We have recently updated our website, and now are hosting our blog here:
http://mountaingardensherbs.com/index.php/blog/
You can find information on plant sales, workshops, and regular updates on our new blog!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Weekend at the Asheville Herb Festival
We had a lot of fun this weekend at the Asheville Herb Festival! We sold quite a few plants, and bought and traded for many others, including tea, curry, and Vietnamese Cilantro plants. It's great to meet and connect with other herb growers, and to learn what customers want to grow.
For more information on the herb festival: http://ashevilleherbfestival.com/
For more information on the herb festival: http://ashevilleherbfestival.com/
Becca amidst the many plants we labelled for the sale. |
By Sunday, our booth was emptying out! |
A rare shot of me, Kate, Mountain Gardens Intern/Blogger. |
Swarming bees
Bee colonies will, if healthy, sooner or later outgrow their hive.
Beekeepers can accommodate their bees by adding supers, or extra levels to the bee hive boxes. Another option is to split hives. To split a hive, the queen is placed in a new hive, along with workers, some of her brood, and honey. If the split is successful, a new queen will hatch from one of several special queen egg cells.
In nature, bees will swarm from a hive and congregate in a high place, such as a tree, while scouts look for an appropriate new home.
Our bees recently swarmed, in spite of our best efforts to keep them happy at home.
Luckily, we were able to catch most of the swarm, and set them up in a new hive! And, no one was stung in the process.
Beekeepers can accommodate their bees by adding supers, or extra levels to the bee hive boxes. Another option is to split hives. To split a hive, the queen is placed in a new hive, along with workers, some of her brood, and honey. If the split is successful, a new queen will hatch from one of several special queen egg cells.
In nature, bees will swarm from a hive and congregate in a high place, such as a tree, while scouts look for an appropriate new home.
Our bees recently swarmed, in spite of our best efforts to keep them happy at home.
Luckily, we were able to catch most of the swarm, and set them up in a new hive! And, no one was stung in the process.
Ryan and Sean collect the swarm from the top of a tree. |
Just a few of the bees |
Spring Ephemerals
As the name of this category of edibles
implies, they appear and are available for consumption for only a
brief period of time. Solomon's seal shoots are tender and similar
to asparagus, until the plants grow too tall to eat. The leaves of
ramps (wild leeks) are only visible for a few months, before the
leaves die back--though the plant later sends up a flowr. The morel mushroom season lasts a couple of months,
with the morels only appearing after a big rain when the weather is
just right.
Here at Mountain Gardens we have been delighting in harvesting these spring ephemerals, and collecting them for a few local restaurants as well.
A few favorite dishes:
Local farm-fresh eggs stir-fried with bamboo shoots,
fiddlehead ferns, nettle leaves, and ramps
Nettle pesto with ramps, fiddleheads, and Solomon's Seal
Morels sauteed in butter
Rabbit stew
Nettle pesto with ramps, fiddleheads, and Solomon's Seal
Morels sauteed in butter
Rabbit stew
These spring wild foods are growing in
popularity. Nettle pesto was recently highlighted as a delicacy on
an NPR culinary radio program. The Mountain Express, Asheville's
weekly newspaper, devoted several articles in April to ramps. Like American ginseng, ramps are threatened due to
over-harvesting. In Yancey County, it is possible to drive down the
highway and see men selling large bunches of ramps for $2 from the hoods of their cars. Ramps are
a prized traditional local delicacy, often the first harbinger of
spring. If ramps are pulled out with the roots, however, the plants
are killed. We harvest them sustainably, leaving the roots intact so
that the plant remains. It can take a ramp plant up to seven years
to create seeds, since they grow so briefly each year. We are
growing ramps and other native forest plants here at Mountain Gardens
to help preserve some of these plants and to encourage their
cultivation. We have native edible and medicinal plants that we sell in our nursery (check our
website for availability http://www.mountaingardensherbs.com/).
Gourmet dinner: hasta shoots, morel mushrooms, Solomon's seal shoots, and ramps |
Gourmet again featuring giant dryad saddle mushroom, Solomon's seal, ramps, and magenta Lamb's quarters |
Giant morel! |
Ryan using special stingless nettle harvesters (designed by Joe Hollis) |
Monday, April 9, 2012
Upcoming Workshops at Mountain Gardens
Topics covered to include:
Identification, ecology, cultivation and uses of
edible, medicinal
and otherwise useful species.
At Mountain Gardens hundreds of species are displayed in a Paradise Garden setting and in the immediately adjacent Pisgah National Forest most of the major native medicinal and edible herbs can be seen in their natural habitat.
Plants are available for sale in our nursery - come early or stay late to shop.
and otherwise useful species.
At Mountain Gardens hundreds of species are displayed in a Paradise Garden setting and in the immediately adjacent Pisgah National Forest most of the major native medicinal and edible herbs can be seen in their natural habitat.
Plants are available for sale in our nursery - come early or stay late to shop.
Dates: Monday,
April 16 and again Sunday, April 29
1-5pm Cost: $50
1-5pm Cost: $50
Course location:
Celo, - near Burnsville, approx. 1 hour NE of Asheville
Visit our website for pictures, directions and a schedule of
Celo, - near Burnsville, approx. 1 hour NE of Asheville
Visit our website for pictures, directions and a schedule of
upcoming workshops
on wasabi cultivation,
Chinese medicinal
herbs, perennial vegetables,
tonic / longevity
herbs & preparations
sacred and magical
plants
www.mountaingardensherbs.com
joehollisherbs@gmail.com
(828) 675-5664
joehollisherbs@gmail.com
(828) 675-5664
Friday, April 6, 2012
How Does Our Garden Grow?
Lotus seedlings |
Oca and mashua tubers |
Wasabi |
Trillium |
Happy pollinator |
Jack in the pulpit |
Vegetable starts, cold frame thrown aside to let in the sun! |
Flame Azalea |
Thursday, April 5, 2012
April Showers bring...Mushrooms!
Here at Mountain Gardens we are experiencing a bit of mushroom mania. We have enjoyed harvesting shiitakes and oyster mushrooms from our mushroom logs, and found a few choice specimens of morels in the wild. (One morel, divided between 6 interns, makes one tasty morsel each!)
We have been busy inoculating mushroom logs with a mix of
shiitake mushroom spawn (mycellium immersed in sawdust. Different mushrooms grow well in different kinds of wood. For the shiitakes, we used oak logs.
With logs pre-cut, this day's process began with drilling holes in the logs. Our two battery powered drills ran down mid-process, and we briefly reverted to the hand-powered drill. Luckily, our neighbor Keenan was home to lend us his electric drill, and our newly updated 1K solar system could run the drill! (Thanks Keenan!)
Once the drilling is complete, the spawn is inserted in the holes. Soybean or bee's wax is painted over the holes to keep the spawn inside, and unwanted fungus out.
In about 6 months, we will have a new crop of shiitakes to enjoy. Luckily, we already have mushroom logs producing from previous inoculations, so we are not mushroom-less while we wait!
With logs pre-cut, this day's process began with drilling holes in the logs. Our two battery powered drills ran down mid-process, and we briefly reverted to the hand-powered drill. Luckily, our neighbor Keenan was home to lend us his electric drill, and our newly updated 1K solar system could run the drill! (Thanks Keenan!)
Once the drilling is complete, the spawn is inserted in the holes. Soybean or bee's wax is painted over the holes to keep the spawn inside, and unwanted fungus out.
In about 6 months, we will have a new crop of shiitakes to enjoy. Luckily, we already have mushroom logs producing from previous inoculations, so we are not mushroom-less while we wait!
Sean hand drilling holes in the log! |
Innoculation |
Ryan melts wax on the Rocket Stove to apply to the log. |
Covering the holes with wax. |
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