A Sunday in Brighton, England, July, 2011!

Who Knew It Would be Cold and Windy in Brighton in July!

Every time (Well, maybe not every time) we go to England, The Herbal Husband asks, "Why don't we go to Brighton?"  There has always been a reason not to go.  So in July how can it be bad.  It was cold, windy and rainy!  Typical English summer weather!  The Herbal Husband also has to have ice cream when we go to the beach.  This time it was with a twist.  Although there is no photo to prove it, a seagull swooped down and took a bite out of his ice cream cone!

The Royal Pavilion of King George

The Royal Pavilion was built for the Prince Regent, who later was King George IV.  It is a palace that contains the finest collections of chinoiserie style in Britain.

One of Many Perennial Borders Surrounding the Palace

You know I can always find any herb or two in a garden.  I'm always envious of rosemarys in the right place to grow.

A Happy Rosemary in the Flower Bed!

One of My Favorite Summertime Flowers, Hollyhocks!

Then we hopped on a bus and went out to Preston Manor on the outskirts of Brighton.  It is a very nice manor house that sheltered us when the rains finally came.  What is most special about Preston Manor are the gardens.

Preston Manor

The Walled Garden Entrance

Beautiful Views in the Garden

Another Beautiful Rosemary!

Plants Sheltered from the Wind with the Wall!

A Small Lily Pond

 

A Majestic English Oak on the Front Lawn!

Must Have a Cream Tea to Get Warm!

Really had a wonderful day at Brighton even with the windy, rainy weather.  As you can see by the last photo, we enjoyed a cream tea before going back to London!  I think it has finally stopped snowing here.  The plow truck just went by.  So I'll take a photo for you out the basement door!  It is the light fluffy stuff so it should be easy to shovel away!  I'm happy the herb garden has a layer of insulation for the next deep freeze coming this week!  Stay warm out there if you are in the northern part of the US.  Talk to you later! 

Remembering the Warmth of the Sun- Europe, 2011!

Just have to do something to not think about the snow and very cold temperatures that are coming our way!  So I had a great idea!  Why not finish our trip to Europe that happened in 2011?  I did a few posts about that trip, but not nearly enough.  We rented a car near Avignon, France and really got see the countryside, particularly the lavender fields.  It was very warm there.  The only very warm weather we had on that trip.  To refresh your memory, we went to The Netherlands first and then went by train to the south of France.  Weekdays and weekends are for the open air markets in various towns.

Hope you enjoy this memory of our 2011 trip to Europe!  It is lightly snowing here and getting cold.  More snow is on the way tomorrow!  It is winter, but a more extreme version than we have had for a very long time!  Stay warm!   Talk to you soon! 

Honey and Basil-two Staples of French cuisine!

The Fruit of Summer!

The Spice Ladies!

Lots of Bright Colorful Wares for Sale!

Wheels of Gruyere Cheese

Wheeling Fresh Herbs and Flowers in for Sale!

See You Soon for Lunch, Kathleen!

Lady Catherine and Her Lady-in-Waiting at the National Herb Society Conference

The herb world is going to be a bit different on Monday morning, Kathleen Gips from the Village Herb Shop is retiring.  The weather gods are not cooperating and Bonnie and I will not be at her retirement class with Lady Catherine tomorrow.  We are with you in herbal spirit, Kathleen.  We know you will have a great day!

This would probably not have gotten much news, but I want you to know that Kathleen has inspired many people, young (her grandsons) and old, over the years with her herbal knowledge.  I joke with Kathleen that I stalked her for a long time before we actually met.  I first saw her name and mail order business in a copy of The Herb Companion in the 1990's.  The Herbal Husband and I drove by her home hoping that she had an herb shop when we went to Chagrin Falls for an antique show.  You almost had some unexpected company, Kathleen!

She started a mail order company called Pine Creek Herbs and sold her jellies, vinegars and potpourris from her house and she has been in three retail spaces since then.   She has written a book on Herbal Vinegars and two books on the Language of Flowers.  She has written dozens of articles, done local TV programs and had many recipes and articles published in cookbooks and herb books.

And even though she will not be in the shop every day, Kathleen will continue with the quarterly tea events at VHS.  The other good news in all of this is that Chagrin Falls is keeping the Village Herb Shop.  The new owner is Lee Ann Halley and hopefully Bonnie and I will be continuing our herbal education with Lee Ann.  We wish all of the best to Lee Ann and The Village Herb Shop of Chagrin Falls!

So dear Kathleen, I do know that we will have lunch and maybe some herbal adventures in the not too distant future.  Enjoy those river cruises in Europe or wherever in the world you may go.  Enjoy your family and herb groups and teaching when you can and know that your herbal knowledge has educated lots of people in a meaningful way!  I also realized that a bunch of herbal products I use every day are because you taught me how to make them!  Here's to a special herb lady that has been in our lives for 20 plus years!  Bonnie and I look forward to having lunch at Rick's Cafe with you very soon!

This afternoon The Herbal Husband and I had Violet and Lavender Tea and Gingerbread Scones in your honor, Kathleen!  I found Devon Cream at the grocery store for The Herbal Husband!  He was in heaven!  His words not mine, "These are too good.  We can only have these every six months!"  He'll be begging for them again soon!

Gingerbread Scone with Rose Geranium Jelly and Violet and Lavender Tea!

Here's to You, Kathleen!

I have been working diligently on a post for Mother Earth Living about herbal teas.  Now that I have that done, I'll get back to blogging.  The weather is cold and snowy, but it is January.  Talk to you later.

Making Herbal Tea Blends!

A Small Collection of Tea Cup and Mugs

I have really been busy behind the scenes making up herbal tea blends and trying them out for my upcoming blog post for Mother Earth Living.  Yes, I have been holding out on you!  Some of the cups and mugs above have had a workout.  The cup and saucer in front has an herbal theme from my herbal companion, Bonnie.  The hand decorated mug in the back left has a holder for a tea bag.  The mug in the middle has a bouquet of johnny-jump-ups and the mug to the right has a ceramic insert for straining loose tea and a lid to keep the essential oils while steeping.

I have become a real tea drinker because I can't drink coffee any more because of my GERD.  So I have a lot of containers on my worktable in the basement full of herbs just right for teas.  There are several booklets that I found that have some great herbal recipes.  Here is one from the booklet called Beverages with Herb Scents from the Western Reserve Unit of the Herb Society of America called Une Tisane Francaise.  In the description it says:

"A classic blend for just about any occasion.  Good alone; no food needed.  The Lavender blossoms bestow a certain peaceful quality.  Some people like it before bedtime."

Une Tisane Francaise
Made 26 teabags

2 cups Lemon Balm leaves, crushed
1 cup Mint leaves, crushed
1/2 cup Lavender Blossoms

It is very tasty.  I think you will enjoy it.  I steeped the blend for 5 minutes.  It was just perfect.

Dried Herbs for Une Tisane Francaise

 It is very cold and snowy here!  Hope you are staying warm with a cup of herbal tea!  Talk to you later! 

Should Never Make an Out Loud List, Herbally Speaking!

I always get myself into trouble by making a list at the beginning of the blogging year and proceed to trash it!  Well, I will get to some of my list at some point this year!  Here is what I've been up to since that list was typed.  Most of us in the U.S. have doctor's visits to fulfill if we want new prescriptions in the new year and this year is different because some of us have new insurance.  I'm just saying Thank God!  So everything is fine.  All of the parts are working for both of us.  I worked on some parsley soup that looks like carrot and lovage soup!

The Parsley Soup Looks Like Carrot Soup!

So I will give you links for both recipes, parsley dill soup and carrot and lovage soup.  They are very similar in ingredients, but usually the parsley dill soup is lighter if you put more potatoes in than carrots, but it doesn't matter if you don't exactly have the ingredients, it will taste great!

I was also thinking about favorite soups that I have made over the years.  Here is my mother's recipe for vegetable soup.  I think I would call it Meaty Vegetable Soup because it is just not vegetables.  It does have meat in it.  You can also make it without the meat.  I can't eat this anymore because of the tomatoes!  I think you will enjoy it.

Meaty Vegetable Soup
(Makes 4-6 servings)

1 lb. of meat cubes
4 c. of water
3 t. salt
1/4 c. washed rice
1 large (28 oz.) can tomatoes
1/4 c. or more raw potatoes
1 10 oz. package mixed vegetables
1 onion, chopped
2 or 3 ribs of celery, chopped
1 green pepper chopped

Cook meat, water and salt together for 1-1/2 hours, add rice, potatoes, tomatoes, onion, celery and green pepper and cook for 45 minutes.  Add mixed veggies and cook for 30 minutes.  Always keep covered, bring to a boil and let simmer while cooking.  Stir occasionally to keep from sticking.  Serve with feta-sage cornbread or a good hearty bread and herb butter.

I also made the last lemon bread with crystallized lemon peel mix (They don't make it any more!) from Lollipop Tree I had from the Village Herb Shop and added the last fresh lemon verbena leaves from last year and some nuts!  Looks like the start of a pesto!  The Herbal Husband approved!

A Mix of Lemon Verbena Leaves and Walnuts for the Tea Bread!

Will try to get back to that list later on.  I want to particularly talk about herbal tea blends since it is National Hot Tea month!  So stay tuned! We are cold without snow.  That makes me worried about plants because they like to be insulated with the snow when the temperatures get below freezing!  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Book Review: Herbs Their Culture and Uses by Rosetta E. Clarkson

The third book written by Mrs. Clarkson

Rosetta Clarkson became an herb junkie after spending time in England becoming familiar with Seven Oaks Herb Farm and Culpeper's.  That was in 1931.  This book was written in the 40's (I have the 1990's version.) after her first two books called Magic Gardens and Green Enchantment were published.  She didn't have an herb business, but she did have a large herb garden that she used for her herbal inspiration.  As I was taking notes, I was practically writing down each sentence.  It does not have glossy, color photos.  What it lacks in photos, it does have very solid information on how to propagate herbs, outdoor plantings, unusual herb plants, the culinary garden, the fragrant herb garden, indoor herb gardening, harvesting and drying, herb dyes, potpourri, herb products, herb vinegars, the uses of herbs in cooking, herb teas and beverages, the marketing of herbs, tabular paragraphs on 101 useful herbs and herb tables.

In a bit of over 200 pages, she jam packs each page with very useful information.  I especially like the last chapter of herb tables where she has 26 (Yes, one for each letter of the alphabet.) tables on various herb subjects, herbs that grow in shade or part shade, herbs for dry places, herbs for moist places, herbs for low edgings, ground cover herbs, etc.  I think you get the idea.  If you are looking for a good basic book on herb gardening, give this one a try.  It is available from amazon.com and bookfinder.com

If you are looking for additional information on artemisia, the 2014 Herb of the Year, check out Marcy Lautanen-Raleigh's post on artemisia and dusty miller. We are a balmy 21 degrees here and the temperature is only going to go up.  Although we are supposed to get snow in between rain and warmer temperatures for the weekend.  Hope you are warmer wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Sitting on a Cold, Freezing Windowsill!

Orphans from the Local Garden Center!

A lot of my gardening is smoke and mirrors, herbally speaking and because of The Herbal Husband.  The Herbal Husband went down to the local garden center to buy something he needed last year.   He came back with a bunch of basil cuttings that were pretty much lifeless.  He said, "They were just going to dry it.  I asked if I could have them.  I'm going to put them in water, root them and plant them."  I don't say no any more.  He has brought life back to many plants that I thought should go on the compost pile.  It does keep him out of further trouble!  So as you can see by the photo above, it worked.  We actually have had Greek style caprese salad a few times.  Adding feta cheese instead of mozzarella and olives.   I think though that the basil will have to come off the windowsill for the next several nights!  They might get frostbite or die!

A Greek style caprese salad in January!

For those of you in the U.S., I don't have to tell you that it is FREEZING!  Actually we are around 24 degrees at the moment but we are only going down.  The one saving grace about this cold is that we do have snow cover and it will be over by Wednesday for the 'Burgh!  But in the meantime we will be Zero tomorrow!  Hope you are staying warm wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Just Wanted to Mention, Herbally Speaking!

Lemon Verbena in Bloom

I added today all of the lemon verbena recipes that are sprinkled throughout this blog on the Lemon Verbena Recipes Page at the top of my home page.  Hopefully, it will make it a bit easier for you if you are looking for a recipe using lemon verbena.  Remember I suggest using fresh in cooking recipes and dried in all other ways.  I'll hopefully be starting on my posts for herbal teas shortly.  In the meantime it is snowing very fine snow at the moment.  I think we have a couple of inches and more is to come!  Hope you are safe and warm wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Snow Covering the Herb Garden

Celebrating the 2014 Herb of the Year, Artemisia!

Yes, French tarragon is an artemisia!

Sweet Annie Waiting to be a Wreath!

Well, I thought I would come out of the herbal gate strong with a post on the 2014 Herb of the Year, Artemisia.  So here are two of my favorite artemisias, French tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus 'Sativa') and Sweet Annie (Artemisia annua).   French tarragon is sterile and so if you find tarragon seeds, they are mostly likely an inferior form of Russian tarragon which has very little flavor.  You must buy a plant or take a cutting from a fellow gardener's plant.  One of the best ways to preserve French tarragon is in white wine vinegar.  Once you have flavored the vinegar for about two weeks, you can use the tarragon just as you would fresh.  It is very well paired with chicken and has a wonderful anise flavor.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is Sweet Annie which gives me a headache and maybe that is why I haven't done anything with this bag yet.  I may even have to work with it on a "warm" day outside if I have to!  It can be a terror in the herb garden madly self-sowing everywhere.  It is a very upright plant which I like for the back of the border.  It is an half-hardy (If it self-sows.) annual herb.   

I'm going to try (If I remember.) to do a post about different artemisias maybe once a month.  Adelma Simmons wrote a whole entire chapter on artemisia in her book, Herb Gardening in Five Seasons.  So hopefully, I will glean some new information for you and me.  As maybe you can see, I have changed some things around and delete some unnecessary information.  I'm going to be doing a few more travel posts while we are out of the garden to finish some trips that were unfinished and some suggestions from you.  I'll be busy, but that's good, herbally speaking!  Hope you had a great new year celebration.  Very cold here, but it is January, 2014!  Talk to you later.