you while I work on the salad.
And for anyone who might be asking why I'm engaging in what might seem to some as childish fantasy, it's because it's a great redirection of caregiving thought and anxiety and helps me stabilize myself for the day.
Send there is plenty to eat in your garden. Cute little bunny rabbits make a very tasty meal!
OK send the hate mail to me.
Many times I have lived off things my Dad or Hubby shot. Didn't appreciate having to do the butchering though.
Sorry this was gardening as therapy not gross other posters out with your stories.
I have lots of bunny rabbits in my garden, nothing edible except aloe.
Will there be salad dressing when virtual reality hits the West Coast PST 2 1/2 hrs. from now?
I'm thinking a light salad with fresh scones might be appropriate while we wait. Lemonade has been made from fresh lemons, blueberries are fresh and ripe for the scones, and the Romaine and leaf lettuces have been harvested and washed. Grape and Beefsteak tomatoes, green and red peppers and cukes are being washed now.
Anyone want anything else on their salads? What are your gardens producing now? Donations for a big salad are always welcome!
We could all sit poolside on comfy and luxurious outdoor couches, covered with a gazebo awning, and you could lead the edible psyche gathering. We will call you the Barefoot Confessor. Lol.
Since I don't drink, I will help make lemonade and tall tea drinks with bottled water ice cubes, spike it with appropriate alcohol (needing recipes for that), and stick an umbrella in it, with a slice of fruit.
Sorry, I don't have names for my succulents.
Is the cream whipped till thickened, then all ingredients are blended together, then refrigerated? Any baking involved?
And what a great way to banish caregiving stress!
BTW, is anyone familiar with Marcel DeSaulniers? He used to host a program called Death by Chocolate. The recipes were so rich I could get a sinus headache just by watching him create a ganache.
Stacey, you can't know how much Dad and I love pasties! The ones available at grocery stores are loaded with lard, so much so that you can see blobs of white on the crust. I'd love to make them this fall, opening the windows and letting the fragrance waft through the neighborhood. I could make the filling, puree it, and what a great meal it would be for Dad.
Sausage rolls could actually work for dysphagia as well. Ground meats are recommended, so I'd puree the other ingredients, blend them with the ground sausage and Dad would have a good, hearty meal either of sausage or pasty.
Can I have the recipes, or if they're online, a link for them?
I can pay you for the hens and chicks; they could go in a Friendship Garden which I've designed and still haven't created. Maybe Fall would be a good planting time; we're hitting high 80's again in the next few days. Or maybe we should plan to create a Friendship Garden at one of our Virtual Social Gatherings?
MsMadge, yes, perhaps we're all Barefoot Contessas. Since we're also caregivers, we should create a unique name for our Virtual Parlor. Suggestions? I don't think Barefoot Caregiver would be too inspiring!
I'll get a new freezer and frig to accommodate our creations for other caregivers who might need to stop by for an edible psychological gathering.
Looks like we might have sausage rolls, pasties, Chocolate Mocha Icebox Cake and trifle for our first get-together. If we can calm our appetite surges, we could have a hearty meal gathering in fall; the chill of the cold air would spur our appetites and we could really indulge!
Or we could test the recipes at a plant swap in fall, a great time to plant anyway. I have a few hundred daylilies crowding each other out in my house garden. It'll be a perfect time to transplant them.
2 cups cold heavy cream
12 ounces Italian mascarpone cheese
½ cup sugar
¼ cup Kahlúa liqueur
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, such as Pernigotti
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 (8-ounce) packages Tate’s Bake Shop chocolate chip cookies
Shaved semisweet chocolate, for garnish
OMG. We'd need to do some serious gardening before we eat that.
Er, I'll just swing by the grocery store to pick up my contribution.
I would also be happy to bring a Trifle to your Virtual Social Gathering! I learned how to make a good one, taught by my Mum, and alway very refreshing! My Mom and her 3 sisters always made Trifle for every family event, but my Mom's was the best! I also make a mean Sausage Roll and Corned Beef Pasty's, if we are serving for a croud! Can't wait, just name the date!
Sharyn, I also love the cottage gardens! My garden is nothing like I would have designed it, but it does have an overgrowth of donated succulents that I will share with everyone!
I would be glad to have a tour; perhaps I'll bake another batch of cupcakes, pick some lemons from l'orangerie and make fresh lemonade, maybe with sprigs of mint from the kitchen garden.
If we have time, perhaps we can create bouquets of herbs, or something like Herbs de Provence bouquets for each visitor to take home.
Would you be willing to donate a trifle? I'll supply the fresh fruit. We could even have some bake sessions, either preceded or followed by caregiving discussions. The challenges it brings are more easily dispelled when addressed with good company and food.
I'm thinking we could also have a swap garden to share plants with others.
Trifles remind me of one of the best brunches in the area, a little over 20 years ago. It was at an historic old inn, which still had hitching posts outside for the horses. The floors creaked as we walked on old wood which was probably as old as the inn. Antique furniture lined the walls; the rooms were more dimly lighted as old period lighting was used.
The modern world was left behind as we entered this old colonial inn, and prepared for a feast that exceeded the best of any of the 5 star hotels in the area.
The food included standard brunch items, but there was always a large, delicious trifle. I could easily have seconds or thirds if I hadn't already eaten too much. And now, I think I need to rummage around and see what I have to create a trifle.