Name that Wild Italian Orchid

One of my loves in this world are flowers, any and all kinds. I found myself after studying horticulture in my college days, (although my main interest was vegetable production and not floriculture) moving to the mountains of Colorado as the pull of the mountains was very strong for me, and still is. I found myself staying in the mountains because the promise of summertime high country wildflowers was just too alluring, although most people came to those mountains for the skiing. That love came to me later after sticking around for many years. I have not been able to resist mountains or wildflowers ever since. As I find myself living in slightly lower mountains than the Rockies these days, the vast array of wildflowers every spring and summer keeps me smiling and enjoying just poking around in my backyard. These purple ones are everywhere at the moment, and bring a smile to my face whenever I see them. We didn't really have wild orchids at almost 10,000 ft. Ladyslippers were as close as we got to orchids and they are very shy and elusive. Since coming to Europe I have enjoyed the vast array of wildflowers that the Alps meadows offer up, that is until the time comes for cutting those meadows for the cows. I remember one fine day when my group of walkers were oohing and aahing over a particularly abundant display of wildflowers on our way from Slovenian to a lovely Italian lake just over the border. When we returned later that day the whole field had been mowed and it was indeed a shock to the senses. Oh well, must be why the cows here are so contented and the farmers are able to make such wonderful cheeses in our region. Wonderful cheeses make for contented walkers at some other point. Contented cows munching on wild orchids and other yummy wildflowers. Nice image huh?

So although I love wildflowers I still don't know a lot of their names. I have also learned the hard way that whenever I casually call mother nature's gifts by name, someone usually comes along and names it much more specifically and accurately. Tramping around in the Slovenian and Austrian alps during my stint as a walking guide for a British tour company with lots of UK "Munro" baggers and other keen walkers and stalkers of nature for a few summers, I learned to wait until the group identified the discovered wild gentian or orchid before showing my ignorance. So I am hoping that someone will come along my blog here and give these beauties their proper name and if not, well then, we'll all just enjoy them as they are. This last photo is one I haven't found often. My neighbor brought it over for me to enjoy. These delicate tiny blossoms give off an intoxicating fragrance reminiscent of jasmine. An exquisite sweetness when you get up close and breathe deeply. I highly recommend it.
So if anyone cares to share their knowledge, name any of these orchids and we'll all be the wiser.

Homestyle Val Chisone Genepy or Genepi

About this time of year we noticed that our supply of our local home brew of Genepy liqueur was running low. We still have lots of guests coming this summer that we enjoy introducing to our home style mountain remedy that cures everything that ails you and then some. For the, uninitiated, Genepy is a member of the Artemisia (Artemisia Mutellin) family, and not to be confused with its mystical cousin, Absinthe. Genepy, also spelled genepi, generally only grows above 2,000 meters here in the European Alps and usually on steep rocky slopes. There is much myth, legend, pride, and swagger surrounding the difficulty of the terrain, the procurement of the flowers, the quality of finished product and naturally, "the best" method of making Genepy. It can get fairly long winded and animated at times!
There are many commercial producers through out this part of the alps in France and Switzerland as well, of course, here in our part of Italy. When our guests want to take some home, we refer them to our friends the Bernards, whose family has been locally producing their genepi recipes and several other mountain infusions, most notably Barathier (www.Barathier.it), for over 100 years and whom we think, make a superior product. Barathier has many different herbs and mountain flowers that gives it it's distinct flavor. The Bernard family business helps fuel the local mountain economy by hiring local mountain folks, to gather the plants in an environmentally safe way and steward the habitat to ensure proper conservation of where genepy grows.
We went high up in the valley last summer (Stalking the Wild Genepy), with my father in law guiding and tromped around looking for the elusive plant with good results. We made one batch and then decided to wait to make another this, that and the other. Hence, we put some of the precious plants to languish in the depths of our freezer until called into service. That day has come and the precious lump of flowers are now languishing in a bath of alcohol for a few days to give up their characteristic aroma and green color. It's times like these when I start wondering about the origins of these types of things, much like the origins of food and complicated techniques to get some amazing results at times. So now we wait for a few days before we finish the product to taste. Then we will have a favorite mountain after dinner "digestivo" that allegedly helps with altitude sickness, amongst it's many fabled medicinal properties. We like to sip it sometimes after dinner with a spot of hot water not unlike a hot toddy for a night cap. There are quite a number of variations on the herbs, flowers and alcohol infusions, the sit, strain, and add sugar syrup to taste bits, just like any recipe. So when we get to the part where we prepare the final product, I will share a recipe and techniques for this particular mountain treat.

And of course,when needed, apply liberally.

High in the Italian Alps or Stalking the Wild Genepy

One of my all time favorite days, is to explore the high country of any mountainous region. It's even more exciting when it's in your back yard and it helps to put the pieces of the puzzle of the mysterious maps of the region together. Having pored over and over said maps, now the picture snaps into focus. Yesterdays outing was one such day with Fabrizio and his father, Dante. Higher and higher we went to be able to see up close and personal several of the peaks that we look at daily from a distance from our balcony. We could see many peaks in France and the glaciers of Alpe d'Huez, Val Germanasca, and even the Po river plains with Rocca di Cavour stuck out in the middle looking like a bit of a bump. We were on a misson to find the elusive Genepy plant in the wild that I have not only heard so much about, but have tasted a few varieties of as it is the local mountain firewater and hut drink of choice. I've seen pictures, heard stories, seen the dried plant from some of the local producers like our friends the Bernards, who have been making Genepy for over 100 years in his family. (www.barathier.it) We even have a few plants in our garden that we bought a couple of years ago when we found it being sold in our local market.

And yet, I had yet to see it in the wild. And if I had been left ot my own devices, I don't think that I would have ever found it in the wild. Thanks to my intrepid mountain men, I bagged a picture of it in the wild. It's not much to look at and I certainly kept my digital hot clicking away with the many other alpine varieties of much more colorful flowers, but the mystique of the male genepy plant took us up and away where the air is thin and changeable. It was a great day. The reward and finishing touch of the day was stopping by the high country cheese diary and buying a bit of the local berge,(mountain cheese) called Toma. A taste of alpine meadows from cows grazing at their leizure. I can almost hear the gentle clanging of their various sized bells and the marmots barking and tumbling rocks from where the small herd of chamois above us scrambled to get further up and one small bleating of the youngest not being able to keep up; all in the taste of that Toma.
Ah, the taste of the high country....

Spring is here

At last, there is hope that spring will arrive.
The tiny purple and white crocuses and passque flowers have covered the fields and gone. Now we have these, which I have unable to identify but think that they may be in the orchid family as we have some later orchids that have very similar leaves. I'm always so happy when Easter and flowers come, because not only is it a harbinger of spring, but there is a sense of anticipation of green things to come.