Herbal Good News!

The US has a new sweetener on the shelves and it is made with stevia and called Truvia! I've tried it and love it! It's not cheap, but affordable, $3.99 for 40 packets. Each packet contains two teaspoons. I used it on my oatmeal this morning. The herbal husband remarked that it must be good if it made the oatmeal taste good! Visit my earlier post on stevia.

Good Luck in the New Year!

We've had a couple of very cold days and nights in the herb garden!
We started the day with pancakes. A favorite of the Herbal Husband. For lunch we had guacamole and our pomegranates from Arizona. A little different combination.

Even though it is known as a biblical fruit and from the Mid East, all of the pomegranates Americans eat are grown here. It is the perfect diet (an ugly four letter word) food, because it takes a very long time to eat them. The word, pomegranate, derives from Middle French, pomme garnete, literally, seeded apple. I ate all the seeds, the Herbal Husband spit them out. More fiber eating the seeds! The red liquid is really delicious! There are lots of products, especially drinks, made with pomegranate juice. The juice can stain clothing or countertops so you need to be careful when eating it. Pomegranate is a good luck food as well. So it has all kinds of bonuses!













We are going to have lentils, rice and apanado (a thin spiced fried ground meat patty from Peru) this evening. No pork and sauerkraut here! Lentils are a good luck food of many people in the world. Hope we all have good luck in the coming year! Remember Bay Laurel is the 2009 Herb of the Year! WE ARE PENN STATE!

Happy New Year!

The Herbal Husband and I wish you a very peaceful and healthy 2009. Thank you for reading this blog and hopefully, you will continue to find interesting, educational and funny posts.

One of My Favorite Herbal Catalogs!

This is one of my favorite times of year when the catalogs start rolling in! Today it is one of my favorite herbal catalogs, Richters. If you live in the US, don't be put off by not being able to bring plants back! You can do it, but you must tell the cashier that you are from the US and going back with plants and they will give you a special receipt that is presented at the border. Mr. Conrad Richter wrote me personally to tell me that as long as I go through the Peace Bridge border crossing, I wouldn't have a problem. I haven't been there YET, but I plan to get there in the near future. Now that gas prices have plunged here, it may be sooner than later!

I admit it, I'm an herbal catalog geek! I dread the time that will be no paper catalogs! For some herb farms, that has already happened. For now, I'll get a cup of tea and enjoy reading about all the new selections Richters has in 2009!

Pomander Bowl Update

Yesterday was a week since I finished the orange pomanders and they have a way to go! I switched the container to a big plastic bowl. I think things will go better! They are more buried than before. All good things take time.

Let Us Eat Cake!

I know I'm paraphrasing Marie Antoinette when I wrote the title of this post. I'm glad we could eat cake this Christmas! Pittsburgh has so many sweet places and Jean-Marc Chatellier's French Bakery is one of the best! Dessert is usually something that I enjoy making like apple or pecan pie. This year it is chocolate mousse cake from Jean-Marc's! It was yummy!

P.S. Go see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It is so well done! Cate Blanchett, the best and I don't have to say much about Brad Pitt! I'll just say he's very easy on the eyes old or young!

The Indoor Plants are Outside and It's A Wacky December !

Global warming is here in the 'Burgh today. It's going to be almost 70 degrees! Sooo the Herbal Husband took some of our plants outside to get a sunbath!

Let The Herbal Shopping Begin!

I'm not an early riser. So I wasn't one of those bargain hunters at the malls this morning! My mother taught me from an early age that shopping from a catalog is a good thing. Now I have two choices, internet or catalogs for shopping. I am going to share with you some of my favorite seed catalogs and websites.

Johnny's Seeds in Maine has a great catalog and website with not only great seeds, but great planting and growing information. We try to keep a catalog by the back door so we can refer to it during the growing season. I like Select Seeds catalog a lot owned by Marilyn Barlow. They have old fashioned flowers, both edible and non-edible and lots of other interesting items. Renee's Garden Seeds owned by Renee Shepherd who used to own Shepherd Seeds is another treasure. She does have retail outlets who carry her seeds, but she is a mainly internet operation. The catalogs shown in the picture are the Totally Tomatoes catalog, the Vermont Bean Seed Company catalog, Jung Seeds & Plants catalog and R. H. Shumway's Illustrated Garden Guide. The Herbal Husband liked the pictures in all of them. "They don't look like what we grow!" Some times he is right about that. It is always fun to look! Hope you enjoy some of my favorites!

Silent Night, Holy Night, All is Calm, All is Bright!

This night was perfect a couple of weeks ago. There was snow, Christmas lights and a full moon!