The ups and downs of the gardening world.
Sage has grown on me. Evoking memories of Thanksgiving meals in grandmother's kitchen, it is a flavor that I enjoyed but didn't use much beyond stuffing and sausage. I nearly always used it in a dried poultry seasoning mix and that was the extent of my experience of this flavorful herb. A valuable herb for …
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Late summer is Basil time around my house. After growing all summer in my veggie garden, it is full and bushy, even though I am using it regularly in cooking. Heat and sun loving, this summer has been both, and the Basil this year is loving it! The hydroponic stuff you buy in the grocery store …
Continue reading "Basil Bumper Crop"
Sweet Annie, Artemisia annua, is an herb I remember from the seventies and eighties. Intensely fragrant smelling green herb wreaths were made up in the fall from the branches and I would see them everywhere for sale at craft fairs and outdoor festivals. I kind of forgot about Sweet Annie for a long time until …
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Lemon Verbena has always been at the top of my list of herbs to grow for its intense lemony fragrance. More pungent that lemon balm or lemon thyme, I ended up with a bumper crop last year and found many uses for it. Be sure to buy a transplant this spring and place it where …
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Basil, one of my top herb favorites, is getting some bad knocks lately. Normally a cinch to grow, Basil has been plagued by fatal downy mildew, which makes it unusable. The latest malady to hit ornamental and food plants is Basil Downy Mildew, which has appeared in the last couple of years and is sweeping …
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Winter is the time that I make use of all my beeswax that I have collected from the hives in the summer. I have melted and cleaned it right after harvesting in August and it is ready to be made into something creative and useful. To see how I clean the raw beeswax, go to …
Continue reading "Scented Beeswax Sachets"
January, right after Christmas, means MANTS (mid-atlantic nurseryman's show), and I attend every year to see what is up and coming in the gardening world. New plants, new products, new trends, are the things that I look for in the upcoming year. It is the CES of gardening, not as exotic or techy as electronics, …
Continue reading "Garden Trends and New Plants for 2019"
Would you like to preserve some of the herbal garden bounty for the fall and winter? A quick wreath project using fresh herbs that are pliable and fragrant, can last all winter long hanging in your kitchen.
A highly fragrant plant, Basil's leaves are used as a seasoning herb for all different types of foods and is a major component of my favorite flavor - pesto. Pesto, a mixture of basil, pine nuts, garlic, and Parmesan cheese, is a versatile mixture that can enhance breads, pastas, and even meats. Try my …
Continue reading "‘Pesto Party’ Basil-Nutritious Flavor Powerhouse"
If you possess at least one square foot of sunny or partially sunny garden space, you should plant Catmint, or better known in the trade as Nepeta, for longevity of bloom, ease of maintenance, and attraction to pollinators.
