Around The Herb Garden

I realized that I posted the wrong bee picture last time, here is the one that shows the tattered wings of the little honeybee. Note the ragged edges, she's done her work for the hive.

Early herb garden harvests are kicking in. The lemon balm in one of the blue washtubs has needed cutting for a couple weeks. Last weekend I finally made the time to cut some off and make an experimental tea.

I took the bowl of lemon balm leaves and washed them in a mild water/bleach mixture to kill off any bacteria, rinsed well, and dried them in the salad spinner. Then I used this muddler to crush the leaves to release their lemon0y oils.

This sweet glass jar with a spout was a wonderful find at this lovely place called Timber Tunes, located off route 62 near Johnstown Ohio. The couple that own the shop have antiques, hand carved wooden music boxes, wood turned items, and lots of other great gifts. We also have a handmade walnut cutting board from them in our kitchen. I have the pitcher getting sun-heated by the lemon balm tub and I also added a good bit of honey to sweeten. the sun helps release the oils in the lemon balm then I refrigerated it overnight to take to the my yoga workshop. I have to say it was pretty tasty. Andrew has requested that I make a mint tea next time.

I wish the picture below was clearer. The finches spent a whole week hanging about the herb garden, digging at the dried lavender blooms. I don't know if they were digging at seeds or what, but they were a fun sight, often perching on those evening primroses I love so much.

Chamomile and Calendula (also known as pot marigold) two key ingredients in the herbal facial scrub that is such a hit at work.

Zucchini pickled and canned by Andrew

"So Jules, have you and Andrew had to do much watering this summer?" You might be asking. The answer would be yes. Our maple pretty much burned up, and two of our larger pine trees got crispy. So it was back to buckets. When you drill holes in the bottom of plastic buckets and then fill the buckets up, the water drains at a much slower rate than just dumping the surface of the ground around the tree with water from the hose. This inexpensive system allows for the water to soak slowly around the roots. I did a lengthy post on watering a couple years back and am recycling it, but you will have to cut and paste the links because sadly, I am not smart enough to figure out how to make it a link.

http://scordatos.blogspot.com/2008/08/what-is-it-with-you-and-watering-trees.html and http://scordatos.blogspot.com/2008/08/wateringthe-cows-quaint-country-yarn.html As I said, keep an eye out for some big news coming soon here at the blog. Sign up for the email list to get all the news as soon as it is posted.

Maxwell says "sign up on the email, all the cool cats are doing it."