Dried is Even Pretty!

This picture is not the greatest, but Monarda didyma or bee balm is an edible flower that also makes a beautiful dried flower.  It is very delicate, but I just love the twists and turns of the petals.  I need to make a note to self to dry more next year!  Probably will have a senior moment!  So remind me please!  Wet here in the garden and going to be cold this evening.  Need to cut some rose geranium and pineapple sage leaves for jelly and cut what basil is left for vinegar or pesto.  Hope we get a dry moment to do it!  Talk to you later!

Busy As a Bee, But I Have To Use An Iron!

Sunday was sort of a down day, but I used it to clean up my work table in the basement. Again!  There was chamomile a plenty on the table and I found my teabags and started filling them.

Here they are filled and it looks like a honeycomb.  Then the part that is really easy, but it involves an iron!  You seal the bags with an iron.  Very easy!  I got forty little bags, but then we had to use two to make tea!  So wonderful to have herbal harvests that you can enjoy through the winter.  Hope you are enjoying a cup of tea wherever you may be!

Have No Idea What Flower This Is!

Can you help?  It isn't the greatest picture.  Click on it to enlarge it.

A Blooming Irish Rose!

I'm truly amazed that this rose is still blooming!  It's a good thing, but still amazing.  This is a climbing rose called 'Dublin Bay'.  Sometimes plants bloom despite what you do, don't they?  We moved this late in the season last year and it is getting crowded out again, yet it is still beautiful!   Quit complaining, will you?  Yes, I will!  Hope it is dry where you are.  It is very wet here!  

Herbal Kitchen Gardens!

I got a chance to speak for the Butler County master gardeners.  Had a great time and I hope they enjoy it too!  I just wanted to make clear that you should feel free to mix vegetables, herbs, fruit and flowers together in your garden whether you call it a kitchen garden or just your garden.  My message got lost in wanting to give them other information.  The garden above is from Surreybrooke off of I-70 in Middletown, MD.  A great family owned establishment!  Please keep these kinds of nurseries going!

One of the definitions of kitchen gardens is that it has an enclosure meaning a fence or wall or other enclosure, an entry gateway, a path system whether it is an "X" or a "T" or a cross to define the beds and a rich mix of vegetables, fruit, flowers and above all (my words) herbs!

Flower Protection Program!

The summer was really crappy as far as sun and heat!  The night blooming jasmine had not bloomed all summer!  Soo The Herbal Husband said we are going to leave the awning in so that the jasmine will flower.  I agreed whole heartily.  Now because we are having rain just at the WRONG TIME, we have had to leave the awning out night and day to keep the flowers from falling off.!  They are very delicate and it does not take a whole lot to lose them. It is working and the aroma from the flowers in the evening is intoxicating.  Well, have to run and make raspberry jam and get ready for my presentation tomorrow!  Talk to you later!

"Bring Your Camera!"

When I hear those magic words, I know The Herbal Husband has created food that is beautiful!  Not just beautiful looking, but also delicious!  When we have company over for dinner, he always gets great compliments on his presentation.  So as I have been saying the nasturtiums are going wild as usual this time of year.  Those jewel like colors!  Hope you enjoy a beautifully made salad wherever you may be!

Thyme for Herbal Vinegar!

This is the perfect time to preserve the herbal harvest by making herbal vinegars.  Some years I have really been carried away making herbal vinegar!  Still using that!  Here are the ingredients for Nasturtium Peppercorn Vinegar.

You need:  2 cups of nasturtium flowers, 1 cup of nasturtium leaves, 2 sprigs of rosemary, 1/4 cup chopped chives, 2 tablespoons of peppercorns, one sterilized canning jar (leave boiling water in the jar for 10 minutes) and white wine vinegar.  Easy, peasy as Jamie Oliver would say.  This recipe is from The Complete Vinegar Book by Kathy (Kathleen) Gips.  She owns the Village Herb Shop in Chagrin Falls, OH.  I think it is very pretty in the jar before you decant it.  I put it in a sunny window for two weeks.  Mine is going to be ready just in time for my presentation on Saturday.  It gives you a peppery taste for your salads and stews.  I'll put a picture on this posting of the finished product.  Got to go make raspberry jam!

One of My Favorite Scented Geraniums!

Well, this little gem is a scented geranium called 'Fingerbowl Golden'.  I actually thought its name was 'Goldfinger'.  Like the James Bond movie!  Its official name is Pelargonium crispum 'Aureum Minor'  The leaves were used by the Victorians to scent water in their guests' fingerbowls!  We'll keep it in The Herbal Husband's office over the winter.   He will enjoy the tiny lemon scented leaves.  Scented geraniums are one of the easiest herbs to bring in for the winter as long as it is getting enough light.  A southern exposure is best.  It is time to think about what herbs are going to come in.  Our list is usually way too long!