The Beauty and Regret of Fall in the Herb Garden!

By Far One of My Favorites in the Fall!

Who would have thought that the parsley post the other day would get me in the mood to blog.  You really haven't missed all that much in the herb garden.  And as I went over what I have blogged about this season, you saw quite a bit more than I remember!   I am going to share with you some photos over the next week of specific herbs that I really have grown to love over the years. 

Margaret Hall reminded me that this is one of them, pineapple sage (Salvia elegans).  She stated she has tons of it and would I share my pineapple sage jelly recipe.  I would be happy to do so.  Here is a link for three of my favorite herb jellies, including pineapple sage:  An Herbal Jelly Recipe Marathon! I always try to encourage readers over the growing season to use your herbs.  I am not the greatest cook, but I do try to share my successes using herbs when it happens.  I would tell you Margaret to use your pineapple sage fresh in fruit salads, iced teas and baked goods.  My experience trying to dry it has not worked.  The Herbal Husband being my chief herbal sniffer and tester can tell you that it loses its fragrance and taste of pineapple when dried.  You could try freezing some fresh leaves and see what happens to them.  I have just not wasted too much time doing that.  We have also brought our pineapple sage inside when it hasn't gotten too big, but that doesn't always work out well either.  I know that there are pineapple sage pound cake recipes out there.  Here is a link to my search on Google and you can pick the recipe you would like to try Pineapple Sage Pound Cake Recipes.  There are a lot of choices.  Short of using it fresh with fruit or tea or baked goods, I don't have any new ideas.  If my readers have an interesting way they use pineapple sage leaves, please let me know and I will pass it on in a later post.  That's the beauty of the fall herb garden.

Now to the regret!  When I first started my herb journey more than 25 years ago, I wanted to grow everything exotic and interesting in the herb world.  Sometimes too many plants of the same variety that when the fall came, I either had regret because I didn't use them at all or I had so much of one product that I couldn't use it all or share it all!  So my vision over the years has become very narrow and as much I would like to grow every new variety of herb, I will stick to my tried and true favorites and make what I can to share and not worry so much about having it all.

I bet you are wondering why is she inside writing when she should be out in the garden harvesting?  The forecasters were incorrect and it has been raining since early morning!  So much for harvesting the garden.  I will get to it sometime this week.  Snow in the forecast next week for Halloween!  Maybe they will be incorrect again!  Hope so!   Well I hope you are enjoying your day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Been Busy in the Herb Garden and Celebrating the 2016 Herb of the Year with a Jelly Recipe!

Rosemary Sherry Jelly Was One of 19 Batches of Herbal Jelly Made!

Last Pouches of Certo Used for Hot Pepper Jelly!

Keep Finding the Ladies!  This Time on Mint!

Mexican Sage--A Late Tall Bloomer in the Garden!

One Last Monarch on the Butterfly Bush!

One Last Gasp for Our Grape Arbor!

My Favorite Flowered!

This certainly has been a different year for me in the herb garden.  I have probably had years like this before.  As I get older my May trips to England affect the herb garden and the stresses have been weather related as well.  All of the photos above are from October.  I had a brain freeze about my jelly choices and fortunately I have a couple of the Western Reserve Unit of the Herb Society of America's cookbooks which saved me for flavors.  Thanks to all of those wonderful herb ladies for their inspiration  The hot pepper jelly recipe is from The Herbal Pantry by Emelie Tolley and Chris Mead.  As you can see in the photo, the peppers are suspended in the jelly which makes for a great presentation.  Here is their recipe with my notations in parentheses.

Hot Pepper Jelly
Makes 6-1/2 8 oz. jars (The half I will use for us.)
Recipe says it makes 8 8 oz. jars.  For me, it did not.

"An appealing combination of sweet and hot, this jelly is extremely good with chicken or lamb, or with cream cheese as an hors d'oeuvre.  Also you can use this as a glaze for ribs during the last 15 minutes of grilling or baking in the oven."

1 cup minced green bell pepper
1/2 cup minced hot red pepper, or to taste
1-1/2 cups cider vinegar
6-1/2 cups sugar
6 ounces (2 pouches) liquid pectin

Combine the peppers, vinegar, and sugar in a non-aluminum saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat and boil gently for 5 to 7 minutes.  Remove from heat.  (Quickly stir in the pectin and return to heat and boil exactly one minute).  Remove from heat and (Stir for a couple of minutes at least.  I stirred for 5 minutes.  Probably too much time because the Certo really started to go gloppy.  I think when you see the pepper pieces suspended you will know it is enough.)  Put carefully (because it is already just about set up) into sterilized jars that have been boiled previously for 10 minutes and use two piece rings and lids to cover.  Place the lids in hot water until ready to use.  You don't have to boil the rings.  Place all jars into a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.  As long as you hear that ping after the jars come out and the lids have sealed down, they are canned.  If the lid has not sealed, place them in the refrigerator and use them promptly.

"Note:  If the only hot peppers available are green, use a red rather than a green bell pepper."

In herb garden news, I did lose some herbs from the heat and dry weather.  We did have some winners from the annuals planted especially the Mexican sage which is blooming its head off at the moment.  Love those tall late blooming herbs!  And the beneficials are still around and you can participate just like me at Lost Ladybug Project, a project of Cornell University to find those lost ladybugs.  We also actually had a monarch last week as well.  Sadly not too many of them these days.  The grape arbor is finally going to be replaced.  Need the help of our neighbor, but hopefully that will happen in the next couple of weeks!  Maybe a Halloween treat!  And then finally our crowning achievement is that the lemon verbena both in the container and in the ground thrived so much so that they both bloomed.  Very excited!

Well, those are some of the high points of the herb garden this season.  Did cut my chives and chop them for my container in the freezer.  Did make a touch more purple basil vinegar.  Do have a small bush of mint marigold or Texas tarragon to harvest before the cold sets in.  Oh and some of the parsley will be cut and frozen for Parsley Dill soup.  And finally will clip back the lemon verbena in the ground and I am going to experiment with covering it with a fiberglass cover make for roses.  Maybe it will help bring it back.  It really like the space we put it in.

The herbal containers will be coming in the next two weeks.  Have also started several projects of cross-stitch, so I will post about the garden when I can.  The months are flying by with such speed and I don't seem to want to write as much as I used to.  A beautiful day in the herb garden and I'm inside posting here.  Hope you are doing well wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.  

One Last Gasp of Summer, Herbally Speaking!

Can't stay away for too long!  Had too much going on not to talk about it, herbally speaking!  Had an herbal brain freeze over what jellies to make this year.  So I pulled out one of my many herbal cookbooks and came up with ideas.  This is the last gasp for the cinnamon basil.  So one more time to make cinnamon basil jelly this year.  And BTW the photo in the recipe for scented basil jelly is mine.  Just tooting my herbal horn!  Will make this short and will clean up the size of photos at a later date.  Not every day blogging just when I think you will benefit from a post.  Lots of rain in a short amount of time!  We are going to have some sun this week.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you are!  Talk to you later!

Cinnamon Basil on the Chopping Block!

Enough Lemon & Lime Basil for Jelly And August is Tomorrow?

Well I can't believe tomorrow is August.  That means a couple of things in the herb garden.  You had better be harvesting herbs that you want for winter in earnest and it is almost the end of summer already!  Oh and one more thing I will be going back to posting sporadically from now on.

We have had over an inch of rain in the last couple of days.  A blessing!  I have been out weeding since I spent time in the Western Reserve Herb Garden in Cleveland.  Will try to update that post with more photos.  Busy making lemon & lime basil jelly this morning.  Not enough of either one to make lemon or lime, so it's an herbal combo!

Hope you are having a lovely Sunday!  Will talk to you soon.  Have an blogging anniversary coming up and that means one thing, a giveaway!  Stay tuned!  P.S.  I have also added more photos to our visit to the Western Reserve Herb Garden visit the other day with Kathleen Gips!

I also have updated my banner photo with a plaque that was designed by Philippa Threlfall of Black Dog Decorative Tiles.  It is frost proof so I am hoping to find a space to hang it near the herb garden.  The words are taken from a book written by Thomas Fromon, published in 1535.  The herbs chosen are based on various engravings from sixteenth century Herbals, marjoram used as a strewing herb, rosemary adding flavor to meat, thyme, add savor to forcemeats (a combo of meat and veggies added to stuffing) and stuffings and mint for flavoring sweet and savory dishes.

Giving the Lemon & Lime Basils A Rough Chop!

A Golden Ray of Sunshine on A Hot Day!

I hope you are staying cool on this July Sunday!  It already feels like 90 here in the 'Burgh.

Wanted to highlight some of the selections I bought from Well Sweep Farm.  I got this a couple of years ago when I did the lemon herb garden. Maybe it was where it was placed that it didn't make it.  So I got a couple of these and we planted them above the rock wall.  Oh, sorry, you want to know what plant I am talking about Tanacetum parthenium 'Aureum', golden feverfew!  I really love the daisy like flowers of feverfew and then the golden color of the leaves.  What is your favorite in your herb garden this season?

As of this morning I have made 11 batches of raspberry jam or 44 total jars so far!  I am just about to take a break between old cane production and new canes starting to produce berries.  We will be cutting the old canes down and that will make my picking of round two easier.  Hope you are staying cool wherever you may be.  Will talk to you tomorrow!

One of My New Favorites-Golden Feverfew!

Cinnamon Basil Jelly and Raspberries!

Almost forgot to post today.  It started with a batch of cinnamon basil jelly this morning.  I picked more raspberries this afternoon, but finally not enough for a batch of jam.  I think we have come to the pause between old cane production and new canes starting to produce.  Will be on the lookout for stink bugs.  They love the raspberry fruit.  The Herbal Husband watered the back gardens including the raspberries.  They need water to produce good quality berries.  Hot and humid tomorrow.  Stay cool wherever you may be!  Hope you had a great day.  I will post a photo for this post tomorrow.  Talk to you then.

Just Enough Cinnamon Basil for a Batch!

My 2016 Trip to England--My Visit to Sissinghurst Castle, Part Two!

I think the ghosts of Vita and Harold are playing with my post!  I had a bunch more photos to share with you, but the ghosts or Blogger are messing with me! Really Sissinghurst may not be the greatest English garden, but it is full of surprises and combinations that you might not have thought could go well together.  It was a real treat to see it again and the rain did stop long enough to get photos which was important.  So maybe there will be a third installment later today or tomorrow.  Got another batch of raspberry jam made and tomorrow I switch gears and make a batch of cinnamon basil jelly!  Such is life in the summer herb garden.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you tomorrow.

The Cottage Garden

Top Courtyard Garden

Just Must Find A Space for This in My Garden--Artichoke or Cardoon!

Lawn and Hedge an Integral Part of the Gardens

Love the Simple Structures to Hold Plants

Wisteria Blooming!

The Front Facade of Sissinghurst Castle

'Sissinghurst Blue' Rosemary

The Chalk Board for The Daily Events in the Gardens!

Raspberry Jam and A Nap!

A Bit of A Wild Garden in My Backyard!

Started out in my kitchen making raspberry jam.  It is the third box!  Then I guess a nap sounded good this afternoon.  Didn't get a whole lot in the garden until late.  Just one of those days!  We were in the back gardens pulling weeds and putting more compost around the new plants.  Trying to come up with a plan.  It is a lot of space and I might really let it go a bit wild.  Photos tomorrow!  Hope you had a great day.  It was a great day here.  Talk to you tomorrow!

Bye to June, Hello to July! Yikes!

First Batch of Raspberries Set Up June 30, 2016!

First Batch of the 2016 Raspberry Jam Season, July 1, 2016!

So I didn't have such a productive blogging month in June.  Hopefully July will be a bit better.  Am going to try the 31 days of blogging technique I used last December.  I will do my best to catch you up on what's going on in the herb garden and trips.  Yes, I said trips.  I took a short but eventful trip with my herbal companion, Bonnie ten days ago.  OK, we had afternoon tea and bought herbs.  Our two favorite pastimes when we are together.  We are very guilty!  Here are some of the herbal treasures I got from Well Sweep Herb Farm. 

These Need To Be Planted In a Hurry!

Been working diligently to find empty spaces!  It is a huge task!  So hopefully you will see my progress or should I say our progress because without The Herbal Husband's help it wouldn't be possible in the coming days.   So Facebook reminded me this morning that my first batch of raspberry jam last season was set up today.  So I already have a batch done a day sooner!  My summer has begun. We have sort of cooled down in the weather department here in the 'Burgh.  Maybe a bit of rain today, but a warmer weekend with no rain to look forward for the holiday!  So I will just be here blogging.  Please stop by if you get the chance!  Talk to you soon!

Celebrating the 2016 Herb of the Year, Capsicum! Well Almost!

My Favorite Pepper Mill from Penzey's!

It has pepper in its name, but it isn't quite what is being celebrated.  A couple of readers have asked about growing peppercorns, one who lives in Florida and one who lives in Vermont.  And silly me thought it was perfect because the 2016 Herb of the Year is pepper.  Well, not really pepper.  It is capsicum, the true pepper.

Pepper was prominent in the ancient world and was a source of fabulous wealth during the medieval and colonial spice trade.  Pepper provided the pungency of Indian food until it was partially replaced by chilli peppers from the New World.  It remains the most important and popular of all spices in overall value and trade volume.  Peppercorns are from the genus Piper which has a very large number of species, but only P. nigrum has any importance as a spice.  Black pepper is native to the Indian equatorial and tropical forest regions, especially along the Malabar Coast (South India).  Besides India, it is cultivated in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil and China.

The plant is a climber, with stems that have green oval to heart-shaped leaves, 3 to 7 inches long and adventitious (meaning they are formed accidentally) roots anchoring it to the ground.  It has inconspicuous flowers.  The fruit or peppercorn is a berry like drupe about 3/16 inches in diameter.  They are green when they are unripe and then red.  Plants are propagated from seed or cuttings.  The developing seedlings need to be staked and are kept low so that growth is horizontal.  In their native lands they can grow to 20 feet.

Production begins 5 years after planting.  The spikes of fruit are harvested before they mature so as not to lose the fruits.  The spice that is obtained from the fruits is made up of black, white and green pepper.  Black pepper comes from whole fruits picked just before they are completely ripe and are briefly cooked.  White pepper from ripe fruit with the endocarp (the inner most membrane surrounding a seed in the fruit) of the pulp separated from fermentation.  Green pepper are made by pickling the unripe fruit to keep them from darkening.

Ground pepper quickly loses its aroma, so that ideally it is stored whole.  The spice has stimulant, digestive and eupeptic (good digestion) qualities.  Black pepper is used in practically all savory dishes and even in sweet ones.  When I was at the Spice Festival at Kew Gardens last fall, a chef combined strawberries with black pepper.  They were delicious.  Because I am into jam and jelly making, here is a  strawberry and black pepper jam recipe! May have to substitute raspberries instead!

The pungent principle is piperine (only 1% as hot as capsaicin from chili peppers).  White pepper is more pungent and has musty flavors resulting from the fermentation process.  The peppery aroma is due to rotundone, a compound also found in Shiraz wine.

So the real question is can Florida or Vermont grow peppercorns?  My guess is that Florida has a better chance than Vermont just by location.  I did find a post from my friend, Jim Long's blog about growing peppercorns from plants he purchased in Florida!  It is called Growing Black Pepper.  Hopefully his tips will be helpful to Linda in Florida.  I would just say to my Vermont reader, Bev, buy the best quality peppercorns and use a pepper grinder to get the best flavor.  I would also mention buying in bulk is not always the best way to buy spices.  Even though it may be more expensive, the spices will be used up in a timely fashion.  If you have a favorite spice company, please share it.  I buy a lot of spices from Penzeys Spices.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  A gloomy day here in the 'Burgh.  Talk to you later.

Recipe for Tarragon Wine Jelly!

Love the Color of Herbal Jelly!

With thanks to the Chattahoochee Unit of the Herb Society of America for inspiration and from An Atlanta Herb Sampler, here is my version of tarragon wine jelly.  I tend to make multiple recipes of one kind in one afternoon.

TARRAGON WINE JELLY
(Make four 8 oz. jars)

1 cup fresh tarragon leaves
2 cups of dry white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc and a 1.5 liter bottle makes 4 recipes.)
2 T. of vinegar (I used tarragon but you could use rice or white wine vinegar.  You could also use lemon juice.)
3-1/2 cups sugar
A 3 oz. pouch of Certo

First before you start wash your jars and lids in soapy water and boil the jars in a large pot for ten minutes.  Place the lids in hot water until ready to pour.  You don't have to boil the lids.

Measure 2 cups of wine in a medium saucepan and add the cup of tarragon.  Bring to a boil, count to ten and remove from heat and cover for 20 minutes.

Open the Certo pouch and stand it in a measuring cup.  In the meantime measure out 3-1/2 cups of sugar and the 2 tablespoons of vinegar in a second saucepan.  Once the 20 minutes are up, measure out 1-1/2 cups of flavored wine, reserving the 1/2 cup for the fourth recipe.  Add the 1-1/2 cups of flavored wine to the sugar and vinegar and bring to a boil that can't be stirred down.  Remove from burner and quickly add the pouch of Certo.

Return to the heat and bring back to the boil and boil exactly one minute.  Take it off the burner.  Let it sit while you take out the jars and lids.  There will not be foam to skim but there will be a skin to remove.  Pour the jelly and remove any bubbles in each jar with a teaspoon and put on the lids and rings.

Place in a pot of water with the water covering the jars by an inch and boil for 5 minutes.  When removed from the water, the lids should make that popping sound that says they are sealed.  If they don't seal, put them in the refrigerator and use promptly.

Now for the fourth recipe.  You have 1-1/2 cups of flavored wine from the first three recipes and a tiny bit of wine in the bottle.  I was slightly short so I added a couple of tablespoons extra of tarragon vinegar to get to the 1-1/2 cups.  There is your liquid for the fourth recipe.

Just remember once they have cooled to label what it is because making as many different recipes as I do, they begin to look alike!  It is very hot and humid for September in the 'Burgh!  I have been picking raspberries and making jam almost every day for a while.  The Herbal Husband is watering at the moment because we have had no rain for quite a while.  We only had 5 days with rain last month and we are looking dry for the foreseeable future!  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

My 1,500 Post and a New Jelly Recipe Using the 2015 Herb of the Year!

I just don' t know what happened to the first post I did earlier in the day.  I thought it posted when it really didn't!  I think I have too many devices at the moment.  Too confusing! So I made my first harvest of summer savory last week and I kept it in a Chinese takeout soup container until I could make the jelly today.  So with thanks to The St. Louis Herb Society Cookbook for inspiration, here is my take on Savory Grapefruit Jelly.

Savory Grapefruit Jelly

(Makes four 8 oz. jars)

4 tablespoons of fresh or 2 tablespoons of dried summer savory

2 cups of ruby red grapefruit juice (1-1/2 cups of flavored juice)

3-1/2 cups of sugar

2 tablespoons of lemon juice (Will also try white wine vinegar or rice

  vinegar)

1 pouch of Certo

Wash jars, lids and rings.  Boil jars in a pot of water for 10 minutes.  Place lids in hot water.  You don't need to boil them.

Place 2 cups of juice and herbs in a 3-1/2 quart saucepan.  Bring to a boil and count to ten.  Take off the burner, cover and steep for 15 minutes.  Taste and steep longer if necessary.

In the meantime, measure 3-1/2 cups of sugar and the lemon juice or vinegar of your choice in another 3-1/2 quart saucepan.  Cut open the pouch of Certo and stand in a measuring cup until you need it.  Add 1-1/2 cups of juice (The rest is good with a bit of ice for the cook!) to the sugar and lemon juice or vinegar.  Bring to a boil that can't be stirred down.  Take off the burner and quickly add the Certo, put back on burner and boil for exactly 1 minute.

Remove from burner and let stand while you get the jars and lids out of the water.  Then with a tablespoon skim off the layer of foam until you have a clear top.  Pour into the jars.  Use a teaspoon to clear the bubbles on top and put on the lids.  Place in the water bath and boil for 5 minutes.  Remove from water and let jars cool.  You should hear a pop on each of the lids.  If they do not seal, refrigerate the unsealed jar and use promptly.

I have never used Sure Jell instead of Certo, but a reader has asked about substituting Sure Jell for Certo.  I don't think you can do it in the same proportions.  Here is what I would try if you are using Sure Jell:

Savory Grapefruit Jelly Using Sure Jell
(Makes five Maybe six 8 oz. jars)

3-1/2 cups of grapefruit juice with 1/3 or 1/2 cup of summer savory
2 T. of lemon juice or vinegar of your choice (white wine or rice vinegar)
4 cups of sugar
1 box of Sure Jell

I think because the juice amount has been increased, I would increase the amount of summer savory.  Four tablespoons is a 1/4 cup, I would try 1/3 of a cup of herb maybe a 1/2.  Do the same as above in heating and steeping and then measure out 3 cups of flavored juice.  Add Sure Jell to the flavored juice in a large saucepan.  Bring to a hard boil and add sugar.  Again bring to a hard boil and continue to boil for l minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and skim off foam.  Pour at once into hot, sterilized jars and seal in boiling water bath for 5 minutes.  I would guess that this mixture would produce an extra jar at least.  I would wash and sterilize at least six 8 oz. jars to be sure.

Would winter savory substitute for the summer savory?  I would say yes, but winter savory is a bit stronger so I would steep it 10 minutes not 15 and see how it tastes and then go from there.  If it needs more time you could add it.

I would use this jelly as a glaze in the last 15 minutes of baking pork or chicken and the cookbook mentioned fish.  I would also use it with thumbprint cookies and as a quick appetizer with a block of cream cheese and putting some of the jelly on top of cream cheese with crackers.  So it is still raining here and we are just doing whatever we can when we can.  Hope you had a great day.  Talk to you later!

Savory Grapefruit Jelly

Drying Your Herbs Made Simple and Smells from the Herb Garden Contained!

Herbal Worktable Overload!

Lemon Thyme and Marjoram

Orange Mint or Any Mint for That Matter

An Experiment with Pineapple Sage.  Don't Waste Your Time!

Lemon Eucalyptus (Smells like Murphy's Oil Soap)

An Old Canning Jar and Odds and Ends from the Herb Garden!

I Wish You Could Smell My Herb Garden!

We are really down to crunch time in the herb garden.  We have the "s" and "f" words in our forecast for Saturday!  So I wanted to give you a sense of how under control (or not) I am.  Actually the worktable above looks a bit better than in this photo.

As you know by now, I don't do anything very difficult.  I first want you to take a deep breath and let it out and think positively, herbally speaking.  Don't get crazy cutting a lot of herbs to dry.  If you are planning on making gifts with herbs and you haven't cut until now, then go crazy cutting.  Be aware that over cutting at this time of year could bring problems next year.  Also, if you are within the sound of my voice, you should have been cutting all along and not doing too much now.

What always happens to me is that the worktable is my place for throwing cuttings that I cut by mistake (Yes, I do make mistakes!) and an herb I want to try and dry.  So literally I end up with this mess of mixed herbs that I can tell what they are after they are dried and some become just filler.  I decided this year to be more methodical and try to caption my herbs for drying between paper towels.  I write in pen the name of the herb.  Very simple.  You may think this is wasteful, but the herbs perfume the paper towels and they are recycled and used for all kinds of uses once the herbs are dried.

So here is my short list of herbs (in no particular order) (that I have experience in drying with this method) that you can dry either between paper towels or hanging in small bunches by rubber bands on a wire of some kind.

Lemon verbena
Mints of every kind
Dill
Lemon balm
Scented geranium leaves, especially rose, lemon & peppermint
Sage Leaves
Lamb's Ears
Thyme
Lavender Flowers
German chamomile (on a paper towel then place in a lidded container)  Make sure the flowers are very dry before placing in a container.  I ruined a whole batch of flowers because they weren't completely dry and they got mold.
Catmint
Roses as with the German chamomile flowers, you want to make sure they are completely dry before placing in a container.
Calendula Petals
Bee balm Petals and Leaves
Lemon Eucalyptus leaves (Silver Dollar Eucalyptus is preserved with glycerin.)
Oregano and Marjoram
Curry leaves and flowers (Helichrysum italicum)
 
I did try to dry some pineapple sage leaves because I found some recipes calling for dried fruit sage leaves.  I have always thought that pineapple sage should be used fresh and have it chopped finely sometimes in my morning fruit.  And of course, I make pineapple sage jelly.  I am sorry to report that pineapple sage leaves do not dry with any scent whatsoever.  The Herbal Husband who has quite a nose on him couldn't get any scent of pineapple or sage.  I was disappointed.

So I hope this helps you in your last minute cutting and drying.  I am sure I have missed something on this list.  Not complete by any means!  We were 20 degrees colder today than yesterday.  We are just going downhill from here and we are supposedly going to have "snow" "flurries" over the weekend.  I am enjoying the canning jar I did with all of my odds and ends from the garden.  I may just make a little label to remind me what year it came from!  Hope you had a great day!  Talk to you later!  

Simple Herb Harvest--Chives!

Start with a Basket of Chives

Makes About Two Containers for the Freezer

I Just Mark What Herb It Is and the Date In Case I Lose My Mind!

Well, now that I'm out of the jam/jelly fog, I have to get down to the serious business of cutting herbs before the cold weather hits.  Yesterday I started the process by cutting one of my favorites, chives.  Really I have a lot of chives, but I have found only a couple of containers with cut up chives are needed for winter use.  I love them in my eggs and in sour cream for baked potatoes and as an onion substitute in soups and stews.  Going to do an herbal vinegar 101 post soon because that is another quick way to preserve your herbal harvest.

A reader of Carolee Snyder's herbal book series (because my pineapple sage jelly recipe is in her latest herbal book), Susan contacted me with questions about my pineapple sage jelly recipe.  She made the jelly and got through the day yesterday with some coaching from me.  I was like a proud herbal jelly parent!  She is moving on to lavender jelly so maybe she will share the recipe with me if it turns out.  I'll let you know.

I have so many posts I could do and I have sort of lost my way and need to get back on track.   Besides the herbal vinegar post, I'm going to try to finish up my English trip that was in May!  I also want to do some Christmas related posts to give you some ideas for herbal holiday gifts.  So those are the things I'm thinking about at the moment.  I'll post again soon.  Hope you are having a great day.  Talk to you later.

Almost 100 Pounds of Sugar Later!

Enough Left to Fill My Sugar Canister!

Last Certo Ready to Go!

Pineapple Sage Made My Kitchen Smell Heavenly!

Oh, Yes and One More Batch of Raspberry Jam Tomorrow

Well, some years it takes this long in the season to get to the end of my jam and jelly making.  It has been a long season, but I really have enjoyed it.  I'm doing this post because I had a new reader ask me some questions about my pineapple sage jelly recipe.  I'm glad I could answer her today because she might have ruined her attempt tomorrow.  You see she thought she should make all three batches of jelly at one time.  Because I used reconstituted pineapple juice and said it made three batches, she was thinking that all three batches needed to be done at once.  One batch at a time, four (sometimes more or less) jars at a time.

I always knew that you couldn't double or triple a jelly recipe particularly because it might end up in a runny mess.  Glad you wrote to me Susan.  I hope everything goes according to plan tomorrow. Hope you have had a great day.  I was freezing picking berries today.  Really going to be going around the garden fast and furiously, herbally speaking this week.  I have added some garden videos on my YouTube Channel so please check them out.  Talk to you later.

The Western Reserve Herb Fest at the Cleveland Botanical Garden!

Will Lynch, a 16 year old that Has His Own Design Business!

One of Mulberry Creek Herb Farm's Miniature Gardens!

A Mini Garden for Halloween!

One of The Reasons We Came to the Herb Fest, The Herb Garden!

Millstones in the Thyme Garden

Pineapple Sage in Full Bloom

A Large 'Snowflake' Scented Geranium

A Lovely Lemon Verbena

The Cleveland Botanical Garden As a Backdrop to the Herb Garden

The Knot Garden

The Dye Garden

A Beautiful Tangerine Sage!

The List of Herbs for the "Garden Square"

The "Garden Square"

Hyacinth Beans in Bloom

Basil Bed Doing Pretty Good

Our Favorite Herb Lady, Kathleen Gips!

Wonderful Herb Rolls and Lemon Tarragon Butter, Yummy!

With apologies for my tardiness in posting this, Bonnie and I took a road trip to Ohio for the Herb Fest at the Cleveland Botanical Garden last Saturday.  The ladies (and maybe gentlemen) of the Western Reserve Unit of the Herb Society of America did an outstanding job making tons of herbal products for purchase.  Bonnie and I do a lot of our own stuff.  We both came home with herb bread and rolls!  We are always happy to see our herb friend, Kathleen.  She was busy answering the public's questions as she was herb lady for the day.

The other thing that we were anxious to see is the fabulous herb garden that is maintained by the unit!  Can I tell you that it is one of my favorite herb gardens in the eastern half of the United States.  Really! They have done their research and have really maintained a quality herb garden.  I told Bonnie that we will have to come back in the summer because it would even be better and it was really good now.  Looking forward to it already!

I am in the homestretch of making jelly.  I made lemon verbena jelly yesterday and today I set up the rose geranium jelly that I will make at the end of the week.  Then I will just have pineapple sage to go.  The pineapple sage is just so beautiful that I can't cut the leaves yet.  I will have my eyes on the temperatures at night.  I think we are going to have a succession of 30's and I will have to cut it then.  Oh, I almost forgot I have another batch of raspberry jam to do (136 jars)!  I was also thinking about making lemon geranium jelly.  So many flavors, so little time!  Maybe next year!

I still have a lot to cut in the herb garden, chives, lovage, salad burnet (going to make vinegar).  And tonight as I was posting this, I remembered there were German chamomile flowers to cut!  So had to turn on the outside lights and work in the shadows to cut the flowers that were ready.  Crazy or dedicated?  I'll let you decide.  Hope you have had a great day and evening!  Talk to you later.

The Pineapple Sage This Morning