Facing the Music - What does the herb garden look like this year

There are no good overall shots of the garden as yet. I sat on my camera and broke the screen, so now I cannot tell what I am taking pictures of and I cannot change the settings.  Until I get a new camera, I can take outdoor photos, medium range, full sun only because that was the setting when I sat on it.

Here are some details of the garden plants.  There were some situations I prayed would not happen, some I expected and others that were a complete surprise.

We will start with some good news.  The Catmint (and other mints) are thriving, not even a polar vortex can keep mint down!

catmint / catnip

The whole row looked as good as these couple of plants. This chives got very thick, like German leek chives, I do not know why.  The flowers are not as purple as in past years, more of a pink shade.  I took this image and promptly cut off all the flowers for vinegar!

chives

The dill did come up from seed, some from last season self-sow and some I threw down this spring, but the early heat made them leggy and thin and they are falling over already.

dill

Now to the expected bad news.  This winter was too harsh for lavender.  Even though I do not trim them in the fall and even though I piled mulch on them after the first frost, they were largely dead this spring.  In hopes of encouraging growth from the base, I trimmed them a month ago.  However, well... you can see the results.

dead lavender

end plant from above photo with some small growth!!

More dead lavender, but one plant has made a healthy comeback.

I prayed that the snow cover would protect and preserve my thyme plants when the weather turned bitter, but this was not to be.  My lemon thyme fared best, those plants int he middle of the row arte still alive.  The ends of the rows are all dead and have been ruthlessly yanked from the ground so there is no photographic evidence of their demise.  However, the lowest growing thymes seem to have fared the best.  There was some winter kill in the creeping thyme.  The red creeping thyme, almost a miniature thyme seems to have fully recovered from winter with few dead stems.  It is now a carpet taking over the vacated places of its neighbor plants.

common thyme with winter kill

creeping lemon thyme with winter kill

Creeping red no death at all!

The peppermint, of course wintered over, but it was stressed and this spring was plagued by an infestation of bugs that are damaging the leaves and leaving black spots.

Black stem Peppermint

 From a distance you cannot see the damage, but if you look at a close up of the same plant you can see the infestation and the leaf damage.,  See the white bug there in about the middle of the photo?

Peppermint

The plant that surprised me with its inability to survive the winter was sage.  A woody shrub it is normally my first plant to green in the spring after the salad burnet and chives, but this year some plant stalks were totally dead.  Many of the plants did spring new growth from the crown, but they are in sorry shape and there was no spring harvest of sage this year. (I love the sweetness of spring sage leaves and use them in salads and to make vinegar.)

Russian sage growing from the crown the stalks still dead.

The plants at the top of the picture are just dead.

Common sage again many dead branches

I have many more pictures of dead sage, but I think this is enough carnage.  Now back to some good news.  The rue is fine and looking a nice bright green and flowering (a bit early).

Rue

The Golden Anise Hyssop I got after seeing the plant at the Arboretum last year not only made it through the winter, but it self seeded some wonderful little friends.

Golden Anise Hyssop

At first when I came into the garden and saw these plants, I thought they were lemon balm because of the bright green color, but when I realized the lemon balm should be on the other end of the garden.  I panicked thinking they had been relocated by wild life or water, but then I realized it was anise hyssop and I was pleased that my single plant (lower left corner of photo) had made so many babies. There is hope and growth after the long winter after all! 

In posting these photos I noticed something I did not while I was taking the pictures.  There are a lot of weeds in there.  I need to get to work!

Harsh Winter - Hardy Plants!

This winter was harsh.  There was so much snow and so much cold and the only garden safety net we had was the covering of snow which settled in on December and did not melt away until April.  The covering of snow protected the plants when the weather turned bitter, going 25 degrees below zero at one point.  My favorite saying this winter was the ground is still white.  I was saying that in May when we had one last snow storm that covered the grass in white one last time making it impossible to plant even perennials until after May 18.

Good for the garden was the fact the snow fell in December and never melted.  This snow cover protected everything in the garden.  However anything not covered by the snow was wind damaged or killed outright.  The tops of some plants were dried out by raking winds.  Climbers, trees and shrubs have large amounts of winter kill.  My thyme bed is so disheartening that I could not take photos of it.  However, this year I have a special project-- a 20 x 20 foot community garden patch and in that patch is a 3 foot by 3 foot raised bed with thyme, so at least I have beautiful thyme plants to enjoy without memory of what once was!

The garden as first planted 5-18-14

These are a combination of French, German, English, Common Lemon and Doone Valley Thyme.  The Doone Valley I wintered over in the house, the others I purchased this spring from nurseries and plant sales.

The soil did not really warm up until between May 15 and 20.  I did no direct sowing in the garden until around Memorial day.  The winter sowing I did was slow too.  The plants finally germinated and sprouted in late April.

You can see the snow cover even in February

Here are the spouts on 4/27/14

They are large enough and have their first two real leaves, so I can plant them out in the garden now at the end of May.  For details and photos of that task, check out my Community Backyard Blog later this weekend.  Winter sowing was to give me a jump start on the seed season, but I think it is not going to be the coup I'd hoped it would be this year!

To my surprise the seed that fared worst was Nasturtiums.  These hard shell seeds usually are perfect for winter sowing, but the germination of the seed was 1 plant in the entire container.

Book Review - Small Space Garden Ideas

I was cruising the new book section of the library this month and ran across this great book from DK publishing.  It is entitled Small Space Garden Ideas by Phillippa Pearson (DK Publishing: London, 2014).

I like Dorling Kindersley Publishing because they have such great photos and the slick pages are just so easy to read and view.  All the books I have from them are heavy in weight and this is no exception.  What was exceptional about this book was the weight of information inside matches the weight of the book itself.  The author takes us through several different times of small gardens.  This is not a book just on container gardening, but micro gardens, hanging gardens, and even novelty planters.  There was even one on making a Fairy Farm!  There are step by step instructions on how to make each garden described with photographs of just the right steps.

One of the supreme features of the book is a small box that you find at the end of each project with the title "Care Advice."  These little boxes give watering and feeding details, general care instructions, and other tips to make the project more successful.  I think these boxes impart the author's special knowledge of plants giving the book so much more credibility.

If you are into succulents or air plants there were suggestions for making inventive gardens with these plants as well as traditional herbs, vegetables and flowers.  No matter what you grow you will find a garden idea for you to try in this wonderfully crafted book.

Photo courtesy of
www.philippapearson.co.uk/

The author Phillippa Pearson is from England, as is common with DK Publishing.  She is an accomplished gardener and award winning author. She publishes monthly features on gardens and plants in Hertfordshire Life and Essex Life and she has also contributed to regional and national media including BBC Gardeners' World magazine, The English Garden, Homes & Gardens, Cambridge News, Cambridgeshire Journal and the Soil Association's website.

Her gardening chops include three years as consultant gardener at the Brocket Hall estate, Welwyn, Hertfordshire as well as countless awards including several from the Royal Horticulture Society.  It is worth checking out the photographs of plants she has on her website under Plant Portraits.

My two favorite projects in the book were Saddlebag Patio Pouches made from oil cloth and a Tea Garden made on a tea tray with tea cups saucers and a tea pot.  She also shows how to make your own cement planters.

Here is my attempt at saddle bags.  I used a black material to match my railing.

I have not had a chance to try the tea pot idea yet, but in the book you can see it is stunning.

The book is a bit pricy on Amazon.com, but I found it to be more reasonable directly from the DK Publishing website.  There is a digital edition which will save you some money too.  Either way the book is worth a look for the detail you get and the exquisite photographs.

Herbal Recipe - Grilled Broccoli Raab

Although somewhat unconventional, grilling dark leafy greens like broccoli raab is a fun way to add subtle smokiness. Here, we bump up the flavor by tossing it with a garlic-rosemary vinaigrette.

Photographer: Ken Burris

Grilled Broccoli Raab

1 bunch broccoli raab, (about 1 pound), trimmed

Dressing:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons red-wine vinegar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon rosemary, fresh chopped

1/4 teaspoon thyme, fresh chopped

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Cook broccoli raab in a large pot of boiling water until bright green and barely tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water; drain well.

Combine oil, vinegar, herbs, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Grill the broccoli raab, turning once, until tender and the leaves are just beginning to char, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Toss the broccoli raab with the reserved dressing.

If you love grilled vegetables and herbs we recommend our salt-free dressing mixes as the perfect marinade.  You can find them all in out Etsy Shoppe.

Weekend Recipe - Citrus Salad

Nothing brings more bright and summery flavors to the table than citrus fruit.  This recipe will give you an amazing side dish for grilled foods or sandwiches.

Citrus Salad

2 teaspoons very finely grated fresh orange or Meyer lemon zest

1/2 cup fresh citrus juice
1/4 cup light, floral honey (you can use BYP Lavender Honey!)
1/4 cup Grand Marnier
1 to 3 teaspoons fruity bitters 

1/2 tsp. lemon balm or lemon mint

6 cups fresh citrus fruit pieces, such as oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, clementines, satsumas, kumquats, pomelos, and/or tangelos

Whisk together the zest, juice, honey, Grand Marnier, and herbs  & bitters in a large bowl. Taste the dressing and make sure it is balanced. The bitters should be perceptible yet mysterious. Some are more potent than others, so start with a little and work up.

Add the fruit and toss gently to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 12 hours. Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes and stir gently before serving.

What is a Meat Rub?

What really makes a rub a rub is how it is applied. I suppose that you could say sprinkling salt and pepper over a steak was like adding a rub, but this really isn't what we mean when we talk about rubs, particularly a traditional barbecue rub. A rub should coat the surface of the meat. You should work a rub evenly into to the meat to get the flavor inside as much as possible.    

Rubs come in two varieties, wet rubs and dry rubs. A dry rub is made of herbs and spices and can be either sprinkled over meat or actually rubbed in. A wet rub contains a liquid ingredient, usually oil and is coated over the surface of the meat. Beyond this, practically anything goes. What you want in your rub is really a matter of personal taste. You want a good rub to add flavor and color but you don't want it to overpower the flavor of the meats you are rubbing.   

Most dry rubs contain such things as paprika, chili powder, granulated garlic, cayenne, etc. To get these dry ingredients to stay on requires the natural moisture of the meat.  You want to enhance the flavor of the meat without over shadowing it, so a good rub will be a mixing of strong spices with mild, complimentary ones to create an even distribution. If you're going for a hot spice combination, chose a blend with chili powder, cayenne or paprika. It will give the meat a good color and add the level of heat you want without making the meat too hot to eat.

This example is a Sweet / Hot blend with a combination of sugar and spices.  It will get you started on a journey to create some rubs of your own.

Spicy Barbecue Rub

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

3 tablespoons paprika

Combine all ingredients. Use on a large piece of beef, chicken, lamb or pork when barbecuing or spit-roasting. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 1 month.

If you want to try out the sugar and salt-free rubs of the Backyard Patch, see this Etsy listing.

Tuesday Recipe - Sage Butter

Do you like butter on cooking steak?  Then a sage butter will be amazing.  Because you are using fresh sage for this, the flavor will be more gentle and sweet than strong dried sage making it a good companion for oven roasted potatoes, grilled summer squash and grilled chicken. 

Sage butter

2 1/4 sticks butter, softened

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage leaves

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

10 pitted medium green olives (1/4 cup), roughly chopped

2 anchovy fillets, finely chopped

Place softened butter in medium bowl. Add remaining ingredients; mix until well combined. Place butter mixture on a piece of plastic wrap about 8 in. long. Roll mixture into a log about 2 inches in diameter; wrap tightly. Chill until required.

Formed into a log and wrapped in plastic wrap, butters like this will keep for up to 1 month in the freezer and up to 5 days in the refrigerator. Allow to soften slightly at room temperature before slicing into rounds. You can halve the quantities given here, if preferred.

If you love herbal butters, the Backyard Patch makes a selection of different blends crafted especially to blend into butter.  You can find them allhere.