Its officially summer and its starting to get mighty warm in the Pacific Northwest. It makes for happy plants but also thirsty and dehydrated gardeners as well as children. What to do? We thought we would share our favorite down on the farm recipe for a nutritious hydrating and flavorful cold drink that is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

The recipe we are sharing today is made with our Bloom'n Hibiscus Tea Blend which features the lovely and brilliant colored hibiscus flower. Most people will recognize this lovely flower as a Hawaiian flower and actually the yellow hibiscus is the state of Hawaii's flower. It has a bright petals usually five in number with a long protruding pistil typical of the tropical flower we all tend to think of. They come in many different colors but our tea today features the bright red variety.

The tropical flower this tea is based off of will make you think of the tropics when you drink it as the lemon balm and lemon grass compliment the fruitless of this flower with a citrus twist. Blackberry and Raspberry leaves give it some heartiness which is reminiscent of a light green tea and add a nutritious punch. Some have likened the taste of this hibiscus tea to 'Kool-aid' but better and I have yet to meet anyone who didn't like this tea - be they a tea drinker or not.

According to online sources hibiscus boosts the immune system, helps prevent cold and flu, assists in weight loss, helps to quench thirst, aids in blood pressure management, assists in reducing anxiety and depression, helps to lower levels of bad LDL, protects the liver against infections, assists with relief from cramps and menstrual symptoms as well as slowing down the growth of cancer.

Needless to say if you are looking for cool and refreshing and a crowd pleaser for young or old this is the drink to try!! Without further ado we will move on to the tutorial.

What you will need:

1 1/2 gal. canning jar or glass equivalent
2 large tea filters (found at most grocery stores near the coffee filters)
1/2 oz  Bloom'n Hibiscus Loose Leaf Tea (small bag from our farm store)
1/2 gallon filtered water
​1 lid for canning jar

1/3 cup local raw honey (optional)
1/4 cup organic unbleached sugar (optional)
​Lemon slices (optional)

​

Once you have your materials gathered together take the 1/2 oz of Bloom'n Hibiscus tea and place it inside each of the tea filters, putting half a bag of tea in one filter and the other half in the second filter.

Next fill your half gallon jar with clean filtered water (tap water will work but may give an off flavor). We love our Berky for filtering gunk out of water as well as fluoride.

Slide your tea bags in the jar hanging the lip of them over the edge of the jar so that the tea leaves cannot get out of the bag. Screw the lid on your jar so that it holds the tea bags in place.

Place your tea in a sunny spot outside, we tried ours in the entrance to the greenhouse... but the sun moved so we decided to move the tea....

It loved brewing on the front porch as much as we love the sun on the front porch too... this day we skipped the tea bags and dumped our blend right in the jar using a metal strainer to separate when finished. When your tea has brewed to the strength you prefer (for us about 4-6 hours depending on the sun) discard the tea filters and/or strain. Pour over ice for a refreshing drink. Though if you would like to make your tea up as we do it down on the farm we add about 1/3 of a cup of raw local honey and blend using a stick blender. We pour over ice and if we are getting really fancy with it we dip the rim of our cup in some liquid (water or lemon juice) and then dip the rim in some organic raw sugar for some sparkle. Add a slice of lemon to your cup and you have a very affordable summer time treat!

Thanks for visiting us down on the farm and if you really want to make this an affordable drink make sure to check out our larger size economy bags of tea for more tea and less on your pocket book in our farm store. See you next time!

My Little Farm
When a little farm I keep,
I shall tend my kine and sheep,
And my pretty lambs shall fold
In deep pastures starred with gold.

On green carpets they shall tread;
Gold and purple be their bed,
Honeyed clover make their food 
Im a watered solitude.

And my garden places shall
Grow me fruits on tree and wall,
Give me blossoms in the spring
And an autumn gathering.

An old dial and a cote
Where the pigeons fly and float,
And a well so green and dim
Where the little fishes swim.

Hives of honey I shall own,
Bees with drowsy monotone
Toil all day to bring me home
Heather honey at the gloam.

'Twixt the mountains and the sea
There my little farm will be,
I shall tend my sheep and kine,
And a thankful heart be mine.

-Katherine Tynan Hinkson
Ideal Catholic Readers #6  +Imprimatur 1916

How to Plant Carrots- Obedience
This mornings question: What is the fourth commandment? Honor thy father and thy mother. Honor in that catechism answer means to obey. Every one of Christ's children must learn to obey. To obey does not mean to do what you are told. It means to do exactally as you are told. There is a difference there. Maybe this story will help to make that clear to you.

While the great St. Francis of Assisi was alive two men came to the door of his monastery and asked if they could join his order - the Friars Minor. St. Francis asked them several questions and finally said, "Will you keep the vow of poverty? Both the men said they would. "Will you keep the vow of chastity?" asked Francis. "We will," replied the men. Finally St. Francis asked, "Will you keep the vow of obedience?" Both said "Yes." "Then come with me," said St. Francis, and he led the two men into the garden. In the garden the two men got the correct idea of the religious life and of obedience. St. Francis gave them each, of all things, two carrots and said, "Plant these." The two began to dig into the ground. "Now," said the Saint, "I do not want them just planted. I want them planted upside down." One man planted his carrots upside down. The other man scratched his head and said, "Oh, no, Father Francis, you are a very holy man and know many things, but you do not know how to plant carrots. Here's how you do it. You plant them this way." And he planted his right side up. St. Francis smiled at him tolerantly and said, "Young man, you would make a very good gardener, because you plant carrots right side up, but you will not make a good Franciscan unless you learn to obey. Now plant them upside down. You must learn that to obey means to do exactly what you are told to do." But St. Francis was not finished with his lesson on obedience. He said, "What a shame! I've made you spoil the carrots that were meant for our supper. There are some nice ones in the next garden. Jump over the fence to steal two of the carrots. Immediately St. Francis called him back and finished the lesson. "To plant carrots upside down is one thing. To steal them is another. You must obey your superiors - but only in things which are not sinful."

That story shows that obedience means that we should do exactly as we are told as long s we are not told to sin. It does not mean that we may do the thing any old way that we please. If we are told to do our homework now, that means that we must do it now and not after we finish the chapter of the novel we are reading. If we are told to be home at seven o'clock, we do not obey if we just straggle home when we are ready. We must be home on time. If our parents wanted us home at 7:15 they would say 7:15. But they said seven and that meant seven, IF we are told to wash the dishes, we do not obey if we put them away without being dried properly. To be obedient we must do exactly what we are told. That means that we must do the things we are told to do (and not something else); when we are told to do it (not when we feel like it) and in the proper manner (not carelessly or sloppily). If you do not do all of these things you cannot call yourselves obedient. Both of the men in the story planted the carrots in the ground but one was obedient and the other was not. One did exactly as he was told. The other did it the way he felt like doing it. Remember this next time you are told to do something. If you are told to plant carrots upside down, then plant them upside down. It is not your mistake if you do what you are told to do. You obeyed - and to obey means to do exactly what you are told to do.

From Heavenwards; Instructional Stories in Religion
By: Wilfrid Diamond +Imprimatur 1941

Q. Why did Christ suffer and die?
A. Christ suffered and died for our sins.

THE BURIED SEED
A little city girl was one springtime visiting her country cousins, and seeing the laborers in the field planting the seed, she cried out: "Oh, what a foolish thing! to bury the beautiful seed in the earth to rot and die!" The farmer smiled and said: "Yes; but if we don't bury it, we shall have no fine fields of corn this summer, nor abundant harvest in the fall." The law of nature is also the law of grace. Whoever humbleth himself shall be exalted. So, too, Christ's voluntary degradation was the cause of our exaltation. He Himself expressed this truth when He said: "Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."

From: Anecdotes and Examples for the Catechism
By: Spirago and Baxter +Imprimatur 1906

There were once five peas in one pod; they were green and the pod was green, and so they believed that the whole world must be green also, which was a very natural conclusion. The pod grew, and the peas grew ; they sat all in a row. The sun shone without and warmed the pod, and the rain made it clear so that they could see through it. It was warm and pleasant in broad daylight, and dark at night, as it generally is. And the peas, as they sat in a row, grew bigger and bigger, and more thoughtful, too. They all felt sure there must be something for them to do, but they didn't know what it was. 

"Are we to sit here forever?" asked one; "shall we not become hard by sitting so long? There must be something outside this pod ; I am sure of it." And so weeks passed by ; the peas became yellow, and the pod became yellow. "All the world is turning yellow, I suppose,"they said, and perhaps they were right. 

Suddenly they felt a pull at the pod. It was torn off the vine and held in human hands ; then it was slipped into the pocket of a jacket in company with other full pods.

"Now we shall soon be let out," said one,—just what they all wanted. "I should like to know which of us will travel farthest," said the smallest of the five; "we shall soon see now." 

"What is to happen will happen," said the largest pea.

"Crack!" went the pod as it burst, and the five peas rolled out into the bright sunshine. There they lay in a child's hand. A little boy was holding them tightly ; he said they were fine peas for his pea shooter. And immediately he put one in and shot it out.

"Now I am flying out into the wide world," said the pea ; "catch me if you can ;" and he was gone in a moment.

"I," said the second, "intend to fly straight to the sun; that is a pod that lets itself be seen, and it will suit me exactly," and away he went.
​
"Wherever we find ourselves we will go to sleep," said the two next; "we shall still be rolling
onwards;" and they did certainly fall on the floor and roll about before they were put into the pea shooter; but they were put in, for all that. "We will go farther than the others," said they. "What is to happen will happen," exclaimed the last pea, as he was shot out of the pea-shooter. As he spoke, he flew up against an old board under a garret window, and fell into a little crack, which was almost filled up with moss and soft earth. The moss closed itself about him, and there he lay a captive, indeed, but not unnoticed by God.

"What is to happen will happen," said he to himself. Within the little garret lived a poor woman who had to go out to work every day. She had to leave her only daughter at home alone because the child was very delicate. For a whole year the little girl had kept her bed, and it seemed as though she could neither die nor live.

"She is going to her little sister," said the woman.

"I had two children. God took one of them to His home in Heaven. The other was left to me, but I suppose she will soon go to her sister in Heaven."

However, the sick girl remained where she was; she lay quietly and patiently in bed all day long while her mother was away from home at work. Spring came, and early one morning the sun shone brightly through the little window and threw his rays over the floor of the room. Just as her mother was going to work, the sick girl, looking at the window pane, said :
"Mother, what can that little green thing be that peeps in at the window? It is moving in the wind."
​
Her mother stepped to the window and half opened it. "Oh !" she said, "there is actually a little pea here which has taken root and is putting out its green leaves. How could it have got into this crack? Well, now, here is a little garden for you to amuse yourself with."

So the bed of the sick girl was drawn nearer to the window that she might see the budding plant ; and the mother went out to her work.

"Mother, I believe I shall get well," said the sick child in the evening; "the sun has shone in here so brightly and warmly to-day, and the little pea is growing so well, I shall get on better, too, and go out into the warm sunshine again."

"God grant it !" said the mother, but she did not believe it would be so. She propped up with a little stick the green plant which had given her child such pleasant hopes of life, so that it might not be broken by the wind. She tied a piece of string to the window-sill and to the upper part of the frame, so that the pea tendrils might twine round it when the pea shot up. And it did shoot up ; indeed, it might almost be seen to grow from day to day.

"Now, really, here is a flower coming," said the mother one morning. And at last she began to hope that her little sick daughter might get well. She remembered that for some time the child had spoken more cheerfully, and during the last few days had raised herself in bed in the morning to look with sparkling eyes at her little garden, which contained only the one little pea plant.

A week later the sick girl sat up for the first time, and she felt quite happy at the open window in the warm sunshine. Outside the window grew the little plant, and on it was a pink pea blossom in full bloom. The little maiden bent down and gently kissed the delicate leaves. This was like a feast day to her.

"Our Heavenly Father, Himself, has planted that pea and made it grow so as to bring joy to you and hope to me, my beloved child," said the happy mother. She smiled at the flower as if it had been an angel from God.

Catholic Education Series Vol. 4
​+ Imprimatur 1910

May has brought us green trees, green grass, blackberry weeds, and so much more growth in the greenhouse, the barnyard and the whole farm. We hope you enjoy your May visit down on the farm.

The very beginning of May brought some new friends to our little farm. Two ram bummer lambs took over the inside of our barn. These little guys will be raised for the freezer as part of making our little micro farm sustainable and to help in raising our own food.

Please meet Tiny and Big Boy...

Socks got a little surprised and woken from his nap... ahhhh stretch! Nothing like a nap in the dirt.

Tiny and Big Boy get a break from their barn life to taste the green grass...

Big Boy enjoying his outdoor time... 

Time for a bottle.... Pepsi the breakfast of champions ;) We started them out on lamb replacer and gradually changed them to half cows milk kefir, half formula and some raw scrambled chicken eggs with molasses.

Meet our little ewe lamb, Little Bitty... she was the last bummer lamb from the local lamb farm and left all along so of course we welcomed her to our farm. The future mother of our future freezer lambs.

Lambs out for a walk.... they follow where ever I go...

Spotted by the chickens who think they are going to get treats....

Getting bigger! Lambs introduction to the pasture, they thought follow the leader sounded like fun.

Farm Girl #1 visiting with our every growing lambs and Lucy the goat.

One of our two little farm kittens, not a fan of getting her picture taking. Our mama cat had two kittens last month.

Our busy greenhouse at the beginning of the month, packed with peas, cabbage, carrots, chicory, kale, beets, fennel, radishes and lettuce.

So excited to see cabbage heads forming!

After burning our summer crops in the greenhouse last year we broke down and put a shade cover on the hoop house. Its amazing how well it works and it keeps the temps down 10-20 degrees.

Seed shelf built by the Farmer to keep the pill bugs away from our seedlings. Its working great!

Baby seedlings growing big for our summer garden...

Little Lady in the greenhouse enjoying some sunshine!

Our two grape vines are looking like they will fruit on this, their second year.

Foraging for black berry leaves for our Bloom'n Hibiscus Loose Leaf Tea.

Blooms showing up in our Mary Garden...

Roses, lavender and chamomile from our Mary Garden.

Our Floral Repose Tea bouquet, one of the few teas that we grow many of the tea ingredients in our yard. A great caffeine free night time tea drunk to assist with restful sleep.

Haskap Berry Whole Wheat Sourdough Muffins for Sunday breakfast.

A small but beautiful haskap berry harvest from our few plants.

Our first spring salad all from our garden and farm. Kale, haskap berries, steamed eggs, and peas.

Abundance of eggs brings us weekly frittatas, quick and easy dinner- just add green salad!

First radishes and carrots from the greenhouse.... love those Easter Egg Radishes!

Another all garden/farm produced salad.... snap peas, carrots, radishes, steamed eggs and kale.

Sourdough Whole Wheat Scones with haskap berriers grown on our farm and some dairy free whipped cream. With tea of course!

Whole Wheat Sourdough Pizza, a little treat not out of our garden but made for special company.

Fermenting green haskap berries, they turned out great! They taste like something between green olives and capers.

Curry Chicken Pasta, kale and strawberry salad and local sourdough bread... dinner down on the farm.

Local spray-free strawberries brought us a morning of making freezer jam. A great and easy project for our Farm Girls, a home ec. lesson.

The Feast of Corpus Christi brings us cross cut bread, red wine, grapes and roast lamb as we celebrate and remember the Last Supper and Holy Eucharist.

The start of May found us packing up a whole sale order for a new cafe opening in McMinnville, Oregon called, Mommies Minis. You will find some of our teas served there, some for purchase and our mother's and children's line of herbal care along with some great fun for the children. Make sure to check it out when they open.

Our 'how to brew loose leaf tea' station at the Salem Saturday Market.

Introducing Dog Salve for your doggie friends available in our shop and at the Salem Saturday Market.

This month we spent time repacking tea into our new bags, blending new batches and taking photo shoots. Here is our Peppermint Patty Loose Leaf Tea which makes an excellent iced drink. 

Our Marsala Chai Tea was next on the photo shoot list. This is one of our two caffeinated teas and very lovely for a cold rainy day. We spruced it up a bit and turned it into a latte using our French Press to make some frothy milk. Yum!

Noggin Tea for when you need some ginkgo to assist with brain function be it studying or planning your crop rotation, its a 'smart' choice for tea drinking time.

Our first Salem Saturday Market at the start of May went so well we turned our six dates into 12! A little cold, no rain but a good day for loose leaf tea!

Introducing our newest loose leaf tea to enter the farm store!  Our Haskap Berry Pie Tea Blend is made with locally grown haskap berries courtesy of Dr. Maxine Thompson of OSU. These blueberry like berries pack a higher antioxidant punch and make this cup of tea taste like blueberry pie in a glass. Grab your bag online or at the Salem Saturday Market. This one will only hang around as long as the berries last!

Coming soon! Our Herbal First Aid Kit which will included a 1 oz tin each of Arnica, Calendula, Plantain and Joint/Back Salve complete with a card on what to use and when! We will also have these lovely lavender sachets available at the Salem Saturday Market, filled with home grown lavender for keeping clear moths from closets and dressers or freshening up a bathroom. Make sure to check out our Farm Store to see what is new!