St. Dorothy's Day

St. Dorothy lived in Caesarea in central Turkey, around the year 313 AD. She was tried for refusing to worship idols, and a mocking lawyer asked her to send him fruit from the garden of Paradise. In response to her prayer, an angel appeared and presented three roses and three apples. 

She wrote: 

"And then said the holy virgin with a glad semblant: Do to me what torment thou wilt, for I am all ready to suffer it for the love of my spouse Jesu Christ, in whose garden full of delices I have gathered roses, spices, and apples."

Because of this, she is the patron of gardeners. Also of brides, and brewers.
 
Agenda Today:

1. Make Persian Spiced Apples: 

You might like to make this exotic treat to honor St. Dorothy.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 Tbsp. dried rose petals
• 1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ground coriander 
•  1 c. pitted dates
•  1/2 c. pecans
•  4 large tart apples
•  1/2 c. sugar
•  3/4 c. flour
•  1/2 tsp. salt
•  1/2 c. brown sugar
•  1/2 c. butter

Yield: Serves 6- 

1- First make the Persian spice mix-- Grind up the rose petals with a mortar and pestle (I found it easiest to cut them up first with nail scissors). 


Mix the rose petals with the remaining spices and set aside.

2- Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a 1-1/2 quart casserole. 

3- Cut dates in half crosswise. Chop the pecans. 

4- Peel and slice the apples. Combine the apples, pecans, and dates in the casserole and stir in white sugar and 1 tsp. of the spice mix. 




5- In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt, brown sugar and 1-1/2 tsp. of the remaining spice mix. Cut in butter until the mixture is well mixed. 






6- Spoon topping over the fruit, and bake for 35 minutes or until apples are tender.

2. Garden Journal:

Each year on St. Dorothy Day I begin to fantasize about changes in my garden. I get out my seed catalogs and notes from last year, and start to dream about which new plants to grow, and which beds to plant them in. 

First I ask myself-

How can I make my garden 

• a better sanctuary for my family, 
• more comfortable for friends, 
• a greater learning-experience for my art class kids, 
• more mysterious and secluded, 
• more of a visual treat, 
• AND easier to keep up with?

This year I also ask-

• How can I grow as many flowers as possible to bloom for a May wedding?

3. Garden Visualization & Plan:

The winter garden is a blank canvas for visualizing colors, shapes and composition. Today I took a notebook outside, walked around my entire garden once, and examined it in a non-critical way. I wrote down these ideas:

• A protective wall of tall flowers (sweet peas, foxglove, sunflowers, hollyhocks, mullein...) along the west and also the east fences.
• Expand the herb bed upward and downward.
• Prune the hawthorn to get more sun in the front yard.
• Add a patio area near the back porch.

4. Make Garden Markers:

I decided to mark out where some plants will go as spring comes, so I made some garden markers from apple twigs and a milk jug.













Supplies:

• a plastic milk jug
• scissors
• markers (I used oil-based markers that write on anything)
• twigs and branches
• a jackknife
• wire and beads (optional)

1- Rinse out the milk jug and cut it into pieces.

2- Write down the names of the flowers and vegetables you want to plant.

3- Cut some sticks.

4- I attached the names in three ways:

If the end of the stick is thick enough, you can just make a slit with a knife and slide the plastic in.

Or you can make a slit, slide a narrow end in, and wire it closed.

Or you can punch a hole in the plastic and wire it onto the top of the stick.



5. Work Outside:
We are having record rains this week, so my time in the garden is limited. I need to set priorities, and work back and forth between visioning, planning, and actually working in the garden when I get the chance. My goals for early spring are:

1- Prune the apple tree.
2- Remove English Ivy from under the hedge (again).
3- Plant two beds of early blooming flowers: Sweet peas, Love in a Mist, Larkspur, and Poppies.
4- Start some other early flowers indoors.

5. Housework:
February is also a time of clearing away the excess to make room for growth. Clutter might give me the illusion that I have important things to do, but it adds one more layer of chaos and confusion to my life.

Now that I've gotten the mold in my house under control I can concentrate on clearing surfaces, sorting the stuff on my shelves, and donating things I no longer need. I take it one room at a time, and this week I will work in the living room:

• Clear out the china cabinet, sort and re-arrange it.
• Give away some more books.