Five herbs to put Spring in your Spring!

Spring is a time for renewal, and herbs can play a big role in refreshing and rejuvenating your body, mind, and home. Here are a few herbs that are perfect for spring:

• Ø  Lemon balm: This herb has a bright, lemony scent and flavor that's perfect for spring. It's also a natural mood booster, making it great for those days when you need a little extra help to shake off the winter blues. Lemon balm can be used in cooking, teas, and as a bath infusion. Add fresh or dried lemon balm to marinades, dressings, and sauces for a lemony flavor boost. Steep fresh or dried leaves in hot water to make a soothing tea.
  
  
  
• Ø  Dandelion: Dandelions are often considered a weed, but they're actually packed with nutrition and have a variety of medicinal properties. The leaves can be used in salads, and the roots can be roasted and used as a coffee substitute. Dandelion tea is a great detoxifying herbal tea and the root is also used as a liver tonic. Use the leaves in salads, or roast the roots to make a coffee substitute. Dandelion tea is a great detoxifying herbal tea and the root is also used as a liver tonic.
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• Ø  Chives: These delicate herbs are one of the first to appear in the spring, and their mild onion flavor makes them a great addition to a variety of dishes. They can be used fresh or dried and are a great source of Vitamin K. Add fresh or dried chives to eggs, soups, and salads for a mild onion flavor.
  
  
  
• Ø  Rosemary: This woody herb is a classic in Mediterranean cuisine and is perfect for spring grilling. It is also good for digestion and improving memory. Use fresh or dried rosemary to flavor meats, vegetables, and breads.
  
  
  
• Ø  Lemon Grass: This tropical herb is a great addition to spring cooking, as it has a fresh, lemony flavor that's perfect for marinades, dressings, and teas. Lemon grass can also be used in bath infusion for a relaxing soak. Use fresh or dried lemon grass in dressings and sauces for a lemony flavor boost. Add a handful of fresh or dried stalks to a muslin bag and let it steep in your bathwater for a relaxing soak.
  
  
  

These herbs can be used in a variety of ways, from cooking and medicine to bath infusions. Try incorporating them into your spring routine for a fresh and rejuvenating experience.

And if you want more info on any of these herbs Check out the Herb A to Z

Round up of Herb Ideas -- Earth Day Special

Happy Earth Day!  A day to think about the environment and the earth and what we can do to protect and enhance it for future generations.

My first choice is to go a bit more wild in the garden areas and eliminate the pristine green grass yard and replace it with natural wild ground covers and add a number of native plants to the landscape.

My friend the Empress of Dirt has a great article that speaks to planting your front garden to be pollinator freindly without freaking out the neighbors.  I great read with wonderful plant suggestions.

Some of my garden recommendations is plant a section of your lawn with creeping thyme.  It is no more than 3 inches tall, never needs mowing, smells great when you walk on it and in spring and summer gets lovely red flowers.

Creeping red as a lawn

creeping red as an edging

Another thing you can so is start making and using natural products yourself reducing plastic waste and helping the environment and yourself by reducing chemicals.

Here is an article from Medium.com by Brenda Sullivan with a combination of gardening tips and eco friendly ideas for the home. A quick read with easy ideas.

You can also check out this previous post of mine which includes the best cleaning herbs and recipes to use in making eco cleaning materials at home.

One of the herbs I suggest is Sage. It has disinfecting properties, and anti-fungal properties which make it perfect for making a cleaning vinegar or using as an essential oil in cleansers.

I like to grow exotic sages, like white sage, purple sage and golden sage in my landscape for the color and texture and then the added benefit of germ fighting.

Golden Sage

Purple sage

White sage, indigenous to the southwest and used ritually among many Native American groups

Eco cleaning in the kitchen and bathroom are so important as so much of what it available is so chemical laden and then we wash that down the drain and it gets into local waterways. SO here are a few recipes for cleaning the dishwasher and sink.

And finally some food for thought.  Back in 2021 still worried about COVID, I chose to write about things to be grateful for.  You can check out that list here: Earth Day 2021

Enjoy the beauty of nature around you this Earth Day!

Lavender Fantasy Tea - Herbal Tea Blend for the Month

This particular tea is part of my recently published booklet Growing and Using Lavender in the Midwest.  I like this recipe because it has a number of flowers in it and reminds me of Spring and Summer.

Lavender centered with the earthly floral scent and taste of lavender buds, it is complemented by the apple-y brightness of chamomile and the headiness and richness of yarrow.  A bit a stevia adds sweetness, but if you do not have it, you can sweeten the final tea with honey.

LAVENDER FANTASY TEA 
3 parts Lavender
3 parts Yarrow
1 part Chamomile
1 part Stevia

Combine ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake to combine.  Use 1 to 2 Tsp per 8 ounces of hot water, 1 Tablespoon for a mug and allow to steep 5 to 7 minutes before enjoying.

Scented Geranium Care

Pelargoniums (Scented Geraniums) are a tender perennial with a high concentration of essential oils in their cell structure.  If you live in a warm climate such as southern California, you can grow these fragrant plants outside in a pot or planted in the garden year round. In the right climate they can grow as high as 10 feet.  In areas where winters are cold, you must protect your scented geraniums from frost. Bring them indoors for the winter. 

Scented geraniums do best in bright light and will need ample direct winter sun when grown on a windowsill. In the garden, a few hours of direct sun will be enough. They will also do well in bright dappled light all day. Avoid overheated sunny spots because thier soil is a bit sandy and can dry out during a hot day.  These plants actually prefer daytime temperatures around 70 degrees.

Scented Geraniums will flower, but they are small, discrete and pretty, but not the reason you grow these plants.

The soil for scented geraniums should be well drained.  I make a mixture of 2 parts potting soil to one part sand to improve the drainage.  You do not need to worry about soil richness, as you do not want to grow your scented geraniums in excessively rich soil as this can cause the leaves to have less fragrance. The pH should be neutral to slightly acid, about 6.0 is fine.

I repot my geraniums in the spring.  It is part of my ritual getting ready to move the plants back outdoors.  This replacing of the soil usually replenishes the nutrients they need.  If you do not do this, you can fertilize your scented geranium using a 10-10-10 fertilizer.

Scented geraniums generally grow pest-free.  If you see aphids, white-fly or other pests, treat them with insecticidal soap.  I wash the tops and bottoms of the leaves in fall when I bring them inside to avoid any issues indoors.

Propagation

In 2023 I decided to try a couple of different techniques to get new plants from my scented geraniums.  I winter the plants indoors over winter and they become very tall and leggy due to lack of light.  This year, rather than cutting off the tops of the branches and rooting those cuttings I let the plants grow then took them outside and trimmed them back.

Several plants had long woody stems which had lost most of there leaves over the winter.  If I cut these, the plants would have no leaves left, so I decided to try another technique or two to get new growth.

For the Grey Lady Plymouth, a lemon-scented variegated germanium with a light yellow edge on the leaf, both plants had made long stems with almost no leaves around the base.  For one I repotted it with a single stem to see if new leaves would form on the stem.

layered plant stem covered with soil

Another one I look the long stem in one pot and crossed it into another pot and slit the underside and covered the stem with soil to allow it to root while still connected to a mother plant.  Later I cut it from mother plant and now I have two! (This technique is called layering when you do it in the ground.

Cuttings

I take cuttings from my plants twice a year.  In the fall when I bring them indoors for winter and in the Spring when I take them back outside for the season. I try to do this with my scented geraniums, so I bring in a smaller plant in the fall.  They grow and get very leggy in a window for the winter so a smaller plant will be less mess. In the spring those that grew well in the winter are ready for a trim, so I get many cuttings from the plants who are ready to explode once the weather gets warm.

I root the cuttings several different ways.  Sometimes I root them in sand.  Sometimes in seed starter and sometimes in water.  In the water I use the vase method and the hydroponic method.

A canning jar, a special tray and a handful of clay pebbles and I can root a number of cuttings.

Technique

To propagate a scented geranium it is best to work from a cutting so that you get the hybrid and scent you enjoyed with the original plant.  

Simply cut a stem just above the leaf nodule.  

Take off all the excess leaves.

You can start the cutting in warm damp sand or in a glass of water. 

 

Once it develops roots you can replant it.  

The soil for scented geraniums should be well drained.  I make a mixture of 2 parts potting soil to one part sand to improve the drainage.  

Nicely growing rutted cutting.

Geraniums florishing in the summer!

Gingerroot Bath - Bath Blend of the Month

The unfortunate thing about April is it can be cold or hot here in the Midwest, so this bath blend will warm you up if your April is not a sunny and warm as you would like. I shared this recipe about a decade ago on the blog, but since ginger is the herb of the year, I thought I would share it again with an update. You can grow your own ginger or you can just buy a root at the local grocery.  I buy mine and wrap in plastic wrap and place in a bag in the freezer.  Then when I want ginger for a recipe or a bath mixture I just pull it out and grate it.  It might be harder to slice when frozen but grating is easy.

pixabay photo

Fresh gingerroot has a sweet, spicy fragrance that is also a mild stimulant. Used in the bath, it promotes circulation and is perfect on a cold day to warm both your body and your senses. 

FRESH GINGERROOT DETOX BATH 

Yield: enough for one bath

• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 1/2 cup Epsom salts or sea salt
• 2 tablespoons grated gingerroot
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Mix together all ingredients and pour into a clean container. 

To use: Pour entire mixture into the bath as you fill the tub, stir well, and soak for 15 to 20 minutes. After bathing, dress warmly, as this bath is super cleansing and really opens up all your pores. If you are experiencing dry skin, use this time to add a moisturizer that will be more easily absorbed.