I’ve discovered my new favorite wedding favor (or any kind of party favor for that matter). It’s better than engraved photo frames, candles or bubbles; It’s thyme in a pot. I got it at the wedding reception I attended last weekend, which was very simple but elegantly decorated. Each table was adorned with centerpieces of fall foliage and colorful squash as well as evenly spaced plants in cute little pots. After I’d rushed to the buffet and had a chance to sit and look around, I realized that these weren’t just any plants – they were culinary herbs.

Photo by The Weddings Page/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theweddingspagemalaysia/ 

Because the herbs weren’t labeled, a focal point of the dinner conversation became enthusiastically tasting and guessing the herbs’ identity, and subsequently placing “dibs” on which herb you wanted to take home. Unfortunately, I guessed wrong quite a few times, (shows you what a good herbie I am) but I had so much fun playing that I didn’t mind.

Photo by JanetF/Courtesy Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/janetf/

Upon careful deliberation, I’ve discovered the true identity of my herb favor: French thyme (Thymus vulgaris). I’ve spent the past week thumbing through all the recipes with fresh thyme that I could find and experimenting with sprinkles of thyme in whatever I’m cooking each day. Here are a few of the favorite recipes I’ve found so far: 

• Thyme and Thyme Again Dressing: Serve this dressing over leafy greens or with chicken or turkey salads.
• Pasta with Asparagus and Herbs: Cook this pasta al dente with an assortment of asparagus, mushrooms, garlic and dill.
• Vegetable Soup with Turkey-Thyme Meatballs: Try this hearty soup, which is loaded with fresh vegetables and punctuated with thyme-studded turkey meatballs.
• Braised Winter Vegetables with Thyme Leaves: Brussel sprouts, carrots and potatoes. Oh my!

If you’re planning an herbie wedding, check out these great articles for more herbal ideas…

• Herb Love: A Wedding Tradition
• Unique Wedding Ideas Around The Clock 

Have you had any great ideas for herbal party favors or been to a party with herbal gifts or decor? Leave me a comment and let me know. 

It seems like every time I go to the grocery store, the small mound of tiny tangerine pumpkins exponentially grows into a tower like form, with a few casualties rolling into the parking lot! Ever since I was little, my mom would bring home a miniature pumpkin from the grocery store for me to decorate.

Although I’m not sure where the time went, Halloween is a few weeks away and my kitchen table already has a few pumpkins on it. In the past, I’ve painted and carved pumpkins. This year it is pumpkin candleholders.

Pumpkin Candleholders:

Tools:

• Permanent marker
• Craft knife
• Grapefruit knife
• Hot glue gun (optional)

Materials:

• 4 dinner candles (substitute tealight candles for a different look)
• 4 miniature pumpkins

Directions:

1. Place one of your candles on the center of the pumpkin and trace around the candle with the permanent market.

2. Using the craft knife, cut around the circle you just drew. You will want to cut about an inch to an inch and a half into the pumpkin if you are using dinner candles and about a half an inch for tealight candles.

3. Go around the cut out area with the grapefruit knife. This will extract the cut out section.

4.  If you are using dinner candles, it is recommended that you put a few drops of hot glue to ensure that the candle doesn’t come out of the pumpkin holder. If there are gaps between the pumpkin and the candle, place hot glue into the space.

Leave me a comment and let’s chat about your favorite pumpkin decorations.

If I had a greener thumb or more dispensable income I would fill my house with fresh cut flowers everyday. Instead I only buy cut flowers on special occasions and struggle to keep them alive for as long as possible until finally surrendering to their wilted petals and hanging them up to dry. The bouquets I get are usually from the local co-op or farmers market and don’t normally come with commercial preservatives like store-bought flowers. But a couple of days ago I found an interesting solution. 

After dining with my aunt, she gave me an arrangement of some of the beautiful, golden mums that I’d been admiring in her yard and told me to add a little bit of hydrogen peroxide and sugar to their water. I must have looked confused because she quickly explained that the hydrogen peroxide helps to kill bacteria and the sugar gives nutrients. Luckily, I had both hydrogen peroxide and sugar at home, so I quickly added it to the mums’ water and to another bouquet of flowers from a few days earlier.

Photo by gregw/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gregw/

For now the wilting of my older flowers seems to have stalled and the mums still look bright and fresh, but I’m going to wait a couple more days before I give this method my full approval. Actually, homemade floral preservatives are relatively respected according to The University of New Hampshire’s Cooperative Extension. In fact, they recommend using the soft drink Sprite diluted with equal parts water or combining 4 teaspoons of cane sugar with 2 tablespoons of white distilled vinegar.

Photo by Compton & Wright/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/comptonwright/

Whether you make your own natural preservatives, buy them at the store or go preservative-free, experts at The University of Minnesota and The University of New Hampshire Extensions agree that you have to change the water and trim the stems daily if you want your fresh cut flowers to last a while. Once again proving that there are no true shortcuts to success in life or in gardening – it just takes time and labor. 

Have you made your own floral preservatives before? What method worked best? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Q: What is the best way to grow and dry garlic? I live in Minnesota, is there a list of herbs that I can grow, harvest and dry for my personal use?
—Sent via e-mail from J. Werlinger

A: Growing garlic is fairly easy. However, harsh Minnesota weather isn’t exactly the ideal growing climate for garlic.

Photo by graibeard/Courtesy of Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8393288@N04/ 

Growing Garlic

Latin name:  Allium sativum L. 

Soil condition: Garlic thrives in well-drained soil with a pH level between 4.5 and 8.3. If you are not sure if the soil to too acidic or too basic, test the soil by purchasing a pH test strip from your local garden store. Garlic is not drought tolerant and does not do well in extremely wet soil.

Temperature: Garlic will typically germinated in 60 to 80 degree weather.
Maintenance: Keep an eye out for these pests: Onion thrips, armyworms and onion maggots. Although pests are not a big issue with garlic, it is something to keep in the back of your mind. If you are planning on growing garlic, make sure you stay on top of weeds, as garlic does not fare well against them.

For additional reading on growing garlic in Minnesota, visit The University of Minnesota: Extension.

Drying Garlic

Regardless of which method you choose to dry garlic, the most important component is good air circulation. You will want to store your drying garlic in a dark and cool location.
Hanging garlic: This is the method I recommend as it efficiently dries the garlic and minimal space is required. Tie 7-12 garlic stalks together to forms a bundle. Check on the garlic maybe once a month. The type of garlic will depend on the drying time, however, the process will take anywhere from 6 to 8 months.

For additional reading on drying herbs, read DIY: Drying Fresh Herbs.

Growing Herbs in Minnesota

The USDA Hardiness Zones notes that Minnesota's average minimum winter temperatures range from -20 to -45 degrees. That being said, growing herbs indoors throughout the winter months is a great option for colder climates.

Growing Herbs Indoors

Growing herbs indoors is a great way to enjoy summer flavors during the cold winter months. These herbs do fairly well indoors: basil, bay, cilantro, chives, dill, ginger, lemon verbena, marjoram, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage and thyme. Keep in mind each herb’s growing requirements (watering, sunlight, fertilizer, etc.).

For additional reading on this subject, read long time herb gardener Betsy Strauch's article Wintering Herbs Indoors. If you are interested in creating a winter herb drying display basket, read Rosemary McCreary's An Indoor Visual Feast. 

Do you live in a cold climate-growing zone? What herbs do you have success with and which do you bring indoors during the winter months? Drop me a comment or e-mail me at: snelson@ogdenpubs.com.

When I was younger, I would often mix up the herbs in my mother’s potted herb garden. Fortunately, I can now distinguish most herbs apart.

A few weeks ago I left town and asked a good friend to house sit for me. I made the assumption that my friend knew the differences between my potted herbs I have in my apartment: oregano, basil, sage, thyme, lavender and rosemary. A few hours after I left my apartment, I received a frantic call from my friend regarding which plants were what. I came home a few days later to find post-it note madness. A sticky label graced every one of my potted herbs, identifying which herb was which. As amused as I was, I thought a more permanent label might be handy for the next time I asked a friend to house sit.

1. Gather painters tape, terracotta planters and chalk to make these easy to maintain herb planter labels. You can purchase chalkboard paint, which converst most any surface to a chalkboard, at most art supply stores.  

2. Place painters tape on the planter in a rectangle formation.

3. Apply chalkboard paint in the exposed area.

4. Once the paint is dry, pull the tape off of the pot.

5. Using chalk write the name of the herb on the chalkboard area.

How do you keep your herbs straight? Drop me a comment and let’s chat about it!

My good friend, Cecilia is moving into her first apartment in a few weeks. Her mind is racing with color themes, furniture measurements and the overall design flow of her apartment. When we discussed her grand plans along with her creative ideas, one project really stuck out in my mind: Making a terrarium.  

Regardless of how big a space is or what room it is in, terrariums polish a space off and they incorporate nature into a room.

What you'll need:

• Spray bottle
• Glass container (a large open top will be easier for routine maintenance, however you can also have a closed terrarium)
• Gravel or small rocks
• Charcoal
• Cactus potting soil
• A few succulents (the number will depend on how big your glass container is) or ferns
• Moss or ground cover
• Decorations (rocks, glass or metal birds, sticks or sea glass)
• Water

Directions:

1. Terrariums do not have a drainage hole like a potted plant, so a false drainage system is necessary. Add 1 to 2 inches of gravel or small rocks to the bottom of the container. This will prevent the plants from sitting in too much water and eventually rotting.

2. Next, add a thin layer of charcoal. You can substitute sand for charcoal but keep in mind that charcoal will prevent mold from growing and it also keeps the soil fresh.

3. Add cactus potting soil. It should take up roughly1/3 the size of the container. If you are using ferns you can substitute cactus potting soil for normal potting mix.

4. Before planting, make sure you remove any dead leaves or pest infestations. Place the largest plants first as they will take up the most space; plant the others next. Make sure the leaves are not touching the glass sides. This measure will prevent unnecessary condensation.

5. Add a thin layer of moss or ground cover.

6. Place any garden decorations on top of the moss.

7. Using a spray bottle, add about a shot glass worth of water to the terrarium for the finishing touch. Don’t add too much water.

8. Keep the terrarium out of direct sun as the heat will fry the plants.

Read more about terrific terrariums: Herbs Under Glass.

Nearly every morning my day begins with a stop at Starbucks to fuel my java addiction. Sometimes I just don’t have time to brew my own coffee. More often though, I crave a more flavorful cup of joe than what drips out of my Mr. Coffee.

But the price of those grande vanilla lattes is starting to add up – and I’m feeling the pinch. With a little extra time I can create my own aromatic, flavorful coffee brew to get my morning fix. Check out these tips on how to make your own coffee.

Photo By tonx/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonx/

How to Roast your Own Coffee 

All you need to roast your own coffee is green coffee beans and an oven. Purchase green coffee beans here.

Yields ½ cup roasted beans

• ½ cup green coffee beans

1. Spread coffee beans evenly in one layer in a cake pan. Roast for 15 minutes

2. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

3. Store cooled roasted beans in an airtight container for up to a week, or longer in the freezer. Or grind beans with a coffee grinder and brew some coffee immediately!

How to Steam your Own Milk

If you’re craving a latte, follow these steps to steam your own milk. Add a couple of tablespoons of flavored syrup for a special treat.

• 1 cup milk

1. Heat milk in a saucepan on the stove or microwave it in a glass container until hot, but not simmering or boiling. (Microwave time is about 20 seconds.)

2. Pour hot milk into a blender and hold the lid on tightly with a kitchen towel. Blend on high for 45 seconds.

3. Pour into a mug or to-go tumbler.

How to Herbal-ize your Coffee

In her weekly calendar, All About Thyme, Susan Wittig Albert gives some tips on how to kick up your coffee.

• For a mint-flavored mocha, add 1 teaspoon dried mint leaves (powdered) and 2/3 cup non-dairy creamer to a cup of coffee.

• For an orange-mocha treat, add 1¼ teaspoon crushed dried crushed orange peel, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, and a pinch of cloves to a cup of coffee.

Not into coffee? Try these herbal coffee alternatives.

Do you have any tips for first time coffee roasters? How about other ways to herbal-ize coffee? Tell me about them in the comments section.

References:

The Frugal Foodie Cookbook: Waste-Not Recipes for the Wise Cook (Viva Editions, 2009) by Lara Starr and Lynette Shirk

Continued from 7 Tips for Everday Outdoor Gardening, Part 1 and 7 Tips for Everday Outdoor Gardening, Part 2. 

15. Sprout your Seeds – A lot of people ask me about growing peanuts, moonflowers or pumpkin seeds because they have trouble getting them to germinate.

Resolution: Place seeds inside three or four wet, stacked paper towels and set on a plate in the sink. Keep the seeds moist, cool and dark; check after 72 hours for the sprouting of cotyledons or seed leaves. Once they have grown, plant the seed in a small paper cup or empty egg carton of dirt and set in a sunny window.

16. Strengthen your Seedlings – Frequently, seeds started indoors will germinate weak stemmed seedlings, because the plant invests only as much energy as it thinks it needs in holding the plant erect.

Resolution: Lightly brush your hand back and forth over your seedlings a few times a day, helping them become accustomed to stem movement.

17. Explore the Benefits of Bugs – In Tip 13, I explained a simple, organic way to control pests – but let’s say your infestation is a bit more severe than just out-of-control.

Resolution: Many garden-dwelling insects are harmless to our plants, and do us a service in terms of pest control. Before spraying your vegetation with toxic pesticides that kill both good and bad insects, ask your local nurseries about beneficial bugs. Mantids, for example, will eat nearly any insect they catch, including aphids and mosquitoes, while lady bugs are used especially for aphid infestations that would be difficult to control with chemicals or soap-washes. You can also buy predatory bugs specifically bred to kill spider mites, larvae, worms, thrips and mealybugs; however, these insects can be difficult to control.

18. Be Aware of Toxic Plants – If you have children, becoming aware of the toxicity of, what may seem like common plants, is very important. Many indoor tropical plants are toxic to both humans and animals, such as philodendron, pothos, spiderplants and mistletoe.

Many common outdoor varieties can cause abdominal pains or cardiac complications, such as sweet pea, iris, clematis, foxglove, poinsettias, amaryllis, hydrangeas, lilacs and vinca. (For a more complete list, visit this website: http://www.aragriculture.org/horticulture/ornamentals/toxic_plants.htm)

19. Make Propagation Easy – You’ve tried seeds, you’ve tried seedlings, you’ve given them everything short of blood, yet nothing seems to make them grow! 

Resolution: Plants can also be grown from cutting, layering or dividing.

• Cuttings – With several plants, you can take a cutting from just below a leaf node and stick them in water or the ground to produce new roots. Mints and pothos plants can both be grown effectively from cuttings. In fact, pothos plants, which are often mislabeled as philodendron by florists, are hydroponic, meaning they will thrive in water. Make sure to remove any leaves from the part of the stem submerged in water.

• Layering - Some plants will send out stolons or “runners,” which are prostrate stems that have the ability to root the plant elsewhere. These include mints, many shrubs and even strawberries. For example, forsythia, a very common leafy shrub that is bright yellow in the spring, can be propagated by layering. Simply bend one end of a stem to bury in the ground. In a few weeks, roots will develop and the bent stem can be snipped from the mother-plant. With strawberries, runners can be pinned to the ground with a rock to encourage rooting; snip them when they show signs of growth so they don’t leach nutrients from the parent plant. Dig and transplant as needed.

• Dividing – Digging up and dividing roots is one of the most effective means of propagation. Lilies, especially, can be divided and transplanted. Dig them in the fall after the flowers are spent, and replant where desired for re-growth in the spring.

( The Herb Companion Guide to Propagating Herbs ) 

20. Consider Using your Hair – Occasionally, orthodox solutions just don’t work for curing your garden of rabbits or skunks or strays.

Resolution: Take a bag of human (or cat) hair clippings and spread around the yard. Many beauty salons will give you a bag of clippings but with a sideways look. Garden-dwelling animals are sensitive to predators and will be discouraged from invading marked areas. Another option, and one that I have found most effective, is to spray a hot pepper-wax or essential oil solution on plants, making them unsavory.

21. Never Over-water –A flooded plant is a dead plant. 

Resolution: It’s better to underwater a plant you’re unfamiliar with, rather than overwater. It seems like, ironically, our concern for life causes us to kill – so take it easy with the hose next time you water your favorite new flowers.

And that does it! If you have any suggestions, comments or additions to this list, leave a comment below. If you've got a question, I've got your answer! Shoot an e-mail over to tmiller@ogdenpubs.com.

Continued from 7 Tips for Everyday Outdoor Gardening, Part 1.

Also read 7 Tips for Everyday Outdoor Gardening, Part 3.

8. Use Newspaper to Line Garden Beds – Unlike plastic tarps or cloth weed killers, newspaper is a great solution for lining garden beds.

Resolution: When the paper is wet, it mats down grass and weeds, killing them in a few short days. This gives you a fresh canvas in which to plant, and it breaks down quickly, to assure you aren’t harming nature in the process. Lay down newspaper and attach to the ground using garden staples (or dry-wall nails - see the next tip!), wet with your hose, wait a week, cover with top soil and begin planting your new, weed-free garden.

9. Think Outside the Garden Box – However, funnily enough, if you ever HAVE used garden staples, you know what a pain they can be: one side goes in, the other bends out of shape and you push and push with all your might, but your efforts fail.

Resolution: I’ve discovered that, where possible, using dry-wall nails is an excellent substitute. The nails come in boxes of hundreds (compared with the 30 or so that come in a box of garden staples), puncture the soil more easily than garden staples and keep your weed-cover down more securely because you can use more of them per square foot than with a garden staple. Tada!

10. Bring Back Healthy Tulips, Lilies and Daffodils – When spring flowers fade and fall, it can be tempting to cut back the green foliage nature left behind, but don’t. A plant invests a lot of energy building greenery before it blooms, and it needs that energy restored in its roots to come back at full strength next year.

Resolution: Wait until the leaves of the plant begin to yellow, and then snip away.

11. Water in the Morning or the Evening – During warm summer months, you may have to obey certain city water ordinances, especially daytime “curfews” allowing you to water only during designated time slots.

Resolution: Watering early in the morning and early in the evening assures your plant absorbs the maximum amount of water before it evaporates off, meaning you’ll use less water for the same plants than watering in the heat of the day.

12. Know Your Mulches – Mulching is an essential part of any garden. It prevents weeds, retains moisture, deters some pests and can add a finishing touch to any pleasant garden.

Resolution: Say you have a flower garden you want to garnish with a beautiful mulch: Choose un-dyed cedar. The warm brown hue creates a palette from which your flowers will pop – plus, insects hate it. Cedar mulch also lasts longer than other mulches, and smells amazing, making it an investment for any long-time flower garden.

Now let’s say you have a vegetable garden, and you want to add as much organic matter to the soil as possible. Here, you should choose pine mulch, which breaks down much quicker than cedar, inhibits weeds and also helps to insulate the soil from extreme heat or cold, protecting your plants.

13. Easy Pesticides – You have animals you’d like to keep, and bugs you’d like to … sleep. (Sorry, best I could do.)

Resolution: Ants hate cinnamon. Sprinkle it around infected plants, under potters, along the side of your house. It is easy, safe and healthy to use around family members of all ages and breaks down easily in rain without infecting our water sources – reapply as needed.  

Spiders hate cinnamon oil. Mix a little cinnamon oil with water and spray on annoyingly placed webs. While some spiders are dangerous and others just scary-looking, killing them off could make other, more annoying, pests worse. Just divert them where possible.

Aphids on the other hand, should die, and at the hands of rubbing alcohol. Mix 1 part rubbing alcohol with 2 parts water, spray directly on the plant, around the plant and make sure to spray the undersides of leaves. Reapply twice a day for two weeks, then taper off over the next three. (read more about killing aphids, in my blog post: When Aphid's Attack)

14. Mulch your Grass Clippings as Often as Possible – It is very tempting to want a "Brady Bunch lawn," but there is a smarter solution.

Resolutin: Your grass and your back will be happier if you use a mower-plug to shoot clippings out the side of the mower instead of collecting them. The residual grass clippings are rich in nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, breaking down to add a  quarter of your lawn’s fertilizer needs and a wealth of moisture back into your soil.

Stay tuned for part 3! UPDATE: Also read  7 Tips for Everyday Outdoor Gardening, Part 1  and  7 Tips for Everyday Outdoor Gardening, Part 3 . 

If you've got a question, I've got your answer! Shoot an email over to tmiller@ogdenpubs.com 

As the lowly, new intern at The Herb Companion, one of my first tasks is to catalog and reorganize the books in our very messy library. While sorting through pages and pages of books all about herbs, the enticing, colorful covers made me wish that I was reading them instead of labeling them. So, I decided to chose a book and write about an interesting fact or tip that I discovered while reading it. (See…I get to do fun tasks too!)

The first book I found interesting was the The Backyard Beekeeper’s Honey Handbook (Quarry Books, 2009) by Kim Flottum. In this book I learned about an interesting way to make your own herb-infused honey.

Check out this guide for bee-keeping information, honey recipes and more tips on making herb-infused honey.
Photo Courtesy Voyageur Press 

I’ve never tried flavored honey other than the sticks of strawberry honey I would buy at the Kansas State Fair as a kid. Here’s a method to make infused honey for a more grown-up palette.

Making Infused Honey

1. If you grow your own herbs, gather them early in the morning, so they’re as fresh as possible. Consider your tastes when choosing the herbs. Rose petals, chamomile and lavender have a more delicate flavor, while rosemary, anise and mint are stronger.

2. Wash the herbs under cold water to remove soil and old leaves.

3. Fill pint jars with honey about 4/5 full. Use a light, mildly flavored honey so that the herbs will have a stronger flavor. Try Purely Organic’s Poggio all'Olmo Organic Sunflower Honey. A 24-ounce jar costs $16.99 at www.purelyorganic.com.

4. Chop the herbs into fine pieces. Use 3 to 5 tablespoons for delicate-flavored herbs and 2 to 4 tablespoons for stronger herbs.

5. Place herbs into a reusable tea bag and put in a pint jar.

6. Set the jar in a sunny windowsill for one to two weeks. (It takes time for the honey to steep and reach maximum intensity.)

7. After one week, taste the honey. If the flavor is strong enough, remove the bag and discard. If a stronger flavor is desired, either add more herbs or let the herbs steep for another week.

Photo by Indigo Goat/ Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/indigogoat/212780493/

Fast Method

If you just can’t wait two weeks for that delicious herb-infused honey try this faster method.

1. Using a double boiler, add two cups of honey.

2. Add 1 to 2 cups of the (chopped) herb of your choice directly to the honey, or use a mesh bag to contain the fragments.

3. Heat the mixture at 180 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

4. Strain the mixture or discard the mesh bag then place the mixture in a jar.

If you want a more delicately flavored honey, you can also use the nectar of flowers, such as violets and honeysuckle blossoms or fruit, such as the zest of an orange, tangerine or grapefruit to infuse your honey. For a stronger flavor, try minced garlic.

Have you ever tried herb-infused honey? Leave me a comment and tell me your sticky story.

References:

The Backyard Beekeeper’s Honey Handbook by Kim Flottum (Quarry Books, 2009).

Also read  7 Tips for Everyday Outdoor Gardening, Part 2  and  7 Tips for Everyday Outdoor Gardening, Part 3 . 

1. Kink Your Hose – Ever been dragging your hose around the garden, just to have it kink right before you get to the plant you want to water? “I just want to water that flower right there…no.” And then you shake the hose like a jump rope dreading to walk those 10 or 15 feet to the kink, don’t you? Or, do you have difficulty rolling up the hose in a nice circular pile when you’re through, ending up with something more closely resembling a five-pointed star than a circle?

Resolution: The trick is to keep water pressure in your hose so it maintains its shape. Just kink the end you’re holding or use a water nozzle that shuts off the flow of water while you're moving from plant to plant or rolling it up. It’s not fool-proof, but it works pretty well!

Photo by Eric Vondy/Courtesy Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/vondy

2.  Enjoy Summer Nights Bug-free – You’re sitting on the patio, enjoying the cool breeze from a warm summer day. Frogs are croaking, crickets chirping and June bugs are smacking you in the face.

Resolution: String large-bulb lights around the garden away from your lawn furniture. You get to enjoy the pleasant twinkle of the lights from afar, while your bugs enjoy them up close and away from you.

3.  Keep Dirt from Under Your Fingernails – Let’s not front, garden gloves are good for your hands, but you lose a lot of dexterity through that thick cloth. That in mind, you also want to keep your fingernails shiny for a night on the town later.

Resolution: Scratch all your nails on a bar of soap before going into the garden. This will seal off spaces under your nails, and will wash out more easily than dirt. Plus, you’ll be clean!

4.  Easily Train Vines – Say you have some up-growing vines like morning glories or Virginia creeper you want to train around a doorway for that cool, welcome-to-my-cottage look. You’ve tried sticks and twisty ties, but they’re just not cutting it.

Resolution: Use jute twine! Texture from the twine makes a great growing medium for most vining plants, blends well with natural foliage (especially if you use a green), and bends easier for a customized look. Tie down the ends to a rock or nail for extra support; the jute can be trimmed and sometimes removed after the vine is trained.

Photo by jozephine/Courtesy Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/7790557@N07

5.  Fresh-smelling Cars Go Great with Dried Herbs – Your car stinks and you need some dried herbs in a jiffy.

Resolution: Cut herbs as desired, lay in a single layer on a newspaper on the front-seat of your car and leave to set in the sun.

6.  Worm Poo Works! – Let’s say you're growing food and want to fertilize your garden more organically.

Resolution: Worm “castings” as they’re called, are rich in nitrogen and certain bacteria, which help your plants grow, and the best bit, they don’t stink like other manure! You can buy a worm composter (like this one) and use your kitchen scraps to cultivate healthy, rich organic material that your flowers and herbs will love. You can even compost things like dryer lint or used tissues! Wild!

7.  Encourage New Blooms – Some tips may seem common sense, but many people wouldn’t know that more blooms can be encouraged if spent blooms are removed.

Resolution: Cut off the dead flower stems to the base without removing any leaves like with geraniums or daisies. With day lilies, pinch off only the flower leaving the green stick for texture. When the plant fades in the fall, the stick will brown and can be easily pulled from the ground for fun crafts, like this authentic-looking witch’s broom I made for Halloween.

Check back next week for seven more outdoor gardening tips! UPDATE: 7 Tips for Everyday Outdoor Gardening, Part 2 and 7 Tips for Everyday Outdoor Gardening, Part 3. 

If you've got a question, I've got your answer! Shoot an e-mail over to tmiller@ogdenpubs.com.

Clothes moths and carpet beetles are pesky little creatures—especially when they lay their larvae. These insects seek out rarely disturbed areas (such as under a couch or somewhere in storage) and set up their home. Because moths and carpet beetles feed on animal products such as hair and dander, dark closet spaces are one of the most favorite locations for larvae to live and feed (on your fabrics).

You won’t see these insects, especially the larvae, because they love dark areas and flutter from light. With the exception of small holes in clothes, it can be difficult to even notice their existence.

If you think you might have clothing moths or carpet beetles, fill a sachet with lavender and place it wherever the bugs might be—under your bed, in a sock drawer or in your closet. Although this won’t kill the insects, it will protect your clothes.

Combating these munching insects can be easy, as long as you spot them early. If you have a small infestation, try this Thyme and Clove Moth Repellent:

• ¼ cup dried thyme
• ¼ cup whole cloves

1. Combine the herbs in a small bowl. Place a tablespoon of the mixture in a small cloth bag or tea ball.

2. To use, tuck into drawers or hang in your closet.

For more information on cleaning your home naturally, visit our blog series  Naturally Clean.

There are many different kinds of cutting boards ranging from plastic to stone or even wood. Each type of cutting board has its benefits and its flaws. Many people prefer chopping herbs and vegetables on wood cutting boards because they love how they feel, they are durable and they do not dull knifes quickly. However, if you use a wood cutting board chances are you have had some difficulties keeping it clean. Plastic cutting boards are easier to wash because they can easily be washed in the dishwasher; the high temperatures in the dishwasher will cause wood cutting boards to crack or, even worse, split.

This easy scrub from Martha Stewart Living will keep your wood cutting board looking great and most importantly, disinfected.

1. Wash your cutting board with mild soap and rinse with hot water. Make sure your board is completely dry before you begin. Apply a thin layer of coarse salt over the cutting board.

2. Cut a lemon in half and rub it over the salt and board. Continue rubbing for five minutes. This acts as an antibacterial scrub.

3. Once completed run hot water over the board for about 15 seconds to ensure that all of the salt is removed. Dry the board in an upright position.

4. In addition to this, you can apply a beeswax coat to the board.

Bamboo and other wooden utensils are similar to wood cutting boards as they can crack in the dishwasher. Caring for wooden utensils is easy with these tips:

• Dry the wooden utensils with a cloth, which eliminates excess water that could cause the utensil to swell and eventually crack.

• Once a month rub the utensil with just a little mineral oil. This will maintain its finish and help with the utensil drying out.

For more information on cleaning your home naturally, visit our blog series Naturally Clean.

Is there another way to get white clothing and bedding bright without using bleach? Recently, I’ve been searching for a healthier alternative because the toxins in chlorine bleach scare me a little. For years, my mom used chlorine bleach to get the stains out of our white linens and it worked like a charm. Little did I know that chlorine bleach, often labeled as “sodium hypochlorite,” can irritate the lungs and cause chronic respiratory problems. Usually these conditions occur if you’re storing your chlorine bleach in poorly ventilated rooms and breathing in its toxic fumes.

Now that I’m on my own, I decided to make a Bleach/Brightener Substitute to save money and stay healthy. I added tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) to the recipe for its antiseptic and antibacterial properties. Though the substitute didn’t get all the spots out of my whites, it did make them very bright. I’m still on the hunt for a healthier homemade stain remover, but for now I’ll use this recipe to make my whites glow. 

Photo by Taylor Miller

Bleach/Brightener Substitute

• 1 cup hydrogen peroxide
• 1 1/4 cup lemon or grapefruit juice
• 12 cups water

1. Mix together and store in a 1 gallon container.

Recipe from Clean, Naturally: Recipes for Body, Home, and Spirit by Sandy Maine. Interweave Press, 2001.

For more information on cleaning your home naturally, visit our blog series Naturally Clean.

Cleaning a home can seem tedious and never ending—at least that’s the way I feel. Two months ago I moved into my friend’s home that is on the market. (It is a new trend to have your home staged by a renter. They get a discounted rent and you get to have your home staged with furniture.) Unfortunately, realtors and prospective buyers track mud all around the house and sometimes leave old coffee cups for me to clean up.

I’m constantly cleaning the 1950’s hardwood floors with my housewarming gift: a Swiffer Sweeper. I’m not a huge fan of the company’s dry cloths since they are not eco-friendly, but they do clean the floors nicely. (A great green alternative is the omop floor care by Method.) Now that I’ve used the trial pack, I decided to make my own version of Swiffer’s dry cloths out of an old towel.

The towel works great, whether it is used dry or with a cleaning product. Best of all, my cleaning doesn’t hurt the environment by tossing individually used cloths in the trash after each cleaning session.

Dry Cloth Towel 
Time: 20 minutes

• An old towel (any size will do)
• One foot of ribbon

1. Loosely trace the shape of the Swiffer so there is about a half of an inch on the shorter ends and an inch to an inch and a half on the longer sides.

2. Cut the rectangle out of the towel.

3. Sew all of the sides.

4. Cut your ribbon into three-inch strips, you will have four pieces of ribbon.

5. If you are using a swifter, you can use the cloth holders as a marker for where to sew the pieces of ribbon. Sew a ribbon strip to the edge of towel on the longer side of the rectangle.

6. Repeat step five to the remaining three sides.

Herbal Floor Cleaner  

• 1/8 cup plant-based liquid soap
• 1/8 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 gallon water
• 10 drops lavender essential oil.

1. Mix the soap and vinegar into the water. Next add the lavender essential oil.

2. If you don’t like the lavender fragrance, you can swap it out for your favorite essential oil.

For more information on cleaning your home naturally, visit our blog series Naturally Clean.

Theresa Loe is a freelance garden/culinary writer, book author and blogger who specializes in organic edible gardening and gardening with children. You can find her recipes and garden tips at www.gardenfreshliving.com.

All the sunny weather of springtime makes me want to add more fragrant herbs to my daily routines. It is a nice way to bring some of the refreshing garden fragrances inside the home. Herbs not only add fragrance to the air, they can also lift our spirits with their aromatherapy properties. You just can’t get that from an aerosol can!

One way to freshen the air with all-natural scents is to add fragrant herbs and spices to your vacuum bag. I like to create vacuum bag sachets that I keep in a jar with my other cleaning supplies. Every time I change the bag in my vacuum, I tuck one of these little homemade sachets inside. As the air moves through the bag during vacuuming, it releases the lovely scent all throughout the home.

These sachets are especially helpful when you have pets. No more pet hair smell while you vacuum! Instead, you get the lovely garden aroma of herbs and spices. What could be lovelier than that?

Vacuum Bag Sachets

To make your own, you will need small cotton tea bags (the kind with drawstrings work best), an essential oil and some herbs and spices. The nice thing about this recipe is that you can change it according to what you like best or what you have on hand. You should be able to find the tea bags and an assortment of essential oils at the health food store.

In a small bowl, combine:

• 1 cup cedar shavings (i.e. hamster bedding from the pet store)
• 2 tablespoons baking soda
• 1 tablespoon whole allspice, slightly crushed)
• 15 drops of your favorite essential oil (mint or lavender work well)
• 1 cup of your favorite fragrant herb, dried (i.e. mint, lavender, lemon verbena or rosemary)

1. Mix well and then fill each of your cotton tea bags with a few tablespoons of the mixture. Store the filled bags in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid.

2. Add one sachet bag to each vacuum bag when you are changing out the bag.

3. If you ever find that a bag has lost its scent before you get a chance to use it, squeeze it to crush the herbs or add a drop of essential oil to the outside of the bag before you use it.

www.WickedTheMusical.com

While I’ve been busy testing out various herbal shampoos and conditioners (reviews still to come), I’ve also been sleeping—and dreaming.

At least once every other week I have the same dream. I am on stage performing. The performance is always different: Sometimes it’s a musical, sometimes a drama and more often or not, it’s a dance recital. While I’m on stage performing I suddenly realize I have forgotten my lines and/or choreography—it’s all a blank. Last night I dreamt I was on stage performing “Wizard of Oz – The Musical” (my unconscious version of Wicked, which I’ve been listening to a lot) and I didn’t know my lines, so I brought a sheet of paper on stage with me to help me out. But suddenly I had a dance number and had to sing my lines. I dropped my cheat sheet and started to freak out. There I was on stage and I had nothing to say. I had forgotten everything! Then I woke up.

What does this recurring dream mean? I’m afraid of failure? I’m forgetful? Who knows…But it has made me think about sleep and whether I’ve been getting enough of it.

An Herb Companion article, Sweet Dreams, offers herbal dream pillows as a solution to your sleeping woes. The article recommends mixing ¼ cup of rose petals, ¼ cup of rosemary, ¼ cup of lavender and ¼ cup of hops to ease your nightmares. Click here for the instructions on how to create your own herbal sleep pillow.

Other herbs that help facilitate asleep (according to Drift Into Dreamland, Naturally):
• Valerian
• Kava
• Passionflower
• Reishi
• St. John’s Wort 

How do you help yourself fall asleep on sleepless evenings? Have you crafted an herbal sleep pillow? What recurring dreams do you have? Comment away!

I’ve been hard at work on a series of electronic books that will soon make their debut here at www.HerbCompanion.com. They’re jam-packed with useful tips, in-depth information on all sorts of health conditions, delicious herbal recipes and more.

Working on the "Natural Pet Care" E-Book, I came across this great information about ear washes from holistic veterinarian Randy Kidd.

Several natural solutions can be used periodically to wash (or “irrigate”) a dog’s ears to help maintain the normal flora of the ear and thus help prevent ear diseases. Simply pour several teaspoons of the solution into your dog’s ear, gently massage around the base of the ear, and then (after your dog has his go at shaking his head) wipe off the excess fluids with a clean cloth or piece of cotton.

How often you use an ear wash depends on the environment of your dog’s ears. Long, floppy ears tend to trap moisture, which provides an ideal growing place for microorganisms; small, upright ears that allow plenty of air circulation tend to stay cleaner and infection-free. For floppy-eared dogs, you may need to wash once a week; once a month probably is plenty for a perky-eared dog. When you are treating disease, you will probably want to begin with treatments three or four times a day and taper them off as the disease process resolves.

One of our goals is to keep excess wax and oil from building up and obstructing the ear canal. A simple saline mixture or diluted vinegar may be adequate for this. Herbal preparations often have many simultaneous benefits: they ease pain and are calming, many are anti-inflammatory and most are antimicrobial, typically effective against a wide range of bacteria, yeasts and fungi.

• Hydrogen peroxide. Place about 1 teaspoon hydrogen peroxide in each ear. Let your dog shake, then wipe off the excess.

• Calendula flush. Combine 1 cup water, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and 1 teaspoon calendula tincture; warm to 101 degrees and gently flush using an ear syringe.

• Vinegar drops. Add 3 drops white vinegar and enough water to fill a 1-ounce dropper bottle. Warm to 101 degrees and put 6 drops in each ear. This should feel good. If the ear is inflamed, it may hurt. If pain is evident, try the formula again using only 1 drop of vinegar. If the animal still objects, use the above calendula formula, which is milder.