Sharing Flowers, Sharing Stories

Season 5, Episode 50, October 25, 2023

and

Oct 24, 2023

Dee’s ‘Blonde Ambition’ blue grama grass (*Bouteloua gracilis* ‘Blonde Ambition’

Our episode this week covers topics ranging from passalong plants to fermenting vegetables to rice, and I even offer some fashion advice!

But before we get started down through our topics, I’ll share one of our quotes from this episode which made us laugh because it was written a long time ago but is probably better advice today than it was back in the day. Here goes:

“We are learning to do a great many clever things…The next great task will be to learn not to do them.” - G.K. Chesterton

G.K. Chesterton died in 1936, so this quote was written before then. But exactly when was it written and in what article or book? Of course, I went looking for it.

And I found it in a book called Varied Types, published in 1903. That quote is much older than we thought!

The next sentence after that quote caught my attention too: “If that time comes, assuredly we cannot do better than turn once more to the memory of the great Queen who for seventy years followed through every possible tangle distraction the fairy thread of common sense.”

Oh my! If I had only looked all that up before we recorded, we could have debated what a “fairy thread of common sense” was and do garden fairies have common sense today?

Well, lost opportunities and all that. We still had some great discussions.

In our favorites, Dee talked about her 'Blonde Ambition' blue grama grass, which she featured in a recent Instagram reel. I talked about my autumn crocuses blooming now.

An autumn crocus blooming where I didn’t plant it.

I wrote an article for Family Handyman about autumn crocuses and colchicums, if you want more info about these fall-blooming bulbs. I forgot to mention that little detail when we recorded.

Finally, we got to our flowers, veggies, and all the best dirt.

For our flower topic, we talked about what plant starts people might leave with after visiting our gardens. This reminded us of the book, Passalong Plants, by Steve Bender and Felder Rushing (2002) (Amazon), which we both enjoyed when it first came out over 20 years ago.

Of course, we want to know what you dig up to share out of your garden. Leave a comment and let us know!

We sometimes think we’ve said all we have to say about growing and eating vegetables, but then a book comes along and gives us some new ideas. So this week, we discussed a new book for an ancient process for preserving food: Pickle and Ferment: Preserve Your Produce & Brew Delicious Probiotic Drinks, by Susan Crowther and Julie Fallone (Amazon). I think I will try it with red onions, though I’ll have to buy them because I ate all the ones I grew in my garden.

On the bookshelf, Dee found a book at a vintage store called The Book Lover’s Cookbook: Recipes Inspired by Celebrated Works of Literature, and the Passages That Feature Them, by Shaunda Kennedy Wenger and Janet Jensen (2003) (Amazon Link). There are some interesting recipes in it, including one for bacon and prunes from Little Women, Dee’s favorite fiction book. Please encourage Dee to try that one because… bacon…

Dee also found our dirt which is all about the Lundberg Rice Farm.

Down in our rabbit holes, I offer some fashion advice, trying out some pants and a jacket sent to me by Duluth Trading Company. I love the pants, especially for fall gardening chores. They also kindly included a copy of The Midwest Survival Guide: How We Talk, Love, Work, and Eat… Everything With Ranch, by Charlie Behrens. (Amazon). Now, in true Midwest fashion (see what I did there), tell your folks I “says” to buy these pants and watch out for deer!

Then Dee shared about a pop-up shop by Blooming Vintage OK. Check out their Instagram page!

Whew, that was a lot. Thanks for getting here to the end.

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