Harvest

Daffodils and tulips spread a blanket of color across my yard in the early Spring, with a promise of warm weather to follow. Within my very small space 80 tulip bulbs are planted and the hues of yellow, red, pink and purple bring a smile to my face each year.

The wet and windy weather of Utah's version of Spring destroyed the last of my tulips as their short-lived beauty fell away, last weekend. But good news follows as I harvested the stems and leaves for paper making.

You see, the tulip leaves and daffodil leaves have a fibrous content that can be cooked down, blended and turned in to a pulp additive in paper making.  I sat on my front porch, last evening and cut the tulip leaves and daffodil stems into small chunks. I can only imagine that the new neighbors across the street wonder why I was "cutting greens" from my front yard for dinner.

This is a view after about 90 minutes. After all the leaves were cut, I added about 5 tablespoons of baking soda to the pot and about 4 cups of water. The baking soda helps to break down the fiber. It's the closest ingredient to soda ash, that I use. Most articles I've read call for Soda Ash, but I'm really adament about not using a chemical.

The pot was full to the brim when the leaves started cooking. The leaves cooked down for about 2 1/2 hours. I asked my husband to describe the odor/aroma from the cooked leaves. He said "there are no words".

This is the finished harvest. The cooked leaves have been ground to a pulp and will be mixed with paper pulp on Saturday. Once the paper is made, I'll post a few photos....stay tuned!