China Bayles' Book of Days (57 page)

—GEORGE ELIOT, THE MILL ON THE FLOSS

OCTOBER 3

There is apparently no truth to old tales that the fiery horseradish (
Cochlearia armoracia
) is so named because it was once used to cure horses of colds, or because it made a good seasoning for horse meat.
Horse
is used as an adjective before a number of plants to indicate a large, strong or coarse kind. Other examples include the “horse cucumber,” “horse mint” and “horse plum.”

—ROBERT HENDRICKSON, LADYBUGS, TIGER LILIES
& WALLFLOWERS

Horseradish: Rooting for Flavor

If you have horseradish in your garden, it’s time to think about harvesting your crop. Dig the roots carefully, cut off the foliage about an inch above the crown, and store them in a cool, dark place. Process by grating or grinding, mixing with vinegar (¼ cup vinegar to 1 cup ground horseradish), and packing into small jars. Ground horseradish will keep in the refrigerator for 4-6 weeks, or may be frozen.

HORSERADISH IN THE MEDICINE CABINET

Like mustard, horseradish has long been recognized for its medicinal properties: stimulant, laxative, diuretic, and antiseptic. The juice was used to relieve coughs and colds; a syrup treated sore throats; and the root itself staved off scurvy. (Horseradish is a source of vitamin C.) It was also used as a vermifuge. William Coles [1656] observes: “Of all things given to children for worms, horseradish is not the least, for it soon killeth and expelleth them.” (The worms, not the children.) The leaves were used as a rubifacient for sciatica and as a compress to relieve toothache.

HORSERADISH ON THE MENU

Horseradish is hailed as a spicy sauce for meats or fish. But the zippy flavor makes it a natural for other dishes, as well. Try adding a spoonful of grated horseradish to coleslaw, beans, chicken salad, deviled eggs, meatballs—the possibilities are endless. Of course, it works as a dip, too—a healthy, versatile, all-round good-for-you herb.

ZIPPY HORSERADISH DIP

1 pint nonfat sour cream
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
6 tablespoons grated horseradish
2 teaspoons finely chopped green onion
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
parsley, for garnish

Combine all ingredients in mixer bowl, with mixer on slow speed. Refrigerate 1 hour. Garnish with parsley and serve with vegetables for dipping.

If the oak wears his leaves in October, you may expect a hard winter.

—GERMAN WEATHER LORE

OCTOBER 4

October’s Theme Garden: A Garden of Old Roses.

Oh, no man knows
Through what wild centuries
Roves back the rose.
—WALTER DE LA MARE, “ALL THAT’S PAST”

Old Rose Charm

Remember your grandmother’s roses? Large, loose, floppy blossoms, delightfully fragrant—and very different from today’s neat, compact, scentless roses. A garden organized around a collection of antique roses will not only be beautiful, but will take you back in time, as well: “through what wild centuries,” as de la Mare says. Here are five old roses, representative of the five classes of important European roses: Alba, Centifolia, Damask, Gallica, and Moss. Each is cold-hardy, with a spectacular spring bloom, and each one has a past. If roses interest you, perhaps it would be fun (and enlightening) to dig up the stories behind each one.

• Félicité Parmentier, 1834 (Alba). Sweetly scented, delicate pink blossoms, gray-green foliage, and a small bush (4-5’) that is ideal for a smaller garden.

• Autumn Damask, before 1819 (Damask). A repeat bloomer with richly fragrant, ruffled, deep pink flowers. Prized for its superb scent, wonderful in potpourri. Damask roses were brought to Europe from the Middle East during the Crusades; they are named for the Syrian city of Damascus.

• Henri Martin, 1863 (Moss). Crimson buds, fragrant crimson flowers, a prolific spring bloomer. Heat tolerant in my Texas garden. The mosses take their name from the prickly fuzz of the bud.

• Shailer’s Provence, before 1799 (Centifolia). Hundreds of lovely lilac-pink petals, in clusters of three, delightfully scented—the old-fashioned cabbage rose (4-5’).

• Belle Isis, before 1845 (Gallica). Shell-pink, with a strong scent of myrrh, rose, and anise, Belle Isis is a landmark in rose breeding. Gallicas set hips readily, and figure in most medicinal and herbal lore.

Explore the world of old roses:

Growing Old-Fashioned Roses,
by Brent G. Dickerson

Roses: Old Roses and Species Roses,
by Paul Starosta

The Love of Roses: From Myth to Modern Culture
, by Graham Rose and Peter King

To pickle Rosebuds: Pick Rosebuds and put them in an earthen Pipkin, with white wine Vinegar and Sugar and so you may use Cowslips, Violets or Rosemary Flowers.

—MURRELL’S TWO BOOKS OF COOKERIES & CARVING, 1650

OCTOBER 5

We lay under our tent, having pitched it more prudently with reference to the wind and the flame, and the usual huge fire blazed in front. Supper was eaten off a large log, which some freshet had thrown up. This night we had a dish of arbor-vitae, or cedar-tea, which the lumberer sometimes uses when other herbs fail: “A quart of arbor-vitae, To make him strong and mighty.” But I had no wish to repeat the experiment. It had too medicinal a taste for my palate.

—HENRY DAVID THOREAU, THE MAINE WOODS, 1847

The Tree of Life

Arborvitae (
Thuja occidentalis
) may not have pleased Thoreau’s palate, but it was certainly a life-preserving tree for a great many Native Americans. As a decoction, infusion, poultice, tincture, or salve, it was used to treat rheumatism and menstrual disorders, (Algonquin, Quebec); headaches and infections (Chippewa); urinary and bladder ailments (Cree, Woodlands); cuts, bruises, sores, fever, stimulant (Iroquois); and swellings (Menominee). Many tribes used it in their sacred rituals, and burned it as a purifying and exorcising smudge. Others employed the bark and fiber in the making of baskets, tools, weapons, and canoes. The leaves were used as insect repellent, and the bark as a tanning agent.

The first news of arborvitae’s health-giving properties came to Europe via the report of French explorer Jacque Cartier, who was taught by an Indian guide to use the decoction to treat his men, who were suffering from scurvy. Vitamin C was not yet known, but the Indians understood the therapeutic nature of this important tree. Scientists have learned that one of its constituents is thujone (also found in artemisia, lavender, sage, and juniper); a stimulant, thujone acts on the heart and central nervous system. Today, arborvitae oil is used in insect repellents, soaps, and room deodorizers.

Want to grow it? It thrives in Zones 3-7, in both tall and dwarf cultivars. “Prostrata” (a prostrate cultivar) is good in rock gardens; “Little Gem” is a hardy dwarf; and “Globosa,” a globe form, grows to five feet in diameter. Plant it now or in the spring, give it plenty of room, water deeply during the first year, and watch for bagworms (its only serious pest). If you don’t want to repeat Thoreau’s experience with arborvitae tea, try using the fresh bark and needles to brew an invigorating tea to add to your bathwater.

Aromatherapist Jeanne Rose (
The Aromatherapy Book
) mentions the scent of arborvitae as useful in smoothing transitions and grieving loss, which may cause both emotional or physical disharmonies of the heart.

Read more about the Tree of Life:

Leaves: In Myth, Magic & Medicine,
by Alice Thoms Vitale

OCTOBER 6

The Tale of the Priscilla Hollyhock

Flowers tell stories, and stories can teach us something important about ourselves. This story teaches me about faith and hope and renewal. My sixth-grade teacher read it in the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
and told our class about it—about the handful of hollyhock seeds that came to Southern Illinois in the pocket of a slave-child named Priscilla.

Priscilla’s trek had been a long one. Born on a Georgia plantation, she had been sold to a Cherokee chief. Shortly thereafter, the Indian band was evicted from their homes and forced to take the terrible journey that came to be called the Trail of Tears. On Dutch Creek, near Jonesboro, Illinois, a wealthy Southern Illinois farmer named Barzilla Silkwood encountered the Indians, who were being sent under military escort to Oklahoma. Priscilla, by that time about 12 years old, was with them. With surprise, Silkwood recognized her as the very same child, an orphan, whom he had seen earlier working as a house servant on a Georgia plantation. Moved by her plight, he bought her—for a thousand dollars in gold, it is said—but not as a slave. He freed her and took her to his inn near Mulkeytown, Illinois, to join the fifteen other orphaned children to whom he and his wife had given a home. Priscilla lived at the Silkwood Inn until she died at the age of 75 and was buried in the Silkwood family plot.

And the hollyhocks? They are a small variety, almost a dwarf, the flowers a dark-veined rose-pink, the leaves dark green. Priscilla had brought the seeds from the plantation where the little hollyhocks had blossomed, to her home with the Cherokee Indians, and then on the Trail of Tears. In 1838, when she made her new home with the Silkwoods, she planted the hollyhocks in the garden, where they have flourished ever since. In 1950, to complete the journey, some of Priscilla’s seeds were gathered and sent to the daughter of the last chief of the Oklahoma Cherokees, where they were planted around the Indians’ homes—the gift of a little girl who had faith in a flower.

Read more about Priscilla’s journey, and about hollyhocks:

“Priscilla,”
St. Louis Post Dispatch
, April 8, 1953, by John W. Allen, Curator of the Southern Illinois University Museum

A Contemplation Upon Flowers: Garden Plants in Myth and Literature,
by Bobby J. Ward

The Hollyhock, first brought to this country from China, was once eaten as a pot-herb, though it is not particularly palatable. Its flowers are employed medicinally for their emollient, demulcent and diuretic properties, which make them useful in chest complaints.

—MRS. GRIEVE, MODERN HERBAL, 1931

OCTOBER 7

In some years, this is Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, a day of fasting and reflection.

Break-Fast

Fasting, whether for religious or health reasons, can be an important part of our lives. People who fast regularly suggest that pre-fast meals should be simple and nourishing, low in carbohydrates and salt. And the break-fast meal is also important, to replenish both the body and spirit. This lemon-herb-egg soup is traditional throughout the Mediterranean region.

EGG SOUP WITH LEMON AND HERBS

½ cup uncooked rice or orzo
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
3 teaspoons parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons dill, chopped
6 egg yolks
1 cup lemon juice

In a medium pot, bring the broth to a boil. Add rice or orzo and cook until done, adding herbs in the last few minutes. In a medium bowl, thoroughly beat the egg yolks. Add the lemon juice slowly, continuing to beat. Then very gradually add about 2 cups of the hot broth to the eggs, beating constantly to incorporate and prevent curdling. Add the egg-lemon-broth mixture to the soup, stirring. Serve hot.

ORANGE-MINT FRUIT SOUP

3 cups hot water
½ cup raisins
¼ cup small pitted prunes
¼ cup dried apricots
¼ cup uncooked quick-cooking tapioca
1 cup apple juice
1 cup orange juice
1 can Mandarin orange sections
2 tablespoons snipped mint
yogurt
nutmeg, sprigs of mint, orange peels for garnish

In large saucepan, over medium heat, combine water, dried fruit, and tapioca. Stir until smooth. Reduce heat and simmer 30-35 minutes, until the tapioca is transparent and the soup is thick and clear. Add apple juice, orange juice, Mandarin orange sections, and mint and heat to desired serving temperature. Serve with dollops of yogurt, dusted with nutmeg and garnished with sprigs of mint and orange peel. Serves 6.

OCTOBER 8