Thymely Tips

Nicole shared this information from a presentation she gave.

Stevia leaves are sweetest and most flavorful before the plant starts to bloom.  And the leaves are also at their sweetest during the cooler temps of fall.  Cut whole stems of the plant but never more than 1/3 at a time.  

Drying:

Hang the stems or leaves in bunches upside down in a warm dry place with good air circulation.  Attics can work well.  Or spread the leaves on a non metal screen outdoors on a dry sunny day.  If it is breezy, cover with another screen to avoid them blowing away.  Or use a food dehydrator.  An oven turned to 140 will also work.

Storing:

Once the leaves are dry, separate them from the stems and grind them into a powder.  Store in an airtight container.  Small glass jars work well for storing herbs as they are truly airtight.

Sandy

Last year Nicole passed me this tip and I never managed to post it. She reminded me that herbs can look similar in appearance. Labeling ensures you do not cook up any surprises. She is absolutely right. Plant markers can be a bit costly and I’m always looking for ways to save money and making your own markers from plastic mini blinds is one way. Take the blind apart and separate the slates. Cut into an appropriate length, not too long because they are pretty flimsy. Use a plant marker because it is much more permanent than a Sharpie. Sharpies are not made to be stable in bright sunlight and fade over the summer to the point that they are no longer readable. If you must use a Sharpie, write the name on both ends of the marker. If the visible one fades, you can pull out the label and lo and behold the name is still there on the buried end.

Just the other day I noticed that some of my feverfew is still blooming. This after two nights that got down to 28 degrees with heavy frost. So if you’d like to see little white flowers here and there, be sure to plant some feverfew. There is double form and a single form. I like the double form best. It is a bit shorter and dries with more substance. However the single form may allow bees to reach the nectar and pollen more easily as the disc in the center is better exposed. It tends to be taller and can flop a bit but it is still attractive in a more natural setting. If your feverfew tends to get too tall for you, trim it back by 1/3 to 1/2. It will be shorter and bloom a bit later.

If you have been enjoying chrysanthemums this fall you are not alone. Everyone likes to see the pop of color they offer. As I write this on November 4, there are still mums blooming. One huge pot we bought in Springs, Pa the end of September still looks nearly as good as when we brought it home. A few we purchased in Smicksburg a week or so later are looking a little shop worn. In all fairness I have to admit they might’ve dried out a bit one warm day. It is fun to bring home plants you purchase at a bargain price. But what if you could have all the mums you wanted and not have to pay a penny for them? That’s exactly what you can have with just a little work. You need a parent plant, one you can take cuttings from. Plan to do this next spring. Plants root better when they are actively growing or getting ready to take off. In the fall they are getting ready to go dormant for the winter and won’t be as inclined to root as in the spring. Read the post “Free Mums continued” for more information. See how to root a cutting in a post from this past spring. – Sandy

These days we generally go out and buy mums already in bloom. But years ago there wasn’t such a good plentiful supply of such plants. If you wanted blooming mums, you had to grow them yourself. It was common practice to take a cutting of a chrysanthemum you already had or a cutting of a friend’s plant and start your own plants. Last fall I dug up a couple pieces of a friend’s golden yellow mum and transplanted them to my garden. Only one survived. Always being a believer in ‘two is better than one’, I took three cuttings and rooted them. They took off quickly and grew in 4″ pots until mid summer when I transplanted them to larger pots. With the addition of some time release fertilizer and regular watering by summer’s end they were 24″ tall! Always leery of chipmunk damage and drying out I left them in pots until mid-late October when I planted one and left one in the large container and one was still in its original 4″ pot. And there you have it – free mums. And they are beautiful. Just for insurance against a harsh winter I’m putting them in the garage which is around 42 degrees. – Sandy

Pat shares some uses for vinegars and also a recipe for herb vinegar. She says they are a great way to use leftover herbs for salad dressings, marinades, gifting, hair rinses, or even cleaning. Simply wash, pat dry, lightly crush one half cup of herb and place in a container. A clove of garlic adds even more flavor. Lightly warm 2 cups of white, apple cider, or wine vinegar and pour over the herbs. Seal and store for 2 – 3 weeks. Strain and cap tightly. Store out of the light. – Pat

Looking for flowers on your rosemary? They are such a welcome sight but for some of us not so easily obtained. I visited with Becky Griffith of Shadowwood Gardens just east of Greensburg recently. She had numerous rosemaries covered with blooms and also a bunch without. What was the difference? It was the prostrate rosemary that was awash in flowers in her greenhouse. The upright rosemaries were much more reluctant bloomers.

There are many things involved in creating the right conditions to promote blooms on your rosemary like the right fertilizer or maybe none at all, well draining soil, plenty of light. But, all things being equal, it is the prostrate rosemaries that are more inclined to bloom. – Sandy

If you are like me you eagerly buy a pineapple sage plant in the spring, plant it in your herb garden or elsewhere and watch it grow. And grow it does. Pineapple Sage can reach a sizable plant in no time at all. Come late summer and you are looking for that tell tale smidge of red where the blooms will be. You know it doesn’t usually bloom until October or maybe late September but still you can’t help but keep checking. It can be disappointing – all that looking and seeing nothing but green. But I just discovered this summer how to fool your plant into thinking it is later in the year than it is.

From the original plant I purchased I took two cuttings. So pretty soon I had three plants to put somewhere. I put two plants in the herb garden but left one in a pot and replanted it in late summer into a larger pot. I kept that plant at the edge of a cherry tree where it got enough sun to grow well but not the amount it would have got in absolute full sun like the herb garden. Greensburg Garden Center has been participating in the Old Salem Farmers’ Market on Sunday Mornings this year. I gathered a few plants to take to sell the beginning of September, and was going to snatch up that pineapple sage in the container, but lo and behold there was red at the growing tips. Sitting in that limited amount of sun it had formed flower buds. Pineapple sage is a short-day bloomer like chrysanthemums. It will only set flower buds when the days are short enough. So that plant got to stay here and avoid the sale. And I’m getting a kick out of the beautiful bright racemes of red flowers on it while the plants in the herb garden have yet to show any red. – Sandy

Harvest herbs at the right time to ensure the best taste. Cutting one-third of the plant at a time right above where two leaves are growing together can improve the plant’s health and give you the best harvest. Pruning is imperative to encourage bushy and vigorous growth.  -Nicole

With hot dog season still in full swing here is a recipe to make them much more nutritious. This recipe was originally published in an Oscar Mayer magazine ad in 1996.

1 small seeded cucumber

1 small tomato

3 radishes

2 green onions or equivalent

¼ c fresh parsley 

Finely chop all above ingredients.  Mix together.  Top cooked hot dogs in buns with 2T of vegetable mixture each.  Then drizzle with 1 T ranch dressing.  Makes 8 servings.

Delicious, nutritious, and different! – Sandy