Herbal First Aid for the Summer - A Free Webinar with Aviva Romm

I am very excited to tell you about a FREE webinar with Aviva Romm happening this Thursday night! 

You can get all the details by clicking here. 

Although I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Aviva in person she is someone who has both inspired me and taught me so much! I loved reading about her (sometimes funny, sometimes heart breaking) experiences in Haiti this winter and her Naturally Healthy Babies and Children is probably my most often bought book since I often gift it to friends with children. 

Her textbook on Botanical Medicine for Women is spectacular! I just used her protocol for Group B strep this winter to help a woman avoid having IV antibiotics during birth. But I digress... :) 

This Thursday Aviva will be giving a webinar in celebration of International Herb Day, which is Saturday, May 5th. There has been a call out to herbalists to do something in their communities to help celebrate this day. I’ll be leading a plant walk with all donations going to support my sliding scale clinic in the Methow Valley. 


Do you have plans to celebration International Herb Day? I'd love to hear them in the comments below. 

I am really looking forward to this webinar! Remember it is free! You can register to attend by clicking this link. 

Oh, and in case you don’t know Aviva, she is the past president of the American Herbalist Guild, has been a midwife and herbalist for decades and has recently graduated from Yale Medical School. Her life experience and dedication to learning makes her a gem to learn from. 

See you at the webinar!

A Gift from Miss C!

Because of Earth Day last week, lots of school kids planted trees.  A really good thing.  Miss C gifted us her tree.  I think it is a white pine and they get HUGE!  So The Herbal Husband is trying the bonsai technique of keeping it in a small container and maybe it will stay small?!  Oh well, it is probably hardy enough to stay outside once it gets a little bigger.  OK, one last push for voting me your top gardening blog on ecollegefinder.org.  Voting ends at 5:00 PM EST today.  One vote per visitor.  So if you have already voted, thanks for reading my blog and voting.  Need to give you my last list tomorrow, tender perennials.  Got errands to do and so got to try out the new car!  Talk to you later.

Weed Walk

 Our last gathering for this spring was a weed walk.  Rain was threatening and it was chilly, but our intrepid band of wanderers donned boots and jackets and headed out into the woods.  Because the timing of everything in this very strange spring is so different, we got to get a good look at things we might not usually be able to see due to overgrown brambles or underbrush like honeysuckle and poison ivy.  Bob went out a few days ago and mowed a marvelous path next to the creek for easy access, too.
Some of the things we've introduced have done an amazing job of spreading.  The Solomon's Seal that we planted a few years ago is all over the place, and although we planted a variegated single plant, an area of about 6 square feet is now covered with both variegated and non-variegated plants.  The ramps are now lush, and 3 of the 5 species of introduced trillium have flourished, along with both wild gingers.
 

 The mayflowers are in bloom.

The jewelweed now has true leaves and succulent stems.  Most of it is about 6" tall.

 The phlox is something that we have rarely gotten close to, since it usually blooms in the end of May when everything is wild and difficult to walk through.

So far we have white and pink open, with magenta soon to follow.

This trillium has more of a pink cast than shows up in this shot.  She has increased three-fold in 2 years.

It is difficult to see this one without crossing the creek and getting close.  It would seem that this vibrant color would call from a distance, but the flower nods, and can blend in with the browns of the rich woodland floor.

Cheerful buttercups peek out from a party of jewelweed, cleavers, speedwell, chickweed, and jack in the pulpits.

All of the false solomon's seal is preparing to bloom.  In another week, the woods will be filled with the plumes.

The shy little fern grew off the side of the path.

Sweet Cicely is just starting to bloom.

Back inside, Lorie thought this shelf mushroom smelled like a fresh loaf of homemade bread.  We used it and some turkey tail shelf mushrooms to make a tincture.

It was an amazing walk.  We continued up to my house, digging out errant motherwort, mugwort, and some Herb Robert for those who were interested, before heading back to the workshop to put together a tincture and enjoy some conversation and silliness.  We've enjoyed this series of classes and are pondering our schedule for fall.

First Radish Harvest!

One of my favorite radishes is French Breakfast.  Here is the first of many this season.  I did a post one year about pickling the enormous amount of radishes we got.  Here is the link for that post.  Very, very easy to do and you know me it has to be easy.

We bought a new car today.  It is hard to find a station wagon any more.  They are either very expensive or they don't make them.  Our local dealer literally got our car in on Thursday.  We stopped in on Friday and test drove it (It passed!) and picked it up today.  I have gone German with VW.  I learned to drive a stick on a VW beetle.  Brings back wonderful memories.  Car buying always is stressful for me.  That's why I married The Herbal Husband.  Remember he taught statistics in college.  I knew I had to marry him!  That side of my brain isn't working to this day!  I did flunk every math course in high school and dummy me had to take them again in summer school.  Math makes my brain freeze!  Ha!   Hope you are having a great day.  It is down right cold outside.  It tried to rain ice pellets on my new car!  I'll talk to you later.

Candied Violet Flowers

These candied violet flowers make beautiful accents to sweet treats. Place them on cakes, muffins or breads. Kids will love to eat them as is. 

To learn more about violet, you can see my recently updated monograph here. 

This post is part of the Wild Things Round Up featuring recipes with flowers.

Ingredients

fresh violets (or pansies) with stems attached 

egg white

sugar

Begin by beating the egg white with a wire whisk until it begins to froth. 

Place your sugar in another shallow bowl. A note about the sugar, it’s best to use really fine sugar. I used regular sugar that I ground in a mortar and pestle. You can also find fine sugar in specialty shops. Fine sugar is different than powdered sugar.  

Here comes the delicate part. Pick up a flower by its stem and dip it into the egg white. You can also use a clean paintbrush to brush the egg whites on to each petal. Make sure you coat all the petals well, front and back. 

Next place the violet in the bowl of sugar and coat all parts of the flower with the sugar. 

Place this on a plate or wax paper, snip the stem and repeat with all the flowers. Be sure to rearrange the flower so that it looks good, it will dry this way. (You can use a chopstick or fork to arrange the petals nicely.) 

Lastly, place these in an oven on the lowest setting until completely dry of if you live in a dry environment, simply leave them on the counter for the day. 

These will keep for awhile if stored in an airtight container, but it’s best to use them as soon as possible. 

You can download a beautiful recipe card for this exact recipe by visiting this link. 

Above and Beyond Blooming!

This is supposed to a dwarf viburnum called 'Newport'.  It didn't quite get the message!  It was supposed to be in the four foot range so it wouldn't necessarily block the view of the garden!  Oops!   I guess our mild winter made it even happier.  The only thing missing from the shrub is fragrance.  The Herbal Husband said to me the other day imagine if this bush was fragrant.  It is still amazingly beautiful.  Hope you are having a great day.  If you'd like to I have been nominated by e-collegefinder.org as top gardening blog.  There will be three picked.  So click on the badge at the top of my home page and vote.  The voting ends at 5:00 PM EST on Monday, April 30, 2012.  Talk to you later.

Gardening Superstitions

From the May/June '10 issue of The Essential Herbal Magazine
GARDENING SUPERSTITIONS
Barbara Will
Sugar Grove Herbs
sgherbs@verizon.net
As I sit here looking out the window at the freshly fallen snow, drinking a nice warm cup of tea, I can’t help but wonder how much longer I have to wait before I can get out and start digging in the garden. What new plants should I get, what color scheme will I choose, and don’t forget I need to add something novel. The thoughts and visions of my favorite flowers bring back memories of my grandmother and the superstitions she had when planting her garden. First thing on the list was to plant cabbage on the seventeenth of March. This would help insure that large heads of cabbage would soon be growing. Everyone has probably heard that parsley should be planted on “Good Friday” because it goes to the devil nine times and back before it grows and you never transplant parsley or you’re sure to have bad luck. Don’t forget you need a good Farmer’s Almanac to insure your plants go into the ground on the best possible day. I started thinking, what other superstitions are there, and so began a search of my books and the internet because I want to make sure that I have the best looking garden in town.
Did you know that cucumbers must be planted in the morning, before sunrise, otherwise they will be destroyed by bugs, and while preparing your garden never hang your hoe from a tree branch or you’re sure to have bad luck? However planting angelica, snapdragons and chamomile will protect you from spells or any curses. According to Dennis Boyer in his book “Once upon a Hex” it’s important to stick to a schedule when it comes to scarecrows. Never put it out before Easter or up on May Day. The head must always point towards heaven and be covered with a hat. Put it in the shade on the longest day, give it a glass of water if it’s dry, and place it in the smokehouse if it’s too wet. The most important thing to remember is to remove it and burn everything before midnight on Halloween. Not one piece of clothing should ever be worn by another person again or it will result in terrible consequences.
If you watch certain flowers in your garden and around the yard you will always know the time. Dandelions open between 7:00 & 8:00 a.m., California poppies open between 10:00 & 11:00 a.m., Four o’clocks open at guess what 4:00 p.m., Evening primroses and moonflowers will open at 6:00 p.m. and Daylilies and Dandelions close at 9:00 p.m. this would be the perfect time to sit and relax around the camp fire, enjoying the fruits of your labor?
You’ve worked hard and the garden is in great shape, what better time to plan a party to show off the garden and all of its beauty. However do NOT mention the date of the visit aloud. If you do, the roses and daylilies will hear your plans and stubbornly bloom the day before and the day after but will not bloom the day of the party.
Remember while working in the garden, you don’t want to pick any foxglove flowers because it will offend the garden fairies and that is something you want to avoid. They will play tricks on you like leading rabbits to your garden to eat your precious plants or moving plants around in the garden and then watch as you look at where you thought you planted them and laugh when you find them planted somewhere else. Gnomes and gazing balls on the other hand are still very popular in today’s garden but did you know they have great powers? Simply keep the gazing balls well polished so they can reflect the sun’s rays into the face of evil spirits keeping them away. The gnomes need a little more care to keep them happy. Feed them some gruel or pudding and put out a saucer of milk daily and they will repay you with good plant growth, added household security and may even do a few household chores. That alone is worth a little milk for me! But beware if you fail they will become very mischievous and things around the garden and house will turn up missing.
Then there are the weather predictors such as weather sticks. Weather sticks are made of Balsam Fir and tell us what the weather is doing. With good weather about they point to the sky and when things aren't so pleasant they point to the ground. When you see a rainbow in the east – tomorrow will be fine, but if you see a rainbow in the west - tomorrow will bring rain. If you are experiencing a dry spell and the gardens need some rain just find some ants and stomp on them, of course if you find them and they seem very agitated don’t bother because bad weather is on the way.
Frost is the one thing we all know that is harmful to our garden and can destroy all our hard work in one night. You knew frost was coming in about 6 weeks if the katydids start to sing or if the fawns lose their spots and the first time you see a Walking Stick, so get busy and start harvesting all of your crops and prepare for the winter that will soon come.
One last tip, while working in the garden if you catch a falling leaf on the first day of autumn you will not catch a cold in the coming winter. Are all these things true? I don’t know but I’m not taking any chances so I’ll stay on the good side of the fairies, feed the gnomes some milk and be sure to catch a leaf. Happy Gardening!

A List of Annual Herbs

I wanted to add to the list of perennials I gave a few weeks ago with a list of annual herbs.  These herbs can be planted early for those of you who live in the southern parts of the United States.  Gardeners in the northern parts of the US have to wait for warmer temperatures to plant some of these because of frost dangers.  Any of the herbs that I am calling tender perennial for the northern parts of the US, should be perennial for gardeners in the southern parts of the US.  Everyone should be using these annuals to enhance their herb gardens because the flowers I have chosen bloom almost all summer long.  Annuals are grouped into three categories based on how they tolerate cold weather:  hardy, half-hardy or tender.  Hardy annuals tolerate low temperatures and even frost.  Half-hardy annuals tolerate a light frost but will be killed by a heavy one.  Tender annuals have no frost tolerance and suffer if the temperature drops to a few degrees above freezing.  This list is alphabetical by botanical name.  I know some of you do not like the botanical name, but if you know the botanical name, it is the same in any language.  It is important to learn them.

Dill (Anethum graveolens) is easily started from seed in full sun.  You should plant succession plantings to provide lots of leaves.  I personally love dill.  It brings a lot of beneficial insects into the garden, especially the striped caterpillars that become black swallowtail butterflies.  Compact varieties are ‘Bouquet’ and ‘Fernleaf’.  Slow bolting varieties are ‘Tetra’ or ‘Dukat’.  Harvest leaves at 12” and harvest seeds when they turn brown.  Depending on the variety you can use it in the front for the compact varieties or in a container.  The larger varieties should be in the back of the border.  You can see a photo of dill in bloom in this post that I wrote in 2011 called Growing Dill.

Chervil (Anthriscus cereifolium) does better in cool, mild weather.  It can stand a bit of shade.  It bolts in the heat.  I have heard it called French parsley.  It has a mild anise flavor with white flowers.  You should sow seeds in spring and fall and make sure you plant it where you want it to grow because it is difficult to transplant.  It isn’t very tall.  I would say about the size of a parsley plant.  I do not grow it enough in the garden.  It would do well in a container or in the front of the border.

Borage (Borago officinalis) is in my garden called an herbal space hog.  Borage needs full sun and does not do as well in shade.  It is easily sown from seed.  It is a prolific self sower.  I’m picking seedlings out of prime vegetable gardening space as we speak.  Young leaves are cucumber scented and can be used in salads if you can get passed the fuzziness.  Has beautiful star shaped flowers that start pink (Thought I had the wrong plant!) and then turn to blue.  You need to keep pinching it back if you don’t like floppy plants or stake it.  The flowers can be frozen in ice cube trays for summer drinks.  It is a back of the border kind of herb.  It does have a way of sneaking up to the front.  Here is a post I did called An Herbal Space Hog.

Calendula (Calendula officinalis) is a very easy annual to grow from seed and once established, it will self-sow very gently around the garden.  It grows up to 18” tall.  Calendulas also do better in mild, cool weather in full sun or light shade.  You should keep deadheading the flowers to keep them blooming.  It is called poor man’s saffron because in the olden times it was used to color food like saffron does with a golden yellow color.  It does not give a saffron flavor.  Calendulas are also an edible flower.  Use the petals to decorate a salad.  I also add the petals to cookies.  Plant these in the middle or front of the herb border.

Check out what I wrote about calendulas on my blog called  Herb of the Year-Calendula.

Epazote (Chenopodium ambrosioides) is a plant that you only need one of in the garden.  It will reseed if it likes where it is planted.  It will grow well in full sun or part shade.  It will also do well in morning sun with afternoon shade.  It is a very pungent (camphor) smelling herb and is used freshly chopped in the last 10 minutes of cooking a pot of beans to take away the gas.  Here is a link for a post I wrote about epazote called appropriately enough E is for Epazote.  It would be good in the back of the border.

Cilantro/Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) is a mild weather plant that does best in full sun.  It would be considered a tender annual.  You can sow the seeds in the early to late spring and start harvesting leaves as soon as there are enough.  Once the days heat up, the cilantro will flower and go to seed and then you can collect the seeds and use them in cooking and baking.  The plant in flower can reach 3’ high.  Just like the dill, you need to successively seed to get continuous crops of leaves.  Use the leaves in Mexican, Caribbean and Oriental dishes.  Use ground seeds in baked goods, soups, casseroles or potpourri.  I would plant this mid border or to the front of the border.

Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) is a tender perennial in the northern half of the US and can be grown in a container and brought inside for the winter.  It can also be treated as an annual.  Lemongrass prefers to be grown in a hot and sunny location in very well drained, sandy, moist soil.  Be sure to water thoroughly and more frequently during dry, hot spells.  It adds a grass like quality in the herb garden.  It is very easily dried and used in tea blends.  Use the leaves fresh in fish and chicken dishes or into soup.  Lemongrass in the garden can grow to about 3’ tall and about 2’ wide and should be placed in the mid-range of the herb border.

German Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) is a wonderful apple-scented plant with daisy like flowers that grows to about 2’ tall.  It grows easily from seed which should be sown in the early spring and again in summer for a succession of harvests.  Harvest flowers when their petals start to turn downward to use fresh or dried in teas.  The plants fade quickly after flowering.  In my experience if you harvest the flowers, they keep producing more flowers.  If you let the flowers go by meaning not harvesting them, the plant will die.  So you have to be on top of harvesting the flowers especially in the hot weather.  It is a front of the border plant. 

Lemon Mint(Monarda citriodora) is an annual flower that I just love in the garden.  It is a triple bee balm like flower sitting on top of one another.  The variety is called “Lambada”.   I just love it planted with sage.  It is an attractor of hummingbirds and all good insects in the garden.  It is easily started from seed and you can buy the seeds from Vermont Wildflower Farm.  I have never used the flowers or leaves.  The red variety of bee balm flowers is the more delicious one, but the leaves have a lemon scent when crushed.  Lemon mint grows to be at least 2’ or 3’ tall.  This link from Bluestone Perennials is a really good image.  However, it is a monarda, but it isn’t a bee balm as they say because bee balm is (Monarda didyma).  So this is a lesson in botanical names, please learn and use them as often as you can.  This herb should be in the mid border area.

Basil (Ocimum basilicum) is one of my favorite annual herbs.  OK, you are catching on to my herbal drift, they are all my favorites, but this one is very special.  Plant seeds and plants in full sun and after the soil temperatures are at least 60˚F.  If you plant it early than that, it will just stall and not grow.  Basil resents cold temperatures and if we continue to have up and down weather, it may get caught in a freeze warning and then it is done so consider it a tender annual.  Basil also needs more moisture in dry, hot summers.  Pinch off flower heads to prolong harvest and keep plants bushy.  There are lots of different flavors and sizes of basil.  Some of my favorites are lemon basil ‘Mrs. Burns’, cinnamon basil, sweet basil, spicy globe basil, ‘Purple Ruffles’, ‘African Blue’, ‘Siam Queen’ and ‘Green Pepper.’  There is a blog site you should check out called Ramona’s Basil Garden Love Your Basil.  She is a guest blogger for The Herb Companion and while she isn’t always blogging, she has an e-book available and it is full of information and recipes about basil.  The majority of basils should be toward the front so you can deadhead them easily.

Sweet Marjoram (Origanum marjorana) is considered a tender perennial, but I treat it as an annual in my garden.  I have had it comeback in certain years, but that does not happen often.  I love it even more than Greek oregano.  I love the knotted white flowers in the late summer.  You need to be clipping this herb so it doesn’t go to flower too quickly and using it fresh or drying it to use during the winter.  I love to make an herbal butter and use it on fresh veggies like corn on the cob.  It is a low grower and should be at the front of the border.

Scented Geranium (Pelargonium sp.) is a native of South Africa and is considered a tender perennial in zones north of 9, but this is another herb that I treat as an annual.  It is very easy to take cuttings and bring them in for the winter.  It is nice to have a scented geranium on a windowsill that you can sniff the leaves from time to time.  It seems in mild winters that varieties such as coconut or apple will reseed.  You definitely grow them for their leaves and not their flowers.  They need full sun with the exception of peppermint-scented scented geraniums that need afternoon shade.  Scented geraniums are very good in a container situation.  Lemon, rose, peppermint and apple are some of my favorite scents.  Used in baking a cake as a liner to the cake pan or dried in a potpourri, scented geraniums are a versatile herb.  Because there are many sizes and shapes of scented geraniums, I would use them in the front or mid-range of the herb border.

Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is a true biennial which means it goes to flower and seed almost immediately in the second season.  You can delay that from happening by clipping off the flowers, but really what I like to do is have additional first year plants that give you leaves and the second year plants are larval food for the caterpillars of the swallow tail butterflies.  Parsley can be grown from seed, but soak the seed in hot water or freeze it overnight to jump start it because it is a slow germinator.  Plant it where you want it to grow because of the taproot makes it difficult to transplant.  Flat-leaf or Italian parsley is favored but curly parsley is ornamental and is just as flavorful.  I have said it in the past, if you can only grow one herb, it should be parsley.  You harvest the outer leaves and leave the inner plant or crown intact to keep it producing.  At the end of the season, just harvest everything and put it in the freezer for winter use.  Even though it is a short lived plant, the curly parsley makes a lovely looking hedge.  This is definitely a front of the border type herb.

Summer Savory (Satureja hortensis) is the annual partner of winter savory which is the perennial version.  Known as the bean herb, I really love it best in a Saturday summer omelet with other summer herbs.  If you let it flower and seed, it will self sow.  In a hot summer, it will flower and go to seed quickly.  So it must be watched and harvest leaves before it flowers as you do with all herbs.  It has tiny pink or purple flowers.  It also makes a lovely hedge in the front of the border, but you could use it as an accent herb mid border as well. 

Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) is grown in full sun to partial shade.  It is an herbal sugar substitute.  It contains steviol glycosides compounds that are up to 300 times sweeter than sugar.  Seeding stevia can be difficult because of poor germination rates.  Stevia has the most impact planted in groups.  You should start with new plants.  The leaves are not aromatic but are sweet to the taste.  Harvest the leaves before flowering to ensure the highest concentration of glycosides.  I have harvested the leaves after flowering and dried with great results.  So don’t be too concerned if you find that it has already flowered.  Stevia does not breakdown when heated, so it can be used in cooking or baking without a problem.  Stevia gets around 3’-4’ in flower so mid-range in the herb border would be appropriate.  Here is a post about a mystery herb in my garden called stevia.

Mexican Tarragon (Tagetes lucida) is an annual for those of us in the northern tier of the US and a half-hardy perennial for those of you in the southern part of the country.  This is a substitution for French tarragon in the south.  I have grown this occasionally and it dries very well unlike French tarragon that does not dry as well.  It also has very nice yellow marigold like flowers.  I think if I'm able to find Mexican tarragon, I will buy several plants and use it dried this coming winter.  I have used it as an anise flavor in some of my tea blends.  It is about one foot to two feet tall in bloom.  The flowers do attract pollinators.  Here is a link to a photo of Mexican Tarragon from Bonnie Plants.

‘Lemon Gem’ Marigold (Tagetes tenuifolia) is the marigold that has a dwarf habit and would be the only marigold that I would eat.  They bloom better in full sun.  I had a marigold hedge (Like those herbal hedges!) one season in the vegetable garden.  They bring in a lot of beneficial insects to the garden.  I love this flower because it blooms until frost.  I use the whole flowers to decorate a pasta salad with cherry tomatoes.  I would only eat the petals though.  Because of people’s allergies, the center of the flower which has the pollen could be a problem.  I would use this as an edging plant or an accent in the front of the herb border.  Here is a post I did in 2008 about the powerhouse annual, 'Lemon Gem' marigolds.

Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) is a very easy annual herbal flower that is native to Peru and grows very well from seeds.  The seeds are fun for the kids to plant and have them take care of in the garden.  Both flowers and leaves are edible and peppery in flavor.  I love to fill the flowers with guacamole for an appetizer or for lunch.  They are both vining and clump forms.  They seem to like a bit of shade in very hot and dry summers.  They really take off here in the fall and bloom until frost.  The ‘Alaska’ cultivar has variegated leaves and the ‘Whirlybird’ cultivar has no spur on the flower so it is a bit milder in flavor.  This link is for a guest post that I did on nasturtiums for The Herb Companion magazine called:  Edible Delights:  3 Nasturtium Recipes.

These are some of my most favorite annuals.  Most of them are in my gardens every season.  Some are not in it enough.  Please let me know if I left an herb out!  I will make this post a page under my banner photo so you will always have access to it.  I have one more list in the works and you may have guess it, tender perennials.   Hope you have had a great day.  Talk to you later.

A magical adventure story to teach children about herbs

I am so incredibly excited to share a project with you that has been over three years in the making! 

Have you ever wished you knew about herbs and healing when you were younger? 

Have you ever wanted to share the magic of herbs with your children or grandchildren? 

Then you are going to LOVE this!

Herb Fairies is a series of adventure books written by the creator of WildCraft!, the herbal board game, Kimberly Gallagher. These books offer an inspiring tale of herbal adventures that will have your kids on the edge of their seat while learning about herbal medicine. 

Over the past years I’ve been reading these books to the young people in my life and have been able to watch them fall in love with herbs over and over again! 

Click on this link to learn more about these books and to download lots of free bonuses such as posters and coloring pages.

http://learningher.bz/herb-fairies-site

I am so proud of Kimberly and the amazing work she has put into these books. 

I am also very proud to work with a company that is continually raising the bar on herbal education in such fun and creative ways!

Over the next week John and Kimberly will be releasing really cool videos and digital downloads about Herb Fairies. 

Here’s that link again. 

 I almost forgot! I’ve had my hands in this project too! I got to make these really cool recipe cards for each book. You’ll get to see one of those this week!

Just Wanted You to Know!

My latest post is up for The Herb Companion and it will take you back to when I spent the first bit of money to buy for my herb garden 22 years ago!  It is called Herb Catalogs:  Ready, Set and Plant Those Herbs, Part 1.  You can always click on links for my latest post on the right hand side of this blog.  So you may have guessed already that there is a Part 2 coming and it may be later today!  I was busy with those posts!

Well, fortunately for us, the forecasters were just enough off their games that we haven't had any snow!  It has been rain, but it is damp and very cold for this time of year after 70's and 80's.  Thank you to whatever heavenly being you pray to for saving our blooming plants so far!  I don't think we are out of the woods yet, but we are getting close.   The Herbal Husband went out last night and put an extra protection over the lemon verbena I showed you the other day.  Maybe too much, but I remember one year I had a pineapple sage come back and we tried to protect it with leaf mulch and ended up chopping it in half.:>(  It was horrifying!  So I did not want anything to happen to my little lemon verbena! 

OK probably overkill, but just making sure! I'm putting the final touches on the annual herb list so I think it may be posted tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest.  Hope you are warm and toasty wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.  BTW, if you think that Lemon Verbena Lady's Herb Garden is a great gardening blog, please click the link above and vote for me as one of the top gardening blogs on ecollegefinder.org!  They are picking three top gardening blogs!  No cash just the glory of saying I'm one of the top gardening blogs!  One vote per visitor and voting ends at 5:00 PM EST on April 30, 2012.  Thanks!

What You Might Have Missed!

Viburnum x pragense

Pulmonaria saccharata 'Mrs. Moon'

Hostas Just Waking Up

Really the warm and hot temperatures have just accelerated every plant to have an explosion of blooms or leaves. Here in the front garden it is just amazing.  The roses are all huge this year!  They must know they are the 2012 Herb of the Year!  I'll take some photos and show you soon.  A gloomy day in the 'Burgh.  Was making the rounds of my favorite blogs.  Some of you haven't been blogging!  Whew!  Thought I was going to swamped.  It was fun to leave comments with favorites I don't think I have ever left a comment on their blogs.  Terrible sentence construction!  Where are the grammar police?  Did Blogger take them away as well?  Enough!  Hope you are having a great day.  Working on an annual herb list to go with the perennials.  Then I found that my favorite blogs had been neglected!  Excuses, excuses!  Getting cooler as well.  Talk to you later.

Wait Until You See This, Herbally Speaking

 I was going to complain about the "New" Blogger, but what's the use!  They are just going to keep changing so I'll just go with it.  No, the photo you see isn't on its side.  The plant (a sweet lavender) is growing towards the light in the garage so it is on its side and from experience, it will stay pretty much like this even when it goes back outside.  I thought it might straighten up.  After so many days in the 70's and 80's including yesterday and today, you would think we are on our way to summer, but we will be back in the 50's and 30's at night by tomorrow.  March wasn't March and April is sort of like April but not quite.  Got to go water the seedlings and plants.  It may reach 80 degrees later today.  Hope you had a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

The Conquering of the Garlic Chives!

This is an annual problem in the herb garden.  The garlic chives have such a beautiful enticing flower in the month of August that the beneficial insects just love and so do I.  The downside is that you have hundreds of them in places where they shouldn't be growing.

The Herbal Husband started transplanting them to other areas of the garden.:(  Then he gave up and said too many.:)  So we will be talking about this herbal problem again next year.  I have them in so many places that getting to the seedheads before they drop their seed is going to be virtually impossible!

Here is that area cleaned up for now.  I have other areas to work on in the herb garden and I'll show those to you later.  I'm also coming up with another design or just plant combinations for my herb garden this year.  The weather is beautiful outside.  Talk to you later.

A Wild Thyme Herb Tea!

About a year ago, my friend Susanna Reppert from The Rosemary House in Mechanicsburg, PA asked me if I'd do a talk on wild plant foods for her garden club, so I agreed and put it on my calendar, never knowing that I would be part of an amazing event held this past Monday.
The Penn-Cumberland Garden Club holds an annual Bertha P. Reppert Herb Tea Party, and this year (the 48th!) was themed on wild edibles.
My sister was kind enough to drive me there. I get nervous enough about talking, and the last thing I need is to get jangled up trying to find a place. This led to the added benefit/amusement of getting to watch Maryanne eat some wild edibles too :-D.
We arrived to find the women looking spring-y and dressed for tea. The tables were set with a vast variety of bouquets, featuring a mixture of spring flowers, herbs, and weeds! Tea was served prior to the talk, and Susanna had encouraged us to get there early to enjoy the treats. I'm so glad we did!
I'm hoping she'll put out a small e-book with the recipes from the menu, which included:
Dandelion Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing
Watercress Dip with crisp, fresh vegetables
Nettle Soup
Toasted Weed Sticks
Tansy Egg Sandwich
Chickweed Pie
Red Clover Bread with Blackberry Spread
Sassafras Sorbet
Double Thumbprint Cookie with Elderberry Jam
Cupcakes with Teaberry Frosting
Spring Cordial
Very Berry Tea
We were stuffed! I loved every bit of it. The nettle soup and the sassafras sorbet stood out for me, but it was all delicious.
Generally when I speak about wild edibles, there is some undercurrent running through the crowd - perhaps that they would never actually eat what I'm talking about unless it were an emergency, but find it mildly amusing. This time, the entire group had just thoroughly enjoyed an elegant, delightful experience where the food was not a survival thing, but something they might actually WANT.
That was a new experience for me!

Happy in the Garage, Herbally Speaking!

My peppermint scented geranium is huge and happily blooming in the garage!   The Herbal Husband is anxious to get his car back in the garage.  So he is asking every day whether he can put the plants outside!  NO!  We are so up and down temperature wise and he really knows better, but we go through the same rituals every year.  Hope you are having a great day.  I'm going out to mow the grass.  Working on the great garlic chive removal.  Will talk about that in more detail maybe tomorrow.  Talk to you later.

A Huge Herbal Surprise!

I am outside working in the herb garden and what should I see popping up out the ground!  My LEMON VERBENA is coming back!  Whoo Hoo!  Very, very exciting.  I left two outside and the other one is just growing weeds at the moment!  Now I have to be like a protective mama and remember to cover it when we have our next frost warning!  And you know that will come along!  It has been a weird year.  Hope you are finding herbal surprises in your garden as well.  Talk to you later.

The Essential Herbal - May/June 2012

The May/June issue of The Essential Herbal is in the mail, and headed out to subscribers right now. It's another jam-packed, fun, and informative gathering of all different aspects of herbs and their uses. As always, we were just amazed while putting it together, to see how much love and enthusiasm comes through from our contributors. I know our readers will love this one as much as we do.Table of Contents:

Field Notes
What the heck is going on out there? How are our gardens growing?

Shaker Sachets, Karen Hegre
A quick, easy, and useful herbal craft

Herbs for Bees and Beekeepers, Suzan T Scholl
How to help bees thrive by giving them what they need, and a primer on what products bees make.

Herbal Connections, Herbs for Lowering Cholesterol,Marita A Orr
The word on cholesterol medications isn't looking so good lately, so Marita discusses several herbal options that can be just as effective without the side effects.

Edible Flowers: More than Decoration, Marcy Lautanen-Raleigh
Many, many ideas and recipes for using edible flowers in the kitchen!

Vinegar of the Four Thieves, Rita Richardson
An interesting vinegar to make and use - whether a plague abounds or not.

The Scented Imagination: Random Thoughts on Ambergris, Marcia Elston
"The Gold of the Ocean" or whale vomit? However you look at ambergis, Marcia's article makes me dream of wandering the shore-line looking for gray lumps :-)

Faith in Tomatoes, Belle DiMonté
A love letter to the simple act of loving plants.

LA Lagniappe, River Town Shrimp & Eggplant Jambalaya, Sarah Liberta
Authentic Jambalaya recipe from deep in the heart of Louisiana, this recipe will have your mouth watering!

How to Make a Plant Press, Erin McIntosh
Directions to help you make a plant press to keep some of the spring and summer available for crafting or sweet memories.

Toxins in the Home, Heddy Johannesen
There are many ways we can lessen the chemical load in our housekeeping. Lots of simple, useful ideas for keeping a healthier home.

Natural Facials, Marcy Lautanen-Raleigh
Cleanser for each type of skin, using herbs and kitchen items.

What I Do with Herbs, Susan Broyles
Susan shares the many ways she incorporates herbs into all the days of her life.

The Soap Pot, Herbal Color Swirling, Alicia Grosso
Three soaps, colored with herbs, and swirled into a spectacular bar of herbie goodness.

Getting to Know Spicebush, Ym-health
The Notable Native of 2012 is Spicebush, and we take a look at this very prolific woodland shrub.

Summertime Herbal Friends, Ym-health
A few quick wild herbal helpers to get through the bumps and bugs of summer.

Women Herbalists, Hildegard of Bingen, Susanna Reppert Brill
Visions or migraines? We'll never know for certain, but Susanna takes us along on a trek into the 12th century and Medieval time of herbalism.

Not So Humble Chickweed, Sandy Michelsen
Chickweed salve recipe with some information about this amazing, common weed.

Strawberry Scones, Janet Roberson
What could be better at this time of year, than to start the day (or during mid-afternoon tea) with a burst of strawberry?

I'm Stumped (Non-herbal Question)!

The Herbal Husband found these branches lying around the base of our Norway maple in the back.  It's hard to see but they look like some kind of fungi.  Tried "Googling" them and couldn't come up with anything.  The fungi (not necessarily these in the photo) appear often around the base of the trunk of a tree that's dying.  These are on the branches that are dead.  Maybe the fungi just like the decaying bark to form.  If you have had a similar experience, please let me know.  It is a beautiful warm day outside and here I am inside working on my posts for The Herb Companion!  I'll get outside eventually.  Hope you are having a great day.  Talk to you later.

Was Outside Looking Around!

Lady's Mantle in its Second Season!

Golden Oregano and 'Walker's Low' Catmint in Bloom!

This is Why An Outdoor Cat is Necessary!  Darn Chipmunk!  Making Holes Under Plants!

Strawberries in Bloom Already!

Mystery Plant!  Probably a Weed, but I've Been Wrong Before!

We were out briefly in the yard surveying what's coming up and what's left to do!  Lots and lots more!  So instead of working outside, we are going to the movies and out to our favorite restaurant later.  Supposed to storm!  Always fun dashing through the raindrops.  Hope you are having a great day.  Talk to you later.