Archive for the ‘Herbs in the kitchen’ Category

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K State Says Bug Off


2011
02.18

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Posted in Herb Companion, Herbs in the garden, Herbs in the kitchen, Home Garden, My Back Yard, Oh Grow Up! | No Comments »

K-State Study Takes No Static From Bugs

uninvited guest

For years, master gardeners have claimed that placing Bounce® original brand fabric softener dryer sheets into the pockets of clothing repels mosquitoes. A new two year study from the researchers at KSU suggests there may be some truth to claims that by tucking a Bounce® sheet in your pocket keeps the insects from bugging you.

Some gardeners have been using Bounce® for years, but experiments by researchers at Kansas State University and the University of Illinois revealed scientific evidence that support the claims of gardeners. Raymond Cloyd, professor, K-State’s Department of Entomology, decided to follow up on the claims of gardeners that Bounce® sheets repel insects.

“Being a scientist, I didn’t just shrug it off,” he said. “I thought about it, cogitated on it and decided to test this out quantitatively.” Bounce® fabric softener dryer sheets either directly or indirectly repel adult fungus gnats in the laboratory.

In the rearch discussion “It is interesting to note that the citrosa plant (Pelargonium citrosum ‘Van Leenii’), which is said to repel mosquitoes, contains 6.8% linalool (Matsuda et al., 1996). Citronellol [3, 7-dimethyloct-6-en-1-al (C10H18O)] is a monoterpene found in many plants, including rose geranium, citronella, European pennyroyal, and lemon balm.”

If the scientist or herbalist in you wants to know more, Read the research at Bounce® Fabric Softener Dryer Sheets Repel Fungus Gnat by Raymond A. Cloyd

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Gardeners in the Kitchen


2011
02.09

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Posted in Gifts, Herb Companion, Herbs in the garden, Herbs in the kitchen, Home Garden, Oh Grow Up!, Recipes | 1 Comment »

http://hubpages.com/hub/Gardeners-Cookbook

I always order several lettuces and spring greens

A good place to start your garden seed order is by leafing through your favorite cookbooks. Renee Shepherd’s cookbooks showcase the best of garden fresh cuisine. Who better to write a cookbook than the person who grows a bountiful vegetable garden?

Renee’s Garden has two cookbooks, “Recipes From A Kitchen Garden” and “More Recipes From A Kitchen Garden.” My cookbooks are tabbed, with penciled notes in the margins and dog-eared. These two very affordable cookbooks ($12.95) have a few food splashes and the occasional sticky fingerprint.

Horseradish is the herb of the year 2011. I’ve ordered ”

Both Cookbooks will inspire you to grow more veggies from seed.

Tricolor Bush” beans and the skinny French “haricot vert,” that are bright green beans “Rolande. I am predicting that Chilled Green Beans with Creamy Horseradish Dressing and Green beans with Basil-Walnut Vinaigrette are going to be garden party and alfresco dining hits.

Best of all, these two dishes are make-ahead recipes that will develop flavor while chilling in the fridge. These two recipes are in the first cookbook, Recipes from a Kitchen Garden.

As an herb gardener, I love that Renee’s cookbooks incorporate edible flowers and fresh herbs in many of the recipes. With these cookbooks, you will enjoy fresh recipe ideas all season.

baby romaines

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A Garden Lovers Valentine


2011
01.23

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Posted in Gifts, Herb Companion, Herbs in the garden, Herbs in the kitchen, Home Garden, My Back Yard, Oh Grow Up! | 1 Comment »

These are the kind of flowers a gardener loves to get:

Shirley poppies are a fragrant heirloom

Valentine’s Day Special at Renee’s Garden 20% off through Feb. 14 on selected “lover-ly”  flowers  that are sure to win the heart of that Special Someone.

I, of course, went a little nuts ordering Shirley Poppies, “Falling in Love” (Papaver rhocas) because I think you can never have too many poppies. There are other selections in this sale, including a fragrant heirloom sweet pea.

Most new or inexperienced gardeners wait too long before they plant poppies. In my zone 6 garden, I will sow poppies in Feb or March. I direct sow these teeny, tiny seed in the garden two months before  tomatoes.

http://www.reneesgarden.com

Oh, attention sweethearts everywhere: though it is a loving gesture, the purchase of flower seeds does not let one off the hook for chocolate.

See you in Renee’s Community Garden.

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Curly or Flat Leaf Parsley – which is better?


2011
01.21

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Posted in Herb Companion, Herbs in the garden, Herbs in the kitchen, Home Garden, Oh Grow Up!, Product reviews | 3 Comments »

Parsley

From Herb Combanion Blog

A Kitchen Garden essential

reseeded parsley

Volunteer parsley and chives are up and growing before other herbs.

I’m already thinking about spring. It’s time to order seeds and think about what I will grow in my home garden. One seed I know I will be ordering is parsley. Parsley seed is best started indoors and then planted in the herb garden. Although it is very slow to germinate, don’t give up; don’t be discouraged!

I grow both the curly and flat-leaved variety. They can be interchanged in most any recipe. However, dedicated Italian cooks will swear that flat-leaf parsley (or Italian parsley) is the very best.

Really, I use whichever is available (or which plants need a trim). When curley parsly leaves are small or young, they are milder and sweeter; the full parsley flavor comes as the plant matures. Its flavor intensifies even more after it is chopped for recipes.

1-6-2011-parsley stew
I use my La Chamba pottery to serve Braised Beef and Short Ribs with Parsley.
Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

Parsley is an excellent source of vitamins A and C. In fact, a glass of parsley juice would have as much vitamin C as a glass of orange juice. Now, I’m not advocating that you give up your glass of morning sunshine—the idea is probably not a trend setter—but it might help you feel virtuous about eating your garnish.

Fresh herbs add sparkle to any recipe

If this is your first try at growing herbs from seed, don’t give up. Start seeds indoors to get a head start.

When you eventually transplant your parsley, also scatter a few seeds near the plant. The plant will serve as a marker to remind you when the seed does come up.

In addition to the volunteer parsley that comes up earlier than anything I sow, I am starting Italian ‘Gigante’ parsley from seed. I have always had great success with seed I order from Renee’s Garden. Find additional help and encouragement on the Renee’s website. There are some very creative and original recipes there too.

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Spinach, Spring Green


2011
01.21

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Posted in Herb Companion, Herbs in the garden, Herbs in the kitchen, Home Garden, My Back Yard, Product reviews | No Comments »

Herb Companion Blog

IN THE HERB GARDEN

Spinach Seeds for Your Spring Garden

Grow spinach this year for fresh salad greens. Photo by faria! Courtesy Flickr

I am growing a vegetable I used to hate: If your introduction to spinach was from a can

of that salty gray-green plant matter, you understand. Not even Popeye could change my mind.

In 2006, an Escherichia coli bacterium (E. coli) outbreak in spinach was followed by more food contamination incidents. In 2007 a company recalled bags of its spinach after finding salmonella during testing. And in 2010, spinach potentially contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes was recalled. Seed sales tell us that record numbers of people are purchasing vegetable seeds. More and more, we want to know where our food comes from. Food contamination is rarely a problem if the food comes from our own backyard. You can supplement a lot of family meals by growing spring greens, like spinach, beets, turnips and lettuce.

I’m growing spinach (Spinacia oleracea ‘Bloomsdale Long-Standing’) this spring. In fact, those first few leaves of these glossy greens never made it to the kitchen last year. I ate them in the garden. (They were that good.) A fan of heirlooms or not, this is a good spring greens choice that has been around for more than 100 years.

Bloomsdale heirloom spinach, a home garden favorite for over 100 years

For this cool-season crop, save a few seeds from your spring planting and sow again for a fall crop. Expect a heavy, continuous yield of thick-textured, glossy dark green leaves. If you grow lettuce, you can grow spinach; its soil and light requirements are similar. Greens are a cool-season crop that love full or partial sun. Put a few radishes in with the spinach to serve as row markers. Gardening Tip: Try a couple of spinach varieties to possibly extend the season and see which one grows best for you. It might not be the same choice every year.

‘Bloomsdale Long Standing’ spinach is slow-growing, slow to bolt and has better-than-average heat and drought resistance. It will usually grow a week or two longer than other spinach varieties. It grows more upright than most spinach, keeping the leaves cleaner or less gritty.

Try This: Let your kids or grandkids help you plant a container of salad greens. Spinach, served fresh in salads or cooked in quiches and souffles, is a delightfully different thing than canned spinach. It supplies vitamins A, C and the B-complex, calcium, and proteins. Try this easy Spinach Souffle Recipe from Burpee.

spinach quiche by Pille - Nami-nami Courtesy Flickr

If chives are up, use it in your spinach salad. I suggest that you use spikey chive leaves instead of green onions, or break apart blossoms and sprinkle the flower petals on the salad.

You can buy spinach seed, Spinacia oleracea ‘Bloomsdale Long-Standing’ from many seed sources. Mine is from Burpee Seed and I have always had good luck with their seeds.

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What is Your Garden Zone?


2011
01.14

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Posted in Herbs in the garden, Herbs in the kitchen, Home Garden, My Back Yard, Oh Grow Up! | 2 Comments »

Marigolds bring pollinators to your garden

I am in Zone 6 and the Average Last Frost: 04/15, Tax Deadline Day.

If I can, I’ll try to get in the garden even earlier and plant peas and potatoes on St Patricks Day.
The really smart thing to do is wait until May Day, 5/1 to plant plants.

I plant marigolds everywhere in the flower garden, with the vegetables and in the herb garden

Last Frost Dates

Zone 1: June1 – June 30
Zone 2: May 1 – May 31
Zone 3: May 1 – May31
Zone 4: May 1 – May31
Zone 5: March 30 – April30
Zone 6: March 30 – April30
Zone 7: March 30 – April30
Zone 8: February 28 – March 30
Zone 9: January 30 – February 28
Zone 10: January 1 – January 31
Zone 11 Frost Free Year Round

 

 

http://www.burpee.com

Burpee has some very helpful information for new and experienced gardeners.
Burpee Growing Zone Information Burpee Growing Calendar by zip code
US National Arboretum “Web Version” of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map

Marigolds are butterfly magnets

I think the line between 6a and 6b goes right through my garden. Depending on the luck I’m having at the time, my answer could be different to the question, which zone do you live in, 6a or 6b?”

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Flat Leaf or Curly Parsley – which is best?


2011
01.06

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Posted in Herb Companion, Herbs in the garden, Herbs in the kitchen, Home Garden, Oh Grow Up! | No Comments »

Herb Companion Blog

Parsley for Your Spring Garden

by Patsy Bell Hobson

I’m already thinking about spring. It’s time to order seeds and think about what I will grow in my home garden. One seed I know I will be ordering is parsley. Parsley seed is best started indoors and then planted in the herb garden. Although it is very slow to germinate, don’t give up. Don’t be discouraged!

I grow both the curly and flat-leaved variety. They can be interchanged in most any recipe. However, dedicated Italian cooks will swear that flat-leaf parsley (or Italian parsley) is the very best.

Really, I use whichever is available (or which plants need a trim). When curley parsly leaves are small or young, they are milder and sweeter; the full parsley flavor comes as the plant matures. Its flavor intensifies even more after it is chopped for recipes.

1-6-2011-parsley stew
La Chambra pottery to serve Braised Beef Short Ribs with Parsley.
Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

Parsley is an excellent source of vitamins A and C. In fact, a glass of parsley juice would have as much vitamin C as a glass of orange juice. Now, I’m not advocating that you give up your glass of morning sunshine—the idea is probably not a trend setter—but it might help you feel virtuous about eating your garnish.

If this is your first try at growing herbs from seed, don’t give up. Start seeds indoors to get a head start. When you eventually transplant your parsley, also scatter a few seeds near the plant. The plant will serve as a marker to remind you when the seed does come up.

curly parsley

Volunteer seeds are always the first up in the garden. These curly leaf parsley will go into the first spring greens garden salad.

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Herbaria All Natural Soap


2010
11.22

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Posted in Gifts, Herbs in the garden, Herbs in the kitchen, Home Garden, My Back Yard, Oh Grow Up!, Traveling | 1 Comment »

A Christmas Gift for Gardeners

Herbaria All Natural Soap for gardeners contains cornmeal to gently scrub hands clean. The delightful citrus scent comes from essential oils of orange, lemongrass and palmarosa. I like that this pure product is not harsh or dry out my hands.

I keep this at the garden sink, it works beautifully to clean the garden grime from my hands. Plus, the soaps make great sachets in dresser drawers and linen closets, cars.

If you are in St Louis, on the Hill, stop by Herbaria. (The owner has designed some hand made soap dishes.) It is tempting to buy so many different beautiful, mildly fragrant bars of soap. But the good news, if you buy a  basket full of soap, they make nice stocking stuffers, or holiday hostess gifts.


Fragrant and long lasting

Facebook

Price: 4.5 ounce bar, $5.95 each

More good news: Herbaria is a sustainable products with no milk soaps or honey soaps. All Herbaria soaps contain only food-grade vegetable oils and sustainable plant materials. The soaps are never tested on animals. They really do test the soaps on their selves.

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The Garden Bistro – a review


2010
11.20

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Posted in Eat Here, Herbs in the kitchen, Oh Grow Up!, Ozarks Travel Examiner, Product reviews, Recipes | No Comments »

The best of fresh food, dinner and lunch

The Garden Bistro in Eureka Springs, Arkansas

I get to Eureka Springs, Arkansas once or twice a year, it seems as though new restaurants come and go as quickly as I do. Or, as Dorthy said, “My! People come and go so quickly here!”

My point is, there was a decent restaurant in this location the last time I was in Eureka Springs­, but now there is a different great restaurant at 119 North Main. The good news: everything I had at the Garden Bistro was good. Bad news, I only “discovered” The Garden Bistro on my last day in Eureka Springs.

Chef Lana Campbell brings garden-fresh dining to Eureka Springs via the local farmers markets. The menu is seasonal. Meaning the menu in spring is different than the menu in fall, all based on what is fresh and local. The Garden Bistro serves the best of locally grown and produced fruits, vegetables, herbs, eggs and meats.
Diners at the next table allowed me to share their opinions and photograph their food. They were pleased with their entrees, none of us had dessert. Portions are very generous.

Strawberry Lavender Soup

My fellow diners started with a fried green tomato appetiser followed by a dinner salad. I started my meal with a fabulous strawberry lavender soup*. Campbell also makes the bread. The heavy yeasty rolls are rich enough that I did not not even want butter.

My entre choice was a pecan encrusted salmon. It was a generous portion of perfectly cooked and beautifully served salmon. Side dishes are served family style, and include a vegetable and starch.

Herb & pecan encrusted salmon, hot bread, green beans, baked potato

There is a new restaurant in town every time I come to Eureka Springs. I hope The Garden Bistro makes it. It will become a favorite, like Ermilios and Mud Street Cafe.

Getting there:
119 North Main, Eureka Springs, AR 72632 Contact:Phone:(479) 253-1281.Website: not yet
Hours:Tea Room style lunches from 11 am – 2 pm Thursday through Monday.
Casual fine dining dinners from 5 pm – 9 pm every Thursday through Monday.
Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays

The recipe for Strawberry Lavender Soup from The Garden Bistro in Eureka Springs Arkansas is on my Herb Companion Garden Blog

The restaurant review for The Garden Bistro in Eureka Springs Arkansas is on my Blog, Oh Grow Up!

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“Hot House Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire” by Margot Berwin


2010
10.29

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Posted in Herbs in the garden, Herbs in the kitchen, Oh Grow Up!, Product reviews | 2 Comments »

In late spring, I volunteered to review “Hot House Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire”, a first novel by Margot Berwin. I can count the books I’ve reviewd on one hand, so I thought this early work of Margot Berwin, would be a great “summer read.”

Hot House Flower

The book was free, as was my review. The paperback, “Hot House Flower and the 9 Plants of Desire,” by Margot Berwin, is published by Random House and retails for $14.95. I expected this to be a lightweight summer read and was looking forward to “discovering” a new garden writer.

I, being a slow reader, usually get the benefit of early reviews from my speed reading garden blogging friends. I think many folks took this book too seriously and were disappointed. I was expecting a light and lively summer read and that is what I got.

Corpse plant

I was waiting for Hot House Flower to blossom into a full fledged romance novel, a genre seldom on my reading list. Thankfully, it was not. There was just enough travel and horticulture information to keep me turning pages.

Margot, you had me when you wrote the words Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Our protagonist, Lila, is learning about these nine plants of desire throughout the book. Each chapter starts with a little introduction to one of the nine plants and a hint about whats coming next.


I am glad “Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire” found it’s way to my reading stack. This is a romp through the jungle and there is even a bit of beach time, some totally unbelievable horticultural anticts and even a bit of magic and mystery.

This ain’t no botanical encyclopedia. My garden blogging friends would still be quibbling over the details of this book, if they hadn’t figured out it’s supposed to be fun and fictional light reading.


Heck, Margo took Lila and me to a place I’ve only dreamed. She even started out in a place I too would have wanted to trade in for tropics. She may not be that stong female heroine we are all looking for. She can’t turn all the raining monkey poop in to compost as she drives by, for example.

I received this book as a TLC Book Tour, a virtual book tour site. Virtual book tours are a promotional tool for authors to connect with readers via well-read book blogs and specialty blogs.

Realism? You want realism, well my friends, tune into reality tv. Accuracy? You want accuracy? Join the Royal Horticultural Society or stop by Martha’s on the way home.

You rarely find this kind of fun and imagination in contemporary (adult) literature. You don’t have to learn anything, just read. Relax. What could be more fun?

In garden terms think of an informal cottage garden, a little messy but delightful, never the less. After reading “Hot House Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire”, I wonder whats next for Margot Berwin.

  • Title: Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire
  • Author: Margot Berwin
  • Release date: June 1, 2010
  • Publisher: Vintage
  • Pages: 304
  • Genre: Adult fiction

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