Saving your herbs

Drying herbs is a great thing to do so that you always have seasonings on hand, even when your favorite fresh herbs are out of season. Here are some tips and tricks on drying herbs.

Air Drying is the cheapest and easiest, although it does take some time. This works best with hardy herbs like Rosemary, Dill & Thyme, although you can try this technique with others too of course! (I'm going to go ahead and give it a whirl with my chives.) 

1. Trim branches from plant, sit out to let dew or extra moisture dry. (If you do not dry your herbs properly they will rot. eeeek.)

2. Gently scrub off anything extra (bugs, etc) and pick off those dead leaves.

3. Gather herbs into bundles and tie tightly with a ribbon or somethin'. Be sure and tie it tight, the herbs will shrink as they dry and may fall out of their little get-up. I learned this the hard way while drying roses. They fell from my balcony to the first floor... oops. 

4. To avoid my mistake above, try putting the herb bundle in a paper bag (*recycling opportunity!*) and then tie your twine on. Poke a few holes in the bag for ventilation.

5. I hang mine outside on my balcony, but you can hang yours anywhere that they'll be out of the way, as long as the place is warm & dry.

This process takes weeks. So, just keep-a-checkin' and when they're dry and crumbly, chop and place in a jar or airtight container. I use all those cute little jars (like for pesto or pimentos) that I just can't bring myself to throw away. Guess what! Now you have an excuse to keep yours too. :)

These are the chives that I didn't dry, but they were just so delish (and sooo fragrant) that I had to share!

Casualties of Winter

It's about time that I say farewell to a few warm weather plants! My friends have been making fun of me for a while now, as a few of my plants have been looking rather sad. Dead, actually. But it's okay, because those plants are ready to die off or become dormant for the winter. This is one of the exciting things about gardening! I can now bid a happy goodbye to my tomatoes, pepper varieties and strawberry plants.  My chives, rosemary, and basil are hardy enough to survive through Fall and probably even through the Texas winter...seeing how it's November and was 86 the other day.  With their goodbye comes a very happy welcome to some of my faves: winter veggies!



Last weekend I was in Austin visiting the fam and Natural Springs Garden. Usually, for helping out I get to harvest some veggies to take home, but this time I was sent home with something even better- plants! {the whole "teach a man how to fish" philosophy, at its finest!} Also, the handymen in my life (dad and my husband) built a very cute mini garden trough for me. It's big enough to plant about two rows, and will be a beautiful container once it starts to weather naturally! Once I get some potting soil, I will be transplanting most of my new greens into it!

The cold fronts are getting closer and closer together, and squirrels getting fluffier, which is apparently a sign of a cold winter to come. With that, the fall/winter veggies that I am *very* excited to introduce are several different varieties of greens: 

Jericho Lettuce

Lola Rosa Lettuce

Arugula!

Black Seeded Simpson 

Red Salad Bowl Lettuce

Giant Red Mustard Greens

Yellow Swiss Chard. This photo is not enhancing it's color, it's actually that yellow! 

So pretty.

My Garlic chives are still looking good! They are huge! I am going to look into drying and bottling them, don't worry, I'll keep ya posted on that. :)

Bulls Blood Beet Green. Check out the little babies growing already!

Also, cilantro, basil and my baby ghost pepper plants that you've already heard about are all looking beautiful.

Ghost Pepper 

These will make for a beautiful salad! There's so much here that I can make mix and match to create different salads and not get tired of the same ol' lettuce. Yes, this means no more spending $7 on a container of organic greens that go bad in 5 days!!! 


Once these are all in their new home, I'll post the picture of the mini garden trough. Also, check back soon, I'll be researching drying herbs (my chives especially) and bottling them to stow away in your kitchen. Sometimes it's better to have dried herbs on hand because fresh ones can burn easily if you are baking them. It's always better to dry your own herbs... because it's free! :)


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A GHOST PEPPER HALLOWEEN

Happy Halloween!!!! 

This halloween, this featured pepper seemed appropriate. Its intense... I cannot stress how intense... heat of this pepper really sneaks up on you. The pepper, which is red and wrinkly like the photo above, (that I borrowed from Citrus Guy's blog ..thanks!) has a delicious, smokey flavor and then a sudden spice that you don't expect. 

I am growing Ghost Peppers now! Thanks to my mom, who gave me some. She grew them from seed, and said that even the seeds are hot! It is even recommended that you wear gloves even while planting these spicy buggers! She said a volunteer at the farm was literally coughing while planting the Ghost Pepper seeds. Yikes.

We tried this amazing Silver Leaf International Ghost Pepper salsa that my husband found at Whole Foods. It's HOT. But, it has suchhhhh a good flavor. Seriously, try it!

Be on the lookout for recipes that include Ghost Peppers for me, because I am very cautious in actually eating these peppers once my plant starts producing them! :)




Have a safe Halloween! 

Farewell to Summer

It's fall, however, it was 95 degrees here in Houston today, and the humidity was awful! We are supposed to be getting a front tomorrow that will lead us further into fall. Fall is typically beautiful in Texas, and I can't wait to see the leaves change and fall. I am getting my fall/winter veggies ready... so I hope you all are prepared to see all my great new plants that I snagged from the farm this past weekend! Until then, here's a few summer photos to say farewell to this summer heat!

xoxox

From Kitchen to Compost.

Hey everyone! I've been MIA- I know... but I am **SO** happy to see that through Blotanical, my blog has really bloomed while I have been away, busy with school for the past few weeks. Really though, visiting the site for the first time and seeing the Indie Garden Guide on the list of 100 new blogs was pretty neat. So, it's very nice to meet all of you who are visiting through Blotanical! :)

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Many people already know the benefits of composting, but just don't know where to start. That's where I come in! I have been compost container shopping for weeks now, and I'm now ready! 

You can start with pretty much any air-tight container. Now's the time to lug out that rubbermaid container that you have in the closet that isn't used because it's missing a lid. (Or is that just me that has those empty things hidden away?) This storage container can be any size, but you will yield more benefits and get rid of more scraps if you use a larger one. I reccommend 'making' your own compost container, because buying a fancy-shmancy one can be around $200... yikes!

So start with your bin, and drill some holes into it for airflow. The holes shouldn't be big enough so that some of your soil or matter will fall out. You don't even really need a lid! (But if you're worried about stinking up your patio.... feel free to use one.) 

Next, scout out anything in your kitchen that could become your kitchen compost keeper. This will be the little guy that holds your scraps until you move them to the composting bin. Things like coffee and oatmeal containers are perfect for this. This will allow some of your kitchen matter to break down and make it easier to control your layers. {We'll talk about layers further down :) }

Now that your compost bin and kitchen keeper are complete.... the fun begins! Below are some things that are great for composting! 

Be sure and shred paper into small strips and to chop veggies and fruits into small pieces to help them decompose faster. Depending on how often you have veggie scraps, this is where your kitchen keeper comes in. Add those slices of carrots, celery strips, strawberry tops- all of it - into your keeper as you produce it. Then when you have enough for a "green" layer, throw it out in your compost bin. What's this "green" layer, you may ask? -- The key with composting is to alternate your "greens" and "browns". So, start with a layer of dead leaves, coffee grounds and saw dust, and then layer on your fruit and veggie scraps. (Incorporating the browns into your compost will keep the smell of composting under control.) If your compost is too wet, increase your "browns", if it is to dry, spray some water on top to help the process. 

Your compost is ready to "harvest" when it has a nice layer of organic matter at the bottom. This layer will be very dark, moist dirt-like matter. It will do wonders for your garden!

With all of this as a guideline, your possibilities are literally endless. Also, you will be amazed at how much less trash you will have in your trashcan!

Fabulous window sills

I've had a couple inquires about window sill gardening. So, when looking into it a little more, I learned that there are soooo many cute things you can do to have a simple window sill garden if you are sans balcony. 


Herbs can usually thrive indoors. Plants like chives, parsley, rosemary, lavender, basil, mint and thyme are all great choices. They all will require watering (duh), but be sure and don't over water! Herbs don't like sitting in water, and can easily develop root rot. A monthly fertilizer is a good idea too. Try to find some organic alternatives- there are plenty out there! My mom uses fish emulsion and turkey compost for her fabulous farm, Natural Springs Garden.


Here are some really cute ideas for window sill gardens! I {lurve} this idea and am going to plant some of the more fragrant herbs in my room! 

 from apartmenttherapy.com 


Or this simply chic, potted idea.

From the dailygreen.com

This mis-matched idea is a great way to recycle your extra bottles & jars! 

From bhg.com

UMTRYITKAY!!!

Gardening Gloves Galore

My sewing machine is currently broken. It's sad, but very true. As soon as it is repaired...or replaced, depending on the poor thing's situation, I will all over this adorable tutorial on how to make your very own pair of gardening gloves. It's so cute, I'm already lurking etsy for cute fabrics.  I am just too excited to not share it!! It is a *very* easy tutorial that anyone can do. I bet you could even use stitch witchery! Jump on this tutorial and show me your creation!

DIY gardening gloves tutorial!