A Garden Podcast Episode with a Pumpkin Pie Chaser
Season 6, Episode 5, December 13, 2023
This week's episode has a bit of an orchid theme. More than a bit actually. Our mailboxes are also full of seed catalogs. Listen to see why we chose this title.
Carol is on the lookout for more Helleborus niger, Christmas roses, because they flower this time of year in her garden, and she even saw a bee!
I am excited that my paperwhites are up and growing. I also bought Masha a heated cat bed that she won’t use, and I bought Bill a heated blanket because he gets cold at night. It’s Christmas time, after all! Electric blankets have come a long way. Remember when they were gross and pilled? Now, they are soft and lush.
Our first quote came from a dish we saw on Nancy’s Daily Dish. It’s by that old saw, Anonymous. Here it is:
“As I was wandering oe'r the green, Not knowing where I went, By chance I saw a pleasant scene. The cottage of content.”
Now, back to orchids which make great houseplants, especially in winter. I like using them in January to add some color to my mantle. The National Garden Bureau has an excellent article about them as they wrap up Year of the Orchid.
For our veggie segment, we were inspired by a vanilla orchid you can buy from Logee's Greenhouse. Then we discussed how hard it is to get vanilla bean pods from orchids. I shared a recipe for Homemade Vanilla Extract, which I used to make quite frequently. It isn’t difficult, but takes a while to finish. Instead, I now just buy vanilla bean paste, which is expensive but lasts forever.
On the bookshelf, Carol shared her thoughts on Orchid Muse: A History of Obsession in Fifteen Flowers by Erica Hannickel (Amazon.) That’s where we got the information about growing vanilla orchids and why so much vanilla sold in stores is artificial.
We had two pieces of interesting dirt. I watched the movie A Haunting in Venice, which is based on Agatha Christie’s book, Halloween Party (Amazon.) How does it fit into the podcast? Plants figure into the mystery as they often do.
Carol found info about planting wheatgrass on December 13th in honor of St. Lucia and the Christ Child. Why wheatgrass? Because it’s a symbol of the Eucharist.
In our rabbit holes, I’m still navigating Alpha Gal Syndrome. In connection with that I had to get rid of all of my makeup products and switched to a vegan clean line without gelatin and glycerine from meat. With help from Anna at Ulta, I purchased BeautyCounter. I like the line very much and don’t itch as badly now.
Carol found another new Lost Lady of Garden Writing, Daisy Thomson Abbott. I think she should write a novel with Daisy as the heroine. She had a very interesting life.
That’s a wrap for this week. Please go listen for more details. We hope you all have cottages of content this holiday season.
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Yes, there is a David Suchet episode of Halloween Party, and I understand it is quite different from the movie version, A Haunting in Venice. I've got the movie version marked to watch in January. I'm sorry to hear about your Alpha-gal situation; I dread getting it myself since one of my neighbors has had it. So the tick that carries it is here in north MS as well as where you live.
Dee, I have a prediction. I believe Masha will not use the heated cat bed. But she will love sleeping on your husband‘s heated blanket.😻 Hope it still keeps her out of the plants! June