Simple Air Dried Herbs

I like to make the most of the herbs I grow by drying them for year-round use. With the exception of cilantro and basil, which I think have their best flavor fresh, I use simple air-drying for my herb plants. Depending upon the type of plant, I dry leaves, stems, flowers, seeds and roots - mostly for culinary use and teas, but also some for ingredients in lotions and salves.

Examples of leafy herbs I dry are parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme (hey, sounds like a good song!), mint, lemon balm, lemon grass, chives, marjoram, stevia, holy basil, horsetail, and sassafras (called "filé" powder when dried and ground, an ingredient in southern gumbos). I dry the flowers of lavender, dandelion, and calendula. Seeds, which form after the flowers die, are pretty well dry by the time I gather them, and those I save include dill, fennel, coriander (the seeds of the cilantro plant), and nasturtium. Roots I harvest and dry include garlic, horseradish, bloodroot, echinacea, and - hopefully from this year's planting - licorice.

I primarily use four drying racks which slide in and out of a wood frame, a set-up I purchased a few years ago. I've never seen another like it, so I am sorry to say, I can't recommend where to buy a similar one. Each of the rack "drawers" is a rectangular wood frame lined with fine mesh screening. Air flow is essential for dehydration, and a single layer of herbs on the screen avoids mold or mildew forming. I set this up in my basement, which averages about 60 degrees in the summer. You can use old window screens or stretch a piece of screening bought at the hardware store over wood frames or artists' stretcher bars for a similar set-up.

Most guides recommend picking herbs for drying just after the morning dew has dried. If the herbs have large leaves, I strip them from the stems and lay in a single layer on the screening. For those with tiny leaves, like thyme, I keep the leaves on the stem until drying is complete, then just run my fingers down the stem and they drop off. For long leaves like chives and lemon grass, I cut the freshly picked leaves with scissors, into pieces 1/4-1/2" long. Flowers dry best when newly opened. If they are large or bulky, I dry them on the top drawer of my racks, which is open (see photo). For drying roots, which often hold a lot of moisture, I slice fresh, cleaned roots into smaller pieces, exposing more surfaces to the air to expedite drying.

Drying time is influenced by the type of herb, the type of drying rack, the amount of air circulation, and the ambient temperature. Most of those I dry are dehydrated in a few days.

To preserve the flavor of the dried herbs, store in a tightly covered jar, away from heat or light. I save the desiccant packets from vitamins and supplements and drop one in the jar with the dried herbs, just in case any moisture is released. If I have more of a dried herb than I'll use in 6 months, I often use the hose attachment of my FoodSaver and vacuum seal the herbs for longer-term storage in canning jars.

Herbs are relatively easy to grow - they don't demand picking all at once when "ripe", as most vegetables do, grow in pots as well as in the ground, don't require large gardens, and they aren't too fussy about soil requirements. Most prefer full sun. Perennial herbs come back yearly and grow into larger patches (beware of mints, they can take over); annuals such as basil or dill can be left to self-seed and the plants will return the following year. Some herbs are seasonal - I've found, to my dismay, that cilantro grows best for me in the winter months; basil demands warm weather.
Plant a pot of herbs, tuck some among your flowers, or dedicate an area to an herb garden, and enjoy the bounty!

July in the Vegetable Garden

July has brought successes and failures in my veggie garden. The sun is strong, the temperature is very hot and the humidity is high, so I try to be out early when I need to do some garden work. Rain has been fairly regular, most often in heavy downpours. Despite all this, I've been eating, freezing, canning, and dehydrating my harvests, and the vegetable garden is free of weeds and looking good. (Can't say the same about some of my flower gardens, unfortunately!) Here are the details:

1. SWEET POTATOES - My plants are still surviving attacks by leaf-eaters - probably grasshoppers, as reported early. Leaves grow back, pests come again, and the cycle repeats. I don't think this is harming the development of the sweet potatoes themselves, since the abundant green leaves can be harvested and cooked like spinach.
2. EGGPLANTS - I took off the protective covers, and the leaves looked better than if I hadn't protected them, although some flea damage is still evident. Purple flowers have now formed into glossy eggplants and I picked the first one today. Anxious to try a new eggplant parmesan recipe from my sister Jean tonight!
3. LEEKS - Growing well, while being fully ignored.
4. BEANS - I harvested loads of delicious Blue Lake Bush green beans, and pulled up all the plants last week. The yellow beans, planted as seeds at the same time, are only just flowering now, but the plants are healthy. Overflowing the north side of the garden is a bed of Thai Suranaree "Long Beans", now in the flower stage. They were described in the catalog as "bush" but seem to be growing in long vines, so I am letting them trail. My beans need constant attention this year, to keep away whatever eats little holes in the leaves and beans. I spray with Garlic Barrier and keep scattering marigold petals over the beds. So far, so good. I froze 12 bags of green beans and I've started another small crop which will be great to eat fresh next month.
5. FENNEL - I over-wintered fennel plants and now I have a huge flourish of flower heads, which I am letting mature so I can gather the licorice-flavored seeds. I'll have enough to supply an Italian sausage factory! The seeds are good for digestion.
6. TOMATOES - I am now deep in battle with tomato blight, spread by a fungus in the soil. All the organic measures I have employeed to avoid it have only delayed the inevitable. I've already removed two of the plants, and three more are fighting blight. I've got some cherry tomato plants growing from my friend Sherry's seedlings, and they are healthier so far. I picked 13 beautiful half-pound tomatoes today, and in the last month I have harvested enough tomatoes to make lots of salsa (fresh, frozen, and canned) and salads, as well as eating them warm from the garden, like biting an apple. I plan to spoon a homemade bruschetta over the eggplant for dinner this evening. The white line points to a row where I've covered the soil with a garden weed-barrier cloth and transplanted 3 new tomato seedlings, so I hope to get a late crop, and I wish it to be blight-free!
7. CUCUMBER - One cucumber plant succumbed to "wilt" which is spread by the cucumber beetle, a bug about 1/4" long with yellow and black stripes or dots. You'll see the leaves begin to wilt, one by one (see photo to the right). I delayed the damage by cutting off the bad leaves, but eventually it killed the plant. My other cuc plant, a different variety, is doing ok in comparison. I've planted seeds to start another plant.
8. PEPPERS - In the collage of photos above, you can see the jalapeno plant which has been in the red Kozy Koat since I planted it last spring... it loves the heat and is loaded with peppers, with the plant growing tall above the red jacket. I've also picked a couple of sweet pimento peppers, but the sweet "Chinese Giant" variety (the tall one I've pointed to in the photo of the whole garden) hasn't formed any peppers yet. Funny thing, a friend to whom I gave one of these seedlings reports picking peppers already.
9. MELONS & SQUASHES - I've started my late crop of cantaloupe - one here where I removed a tomato plant - as well as casaba melon and zucchini, next to the cold frame. I've put in 2 butternut squash plants also. I am hoping these late plantings are beyond the season for squash bugs, and our growing season is long, so I should have plenty of time for the fruits to mature.

In other growing news, I continue to plant successive rows of carrots, which I really like because they are content waiting underground until I decide to harvest a few for fresh eating - unlike other crops which need immediate picking when ripe. I'm still digging up beets, as needed, and some I had over-wintered are sending up flower stalks. I transplanted a few beets which I dug that were tiny, and some have re-rooted for a late harvest. Onions seedlings I planted last month are providing me with scallions while the bulbs form and grow. The Little Gem Lettuce started sending up flower stalks, as the leaves became too bitter to use. I'm letting it go to seed, since it's the only lettuce in the garden now; the seeds will not have been crosspollinated with another variety, so I can save them for future plantings. I've not been successful starting lettuce lately, even varieties described as heat tolerant. I even resorted to buying romaine last week, to have a big salad with all the other garden goodies. The flat leaf and curly parsley, as well as the Thai basil, are big bushy plants now, which do best with frequent harvesting by cutting off the plant tops. I picked enough parsley to dry some last week.

I found loads of ripe grapes on my two concord grapevines last week, and devoured a few handfuls. When I anxiously went to harvest a bucketful today I discovered some critter wiped out the entire crop (raccoon? deer?). I was so disappointed, after my careful pruning last February, fighting off a wormy thing in the spring, and saving the vines from Japanese beetles recently. I'll need to correct my timing next year. My garden education continues, and I hope you learn something from my experiences!

The Numbers Are In…

As you know from my writings, I am a big proponent of a good nutrition as part of a healthy lifestyle. One reason why I share my recipes, my choices of ingredients, and info on growing organic food is to help others. Certainly genetics are a factor in our health; reducing stress is important, and making time for laughter, good friends, and fun activities has positive effects. But I lean heavily in favor of a healthy diet and regular exercise. Is it ok to eat a bowl of ice cream or side of fried onion rings once in a while? Of course! But by maintaining a basis of every-day good eating, you'll most likely never need to "diet."

I just got results from a medical checkup, and I am pleased to be able to brag. I don't take any prescription meds, and, at age 56, my weight is about the same as it was 30 years ago, my blood sugar is 85, my total cholesterol is 184, my LDL (bad) cholesterol is 102, and my blood pressure is 100/70.

So thanks for following this blog and I hope the information helps you maintain or start a healthier life!

Therapeutic Elderberry Syrup

My friend Josie is picking fresh elderberries this week, so I thought it would be timely to post this recipe. Black elderberry (Sambucus nigra) is a natural remedy with high levels of antioxidants for building a healthy immune system, and with proven antiviral properties for treating strains of influenza viruses. A traditional remedy for fever, colds and colic, black elderberries grow wild here in the Southeast and can be cultivated. You can purchase ready-made elderberry syrups and tablets, but I prefer to make my own, adding other natural ingredients which make it even more soothing and tasty. If you don't have access to fresh elderberries, dried berries are sold in some health food stores or online from companies such as Mountain Rose Herbs.

Very soothing and therapeutic for coughs and sore throats due to viruses such as the flu, this syrup has no pharmaceutical ingredients and doesn't cause drowsiness.

• 1 c fresh OR 1/2 c dried elderberries
• 3 c water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves
• 1/2 in piece of peeled fresh ginger root
• 1 c honey

Combine all ingredients, except the honey, in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer 30 minutes. Smash the berries, strain the mixture. Cool. Stir in the honey. Stores 2-3 months in the refrigerator. Use as needed, by the teaspoon.

This is so tasty and healthful, there is not reason why you couldn't enjoy this syrup even if you don't feel ill! Thicken the initial mixture with a dilution of cornstarch or arrowroot powder and use it mixed into plain yogurt.

Tabouli, Fresh from the Garden

I love to make this salad / appetizer when the tomatoes, scallions, and herbs are fresh from my garden. Tabouli (aka tabbouli, tabouleh, tabbouleh) is a traditional Middle Eastern salad. Bulgur is a quick-cooking version of whole wheat kernels which have been soaked, boiled, dried, and cracked after the bran is removed. For a whole grain variation, I sometime use 2-1/2 cups of cooked quinoa in place of the bulgur.

• 1 c bulgur wheat
• 1 t salt
• 1-1/4 c boiling water

Mix the bulgur and salt in a heat-proof bowl. Pour the boiling water on top and stir. Cover loosely with a towel and let stand for 30 minutes. Drain if necessary.

• 1 c chopped parsley, packed
• 1/2 c chopped scallions
• 2 T chopped fresh mint
• 1 c peeled tomato
• 1/4 c olive oil
• 1/4 c fresh lemon juice
• salt & pepper to taste 

Mix the above ingredients with the bulgur and chill until serving time. Traditionally served with pita bread, and Scoops work well too.

June in the Vegetable Garden

June has seen many changes to the vegetable garden. We've had about 1" of rain in the last week, after nearly 8 weeks of dry hot weather. I resorted to watering with the sprinkler, which you can see outside the corner of the garden. On the longest day of the year, June 21st, our area officially got 12 hours and 34 minutes of daylight, with sunset at 8:56pm. Here's the garden update:

1. SWEET POTATOES - I planted 11 sweet potato plants, half as many as last year: two which I grew from last year's potatoes (my other efforts failed) and a 9-pack of "slips" I bought,  all "Beauregard," a dependable variety for our area, and the most common supermarket sweet potato variety. I planted where the edible pea pods had been, after they had stopped producing in late May. About 2 weeks ago I noticed the sweet potato leaves were being eaten, and, when I sprayed my Garlic Barrier on them, I saw grasshoppers jumping away. I've never had a grasshopper problem, but I've heard they can devour the garden. In addition to spraying, I've also been scattering cut-up garlic greens around the plants and this seems to have solved the problem.
2. EGGPLANTS - I bought 2 mesh laundry hampers and turned them upside down over the wire cage on each eggplant to help protect the plants from the bug which eats the young tender leaves. I used wicket-type garden stakes to hold the handles of the hampers in the soil. It's helping so far. I'll have to remove the coverings when the plants flower, so the bees can pollinate. As the season progresses last year, the bugs became less of a problem and the plants flourished, so perhaps I can go into flowering with healthier plants this year. These laundry hampers do not have netting on the top, but rain or sprinkler spray gets in on all sides. They fold down flat for easy storage too.
3. JALAPENO - I kept one jalapeno plant in the red Kozy Koat and it already has pods! Couldn't resist planting a second seedling I had started, but there is a noticeable difference in the size of the two plants.
4. MELON - One "casaba" melon is growing well and has a green fruit about 6" big already. I keep checking the plant for insects which attack squash family plants (see photo and zucchini info).
5. LEEKS - Most of the transplanted leeks didn't survive, but I'll still have plenty. Don't think I'll try them again though.
6. CUCUMBERS - My attempt to grow the cucumber plants in vertical cages is going well. They send out tendrils, and I usually just have to coax them to grab and wrap around the cage wire. The fruit is clean and perfectly shaped. I've been picking both varieties, one pickling size and the other a 6-8" salad cucumber. I keep watching the undersides of the leaves for the brown eggs of the squash bug (see photo), and discard any leaves with eggs.
7. TOMATOES - The photo shows the growth of the tomato plants in the past month, but I nearly lost them to an attack by big fat healthy tomato hornworms. The earliest plant I had put in the garden, which had looked gorgeously healthy just one day earlier, was totally defoliated. The other 5 plants each has one or more worms eating away. Fortunately, I caught them right away (it pays to visit your garden daily) and successfully treated with "Dipel," an organic biological insecticide for leaf-eating worms and caterpillars ("bacillus thuringiensis"). I dug up the defoliated tomato and replaced it with one of 3 cherry tomato plants a friend gave me, which I had planted in the cold frame. I've also kept the bottom 10" of the tomato plants trimmed to the center stem, which seems to be helping me avoid tomato blight, which is a fungus spread from the soil to the lower leaves. When I see a leaf with yellow spotting I immediately pick it off and discard. With all this effort, I've now been picking juicy red tomatoes for 3 weeks from the Riessentraube and the Al Kuffa heirloom varieties. I'm keeping a close eye out for pests.
8. BEANS - My favorite variety of green beans is Blue Lake. I plant the "bush" version vs. "pole" beans, which grow only about 12" tall and don't need trellising. Blue Lake tastes great and freezes well. I planted marigolds around the beans and keep breaking up the spent marigold flower heads on top of the bean plants, to deter an invisible insect which eats holes in the bean leaves, and potentially, in the beans. L:sat year the bugs ruined my crop. I've picked just a couple of ripe beans in the last couple of days and eaten them raw, and I'll have lots to harvest for dinner starting in a few days. I've also started a small bed of Golden Wax bush beans and a long bean from Thailand.
9. GARLIC - Before we got last week's rain I harvested about 2 dozen garlic heads. Garlic is ready to dig up when the green tops turn tan and dry. It's best to dig them when they are not wet. I rinsed them off right away, which is not recommended, but our clay soil is either like peanut butter when wet or like concrete when dry. Then I dried them in the sun for a few hot dry days before moving them onto newspapers in the shade of the porch to dry for a few weeks. This prepares them for storing.

Also in the garden...

CARROTS - I've finally been harvesting carrots and they are delicious. I like that it's a crop I can leave in the ground, just pulling what I want to use immediately. I've decided I have the patience to grow them, and I've continued to do more plantings from seeds.

BEETS - We ate beet greens initially, and now I've been roasting the pink and white zebra striped Chioggia beets. I'm proud to say I successfully grew them from seeds I harvested from my own plants in their 2nd year. The size of the beet root seems more dependent upon how much room you allow between plants than on how long they are in the ground.

ZUCCHINI - Pulled up the one zucchini plant which had quickly gone from lush and healthy to wilted and sickly. I think it suffered from a squash vine borer. I'll try another plant again in July.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS - I also had to dig up the brussels sprouts. Just as the little Barbie-doll size cabbages began to form on the stem, the leaves unfolded immediately. This is due to our hot weather. I'll try growing it again in the fall, which is what is recommended for my zone.

LETTUCE - We ate the last of the romaine and Little Gem Lettuce. So far I haven't been able to get any of my heat-tolerant varieties of lettuce to germinate well. :-(

BASIL - With lots of pesto still in the freezer from last year, I only put in 4 Thai basil plants, which have a really strong flavor. This way I have some to pick fresh, which I love in a Salad Caprese, with tomatoes and mozzarella.

FENNEL - I moved small fennel plants which had over-wintered and now they are flowering. I will save the seeds which follow the flower, a licorice taste used in Italian cooking, and I've been slicing up the stems and adding to roasting vegetables.

PARSLEY - Both curly and flatleaf parsley plants I started from seed are growing well. This week I picked lots and made tabouli, and I'll share my recipe on this blog soon.

POPPIES - In another garden bed I am growing "Breadseed Poppies" and the flower is an old-fashioned purple shade. I grow red poppies and the seeds they produce are tiny, so I am hopeful that this variety will be larger and suitable for me to use in cooking.

GARDEN HUCKLEBERRIES - My two garden huckleberry plants have suffered from bug-eaten leaves since I first set the seedlings out, but this hasn't hampered the production of flowers and berries. I picked a cup full one day recently, put them in a saucepan with a small amount of honey and some cornstarch dissolved in blueberry juice, to thicken as it cooked. I mixed the cooled sauce into plain yogurt and it tasted great. The raw berries sort of taste like blueberries but with a slightly bitter bite, but were great when cooked.

STRAWBERRIES - My strawberries ended production in late May, and I dug up approximately 12 dozen plants from the big mass I had left to grow at the west end of the strawberry border. I am trying to keep the baby plants clipped off the established bed, but will allow some to root later in the summer for more friends who want to start their own bed. Let me know if you want any.
I removed the coldframe covers, and the frame itself is permanently attached to the garden corner. Two little cherry tomato plants are all that is growing inside now.

Happy gardening!

Cool Strawberry Cream Pie

It's been in the 90s all week... the perfect time for a no-bake pie made from freshly picked strawberries. You can short-cut this recipe by using a purchased graham cracker crust and topping my cream filling with your favorite strawberry jam. But I'll guarantee my made-from-scratch version is luscious! My short-cut is to use the food processor for each of the three layers.

CRUST:
2 c granola*
2 T softened butter or coconut oil

CREAM FILLING:
8 oz Neufchatel cheese (or cream cheese), softened
1/2 c cottage cheese or plain yogurt
2 T lemon juice
1 t grated dried orange peel
2 T honey

FRUIT TOPPING:
3 c fresh cleaned and hulled strawberries
10 drops liquid stevia (or other sweetener)
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/3 c fruit juice
1 t agar agar flakes** (or 1 T corn starch or arrowroot)

Whirl the granola into fine crumbs in a food processor and mix well with the butter or oil. Press the mixture into the bottom and sides of a 9" pie plate.

Rinse the food processor and mix all the cream filling ingredients until smooth. Dump the filling into prepared pie shell, spreading to the top of the granola crumbs and smoothing the top flat. No one will ever guess that cottage cheese is used in this delicious slightly sweet filling!

Rinse out the food processor and chop the strawberries by pulsing a just a few times - don't over process or you'll end up with a wet puree. Put the chopped berries in a bowl and add the stevia (or your choice of sweetener) and cinnamon. If the berries have shed a lot of juice, pour this off into a measuring cup; otherwise use 100% fruit juice, like blueberry or grape juice, and heat 1/3 cup to boiling. Stir in agar agar flakes and simmer 5-10 minutes until the mixture thickens. Add this to the strawberries and mix well. Let this mixture cool. Spoon the strawberry mixture over the cream filling, and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

This recipe will work well with other fresh fruit, like blueberries, blackberries, peaches, and others. Try fresh red raspberries with a chocolate cookie crust - yum!

* See this blog for my recipe for homemade granola, or use your favorite purchased mixture

** Agar agar flakes are a thickener, much like unflavored gelatin, derived from a sea weed. It is commonly sold in health food stores. Alternately, you can thicken the juice with cornstarch, used in the same way as the agar agar flakes.