REAL Renovations: Creative way to label your potted plants and herbs

I am a member of the San Antonio Herb Society and we do several outreach events each year where we work at educating people about herbs. The display we have is called Everyday Herbs and it is made up of many examples of boxed and packaged foods that you can buy in your grocery store that contain herbs. Along with those boxes and packages we have pots of each herb to show people what that herb looks like before it is added to those foods, and educating them how herbs are a part of their everyday life. We also focus on 12 basic herbs that grow well in our area.

Last year three of us worked at freshening up the display and finding more healthy and organic examples to use in our display. We used to use these neat ceramic plant marks, but they were so heavy that the 4″ potted herbs would end up falling over a lot of the time so we decided to take a normal terracotta/clay pot and use blackboard paint on them and use a white marker (to look like chalk) and write the herb on each pot. Those pots would make a nice strong and steady base to place the 4″ potted herbs in and help them remain upright throughout the day.

This is a really simple way to label your potted plants. We used two different pots shapes and sizes to give the display some variety. The blackboard (chalkboard paint) paint in permanent and the white marker we used it also. We will be using these pots over and over again, so it was important that they would hold up. You could also use regular chalk, but just remember that it would wash off in the rain.

We only did the 12 basic herbs that grow well in the San Antonio area to keep the focus on what herbs are easy for people to start with if they were interested in growing herbs. The pots turned out great and the display turned out well.

The pots have really freshened up the display. This is an ongoing display as we continue to to switch out the older boxed foods with examples of more organic and healthy options.

Do you have a creative way to label your potted plants?

Sincerely, Emily

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The sage is buzzin’

I love this time of year. The herbs and other flowering plants start to come alive and bloom. Sage grows really well in our hot South Texas  dry summers and it requires very little water to survive and thrive.

I have several types of sage planted throughout the gardens and when they start to bloom they are always completely covered with bees. Alive and buzzing!

The buzzing sound almost drowns out the sounds of the birds that are chirping away.

Four more sage plant were added to one garden this spring. In fact, Sage, one of the writers that I met here at Not Dabbling in Normal, came over to help me plant somethings shortly after I got out of the hospital. She planted three sage plants amongst several other herbs and plants around the back yard.

Thank you Sage – they are all flourishing! I am very grateful for your help and I think of you every time I see the plants that you planted for me!

I have two sage plants in one garden on the east side of the house that aren’t getting enough sun to really do well (never thought I would say that about a plant here with such hot scorching summers) so I will move them this fall to a better spot.

I continue to see planting more sage in the future.

Do you grow sage in your gardens?

Sincerely, Emily

 

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Rosemary Lemon Cookies

I am starting to see posts around blog-land about lemons coming into season. Lemon is a favorite fruit  and used in so many different ways for many people for so many reasons. Lemonade on a hot summer day. Lemon cakes. Candied lemon peels. I could go on and on and on.

For a recent cookie exchange with an herbal culinary group that I am involved in I thought long and hard about what I was going to make. Last year I had the brilliant idea to make cardamon peanut brittle, which didn’t work and it forced me to regroup and come up with something else. The day before I needed to have 12 dozen herbal cookies I fell back on a basic Mexican Wedding cookie and added the cardamon to it. They turned out great.

This year I made rosemary lemon cookies. Man-o-man were they good.

Rosemary-Lemon Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter – soft

¾ cup sugar

2 tsp snipped fresh rosemary

2 tsp finely grated lemon peel

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 cups flour

Line cookie sheet with parchment.
Beat butter, sugar, rosemary, lemon, baking powder, salt and vanilla in electric mixer until completely combined.
Beat in flour, one cup at a time until it is all combined.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls.
Flatten balls with the bottom of a glass that is buttered and dipped in sugar.
Bake at 400F for approx. 8 min, or until lightly browning on edges.
Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute.
Transfer to cooling rack

Makes approx 40 cookies

You will taste the lemon right away and after a few seconds have gone by the rosemary flavor will come through ever so slightly. I loved that.

I also loved the thinness and crunch that these cookies had, and I can see myself using this cookie base for other herbs and spices like ginger and cinnamon.

Do you prefer a crunchy, crispy cookie or one that is soft?

Sincerely, Emily

You can see what else I am up to over at Sincerely, Emily. The topics are varied, as I jump around from gardening to sewing to making bread or lotion and many things in between.

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Herbal Cheese Spread

Lately I have been taking an appetizer to several different meetings. In the effort to make things easy on myself I just keep taking the same herbal cheese spread over and over. I don’t have to think about it, just make it and take it.

This spread is also great on toast and has been breakfast for me a few times over the past few weeks too.

Herbal Cheese Spread

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 4T or more sour cream
• 1 T dried basil
• 1 T dried dill weed
• Chopped walnuts (optional)

Let cream cheese and blue cheese stand at room temperature until soft
Blend two cheese until smooth.
Adjust the amount of sour cream to reach the consistency that you want.
Add basil and dill weed
Mix thoroughly and put into your serving bowl
Top with walnuts (optional)
Chill until serving
Makes 1 1/4 cups of cheese mixture

In place of the cream cheese you can use the farmer’s cheese that Jen posted about here at NDIN a few years ago or you can use a yogurt cheese. I didn’t find a post here on NDIN about making yogurt cheese so I will post about that in the next few weeks. Using the farmer’s cheese or the yogurt cheese changes the consistency of this herbal cheese spread, but it still works.

You can use what ever blend of herbs you like. Play with it. Have fun with it.

Do you have a favorite appetizer that you tend to make a lot?

Sincerely, Emily

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My new love: Jar Sealers

I have had a FoodSaver vacuum sealer for the over 10 years. Since I have been buying meat from local farmers and ranchers, I have hardly touched the vacuum sealer in the past 4 years.

Over the past few weeks I have been doing a lot of planning ahead and pre-making some foods that will save me some time over the next few months. I will be having surgery and out of commission for a while and unable to spend time doing the things I normally do, like cook and garden. I will have lots of help to get me through the first few weeks, then the house will be back to the two of us. I want to do what I can now to be prepared and make the time easier on everyone, including me. So, I have been baking bread with onion, sage and oregano to make into stuffing and making bread crumbs. I have been stocking up on dry beans and grains (and cat food and cat little!) I have been drying more of my own herbs. I keep many of the dry herbs in the freezer to help keep them fresh.

I have seen the jar sealers from FoodSaver and was curious about how they worked, but I couldn’t find anyone that had used them. I finally just took the plunge and bought both the jar sealer for the regular canning jar and the wide mouth canning jar (actually it was one of those practical Christmas presents that I ordered and told my husband he bought me for Christmas!) Hey, that works for us and I love those type of gifts.

I was so excited to receive the jar sealers that I have been on a vacuum-sealing spree and loving loving loving it. I have pulled all my dry herbs out of the freezer and vacuum-sealed them in canning jars. Most of the things in our cupboards are in glass jars, but I decided to switch them out into canning jars so that I could vacuum seal them. You may remember that I have an obsession with jars…. well, all those jars really came in handy.

I have gone through my soap/lotion-making cabinet and vacuum sealed the elderflower, the calendula and many other dry herbs. Next on my list is making crackers and getting those all vacuum sealed to retain freshness. When sealing anything in jars, just make sure it is completely dry. If there is any moisture and you vacuum seal your jars, you items will not be fresh.

I have not had these jar sealer for long, but so far I am thrilled with how they work and how easily the jars seal. I love that all the air gets sucked out and that means the contents should stay super fresh for a very long time.

I think these jar sealers make sense if you buy things in bulk, if you are planning ahead, if you are living in a humid climate and you want to extend the shelf life of you food. It all ties in with my frugal nature and trying to plan ahead and be prepared.

Have you used any jar sealers? I would love to hear how they work for you and how you like using them.

Sincerely, Emily

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Chiggers! UGH! (Rose-scented geranium to the rescure!)

Last February over at Sincerely, Emily I posted about the body powder that I have been making for a couple of years. This spring I tried something new.

Chiggers can be a problem around here and I have had more than enough chigger bites to last me a life-time. While I know this, the chiggers didn’t seem to get the memo. Those darn bites had me thinking and thinking about what I could do to prevent them.

To combat the mosquitoes I just grab a few leaves of lemon balm and rub them on my arms and legs. The other plant I have turned to is the rose scented geranium (Pelargonium graveolens). Not only does it help with the mosquitoes, but it smells fantastic too! (you may remember my post about rose scented geranium back in April.)

That really got me thinking about those darn chigger bites.

As the leaves dry on my rose scented geranium, I tend to pull them off and set them inside to to continue to dry. When I snip off the ends to start a new plant, I take the leaves that I have pulled off and take them inside to dry. After doing this for a few years I had quite a nice pile of dried leaves.

I decided to grind the dry rose scented geranium leaves and add them to my body powder. I thought that since the fresh leaves did such a nice job on the mosquitoes, then maybe the dry ones mixed with the body powder might, just might, help keep the chiggers at bay.

I started using my new powder blend this spring and it has worked wonders for me. Before I head out to work outside in the morning or evening I powder myself up around my mid-section, paying close attention to the areas that my clothes bind (chiggers love those spots.) Even if I powdered up in the morning, I will still re-apply in the evening when I head back outside.

My Version of the basic powder:

• 1 T Baking Soda
• 3 T Cornstarch
• 3 T Arrowroot powder

Add 1-2 T Ground Rose Scented Geranium

Play with the mixture until you find a blend that works for you (less cornstarch/arrowroot and more baking soda until it works for you)

I know I said it before, but this has worked wonders for me. I hope it might work for you too. Let me know if you try it.

Sincerely, Emily

You can see what else I am up to over at Sincerely, Emily. The topics are varied, as I jump around from gardening to sewing to making bread or lotion and many things in between.

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Sunday Photos: Herbs

Herbs.

***

One memory of growing up was going outside to snip some chives for my mom. I loved the job and I always loved the purple flowers on the chive plants too. I also loved the round hollow freshly cut stems with that distinct “chive” smell. Well, that apple (or chive blossom) didn’t fall far from the tree. I (Sincerely, Emily) grow chives. I actually have many chive plants throughout our gardens. I have common chive (Allium schoenoprasum) and flat garlic chives (Allium ramosum) and a lot of other herbs in between.

***

What herbs are growing in your garden?

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Ginger Mojitos

Last summer I was drinking a lot of iced green tea with mint.  My mint was growing really well and this year it is already growing well too. Every time I brew up some iced tea, I have been throwing 5-6 stems of mint in there to steep with the tea. It is very refreshing on these hot days.

As the months go on, there comes a point when my mint turns dry and crispy in our hot summer temps. Last July I was trying to harvest and dry as much mint as I could to use throughout the winter months for making hot mint tea. I am glad I took the time to do the harvesting. It was worth it.

After I harvested a ton of mint last July I spent a few days visiting a friend in Austin, Texas. She wanted to make mojitos, so I took a bag of freshly picked mint with me. I had never had a mojito, but I had heard of them and people always commented on how refreshing they are. This is the recipe she had from allrecipes.com:

The Real Mojito

Ingredients

• 10 fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 lime, cut into 4 wedges
• 2 tablespoons white sugar, or to taste
• 1 cup ice cubes
• 1 1/2 fluid ounces white rum
• 1/2 cup club soda

Place mint leaves and 1 lime wedge into a sturdy glass

Use a muddler to crush the mint & lime to release the mint oils & lime juice.

Add 2 more lime wedges and the sugar, & muddle again to release the lime juice.

Do not strain the mixture.

Fill the glass almost to the top with ice.

Pour the rum over the ice, then fill the glass with carbonated water.

Stir, taste and add more sugar if desired.

Garnish with remaining lime wedges.

WOW! What a refreshing and easy drink to make. I am not a big drinker (of alcohol) so what we did after the first drink was start playing around with non-alcoholic versions. We made one with just club soda, but didn’t think it had any “kick” to it. I think it would have been good with tonic instead, but we didn’t have any.

The second non-alcoholic mojito we made we used ginger ale. That one was GREAT!

Each time we made one, we just kept adding to the mint and lime that was already in the glass. I realize after a few of these we would have to take out the lime and mint left-overs to make room for the liquid.

My mint has been growing well this year. It is a bit leggy in the spring so as I started to cut it back I would stash some mint leaves in the refrigerator. It was time to make a mojito using my homemade ginger beer. I used the basic ingredients from the above recipe, but I  did not add any sugar since there is already sugar in my ginger beer.

Here are some other fun recipes for making some interesting sounding iced teas:

• Thai iced Tea - combining star anise, mint and sweetened condensed milk.
• Spicy-Spiked Iced Tea that mixes the flavors of cinnamon, orange, clove & rum (optional I think).
• Flying Eagle Iced Tea – using lemon juice, mint and vodka (again, I think it would make a nice flavored iced tea without the vodka)

I am still trying to come up with a clever name for my non-alcoholic mojito, until then, I hope I have inspired you to try something new. Now I am out of ginger beer and behind in making more.

*UPDATE: 26 May 2012 – Post on Make you own: Ginger Beer

Sincerely, Emily

You can see what else I am up to over at Sincerely, Emily. The topics are varied, as I jump around from gardening to sewing to making bread or lotion and many things in between.

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Rose Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens)

My Gram always grew red geraniums in the summer. Each fall she would severely cut them back and they would sit through the winter on the high window ledge in the laundry room in our basement where it stayed cool. Those common geraniums have a district smell to them; sort of like a tomato plant has a district smells to them. I can’t describe it, but if you have smelled either one you know what I mean.

While I don’t have any of the common geraniums like Gram did, I always smile when I see one and think of her.

I also remember my mom would have scented geraniums from time to time and I always enjoyed the different types she had.  They were always so alluring, drawing me over to brush a leaf and inhale slowly and deeply, drinking in that soft, subtle scent.

Remembering those wonderful scents and memories I picked up two rose geraniums (also known as rose-scented geraniums a few years ago so I could enjoy their fragrance.

I love picking a few leaves and putting them on my pillow. They eventually end up on my nightstand throughout the night, but their scent still lingers. I will sometimes pick a few leaves and lightly crush them and rub them on my arms. It is one of nature’s natural perfumes (and also a natural insect repellent!!)

I originally bought the rose geraniums for their soft, subtle scent. Later, I came across some information where lemon balm was used to make a scented fabric softener. I immediately tried it, but didn’t care for the finished scent, so I thought if you can use lemon balm, why not try rose geranium…. I did and I loved how it turned out.

Fill (lightly pack) your quart canning jar (or any glass jar – not metal) with the leaves from your scented geranium and cover with white distilled vinegar (the inexpensive kind in the big jug.) Let it sit for a few weeks or longer. Strain and use as you would any fabric softener.  If you use a jar with a metal lid you should use a piece of wax paper between the metal lid and the jar opening or the vinegar will react with the metal on your lid. I tend to prepare my jars and forget about them until I run out and need to strain more, so they may actually sit for a few months. The last thing I want is to open my jar and find a rusty metallic smelling mess. That certainly isn’t a scent that I want to put on my clothes.

My two plants just wouldn’t keep up with the demand so I have started over 2-dozen others plants from my two originals. I will share some some of these new plants each month at the plant raffle at our local garden club meetings and the others I will keep and grow to pull leaves from.

Making fabric softener

When I run out of the rose geranium fabric softener I rely on plain white distilled vinegar with a few drops of essential oil. Rosemary is my current favorite. I do have jars of rosemary sitting in vinegar too for fabric softener. I just haven’t tried them yet. Since we only wash a load of clothes 1-2 times a week, it is hard to keep testing new scents.

What else can you do with rose geranium; make ice cream. Strawberry-rose geranium ice cream is lovely!

What a great plant, with so many purposes:

• It is pretty – nice green leaves
• It has a lovely scent
• You can use it to make scented fabric softener
• You can use it as a natural insect repellent
• You can use it to flavor ice cream

Do you already grow a scented geranium?   How do you use yours?

Sincerely, Emily

You can see what else I am up to over at Sincerely, Emily. The topics are varied, as I jump around from gardening to sewing to making bread or lotion and many things in between.

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My Best Intentions…

I was knocked down by yet another cold this season. This is hard for me to wrap my brain around (especially in the cold-induced foggy state.) I have been healthy and cold free for about 2 years and this year is completely different.

I have learned a lot over the past few years about herbs and foods and characteristics that are helpful, but I have also found that my best intentions haven’t prepared me to fight these colds.

I want to grow elderberry bushes so I can make immune boosting syrups and tinctures and even wine. I want to grow calendula and chamomile, horehound and stinging nettles. I want to grow sumac and dandelions and ginger. I know I can grow these things. I have a few growing now. It just takes time and I have to realize that I can’t do it all overnight!

Even though I can and will grow these things, it isn’t practical to think I can grow and make my own “everything” all at once. I need to step back and realize that I can (and should) buy some of these wonderful dried herbs and fruits and just start making the tinctures and syrups and throat lozenges so when I am hit with a cold I am prepared. When my bushes and trees and herbs mature I will then know what to do with them and be thrilled I can use my own.

Drying some horehound to make throat lozenges

There are a few things I did during this last cold that helped me to fight it off faster. I drank hibiscus tea and I also drank garlic tea. Garlic is chuck-full of great antimicrobial and antiseptic properties. I cook with garlic a lot, but drinking the garlic tea is another way to get it into your system and help fight off the effects of the cold or flu. You can read about garlic tea right here at Not Dabbling in Normal.

Along with losing my appetite I also lost my sense of taste and smell. To help get me through this cold I made a healing chicken soup that I know helped nourish me and get me through this much quicker. I made a bone based chicken broth and threw in ginger, onion, hot peppers, dark leafy greens (kale and chard and spinach), turmeric, and garlic along with basil, oregano, thyme and parsley. I wasn’t really thinking about taking photos while I was sick, so the photo you see below is the second batch of soup I made when I started to feel better.

This past week I got together with a culinary group I belong to. The theme this month was “soup.” One of the ladies brought an “Immunity-Boosting Winter Soup” and it was the first soup I ate that night. It was so much like the one I make, but hers included freshly harvest dandelion greens.   We talked about her soup along with the ingredients and the properties that each ingredient has. I was thrilled to know I was on the right track with my soup.

What went into my healing soup?

• Ginger – works on congestion & great for nausea
• Spinach/Kale/Chard – full of vitamin C, and A, folate and potassium
• Hot peppers – help to relieve pain and stimulate endorphins
• Turmeric – antibiotic properties
• Garlic – an expectorant, natural antibiotic
• Red Bell Pepper – high in Vitamin C & A

The immunity-boosting soup that my friend made also had a pinch of cinnamon (infection fighter), calendula flowers (immune stimulator), dried thyme (antibiotic & expectorant), astragalus root (help to strengthen the immune system) and dandelion greens (high in vitamin C & A and many trace minerals and is especially high in potassium)

I am back on my feet and the fog has cleared. I attribute that to the things I ate and drank. Now I better start making a list of things I would like to order so I can get some syrups and tinctures made up to help keep my immune system in tip-top shape.

Do you have any herbal or home remedies that work for you?

disclaimer

Sincerely, Emily

You can also read what I am up to over at Sincerely, Emily

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