The frogs were thick in the pond this year. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFDzFB-dNco

This video shows how to harvest, dry, and store elderflower. 0:00 Intro 0:21 Harvest 1:53 Dry 2:49 Storage #herbal #garden #gardening ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHHNsZAFiO8

This past weekend I attended the Frederick Paw Paw Festival 2016 in Frederick, MD hosted by author Michael Judd. The festival included paw paw tasting, paw paw ice cream making, tours of his straw bale house, tours of his food forests, ginger beer tasting, pizza from a fire brick oven, live music by local musicians, a Michael Judd book signing, and many other activities. Paw Paw Jam on the Rocket Stove The first stop I made on my video tour was the paw paw jam station. They were making fresh paw paw jam on a rocket stove. The jam included paw paw pulp, lemon juice, sugar, and pectin. The rocket stove is a very neat device that cooks with small pieces of wood and cooks extremely cleanly. Other Food and Drinks They had a wood fire pizza oven there and they were making pizzas for the people. I did a separate post and video on that earlier this week. They also had a homemade ginger beer there for small tastings. I have a separate post that I will put up in the future on this topic. They also had an ice cream station where they were making fresh paw paw ice cream and serving it up to the guests. Fun for the Kids They had several kids’ areas where the kids could play and entertain themselves. They also had an area where the kids could paint what they thought a paw paw festival should look like. They had an area with sand and kids toys as well as face painting and arts and crafts. Sampling the Paw Paws There was a table that had four different types of paw paws on them. They had volunteers there slicing the paw paws and answering questions for the people. Behind this area was a table set up with volunteers who were cleaning the seeds. If any of the patrons asked for the seeds, they were given away. In this same general area Michael Judd was doing a book signing and selling some of his paw paw seedlings. He only had about half a dozen grafted varieties that he was selling and they were sold out before I even knew he was selling plants. The Music The festival had several local musicians that were entertaining us. They had a gentleman playing a harp near the kids’ section. Over near the paw paw tasting area they had a guitarist, violinist, and they took turns singing. Hugelkultur Mound Michael has several Hugelkultur mounds on his property. He had signs up explaining what they were and why they were there. A Hugelkultur mound is basically just buried logs that you plant into. As the wood breaks down it wicks water up and holds it like a sponge for the plants to get a drink. It also helps build soil as it decays and helps add nutrients to the soil. The Garden Tours I went on a garden tour and saw the many unique edible plants that Michael has in his gardens and food forests. I did a video of one of his forest gardens and will post that ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYajO4mhclc

Eating Nasturtium - Pretty, Spicy, and Tasty. One of my favorite flowers to eat here. I have a lot of fun with people at farmers markets, letting them try it out for the first time. I have found very few people who do not like the taste. Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. Amazon Links for Nasturtium Seeds: Small Pack - https://amzn.to/3BBuIbO 100 Seeds - https://amzn.to/3RGGpU9 350 Seeds - https://amzn.to/3LbEXqp Walmart also has seeds online, but the link was too long to place here. Watch the shipping costs on the Walmart seeds. The products I looked at, the shipping cost more than the seeds. 0:00 Intro 1:11 Demo #nasturtium #flowers #eating ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoNYgIv4eaA