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By Amy Jeanroy, About.com Guide

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Grow A Pizza Garden

Friday May 18, 2012

Pizza

What is the number one way to get your kids involved in gardening? Interest them in the flavors of their favorite food: Pizza!

Growing a pizza themed garden can be done in something as small as a single pot on the back steps, and if you add a dwarf tomato in the center, you will have yourself all the makings of a delicious meal. Of course, make a much bigger garden for many more pizzas, if you have the space. Can you start to see the reason why I need so many acres of land? My garden ideas keep growing (no pun intended).

Grow A Pizza Themed Garden

Photo: Haseo

10 Herbs For A Drought

Thursday May 17, 2012

Sun

Does it seem as if we are getting less rain than usual this year? Who wants to lug heavy buckets or even hoses out day after day, to the garden? I certainly don't ! There are plenty of herbs to grow that like drier climates. Why not put a few of these herbs into your garden and cut down on the watering you need to do? They are all tasty and/or useful of course. Did you expect anything less from me?

10 Herbs For A Drought Garden

Must See Notable Native Herb For 2013: Monarda Fistulosa

Monday May 14, 2012

Bee Balm

What a joy it is after a long day, to receive an unexpected suprise in the mail .

A box was waiting for me on the steps, as I dragged my weary self home. Inside was the most wonderful gift: a plant of Bergamot (Monarda Fistulosa), or Bee Balm. You have all heard me wax lyrical about my love of making herbal tea blends, and Bergamot is right at home in my recipes. Come to find out, Bergamot has also been chosen as the Notable Native Herb of the Year, by the Herb Society of America. It is a wonderful choice, being useful across the board for any type of herb garden.

2013 Notable Native Herb of the Year: Bergamot 'Monarda Fistulosa'

I love that this variety has beautiful foliage as well as flowers, the dark green leaves are highlighted by red veining. It will look lovely next to my pond area, benefitting from the extra water it will recieve there.

To be honest, I made a cup of tea from a few of the leaves right then and there. It was a relaxing way to recouperate from a long day outside in the sun. My thanks to

The Growers Exchange for thinking of me, and for whatever Karma I had aqquired to have just the right herb land in my lap right when it was needed most.

Herbs In The News: Dandelion Tea Fights Cancer-Gets Grant

Tuesday May 1, 2012

Dandelion

Canadian researchers have received a total of $217,000 to study how dandelion root tea is fighting cancer.

Siyaram Pandey, a biochemist at the University of Windsor, has been studying dandelion root extract for two years. His studies have shown that dandelion root extract was very effective against most of the cancerous cells.

What makes this story even more wonderful, is the method his team used. They collected the dandelions themselves and ground them with water in a food processor to make their own formula.

Then, they tested their formula on several lines of leukemia cells and found that the formula causes those cells to "kill themselves" , while remaining non toxic to the healthy cells.

Herbs: The Complete Gardener's Guide Book Review

Saturday April 28, 2012

Herbs: The Complete Gardener's Guide

I have had the most enjoyable week reading a book that was both visually stunning, as well as informative. You can't say THAT every day. Check out my review for :

Herbs: The Complete Gardener's Guide

Also, the local greenhouse beckons. It is time for my annual photo fest and filling up of the truck. My plan this year, is to take so many photos that all winter long, I can relive this fabulous weather we are experiencing. How do you shop? All seeds or all plants? I do a mixture of both. Here is the what helps me decide between the two: 5 Best Herbs To Buy As Plants.

Finally, if you haven't been keeping up, here are the top 5 articles for this past month. Enjoy!

What's Hot For April 2012

Herbal This and That

Thursday April 26, 2012

Echinacea

A frugal way to expand your herb garden is to divide your herbs. You can also create enough divisions to share with friends, or trade for even more herbs! What is not to like about that?

Herbal Question of the Day - What herb book are you reading? I am currently reading (for the 100th time), Dandelion Medicine, by Brigitte Mars. It is full of amazing information about the dandelion and how to use it in hundreds of ways. A classic that is also a MUST for every herb gardeners. That is only the tip of the iceburg on my desk however. I have so many herbal books, they have taken over my office and have started to creep into the homeschool bookcases. I suppose if the kids end up reading them, it would be considered part of Botany class?

Finally, I gathered a few more links about indoor gardening for everyone. It seems like this is the number one topic lately. If you need some more help planning or organizing an indoor herb garden, check it out:

Indoor Herb Garden Basics

5 Delicious Things To Do With Elderberry

Wednesday April 25, 2012

elderberry flowers

As I drive anywhere this time of year, it is a habit to keep one eye on the road, and one on the sides of the road. I am always scouting out herbs and other plants that are growing alongside my route. This is probably why the kids don't want to go anywhere with me - I seem to take too long to arrive.

Keeping track of where things are growing and HOW things are growing, means I know when to go looking for wild foods, like elderberries. What in the world would I want with these little morsels? Check it out:

5 Delicious Things To Do With Elderberries

There are many more things to do with them of course. I also dry elderberries in my dehydrator and throw them in any smoothies and baked good that other berries go into. Since they are free to gather, and cultivated berries are unbelievably expensive, why not stock up on these tiny but delicious fruits while you can?

Photo: MotleyOaklahoman

Violets In Spring: How To Make Violet Infused Sugar

Monday April 23, 2012

Wild Violets

The violets (Viola pratincola), are in full bloom right now, in Nebraska. The children and I gather the delicate flowers for a special treat called Violet Infused Sugar. Simple and pretty, we layer blossoms with white sugar and repeat, until everyone grows tired of picking.

This is a spring tradition on our farm, and it is a delightful way to share my love of wild plants with my family.

How To Make Violet Infused Sugar

Photo: JJJJ56cp

Spring Cleaning The Farm

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Dandelion in April

It is so important to walk the land. This is not as *woo woo* as it sounds. Walking the fence lines on a farm, keeps the farmer abreast of wildlife that might be moving on and off the property, makes fixing fences much easier than waiting for the animals to escape and THEN fixing, and helps keep an eye on the parts of the property that one can't see from the house.

For me, walking the land means watching spring unfold. I never go without bringing a bag, or wearing a long apron, to carry home any wild food that is ready to be harvested. This time of year, walking the land is an important part of spring clean up. There is a tremendous amount of debris that gets blown in through out the winter. It's ugly and dangerous if left for the goats to discover.

I also enjoy cleaning out the gardens close to the house. It is always interesting to see where my herbs have reseeded themselves and what survived the winter. I noticed that even with putting a bag on my fennel blossoms, they managed to reseed a little bit.

Most of us have experienced enough springlike weather to see some herbs sprouting up. Take the time to do a little bit of spring maintainance, for the cleanest and least problematic garden this season.

Clean up last year's dead growth - Last fall, I recommended leaving most of the deadened herb plants for the wildlife's benefit. Now is the time to clean out that old, dead growth. Trim back to just above the new growth, or remove completely if it is clearly a dead stem.
Pull back the winter mulch from the herb's base - The winter's cold has given way to spring warmth and rain. Now is the time to pull back the mulch from your perennial herbs, to allow the sun to warm the soil and the rain to get in there to revive the roots.
Divide what needs it - This may be as simple as using a spade and chopping your chives into pieces, digging up horseradish, or thinning out an aging sage bush. Just tidy up your herbs while they are in their growing stage. It is much less stressful on them and they will recover much quicker.

Although it may not be time to actually put new herb plants into the ground, it is high time to prepare the pots and beds for the new growing season.

Do you have an herbal issue you would like resolved? Send in your question and I may just answer it here in a future blog. Thanks!

Parsley For Landscaping

Tuesday April 17, 2012

Parsley bed

I admit to having a garden crush on P. Allen Smith. Having said that, he does offer plenty of wonderful information for the home gardener, including us Herbies. Today, I found a video of him using parsley in landscaping, and had to share.

Using Parsley As A Landscaping Element

For many years, I have planted parsley for the farmer's markets. Since it is such a big draw for butterflies, there was always an extra bed just for the caterpillars to enjoy. It's nice to see validation from someone that I respect so much.

Finally, since parsley tolerates some shade, consider it in your hanging baskets that may not be in the most optimal spot around your porch. We all seem to have *that* spot, where it's just shady enough to keep the plants from looking their best. Parsley would make a lush filler for these less than perfect growing areas.

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