© Kim Willis - no parts of this newsletter may be used without
permission.
Hi Gardeners
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| Fuchsia Eruption |
The blog is late this week die to the holiday – I was
exhausted when it was over- and some internet problems we had yesterday caused
by the storm Monday evening.
It seems the January thaw has come early. All the snow has pretty much melted. Some sun this morning and 36 degree temps
lured me and Gizzy out for a bit of a walk but the wind was strong and cold so
it was quickly shortened. I was amazed
to see what was still green when the snow melted. Arum
italicum was green and perky looking; the sweet woodruff was also green. My hardy bamboo is still mostly green and the
newly exposed grass is green. I have a
lamium in a container that looks like it did 2 months ago.
Inside my Christmas cacti are blooming away and the
dwarf pomegranate has buds. My braided
Chinese hibiscus is still blooming nicely as is a fuchsia (Eruption). This is the second winter inside for this
small flowered fuchsia and I am surprised how well it blooms inside. The canna’s on the porch are still going strong
and actually putting out new leaves.
Some plants I brought inside are struggling
though. The lemon cypress is browning a
bit. The two sweet potato vines are
straggly looking. One coleus was
dismantled into cuttings. The brug is
still dropping leaves. I’m hoping as the
days get longer they’ll improve.
Michigan struggles with gray gloomy weather in winter and even with supplemental
lighting some plants don’t get quite enough.
We have gained a minute of daylight since the winter
solstice last week. It will inch along a
minute a week or so for a while but soon the speed of the lengthening will
increase. By the end of January we’ll
have almost 10 hours of daylight, 55 more minutes than at solstice. By the end
of March we’ll be up to 12 hours and 42 minutes of daylight.
New plants
I have been getting plant catalogs for weeks now and I
am sure the pace will pick up now the holidays are over. For the next couple of weeks I’ll be
mentioning new plants that caught my eye.
They may be relatively new to the plant trade, or new cultivars
(varieties) of well-loved plants. I hope
I can include photos of many but sometimes copyrights will prevent that and
you’ll have to look them up.
I get a lot of catalogs and email notices about plant
sales because I write about gardening. I
love looking through print catalogs on a cold winters evening. The best print
catalogs are full of handy plant information and can be saved for
reference. I also spend way too many
hours browsing internet plant catalogs. Many companies are moving to on line
catalogs only, as this saves money.
If you would like to get more print catalogs you can
generally send an email request to the nurseries who issue them. Some places charge for print catalogs, but
generally refund the cost when you make an order. On the right side of this blog you’ll find a
page that lists many, many plant and seed nurseries. I am adding to it all the time. There are links you can click on and go right
to the site to request a catalog or browse their on line offerings.
Ever wish you could grow grapes but don’t have room to
try them? Maybe Pixie® Grapes could be your solution. These vines can be grown in a container and
grow only about 20 inches tall. They
produce mini clusters of grapes, starting the first year. They are not cold hardy however and must be
brought inside to a cool room in the winter.
There are 2 varieties, Pinot Meunier Purple and Riesling (white). Find them at R.H Shumway www.rhshumway.com
Monrovia Nurseries is offering through retailers a new
hardy schefflera Schefflera taiwaniana 'Yuan Shan'. This plant has the typical schefflera pinnate
foliage, is evergreen and since it comes from the highest elevations of Taiwan
it’s hardy to planting zone 7. It’s
suitable for partial shade to full sun in the north. Something different for an accent plant or foundation
planting and makes a good container plant.
A new Magnolia soulangeana developed by
North Carolina State University is on the market through J. Frank Schmidt &
Son Co. It’s called Mercury™ magnolia. It features deep pink buds that open to
fragrant lavender pink flowers. The
foliage is reddish in spring, deep green in summer and yellow in fall. It’s hardy to zone 5. Mercury™ has superior
disease and pest resistance and blooms slightly later than other magnolias
which avoids frost damage. Mature
height about 25 feet. You’ll need to
ask for the plant at nurseries as J. Schmidt & Son is wholesale only.
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| Magnolia Mercury J. Frank Schmidt & Company |
Heuchera
‘Primo Black Pearl' is a Proven Winners introduction you’ll be
able to find at many retailers. It has glossy
deep black scalloped foliage, and white flowers for a stunning
combination. Zones 5-8.
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| Cupcake cosmos Pinetree seeds |
Cupcake
cosmos is a new form of cosmos, an easy long blooming
annual. Cupcake has its petals fused and
shaped into a “cup”. Most are a pure
dazzling white but an occasional pink flower will surface. I’m going to try
this – it looks pretty. Seeds are being offered by Pinetree seeds or Park seed https://www.superseeds.com or http://parkseed.com/flowers/
Pepitas
pumpkin
is another thing I intend to try this
year. These small pumpkins, 9-12 pounds,
are beautiful with yellow and green splotches and streaks but they are also
packed full of “naked” or hull-less seeds for snacking on (after roasting). The
vines also have superior disease resistance and were a 2016 All American Vegetable
Selection. 90 days to maturity, seeds offered by Park seed http://parkseed.com
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| Pepitas Pumpkin Park seed |
Cypripedium, Sabine Pastel (Lady’s
Slipper) If you have some spare cash this spring and like woodland gardens you
may want to try this beauty. It’s a rare
white Lady’s Slipper with larger than normal flowers. Zones 5-7 and partial shade. Plants at White
Flower farm are $145.00 each. http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/
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| Sabine Pastel Lady's Slipper White Flower Farm |
Candy
Cane Cocktail™ Rose (Rosa'Meiriansois’PPAF) This rose has swirls of deep pink on white
petals with red edges. It’s a re-blooming shrub rose developed from the Knock
Out® series of roses and has very good disease resistance. It’s hardy to zone 5 and grows on its own
roots. Offered by Star Roses and Plants-
http://www.starrosesandplants.com/
Amaryllis
Alasca® is a gorgeous white double flowered amaryllis that’s being
offered this spring by White Flower Farm. It’s a house plant or hardy in zones
8 and above. http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/
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| Amaryllis Alasca White Flower Farm |
Watermelon
Mini Love F1 is a 2017 All American Selection being
offered by a number of seed companies.
It’s an Asian type watermelon with compact vines suitable for small
gardens or even containers. The melons
are small – a personal sized melon and plants produce about 6 melons per
vine. The melons have thin but very
crack resistant rinds and deep red, juicy sweet flesh. They have a high disease resistant rating.
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| Mini Love |
Look for the Petunia,
Giant Dijon at nurseries this spring or you can buy seeds from Burpees http://www.burpee.com/. I love the huge very yellow ruffled flowers,
sometimes flushed with a bit of pink.
Very vigorous and great for bedding or baskets.
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| Petunia Giant Dijon Burpees |
Tomato
Pink Bumblebee is a flavorful cherry type tomato that’s part
of the Bumblebee Tomato series developed by Artisan Seeds™ and being offered by
Pinetree Seeds https://www.superseeds.com It’s disease and crack resistant, extremely
prolific in fruiting, but richly flavored from its heritage tomato ancestors. This is a deep pink selection.
Cosmos,
Capriola Here’s another
cosmos I really like the looks of and want to try. It’s a semi-dwarf, compact plant loaded with 3’
flowers that are white with red streaks and a red center. Early blooming, and neater looking in the
border than other cosmos, it’s offered by Burpees http://www.burpee.com/
I’ll feature more new plants next week.
Frankincense and Myrrh- the power of spices
and herbs
Throughout time the pursuit of rare and coveted spices
and herbs has led to amazing discoveries, spurred exploration and incited world
changing wars. Fortunes were made and
lost in the trade of spices and herbs. The continent of North America was “discovered”
because people were looking for a shorter, easier trade route to the East, to
gain an advantage in the spice trade. Until rather late in world history spices
and herbs were considered more valuable than gold or other precious minerals.
Frankincense and Myrrh are two “spices” that are
typically associated with Christmas because of the bible mentioning that they
were brought as gifts to the baby Jesus.
What is ironic is that during the early centuries of Christian worship
the burning of incense, the traditional way of using the scents of Frankincense
and Myrrh, was prohibited because it was associated with pagan and Jewish
traditions. It somehow snuck back into
Christian rituals and even now incense is burned in Catholic and Greek orthodox
religious ceremonies.
Frankincense (Boswellia
carteri is the most prominent species of Boswellia used) and myrrh (Commiphora myrrha is the most harvested
species) are both woody plants that grow in the same desolate dry areas of
Northeast Africa where the countries of Ethiopia and Somalia are now located
and along the coast of the Red Sea in Yemen.
There are actually several species of both plants that are harvested,
with some yielding a better product than others.
Frankincense trees grow right on rocks with a special
kind of adhesive roots. Myrrh plants are
typically shrub like. Both plants resist transplanting to more favorable
climates, although it’s been tried since the times of the Romans, with potted
plants appearing in various ancient murals.
Both frankincense and myrrh are harvested by wounding
the trees or shrubs trunks and collecting the sap that oozes out after it has
hardened. It takes a lot of labor and
many months to do this in the inhospitable areas that the plants grow in and
the plants were never terribly abundant, which accounts for the value that was
placed on both spices. The lumps of
resin were graded by their color and purity and assigned value accordingly.
Religious uses of frankincense and myrrh
The golden lumps of hardened resin were often worth
more than gold and widely traded. The
ancient Egyptians bought boatloads of the spices and camel caravans carried
them vast distances. These spices were often used as currency and taxes were
paid with them. Every deity imaginable
was given frankincense and myrrh as a sacrificial offering. From pagans to Christians the practice of
using frankincense and myrrh in religious ceremonies was passed along.
The lumps of spice resin can be ground and used in
incense and other products or the lumps can be soaked in oils or alcohol to
leach out the scent and medicinal properties.
The scents of the two spices are hard to describe, frankincense seems to
have a warmer, woodsier scent with myrrh seeming to have a smoky pine
scent. The two are almost always
combined in incense for religious ceremonies.
You either like or dislike the aroma it seems.
Our early ancestors were adept in finding plants that
altered the mind and or mood. Both
frankincense and myrrh contain chemicals called sesquiterpenes that are
released when the resin powder is burned.
When inhaled, sesquiterpenes act on a part of the brain that controls
emotions. They were used to alter
emotions – particularly to ease stress, grief and despair, and to allow the
mind to focus and become introspective.
It helps that the scent of these spices is also pleasing to most people
and could cover the not so pleasant smells of early communal gatherings.
Medicinal uses of frankincense and myrrh
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| Frankincense tree commons.wikimedia.com |
Both frankincense and myrrh also have traditional medicinal
uses. Myrrh was often used for diseases
of the teeth and mouth and is still used in some toothpastes and mouth
washes. Myrrh was often mixed with wine
and used as a pain reliever. It has a
bitter taste and is believed to be the “gall” that was mixed with vinegar and
offered to Christ on the cross. It was
not a Roman cruelty as so often taught; rather it was traditional for Romans to
offer a pain sedative to those they crucified, most often myrrh mixed with cheap
wine.
Myrrh is also used in ointments to smooth and heal
chapped and inflamed skin and was used to prevent wrinkles. It, along with frankincense and other spices
and herbs, is part of the embalming fluid Egyptians used on the dead “mummies”.
Myrrh was also used to bring on menstruation, possibly
to induce abortions. It was given to
purify women before they were “given” to a new man. The book of Ester in the bible gives
instructions to purify a woman by giving her oil of myrrh for 6 months and then
for another additional 6 months she was given sweet oil treatments. This would effectively mean that she would
not be pregnant with another man’s child and was probably thought to cure any
sexually transmitted disease she might also have.
Frankincense has been used since ancient times to cure
arthritic pain and modern research has found that it is indeed helpful in some
forms of arthritis. It is also being
used today for the treatment of ulcerative colitis, and there are studies that
prove it’s quite effective. In older
references oil of frankincense was referred to as oil of Olibanum or just as
Olibanum.
Egyptian women used burnt frankincense ashes to make
kohl- the original black eyeliner and mascara.
Even today many expensive cosmetics and perfumes contain either
frankincense or myrrh as ingredients.
Frankincense was also thought to cure sexual diseases
and inhaling the smoke was thought to cure asthma and other bronchial
conditions. The smoke of both Frankincense and myrrh repels insects and the
smoke was thought to purge a room of disease or malevolent spirits and
thoughts. And of course it made a room
smell better in most cases and would alter the emotions in a positive way.
By the middle ages the disruption of trade routes made
the use of both frankincense and myrrh too rare and expensive for most people
and the use of the spices receded to mostly religious ritual. Today however you can find frankincense and
myrrh, most often as incense or as essential oils to use in cosmetic and craft
products. They are still harvested in
traditional ways and still more expensive than some other spices.
Making the world better next year
It’ s that time of the year when we all start thinking
about resolutions for the new year and what we want to do with our lives as
well as our gardens. It’s human nature
to want to move forward, to have things safer, healthier, nicer and
easier. We can improve things in our own
lives and also for those around us, and for the whole of humanity and this
planet. Everyone has different ideas
about what constitutes improvement of course, but here are some things to
consider, ways that you may be able to help the world.
Stop using antibacterial products
Many people don’t even notice how many products they
buy that contain antibiotics. Soap, shampoo, body washes, toothpaste,
mouthwash, cosmetics, cleaning products,
clothing, toys, cookware, and pet products all may contain antibiotics. One of the most common antibacterial products
added to cleaning products and personal care products is triclosan. Triclosan enters the water system where it
causes birth defects and reproductive problems in a number of organisms. It is also known to be a hormone disrupter in
animals and is being studied as a cause of skin cancer in humans. Here’s the FDA’s information on Triclosan,
which tries to remain impartial as some studies are on-going. This was updated in 2016.
There are other antibiotic/antimicrobial products in
use. All of these products have safety issues as well as their use contributing
to the resistance of bacteria to antibiotics, which has become quite concerning
to health experts.
Other than benzalkonium chloride, benzethonium
chloride, and chloroxylenol, which are still being evaluated, the FDA has
labeled all the other common antibacterial agents used in consumer personal
care products, which are not labeled for medical use, as not generally safe or effective. A rule stating that will go into effect
September 6, 2017 but you would be wise to stop using those products now.
Here’s the ruling link.
Check ingredient labels for these products: Cloflucarban,
Fluorosalan, Hexachlorophene, Hexylresorcinol, Iodophors (Iodine-containing
ingredients), Iodine complex (ammonium ether sulfate and polyoxyethylene
sorbitan monolaurate), Iodine complex (phosphate ester of alkylaryloxy
polyethylene glycol), Nonylphenoxypoly (ethyleneoxy) ethanoliodine, Poloxamer—iodine complex, Povidone-iodine 5 to
10 percent Undecoylium chloride iodine complex, Methylbenzethonium chloride, Phenol
(greater than 1.5 percent), Phenol (less than 1.5 percent),Secondary
amyltricresols, Sodium oxychlorosene, Tribromsalan, Triclocarban, Triclosan, and
Triple dye. These are the ingredients
being listed as neither safe or effective.
Experts, including the FDA, say almost no one needs to
use soap with antibacterial products in it, either hand, body or dish
soap. Soap and clean hot water will
effectively clean your hands, body and dishes.
Antibiotic toothpaste or mouthwash is only needed for those who have gum
disease or immunity problems.
Antibacterial air sprays, floor and counter cleaners
are also not needed. The FDA has not addressed these products but the same
concerns remain. Antibacterial products are different from disinfectants.
Bleach (chlorine) and ammonia are two effective, germ killing products that
aren’t technically antibiotics although they will kill bacteria and some
viruses. They don’t cause bacteria to
develop immunity to them and aren’t used in human medicine to any degree. If you worry about “germs” go back to using
these products for cleaning in modest amounts.
Reduce your use of soy products
Yes, fermented soy products have been used by Asian
countries for thousands of years. But
the current way we consume soy is neither natural nor healthy. People are not
meant to consume soybeans, they have to be highly processed to remove some of
the toxins and that processing leaves behind other toxins. Soy contains saponins, soyatoxin, phytates,
protease inhibitors, oxalates, goitrogens and estrogens, hemagglutinin,
genistein and daidzein, and often toxic levels of aluminum and manganese. You can look up the health effects of these
things.
90%, at least, of Soy grown is genetically modified for
pesticide resistance and is heavily contaminated with pesticides. It only became a crop of economic importance
in the 1900’s and its use has been heavily promoted by the industry. This resulted in soy becoming a commercial
crop of great importance that is widely grown and needs a good market for the
amounts produced so more and more uses are being invented for it.
Fermentation removes some of the harmful effects of soy
and modifies other effects. And
fermented soy was only eaten in small quantities in ancient times anyway. Now soy – unfermented although processed- is
found in thousands of food products and people consume way too much of it.
Soy consumption has been linked to breast and other
endocrine cancers, colon cancer, reproductive problems, metabolic syndrome and
diabetes, growth abnormalities in infants, lung cancer (when people are exposed
to molecules in the air released from frying with soy oil), impairment of
protein digestion and impairment of absorption of vitamins to name a few
things.
The soy industry has funded hundreds of studies trying
to prove that soy has health benefits but they are also working feverishly to
develop soy varieties through genetic manipulation that are lower in certain
toxins that contribute to metabolic syndrome and diabetes, a sign that they
acknowledge that risk anyway.
The evidence is driving more and more companies to
remove soy from their products. But it’s
still hard to find products (which 30-50 years ago had no soy in them) without
that cheap, available soy. Soy is in
things that really have no need for it.
Do yourself and the planet a favor and try to avoid it. Consciously choose products without it.
Soy is also used to feed livestock and it seems that
animals also have problems with soy consumption. It would be far better if we converted most
of those millions of acres devoted to raising soybeans to pasture, and took
animals out of confinement, stopped feeding them soy and grain, and put them on
pasture. And that leads me to my next point.
Buy pasture fed meat, free range eggs,
antibiotic, hormone free milk and meat
I firmly believe humans are meant to consume meat and
there is nothing wrong with apex predators like us doing so. However what is wrong is how we raise
animals. Factory farming, confinement
farming, is bad for animals and bad for us.
It’s inhumane and unhealthy. Many
countries are banning some of these awful farming practices but the US is
slower than other countries to do so.
Farmers will only adopt humane practices if consumers demand it and pay
for it because farmers face tight profit margins and problems finding people
willing to work with animals.
Livestock, particularly cows, belong outside whenever
the weather allows them to be comfortable and for most livestock that’s most of
the year in most of the country. Feeding
dairy and beef cattle on well managed pasture does a great deal to mitigate
their so called belching problem- which adds methane to the atmosphere. Pasture should replace corn and soy fields,
all heavy users of fertilizer and pesticides and really unnecessary for beef
and milk production. Grass fed meat is better for humans and cattle don’t have
the need for large quantities of grain and are healthier without it.
Pastures prevent soil erosion, help keep
fertilizer/manure out of the water cycle, act as a carbon sink and benefit many
species of wildlife. Poultry and hogs would also benefit from pasture/outside
exposure. These animals would need less
grain if they had access to pasture and be healthier for it.
Biosecurity and disease prevention is not a major
excuse for confinement farming, as some claim.
Disease epidemics are far more likely to happen in closely confined
animals, deprived of sunlight, immune deficient from stress and overfed than in animals allowed to be outside in uncrowded
conditions. All of the major outbreaks
of serious animal diseases in the last 20 years or so have been in confined
animals, some with high levels of biosecurity.
Confinement indoors does little to stop viral diseases.
And there is no shortage of land to raise animals
naturally in this country. That’s
another excuse of confined animal producers. It may take many more acres to
pasture raise 5, 000 broilers than keeping them packed in one large metal pole
building but then the farmer wouldn’t need as many acres for grain either. And the meat would be healthier and the
animals happier.
There is a shortage of workers in the livestock
industry and that’s why a lot of the confinement practices exist. Paying a living wage to workers would raise
the cost of food a bit. But it would
also help stop the flow of illegal immigrants, which comprise much of the labor
force in animal production now. No one
else is willing to work in the unhealthy, unsafe environments of confinement
farms for minimum wage or less. Americans
say they want illegal immigration stopped- putting confinement farms out of
existence would certainly help.
While US standards defining organic animal production
and things like cage free leave a lot to be desired they are a start. You vote for healthier food and happier
animals by choosing pasture/grass fed meat, cage free eggs, pastured milk,
antibiotic and hormone free animal products even if you have to pay a bit
more. Better yet you buy locally from
small farmers who care for their animals in a humane way.
We must also put pressure on our university researchers
to study and develop non- confinement /factory farming methods and promote
sustainable, natural methods of animal production. We must demand our legislators pass laws that
assure humane treatment of animals both in the raising and slaughter of them.
Grow your own or buy locally
Everybody should try to grow some of their own food,
even their own meat and eggs. When you
take responsibility for producing some of your own food you immediately reap
benefits. You gain experience and
knowledge of how food is produced and you gain healthier food. Using a yard for vegetable, fruit, even egg
production, is far preferable to using it for a lawn.
If you can’t grow your own food try to buy it locally
from someone who produces food in a sustainable natural way. Buy seasonally and learn how to store produce
and meat for times when it’s not in season.
If everyone just grew their own greens – things like lettuce, cabbage,
kale or bought them from a local producer we’d save millions of gallons of
water, millions of gallons of fossil fuels used to transport food, decrease
carbon emissions and improve the local economy.
We’d also be decreasing illegal immigration once again because illegal
immigrant labor often harvests and handles that produce in the mega farms that produce
it.
Waste less food
Resolve to stop wasting food this year. It almost goes
hand in hand with growing your own, because you then realize the effort, time
and money that goes into producing food. In a world where millions go without
food and children die of starvation it makes no sense that we discard about a
third of all the food we buy or produce.
We all waste some food, it’s inevitable. I don’t have much food waste because it’s
recycled through my chickens into eggs.
If we have too many eggs they are given to others or fed to pets. If you can’t recycle your food into eggs at
least recycle it into compost. But
compost is a last resort. Learn how to
buy what you need when you need it. Use
less than perfect food. Learn how to safely store excess food. Consciously
think of your food decisions. When food
is cheap we often buy more than we need.
A food budget might help you make better decisions. Donate the money you save to a food bank, or
soup kitchen.
Don’t plant more garden than you need either, unless
you have a good place to donate produce.
An unexpected abundant harvest can be donated to a senior citizens
center, neighbors, soup kitchens, women’s shelters or other worthy places
instead of being thrown out.
Conserve and protect water
Water is fast becoming the issue of this century and
how we protect and conserve it now may well define how our children and
grandchildren live in the next century.
Everyone can take steps to conserve and protect water. It’s simple, use less and pollute less.
Grow plants that are suitable for your climate. Save rain water to use on them. Water individual plants, not the paths and
space between them and water slowly so it doesn’t run off. Don’t water lawns unless you need a green
fire break. Use gray water, its fine for non-edible plants. Gray water is laundry and dish water.
Take showers instead of baths, they generally use less
water. Turn off water while brushing
teeth, while lathering your hair and between other tasks. Don’t wash your car as much. Teach children not to waste water, make
wading pools and playing in the sprinkler occasional treats, unless they can
serve a dual purpose.
Keep pollutants out of water. Dispose of medications, pesticides, paint,
and cleaning products as the label directs.
Watch what you flush down the toilet to dispose of it; it goes directly
into the water system. Don’t overuse
pesticides and fertilizer, including manure. Never dump pesticides, oil or gas
on the ground, it works into ground water.
Your water conservation and protection efforts must be
matched by government efforts. Please
support and lobby for regulations that protect and conserve our precious water
resources.
Plant trees- and other things
Of course it goes without saying that as a devoted
gardener and plant lover I am going to suggest planting more plants as a way to
help the planet. As our climate changes
we may need to bring in plants from other areas to maintain a green and growing
environment around us. Plants are our
source of life.
While all plants are important and valuable, trees are
one of the things we plant that often are of more use to our children and
grandchildren than ourselves. It’s
important now more than ever that we continue to plant them. We need to research what trees will thrive in
our changing climate in the area we live and get them planted now.
The greener our environment the healthier we will all
be. Keep it green and growing.
Best Blender quick bread
It might be more appropriate to call this food
processor bread but blender bread sounds better. I am always experimenting with recipes and
this is one I developed this Christmas season that makes delicious quick breads. Quick breads are those loaves made without
yeast and in general they are sweeter than regular bread but not as sweet as
cake and with a firmer texture.
You can vary the flavors of this basic recipe quite
easily. This holiday season I made four
different breads, apple cinnamon, lemon poppy seed, banana, and coconut,
pineapple-blueberry. Use about 2 cups of
any fruit, drained and chopped, if desired. (For banana bread use about a cup
of mashed banana.) Use about a cup of
chopped nuts if you want nuts in the bread.
You’ll need a large blender or food processor to hold
the batter this recipe makes.
Alternately you can use a mixer, but don’t overmix quick bread. This recipe will make 2 really large loaves,
or 3-4 smaller ones. Fill the loaf pans
about half full. You could also make muffins
with this recipe.
Ingredients
1- 3.4 oz. instant pudding mix, choose the
pudding flavor to enhance your desired flavor, for example lemon pudding makes
good lemon poppy seed bread.
2
cups cream (best taste)or half and half or
milk
1 1 cup (2 sticks) melted
butter
1½ cups sugar
4 eggs
3½ cups flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla, or
lemon extract, or maple or other flavoring
About a tablespoon of dry
spices may be added such as cinnamon, apple or pumpkin pie spice, or ginger or
poppy seed or other spices, adjust to taste.
2 cups of drained chopped
fruit such as apples, pineapple, cherries, zucchini or whole blueberries. Or 1 cup of mashed fruit such as banana
or crushed pineapple or pureed pumpkin.
Optional 1-2 cups of
chopped nuts or chocolate chips
Notes: For my apple
cinnamon bread I use vanilla pudding, ( butterscotch might be good) 1
tablespoon vanilla, 1 tablespoon apple pie spice and 1 teaspoon cinnamon plus 2
cups finely chopped apple. For lemon poppy
seed I use lemon pudding, 1 tablespoon lemon extract and 2 tablespoons poppy
seed. For banana I use banana pudding, banana flavoring, 1 cup mashed banana
and 1 cup chopped walnuts. For coconut – pineapple blueberry I use coconut
cream pudding, vanilla extract, 1 cup crushed pineapple, well drained, and 2
cups whole blueberries.
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom of pans only. (2 large, 9-10
inch, or 3-4 smaller ones.)
Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt
in a bowl and set aside. If you have dry
spices such as cinnamon or poppy seeds add them to the flour mix.
Put the pudding mix and cream in the blender and blend
about a minute, until the mix thickens slightly.
Add the melted butter and sugar and blend a few seconds
until it looks well mixed. Add vanilla
or other liquid flavoring, blend a few seconds.
Add eggs and blend just until well mixed. If using mashed/soft fruit add it now. Blend just until mixed.
Add flour mix in 3 stages, blending a few seconds after
each addition. The batter will get quite
thick. Don’t over blend, but make sure
the flour is thoroughly mixed into wet ingredients with no dry pockets of
flour, you may need to scrape sides.
Fold in/ mix in by hand any chopped fruit, nuts or
chocolate chips.
Pour or scoop batter into loaf pans, (don’t fill pans
more than ¾ full, ½ full is generally fine,) and bake about 40 minutes for
small loaves, 45-55 minutes for large loaves.
When done the sides will pull away from the pan, the top will be lightly
browned and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool about 10 minutes in pan. Remove loaves from pan if desired. Make sure loaves are thoroughly cool before
wrapping or putting tops on pans.
You can make a glaze for loaves if desired by mixing
powdered sugar with a little milk and a few drops of vanilla extract. Drizzle glaze on loaves with a spoon.
Be
careful out there celebrating the New Year.
Back with a new blog next year.
Kim Willis
“He who has a garden and
a library wants for nothing” ― Cicero
And
So On….
Do you have plants or seeds you would like to swap or share? Post them here by emailing me. You can also
ask me to post garden related events. Kimwillis151@gmail.com
Find
Michigan garden events/classes here:
An
interesting Plant Id page you can join on Facebook
Here’s a
seed/plant sharing group you can join on Facebook
Newsletter/blog information
If you would like to pass along a notice about an
educational event or a volunteer opportunity please send me an email before
Tuesday of each week and I will print it. Also if you have a comment or opinion
you’d like to share, send it to me or you can comment directly on the blog.
Please state that you want to have the item published in my weekly note if you
email me. You must give your full name and what you say must be polite and not
attack any individual. I am very open to ideas and opinions that don’t match
mine but I do reserve the right to publish what I want.
I write this because I love to share with other gardeners
some of the things I come across in my research each week. It keeps me engaged
with people and horticulture. It’s a hobby, basically. I hope you enjoy it. If
you are on my mailing list and at any time you don’t wish to receive these
emails just let me know. If you know anyone who would like to receive a
notification by email when a new blog is published have them send their
email address to me. KimWillis151@gmail.com
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