Charm of the Carolines

Summer Morning at Cheekwood

My friend Kim and I explored Cheekwood Gardens on Friday and collected reference photos to use in painting our submissions to the upcoming exhibit at the Mansion of selected works by Chestnut Group members.

Ideally we would have painted on site, but neither of us had time to pack gear and spend the day painting en plein air. Hiking the grounds and trails and snapping photos was the next best thing, and what a lovely day! Although the temps were near 90*, the humidity was practically non-existent. 

After months of self-isolating, social-distancing, and every fun and worthy event cancelled, a morning among the gardens at Cheekwood were just what this creative soul needed for inspiration and rejuvenation.

Here is the highlight reel from our morning's adventure...

And the photos are stunning! Such a beautiful location just west of Nashville, Tennessee, every vantage point looked like a postcard. It was impossible to snap a bad photo. 

 

Ginseng Hunting

Yesterday I had the pleasure to go wild ginseng hunting with a couple of friends on their private land in a nearby county. I've always heard of ginseng but never thought much about where it comes from. It sounds Chinese.

As it turns out, there is an American Ginseng that grows in Tennessee, we are aware of it's presence on the farm but most of the 140 acres have gone unexplored. It was time to find more. 

We were fortunate to take the ATV as far as it could take us before the timbered woods became too dense, and we had to continue on foot.

But why?

In China, the demand for ginseng is very high relative to its supply, and wild ginseng is preferred to cultivated, so it's not uncommon for the wholesale price of wild ginseng to reach $600 per pound. A cultivated half acre can bring in $100,000 for a crop that has grown to maturity after three years. 

Before you invest in Ginseng Hunting tools, keep in mind it's illegal to harvest ginseng from any public land, national parks and most national forests in the south east. And wild ginseng is so valuable that poachers have turned it into something of an endangered species.

The rolling hills of middle Tennessee and the mountains of east Tennessee are perfect for growing wild ginseng. It prefers the north/northeast side of a hill in loose, well-drained, calcium-rich, fertile soil. It also prefers 80% shade, so the floor of thick woods are ideal for growing and finding the plant. 

This is also where you'll find venomous and non-poisonous snakes, ticks, mosquitoes, Poison Ivy, Virginia Creeper, thorns the size of nails on wild roses, and a variety of other perils.

And then you have to know what you are looking for. Wild ginseng looks SO MUCH like many other plants, namely Yellow Buckeye, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Virginia Creeper, Wild Sarsaparilla, and Black Snake root.

We celebrated finding a virgin patch of wild ginseng and took our GPS coordinates to remember the location. But we weren't completely convinced this is wild ginseng. 

Wild ginseng is typically found near ferns, Poplar trees, and Pawpaw trees. And this plant was. It also was in the shade of the side of a hill with a creek at the bottom. It was well-drained.  The leaves were shaped correctly, but  wild ginseng leaves typically have more leaf stem showing before it attaches to the prong. Typically, but not always, depending on the age. 

We knew it wasn't Virginia Creeper or Jack-in-the-Pulpit, but not sure about Buckeye or Wild Sarsaparilla. 

Here are a couple of photos of certified Wild Ginger.

And here is Virginia Creeper and Jack-in-the-Pulpit.

(I apologize. I only took photos of the bloom, and not the leaves.)

Wild Ginseng has five leaves and the back two leaves are smaller. Leaves are attached to a prong and plants typically have three to five prongs. They grow up to two and a fourth feet tall, and have red berries in the late summer and fall. It is illegal to harvest Wild Ginseng out of season. The season is defined by each state and in Tennessee it's from August 15 to October 31. And selling season is from August 15 to March 15. 

Can you see the large black snake we discovered?  Thank goodness it wasn't a rattlesnake, copperhead, or cottonmouth. I shudder thinking about it. 

   

Before you harvest a plant, you much first plant the berries which contain the seeds around the mother plant. Then carefully loosen the soil around the plant to dig it up in one piece. The root is what is so valuable, though I heard the leaves also have medicinal properties.

Wild Ginseng or not, it was still a fun day!

 

 

 

Honeysuckle Tea

Last Friday I was walking the property at Rippavilla with a group of ladies when one woman, new to middle Tennessee, asked if privet was honeysuckle. Bless her heart!

Both Privet and Honeysuckle smell heavenly, but honeysuckle has an added bonus.... it's delicious and good for you.  Since I was a child, my friends in the neighborhood would ride our bikes to the antebellum stone walls lining Berry's Chapel Road that had honeysuckle growing on them. Simply pick a blossom and from the branch end, pull out the long, middle pistil. With it comes a drop of "honey."

Or, as I learned this week, you can pick the flowers to brew a tea. 

Honeysuckle Tea can help as an anti-inflammatory, reducing fever, infections, and as a detox. 

Honeysuckle Tea benefits….

Reducing Inflammation – honeysuckle is used medicinally for treating inflammation in the body. Reducing inflammation helps:

·       “hardening of the arteries” (atherosclerosis)

·       high cholesterol

·       heart disease and circulation problems

·       insulin resistance and diabetes

·       eye-related disorders, including cataracts

·       allergies, asthma and hay fever

·       stomach ulcers

·       cognitive impairment

·       gout

·       viral infections

·       inflammation of the prostate, bladder and ovaries

·       chronic fatigue syndrome

·       cancer

·       chronic infections of the prostate

·       skin disorders, including dermatitis and hives

 

Reducing Headaches – honeysuckle is used medicinally for relieving headaches and migraines.

Reducing Nausea, Stomachache and Digestive Disorders – honeysuckle lowers inflammation and soothes the stomach.

 

Detoxing Toxins – Chinese Medicine considers honeysuckle one of the best whole body detoxifiers, especially for the blood and liver.

 

Boosting Immune System – honeysuckle contains powerful antioxidants, it’s rich in Vitamin C and it’s a great source of Quercetin, which is an acid that fights free radicals in the body.

 

Reducing Cold and Flu Symptoms – not only is honeysuckle an expectorant, but it’s known as a natural antibiotic that protects against a broad spectrum of bacteria and viruses including strep, staph, salmonella, pneumonia, tuberculosis and more.  

 

Reducing Fever – Chinese Medicine uses honeysuckle to treat fevers.

 And it is easy to make!

Gather a cup of fresh honeysuckle blossoms that are free from pesticides, herbicides, or any chemical residue. I gathered mine from my own yard. This is the white and butter-yellow variety, but the pink ones are good, too. 

Press the petals to get more flowers in your cup. 

Remove any leaves. I left a couple of flowers intact with a leaf for garnish. 

Give them a rinse to remove any dust or stray ant that may be in your blossoms. 

Depending on how strong you like your Honeysuckle Tea, you can use a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of water to blossoms. Add a cloth napkin to the top of your pitcher and tie it on to keep little critters from spoiling you tea, and set it in the sun for 4-6 hours. If you prefer to pour warm water over the blossoms to steep, make sure it is not boiling. Boiling, even very hot, water will leach out bitterness in your blossoms. Sun brewing is best.

Once tea has steeped for 4-6 hours, remove blossoms and pour over ice. I add a squeeze of fresh lemon, a couple of mint leaves and a few drops of organic Stevia to enhance the flavor. What can I say, Southerners love their Sweet Tea!!

If all this is too complicated or if you don't have access to fresh honeysuckle vines, the dried variety is sold online and in health food stores.  

Illustrated Nature Journaling

Winter and spring have both been unseasonably cold. We even had a frost yesterday with 33* morning temps. So I had to create my own spring and dream of warmer weather. Specifically I've been working on a new class for all ages.... Illustrated Nature Journaling for Beginners. We'll meet in the garden at Rippavilla Plantation.

The side garden, that is. 

  But there are so many wonderful places to observe flora and fauna on the estate.

   Like in the courtyard...

  And on the lawn....

  And that doesn't even count the back of the property. 

At Rippavilla, there is even a "Witness" tree, an old tree that was standing during the Battle of Spring Hill.... 

  

Illustrated Nature Journaling is fun!

What other activity is uses Science, Language Arts, History, Architecture, Poetry, and Art?

And shows Gratitude and Appreciation for our planet and conservation, and historic preservation?

What other activity can be done in a party or alone and still be fun?

What other activity can be done on location on a pretty day or at home at the dining room table when the weather doesn't cooperate?

What activity can be done on vacation or in your own back yard?

And is fun for ALL ages?

And is as much fun looking back on it as it is while doing it?

Illustrated Nature Journaling, of course. And I combine my journal with Illustrated Travel Journaling and a Gratitude Journal. 

Beatrix Potter, yes that Beatrix Potter, took her nature journaling very seriously. She loved to identify and sketch different types of mushrooms and other botanicals. 

 

 Plus insects and animals....

And she used her imagination to give personalities to these animals and write stories about their lives....

You may think that she was grown before she started her journals, but you would be wrong. 

Although Beatrix Potter was born and raised in London, she and her baby brother spent summers at their grandparents house in the country in Scotland. She loved her heritage and she loved the country, so much more than the city. And this is where her love of nature journaling began. 

If you will be in the Spring Hill, Tennessee, area and would like to participate in an Illustrated Nature Journaling class at Rippavilla, then join us!  Contact Rippavilla Plantation for more information. 

 

It's Whats for Dinner

You can imagine my surprise to find Columbia's main downtown thoroughfare blocked off Sunday evening and the street set up for an evening supper.

  It was a the Columbia Main Street's sponsored "Good Earth Farm to Table" event prepared by downtown eateries including Southern Tre, Puckett's, Hattie Jane's Creamery, Square Market, Citie's, Christy's Cafe, Don Pepe's Taco Shop, Asgard Brewery, Muletown Coffee and featured Amber Falls Wine. All food ingredients were gathered from local producers.

 
Guests included members of Columbia Main Street and filled the 80 seat table.

The weather was lovely and a good time seemed to be had by all.