'Green Zebra' Is Still My Favorite!

While I can't eat much tomato sauce these days, I do love a good tomato and peanut butter sandwich.  A Kittanning thing!  Since I have lost weight, I'm not the one eating the peanut butter from the jar!  In fact, I rarely eat it.  This time of year, I make an exception.  So this was breakfast the other day.  Two pieces of lite bread toasted and a tablespoon of chunky peanut butter between the two and a sliced up 'Green Zebra'!  Yummy!  About 200 calories and I always have a small fruit salad and a glass of milk.  About 400 calories total.  Trying to decide what to do whether to start making jelly or work in the garden or going to the movies!  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Is it lunchtime yet?  Maybe another 'Green Zebra' is waiting for me!  Talk to you later.

The Herbal Husband's Harvest!

Think I Have Enough Garlic for Jelly!

Tomatoes from the 'Patio' Tomato Plant

The 'Patio' Tomato on the Patio!

The Favorite Bean in This House is Waxed

The Herbal Husband has been busy in the garden.  He dug the garlic last week before the rains came and thank goodness, he did.  The ones on the far left are volunteers that he planted seeds that took two years to grow!  If you leave garlic until it is entirely brown, it will most likely have split bulbs.  The paper husks over the cloves will start breaking apart.  I think a bit of green and brown is a good combination.  I try to make he dig a bit earlier, but stubborn sometimes wins out!  It was a great year because we were hot and dry for a good bit of the early summer.

The 'Patio' tomatoes on the patio have been a big hit and we know that some day down the road that this may be the go to tomato when we are done with a big vegetable garden.  Two of these plants would be more than enough for us.  The first harvest of tomatoes from the 'Patio' gave us a character!

The final photo is of our waxed bean plants emerging from the soil.  We are always running around like chickens with our heads cut off and again around this time.  The Herbal Husband has found that starting the bean seeds in a container and then transplanting them into the ground works best.  So it is supposed to rain, but the sun is brightly shining.  So much for the forecast.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be!  Talk to you later.

My Mountain Mint, Different From Yours, An Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

One of my favorite blogs, An Obsessive Neurotic Gardener was showing us what's blooming in New Jersey at the moment.  Of course, his mountain mint is blooming and looks entirely different from mine.  Just wanted to show mine to you.  It is called a short-toothed mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum).  It is definitely going to bloom shortly, but it has a very subtle bloom.  It attracts all kinds of beneficials.  Tracey from Breathing English Air remarked on the size of this mint.  I didn't mention that this particular mint is more ornamental than culinary, I think.  Please correct me if you have used this kind of mint in a recipe.  This mint dries very well for arrangements or for potpourri.  I will add a closeup of the "flowers" once they start blooming.

I spent two hours this morning picking raspberries and making jam.  It is going to be may be 100 degrees today.  We don't reach that milestone at all in the 'Burgh!  I'm hoping the forecasters are incorrect and that we will only be in the 90's.  Relief is on the horizon.  Will be back in the 80's early next week.  Have a couple of days in the 90's left.  We have been a bit cranky having to water.  You know who basically is the cranky one.  I'm going to pick through the berries I picked this morning for another batch of jam.  Stay cool wherever you may be doing and if it is cool where you are, be thankful!  Talk to you later.  

Like Riding a Bicycle and the First Annual Lavender Festival

This was my dining room floor this morning and my sink after finishing the third batch of raspberry jam.  I told The Herbal Husband that no matter how I thought I would feel making the first raspberry jam, I still enjoy making it.  The last year's fruit usually doesn't stack up to making jam, but this fruit is different.  I already have a box of jam done!  I mostly make the last year's fruit into vinegar.  That mild winter is helping out again.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to plug an upcoming area event in Washington, PA just south of Pittsburgh.  This coming Saturday and Sunday, June 30th and July 1st, Destiny Hill Farm will be having its first Lavender Festival.  Please click on the link above or on the photo in the right hand side of my home page.  You will find a schedule of speakers, a list of vendors and a menu of lavender inspired lunch items catered by the local golf club.  They will have lavender wand demos and you will be able to cut your own lavender.  You will need to go to Trinity High School near by to park and take a shuttle to the farm.  You will not be able to park at the farm.  My herbal companion, Bonnie and I are going.   If you are in the area, check it out.

Getting hotter in the garden.  There is a lot blooming in the garden and I'll share that with you in future posts.  Hope you are staying cool wherever you may be.  Talk to you later. 

One of My Favorites This Time of Year!

This red bee balm is just beautiful.  Remember it is an edible flower.  The petals have that spice that the leaves have.  Delicious in a fruit salad.  Haven't seen one hummingbird yet this year.  Maybe will start to see them soon?  I hope.  There is always hope.  A delightful day in the garden.  Need to get the lawn (what's left of it) mowed.  Then pick more raspberries!  Was just dog tired yesterday from picking.  I don't know how farm hands do it!  Will be making jam tomorrow morning.  Here is an early post for my raspberry jam recipe.  Look at the date September, 2008 and it is just June!  I do get a break for a time.  These are last year's canes, but they are producing like crazy.  Mild winter, I guess.  Hope you are having a great day!  The mower is ready for me to mow.  Talk to you later.

Guest Blogging for The Herb Companion Magazine!

This is a 'Brother Cadfael' rose.  It didn't make my top five favorites, but it is definitely in the top ten!  Here is a link for my guest post for The Herb Companion magazine called Celebrating the 2012 Herb of the Year:  5 Favorite Roses.  Have been picking raspberries all afternoon and I need to pick more tomorrow!  I see raspberry jam in my future!  The berries have been magnificent!  It was a beautiful day here in the 'Burgh!  Hope you had a great one as well.  Talk to you later.

Too Much of a Good Thing, I Think!

The Herbal Husband and I discuss (only in the nicest way) about what we are going to do with all of the onions he has let reproduce (only in the nicest way) in the vegetable garden to the distraction of the bed space.  They are the walking or Egyptian onions.  They can be very ornamental but thousands we don't need.  OK, maybe it's hundreds.  The radishes are volunteers.  The Herbal Husband says he cut the tops off 400 extras!  I would say a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea.  As my herbal companion, Bonnie, says we can start our own farmer's market.  Too many permits!  I hope you have too much of a good thing as well.  We are a lot cooler than yesterday.  Still working on clearing and planting.  Hopefully I'll show you the results soon.  Don't forget to get in on the Herb Companion magazine giveaway.  I forgot to mention one comment per person, please.  Talk to you later.

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.

3,777 Comments, My 1,000th Post and an Extra Day!

This has just been a crazy winter.  One day looks like this and the next day like this literally.

Well, on to the real message here.  I can't believe I have been blogging almost four years and have almost 3,800 comments and it's because of you my dear readers that I keep going.  So thank you so much for reading this mucky herbal mess.  You inspire me each and every day to keep writing.  Oh, BTW, at some point in the next few months, I'll be doing a big giveaway.  I'll just leave it at that.

This was picked last night from the garden.  It is salad burnet (very evergreen even for us) and mache.  Mache is very hardy in a winter garden with protection.  We have had 30 inches of snow, but sporadically.  Haven't needed much protection because of the moderate temperatures for the most part.
We are going to be close to 60 again today with thunderstorms.  A wild and wacky extra last day of February.

I'm getting The Herbal Husband ready to go to his homeland of Peru or maybe he's getting me ready.  He runs the ship here.  I'm truly along for the ride most days!  I've got to get my notebook dusted off and take notes for the feeding of birds and the watering of the indoor plants.  Start saying prayers that I don't kill anything!  It's tough to take over when one person does the watering.  As I have said we water differently!  Just keep those digits crossed that I can keep them alive!

I'm trying to get my herb lists done for you and it has taken longer than expected.  It may be next week (after the departure of THH) before I start posting them.  I want to make sure they are complete and correct as possible.  So thanks for your support and comments.  Here's hoping for another 1,000 posts!

3,777 Comments, My 1,000th Post and an Extra Day!

This has just been a crazy winter.  One day looks like this and the next day like this literally.

Well, on to the real message here.  I can't believe I have been blogging almost four years and have almost 3,800 comments and it's because of you my dear readers that I keep going.  So thank you so much for reading this mucky herbal mess.  You inspire me each and every day to keep writing.  Oh, BTW, at some point in the next few months, I'll be doing a big giveaway.  I'll just leave it at that.

This was picked last night from the garden.  It is salad burnet (very evergreen even for us) and mache.  Mache is very hardy in a winter garden with protection.  We have had 30 inches of snow, but sporadically.  Haven't needed much protection because of the moderate temperatures for the most part.
We are going to be close to 60 again today with thunderstorms.  A wild and wacky extra last day of February.

I'm getting The Herbal Husband ready to go to his homeland of Peru or maybe he's getting me ready.  He runs the ship here.  I'm truly along for the ride most days!  I've got to get my notebook dusted off and take notes for the feeding of birds and the watering of the indoor plants.  Start saying prayers that I don't kill anything!  It's tough to take over when one person does the watering.  As I have said we water differently!  Just keep those digits crossed that I can keep them alive!

I'm trying to get my herb lists done for you and it has taken longer than expected.  It may be next week (after the departure of THH) before I start posting them.  I want to make sure they are complete and correct as possible.  So thanks for your support and comments.  Here's hoping for another 1,000 posts!

Harvest Time in June-uary!!

Hard to imagine that we harvested some vegetables on the last day of January 2012!  We dug a few purple and gold potatoes, a couple of beets and some cress.  Pretty good for January.  We also got some perennials cut down and the epasote that has seeded around.  Some of the plants are looking good like the 'Berggarten' sage and the 'Provence' lavenders.

And look what we found starting to bloom.  A dandelion!

Saw the 14 day forecast and we aren't cold through mid February!  It's a little scary.  Really need a break during the winter to recharge the gardening battery!  Got my walk in. That's the good news don't have to battle snow and ice to stay fit.  Always enjoy being out with nature.  Hope you are having a great day or evening wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Lots Going On!

Didn't have much gardening time this week.  Trying to get my car fixed so it wouldn't sound and smoke like a tank!  That's all I'm going to say and OMG after more than a few dollars, it's quiet again.  It is a senior so I will have to expect more incidents to happen.  Hope they can come up with a few good cars soon.  I may be found on the side of the road because my car just falls apart!  Enough.  On to more pleasant tasks.  I actually did clip some herbs for drying.  They have hung around until I got the chance to clip them.  Hopefully, I'll get my act together and make some tea blends.  I still have some dried herbs from last season.  Fortunately they have been in airtight containers, so once I get it together, I'll make some blends and share them with you.  Got to clean off the worktable again!  A never ending task!

A little bouquet with lots of calendulas and the Fairy rose is still blooming a bit and a bit of sage.  Hope you had a great day.  I'm going to show you the end of the herb gardening season tomorrow with one photo.  Hope you had a great day.  We are still celebrating our anniversary.  Went out to dinner at our favorite restaurant, the Verona Village Inn.  Now it might become your favorite as well.  If you make reservations, you are usually seated right away.  No waiting 20 minutes!  It's a good thing.  Talk to you later.

What A Difference A Day Makes And. . .!

you can have tomatoes later in the season.  Our tomato plants were planted July 31st and as you can see, we had tomato, basil (bought in the store, sorry), avocado, Feta cheese and olive salad.  The Herbal Husband picked our tomatoes green and we wrapped them up in paper and they are just getting red.  Not a sun ripened taste, but I'm just amazed we got any tomatoes this year!  The last photo is of raspberry muffins I made this morning.  Last of the fresh raspberries.

As you also can see by the banner photo, we lost our snow, but not the cold.  I took a walk and nearly froze.  Have to pull my winter weather gear out.  I'm going to try and walk outside more this winter if I can.  I've got metal in my ankle so I need to be careful that I don't damage it again.  It can't be fixed.  Hope you are having a great day.  Talk to you later.

Only the Price of Seeds!

This was taken in early November.  I think we all take a ton of photos and forget what has been blogged about and what hasn't.  The Herbal Husband brought these seeds back from Peru.  When yellow, orange and red peppers are more expensive than green ones, it is fun to say you grew these your self.  These beauties were raised in a container.  We had stuffed peppers several times this season.  Always a good thing!  Well, we are off to the movies this afternoon and tomorrow before the storm hits on Sunday.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

My Bed Bath & Beyond Goodies in Time for the Holidays!

I think you would classify my goodies as from the Beyond Department!  I have a small patch of 'Silver King' Artemisia and I haven't cut it for a few seasons.  It tends to come and go.  Some times it is run over by the mower and isn't enough to worry about.  This season was a good one and I thought I had better clip it and bring it inside.

I have also found the Artemisia Christmas tree directions from an old 1995 Yankee Magazine by Adelma Simmons and Caprilands.  So if you have artemisia, get it ready (I think you need at least 1/2 bushel.) and any kinds of small dried flowers such as bachelor button, delphinium, oregano, pearly everlasting, statice, tansy or yarrow, bitterweet, pepper berries or rose hips, pinecones and bells.  Of course, fine florist wire or a hot-glue gun and clippers.  You also will need a styrofoam cone.  The directions say 6 inch.  Also if you have a lazy Susan, pull that out.  It comes in handy to move the tree around and see how the decorations are evenly spread around the tree.  Once upon a time I grew a lot of dried flowers to make wreathes.  It just takes a lot of material and time!  It is a fun project and I think you will enjoy it. 

Check out an artemisia tree I made many years ago that was about two feet tall that I blogged about in 2008.  It was big.  I thought the magazine was buried up in the attic, but I was forward thinking and kept it in the computer/TV room!   Always thinking ahead, but never remember what I was thinking!  I know you know what I'm talking about!  I have to get my work table cleaned off.  I realized after I published this that next week is THANKSGIVING.  So hopefully I will have a post with step by step instructions by the end of THIS week for you.

It is a nice rainy day out.  We needed it after so many beautiful days!  I probably could get my act together and make the tree today, but The Herbal Husband sometimes makes my plans for me!  Going to see the last part of the Swedish triology, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest.  We saw the other two out of sequence, but we are caught up!  At least we won't be in a dark theater while there is beautiful weather outside!  That happens quite a bit!  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

An Herbal Reminder!

The Herbal Husband Cut This German Chamomile to Dry!

Cut Marjoram for Drying!

We are getting to the end of the growing season.  We haven't had a hard frost yet, but I think it may happen this evening or maybe tomorrow evening.  Maybe you haven't had a frost yet either.  Maybe you already have had one.  If you haven't, get out and see what can be cut and dried.  What needs to be frozen in bags or containers and what you can put in vinegar to preserve it.  I always have some parsley that can easily be frozen in a bag or container.  Tarragon in vinegar is a favorite way to preserve it and then use the pickled tarragon like you would use it fresh.  I always have to have marjoram dried to be used through the winter.  I just put it between two paper towels to dry.  Very easy, but effective!  I will just stick the dried chamomile flowers in my paper tea bags and seal them.  Finished making the rose geranium jelly today.  Only one flavor left, garlic rosemary!  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Never Too Much Parsley and Other Herbs to Harvest!

Found some leftover parsley in the freezer and it is about time to be cutting more for this winter.  I made a double batch of Parsley Dill Soup this afternoon.  A favorite here in our household!  It is time to start cutting some parsley and chives particularly for the freezer.  I'm also going to cut some lovage for drying and anise hyssop leaves to dry for tea.  Still have jelly to make.  The days are getting shorter and the nights are cooler.  May get some frost soon.  Hope you had a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later!  I also wanted to say we lost our dear friend, LaVerne this week.  She was a dear friend and her dear husband, Jim will be very lonely without her.  They were married 65 years!  The funeral was today and he was having a tough time as were many of us at the service, including me!  Rest in peace, LaVerne!  You were a gem!  We will miss you!

The Herbal Husband Wanted You to See This!

These are 'Musica' beans from Renee's Garden Seeds in California.  Renee Shepherd has been a well-known and consistent force in the seed business for many years and in 1997 started Renee's Garden Seeds which is a web based business and they do have businesses that sell her seeds as well.  She just doesn't have a paper catalog any more.  I think I found 'Musica' at Longwood Gardens outside Philadelphia one year and have almost always grown them in our garden.  Musica because The Herbal Husband is Peruvian.  Although these are more of an Italian flat bean.  Do the Spanish have flat beans as well?  Duh, they are 'Musica'!  These two were sort of like the zucchini that you missed that turned into baseball bats!  The lower one I think is around 11" long!  Better call Guinness!  No, it will be long gone for dinner before that happens.  Well, I've got to go exercise!  Been a bit of a slug.  Although we did walk a bit yesterday at Seven Springs!  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be!  Talk to you later!

The Herbal Husband Wanted You to See This!

This is a hot pepper from Peru that The Herbal Husband wanted you to see!  It needs a longer season than we can give it.  Although this summer was hot, hot and hot, the plant is in a container so the plant gets the heat inside when it gets cooler, like now.  If you leave the seeds and ribs inside, it is very hot, but The Herbal Husband made a salsa with onions and oil and vinegar and the pepper without the seeds and ribs.  He said it was very tasty, but not too hot!  I'll take his word for it!

Then moving on to the bean production!  It has been amazing.  I had to leave The Herbal Husband my Preserving book from Time/Life Books.  He actually blanched and froze the bean production while I was gone!  Good job sweetie! Did another two batches of raspberry jam this morning!  Hope your harvest is going well.  The weather is beautiful here.  Love, love the fall in western Pennsylvania.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Sometimes It's All About the Food!

The First Apple Pie of the Season!

It looks a little over done in the photo (I think The Herbal Husband cranked up the temperature in the oven and I keep forgetting!  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!), but our friends, Jim and LaVerne enjoyed it when we went to celebrate Jim's birthday a couple of weeks ago.  It was enjoyed by all.  I had to come home and make another for us.  I use an old Betty Crocker recipe and one teaspoon of apple spice mix from Penzeys.  I use the roll out pie crusts and I know how to do Martha's crusts.  Her recipe for apple pie is one of the best because she uses a combination of apples.  She also makes her pie cold and bakes it hot.  I think that is the best tip.  We have Granny Smith and Liberty apples in our yard. You know now that I finally get the hang of the crust, he would rather have store bought crust!  It drives me nuts, but not to drink! Remember he likes CoolWhip!  Close your ears, Tufa Girl!  Enough said!

My Farmhouse Kitchen with the pumpkin post has inspired fall to arrive.  Her blog was one of the first I spied with an apple pie!  Her blog is just a favorite on my page so I can see the enthusiasm for cooler weather.   Then there was Boston Bee.  She had a big bite of delicious looking pie that her son, Will helped her eat the other day!  Great minds think alike!  Here's to a slice of apple pie or any kind of pie wherever you may be!  It is still going to be in the 90's today!  Yikes!  When will it end?  Hopefully soon.  Talk to you later!