Celebrate National More Herbs Less Salt Day!
August 24, 2010
I love herbs and cooking with herbs. I can spend hours in the herb room blending and mixing to create just the right flavor combination. Cooking with herbs is not the difficult or dangerous activity many people believe it is, in fact using them everyday is as easy and having a properly filled cabinet. Through the years I have made and marketed more than 100 different herbal blends and I am always looking for a new way to promote the use of herbs in everyday cooking.
Sunday will be National More Herbs, Less Salt Day. In honor of this special day here are a few herbal salt substitutes you can create to use on this auspicious day!
The good news is, using less salt helps with cholesterol and blood pressure lowering as well as reducing water retention and can in many ways improve your skin. So why not try these flavor-filled treats and help yourself at the same time. Tomorrow I will give you a few recipes to go with these blends.
Oniony Salt Substitute
(Onion gives you the taste you are looking for without the salt so you can fool your taste buds)
6 teaspoons onion...
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backyard patch, cooking, health, herbs, recipes, salt substitutes
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Cultivating Tri-color Sage
March 6, 2010
Cultivation of Tri-color Sage
Site: All sage plants like full sun with a light, dry, alkaline, well drained soil.
Propagation: Garden sage can be easily started from seed. All forms take easily from cuttings, rooting time is about four weeks in summer, I recommend using a cutting from a plant you like the look of for this variety.
Growing: Plant 18 to 24 inches apart. Prune frequently to attain bushy plants. If leaves begin to yellow, roots need more space. Sage can be grown indoors if you have enough sun. Lightly prune plant back after flowering in June. Tri-color is not allways hardy above zone 6, so depending on protective snow cover you may need to treat it as an annual.
Harvesting: During the growing season, singular leaves can be picked straight from the plant after it has reached 5 to 6 inches. Branches can be cut after it is 8 to 10 inches tall.
Culinary Uses: Sage has a very strong flavor. Its main role is to accompany onions in the traditional stuffing for poultry. It is also a wonderful accompaniment to veal and pork and goes well with sausage, kebabs and some bean and tomato dishes. Be...
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cooking, cultivation, gardeing, herbs, sage, tri-color sage
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Cultivating Epazote
March 4, 2010
Cultivation of Epazote
Site: Epazote is not fussy about soil, but wants full sun and good drainage. As with most herbs, a less-than-rich soil produces the best and most concentrated flavor in the leaves. It can grow fairly large, up to 2 to 3 feet tall, so give it a good-size pot.
Propagation: Sow a few seeds in the pot, and after emergence thin to the best plant. Germination rates are usually very good, and seedlings should appear within a few days of sowing the seed.
Growing: Epazote self-seeds readily and is considered highly invasive. You might want to consider growing it in a pot outdoors. It is usually described as an annual, but apparently can be perennial given warm winter temperatures so take care of your plant and it might last you some years.
Harvesting: To harvest, cut the center stem first, to encourage bushing. Prune the plant frequently to prevent flowering and assure a continuing supply of leaf, but don't harvest more than half the plant at a time. And, as with most herbs, don't fertilize it, lest you weaken the flavor.
Culinary Uses: Epazote is an unusual herb that is essential for any chef serious about authentic Mexican...
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cooking, epazote, gardening, herbs, vegetables
Posted at: 06:42 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Cultivating Calendula
March 3, 2010
Cultivation of Calendula / Marigold
Site: Grow Calendula in a fine loam in a sunny area. Calendula like rich, well drained soil, but are very tolerant of average to slightly poor soils. Improving your soil quality will produce much healthier plants and flowers, so add plenty of compost. Add a general purpose fertilizer once a month.
Propagation: Calendula are grown from seeds. Sow seeds early in the season and cover lightly with 1/4" of garden soil. They germinate easily and will grow quickly, producing their first of a continual display of blooms by mid-summer.
Select a location in your garden where they can grow undisturbed for years and years, as these flowers will drop their seeds and reseed your flowerbed each year. Space plants 15" apart.
Growing: Once your Calendula is established, it should grow well, even if left unattended. Water during dry periods, once or twice per week. Add mulch around the plants to keep weeds down.
Early in the summer, the plants will begin to produce large flowers on long stems and will continue to produce flowers even after the first light frost.
Calendula is a somewhat hardy. It will not be harmed by a light frost either...
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calendula, cooking, cultivation, gardeing, herbs, marigold
Posted at: 06:41 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Cultivating Mexican Oregano
March 2, 2010
Cultivation of Mexican Oregano (Lippia graveolens)
Site: Full sun, heat, and fertile, well-drained soil are all the plant requires. Average moisture is just fine.
Propogation: Although a trifle difficult to find commercially (one nursery source is G.S. Grimes Seeds; 800-241-7333), Mexican oregano couldn't be easier to cultivate. Propagation is also so easy from ripe tip cuttings.
Growing: Hardy in USDA Zones 10 and 11. Gardeners in Zone 9 might risk it outside all year, but heavy, cool, wet winter soils will be its demise. Farther north, try Mexican oregano as a container specimen outdoors in warm weather and overwintered indoors in a greenhouse or south-facing windowsill. Indoors it will relish the same conditions as bay or rosemary—cool temperatures and fresh, circulating air. Watch for spider mites, whiteflies, and mealy bugs.
Harvesting: Though not a true oregano, Mexican oregano is native to Mexico, as well as Guatemala and parts of South America. A somewhat ungainly shrub, it grows up to five feet tall and wide under ideal condition. Its brittle branches are very narrow, stiffly arching, and arranged in a seemingly haphazard manner. Its dark green, highly fragrant, corrugated foliage is minuscule—about 1/3-inch long by...
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cooking, gardening, herbs, mexican oregano, propagation
Posted at: 06:38 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Holiday Herbal Gifts!
December 19, 2009
Besides watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas while putting up my tree, or reciting ALL the words to Its' a Wonderful Life over the telephone with my sister. I love entertaining. I have had midnight Christmas Eve receptions at my home so we could visit the farm animals (to see if they speak at midnight) or simple breakfast gatherings on the day after Christmas with my close friends.
But no matter what I do I love to serve some food. Nothing fussy or fancy because I want to enjoy the time with friends, but definite seasonal and special.Over the years I have packaged up some of the best and most enjoyable and now I make them available to customers of the Backyard Patch. Here are just a few of my suggestions to use in your home this holiday: - Wassail Blend -- I crafted this for my Sister-in-Law as a wedding favor but the smells and flavors it imparts to Apple Cider still remind me of Christmas.
- Dill Dip -- I am a big vegetable snacker. This dip is so fresh tasting and flavorful that I can make it with no-fat sour cream and light mayonnaise and kept at...
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cider, cooking, gifts, herbs, holiday
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