Have I ever told you how much I love bee balm? Oh, I'm sure that I have. Have you ever bent down and taken a whiff of its honey blossom? It's a unique looking plant too with fuzzy tentacles and sea urchin looking blooms. It's no wonder the bees are attracted to the plant.
Window sill terracotta herbs filled with thyme and lavender. Thai basil, a favorite basil around here. Has a unique almost cinnamon flavor in addition to the pungent basil.
I've told you how I gather summer blooms to dry and use for seed haven't I? Brown Eye Susan's, Bachelor Buttons, Cone Flowers, and especially Zinnia, all grow wonderfully from seed. You can dry the blooms too. The Peony I harvested in upside down bundles of four in the dark closet have dried to perfection.
Soon the zinnia's will be filling the garden with their candy colored blooms. Once they begin getting tattered, I'll snap off the blooms and allow them to dry. I dry them in a old wooden bowl.
Big, fat chunky zinnia blooms, plucked and assembled, tossed like a summer salad. One of my favorite things in the world. Less is more... Next year's blooms and a soulful story wrapped. My mom was an Elvis fan and once told me about how Mrs. Presley, once poor and frugal, harvested her marigold blooms so that she would have flowers the following season. Now every time I snap a zinnia, I think of Mrs. Presley.
While summer has opened her door and ushered in some hot sultry sunny days I've been working outside early in the morning to beat the heat and then I come inside where it's cool and have one of these frosty beverages that will leave your taste buds oh so summer happy!
I noticed several variations of the recipe, but this one only needs two ingredients and trust me, you're not going to miss anything. I'm really digging fresh frozen pineapple, coconut milk and a tablespoon of raw honey. I prepare the summer treat in my juicer.
1 cup of fresh frozen pineapple
1 cup of organic coconut milk
1 Tablespoon of raw honey
The kids will freak out over and over!
Enjoy caring and sharing summer days.
With all good wishes,
Jill 00
