Posted by Susan Harris.

Great-looking door!

The latest from head grower Oliver Storm are his best advice for holiday greens.  Here goes:

• Buy them early for the best selection and ideal freshness.

• When you bring fresh-cut greens home, keep them in a protected area (like a garage) to protect them from wind and sun until you’re ready to decorate.

• If possible, immerse them in water for a day or two, then remove and dry in a protected area before use.

• Spray all greens, wreaths, roping, and swags with an anti-desiccant – like Wilt-Pruf or Wilt Stop – before use.   These products act as a clear and flexible protective coating that prevents moisture loss in stems, needles and leaves.  However, do NOT use them on junipers or berries.

• Never hang fresh greens between a main door and storm door that receives direct sun.  This will create a greenhouse effect and cause greens to dry out and drop needles.

• Daily  misting with water will help to prolong the life of fresh-cut greens.

• When using lights on fresh-cut greens, use the newer LED type – they have a longer life and are not hot like the older incandescent lights.

• Extend the life of your fresh-cut greens by lowering the thermostat.

What We Carry
Types of greens: Boxwood, Douglas fir, Holly (green or variegated), Incense Cedar, Juniper, Noble Fir,  Princess Pine, Silver Fir, White Pine, Western Cedar, Magnolia, and Oregonia.

For Accents:  Baby’s Breath, Eucalyptus, Birch branches, Caspia, Curly willow, Red Twig Dogwood, Scotch Broom, Winterberry stems, and pine cones.

Posted by Susan Harris.   Photo credit.

Clare with her favorite parts of Homestead's Christmas display

Annapolis teacher, writer and blogger Loris Nebbia recently posted a wonderful blog story, simply called ”A Christmas Tradition”, and we swear we’d love it even if it didn’t involve Homestead’s Christmas show.  But it does and hearing reading about how much fun she and her husband have every year bringing their grandchildren to see the trains, trees and other dazzling hoopla just makes us happy. 

In the blog story we learn that granddaughter Clare preferred the tiny skaters playing hockey on the little pond to our big train set, and that “”Best of all Clare, liked the oversized lights and Christmas balls and the totally cool aquarium made from the brightest materials with neon colored fish. ”   We love it~!

Loris is author of the very locally based novel Solomon’s Puzzle, and her blog Eight Hands Around covers gardening, and much more.

Posted by Susan Harris

Chicken Marengo (could be pork or even rabbit)

Seasonal Cooking with Rita Calvert~The Kitchen Gardener Cook

The Menu for Flu Prevention

• Chicken Marengo
• Green Bean Salad with “Sweets” and Clementine Dressing
• Crunchy Carrot Cake

Right now, with temperatures dipping and rising, wind-lots of it, rain and snow, we know it’s flu season-the most commonly occurring illness in the world. You can take simple action with more than just a flu shot, if that’s what you choose to do . Look at your ‘eating plan’ (I just detest the word diet). Yes, that means the foods you eat.

Nutrient dense, plain, real food doesn’t mean it can’t be exciting-Au contraire!

The basic nutritional food mantra goes, “Eat the Rainbow” which means a variety of foods loaded with color! With all of the lists of top ten healthy foods out there, you certainly must have perused a few. Those are the superlatives while these are super foods however, nutrient dense foods that can (and should) be added to many everyday recipes. It’s not necessary to know the specific nutritional benefits from the edibles below (unless for healing disease), just make sure to include lots of them and a variety of them all in your diet.

Almonds-calcium, magnesium, vitamin E, , phytochemicals, anti-inflammatory agents

Dried beans-B vitamins, folate

Carrots- vitamins A, C antioxidants

Citrus-one of the best sources of vitamin C

Garlic virus fighting sulfur components

Green beans-excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin K and manganese

Kale-packed with vitamins A, C, K and B6, fiber and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus. All that for just 36 calories a cup! If you’re on blood-thinning drug, though, check with your doctor before consuming much kale, as its Vitamin K can interfere with such medications.(Washington Post)

Mushrooms-especially the dark and exotic varieties-produce substances that improve biological functions

Pumpkin, sweet potatoes, butternut, Delicata, acorn squashes -beta carotene

Red bell  pepper-vitamin C

Red onion-quadruple the quercetin of most other produce

Fresh edible rhizomes (the knobby underground stem)-ginger root, tumeric, horseradish, salsify,  Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes), wasabi-extremely effective food  and medicinal value

Sweet Potatoes-beta-carotene, which creates vitamin A in the body

Tomatoes, cooked-lycopene, an important carotenoid with anti-oxidant characteristics

Whole grains-zinc, selenium

Dried beans-B vitamins, folate

Chicken Marengo

Serves 4

When the four of us kids were growing up, my dad prepared a special Sunday eve dinner usually from a cookbook in which we had say. The Marengo treatment became the superlative for all of us and I start to salivate even when I think of the combination of ingredients. Who knew then that it was one of the healthiest choices? Recently a cooking compadre shared that she had purchased rabbit from a local sustainable farmer. We both think this recipe would tenderize and make a succulent dish for a variety of meats or poultry.

• 4 skinless boneless chicken thighs (or thick pork chops)
• Kosher salt freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 1 large sweet red onion, sliced
• 8 ounces baby bellas, thinly sliced
• 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 (14 to 15 ounce) can fire roasted tomatoes
• 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved

Chicken Marengo-in the process

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Pat chicken dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy ovenproof skillet over medium high heat until hot, add chicken and sauté until golden on each side-about 3 minutes total. Add celery, onions, mushrooms, garlic, oregano, broth, tomatoes and olives -spread around chicken. Place skillet in the oven and bake, covered, until chicken is just cooked through, about 25 minutes.

Serve over pasta-whole grain, please or brown rice

Green Bean Salad with “Sweets” and Clementine Dressing

Serves 8

It’s the season for clementines but if not to be found… substitute 1/3 cup freshly squeezed juice and along with some zest.

• 1 small shallot, chopped
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
• Zest and juice of 2 Clementines
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 pound green beans, trimmed
• 1 small sweet potato-peeled, cooked and cubed

In a blender, combine shallot, mustard, salt, pepper, Clementine zest and juice. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil and blend until smooth.

Steam beans on a steamer rack set over simmering water until bright green and barely tender, about 6 minutes.

Place green beans on a large platter. Top with sweet potato cubes and drizzle with citrus dressing.

Individual "Star" Crunchy Carrot Cakes

Crunchy Carrot Cake

Serves 10 to 12

Rose Schulman has always been one of my favorite healthy cooking mentors and cookbook authors. Her column, Recipes for Health for the NY Times is a creative no-nonsense approach to “good-for-you” cooking. The uniques cake below is crunchy with the flakes of carrot and nuts and contains no flour. I made individual star cakes just because ’tis the season.

This crunchy, spicy carrot cake is much lighter and less cloying than most I’ve tasted. It’s important to grate the carrots on the fine holes of your grater, or else they’ll remain too crunchy. For best results, wrap the cake tightly in plastic after it cools and serve it the next day. It will keep for five days in the refrigerator if wrapped airtight.

• 1 1/2 cups (1/2 pound) unsalted toasted almonds
• 1/4 cup raw brown (turbinado) sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 4 large eggs
• 1/3 cup organic white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups finely grated carrots (about 10 ounces)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the middle. Oil a 9-inch springform pan, and line it with parchment. Lightly oil the parchment.

Combine the almonds and the turbinado sugar in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Blend until the almonds are finely ground. Add the baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon zest, and pulse together.

Beat the eggs until thick in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or with an electric beater. Add the organic sugar, and continue to beat until the mixture is thick and forms a ribbon when lifted from the bowl with a spatula. Beat in the vanilla. Add the almond mixture and the carrots in three alternating additions, and slowly beat or fold in each time.

Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan. Place in the oven, and bake one hour until firm to the touch and beginning to pull away from the pan. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean. Remove from the heat, and allow to cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan, and carefully remove the spring form ring. Allow the cake to cool completely, then wrap tightly in plastic.

Ever walk through Homestead’s mind-blowing Christmas decorations and wonder what’s up with all that?  Or perhaps:  How do they DO that?  Well, I do, so I posed those questions to the people responsible for the whole shebang – buyers Sue Adams and Erin Nowakowski, who’ve been assembling Homestead’s holiday offerings for 14 and 10 years respectively.   (All that experience shows.) 

Popular themes include all-purple and the upside down tree.

How they Buy

First I needed to know how many trees ARE there? And the answer is between 40 and 50 every year – even more than I would have guessed.   And where do they come from?  That question takes us to Europe, where Homestead’s Christmas buyers go because Germany is the place for all things Christmas and going there eliminates the middleman.    Germany is also where they found people to design the special hand-painted glass ornaments depicting Annapolis, the ones that are so popular in these parts.   Actually made in Russia  (the plot thickens!), they’re soon to become dated collectors’ items, with just one new ornament each year.

For buyers the biggest event of the year is a really, really big show in Atlanta, where anybody who buys anything that decorates our homes – inside and outside – goes to buy.   Erin told me it covers three whole city blocks and is 10 stories tall – unimaginable!  How do they do it, I practically gasp, imagining the wear and tear on their feet and the mind-numbing rows of booths filled with products.  They tell me the answer is “Good shoes and planning.  Focus!”  Gotta do it – because Christmas themes are there by the dozens and with the right shoes and focus, these ladies get to choose the coolest ones for us to have right here in Maryland.  What fun!  

How they Show and Sell

So, what’s popular?  This year everyone loves the crystal chandelier tree and the upside-down tree with its undersea ornaments.  Then there’s the cute “Garden Friends” tree filled with bugs.   And always popular are Mark Roberts’ Fairies, pets, sports, elves, and “birds are huge”.   Women, especially decorators, love the color themes – like the all-purple one above.  My personal favorites may just be the kids’ trees, especially the one for ‘tweens – to me, its decorations are a fascinating peek at their world.  

The Toddler tree (L) and one for Tweens (R)

Hand-painted Scenes of Annapolis

Now when I see the array of trees here in Davidsonville, from the most traditional to the most up-to-date, I’m so dazzled by it all that it’s a shock to hear what Sue and Erin think of it most days – that it’s a disaster!  A train wreck!  You get the idea.   They’re dismayed at the condition they find the trees in almost daily, but especially after a big event – Ladies Night comes to mind, or Black Friday – because customers shop right off the trees – rendering them sometimes barren!  Really I had no inkling of the trauma inflicted on these charming ladies, who then hurry to re-decorate the trees – again and again. 

That happens only because the rest of us can’t resist the ornaments they chose for us in their travels.  

The Wine Tree

These Santas in our Christmas shop look eerily real.

And you know what’s more fun than walking the malls? Making wreaths, especially with help and gobs of wreath-making items at your disposal. Details below.
 

That’s according to head grower Oliver Storm, whose personal favorite is the increasingly popular white hydrangea you see below.  It’s just like the mophead hydrangeas we grow in our gardens, but it’s raised to bloom NOW, out of season.  Each has 3 to 5 blooms, and after they’re past their prime you can use them in dried arrangements – just like we do with the summer-bloomers.  Hey, I’ve been known to actually spray-paint those dried hydrangea blooms in my dried arrangements, and why not?

Calla Lily (L) and 'Snowball' Hydrangea

In the collage of gloxinias below, see the big cluster of blooms on these guys?  That shows their good breeding.  They can be grown in bright light or partial shade.  They’ll bloom indoors for 5-6 weeks or longer. Oliver particularly loves the double flowering types.

Gloxinias

 Even in the greenhouse the Christmas cactus look seriously cool to me.  Why have I never grown one of these?  Especially in a really pretty pot. 

Christmas Cactus are daylight sensitive and only bloom naturally in November and December.  They like partial shade but can be grown in sunny conditions in the winter and will even live for many years, blooming every year, if they’re treated properly in the fall.  What’s proper treatment, you ask?  Giving them 8 weeks of short days (less day light than 12 hours).  That means NOT putting them in a room where you turn the lights on in the evening.  Also, keep them evenly watered.

Christmas Cactus

Finally, Cyclamen have been loved by indoor gardeners for ages, for any time of the year.  But with some silver foil around the pot they can look plenty Christmassy.  Cyclamen are good for cooler rooms and like temperatures around 60 degree.  They will continue to flower all winter, requiring partial shade and moderate watering to perform their best. 

Cyclamen

...all aglow with Homestead Gardens Illumination Ceremony

Seasonal Cooking with Rita Calvert~The Kitchen Gardener Cook

First the Holiday Happenings: Everywhere ones looks at both of the Homestead Gardens stores is holiday magic. Many of us just go there to feel part of the festivities, immersed in the spirit of celebration and joy we can feel a sense of wonder. It’s best to take time and wander through all of the vignettes, nooks and crannies. The holiday festivities begin formation right around September although the specially hand-painted European ornaments have been ordered well in advance.

Look carefully to see the Darlin' Reindeer on "point"

When I saw this article in Organic Gardening I found it to be a stellar idea to pass along for holiday gift giving. You’ll see it below and learn that those herbs can keep going inside. Individual herb plants and herb container gardens are available year ’round at Homestead Gardens. I would be thrilled if I received a lively fresh herb plant bundled in festive packaging. So here are the green guys which fare best inside. A nicely packaged fresh herb along with a special recipe for its use pulls it all together.

10 Herbs to Keep Inside for the Winter

• 10 Best Herbs for Indoors
  You can grow herbs indoors this winter and add that just-picked taste to your meals, even when snow is drifting up against the kitchen window.
  You don’t even need special lights—herbs fare just fine in a bright window.
  Here are the best herbs for growing on windowsills and the smart techniques you need to keep them happy and healthy until you can plant outside again.
• Basil
  Start basil from seeds and place the pots in a south-facing window—it likes lots of sun and warmth.
• Bay
  A perennial that grows well in containers all year long.
  Place the pot in an east, or west, facing window, but be sure it does not get crowded—bay needs air circulation to remain healthy.
• Chives
  Dig up a clump from your garden at the end of the growing season and pot it up.
  Leave the pot outside until the leaves die back.
  In early winter, move the pot to your coolest indoor spot (such as a basement) for a few days, then finally to your brightest window.
• Oregano
  Your best bet is to start with a tip cutting from an outdoor plant.
  Place the pot in a south-facing window.
• Parsley
  You can start this herb from seeds or dig up a clump from your garden at the end of the season.
• Rosemary
  Start with a cutting of rosemary, and keep it in moist soilless mix until it roots.
  It grows best in a south-facing window.
  Parsley likes full sun, but will grow slowly in an east, or west, facing window.
• Sage
  Take a tip cutting from an outdoor plant to start an indoor sage.
  It tolerates dry, indoor air well, but it needs the strong sun it will get in a south-facing window.
• Tarragon
  A dormant period in late fall or early winter is essential for tarragon to grow indoors.
  Pot up a mature plant from your outdoor garden and leave it outside until the leaves die back.
  Bring it to your coolest indoor spot for a few days, then place it in a south-facing window for as much sun as possible.
  Feed well with an organic liquid fertilizer.
• Thyme
  You can start thyme indoors either by rooting a soft tip cutting or by digging up and potting an outdoor plant.
  Thyme likes full sun but will grow in an east, or west, facing window.

Rosemary as a gift along with the recipe

Kids get pretty wide-eyed here this time of year

Friday, December 3  Ladies Night Out
6-9 p.m. at our Severna Park store
25% off with coupon – click here and print it out.  Vendors include:  Aveda, Big Vanilla, Body Libra, Byers Choice, Chesapeake Bay Roasters, Kernal Gunther’s popcorn, M-Bellishments, Maxsam Granola, Natures Creation, Nordstroms, Robeks, Silly Spuds Tee, Silapada, Tastings Gourmet, Tessemae’s dressing, and Trollbeads

Saturday, December 4
10am-4pm: Visit with Santa
12-2pm: Live Jazz with Rob Levit Trio

Sunday, December 5
11:20am-1:30pm: Live music with Incidental Brass
12-4pm: Visit with Santa

The Rob Levit Trio

Just 3 of our huge (and gorgeous) assortment of display trees

Mugging with Santa

Santa photo by Cobalt.  Posted by Susan Harris.

Oliver Storm with his favorite "point", Crazy Christmas

by Susan Harris 

Poinsettias are coming into their season, so let’s see what’s new and good about them this year by checking in with Head  Grower Oliver Storm.

You may have heard that pointsettias were discovered in Mexico by the American ambassador there, a guy named Poinsett.  And since then it’s become the quintessentially American holiday plant, only now gaining a small market in Europe.   Today the seedlings are grown as close to the Equator as possible – in African and Central America – because that’s where there’s no change in day length, so the plants can be grown all year.  (So, yet another example of day length being the prime factor, when all along I thought it was temperature!)

Dulce Rosa (L) and Ice Punch (R)

This year Oliver and his team grew 70,000 poinsettias, 50 varieties in all, the majority to retailers and large customers like institutions and businesses.   Oh, and lots of churches.  Shown here are some of the new varieties that are up and coming in the plant world.

I asked Oliver to go ahead and show some horticultural pride and tell us why he recommends his poinsettias and here’s his answer:  They’re fresh, right out of the greenhouse, so naturally they last longer.  And importantly, there are more plants in each pot, and more blooms on each plant.  And while most growers concentrate a good 80 percent on reds only, we grow just 65 percent reds and offer more choices.  The lesson here?  That red is SO dominant as the number one customer choice – still – that it’s considered wild-eyed to only devote 65 percent of your greenhouses to that one color.  So American holiday traditions change ever so slowly, like all good traditions. 

Ruby Frost (L) and Orange Spice (R)

Ruby Frost is SO popular this year, it actually sold out early.   And decorators are using Orange Spicer a lot this year for their clients wanting something different.

Polar Bear Poinsettias and their Namesakes

If you’ve never tried white, this may be the year for you – if you’re a fan of polar bears.  Because Ecke, the world’s largest grower of poinsettia cuttings, contributes a portion of its sales of  Polar Bear pointsettias to Polar Bears International, a conservation organization.  Cool.

Read more about pointsettias - do’s and dont’s in the home, how to get them to rebloom, are they poisonous, and more, here on the Ecke website.  And Baltimore Sun reporter Susan Reimer visited with Oliver and annuals grower Kerry Kelley recently and did her usual bang-up job reporting the story – click here  to read her report.