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
2. Garden journal queries
3. Research permaculture
4. Garden visualization & plan
5. Make garden markers
6. Work outside!
7. Housework

1. Make Persian Spiced Apples: 

You might like to make this exotic treat from St. Dorothy's homeland.

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 queries:

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,
• more abundantly productive of food, 
• AND easier to keep up with?

3. Research permaculture:
I've been involved on the periphery with climate change activism, and am discerning now how to step more fully into this work. One thing that I'm curious about is the permaculture movement, so I looked up the website Permaculture Solutions for Climate Change. Their statement:

"Permaculture ethics direct us to create abundance, share it fairly, and limit overconsumption in order to benefit the whole. Healthy, just, truly democratic communities are a potent antidote to climate change."

4. 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.
• Prune the hawthorns to get more sun in the front yard.
• Put in a Hügelkultur bed this year! Work toward a "food forest"!
• Find a spot for 2 plum trees, new rhubarb, camus, and sages.
• Plant heavy-duty ground cover and steppers near the back porch.

5. Make garden markers:

I rotate most of my vegetable beds every year, and on St. Dorothy Day I mark the beds.

Last year I made some garden markers from wooden clothes pins and sticks. I found this idea at Hometalk.


Supplies: Wooden clothes pins, sticks, permanent markers

1- Write names of plants on clothes pins.

2- Clip to a stick! Couldn't be easier!


6. Work Outside:

Permelia and Madeline in the snow.

It's been cold this week, with a dusting of snow, so my intentions are to step outside each day to do one small garden thing:

1- Prune the roses.
2- Fill my new hummingbird feeder.
3- Reseed one small patch of lawn in the back (when the temperatures rise a little).
4- Plan a location for my Hügelkultur bed and stake it out.

7. Housework:
February is 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 start in the bedroom:

• Clear out my sewing basket, recycle some old projects, and finish some mending
• Throw out some papers and notebooks
• Donate a few more books, and some old clothes