A Biblical Garden

  Our Valley’s first settlers remembered their very own grandparents telling them of the terrible times their family had endured in Europe, of the disease and famine which had occurred during the Thirty Years War or of some equally devastating event.  It was as real to them as the family stories your own grandparents shared with you.

I have always felt that the remembrance of this awful time and the knowledge that their family had survived, gave courage to those individuals who faced the wilderness and the many dangers lurking within.  Perhaps Indian attacks did not seem quite so bad when compared with the things they knew their families had dealt successfully with in the past. After enduring such horror in Europe and living with constant danger on the frontier, a strong religious belief had developed. This belief system had been transferred to their descendants.  

Many people who live in our beautiful Shenandoah Valley do not realize that many of their very own ancestors were personal friends of Martin Luther, but they most certainly were just that.

 Our ancestors who fled Europe, came to Virginia to more freely practice their deep felt religious beliefs.  Once here, they found that the Church of England demanded the right to control those beliefs by taxing them for the support of the Church of England and also by insisting that only a minister of the Church of England could lawfully perform religious duties. Because of these restrictions, many individuals eventually settled on the frontier.  

The area west of the Blue Ridge within the Shenandoah Valley allowed them to practice their faith as they believe God would have them do. One of the main reasons the American Revolution was fought was to guarantee that right for all time. The Bible has been a valued part of our Shenandoah Valley heritage since the earliest days of settlement.  Gardening has also been a treasured part of life here in our Shenandoah Valley. It is only natural that we consider planting a physical or living garden in honor of both of these traditions.

Alliums = Onions and Garlic

 Plants as found in the Bible:

 Alliums  – Numbers 11:5 – 6.  We remember the fish we ate in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leaks, and the onions and garlic. But now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all, besides this manna, before our eyes."

Anemones (Lilies of the field) - Matthew 6:28 -29. "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, and all of his glory, was not arrayed like one of these."

Coriander — Exodus 16:31. “Now the house of Israel called its name Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey."

Saffron Crocus

Crocus —  The Song of Solomon 4:14.  “Spikenard and saffron (crocus) calamus and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices."

Cumin - Matthew 23:23. "While unto you, have omitted the weighter matters of the law.”

Dill

Dill — 23:23. Dill is called Anise in the Bible.

 Fig - Malachi 4:33-4.  "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree."

Hyssop — Exodus 12:22. "And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin and strike the lintel and the two side posts."

Mint

Mint - Matthew 23:23. See above under Cumin. Pomegranate - 11 Chronicles 4:13.  "And four hundred pomegranates on the two wreaths; two rows of pomegranates of each wreath."

Rue - Luke 11:42. "But woe to you, Pharisees!  For you tithe mint and rue and all manners of herbs, and pass over justice in the love of God."

Wormwood (Artemisia) - Jeremiah 9:15. "Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood and give them water of gall to drink."

Beginning in Song of Solomon 4:12 and continuing we learn of the peace and purity of mind which an enclosed garden can give.  A beautiful garden can be planted   using these herbs.  Perhaps you might want to use a piece of statuary or birdbath somewhere in your garden or yard or perhaps even a fish pond to help feed and water the “birds of the air.”

 

Williamsburg's Bruton Parish Church

There are many good examples of Biblical gardens throughout our nation. Bruton Parish Church in Colonial Williamsburg has a lovely herb garden sponsored and maintained by the ladies of the church.

When beginning to use herbs in cooking, it is best to start slowly and then after you are familiar with the taste, try combinations. 

Fresh herbs can be cut and dried to be stored in airtight containers in a dry dark place. When you use dried herbs, you most probably will want to cut the quantity in half of the amount of fresh herbs you normally use.

Herbs are best added to long, slow cooked food such as soups during the last 15 minutes. If the food is uncooked or cold, the sooner they are added, the better.

A few herbs which were used during Bibical times that you may be familiar with  are as follows:

Basil

 Basil - has a spicy, clove-like taste and scent. Use it with zucchini and in tomato dishes, soups, and stews. It can be used in spaghetti and salads.

Coriander - seeds are crushed and added to fruits, peas, and stews.

Rosemary - a strong more distinctive herb. It goes with beef, lamb, chicken and turkey. Boil it with potatoes, toss it into the peas and cauliflower, and minestrone type soups.  A sprig can be placed in spinach while it is being cooked.

Thyme - wonderful in meat and poultry.  It's an aromatic herb with many uses. onions and eggplant.

Lemon thyme - a great herb to even use fresh in salads.  Simply strip the leaves from the stem and sprinkle over fresh salad greens.

Tarragon - another herb that is a favorite of mine. Use only French tarragon for cooking. The Russian variety has little taste and is more for floral arrangements. French tarragon is used in herb vinegars, salad dressings, herb butters, spreads, fish, shellfish, and poultry of all types.

Recipes For Your Enjoyment!

Herb Butter - One stick butter or margarine softened One-half teaspoon lemon juice Three tablespoons fresh herbs chopped very fine Combine ingredients and mix well. Herb butters may be refrigerated for two weeks or stored in the freezer.

Herb Vinegars

Herbal vinegar -1 cup of a fresh herb. You may add more as you develop a taste for the strength that you prefer. Add clean herbs leaves to 1 gallon of white vinegar. Keep in a warm place for three weeks (sun’s okay}. Strain through a cheesecloth and then bottle. You may add sprigs of fresh herbs in the bottles for visual appeal.  You can also blend several herbs to get a flavor you and your family will enjoy. If you choose to seal these bottles with corks, they can be dipped in hot wax and tied with raffia. Label with a pretty tag.

Infusions of Herbs - Infusions are wonderful for adding instant flavor to teas and fruit drinks. They may be frozen in ice cube trays and stored in the freezer. For each cup of fresh leaves add one cup of water. Simmer over moderate heat until hot. Remove from heat and let cool. Strain off liquid and press out leaves until dry. Will keep in the refrigerator for one week or in the freezer for a year-round use.

Lemon and Mint Ice Cubes

Mints, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, etc. are all great to use. By using cubes made of these herbs, drinks do not become diluted by water as from plain ice cubes. Cherries and other fruits can also be added in the cubes for ice rings which can be made for punch bowls. Even a block can be frozen for use in a pitcher by using a clean milk carton for a freezing container. To keep pieces from floating, add fruits in layers, cover with liquid and then freeze before adding more fruits and herbs.

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www.billiejomonger.com

Welcome, 

Have you ever thought about what life would be like without all of the sounds that we take for granted?  Phones, cars, television, planes, air conditioning, and motors all make a peculiar noise.   Are there days when just the sirens of rescue units stress you out?   

Do you sometimes feel that you would enjoy spending just one day outside in warm sunshine listening to the sounds of gurgling streams and birds chirping in the trees?

What about the smells around about you? Have you ever thought about the odors that you take for granted because they are part of your life and so familiar to you? Do you know that they are very different than the ones our grandparents experienced? Homemade bread and wood burning in the stove were part of their daily life.  Have  you ever smelled soil rich with forest loam right after a warm spring rain?

Once, I asked my grandfather what he missed most in his life that his grandparents had taken for granted as being part of their own.  He never hesitated an instant before he replied.  Lumber was the single word he uttered with such emotion that it startled me. 

Seeing my reaction, he went on to explain that his grandfather had a true understanding of the forest which he had  never been able to share because his  father never saw the value in his learning about any of it. It had become possible in his own father's lifetime to go to a sawmill and order whatever kind of lumber needed to build a house or to lay a floor.  His grandfather had gained his knowledge of timber from working with past generations of his family. 

My grandfather went onto say that  his grandfather could tell the board feet in any tree from simply looking at it as it stood in the forest. To know the quality and usable board feet of lumber in a tree before it was cut was a skill that my grandfather was sorry that he had never had the opportunity to learn.  It was a skill that he was unable to pass down to members of his own family.

A drastic new way of life emerged during my grandfather's lifetime.  As a young man he traveled by horseback and yet, before his death he sat in his own home and watched a man land upon the moon.  Within his lifetime the telegraph was replaced by telephones, radios and television. He remembered a time when all consumed food was produced at home.  Electricity and indoor plumbing were marvelous inventions that had became part of his own life which his own grandparents would never have believed possible. 

Indeed much has changed in just the past few generations.  Have you ever given thought as to what some of these changes may have made in the life of your own family?

I do hope that you will join me as we travel back in time to the days of not so long ago and explore all facets of life as it was lived by our families. 

                                                                      Until next time,

                                                                             Billie Jo 

                                                                      
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Sassafras I

Springtime in the Blue Ridge

Springtime in the mountains is a wondrous thing to behold as all of nature rushes to renew itself.  If you are lucky enough to begin your journey near one of the foothills or in a hollow, you just might find a creek overflowing with rushing water to guide you into the mountain and up to its very top.

Look carefully at your surroundings; be careful where you step as the whole world is in the process of renewing itself at this time of year.  If you only look to see the filtering sunlight through the redbud bloom you just might miss seeing the lethargic snake which is blending in amid the rock and last winter's leaves that you are about to put your foot upon.

Sassafras trees are found in the eastern United States, from Canada to Florida, and also in Mexico.   This tree has a unique leaf pattern in that it produces leaves of three different shapes on the same tree. 

Some of our early local farmers saw the sassafras tree as a nuisance as it was normally found cluttering the cleared, "old Indian fields" which they needed for cropland.  Others believed that its wood would prevent chicken lice.  They used it to build their hen houses and the roosts for the chickens to perch on at night. Some believed that if it was burned, someone would die when the wood cracked and sputtered.

Regardless of whatever this tree was used for, everyone knew of its magical healing properties when the roots were chopped into pieces and used to make a springtime tea.  The tea was a tonic that was very well known by many of our nation's Native Americans.  The Cherokee used sassafras to purify the blood.  They also used it for a wide variety of other ailments including skin diseases, rheumatism and ague [a malarial fever characterized by regularly returning paroxysms, marked by successive cold, hot, and sweating fits, accompanied by malaise, pains in the bones and joints].  Some Native American tribes built their dugout canoes from sassafras wood.  Cajun folk use the sassafras leaves to make gumbo.  Sassafras is referred to the as the "Ague Tree" in many cultures.

There are two varieties of sassafras:
1. White sassafras grown in thick clusters from the three to six feet tall.  It has basically the same characteristics as red sassafras, but the bark does not turn pink nor red when the root is damaged.
2. Red sassafras is the most prized variety.  It is generally found on hills and ridges.  In the mountains it usually reaches a height of thirty plus feet.

In Montgomery County, Ohio is a specimen which is ninety feet tall and has a diameter of almost three and one half feet.  In Owensboro, Kentucky there is a one hundred foot sassafras tree with a circumference of twenty-one feet [seven yards] that is believed to be over three hundred years old.[1]

Sign for the tree below. 

Largest sassafras tree in the United States

I have found records where it has been determined that some sassafras trees have lived to be over one thousand years of age.  Can you imagine the tales they could tell if they could only speak?

William Bartram in his, "Observations on the Creek and Cherokee Indians Food Traditions,"[2] stated that "the country people of Carolina chop the vines [Bigonia Crucigera] to pieces together with china brier and sassafras roots, and boil them in their beer in the spring, for diet drink, in order to attenuate and purify the blood and juices." Perhaps this is the source which influenced early white settlers to make a beer by boiling young sassafras shoots in water, adding molasses and allowing this mixture to ferment.

Before the Jamestown settlement in Virginia, a company was formed in Bristol, England which sent two ships to the New World with the purpose of returning with cargoes of sassafras bark.  This was most probably due to the investigations made by either Raleigh's men or  the Roanoke colonists. Sassafras was the first forest product exported from what is now the mid-Atlantic region.  Sassafras most certainly smells like springtime itself.  Can you imagine sailing with a whole ship load?

Sassafras in the fall. 

The Cherokee made poultices to cleanse sores and wounds; they steeped the root bark and used it as a treatment for diarrhea or for "over-fatness."  The Cherokee emphasized that sassafras tea should never be taken for more than a week at a time.  Even though they were unaware of the word, "safrole" they were very attuned to the effects of the long term use of sassafras.

In the early 1960's, sassafras was pulled from the American market due to the fact that the bark on the sassafras root contains violate oils, eighty per cent of which is "safrole" which was proven to cause liver cancer in rats and mice when given in large doses.

Sassafras tea set upon a sassafras leaf designed quilt.

An Early Recipe for Sassafras Tea

Two to three sassafras roots chopped in pieces two or three inches long.  One quart of water. Boil roots in water until water is dark in color.  Remove from the heat and strain into a gallon crock or pot.  Sweeten to taste.  Note - roots maybe boiled over and over for several days as the flavor increases with repeat boilings.  Roots should be gathered in spring before sap rises.  [A necessary disclaimer: It is important to remember that the United States federal government banned the use of Sassafras in the early 1960's; therefore, this recipe is being given only as a historic note about how our families once lived and not as a recommended form of medicine.]

____________________
Sources:

[1] The National Forestry Association’s National Register.

[2] Bartram, William.  Observations on the Creek and  Cherokee Indians food traditions. Transaction of the American Ethnological Society.  Vol. 3. 1789.
e American Ethnological Society.  Vol. 3. 1789.

May Day

The tradition of celebrating May Day by singing and dancing around a maypole which is tied with colorful ribbons or streamers survive in America as part of the English tradition.  Weaving in and out while holding ribbons to  entwine the Maypole, the choosing of a May Queen and  hanging May baskets filled with flowers on the doorknob or steps of neighbors homes are all leftover bits of old European traditions whose origins date back beyond the birth of Christ.

An ancient rite performed throughout the world on this day was the setting of a new fire which was thought to lend its life to the springtime sun. In early Irish lore a number of significant events took place on Beltane [Beltine, Beltaine, Belltaine], which long remained the focus of folk traditions and tales in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man.  For the Druids of the British Isles, this was the second most important holiday of the year.  Other pre-Christian Celtic peoples, divided the year into two main seasons as did the Irish. The beginning of the year [winter] which was known as Samhain meaning “death” by the Irish.  It fell on November 1^st.  Midyear [summer] was known as Beltaine and by Cétamain which means “life” in Scotland and also in parts of Ireland.

  

These two days were believed to be critical periods because the bounds between the supernatural and human worlds were temporarily erased.  Everyone knew that on May Eve, witches and fairies roamed freely making it necessary for measures to be taken against their enchantments.

The first mentioned of Beltane was in a glossary attributed to Cormac, Bishop of Cashel and King of Munster, who was killed in 908. Cormac describes how on Beltane, cattle were driven between two bonfires as a magical means of protecting them from disease before they were led into open summer pastures.  This custom was still observed in Ireland during the 19th century. Other festivities enjoyed during this celebration included Maypole dances and the cutting of green boughs and flowers.

Cormac derived the word Beltaine from the Old Irish word tene meaning “fire” and the name of the god, Bel or Bil.  A number of 20^th century scholars have maintained modified versions of this etymology despite linguistic difficulties by linking the first element of the word with the Gaulish god Belenos which the Irish call Belenus.

Cattle were driven through the fire to purify them. Men, with their sweethearts, passed through the smoke for good luck. The word ‘Beltane’ is derived from the Irish Gaelic ‘Bealtaine’ or the Scottish Gaelic ‘Bealtuinn’, meaning ‘Bel-fire’, the fire of the Celtic god of light (Bel, Beli or Belinus). He, in turn, may be traced to the Middle Eastern god Ba’al. Bonfires [bone fires—from human sacrifice] were lit, and leaping the fire was a custom thought to encourage the crops to grow as high as the leaper could leap or jump the fire. These fires, also called “balefires” or “need-fires” were thought to have healing properties.

When the Romans came to occupy the British Isles, the beginning of May became a very popular feast time for them. It was devoted primarily to the worship of Flora, the goddess of flowers. A five day celebration, called the Floralia, was held in her honor. The five day festival started on April 28^th  and end on May 2^nd. Gradually the rituals of Floralia were added to those of the Beltane. Many of today's May Day customs bear a stark similarity to those combined traditions.

Maypoles were of all sizes which led to villages competing with one another to produce the tallest Maypole. Much merrymaking accompanied the bringing in of the Maypole from the woods.  The Maypole was usually set up for just the one day in smaller towns, but in London and larger towns, they were erected as a permanent fixture.

The Puritans discouraged May Day celebrations.  It was revived when they lost power in England, but the celebration did not have the same dedicated following as before.  Eventually it came to be regarded as more of a day of joy and merriment for young people rather than as a day of observing the ancient customs.

Attempts to do away with the practices which were obviously of pagan origins were brought about by the Reformation.  Although they basically succeeded, the Maypole with many of the other traditions still survives. In France, the name merely changed.  In Perigord and elsewhere, the May Tree became the "Tree of Liberty" and was the symbol of the French Revolution. Despite the new nomenclature, the peasants treated the tree in the same traditional spirit. And they would dance around it the same way as their forefathers had always done.

The tradition of celebrating May Day by singing and dancing around a maypole which is tied with colorful ribbons or streamers survived in America as part of the English tradition.  Weaving in and out while holding ribbons to  entwine the Maypole, the choosing of a May Queen and  hanging May baskets filled with flowers on the doorknob or steps of neighbors homes are all leftover bits of old European traditions.

 In the Shenandoah Valley, “Freckle Washing” was commonly celebrated on the first day of May.  To work it had to be performed in the following manner, one must arise before sunrise and not speak to anyone.  If you slept upstairs it was necessary to walk down the steps backwards before going to wash your freckles in the stump of a tree in which rain water had been trapped. If stump water was not to be found, one could place their hands on the dew dampened grass and moisten the freckles  by rubbing dampened hands  over the face or wherever the freckles were located.  The rest of the moisture must be removed by wiping it on a part of the body where the freckles would not show publicly.  It was then important to say, “The first morning in May, I wash my freckles away.  Where I put them I want them to stay.” as one rubbed the dew onto their body.  For this ritual to be successful, it had to be repeated three years in a row on the first day of May. 

It was also believed that if one looked over their shoulder into a well or spring with a mirror they would see their future spouse.  Your casket was said to appear if you were to remain unmarried.

Just in case one was interrupted during the three consecutive years of the May Day treatment or for whatever reason the above treatment did not work, there is a very old recipe with which to solve the problem. 

To Remove Freckles, Tan, Pimples, Etc.

To two gallons of strong lye soap suds add one pint of pure alcohol and four ounces of rosemary.  Mix together well. Apply mixture with a linen cloth twice a day until the object is affected.