Gardening - grace grits and gardening

Lavender Blueberry Granola

April 9, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

I love granola, but buying it pre-made can make a dent in the pocketbook. I whipped up a batch of my own using Martha Stewart’s Blueberry Almond granola recipe for inspiration. I modified Martha’s ingredients, eliminating the vegetable oil and coconut and adding flax seed and lavender which I have growing in my back yard. (Lavender not flax seed…)

Lavender’s health benefits help aid in digestion plus this herb adds a light floral flavor to whatever you are baking—not overwhelming, just a fresh taste. (I try to throw herbs into all my dishes. The antioxidants are healing, so why not?)

I was pleasantly surprised at how quick and easy homemade granola is to make.

Lavender Blueberry Granola

Print Recipe

Ingredients Notes

Ingredients

2 cups old-fashioned oats I used Quaker
3/4 cup raw slivered almonds
1/4 cup flaxseed whole, not ground
1/4 cup local honey I use Zip Code honey from Texas Honeybee Guild
1 Tablespoon lavender buds chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup dried blueberries

Notes

Don't be afraid to experiment by substituting your favorite berries or nuts.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients except blueberries. Right about now you’ll be thinking wait, this looks strangely like that concoction she made a few months ago for Valentine birdseed feeders… I agree. It does. And although both are edible, this is much better tasting (for humans).

3. Fold in blueberries.

4. Spread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

5. Bake 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until golden brown. Cool. Transfer to your preferred container for storage.

6. Serve with yogurt or ice cream, sprinkle on salads, add to rice pudding, or leave in a Mason jar beside the coffee pot and take a bite every time you walk into the kitchen.

Greek yogurt, lavender blueberry granola, drizzle of agave, sprinkle of bee pollen, sliced bananas

If you don’t have access to lavender, you can order organic culinary lavender from Hood River Lavender. My husband and I visited Hood River Lavender (Oregon) last summer. If you ever have the opportunity to spend time at a lavender farm, do it. As you might imagine, the air smells heavenly.

Hood River Lavender Farm, Oregon

Now I’m wondering…have you ever cooked with lavender?

granola in small Mason jars = great gift idea!

Grace Grits and Gardening

As rosemary is to the spirit, so lavender is to the soul. – Unknown

Backyard Chickens in Munger Place

March 27, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Meet Liam McGregor. Liam is the Chief Eggsecutive Officer of Munger Place Natural Egg Company. Only six blocks from my house (less really), Liam raises backyard chickens in Munger Place where he lives with his family and a menagerie of pets… A young Dr. Doolittle? Maybe so. One thing’s for sure, his chicken operation is impressive.

The garden is not half bad either.

What you see in the picture above is an off-the-grid ecosystem. The chickens not only provide eggs, but they produce rich manure fertilizer for the raised beds and serve as a natural exterminator by eating insects in the backyard compost and garden.

Liam became interested in chickens while attending preschool in College Station. Now at age thirteen, chickens are a big part of Liam’s life. Last December, he began selling eggs to Munger Place neighbors. His brood currently totals thirteen and includes several ancient breeds— Silkies, Rhode Island Reds, Frizzle, Polish and Barred Rocks.

According to Liam the most fun thing about keeping chickens is the chickens themselves. Each has her own language, he says of his all female chicken population. They “talk” to each other. And they have unique personalities just like people.

This is Princess, a beautiful white Silkie.

And the most difficult thing about being an egg entrepreneur? The time requirement. Liam (a busy seventh grader at William B. Travis) also plays violin and lacrosse, so my Mom helps out a lot, he says.

Eggs are harvested each morning and immediately washed and refrigerated. The chickens lay about 8 eggs a day. Liam’s customers are patient and willing to wait for fresh eggs. The rules of purchase are simple—leave an empty carton on Liam’s front porch with contact information, and arrangements will be made to deliver when the eggs are available. Eggs sell for $0.30/each, $1.80/half dozen or $3.60/dozen.

Proceeds go to the Liam Doesn’t Get An Allowance Fund.

Beautiful eggs, great variety.

Sounds like a great cause!

For additional information, email Liam or his mom at [email protected].

To read information on backyard chickens and the many benefits, click HERE.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Chickens aren’t background animals like fish or sheep or horses. Chickens are in-your-face animals. Chickens if you have them, come to bracket your days. The rooster hollers all morning, and then in the evening the hens have left you their mysterious gift of eggs. – Jeanne Marie Laskas

I may never get my book published, but I can grow the perfect onion.

March 25, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Underneath an endless sky, I have no concept of time. I gather kale and purple lettuce and baby spinach and the first onions from my garden. Perfect onions, like the ones momma grew on our farm when I was a kid.

Such a bountiful first harvest surprises me, especially the onions—fat, white bulbs topped with hearty greens and a tangle of roots filled with soil. Soil I worked with my hands. The same hands that string words together day after day. All day. Except when they are busy in the garden.

Even my husband is impressed. That onion came from our garden?

Everything came from our garden. Well, except the tomatoes. No tomatoes yet.

He stares, amazed.

And then while eating freshly harvested salad, I tell him about the email I received only an hour before. It was a good rejection letter, if there can be such a thing. She said I had a “light, delightful style” and her “decision was troublesome”… like maybe she almost said yes to publishing my book…

I ramble. Frustrated. Disheartened.

My husband listens. Condoles. She doesn’t realize what she’s missing…

I laugh yet don’t feel like laughing. I know I can sell my book. I told her that.

You did?

I nod.

I can’t believe this came from our garden, he says.

Well, I may never publish my book, but I can grow a perfect onion. And that’s worth something.

You should tell her that too.