The Sage Thymes, Jan 2001

Volume 10, Issue 1, January 2001

The Black Swamp Herb Socity, with Gardens at the Wood County Historical Center

Will we all Become Sages?

The herb of the year is sage, Salvia officinalis, and perhaps this year we will all become sages ourselves:
Sage in the way we garden
Sage in the joys of deadheading
Sage in the ways of compost creation
Sage in the ways of each plant we cultivate
Sage in the ways we care for and use our tools
Sage in the ways we share and enjoy our garden tasks
Sage in the ways we use our bodies as we cultivate our gardens
Sage in the ways we reach out to each other and those who visit our gardens
Sage in thinking about Beatrix Potter as we contemplate rabbit damage
Sage in the ways of insects friendly and unfriendly to our cause
Sage in loving the garden when there is too much sun or rain
Sage in recognizing the complexity and simplicity of each plant
Sage from reading and reading and reading from our library
Sage in conquering our unique watering system
Sage in the nature of each of our gardens
Sage in the almost infinite variety of sages
Sage from learning from each other
Sage in learning all gardens are one
Sage in the fme art of pruning
Sage in cooking with herbs
Sage in water gardening
Sage in the herbal arts
Sage in nomenclature
Sage in crafting

Born Again Ponds

Jean Gamble’s generosity, support from the Historical Society, leadership from Wood County Park District, aid from WC Maintenance and help from a local company will bring life to water.

The ponds behind the Herb Gardens are an unsightly mess and draw visitors like magnets who gaze in wonder at the green clad murky waters surrounded by an apple orchard. Originally constructed as ice ponds, which were harvested each year, the ponds are full of generations of fallen apples and home to a few turtles. We have watched mother ducks fruitlessly try to raise young, but these are not waters to sustain life. They soon will be.

Member Jean Gamble has donated a fountain that will aerate the waters. Wood County Parks District and Maintenance will do necessary electrical work and installation. Don Schooner of Inspired by Nature, Inc. has developed a plan so microbes will clean up the water. The Wood County Historical Society has budgeted money for the microbes and a total of 20 AquaMats. The Aqua-Mats will support our future water garden. Start thinking aquatic herbs!!

Cooking with Herbs

Macaroni with Tomato & Rosemary

Macccheroni al Pomodoro e Rosmarino

3 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter, diced
2 oz. bacon, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped
1/2 lb. ground beef
1 3/4 lb. canned plum tomatoes
1 cup beef stock
1/4 cup red wine
12 oz. macaroni
1 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a heavy pan with half the butter; add bacon, garlic and rosemary, and cook over medium heat until golden. Add the ground beef, mix to seperate the pieces and brown. Season with salt and pepper. Drain the tomatoes and add to the pan.

When the sauce has reduced, pour in the stock and add the wine. Simmer until the sauce has reduced by half. Cover with a lid and simmer very gently for another 40 minutes, adding hot water if the sauce dries out.

Cook the macaroni in plenty of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain the pasta, put it in a heated serving bowl and add the prepared sauce, remaining butter, and the Parmesan. Mix well and serve at once.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 10 min. Cooking time: 1 hour

From: Tuscan Food & Folklore by Jeni Wright

Sweet Red Pepper Soup

Acquacotta con Peperoni

(Acquacotta means “cooked water,” a traditonal soup that takes its name from the days when it included little more than a few vegetables, boiled in water and poured over slices of stale bread. This is a more extravagant modem version.)

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
2 red peppers, cored, deseeded, and cut into very thin strips
2 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon of flour
3 3/4 cups vegetable or chicken stock or water
1 teaspoon sugar
2 eggs
4 thick slices of bread
salt and pepper
chopped flat-leaf parsley to garnish

Heat the oil in a large heavy saucepan; add onion, celery and red peppers and cook gently, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes until softened.

Add the tomatoes, garlic, and flour and stir well to mix. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring, then pour in the stock and bring to a boil. Add sugar and salt and pepper to taste; half cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes.

Whisk the eggs in a bowl, then whisk in a ladelful or two of the hot soup. Pour this mixture into the soup and heat very gently without boiling, stirring all the time. Taste for seasoning.

Place a slice of bread in the bottoms of 4 soup plates, ladle the soup over and garnish with parsley.

Preparation time: 15 min. – Cooking time 30 min.

Old Home Christmas Revisited

More than a fund-raiser

Happy to report that every member who was in good health and in Wood County managed to work at least one shift or set up during Old Home Christmas. Thank you!

Particular thanks to Harriet Rosebrock who chaired the event, and spent hours of her own time doing solo sewing and gluing. She also worked with small groups as we tried for the assembly line effect.

Special thanks to Kathy Hicks who headed up the food division. For the first time we had a variety of blends for cooking and baking. They were close to a sell out as members came back to pick up packets of a particular blend and found they were all gone.

We had a first ever “spice in” when a group met at the Historical Center and spent an afternoon measuring and blending and packaging and sneezing. Hopefully these blends can become a new “annual tradition” to be associated with the group. They will join little decorated trees, Aromawraps, and catnip mice as standard items to be associated with the Black Swamp Herb Society.

We thought members would be interested in a general breakdown of the sale.

• Taxable items $1,516.
• General $405.
• (Included mug rugs, candles, soaps, etc.)
• Ornaments $221.
• Wreaths $331.
• Aromawraps $250.
• Sachets, Travel Buddies $149.
• Trees $137.
• Pillows $23.
• Nontaxable items $978
• Foodstuffs $595.
• Raffle $383.
• Gross Total $2,495.
• Expenses $631.
• Sales Tax $91.
• Profit $1,771.

This is a pleasing final number. Our current bank balance stands at $6,481., more than $200 higher than last year at this time.

Considering the way we spent money last year this is very satisfactory. We are not a money accumulating organization – it is not a stated goal anywhere! We bought gardeners any plant they asked for, spent lavishly on soil amendments, started to seriously add to our tool collection.

A major expense was the publication of the Gardening Manual with a copy for each member, a copy in the Historical Center Office, and a plastic page covered copy that will have a permanent home in the Chicken Coop for easy reference for people with muddy hands.

In 2000 we voted to hold back $1,000 in case the money allocated by the Historical Society was not sufficient for the Chicken Coop renovation. It will not likely be needed, but we must keep this in mind. Marna and the “Committee of the Interior” also have $500 they may spend.

The Old Home Christmas shop is more than a fund raiser for our group. It connects us with one of the major events of the Historical Center. It puts us in touch with a wide variety of people, and has proven to be a wonderful way to recruit new members. With the Christmas store we are of service to ourselves, our organization and the public. Money is incidental! (Almost.)
Members like to think of themselves as versatile learners. Projects and workshops are created not only to help us get ready for “the selling season” but to learn new skills, and to try out some new crafts. Please let us know if you are interested in leading a workshop focused on something you are in the process of learning. We can learn together.

Herbs can be defined as “The useful plants.” We are always striving to find new uses for our herbs and Old Home Christmas helps us to focus.

Some things we make available year round. Aromawraps and catnip mice are prime examples, and they are always available for purchase by members and the public. We get a surprising number of phone calls throughout the year.

All members are urged to clip ideas they see as real possibilities for us to make. Already this year materials has been purchased to make aprons (we sold out) and luxury eye covers ready to be filled with flax seed and lavender later in the year. When weather is dreary it is a good time to do some sewing, or whatever, so things are ready to be filled and stuffed and decorated when the season arrives. (Mice and Aromawraps and bag-a-bags were all “off gardening months” projects.)

Book Corner

No word on new library books, but here are some books to think Ebout reading.

From our Ethnobotanist: Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers: The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation by Stephen Harrod Buhner

Included are three Sage Ale recipes from 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

Cancer Salves: A Botanical Approach to Treatment by Ingrid Naim

Sage is not mentioned in the index but sin is.

Chicken Coop

Cleared out and in an amazing basement

On a cold but beautiful day in December a small group of BSHS members met with a small army of Community Service Workers ready and eager to help us out.

Curator Carole lead us to a small outer door in the main building which lead to our temporary home. It is clean, dry and even warm. The peels of paint from the ceiling are a bit alarming, but this is a cozy refuge. Within an hour shelving had been moved and set up and everything was transferred and in its place. We even got advice on how to use up the excess pine cones we have.

Rule of the future: supplies must be kept in SEE THROUGH plastic boxes. Donations anyone? We are still looking for freebie cupboards too.

There had been hopes about getting work done in December, but the early onset of winter made that impossible. Wood County Park District and Maintenance are teaming up to do the majority of the work. The old floor will be jack hammered up and a new cement floor poured. The electrical work is being contracted out, and possibly the wall board. The level of support from other organizations is amazing and gratifying.

Thank you Wood County!

Budget 2001

(This is included here for historical puposes only.)

Because of income from Christmas sales we are doing the budget Jan. – Jan.

This is a proposed budget based on last year’s budget and expenditures.

• Income: Dues $800.
• Christmas $1800.
• Auction $400.
• Events $200.
• Total $4000.
• Expenses: Garden/tools $1400.
• Library $250.
• Member Services $200.
• Programs $200.
• Publications $700.
• Insurance $110.
• Sales Tax $140.
• Christmas Shop $600.
• Total $3600.
• Capital for Chicken Coop $1500.
• (Voted in 2000 none spent)
• Current Balance $6482.

Treasurer’s goal is to keep minimum of $2500 balance in our account.

By Law Changes Proposed

Article III Membership – (We have never voted on Budget Year of January to January as it is written.) “Budget year is January 1 though December 31.”

Article IV Dues and Fiscal Year should be changed to Article IV Dues

Section I Annual dues of $15 should be changed to Section I Annual dues of $20 Dues are to cover the cost of the newsletter, and with the cost of printing and raised postal rates -we lose money.

Article IV (e) (2) change “audited annually” to be reviewed annually by two or more members of the budget committee.

A true audit is not practical.

Sage – Herb of the Year 2001

A native of the northern Mediterranean coast, sage has long been associated with wisdom, longevity, and even immortality. The genus name Salvia is derived from the Latin salvere, which means “to be in good health,” “to cure,” or “salvation.” The Romans revered sage, gathering it only through elaborate ceremony.

Although there are more than 750 varieties of sage, common sage (Salvia officinalis) remains the culinary variety of choice. There is a type with large, broad leaves and another with small leaves and dwarf growth. Also, meriting attention is golden sage (S. officinalis ‘Aurea’). with a mild flavor and showy golden leaves. Purple sage (S. o. ‘Pupurea’) boasts a delightful flavor and aroma. The deep purple leaves are striking as a garnish and quite lovely in tea as well as cooking. There is also a triple-variegated common sage, with leaves of pink, cream, and green, that is favored for its decorative quality.

A Sage Year

Last year, the year of Rosemary, page 5 of this publication was devoted to the many uses, the folklore and the cultivation of the herb of remembrance.

Your editor will try to do the same for sage, Salvia this year. Clippings, recipes, tidbits of all sort would be welcome contributions. The genus Salvia is such a huge group that it should not be hard to do.

Sage Risotto

Risotto Alla Salvia

4 1/ 2 cups vegetable stock
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
12 oz. arborio rice
1/4 cup dry white wine
20 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons light cream
1 ounce Gruyere cheese, grated
salt and pepper
a few sage sprigs, to garnish

Warm the stock in a pan over very low heat and gradually bring to a boil. Heat the oil and butter in a large pan and add the shallot. Fry over medium heat for about 4 minutes until golden but not brown. Gradually add the rice, stir well, and continue to cook for a few minutes.

Add the wine and simmer until it has completely evaporated, then add the boiling stock a little at a time and cook, stirring frequently for about 25 minutes, until the stock has all been absorbed and the rice is creamy. Taste and season as necessary.

At the end of the cooking time, add the sage leaves, cream and cheese. Turn off the heat, cover and leave to rest for a few minutes before serving, garnished with sage.

From Tuscan Food and Folklore

Cooking with Shallots

Shallots are mild enough to be used uncooked in salads or, when cooked, in any dish that would be enhanced with a delicate onion flavor. Most often, shallots are used to flavor fish, quiche, soups, sauces, and butters. Take care that shallots do not brown while cooking, as this turns them bitter.