What to do with herbs...



Borage with morning dew
 (Borago officinalis)



One of the easiest ways to use herbs is to pick them fresh and use as needed in your food or tea.  Or, just dry them!  This is what I do most often because I'm usually too busy to cook or utilize them fresh.  I'll have several baskets around for this specific purpose.

The best time for harvest is in the morning after the dew has dried off the plant.  Limiting moisture will keep them from going moldy.

 After picking, its important to rinse off the parts being used.  I make a thin layer in a basket and occasionally flip them when I walk by so they dry evenly.  Store the basket in a well ventilated place out of direct sunlight.  I like to put them on hangers in my closet and leave the door open.

 If you notice mold, discard that batch and start over.  If you are successful in your drying process you should have crispy leaves/flowers/roots that are highly aromatic, depending on the plant, and still retaining their color.  Depending on the plant how you dry it, and how much of it you are drying, finishing time can vary.  I go by crispiness and this usually prompts me to examine closer the color and scent.  For a tiny flower head of Calendula, drying time is about 1 week. 



A drying rack with assorted herbs



Another great, easy way to use herbs is to make a tincture.  A slow process but the herb will keep much longer and!  I often give this to people who don't particularly like the taste of certain herbs, this way they can add it to a beverage and not notice any strong taste. 

This is how I make a tincture:

Start with placing the herbs in a jar.  I typically will use a quart sized jar and fill it one quarter or half way with the herb (dry or fresh), and cover the herb entirely with alcohol.  I was taught to use cheap vodka, something like Banker's Club will due.  Seal with a lid and let it sit for about 6 weeks.  I have let them go longer without straining them but it may be easier to strain them at 6 weeks and bottle them however you wish. 



Hanging to dry, can be decorative!



You may choose to just keep them in another quart jar or something with a brown tint to protect it from light exposure.  This method is so convieneint for a quick dose of herbal goodness, especailly in the winter months when growing is not possible for some of us.

that's all for now...:*)

Let Food be Thy Medicine and Medicine be Thy Food"

...So the father of Modern Medicine (or the school of Socrates) said, but seems like a strange thought today.  Most people don't consider their food to be medicinal.  I suppose this depends on your ideas and definitions of medicine. 

Artichoke Flowers

I can't help but include many angles in my definition of this word.  For example, it is great medicine to consume something like a tomatillo that I grew myself.  Tilling in early spring, laying out and organizing the beds for planting, setting the seeds in the dirt and waiting... every once and awhile tying and maintaining, waiting... and now these sour and sweet little husk fruits are falling to ripeness!

When I bite into them, especially one that is particularly ripened to perfection, I get extra nourishment!  Not talking about extra vitamins or minerals, but nourishment.  I recall an interview with Susun Weed on http://herbmentor.com/ discussing this very thing.  The idea I got from her in that interview was that nourishment cannot be taken away from you.  Once you've got it, you've got it forever. 

I can say with 100% certainty that I've never felt that kind of nourishment from anything I've bought in a supermarket.  I may get a good portion of the vitamins, enzymes, minerals, etc., but I'm missing out on the vitamin D from being out in the sun , the body movement and sweating and reconnecting with the environment around me.  All of this and more makes for a SUPER tomatillo!!  That's Juicy!

Linguine with Garden Topping

I said I'd get into the veggies this time.  To list the things I've grown would be just that, a list.  A long, wordy, boring list... I have the info if anyone ever reads this and would like to know exactly what varieties, just ask:*)

For starters lets talk meals...

The other day I was between classes (Greenhouse Management & Entomology),  I needed a treat of a meal.  Something that would take me through 3 hours of talking about bugs but not put me in a food coma or take too long to make. 

Pictured here is what I had and although the linguine was plentiful, it didn't make me full and sleepy.  I topped it with a mini eggplant lightly fried in coconut oil, a spicy chili oil made earlier in the week, yellow pear tomatoes, garlic/dill cheese chunks, and fresh mint & basil.  It wasn't anything fancy but a great way to incorporate herbs and tomatoes.

What's there to harvest now???

Well, its August 20 here in Southeastern Pennsylvania.  (Whoa).  Last week I dug up the last of the fingerling potatoes that I planted in the spring.  The shaws (stems and leaves) had been dead for some time and I was behind on getting a new crop in that bed.  

 I wanted to sow lettuce seeds- so just to make sure all the tubers were gone I dug into the soil only to pull out another 5lbs. or so of potatoes, a welcomed surprise!

July Harvest: Tomatoes, peppers, melons

Tomatoes have been coming on since July.  I've got four different kinds going.  Yellow pears, red cherry, green zebra, and purple Cherokee.  The smaller ones make it easy to add them to any meal since they're bite-sized.  The green zebras are delicious and medium sized, I often just eat them like an apple since their taste is so delightful, to mix them with other food, I feel like I'd miss out somehow.  The purple Cherokees have been LARGE and in-charge!  So good..., there have been many tomato and mayo sandwiches.

Recently we've decided to throw the purple Cherokee toms in the dehydrator since there are too many to eat right now and I don't have the time to make sauce.  DELICIOUS snacks~!

Next time... prep, use, storing herbs:*~)

From a sort-of begining

   As a student of Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square Pennsylvania, I am in the program named, "Professional Gardener".  Part of my job here is to grow and maintain a humble-sized garden that is split into two sections.  One section I decided to devoted to growing medicinal plants and the back section is filled with select fruits and veggies. 

Prior to having this plot my experience with growing such healthful plants was little.

  Here's to new beginings! 

  In the cold of the last winter I began selecting which plants I wanted to have in my garden.  Looking through a seed catalog can be quite a task, although a fun one:)  I narrowed in on some choice herbs to grow:

   Tansy-Tanacetum vulgare
   Spilanthes - Spilanthes acmella
   Chicory, Grumelo verde-  Cinchorium intybus
   Basil-  Occimum basilicum
   Calendula- C. officionalis
   Chamomile-  Chamaemelum nobile
   Lemon Bergamot- Monarda Cirtiodora
   Skullcap-  Scutellaria baicalensis
   Yarrow-  Achillea millifolium
   Echinacea- E. purpurea
   Borage-  Borago officionalis
  Passionflower- Passiflora ____? (can't remember species)
   Leonotis - L. nepetaefolia
  Foxglove, Grecian- Digitalis lanata -Toxic parts
  French Lavender- Lavendula stoechas
  Chinese Lantern- Physalis franchetti
  Burdock- Arctium lappa

A majority of these seeds were purchased from Horizon Herbs.  Their seed catalog is a wonderful source of information!  http://www.horizonherbs.com/

I did not have the best success growing the Chinese lantern. Two sowings done and both times I had poor germination.  I'm sure this was a flop because of some error on my part. 
I started a majority of these seeds in the greenhouse in early May.  Echinacea did not germinate well for me the first time, I think because I let it dry out. So that got a later start to the season and is still fairly small now in August. 

That's it for now...