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 These recipes are quick and fun and can make a light supper or great appetizer for summer entertaining.

• 1 cup dry cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated and at room temperature
• 4 tsp. chopped fresh sage (or 2 tsp. dry)
• 1 tsp. prepared mustard
• Mix all ingredients in blender or food processor until smooth and creamy.  Store in crock in refrigerator at least 24 hours before using.  You can place this in small crocks and give as a favor to guests to take home as well. 

• 8 oz. cleaned and chopped shrimp
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 2 T. sour cream
• 1 Tbls. catsup, mayonnaise and mustard
• 2 dashes garlic powder & Worcestershire
• 1 cup celery, chopped fine
• 1 Tbls onion, chopped fine
• 1/2 tsp. dill
• 1 Tbls parsley (or you can substitute 1 1/2 Tbls Marcy's Dill Dip Herb Mix)
• 1/2 tsp. horseradish 

Tags: cheese, dill, dip, herbs, parsley, sage, shrimp, the backyard patch

Using Roses

Most floral shop roses are grown in greenhouses and sprayed with pesticides.  Once the flowers are cut, they are treated with Silver Thiosulfate and fungicide for botrytis and other molds.
 
The growing conditions are carefully monitored to match US requirements, but the flowers are not suitable for food use or skin use, so be careful if saving floral shop roses to use in tea or cosmetics.

Tags: bath herbs, drying, roses, the backyard patch

I was recently asked at a Garden Walk “When I am told to pinch back an herb, exactly what does this mean? How many inches of stem should I take as I pinch? Do I pinch off all the tips, or just one or two?”

When you pinch back herbs, you are orchestrating two fundamental forces of plant life: the need to reproduce and the need to stay alive long enough to reproduce.

Herbs, like other plants, want nothing more than to reproduce. Most herbs want to make flowers and seeds, so they channel their energy toward stems that will grow fast and bloom quickly. With annual herbs such as basil and marjoram, bud production begins within weeks after plants are set out in the garden. Perennial herbs prepare to bloom in spring soon after days become long and warm.

Whether annual or perennial, herbs’ fast-growing tips send chemical signals down the stem telling secondary buds not to grow. In nature, sprinting to maturity is smart. What we see is a lean, upright plant with few lateral branches. It is totally intent on blooming.

This is not exactly what we had planned for the garden. ...

Tags: basil, harvesting herbs, pinching, scented geraniums, the backyard patch, thyme