Cloves For Oil

My dear E, If you should wish to gather clove buds, there are a few places where they grow readily enough, and it is well worth the trouble of collecting them. Cloves are a most useful thing to keep in the house. Their oil is strong and warming, good for flavouring a broth or stew, and the physicians say it can ease the pain of a bad tooth or settle the stomach when taken sparingly. Even the scent of them is pleasant, sharp and sweet together, and it lingers well once the buds are dried. The easiest place to find them is just north of the stables known as the Carriage House on the Black River Road. You need not look far there, for the plants lie among the wild grass in the open ground, and the buds can be gathered plainly once you spot them. I have also seen many more growing south of Bellefontaine, where the field that borders the hamlet meets the forest to the south. The soil there seems to suit them well and they appear in generous number. The last place I know of lies on either side of the road just south of the Sleeping Eye Mill, along the stretch north of the river crossing. The buds grow scattered along the verge where the ground stays dry. Take a small knife when you go and cut them cleanly so the plants will grow again. -Mother