NEWSLETTERS FROM JANUARY 2006 AND JUNE 2006
January 2006
The New Year seems to bring life's transitions to mind. We look back at the last year to see what we've accomplished, what the milestones were for the year in our own lives and, if you're a news junkie like me, what happened in politics and news around the world. We look ahead at how to improve ourselves, our lives or the lives of those around us in some way. The New Year can be a time of reflection and thoughtfulness.
A sad transition took place in my own life just after the new year began. My mother passed away on January 3. Already I miss being able to pick up the telephone and call her with a new book title she might like to read or to find out how members of my family are doing. She was the person everyone kept in touch with, so if I wanted to know how my niece and her husband were doing, I would call Mom and she'd tell me all the news. She was very interested in how The Herb Cottage was doing and somewhat bemused by the fact that I was running a successful business. I would sometimes add a sprig of rosemary or thyme in a letter to her to brighten her day. She's beyond my calls and letters now, but she will be with me in every endeavor each day.
Gardens are wonderful places to watch transitions. Our annual plants do it all in one season. We plant basil, calendula or arugula and wait while the little seeds sprout and begin to grow into a plant we can use for seasoning, cosmetics and salads. As the days pass, the plants grow bigger and stronger. We become used to seeing the basil right there close to the front of the bed where we can easily reach it for harvesting. It's so fragrant and tasty. The calendula's bright orange or yellow flowers greet us daily and are so cheery. We can toss some arugula into a plain salad to add zest and flavor. Then, the basil and arugula start to flower. The calendula flowers fade. We try and keep the plants going as long as possible by snipping off the basil flowers and cutting down the arugula flower stalks to trick Mother Nature. But, in the end, Nature wins out. Our plants will quit flowering and set seed which we can collect and save for the next planting. Or, we might be surprised to see basil seedlings come up around where the plant grew and seeded itself. Calendula often self sows the following season.
Even plants that we know as perennials do not last forever. Thyme may start to become very woody and die out in the center. The same goes for oregano or even rosemary, which is a long lived plant here in South Central Texas and in other frost free zones. We dig and divide perennials to keep them healthy and producing fresh growth for flavorful leaves or for flowers.
Sometimes we just want a new look in the garden. Winter is a good time to think back or to look at pictures you may have taken of your spring or summer beds. How did the garden look last year? What can be changed? Maybe the oregano grew too large and overran the thyme. So, the thyme can be moved so the bed is more balanced and not so crowded looking. A little row of Spicy Globe Basil would look cute along the pathway. It's bright green leaves and round shape would be a compliment to annual flowers such as pansies or marigolds.
Of course, this is also a time for looking at seed and plant catalogs and dreaming about the upcoming season. The new vegetable varieties are just calling to be tried out. Pictures of newly introduced flower varieties are almost impossible to resist. Maybe there's spot in your herb, flower or vegetable garden for an herb variety you haven't tried before. Are you experimenting with new cuisine? There are herbs you can grow to add to Thai, Southwest or Mexican dishes, Italian, Greek, Chinese or Indian recipes. Let your imagination soar. Check out the cookbooks or magazines at the public library or go on the Internet and look for recipes. Be careful or you'll be overwhelmed. The Internet has hundreds, if not more, sites for recipes.
And, don't forget The Herb Cottage for your 2006 plantings. I am offering some new tomato, pepper and eggplant varieties as well as ornamentals to attract butterflies, hummingbirds and beneficial insects to your gardens. And, of course, herbs. Lots of herbs. Sweet herbs, spicy herbs, savory herbs to add to your garden and cooking experience. Visit http://theherbcottage.com and peruse the listings.
I hope 2006 will be kind to you all. If you were in the way of hurricanes, floods or other natural disasters last year, I hope your lives are coming together wherever you may be. If you've lost loved ones, may you heal and live your life with comforting memories of the one you lost. And, I hope that you have at least a little space to grow a garden, be it in containers on the windowsill or porch, or a generous sized garden in your yard. Growing helps us understand the ways of life and death. Transitions are a part of nature and all our lives.
When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.
-Alexander Graham Bell, inventor (1847-1922)
Until next time,
Good Growing to You,
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage
442 CR 233
Hallettsville, TX 77964
phone & fax: 979-562-2153
June 2006
The summer solstice has just passed, the days will begin to get shorter. But, we still have a long, lazy summer in front of us. Even if you live where it is really hot and, at times, uncomfortable, summer is still a time to savor. What other time of year yields such fragrant flowers, lush growth and so many herbs for your use? So long as you can keep your gardens, containers and plantings hydrated during the simmering summer heat, herbs, especially, will reward you with a wealth of flavors, even flowers, as well as lovely forms to admire as they grow.
Harvesting your herbs is important, not only so you can use them, but also to keep the plants in good shape. I know I have mentioned harvesting basil on a regular basis helps keep it from flowering and also keeps fresh new growth coming on. Our other favorite herbs appreciate being pruned through harvesting. Oregano has just passed flowering here, and I have cut it back and used its leaves, along with some rosemary and chives, in a flavored vinegar. I have dried some of the leaves to have it handy in the kitchen for those times when a pinch of dried oregano is just the thing.
Were it not for the hoards of grasshoppers that are eating almost everything in sight, I would be pruning and using leaves from my hyssop which I planted out this past spring. Hyssop is an underused herb, in my opinion. Hyssopus officinalis is a semi-evergreen perennial which eventually is fairly woody at the base, has small, narrow leaves and spikes of bluish purple flowers in mid summer.
Once considered holy and used for cleaning sacred places, hyssop was a popular strewing herb in the Middle Ages. It was also smoked, as tobacco.
Hyssop is a favorite of bees and butterflies, and it can take full sun, so is perfect for a butterfly garden. It only grows to about 2 feet at the most, so it can go toward the front of a border. Due to the small leaves, hyssop lends itself to severe pruning, and is sometimes used in a formal herbal knot garden, alternated with grey santolina for a color contrast. Left to grow naturally, however, hyssop forms a somewhat sprawling clump, but does not run or invade new areas.
Hyssop leaves are very aromatic and can be used in pot pourri and even added sparingly to salads, drinks and vegetable dishes. The flavor is somewhat bitter, minty with an overtone of sage.
Medicinally, there are a variety of conditions that hyssop has been used to treat such as coughs, upper respiratory infections and congestion. It has been used topically to help heal cuts and bruises. Oil distilled from the flowers is used in perfume.
**There is a warning in one source, The Herb Society of America Encyclopedia of Herbs and Their Uses by Deni Bown, that excessive use of the essential oil of hyssop may cause epileptic fits and death. The oil is subject to legal restrictions in some countries.**
That said, hyssop is perfectly safe for most people to use in tea, salads and as a poultice for cuts and bruises. Please contact an informed herbalist or do more research on your own if you are interested in using any herb medicinally.
Harvest the leaves and flowering tops as the buds open and dry them to use in infusions, syrup, liquid extracts and tinctures.
Hyssop is easy to grow from seed sowed in the spring or fall for early spring planting. You can set cuttings from semi-hardwood cuttings in late summer or fall. To keep your plant neat, spring pruning is recommended. In early spring, even before leaves have come back, you can prune your hyssop plant to a nice, even shape and then leave it grow until you want to cut parts for flowers arrangements or other uses.
If you have been to The Herb Cottage web site within the last 6 weeks or so, you will notice a major change. I am no longer selling plants from the web site. The decision to close my mail order business was a difficult one. In the end, however, I decided I was spending too much time on the business and not taking enough time to smell the roses, taste the herbs and enjoy the world around me out here on this farm that has so much to offer.
I will keep my web site up and running as a source for information on herbs, especially gardening with herbs, using your herbs, as well as heirloom vegetables, gardening in the south and resources for you to find the best plants, seeds and more on the Internet. If you are in Texas, you can still find me at shows and markets or come on out to the farm and purchase herbs and other plants right from the source. Better call first, though, because I might be out fishing or off visiting another gardening friend somewhere.
Visit my Events page to see where I might show up next.
I want to thank all of you who have been so supportive of The Herb Cottage and bought plants from me and have told me how they are doing in your own garden... or how they are not doing.. as the case may be. Please feel free to contact me with your own favorite web sites and together we can make another great resource on the Internet for all to use.
I have started a "blog" or web diary, but I have not added much lately. If you visit it, you are welcome to add your own comments and start a dialogue.
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. -Joseph Addison,
essayist and poet (1672-1719)
Until next time,
Good Growing to You,
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage
442 CR 233
Hallettsville, TX 77964
phone & fax: 979-562-2153
