Garlic is easy to grow, and while it is relatively hassle-free, you will reap some pretty awesome rewards at the end of the growing season. 

There is no time like the now-time (late fall) to think about planting your bulbs, and I have a couple quick tips to get your garlic garden started!

1. Get the grocery store goods: You could pay a bundle for a bulb or two of garlic at your local nursery, and it might grow.  But, if you just want to have some garlic to spice up your kitchen and are unconcerned with knowing the exact variety, there is a much easier and cheaper way to get started.  Go to the grocery store!  All you need to plant garlic is a garlic bulb, and you can buy a pack of 10 or 11 for under a buck, or buy a string at your local farmer's market!  But, make sure to pick the organic variety - other bulbs may have been grown with artificial fertilizers or be pumped with hormones that prevent new growth.

The garlic you buy in the store is a garlic bulb. Buy an organic bulb, and you're well on your way to growing garlic! Here are some I harvested this summer that came from an organic Mexican variety.

2. Split up the bulb: A garlic bulb is typically composed of about 8-10 cloves. Split up the bulb and set aside the smallest cloves for kitchen use. With your four or five remaining UNPEELED cloves, head out to the garden and find an optimum spot that gets plenty of sun.  Most of garlic's growth is vertical, and it can get quite tall, so cloves can be planted near eachother - about five inches apart without issue. It's important to plant garlic in the late fall or early winter (in most climates) because it needs a very long growing season. In the winter, it can work on developing its roots and forming its bulb and in the summer, it will begin to grow.

3. Plant the cloves: Dig a small hole 6-8 inches and, with the pointy end up and the stout end down, push the garlic directly into the soil. If you have any leftover coffee grounds, a handful on top of the clove will help it grow, as garlic likes an acidic soil pH. But, if you are not growing the garlic near a sidewalk, a foundation or in a rocky area, this shouldn't be a concern. Cover the clove with soil and a bit of mulch to keep it insulated over the winter. 

4. Sit back and relax: Garlic needs very little attention except attentive weeding. Move the mulch aside when temperatures are warm. Water it normally, holding off in times of rain. Garlic flowers are large, beautiful ball-shaped blooms, but if you let your plant flower, the bulb will likely not grow as large, so cut off flower stalks as you see them.You may notice over the winter that bulbs may begin to sprout - but do not be concerned. Even if they die down in the frost of the winter, they will come back next spring, and will be ready to harvest in the fall.

5. Harvesting time: When the leaves have yellowed and died, it is time to dig up your cloves, which are now ... tada ... garlic bulbs!

Garlic flowers are very beautiful. But if your main concern is harvesting the largest possible bulb, you should snip off flower stalks so the plant can focus its energy into bulb growth. I plant several cloves each year so I can enjoy both the beautiful flowers and the larger bulbs.

And it really is just that simple. Garlic may very well be the easiest herb to grow.

For more information about garlic, read these Herb Companion articles:

• Dancing in the Kitchen with Garlic
• Garlic Obsession
• The Goodness of Garlic 

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

I’m slowly trying to wean myself off of harmful, synthetic perfumes but the process has been a little bumpy. For instance last week, in need of a little Monday morning pickup, I decided to de-stress with lavender-chamomile essential oil lotion. I blended a spoonful into my arms and hands and headed out the door.

It was only as I boarded the bus to campus that I realized I may have overdone it. My attempt at aromatherapy didn’t soothe the passenger on my left; actually it seemed to revolt her. As she held her nose and gave me angry glares, I realized that lavender may not have the same soothing effect on others as it does on me. At that moment any earlier relaxation I felt evaporated just like the fumes of lavender radiating from my skin.

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

So what to do? If I had thought ahead or known earlier, I might have diluted my lotion with a carrier oil, like jojoba, applied some rubbing alcohol or packed unscented lotion to mitigate the essential oil’s heavy perfume. I also would have waited for the scent to sink in at least 10 minutes before leaving my house. As it was, I sat out the interminable bus ride, ran into the bathroom before class and ferociously scrubbed my forearms so that I wouldn’t have to worry about disturbing my classmates as well.

Photo by The Owlchemist/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/helenaliu/ 

Shifting our communities to more sustainable, thoughtful living is all about experimentation. We’re trying to find out what works, what doesn’t work and what we can compromise on in order to ensure a healthy future. Until I can afford the pretty, light smelling crème perfumes and eau de colognes that are being created by natural perfumers and aromatherapists, I guess I’ll just have to rely on my own methods and hope that others will be more tolerant.

If you’re having troubles, like me, switching from eau de parfum to au natural, check out some of these resources. 

• Learn which 20 synthetic perfume ingredients to avoid.

• Find out how to use essential oils and how to make your own herbal fragrances: 
How to Create Floral Waters and Colognes by Janice Cox
Fragrances of Life by Theresa Loe
Herbal Body Fragrances by Theresa Loe
Restorative Perfume by Edwin T. Morris 

• Check out these natural, beauty brands. (A lot of companies offer trial sizes so you can test out a scent before investing your hard-earned money):
Aubrey Organics
Aveda
Ayala Moriel Parfums
CB I Hate Perfume
Rochelle Boleyn 

Have you had any embarrassing or disastrous moments in your transition to herbal living? Leave me a comment and share your story with others!

Brenda Stansfield is a licensed massage therapist, certified clincial aromatherapist and the creator of the Clear My Head product line, sold in spas nationally at www.clearmyhead.com. She belives aromatherapy should be simple and easy to incorporate into a hectic lifestyle.

Your skin is the largest organ of your body. It protects you from infection, excretes waste products and excess salt from your body, regulates your temperature, synthesizes vitamin D and provides the sense of touch. Products that come into contact with skin are easily absorbed into your blood stream. Something to be mindful of when choosing personal products. Read your ingredient labels. Many contain toxins or synthetic ingredients that may block the solubility of necessary nutrients or vitamins essential for good health and well being. A prime example of an oil which destroys fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, K & F as it metabolizes is baby oil (mineral oil). Most of us are aware of the carcinogenic risks of parabens and are actively avoiding those ingredients. However, natural skin care is easy and affordable and quite effective with some tried and true aromatherapy blends.

Aromatherapy is based upon the absorption of essential oils through the skin. When choosing your carrier oils for use in aromatherapy care, it is important to choose plant based, cold pressed oils for this reason. These oils (grapeseed, jojoba, almond etc.) also have the natural antioxidant vitamin E which may help rejuvenate your skin . Incorporating essential oils and cold pressed carrier oils are effective and natural ways to heal common ailment and improve the general condition of your skin.

Photo by epicnom/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32627348@N06/

A Quick Tip Sheet For Three Common Ailments

1. Oil Blend For Shingles:

Excess oil, shingles, diaper rash and other conditions which cause redness and itching can often be alleviated with lavender and tea tree. Both will work well on bacterial, fungal, parasitic or viral systemic conditions. Although both lavender and tea tree are safe to use at full strength, it is recommended to dilute in oil, lotion or witch hazel for large areas of application. If in a day or two there isn't significant change and reduction of itching (especially indicated for shingles) add a few drops of frankincense to your blend.

• 1 ounce cold pressed carrier lotion or oil
• 4 drops lavender essential oil
• 2 drops tea tree essential oil
• 3 drops frankincense essential oil

1. Apply twice daily.

2. Cold Sore Remedy:

A common, but embarrassing, problem for many people is an eruption of a cold sore (Herpes Simplex Virus). These are easily controlled at the first sign of outbreak, usually a tingling sensation, with this formula:

• 8 drops tea tree essential oil
• 15 drops rose geranium essential oil
• 7 drops lavender essential oil
• 8 drops Roman OR German chamomile essential oil
• 6 drops melissa (lemon balm) essential oil

1. Apply at first sensation of outbreak at full strength or combine 4 drops blend in 1 teaspoon jojoba oils and apply directly to area. Keep moist with jojoba oil or a beeswax lip balm to avoid cracking.

3. Facial Toner For Acne Prone Skin:

Skin Care Basics: Many essential oils have the wonderful benefit of skin rejuvenating properties. Applying lavender to a wound not only disinfects the cut but also speeds the repair process of the epithelial tissue. Teens and adults who suffer from acne can help prevent breakouts with a simple solution of distilled water, witch hazel and essential oils of cedarwood, rosemary, lavender and German chamomile. Try the following treatment for a month and notice the difference it can make:

• 2 ounces witch hazel
• 1 ounce distilled water
• 6 drops lavender essential oil
• 3 drops lemon essential oil
• 2 drops German chamomile essential oil

1. Pour in a glass bottle, shake before each use.

2. Apply with cotton ball two to three times daily.

The main objective of any skin care routine is to stimulate and detoxify your pores. In order to maintain an appearance of youth and health, it is important to not only treat the surface area, but to penetrate the subcutaneous tissues - lucky for us, essential oils do that easily.

I prefer blending small quantities of skin care products as you need them. Once a blend is created, the process of deterioration can occur if stored incorrectly. Although it won't happen overnight, some carrier oils, such as grapeseed and sweet almond, have relatively short shelf lives (12 to 18 months). If you do decide to create blends in bulk, add 1/4 teaspoon benzoin oil to each cup of carrier oil, along with a teaspoon of vitamin E oil to help maintain it's freshness naturally.

Skin care doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. Research your skin type and the essential oils best suited for you. Choose oils for your blends based upon your needs and your preferences. Experiment and have fun. Life is beautiful and so are you!

Desiree Bell is inspired by botanicals and natural materials. She is a vegetarian who has a certificate in herbal studies and a certificate from Australasian College of Health Sciences in Aromatherapy. When she isn't in her suburban garden, hiking or crafting, she is teaching pre-k with an emphasis on nature and gardening. For more ideas on Simple Living With Nature you can visit her blogs at www.beyondagarden.blogspot.com and www.kidsnaturespot.blogspot.com.

The ginger root (Zingiber officinale) is actually a rhizome. The word ginger is derived from the Sanskrit word for ginger, sringa-vera, meaning “antler shaped.” It has buds on the top of each of its stubby fingers and grows a mass of thin, tangled roots below. The roots are scraped off before the ginger arrives at the market.

Ginger is 80 percent water, 2.3 percent water, 1 percent fat, 2.5 percent fibrous material, 1.2 percent minerals, and vitamins of B and C. Medicinally, it is used for the circulatory and digestive systems, coughs, colds, aches and pains.

There are two groups of compounds in the rhizome. The essential oil is the liquid found in tiny vessels just under the corky skin, which is collected by distillation. The other compound is located in the cells dotted around the fleshy interior of the rhizome in between the starch cells. It is extracted with alcohol or a solvent.

Ginger does best in a hot, moist climate, with a little shade at noon and well-drained soil. It is grown as a crop in countries such as India, Australia, Jamaica, China and Nigeria. Many years ago I read in the book Herbal Treasures (Storey Publishing, LLC, 1990), by Phyllis Shaudys, how to grow a ginger root inside the house using a rhizome from the market.

Cut a piece of ginger root from the rhizome. Make sure the piece you cut to plant has at least one bud on it. Fill a clay pot with potting soil and bury the ginger root cut side down, bud up, 1 inch below the surface. Place in a sunny, warm window, water well, then keep moist. It takes about a month for the first sprout to appear.

To harvest, pull the plant from its pot 8 to 12 months after planting, cut off leaf stalks, and remove fibrous roots. Cut off as much ginger as you can use and replant the rest. Many winters I have grown a nice looking ginger plants. Try it!

Fresh ginger produces a warm, spicy and refreshing aroma. Its taste is pungent, aromatic, lemony, and slightly bitter. Dried ginger is less lemony and more warm, woody and pungent. Besides fresh and dried, it is used pickled, preserved and crystallized in cooking. Here is a tasty and healthy Indian Lemonade-Ginger Ale recipe I found in a vegetarian magazine many years ago.

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

Indian Lemonade-Ginger Ale
Makes 8 cups

• 8 cups sparkling water (club soda)
• ½ cup fresh lime juice
• 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 ½ cups maple syrup
• ½ tablespoon freshly grated ginger root
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

1. Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher or punch bowl.

2. Serve at room temperature or chilled.  

Thanksgiving will be here soon so I have included a recipe from the book, The Ginger Book (Avery, 1996), by Stephen Fulder, Ph.D., for Ginger Pumpkin Pie. This book was also used as a reference for some of this article.

Ginger Pumpkin Pie
Makes 16 servings

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 ¾ ounce piece fresh ginger, grated
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 ½ cups pureed boiled pumpkin
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 7 tablespoons butter or vegetable shortening
• 3 eggs, beaten

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch diameter flan tins.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon , and cloves. Add the pumpkin, brown sugar, buttermilk and butter or shortening: beat briefly. Add the eggs and beat again.

3. Pour the batter into the flan tins and place the tins in the oven. Bake until the pies are firm, about 45 minutes. Let cool before serving.

If you bake this pie let me know how it turned out. I have not made it yet.

Happy Thanksgiving….

Cynthia Meredith has been gardening with herbs, reading about herbs, and discussing herb gardening in Texas for more than 20 years. She has owned The Herb Cottage ( www.theherbcottage.com ) for over 10 years, selling herb plants to people all over our state.

I can hardly believe how beautiful the weather has been this past week or so. Since the rains moved on, the skies have been clear and sunny with low humidity and near perfect temperatures. I'm spending every possible minute outdoors to enjoy these perfect Texas fall days. After so much rain, and now with the sun beaming down, the garden is putting on it's best show since spring. To enhance the picture, there are butterflies everywhere flitting from flower to flower. And, thankfully, they have a lot to choose from.

Orange cosmos with butterflies

There are blossoms of cosmos, podrangea, porterweed, basil, morning glories, Texas olive (Cordia boissieri) and now I've planted a few violets and pansies in the herb garden because, of course, these are edible flowers to add to salad mixes.

Podrangea blossom with dragon fly...or are there fairies in the garden?

I also added a few more herb plants to the herb garden. I had lost all my thyme over the summer, so I added a couple of lemon thyme plants. Lemon thyme is a wonderfully fragrant lemon herb to use with fish, chicken, soup, in tea and herbal vinegars and in a fruit salad dressing. Its tiny, bright green leaves with pale edging bring a sparkle to the herb bed. I planted it in a raised area so it should do better next year when the weather turns hot again.

Coral Porterweed with butterfly

Another plant I lost during the long, hot summer was my garden sage. It lasted until August and then just gave up the ghost and faded away. With Thanksgiving almost here, I know sage is one herb we'll be looking for in the garden. Sage is an herb that really shines during holiday cooking for those of us who roast a turkey or even a goose for a special meal. Sage has a strong taste and goes well with the pungent flavor of fowl. We simply stuff the bird with handfuls of sage along with rosemary, savory or thyme, garlic cloves and quartered onions. We use the same herbs to flavor the broth that moistens the dressing and to make gravy. One year, I thought we used too many herbs inside the bird, but the flavor of the turkey came through with the herbs as underlying flavors. Very nice!

Variegated Lemon Thyme

We'll be using lots of the savory herbs from the garden as fall moves into winter. Soups, stews and other hearty dishes call for rosemary, bay, sage, parsley and winter savory—an herb not used very much, I find, but is so flavorful. It's like a blend of thyme and rosemary, almost, and grows so well in winter and summer. Winter savory (Satureja montana) grows into a little woody shrub. The small, dark green leaves are a welcome addition to meat dishes as well as blending well with vegetables, rice and fruit deserts. It's easy to grow in full sun to partial shade. Seeds are slow to start, but worth it. If you can find a plant to purchase, that's the easiest way to go.

Photo courtesy of HERBALPEDIA^TM 
Sage (Salvia officinalis)

I hope you are all taking advantage of the fine fall weather to work in the garden, plant, prune a little, remulch or whatever you can do to enhance your gardening experience during these sunny days. Even pulling and hoeing weeds is pleasurable on these bright, sun-filled days.

Photo courtesy of HERBALPEDIA^TM 
Winter savory (Satureja montana)

I'm off to the garden to weed and plant more herbs.

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
—Marcus Tullius Cicero

Cynthia Meredith has been gardening with herbs, reading about herbs, and discussing herb gardening in Texas for more than 20 years. She has owned The Herb Cottage ( www.theherbcottage.com ) for over 10 years, selling herb plants to people all over our state.

As fall continues with more rain and still greatly fluctuating temperatures, some of the best herbs are really coming into their own. Even though we've had quite a few warm days in between some picture-perfect fall days of cool, dry, sunny weather, the cool season annuals are thriving.

Cool season annuals are herb or flower crops that do not succeed in our hot, humid summer weather. These varieties need the lower temperatures of our fall, winter and early spring to be at their best. The most commonly grown herbs of the cool season annuals are cilantro, dill, arugula and chervil along with the edible flowers of calendula, violets and nasturtiums. If you're going to grow edible flowers, as with the herbs, be sure they haven't been treated with chemical pesticides or fungicides.

Photo courtesy of  HERBALPEDIA™

Photo courtesy of www.ehow.com

Cilantro likes a sunny spot to grow in. Water needs are average. The one issue with cilantro in our southern Texas area is that a few warm days during winter will cause the plant to bolt, or to send up a flower stalk. That signals the end of the regular growth of the plant. The leaves turn from the flat, parsley-like leaves to sort of a ferny appearance. 

Photo courtesy of www.fragrantfields.com
The cilantro plant is starting to bolt - notice the ferny leaves forming.

Umbrels of small white flowers appear at the top of the flower stalk. While the plant is in bloom, however, it is still usable. The ferny leaves can be used just as you would the flat leaves, and the flowers can also be eaten. The leaves and flowers also make a nice filler in a cut flower arrangement.

Photo courtesy of  HERBALPEDIA™  

If you let the plant flower and go to seed, the ripe seeds are known as the spice coriander.These are useful in baking and in Indian and Middle Eastern dishes. Invariably some seeds will fall from your plant and there you'll have more cilantro when the soil and moisture conditions are right for the seed to germinate. Or you can collect the seed to save and share with other gardeners or plant later. 

www.botanicalinterests.com
A packet of cilantro seeds is inexpensive and holds far more seeds than you need to plant at one time.

I live in Denver, Colorado and baking is usually a bit of a challenge for me. I’m not sure if it is because of my high altitude, my inability to bake, or a combination of the two. After some research online and in an assortment of cookbooks, this is what I've learned for those of you who, like me, are forced to bake in high altitudes:

• Reduce the amount of baking powder and baking soda you use in your recipe by 1/8 teaspoon.

• Raise the oven temperature 10 to 15 degrees.

• Increase the amount of liquid you use in a recipe in relationship to the amount of flour used. According to the Quaker Oats Company, you should increase the amount of liquid by 1 to 2 tablespoons per cup of flour.

Photo by chotda/Courtsey Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/santos/

My cookies always come out of the oven looking like pancakes. On the one occasion I tried to alter the recipe for high altitude baking using the tips above. They came out looking a little better, but not presentable by any means. I think I may have taken them out of the oven way too quickly. 

We want to hear from you! How do you compensate for the high altitude (if you live in an area like mine) when baking? My number one priority is to get my cookies to look and taste like cookies. Then I would like to move on to baking delicious dark chocolate lavender cookies.

Do you have any ideas to solving my high altitude baking issue? Do you have a favorite cookie recipe that I should try? Leave me a comment and let’s chat about it!

Q: Why are my herbs dying?

A: Many of our readers e-mailed us asking one main question: Why are my herbs dying?

At The Herb Companion, we thought we would resurrect our “Herb 911” series to cover additional herbs. Our past “Herb 911” entries included basil (Ocimum basilicum), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), mint (Mentha spp.), lavender (Lavandula spp.), and sage (Salvia officinalis). Let us know what herbs you are having a difficult time growing and we will try to cover it.

Thyme is a perennial herb that is hardy to dry and rugged terrain. For this reason, you can sometimes find it in the crevasse of a rock wall. It is often used as ground cover or in a raised bed in an herb garden. There are many reasons why thyme can take a turn for the worse; a few being sun exposure (or lack there of), poor location, amount of water and balanced soil.

Tips for Keeping your Thyme Alive

• If your thyme is lighter in color, it may be due to the location. Keep your thyme in a bright, sunny location that also has morning or afternoon shade. Make sure the location is also sheltered from winds.

• Balancing the soil is a trick and an often over looked step in overall plant care. If your thyme plant is looking bad, it might be the soil’s pH. Keep the pH level of the soil between 5.5 and 7.0 is ideal as the soil should be neutral to slightly basic. You can buy a pH test kit at your local nursery or hardware store.

• If the soil is well balanced and you’ve found the ideal location, the problem may be watering too much or not enough. Like other plant, the watering amount depends on the size, age and the location of the plant. Thyme ranges in sizes from 3 inches with an 18 inch spread to 14 inches with a spread of 3 feet—depending on if it is a shrub or creeping variety of thyme. Start with 2 to 3 cups of water once every three days and adjust from there. If you spot mold or fungus growing at the base of the plant, cut back on the water. If the soil is dry and flaky, this means you should add more water.

• Regardless of the variety, Thyme flourishes in warmer weather. If you are growing thyme either from seeds, divisions or cuttings, it is essential that the temperature does not go below 55 degrees. Usually propagation takes place just before the last frost, however, you can start now as long as they stay indoors or in a green house during the winter months.

Do you have problems growing thyme? What herbs do you have a difficult time growing? Let’s chat about it; drop me a comment or email me at snelson@ogdenpubs.com.

Patsy Bell Hobson is a garden writer and a travel writer. For her, it's a great day when she can combine the two things she enjoys most: gardening and traveling. Visit her personal blogMy garden blog  at http://patsybell.blogspot.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner. 

French tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) thrives in my garden. I don't know why. Several people have asked me for tarragon growing secrets. I don't have a clue. Seldom fed or watered, mulched, but not otherwise protected in the winter, tarragon likes to live in the sunny, well drained soil of the raised bed.

It is a perennial that I do not bring in for the winter. The tarragon plant, and the whole herb bed gets a healthy layer of shredded leaf mulch later in fall. That is the only protection I provide in my zone 6 garden. The herb plant, disappears in winter, goes dormant, and comes back stronger and bigger next spring.

I use tarragon in the kitchen mainly as a herb vinegar additive and in salad dressing. In the garden, it adds variety and has a strong anise (licorice) scent when touched.

Tarragon wine vinegar can be diluted with water if it is too strong.
Photo by Trey Capnerhurst

Tarragon has some antibacterial qualities. It may be one of the reasons why, in ancient times, it was recommended to treat mad dog and dragon bites. I, personally, have never had the occasion to need such medical care, and therefore cannot testify to its healing properties.

I mention tarragon this late in the gardening season because there are two fall-time ways I use French tarragon. 1. To make tarragon vinegar and 2. To make tarragon chicken. Make these recipes your own by tweaking them and trying different herb combinations.

Herb vinegar is only as good as the vinegar you select. If you are making a gourmet product, buy  the best quality vinegar you can afford. If the herb vinegar is mostly for decoration or display, use inexpensive white vinegar. It doesn’t take much tarragon—just a sprig or two to flavor a whole bottle of white wine vinegar.

Use a 5 or 6 inch sprig of tarragon in each bottle.
Photo by Jasmine & Roses

A mild garlic flavor is a great addition to tarragon vinegar. Poke a peeled clove of garlic onto a wooden skewer. Add the garlic skewer to the vinegar.  You may need to clip the skewer so the lid will fill on the jar or bottle of vinegar. Taste the vinegar after two weeks. If the flavor is strong enough, remove the tarragon and garlic. If not, let the herb vinegar continue to steep for another week. Strain using a paper coffee filter.

Now, isn’t removing that skewer a lot easier than fishing around for elusive garlic cloves at the bottom of the herb vinegar bottle?

Stuff a sprig of tarragon in the cavity of a Cornish game hen and cook it as you normally do. The rotisserie works well for this recipe. As the hen cooks, tarragon lightly permeates whole bird. Remove the herbs when the hen cools and freeze whole or cut in half. Next month, thaw the birds in the frig, then slowly warm in the oven.

End of season bloomer Mexican tarragon looks like dwarf single marigolds.
Photo by Valenaann

A little tarragon goes a long way. If in doubt, use less now—it's easier to add more tarragon later.

Michele Tune (a.k.a. Raw Juice Girl) is a freelance writer and blogger. She has lost over 100 pounds and found great healing from natural remedies, raw foods and juices. Read about her journey at www.healingwithjuices.com.

In response from Natural Alternatives: Dry Eye Syndrome Treatment. 

Dry, itching, throbbing, bloodshot eyes are no fun! And, if it’s your job to stare at a computer screen all day, every day, then your eyes are continuously being aggravated—that’s not healthy.

If you aren’t familiar with natural remedies, you may feel your only options for relief are over-the-counter, chemical-laden eye solutions. Sure, some of them may soothe your eye woes for a short time but how many of them are going to target the root cause and truly help you improve the health of your eyes?

If you’re experiencing these irritating eye problems, your eyes need to be lubricated and nurtured—you can do this with natural remedies, both from within and externally.

But first, what actually causes dry eyes to begin with? There are a variety of reasons eyes dry out.

Here are a few:

• Allergies
• Aging
• Menopause or other hormonal imbalances
• Staring at computer screens for too long

 
Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography/Courtesy Flickr
www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/  

Treating Dry Eyes from Within

You may have one or more nutritional deficiencies. For ultimate eye health, you need to take in plenty of vitamins A, B, C, and E. Also be sure to eat foods rich in zinc and selenium (or take quality supplements). And as K.C. mentioned in her recent post on dry eye syndrome, Omegas are fabulous for eye health.

Raw fruits and vegetables are crucial for overall health—including our eyes. You can pack in a ton of extra veggies and fruits by drinking fresh juices and smoothies. For instance, toss a handful or two of baby spinach leaves into your banana (or other fruit) smoothie and the fruit’s sweetness actually dominates the flavor, so it’s a nice way to sneak in those greens you may not otherwise eat.

Some people have noticed improvements to their eye health and vision from juice fasting as well.

Natural Remedy Recipes (for External Use)

Although it’s important to fill our bodies with the proper nutrition that promotes strong, moist, healthy eyes from within, it’s also nice to have safe, go-to natural remedies that can relieve our aching eyes while we wait for the internal methods to kick in. Following are a couple of inexpensive, organic recipes—and they’re both so soothing!

Organic Chamomile Eye Wash

• 2 chamomile tea bags (or spoonful of dried chamomile flower)
• Warm water
• A cup or bowl
• Sieve (if you’re using loose-leaf herb)

1. Add chamomile bag or loose herb to a cup or bowl.

2. Pour warm water on top of it.

3. Let them steep for up to 15 minutes.

4. Remove the tea bags (or strain loose herb with sieve).

5. Find a relaxing position (lay down or lean back in a chair).

6. Close your eyes and cover each one with a tea bag.

7. Leave the tea bags on for up to 10 minutes.

Note: If you’re using loose-leaf chamomile herb, you can put the moistened mixture you’ve strained into cheesecloth (or an empty tea bag you can purchase online or at your health food store) and follow the same steps above.
You can also cup some of the chamomile tea into your hand (or draw it up into a dropper) and wash your eyes out with it. It’s warm, soothing, healing, and safe.

Cold Cucumber Compress

• 2 cold cucumber slices

1. Find a comfortable position.

2. Put a cold cucumber over (closed) eyes.

3. Leave them on for up to 10 minutes.

Tip: Slice an organic cucumber ahead of time and lay the slices flat (not touching) in small plastic bags or reusable containers and freeze. When you need a quick “cold cucumber compress,” you can just grab two slices from the freezer and let them thaw a little. After all, you want relief—not frozen eyeballs!
I have personally followed all of the tips mentioned here for the past several years. The result? I no longer have to wear eye glasses.

References:
Balch, Phyllis A., CNC, Prescription for Herbal Healing: An Easy-to-Use A-to-Z Reference to Hundreds of Common Disorders and Their Herbal Remedies, New York, NY: Penguin Putnam, Inc., 2002
Balch, Phyllis A., CNC, Prescription for Nutritional Healing (Third Edition), New York: Avery Publishing, 2000.
National Institute of Health Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Selenium 
National Institute of Health Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Zinc 

Brenda Stansfield is a licensed massage therapist, certified clincial aromatherapist and the creator of the Clear My Head product line, sold in spas nationally at www.clearmyhead.com. She belives aromatherapy should be simple and easy to incorporate into a hectic lifestyle.

This weekend my sister welcomed another grandchild to her family. It’s been a long time since I held my own newborn son in my arms, but as I looked at the pictures of the newest addition to our family online, I began to think…"Is there anything more precious than a newborn baby?" "Is there anything more confusing to new parents?"
This time of wonder and discovery is the perfect time for parents to unlock the benefits of aromatherapy and infant massage. By incorporating touch with botanicals, you increase the bond between parent and child while simultaneously creating a healthy, relaxing environment for bot.

Aromatherapy can be safe for infants and children as long as a few guidelines are observed: 

• Never apply oils full strength to the baby’s skin. Since babies have a smaller amount of resistive tissue, adult doses can be considered toxic. Be sure to dilute essential oils for babies and toddlers to ½ amount of the adult dose. This would be ¼ drop for every 3 drops in a standard blend. Since it is impossible to measure a ¼ of a drop, it is advisable to decrease the essential oil and increase the carrier oil or lotion. Remember, no where in aromatherapy is the ‘less is more’ approach more appropriate than here.

Safe essential oil choices for babies: lavender, chamomile and rose

Children are naturals with aromatherapy. The sweet and floral scents calm them almost instantaneously. Older children who no longer will tolerate a back rub from mom or dad will most assuredly indulge in a foot massage (especially after sports). All ages welcome the addition of essential oils in their bath tubs. Be sure to dilute these oils in an appropriate carrier oil according the recommendations below. Allow some flexibility to adjust the amounts if the child’s body size and weight is above or below average percentile for the child’s age. Your pediatrician can help you with this information.

Children: Factor age vs. body weight
5-8 years: 1/6th to 1/3rd the adult recommendation
8-12 years: 1/3th to ½ the adult recommendation
12-15 years: ½ to 2/3rd the adult recommendation

Safe essential oil choices for children: lavender, tea tree, German or Roman chamomile, tangerine, spearmint, rose, lemon, ravensara, eucalyptus and rosemary

• Avoid the following oils for use with all children unless instructed by a reliable text or a certified aromatherapist. All ‘spice oils’ such as clove, cinnamon, cassia, nutmeg, ginger and black pepper. Other oils which should not be used with children are pennyroyal, hyssops, rue and yarrow.

• Avoid citrus oils if your children are playing out of doors since they may increase photosensitivity.

• Use cold pressed, natural oils. Stay away from  petroleum-, chemical- or mineral-based oils (such as baby oil). These oils interfere with the solubility of vitamins and minerals within the essential oils. An easy rule for oils is if you can eat it, you can use it. (Olive oil and grapeseed are wonderful.)

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

As a licensed massage therapist and a certified infant massage instructor and practitioner, I recommend infant massage for building a bond with your baby. Infant massage is a path that will lead to a lifetime of good communication and closeness. Numerous studies show impressive benefits, such as significant neurological development and absorption of nutrients. Also, parents raise their confidence and sensitivity to meeting their babies’ needs, allowing them to respond appropriately to baby’s cues.  The special time spent together can help promote longer and deeper sleep patterns, help relieve colic or gas and helps babies and children develop a positive body image.  Your touch will help baby relax and release accumulated tension by decreasing the production of stress hormones.

How to give a rewarding infant massage (for you and baby):

• Make eye contact with baby. Watch baby’s expressions and note how your touch affects your child. Smile, sing and whisper to baby as you touch.

• Ask permission of your baby to touch each part. This simple act of respect also encourages verbalization and word associations for your baby and brings the art of a lifetime of communication into play.

• Use a gentle, but firm pressure when massaging. A confident touch is conveyed and baby’s sense of safety and love is reinforced.

Ready to begin?  Enjoy the following formulas for baby.

To promote sleep patterns in well babies:

• 1 ½ ounce grapeseed essential oil
• 1 drop lavender essential oil
• 1 drop German chamomile essential oil

1. Mix ingredients together.

2. Use mix during massage OR use 1 teaspoon in your baby’s bath at night time when you want your child to fall asleep faster.

To allieviate gas and upset tummies:

• 1 drop fennel essential oil
• 3 ounces grapeseed essential oil

1. Mix ingredients together.

2. Apply mix to abdomen only. Use plain grapeseed for the remainder of a full body massage.

To open nasal passages: 

Put a drop of eucalyptus oil on a night light or into a humidifier as baby sleeps. Never apply this oil directly to baby. An aromatic bath for baby can be made by substituting one drop eucalyptus or ravensara for the fennel in the above formula. Use 1 tablespoon of the mixture in the bath.  Hold baby securely when bathing with oils.

So if you are lucky enough to be welcoming  a new addition to your immediate or extended family, pass along this information.  Family bonds begin early and the skills and communications in those formative years can be key to a confident child.  Babies grow up too quickly, take the time now to be as present as possible.  Learn and grow with your baby – and may you be ‘forever young’.

Marguerite Dunne is a city girl and traveler. Visit her website at www.herbs-on-hudson.com or listen to her radio show, The Urban Herbalist, on www.wtbq.com. Marguerite was also the third place winner in The Herb Companion's essay contest, "Looking Forward to Herbs."

My Jewish friends have always found it odd that I'm such a fan of Yom Kippur. I like the idea of taking one day a year for thinking about your mistakes and making yourself a better person. When I was still teaching, I used the occasion to assign this essay thesis statement: If you could take back one thing you did as a child, what would it be? 

The stories were often painful to read. One story was written by an angry, adolescent young boy from the inner city. He wrote about the time he was 11 years old, hanging out with his pals in the garage, and playing with his father's guns. They were each taking turns handling the gun. When it was his turn, he accidently shot his friend, nearly killing him and taking out one of his friend’s eyes.

He never alluded to this tragedy before, masking the emotion he felt. The part that was so painful for him was that he'd never been given the canvas, the paper or the platform to express his feelings and tell his tale.

People are faced with great challenges, and somehow people have to deal with them daily. Reading these painful essays reminded me of how regenerative Mother Nature can be, and how lucky we are to have her abundance to help overcome tough situations.

Although it would trivialize my former student’s situation to imply that a few herbs could take away the pain of his life situation, I do believe that some of nature’s healing plants can help put our bodies and spirits at ease.

Here are some herbal remedies that have specific healing properties for dealing with overcoming sorrow, anger and depression.

There’s nothing like a sip of skullcap tea. Also try a medium green leaf tea, which helps relax nervous tension and is a favorite at the end of a trying day.

Verbena officinalis

Vervain (don't forget to add the honey to this one!) is more “full-bodied” and can help overcome a deeper depression. The secret is in the consistency; you can’t have a “one cup here and a one cup there" approach. Instead, use 2 to 3 cups daily for a couple of weeks, depending on how overwhelming the sorrow is and how many toxins one loads up with. Vervain also acts as a hepatic remedy and helps with inflammation of the gallbladder. In Chinese Medicine, anger is held in the gallbladder.

Next, I suggest picking up a paintbrush, grabbing a pen, or finding a guitar and discovering new ways to express your emotions and overcome terrible situations. Bodies and minds can mend; nature and art can lead the way.

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.

Patsy Bell Hobson is a garden writer and a travel writer. For her, it's a great day when she can combine the two things she enjoys most: gardening and traveling. Visit her personal blogMy garden blog  at http://patsybell.blogspot.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner. 

Every day is a gamble in October. I begin checking the evening temperature to see if the basil will survive another night. The least hint of frost will kill a basil plant. Before we go into mourning over the loss of our favorite fresh herb, consider these five ways to stretch out your harvest.

Basil is best used fresh. If you can’t use all the basil before the first frost, consider these ways to preserve the harvest. When they predict the first frost, madly run out and bring in as much basil as you can carry.

Cross pollinated basil in the Rodale Gardens, Kutztown, Pennsyvannia

1. Fresh Basil: Cut off branches or stems of the basil plant and put them in a vase or jar. Pinch off leaves to use fresh. You might have fresh basil for weeks past the first frost. Basil stems easily root in water. I have a big bouquet of the different kinds of basil in my garden.

2. Basil Vinegar: Splurge on a good white wine vinegar. Fill a jar with basil leaves. Cover the basil with warmed vinegar. Gently shake or press the air bubbles out of the basil and vinegar. Cover and let the vinegar steep for a week. Taste the vinegar, if you would like a more pronounced basil flavor, let it steep for another week. Using a kitchen strainer colander, stain the basil vinegar. Remove and discard the basil leaves. Strain vinegar again through a paper coffee filter or cheese cloth. Label the bottle. It’s ok to add a little water if the vinegar is too strong for your taste.

3. Basil Cubes: Chop up the leaves into small pieces and place in a plastic ice cube tray. Cover leaves with water and freeze. When frozen, store the basil ice cubes in a heavy plastic freezer bag. Drop a frozen cube, directly into any simmering sauce or soup.

4. Basil Butter: Add 3 or 4 leaves of chopped basil to a softened stick of butter, then roll into a log wrap plastic wrap or waxed paper and freeze.

Fresh coarsely chopped basil for basil butter.
Add a slice of basil butter to vegetables or rice.

5. Pesto: The Herb Companion has printed many recipes for pesto. Basically, only three ingredients are needed to make pesto: basil, pine nuts and olive oil. I freeze pesto in a plastic ice cube tray. When frozen, pop the cubes out and put into a heavy duty freezer bag. Skip the cheese in the recipe if you are freezing the pesto. Add fresh grated cheese when you use the pesto.

Here is a good pesto recipe from the September 1996 Herb Companion article "A Basil Harvest," Italian-Style Pesto

Here is another basil recipe from fellow blogger, the Lemon Verbena Lady: Basil Jelly Recipe.

Mixed variety of fresh basil rescued before the big chill. In about two
weeks the stems will root in tap water.
Photo by Lara Ferroni

I will miss fresh basil. If you see me moping around the garden centers, don’t go overboard. A simple “I’m sorry for you loss.” will do.

Later, when the basil recipe making frenzy subsides, we will talk about starting basil indoors from seed. I use an AeroGarden.

Desiree Bell is inspired by botanicals and natural materials. She is a vegetarian who has a certificate in herbal studies and a certificate from Australasian College of Health Sciences in Aromatherapy. When she isn't in her suburban garden, hiking or crafting, she is teaching pre-k with an emphasis on nature and gardening. For more ideas on Simple Living With Nature you can visit her blogs at www.beyondagarden.blogspot.com and www.kidsnaturespot.blogspot.com.

The common sunflower is an American native plant. The American Indian was the first to use the sunflower, but there is no written record. Sunflower achene’s (seeds) have been found at several archaeological sites in the United States and early explorers notebooks and journals have information about Indians gathering achene’s for food. At prehistoric sites in Arizona, several sunflower disks have been found, as well as designs of the flowers incorporated in their pottery.
 
After the discovery of America in 1492, the sunflower went to Europe, then onto Russia, and was then reintroduced into America from Russia. Practically all the flowers now cultivated in America were of Russian origin. The Russians are the greatest users of the plant.
 
Sunflowers are known scientifically by the genus name Helianthus from the Greek words helios, meaning “sun” and anthos meaning “flower.” There are around 60 different species, but in this article I am mainly discussing Helianthus annus L. The L. stands for Linnaeus, the great Swedish naturalist of the eighteenth century, who gave this plant and thousands of others their Latin names. This sunflower was the only one known to him and it only lived a single season, so the annuus is for annual.
 
This species of sunflower is extremely variable. There are branched forms with small flower heads, which are common in the wild. Unbranched forms with massive flower heads, which are cultivated for their oily seeds; and still others with red or double flowers which are grown for their ornamental value.

Photo by cobalt123/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cobalt/

Sunflowers are related to the daisies, asters, marigolds, dandelions and black-eyed susans, all of which are members of the Compositae family. The stem is thick, hairy and light green with leaves that are large, rough, toothed and heart-shaped with prominent veins. The flower has a ray of petals on the outer part of the sunflower head, and disk flowers in the center. The outer apparently to attract insects since they are sterile. Sunflowers grow from 3 to 15 feet high and the flower heads measure from 3 to 14 inches in diameter. The sunflower is the state flower of Kansas.
 
The first published record of the sunflower appeared in 1568 by the Belgian Rembert Dodoens, one of the famous herbalists of the era. It was not known to herbalists before the discovery of America (1492), which is evidence that the sunflower was of American origin.
 
The greatest medicinal use of the sunflower that has been used throughout the world is for pulmonary afflictions. It was the main medicinal use of many Indians. A decoction was made from the sunflower head, which the Dakota and Pawnee Indians would drink for respiratory ailments, like bronchitis, lung infections and pleurisy.

Sunflower oil is used in salad dressings, for cooking and in the manufacturing of margarine and shortening. It is used in industry for making paints and cosmetics. The roasted seeds make a coffee type drink. In countries where they grow sunflowers the seed cake that is left after the oil is extracted is given to livestock as food. In the Soviet Union the hulls are used for manufacturing ethyl alcohol, in lining for plywood and growing yeast. The dried stems have also been used for fuel. The stems contain phosphorous and potassium which can be composted and returned to soil as fertilizer.
 
The Chinese have used the fiber from stems for fabrics and paper. The pith (the interior of the stalk) is one of the lightest substances known and is used in scientific labs. The plant’s ability to absorb water from soil has been used to reclaim mushy land in the Netherlands.
 
The sunflower is a plant to be valued and appreciated for more than just food for birds or an ornamental fixture in a summer garden. Add a few sunflowers to the next garden you plant and they will put a smile on your face.                              

I’ll admit sometimes I can be over-dramatic when it comes to pain – drama runs in my family. But for the last couple of years I’ve suffered from regular lower-back spasms that can literally knock me off my feet. So yesterday I finally gave in to the sage advice of my family and friends who’ve witnessed my painful collapses and visited the chiropractor.

It’s been over 10 years since the last time I met with a chiropractor, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I was definitely surprised to see a familiar herbal supplement perched on my practitioner’s shelf of featured pain relief supplies – turmeric capsules. Under the bottle was a note suggesting that a daily dose (720 mg) of this turmeric supplement, instead of Ibuprofen, not only reduces painful inflammation but is also healthier for long term use than other pain relievers.

Photo by Carlos Lorenzo/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carlos_lorenzo/

Considering how often I’ve popped Ibuprofen over the last couple years after long bouts of sitting at a desk or going for a jog, I was surprised that I hadn’t thought of the detrimental effects earlier.

I already use turmeric in most of my cooking, so instead of adding even more and turning everything I eat bright yellow, I’m going to give these supplements a try. For the sake of my future health, and to aid in the recovery of my abused neck and back from the chiropractic therapy, I’ll put the lid on ibuprofen and open up the turmeric. Oh, and I’ll also be using ice - lots and lots of ice.

Photo by foolsplay07/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wrightguideminiatures/

Have you used turmeric supplements to relieve your pain? How did it work for you? Leave me a comment and let me know.

For more information about the health benefits of turmeric, check out these past articles from The Herb Companion.

• The Healing Plant by Nancy Allison
• Ancient, Pungent Turmeric by Cornelia Carlson, Ph.D.
• Smart Cooking with Turmeric by Cornelia Carlson, Ph.D.
• Ancient Herbs, Modern Uses by James A. Duke, Ph.D.
• Spotlight on Turmeric by Lynda McCullough

Economic and financial issues plaguing the globe have spawned a new wave of interest in sustainability, fostering the need for more urban gardeners. For those living in such a densely populated area, growing space is often limited, and you need to think creatively and maybe even squint your eyes a little to make it work.

Such space concerns are why vertical planters are becoming increasingly popular. A year ago, I picked the top Top 8 Gardening Products for Fall 2008, and among them listed the Living Wall by ELT.

This year, another company sent me a different kind of wall-hanging potter called the Woolly Pocket, which prides itself in adding a touch of class to any home (and it does). The long, almost windowsill-type potters are made out of a dense fabric that feels like a wool peacoat, and they come in coated and uncoated varieties, depending on if you’re planning on using it indoors or out.

I requested the coated version so it would not leak, but opted to set it up outside for the summer – and maybe clean it for reuse indoors for the winter. The Pocket was easy to install and within a few months tomatoes were producing and producing well in the Pocket compared with those on the ground. This is a major advantage if you’re wanting to keep animals away from your plants, especially indoors where most common houseplants are toxic to your pets.

The Woolly Pocket website gives detailed information on all of their planters with colorful photos like this one that make you see both the company and the product as unique. While the imagery with the naked people doesn’t really bother me, nearly every plant shown in this photo is toxic to animals (we’ll hope the dog wasn’t hungry), so I wouldn’t recommend using a sitting planter if you have an indoor pet.

The fabric of the Pocket, unlike with the Living Wall, prevents scratching on your walls and is a better safeguard to leaking because of the inner-coating. The coating covers the inside of the planter, protecting your walls and floor from leaks that may come from overwatering. However, this is a particular concern, because those of us that tend to give our plants more water, will be more likely to kill a plant or create an environment susceptible to root rot.

So, if you were planning on using the Pocket indoors, I might suggest lining the bottom with 2 or 3 inches of Perlite for the best possible drainage.

Other than that, the Woolly Pocket, which comes in many shapes and sizes, would make a great gift for anyone and everyone with a bright, empty wall considering starting a new garden or consolidating some of their favorite houseplants.

No matter how many times I check my cupboard before I bake, it seems I’m always missing an ingredient. However, next time I’m out of eggs I won’t have to worry because I’ve found an even healthier substitute: flaxseed. You only need to add 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed to 3 tablespoons of water (or 1 tablespoon of whole flaxseed to 4 tablespoons of water) to get the same baking benefits as you would with eggs.

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

I already knew that flaxseed had a myriad of benefits, from protecting your colon to preventing heart disease, but I wasn’t sure whether I'd like how it tasted until last night. Eggs have always seemed like a baking staple to me, so I decided to do a taste test and see if my picky taste-buds could really enjoy egg-less baking.

Photo by Sifu Renka/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sifu_renka/

I started with a small batch of traditional chocolate chip cookies and for the next batch I substituted my flaxseed replacement for the water. Amazingly, I actually liked the flaxseed batch better! The flaxseed chocolate chip cookies had a softer, chewier texture and a richer, nutty flavor. In fact next time I decide to bake I’m going to use flaxseed, even if my fridge is full of eggs.

Have you tried substituting flaxseed for eggs before? What are your thoughts? Share your kitchen secrets with me by leaving me a comment!

Brenda Stansfield is a licensed massage therapist, certified clincial aromatherapist and the creator of the Clear My Head product line, sold in spas nationally at www.clearmyhead.com. She belives aromatherapy should be simple and easy to incorporate into a hectic lifestyle.

It's that time of year again. The kids are back at school and the holidays are looming in front of us. Just when we need all the energy we can muster, IT descends upon us: Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). For many individuals in northern climates, myself included, the onset of seasonal depression is signaled by a sense of emptiness, fatigue, lethargy, food cravings, lack of concentration and/or disturbed sleep patterns. Once dismissed as 'simply the blues', mainstream medicine has acknowledged that this is a true disorder affecting as many as one in 20 individuals during the fall and winter months. Reduction of sunlight is often cited as a primary cause of SAD. Without the correct full spectrum light patterns that we are used to during the summer months, our neurotransmitter serotonin levels become irregular and an increase of the hormone melatonin (from the pineal gland) causes us to be come depressed at varying degrees.

Most people will 'snap out of it' on their own, others can benefit from holistic care: aromatherapy, light therapy, herbal supplements and a sunny vacation!

(Please note that severely depressed or suicidal individuals should seek the care of a physician and may need to consider the addition of antidepressant care. Never dismiss or self-treat massive depressive disorders yourself or encourage anyone to discontinue medication when being treated by a physician).

As a southern girl transplanted to Ohio, I know only too well how devastating and debilitating this disorder can be. In fact, SAD is what first brought me to aromatherapy. For me it was a natural choice to help prevent the onset of a mild depressive episode. Since aromatherapy doesn't require much time, it is a perfect way to incorporate a feeling of wellness during the bleakest months of the year.

Aromatherapy is using essential oils in massage, inhalation, diffusion and bathing as a way to uplift the body, mind and spirit. The medicinal properties of the oils are absorbed through the skin or through the olfactory system into the blood stream. In addition to their pleasing scents, which calm or stimulate the mind, the body benefits from the natural antiseptic, anti-viral and hormonal regulation of various oils. These properties may help boost the overall immune system. By diffusing fragrant oil in the air you are not only enhancing the emotional and spiritual benefits, but also creating an atmosphere of wellness by combating airborne germs (viral and bacteria).

Since SAD affects the body, mind and spirit, it makes sense that aromatherapy, which works on all aspects of the disorder, can be used alone or in tandem with other medical treatments.  Aromatherapy is a complimentary therapy to traditional and herbal medicines. Here are some applications to incorporate in your daily life to help lift seasonal depression:

Fatigue, Lethargy, Lack of Concentration: The symptoms described are in need of essential oils, which stimulate the mind, activate the circulatory system, and energize the soul. These are the oils to choose when you need to 'wake yourself up' or put in overtime at the office. Any and all of the citrus oils are perfect for office use: grapefruit, sweet orange, tangerine, lemon, lime and bergamot will impart freshness in the air, reminiscent of walking through a fresh orchard. To boost memory and increase your mental clarity you can add a drop or two of peppermint, basil, rosemary or black pepper.

Disturbed Sleep: A client of mine seems to get her days and nights mixed up when she is experiencing her bout with SAD. To help alleviate this we set up an evening and morning ritual to help trigger her brain to function and to rest when it was required. For evening she diffuses calming, sedative scents in the air, bathes in ylang ylang & lavender before bedtime and puts one drop of lavender on her pillowcase to help fall asleep naturally. By using these relaxing scents she has encouraged a reflex response (memory map) of relaxation. The morning, however, required a bit more of a wake up call for her. We added some lemon essential oil to her shampoo, not just to condition her hair, but to give a burst of energy first thing in the morning. We blended a jar of sea salts, jojoba oil and essential oils of rosemary and grapefruit to exfoliate her skin.  Rosemary is used for its stimulating scent and has the added bonus of being a wonderful respiratory oil which helps clear up nasal congestion and fight off colds and flu. In addition she switched to full spectrum lighting with increased wattage at the office and diffuses lemon in the air during office hours. Now she keeps her energy at peak performance.

Cravings & Weight Gain: Essential oils may be used in weight loss and to help curb your appetite. The most common essential oil to combat hunger is fennel. Use two drops in a cup of warm water. Drink before meals. Soaking in an essential oil bath of grapefruit, lemon or other diuretic oils may help increase the flow of urine to alleviate bloating and excess fluids.  Don’t' neglect your daily exercises or diet (using essential oils will only boost your potential) and remember to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water

If you decide to incorporate aromatherapy to help you combat the onset of SAD a few precautions for safety must be adhered to:

• Always use pure botanical oils. Synthetic, perfume and fragrance oils are lovely to smell but have none of the medicinal properties contained from extraction of the true plant.

• Essential oils are potent and should be used sparingly. A few drops mixed in a carrier oils is perfect for massage or bathing. A general guide is 15 drops essential oils to one fluid ounce of carrier oil (almond, sesame, grapeseed etc.). Remember these are therapeutic at low levels and may be toxic at high. 

• Consult a reliable aromatherapy text or Certified Aromatherapist if you are in doubt of the safety of an oil. Check for contra-indications if you are prone to seizures, high blood pressure, heart ailments or are pregnant or nursing.

Suggested essential oils for SAD through aromatherapy:

• Clary sage (mild depression, aggression, PMS)
• Lemon & grapefruit (mild depression, water retention)
• Rosemary, basil (fatigue, mental confusion, respiratory concerns)
• Pettigrain & bergamot (balancing, uplifting)
• Lavender (insomnia, tension headaches)   

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.

Brenda Stansfield is a licensed massage therapist, certified clincial aromatherapist and the creator of the Clear My Head product line, sold in spas nationally at www.clearmyhead.com. She belives aromatherapy should be simple and easy to incorporate into a hectic lifestyle.

Lately, I'm noticing a trend and I'm not liking it either. I watch as so many of us (and yes, I am guilty myself) are overly connected with our electronic devices. Yes, it's often time well spent in front of our computer screens updating our friends through Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, and yes we all get a little thrill when we open our "mail" to find a note (not just a forward, forward, forward) from a good friend. But ask yourself…would you rather have a ::hug:: or a real hug? 

The problem becomes clear as we watch our children communicate through more text messages and spend less time hearing a voice on the other end of their phones. How does one learn social skills or pick up non-verbal cues any more? After all, intonation in a voice can tell you wonders about a person’s well-being. The big question is how do we reconnect with our loved ones? The answer can be, surprisingly, aromatherapy. 

Use essential oil of lavender for a compassionate hand massage.

Over the years in my massage therapy & aromatherapy practice, I've encountered the "disconnect" of families. I've taught many workshops that bring people together and can open up a safe environment for conversations. Here are a few quick tips to help you turn down the electronic clutter in your life:

Children: Small children (3-6 years) are often antsy and on the move. Getting them to focus is challenging (if not impossible). These formative years are also when they are developing good routines and coping skills. A wonderful gift you can give your child is the ability to allow themselves to slow down in the evening. Prepare them for a good nights sleep with four drops of lavender essential oil in a warm bath—this will help them unwind and sleep more soundly. Taking baths are a great time for singing songs and other soothing activities—they'll never know they're getting clean in the process.

Teenagers: Teens are a little tougher to pin down and even harder at times to get to open up. A shame, since this is a time they need the guidance of a parent even more. Boys in particular are very resistant to keeping communication open. A way to get your teen to relax with you, and a nice time to catch up on the day, is with a nice peppermint foot rub (6 drops peppermint essential oil to 1 ounce lotion). The sensation on the feet is exhilarating and they'll sit still for it. Athletic teens and the over-achievers are often very unaware of the toll stress and a lot of activity can take on their body and mind. A 10 minute foot rub will help with fatigue and also teach them about giving to others.  

Our Elders: Often times I've been asked to call on a client’s family member in Hospice or Alzheimer wards. The elderly, and especially those in the last days or weeks of their life present emotional difficulties for both the family and the individual. A wonderful thing happens when we visit and offer a bit of compassion in the form of a hand massage. A suggestion of oils for this would be lavender, clary sage, bergamot or cedarwood (3 drops in 1 ounce). I've always felt in the grace of God during these visits. You needn't be a professional therapist for this. Your touch is comforting to the patient, the fragrance is soothing and the time is well spent. Often, in their final days, our loved ones cannot communicate with us. However, I promise the look in their eyes will tell you what they cannot. You will notice love and understanding and you will reap rewards that will be revealed to you later. It is not uncommon when I create blends for my clients to use with their loved ones that after the person has passed on they tell me that they use the aromatherapy lotion to feel the presence of their loved one again. This is understandable, since our sense of smell imprints emotions into us through our limbic system. Once we "memory map" our essential oils to a specific action, (one that is soothing, calming, joyful, and compassionate) we have set in motion a powerful way to communicate.

So today, unplug the cell phone, turn off the computer, even if it's just for 20 minutes, and go find someone who is getting "lost" in the digital age and bring them back to their senses!

People who suffer from insomnia usually have a difficult time falling asleep or wake up after only a few hours of sleep. Stress, anxiety, depression and grief are a few of the factors that contribute to insomnia. After experiencing a few sleepless nights I read up on insomnia. Through my research I discovered a few herbal remedies to ease the symptoms of insomnia.

Chamomile promotes natural sleep.

These herbs are an insomniac’s best friend!

• Chamomile: This herb relaxes the body and eases tension. Chamomile also helps other parts of the body by relieving indigestion and headaches.

• Lemon balm: Combined with chamomile, lemon balm relaxes the body and helps people fall asleep. By itself the herb has antibacterial and antiviral properties.

Other herbs that induce natural sleep are valerian, lavender, kava, St. John’s wort, passionflower and skullcap.

One product I've found that works great is Sound Sleep by Bath & Body Works ($10). This product, which is made with lavender and chamomile essential oils, is wonderful to use—especially after enjoying a cup of tea.

Have you experienced insomnia and used herbs to fall asleep? Let’s chat about it! Your comments could help other sleepless readers.

Cynthia Meredith has been gardening with herbs, reading about herbs, gardening with herbs and discussing herb gardening in Texas for more than 20 years. She has owned The Herb Cottage (www.theherbcottage.com) for over 10 years, selling herb plants to people all over our state. 

I didn't get too much done at The Herb Cottage this week. I spent a couple of days in lovely San Antonio visiting with a friend from Florida who was there visiting her mother. But, I did get germination on several flats I planted last week. The salad burnet and fernleaf dill seeds sprouted. The plants are so tiny!! I love seeding. It's just amazing to me how a little seed pushes itself through the soil and reaches for the sun. Just add water!

Salad burnet and dill seedlings. 

I had very good germination on the thyme seeds. There are two different varieties here: German winter thyme, which is an excellent herb to grow in our area and further north in Texas, and English thyme. Both types are called Thymus vulgaris or common thyme. If you see a recipe which calls for simply thyme, you can never go wrong using English thyme or the German winter variety.

German winter thyme grows a little bit stockier than the English, in my experience. It grows woodier and very sturdy. The flavors are very similar—the German is perhaps a little more pungent.

Propagating thyme from seed is not a quick endeavor. (Click here to read more about propagating herbs.) It will take about 5 to 6 weeks before these seedlings are ready to be planted in a garden or herb container. If you have healthy, thriving thyme in your garden it's easy to make new plants simply by digging out a section of the plant with roots and transplanting it to another spot. If your thyme is in a container, take it out of the pot and cut the plant in half or in sections for more plants. Don't over-water the new plants; do keep them moist until they settle into their new home.

Thyme seedlings.

It's still very hot here in Texas, but it didn't break 100 degrees yesterday. Today and tomorrow are forecast to stay in the 90s as well. I also noticed the forecast lows to be below 70 degrees the next few nights. The plants will love the cooler night temperatures, even if it's just cooler by a few degrees. When it stays hot at night, as it does here for weeks and weeks, it really stresses the herbs.

Many of our favorite herbs are from very warm environments such as the Mediterranean. Even these herbs, which thrive in hot daytime temperatures, start to suffer when the nights stay above about 75 degrees for weeks on end. So, the upcoming cooler nights should help make our herbs perk up and even put on new growth. The lemon balm I pruned to the ground a couple of weeks ago is already showing signs of fresh new growth.

If you live in the southern half of Texas and you haven't pruned back leggy herbs yet, go ahead and do it now. You don't have to prune heavily if the plants still look good. But, if you have plants that are all stem with a few leaves at the top, go ahead and cut those stems down to several inches above the soil. With cooler temperatures and shorter days, those plants will put on a flush of new growth this fall.

If you live in the northern half of Texas, where it will get colder sooner, prune lightly if the plants look leggy. Otherwise, leave them alone, harvest and enjoy your herbs this fall.

I thought I'd share this picture of Miss Ruby Begonia (my cat) under our big oak tree lounging in the chive flats. On a hot afternoon, it's cool there and the pots are a bit damp, making a fragrant, comfy place for napping. I'll be repotting the chives when she moves on to a sunnier spot as the weather cools a bit.

Ruby Begonia lounging in the chives.

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
Marcus Tullius Cicero

As a kid, I actually looked forward to getting hiccups, all thanks to my dad’s distinctive cure. He’d sit us on the kitchen counter, measure a spoon full of sugar and tell us we had to swallow it all. My hiccups routinely occurred around bedtime, so much to my mother’s chagrin, I rarely fell asleep on time after taking my “hiccup medicine.”

I’m not a sugar fiend anymore like I was during my childhood. Nowadays when I get a hiccup attack I hold my breath until I turn blue in the face. Or for a particularly rough bout, I’ll try to drink a cup of water backwards and usually spill most of it on the floor.

By cdw9/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wainwright/

I’d always I thought that, because hiccups are caused by spasms of your diaphragm, you had to alter your breathing pattern to stop them. However, you also need to increase the level of carbon dioxide in your blood, which is how certain herbs can help. 

It turns out that there are as many hiccup remedies as there are hiccups. Traditional herbal cures include eating a whole chervil plant, drinking anise or taking tinctures of mustard or peppermint. Today, many experts recommed specific herbal tinctures to reduce hiccup suffering. For instance, Life Mojo suggests boiling a combination of cardamom and mint leaves.

In his article, Fix-ups for Hiccups, Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa says that there are many herbal hiccup cures but unfortunately not all of them work. Also, if your hiccups last longer than three days you should see a doctor. His holistic recommendations include plain yogurt and salt, honey and castor oil, watermelon, Kaki tea, and fresh ginger. Surprisingly, both white sugar and cardamom were on his list as well. So I guess my dad’s hiccup medicine wasn’t just an “old wives’ tale” after all.

Have you tried herbs to get rid of hiccups? What method works for you? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Cynthia Meredith has been gardening with herbs, reading about herbs, gardening with herbs and discussing herb gardening in Texas for more than 20 years. She has owned The Herb Cottage (www.theherbcottage.com) for over 10 years, selling herb plants to people all over our state.

It's still hot and dry here in my part of south-central Texas. We had a couple of showers last week, but the tiny bit of rain made very little difference to the overall conditions. It is mid-August, however, and it's time to look ahead to the cooler days of fall (and perhaps even some rain). So, what to do in the herb garden this week?

Well, this week I'm doing lots of seeding of herbs and vegetables for fall!

Even though it's still very hot, by the time any herbs started now are ready for the garden, it'll be late September soon, and somewhat cooler. At least the days will be shorter and perhaps the nights will be a bit cooler. So, what to plant?

Cilantro, a favorite herb in this part of Texas, loves the cool temperatures of fall. And it's one I get requests for at every market, even in the heat of summer. Sadly, cilantro, or coriander as the seed is known, just does not perform well in our summer heat. The seed will sprout but the plant will bolt, go to flower and then seed almost immediately. There won't be any of those spicy, flat, flavorful leaves we love. This one has to be grown from fall into spring. Or if you're in the northern part of our state, in the fall and then again in the spring until the weather gets very hot. (Click here to read more about cilantro.)

Dill is savory, piquant and a must for potato salad, egg salad and with salmon and other fish. Dill thrives in the cool weather of fall. If you live in the northern or western part of the state, dill will not overwinter for you, so now is the time to direct seed it in beds or in containers so you'll have enough to harvest for winter. Dill is very easy to preserve. You can dry both the leaves and flowers—they hold their flavor well—or simply clip the leaves and flowers, place them in a plastic baggy and pop them into the freezer. (Click here to learn more about drying herbs.) When needed take out the parts you desire, close the baggy and put it back in the freezer. Chop or tear the dill and add it to your favorite recipe. (Click here for our recipes for dill.) If you have a long enough growing season, and enough seeds, dill makes an excellent addition to breads and seasoning mixes. If you had a dill patch in the spring that flowered and went to seed, simply water the area and you will be rewarded with new dill plants. If you've been getting rain, perhaps you are already seeing baby dill sprouting. Lucky you!

Chervil is under-appreciated, but so flavorful and dainty looking. (Click here to read more about chervil.) It sometimes goes by the name of French parsley, has a mild anise flavor that compliments fish dishes perfectly, has finely cut leaves, and is very ornamental. Try it planted with lettuce, mesclun mix or edible flowers for a winter salad garden. In the southern part of the state, chervil appreciates a little afternoon shade, but will do well in a mostly sunny spot in other areas over the winter. (Click here to try our Lemon-Butter Sauce with Chervil.)

Parsley is a highly nutritious, multi-use and indispensable herb. If your parsley didn't make it through the summer, this is a perfect time to start new plants from seed. Be patient though as parsley seed can take from 1 to 2 weeks to germinate. If you direct seed it, plant fairly close together so you have a nice, thick row. (Click here to read more about parsley.)

Curly parsley is a very attractive ornamental herb for the winter with its rich evergreen color and complex leaf shapes. Flat leaf, or Italian parsley, is not as ornamental but many people favor it for its culinary uses over the curly varieties. I suggest, "Why not plant both?"

If you've had a challenging summer with your garden, do not despair. Fall will be here, so in the meantime get a head start on your fall and winter herbs by seeding now. If you're very successful, you might have plants to share with friends or you might just have to expand your own herb plantings.

It may be the thought of winter – the death, the icy roads, the erratic temperatures … the ridiculous decorations – that makes me want to protect my garden indoors every autumn. The thought of that perfect pot of mint, that fragrant rosemary or even those tangy chives sullied and soggy under the lush Kansas snow is too much. Woe is winter.

But I’m a realist – there are only so many things that can survive indoors, and without a lot of experience or a gardening expert on your side, it can prove difficult to predict what will and what will not work.

Fortunately for us, we live in the golden age of technology, and there are tools in our belts fit for such a project. Meet EasyBloom, your plant diagnostician in a box.

The premise is easy – plant, plug and play. Plant the EasyBloom anywhere in your garden, indoors or out, for 24 hours, plug it into your computer, and download a reading of all the environmental conditions for that particular spot, including soil moisture, light exposure, humidity and average temperature.

Then, EasyBloom’s website will generate a list of plants that would grow well in those conditions, helpful when you’re planning for next year’s garden. Explore thousands of plants in its extensive database and connect with other like-minded gardeners from amateur to extraordinaire.

After you’ve downloaded the information from one spot in your garden – say, where your mint pot lives – then, try different sites inside your home that might be environmentally similar. You will not find conditions that are exact and you are bound to lose some plants no matter what you do. But with the EasyBloom you can figure out where in your home might provide you with the best probability for survival or where to shelter your plants for the cold to come.

Cool, huh?

This late in the summer, conditions are ripe to begin testing environmental conditions indoors and out, so you can plan on starting the great plant migration in late September and early October.

The EasyBloom is easy-to-use and relatively affordable, considering how much you have probably already invested in your plants, and it could only be improved with the ability to test soil acidity or pH. But, all in good time, I suppose.

The EasyBloom retails on the company’s website for $59.95 and makes a great gift for any age.

For a full list of tips and tricks on indoor gardening, check out my post, Five Tips for Indoor Gardens, or, for any gardening question, shoot an e-mail over to tmiller@ogdenpubs.com.

If you’re an herbie, then chances are you love tea. Any herbalista does! (Click here for our favorite iced tea recipes.) But did you know that your herbs also enjoy tea? Just like people consuming tea, garden herbs and weeds provide nourishment and nutrients for growing plants. Although many gardeners can never brew a batch of compost tea and still be successful with their gardens, there are times when crafting a liquid fertilizer can really improve the quality of your soil. Such as …

• when plants are showing little to know sign of growth and showing obvious signs of stress or disease.

• when plants appear to need an extra boost.

• when you have only a small amount of compost and widespread poor soil conditions. (Compost tea makes the benefits of compost go farther.)

Compost tea is made almost exactly how it sounds—steeping compost in water. You can apply compost tea to your lawn and/or garden using a pump sprayer, hose-end sprayer or a watering can. First, choose which herb to use in your compost concoction. Athough it's best to use an herb found most common in your garden, not every herb has the nutritional content your lawn needs. Try these herbs, which have a variety of nutritional content:

Russian Comfrey
Photo by Barry Cornelius/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/barrycornelius/

• Comfrey: calcium, phosphorus, potassium, vitamin A, C and other trace materials.
• Nettle: vitamins A, C, and K, calcium, magnesium, phosphate, phosphorus, potassium, boron, bromine, copper, iron, selenium and zinc.
• Parsley: vitamins A and C, iron, copper and manganese.
• Dandelion: vitamins A and C, calcium and potassium.
• Stinging Nettle: magnesium, sulphur and iron. (You Grow Girl)
• Horsetail: silica. (You Grow Girl)

(Click here to read more about why plants need tea.)

To create your herb tea fertilizer, fill a 5-gallon bucket with your pruned herb of choice and pack it in tightly. (Using a heavy object such as a brick or a stone may help keep the herbs tightly packed.) Next, pour in water until it reaches the top of your container and let the mix sit for a day or two until the leaves break down. Place in direct sunlight and remember to stir every now and then. Strain the mixture and start composting.

(Read The Complete Compost Gardening Guide.)

Have you ever used a liquid tea fertilizer? What herb do you like to use for your herbal concoction? Drop me a comment and let me know!

I tend to go through obsessive routines with food. See, once I’ve found a relatively easy meal that’s tasty and healthy, I make it repetitively until the thought of it nauseates me – then I know it’s time to move on.

About this time last year I made shrimp and veggie stir fry almost daily, but I haven’t made it since. It just seems easier to buy the same groceries, instead of wasting food for meals that I don’t get around to making. This habit drives my friends and family crazy, “How can you eat that again?!”

(Click here to learn how to reel in runaway costs the bistro way.)

My latest addiction is eggs. I had to cut back on my boiled eggs when I realized that the amount of cholesterol in one egg, 213 milligrams, is almost as much as the recommended daily total of cholesterol, 300 milligrams. And now I’ve found another reason to be concerned – excess cholesterol could contribute to weakened memory.

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

For the past few years my short-term memory has been horrible. I remember things from my childhood that no one else seems to and I memorize study-material just fine. However, I struggle with questions like, “What’s the last movie you saw?”

Although I doubt the eggs are a major contributor to my weak short-term memory, I’ve realized that I need to take better care of my brain and find some solutions. Especially when in a recent conversation I was stuck trying to remember the name of the daily supplement I take to improve my memory – oh, yeah, ginkgo biloba. 

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

In a study from The Journal of American Medical Association last fall, ginkgo biloba was proven to prevent the spread of existing dementia attributed to Alzheimer’s Disease, but if you have a more casually weak memory, like mine, it may not be the best herbal solution.

Instead try rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea), which can improve memory by stimulating the immune system, or bacopa (Bacopa monnieri), which works to ease anxiety and decrease blood pressure. The best way to improve memory retention is to reduce stress, but sometimes stress just isn’t avoidable. So if you want additional help, take a look at the list of alternative herbs I’ve compiled below.

Maybe, with the help of these herbs, my conversations will finally stop including, “I’m sure you’ve already told me about it, but could you tell me one more time?” or “You never told me that!” – Only to be proven wrong once again.

Photo by Lorianne DiSabato/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zenmama/

Herbs to magnify your memory:

Cynthia Meredith has been gardening with herbs, reading about herbs, gardening with herbs and discussing herb gardening in Texas for more than 20 years. She has owned The Herb Cottage (www.theherbcottage.com) for over 10 years, selling herb plants to people all over our state. 

I was checking to see if there had been any comments on the blog post I wrote last week, and saw a link in the section Related Content called Lucious Lavender: A Guide to Growing and Using Lavender. What a wonderful article Kathleen Halloran wrote! Although the article was written in 1994 the content was as fresh and up-to-date as, well, a bouquet of lavender flowers. I could picture the areas she talked about in New York, Oregon and Hollywood, California where people had planted their lavender to beautify various locations. I was looking for information on growing lavender in Texas—of course—and there was a little bit at the end of the article. Kathleen referenced Madalene Hill and Gwen Barclay, our beloved Texas herb gurus. Had the article been written about five years later I believe Kathleen would have also been writing about the Texas lavender industry.

Although it's still in its fledgling state, Texas now boasts the Blanco Lavender Festival in Blanco, Texas, and a Lavender Festival at Becker Vineyards in Stonewall, Texas. Also, there are numerous lavender growers in the Texas area who are both commercial and recreational. 

Lavender Hills in Blanco, Texas 

Lavender Field at Becker Vineyard in Stonewall, Texas

Growing lavender in Texas is a challenge, especially if you live close to the Gulf Coast where the summers stay humid, as well as hot, or in eastern Texas where the soil is very heavy "Texas Gumbo" soil. The summer atmosphere dries out a bit in the Hill Country and northern Texas, so growing lavender is a lot easier. If you love lavender as much as many of us herbies do, you must have lavender growing somewhere—in your herb garden, in your container garden or even in your house—no matter how difficult.

Spanish Lavender (L. Stoechas)

The variety you choose to grow should be determined by your location. If you live where it stays humid in the summer and rains a lot—most years, anyway—the lavandin lavenders do well. These are the hybirds such as 'Provense', 'Grosso' and 'Sweet'. Spanish lavender (L. stoechas) is another lavender variety that tends to do well for me.

There are many more choices if you live in the western or northern part of the state. Many of the L. angustifolia varieties do well in these locations and will even survive the winter, as long as you can protect them a little from the drying winds of winter.

Spanish lavender can be successfully grown from seed and will flower the first year. The others, the lavandin, must be purchased as transplants or propagated from cuttings taken from a friend's plant.

Here are some links to good lavender growing information for Texas:

• White Acres Farm 

• Back Yard Gardener- This website offers more general information, but it is very complete. It explains the most common diseases found in lavender plants.

Lavender Flower, courtesy of White Acres Farm

One thing I have learned about growing lavender in southern Texas is that a good gravel mulch goes a long way to helping your plants along. This is only practical, of course, in a smaller garden setting, or even in a container garden. The idea is that the gravel helps dry the air around the plant on humid mornings, which we usually have during the summer. The other benefit of the gravel mulch is that it keeps soil from splashing on the underside of the plant, which can help keep diseases down. 

If you love lavender, don't despair, no matter where you live in Texas—there is a lavender that you can grow! Even if you have one pot on your deck or patio, you'll still be able to enjoy the aroma, pastel look and even, perhaps, be able to harvest a few flowers to make Lavender Lemonade.

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
—Marcus Tullius Cicero

It’s that time of year again. Going back to school means late night cram sessions, unhealthy eating habits (coffee and chocolate anyone?) and mind and body exhaustion. Try these herbs to help relieve stress, accelerate energy and induce sleep.

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

Herbs for Stress

When all of the tasks start to pile up at once and it seems like you can’t get anything done, try these herbs to calm your nerves.

• Chamomile: Make a chamomile tea to calm nerves and relieve stress headaches. After, put the warm tea bags on your eyelids to relieve tired eyes.

• Lavender: Use lavender to help concentrate on a task. Sniff the dried flowers or lavender essential oil to stimulate your brain when you’re down.

• Geranium essential oil: Before going into an exam or giving a speech, sniff some geranium essential oil to relieve butterflies in your stomach.

Herbs to Accelerate Energy

Lay off the coffee and energy drinks. They may increase energy for a while, but you’ll be sure to crash after the caffeine high wears off. Try these herbs for a natural way to boost energy.

• Rosemary: Increase your energy with an invigorating bath. Combine ½ cup rosemary, and ½ cup ground almonds and 2 cups plain rolled oats in a terry cloth bag or washcloth and float in the bath.

• Thyme: Get the energizing scent of thyme by filling a spray bottle with 2 or 3 drops of thyme essential oil and a ½ cup of water and spraying it in the air. Thyme’s also delicious with meats and sauces.

Herbs to Stimulate Sleep

With a thousand different worries popping up in your mind, getting sleep can be difficult. Try these herbs to get some rest.

• Anise: Chew the seeds by themselves or add them to hot milk to make you sleepy. Also try filling a small bag with anise seeds and place it by your pillow so you can breathe in the scent.

• Linden: Brew linden flowers in a tea to induce sleep. Or find linden flower tea in health food stores.

How do you cope with the stress of school? Have any herbal tips? Leave me a comment and tell me about them.

Sarah Powell, an herbalist, medical anthropologist and proprietor of the natural bath & body business, Lilith’s Apothecary. Find her shop at www.lilithsapothecary.etsy.com and her blog at www.lilithsapothecary.wordpress.com for more natural body care tips and recipes. 

If it is one thing we can all agree on, it is that having clear, glowing skin is the most important factor to your appearance. Clear skin boosts one’s self-esteem, self-confidence, and certainly makes us all feel good! Our skin is also a great reflection of what is going on internally, especially if we are experiencing an imbalance of some kind. A healthful life usually results in healthy skin.  However, normal hormonal changes, dietary problems, and toxic drugs or chemicals can certainly take their toll. 

This is the first in a series of posts devoted to caring for one’s skin naturally, and here we start with caring for the skin from the inside out.  Skin estheticians will acknowledge that healthy skin is directly related to proper skin care, which includes good nutrition. Skin is nourished by the bloodstream, which gains nutrients from the gastro-intestinal tract. In conversation, Mary Friehofner, a Philadelphia esthetician and acne specialist, told me about a persistent denial in the medical community of any special correlation between sugar and acne. As someone who has suffered with acne herself, Mary said, “I know that I could almost feel and fuzzy or prickly feeling in my chin and jaw area (where I used to break out with acne) almost immediately after eating very sugary foods. Now western medicine has documented a release of hormones by the liver associated with intake of sugar and these hormones in some people initiate acne.”

So yes, yet again, the message is that “you are what you eat," or at least you are certainly affected by it! Herbalists have for centuries treated skin conditions with liver supportive and detoxifying herbs, as the liver is the responsible organ for processing fats, sugars, hormones, and chemicals we ingest, even if herbalists didn’t traditionally have the ‘science’ to back it up. There was plenty empirical evidence to suggest that supporting the liver can help correct many conditions, including eczema, psoriasis and acne. Skin conditions that result from hormonal imbalances, a common cause of acne, may require further hormone regulators in an herbal compound, but thankfully, we have many such allies to help with problem skin.  We will delve further into the treatment of skin imbalances with herbs in later posts in this series.

Nourishment on the inside should be the first step in treating the outside appearance. We often see topical products on the market promising clear, even skin tone, regenerative powers, or other chemicals and even toxic ingredients to cause skin ‘plumping’ to make the skin appear healthier and younger. It’s true that there are ingredients added to skin care products that can help prevent the development of fine lines and wrinkles and certainly there are others that may cause some regenerative ability, but flawless skin starts with what you put into your body.

The skin is an incredibly complex organ –your body’s largest—and contains several layers: the epidermal, dermal, and subcutaneous, all of which have functions that keep our skin fed by the bloodstream and enervated by our nervous system, protected from the outside, acting as a barrier to protect our vital internal organs from the outside. It is a somewhat permeable barrier, however, and what we put on the skin’s surface may or may not penetrate to our bloodstream below. This is why some chemicals, such as propylene glycol, that facilitate absorption of harmful compounds are so problematic and should be avoided. Our skin performs vital functions that include maintaining the body’s temperature, protecting us from biological invaders and physical, chemical, thermal, and electrical damage. It regulates moisture, excretes toxins via sweat, secretes sebum—our natural ‘moisturizer’ –which lubricates skin and keeps it from drying out. It metabolizes and stores fat and also converts ultraviolet rays into vitamin D, which enhances calcium absorption (Tourles, 1999).

One of the first steps we can take towards achieving beautiful skin includes making sure we ingest the most vital vitamins and minerals for healthy skin. Vitamin A (beta-carotene) is a fat-soluble antioxidant that is essential for growth and maintenance of skin tissue and proper functioning of mucous membranes. Vitamin A also speeds healing of acne and boosts the body’s immunity. B-complex vitamins are water-soluble and should be taken as a ‘complex’ rather than in isolated parts. This is what some call the ‘anti-stress’ vitamin that helps prevent acne and premature aging. It promotes healthy circulation and metabolism, and is also essential for wound-healing. Vitamin C is a water-soluble antioxidant that helps produce collagen in connective tissue, strengthens capillary walls, speeds healing, and helps protect against environmental stress. Vitamin D is a fat soluble nutrient that when combined with vitamin A, helps treat acne. It is gaining much recognition as a more important vitamin than we have realized in recent years, and recommended doses are currently being evaluated by regulatory bodies. Vitamin D, not even really a vitamin, may be more beneficial in much larger doses than we are accustomed to. Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant that oxygenates tissues, protects tissues, speeds healing of chronic skin conditions, and may decrease scarring. Mineral iodine aids in healing skin infections, increases oxygen consumption and metabolic rate in the skin; silicon aids in collagen formation, keeps skin taut, and strengthens skin tissues. Sulfur helps keep skin clear and smooth, while zinc promotes cell growth, boosts immunity, and helps treat acne along with vitamins A & B (Tourles, 1999). 

Fat is an essential component to your skin’s health and beauty. Without at least a thin layer of fat providing padding to support your skin’s structure, it can’t be beautiful! For years, we have been told by mainstream dieticians and advisors that fat is “bad” and should be avoided, and now it appears the health gurus are changing their minds! Mother Earth News published a great article outlining this debate, one subscribed to by the Weston Price Foundation for nearly a century.  Soy-based beverages are made with unfermented soy milk, which has its own controversy surrounding it, as indeed  its high content of phytic acids may block the uptake of vital minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and zinc.  In line with more whole foods, local movements, I prefer sourcing locally produced raw or minimally processed milk and certainly drink whole milk and full fat cream as much as I desire.

Whether we are talking about the fat on our bodies, or the fat we ingest, we’ve been ‘trained’ to think of all of it as bad, but without fats, we can’t have well-lubricated, glowing skin with the roundness and shape we associate with beauty.  Saturated fatty acids are solid at room temperature and include animal fats, coconut oil, shea butter, and cocoa butter.  Monounsaturated fatty acids are liquid at room temperature, including oils of olive, avocado, cashew, salmon, and halibut. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are also liquid at room temperature but have a different molecular structure; they include oils of walnut, flax, safflower, sunflower, and corn.  Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) are vitamin-like substances that have a protective effect on the body. Your body cannot manufacture them, but you must obtain them from the food you eat. As little as 2 to 3 teaspoons per day will provide you with the EFAs you need. Omega-3 fatty acids are the super stars we hear so much about, and truly, with their potent anti-inflammatory abilities and superior healing qualities, these are an essential addition to our diets. Cold-water fish such as bluefish, salmon, mackerel, and tuna, as well as freshly ground flax, walnuts, and brazil nuts are all good sources. Omega 3’s provide wound-healing, arthritis relief and relief of other inflammatory conditions, healing for eczema and psoriasis, and assistance in balancing sebum production. We need them! Of course some fats are bad, but the only fats that I consider bad are the hydrogenated oils that dominate our processed food supply. Avoid those processed and ‘fast’ foods as much as possible, and you’ll be avoiding so-called ‘bad fats’ too.

Now that you have this information, what can you do with it?  While a multi-vitamin is often touted as a good idea in theory, it is much better to get your nutrients from natural sources, preferably whole foods, herbal infusions, and if necessary, bio-available liquid extracts. Most pill-shaped supplements are hardly bio-available at all, and most people don’t take the multi- vitamin with the necessary fat  that would provide absorption of many fat-soluble vitamins in the first place. Do your best to consume whole, unprocessed sources, of which there are myriad; many on-line sources identify superior sources of all the nutrients outlined above. Super-food supplements like spirulina, blue-green algae, dulse flakes, and bee pollen are a great addition to juices and smoothies. Nutrient rich herbal tonics—intended for regular, long-term use—are an even more wonderful choice for bio-available nourishment.

Remember that your skin basically shows what it takes in. The more refined sugars, ‘bad’ hydrogenated fats, caffeine, alcohol, pharmaceutical or narcotic drugs you ingest, the worse your skin will look. It goes the same for lack of sleep! When you don’t get your ‘beauty rest’, your skin will show it first with break-outs, bags under the eyes, or tired, dull skin tone. Check out the recipes below for boosting your body’s nutrition and contributing to healthy, vitalized skin. A regular smoothie, a multi-grain omega-rich muffin, fresh local plain yoghurt sprinkled with ground golden flax, or a bowl of pre-soaked, cooked oatmeal sprinkled with fresh, raw almonds or walnuts and plump goji or blueberries are all ways to boost your nutritional intake alongside your daily herbal infusion. Try the recipes below to begin to move towards creating healthy skin from the inside out:

Skin Food Smoothie

• 1 banana
• 1 cup strawberries or other berries, frozen or fresh
• 2 cups milk
• 2 teaspoons blackstrap molasses, rich in iron
• 2 teaspoons golden flax seeds, freshly ground
• 10 raw almonds, preferably blanched and skin removed
• 10 raw walnuts
• ¼ cup cooked oatmeal, pre-soaked,
• 2 teaspoons honey, preferably raw and locally sourced
• ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 to 3 ice cubes (if not using frozen fruit)

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth for 30 to 60 seconds. 

2. Drink throughout the morning or drink half in the morning and half for a snack later on. Makes approximately two  1½ cup (375 ml) servings.

*Inspired by Stephanie Tourles’ Skin-So-Smoothie (Tourles, 1999)
 
Fantastic Skin Herbal Tonic 

You can try this yummy infusion using tablespoons to measure each herb, but it’s even better to measure in ounces, store in a covered container and use for medicinal infusions consistently, over time. True medicinal-strength infusions use a lot of dried herb combined with a long steeping time to achieve optimum extraction of vitamins and minerals. 

• 1 tablespoon nettle leaf
• 1 tablespoon oatstraw
• 1 tablespoon alfalfa
• 1 tablespoon dandelion leaf
• 1 tablespoon red raspberry leaf
• 1 tablespoon rose petals
• ½ tablespoon rosehips
• ¼ tablespoon cinnamon chips, not the powder (or substitute 1 part spearmint)

1. Measure 5 to 6 tablespoons of the mix into a glass, heat-proof mason jar or similar container with a tight-fitting lid. 

2. Pour boiling water over the herbs and steep 4 -8 hrs or overnight.

3. Strain herbs and drink infusion either throughout the day or in 1 cup amounts. An infusion will last 3 days when kept refrigerated.

Herbal Sources:  Mountain Rose Herbs or Pacific Botanicals. For more on making herbal infusions, pop on by my blog at http://lilithsapothecary.wordpress.com/2008/11/05/herbal-infusions-part-ii.

References: Tourles, Stephanie (1999). Naturally Healthy Skin: Tips and Techniques for a Lifetime of Radiant Skin. MA:  Publishing .

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.

Cynthia Meredith has been gardening with herbs, reading about herbs, gardening with herbs and discussing herb gardening in Texas for more than 20 years. She has owned The Herb Cottage (www.theherbcottage.com) for over 10 years, selling herb plants to people all over our state. 

It is still very hot here in my part of Texas. Day after day the temperature reaches 100 degrees or above with no rain. I was in town this morning and two people stopped me to ask how to keep their plants alive in this weather. It surely is a challenge.

Two things I think will help preserve plants are pruning and mulch. If you live where there is water rationing, you might have to sacrifice some plants to save others. Annuals are generally the biggest water-users—even in the herb garden. The sweet and succulent basils that I wrote about last week definitely are not considered drought-tolerant. Harvest your basil, make pesto or make flavored vinegar and think about replanting it early in the fall for a later crop. Save your water for your big rosemary plant or your favorite antique rose. Basil grows quickly from seed; you can usually find transplants in the southern parts of Texas to plant it early in the fall. If you live in the northern part of Texas, you can take cuttings now. Root them in a glass of water in the kitchen and plant them indoors for the winter.

Also, prune those leggy oregano plants if they're wilting too quickly every day. If they've already bloomed, prune them back by about half their size. The following picture is before I pruned back this Santa Cruz Oregano.

You can see how leggy it is—it looks unhealthy and not very attractive. The next picture is after only about 15 to 20 minutes of work pruning. How much better the tractor tire bed looks.

My lemon balm looks very poor even though it gets afternoon shade. I generally prune my lemon balm during August, and this year I'm doing it earlier. When the weather cools down it'll grow out and againprovide me with wonderful leaves for tea and Lemon Balm Quick Bread (a favorite with anyone who's ever tried it!)

The other very important step that will help your plants through this hot, dry spell is to mulch, mulch, mulch. I stepped barefoot on a spot in my yard underneath the full sun that is not mulched. Yeow!! The soil was really hot! Imagine how the roots of the plants feel with that heat around them. Also, we all know that mulch conserves water as well as tempering the soil temperature.

I know other parts of Texas have been getting rain. I'd love to hear from some of you in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area or east Texas. How do your herb gardens grow this summer??

And, just so we never give up hope, here's a picture of the flowers that recently bloomed on that tough plant—garlic chives.

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
—Marcus Tullius Cicero

You can check out the Lemon Verbena Lady at her blog http://lemonverbenalady.blogspot.com.

When The Herbal Husband and I said yes to a garden tour this summer, I had envisoned taking out a huge clump of tansy that was trying to control my herb garden. 

The suspect plants are pictured in the left and part of this photo.

Then I started to see signs of life—beneficial life at that! So much for jetisoning the tansy! As the tansy was growing and swallowing up more and more of the back of my herb garden, I noticed the ladybugs were moving on to the Russian sage. 

They were taking a small tour of my herb garden. The ladybugs were nowhere to be found on garden tour day. I was hoping to show them off to the visitors in the garden. Maybe because it rained, they moved under the leaves to keep dry. They were back in full force today with the hot sunny day and welcomed visitors in my herb garden. I have joined the Lost Ladybug Project and uploaded my photos to their website. They identified my little darlings as multicolored Asian ladybugs (Harmonia axyridis). So think twice and check carefully before you want to take out that aggressive herb that is taking over your garden!

The perfect mix of seasonings can make all the difference when flavoring any dish. Last night, I made Spicy Sizzling Prawns with Mountain Rose Herbs' new line of Epicurean Organic seasoning blends. I used the Herbs De Provence, a refreshing blend of basil, tarragon, organic marjoram, thyme, lavender and fennel. The distinct aroma of this blend lends a clean flavor to this prawn dish. I also used the West Indies Rub, an exotic blend of ginger, fenugreek, coriander, mustard seed, black pepper, garlic, sea salt and other spices. This blend added a Caribbean spice. Together, the seasonings were a perfect mix for my prawns.

Photo courtesty of C Results Communications

Mountain Rose Herbs also offers a Macadamia Nut Oil, which has a nutty aroma and flavor but it does not overpower your food. I used 3 tablespoons of this oil to cover the bottom of my cooking pan. This oil also tastes great with sundried tomato rolls.

The Epicurean Organics line is Certified Organic by Oregon Tilth and Kosher Certified by Earth Kosher. They are non-GMO, irradiation-free, fairly traded and chemical free. Try these products together to flavor seafood. (I recommend prawns.)

I know a few guys and gals—I won’t name names—who are obsessed with enhancing their athletic performance and physical health. From protein drinks to creatine powders and quercetin supplements, they’re always out for the latest breakthrough in athletic technology. I have been caught up in this sporty fervor myself and been forced to drink protein concoctions from time to time. As long as they’re mixed with tasty fruit juices and yogurts, I’m fine, but protein powder and water – no thanks.

I begrudgingly agree that drinking protein powders after my workout does seem to help my energy and stamina. However, after reading Don Matesz’s article, Natural Healing: Making a Fresh Start, I realize that I might be getting more protein than I really need. I don’t need as much because my workouts are usually fast and furious rather than long and intense. I’m reluctant to rely on manufactured supplements, anyway. I’d prefer to get the most out of a good, healthy meal, instead of abstaining from calories and chugging protein.

Photo by size8jeans/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/newbirth/ 

To improve your game, you don’t necessarily have to look ahead for the next scientific supplement, just look around you. Researchers for The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research found in a study this year that consuming black currants before and after your workout can decrease muscle damage, reduce inflammation and boost immune systems. 

Photo by Quite Adept/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/quiteadept/

Another popular herbal classic, ginseng, is also a great natural supplement. Ginseng’s expansive family, Siberian ginseng, American ginseng and Asian ginseng, to name a few, can all help your performance. Although, a study in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, also done this year, didn’t find any conclusive evidence of ginseng’s performance enhancement, ancient practitioners from locals such as Russia and China, have consumed ginseng to enhance productivity, increase stamina and improve the immune system because of its adaptogen qualities.

Photo by whitney waller/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitneywaller/

Astragalus and schisandra are two more great options for herbal athletic enhancement because both exhibit adaptogen potential similarly to ginseng. Astragalus is especially beneficial to reduce inflammation and strengthen natural immunities.

I find the option of drinking a cup of tea made from any one of these herbs vastly preferable to the drinks I’m choking down after the gym right now.

Photo by meeg-el/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meeg-el/ 

What works best for your workout? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Although we all love the summertime feeling of freedom and warmth, we don’t always love what it does to our hair and skin. During the summer, we have to take extra care of ourselves to look our best. The chlorine and sun dry out our skin and our hair and sometimes it seems that we sweat all day long. A few of these recipes may prevent the summer from limiting our natural beauty.

If you’re having trouble staying clean because of your many hours spent having outdoor adventures, try the Rose Hip Mask:

This facial treatment of pureed rose hips and plain yogurt will leave your skin soft and smooth. Dried rose hips are available in many grocery and health-food stores. Simply soak them in some warm water for 15 to 20 minutes to rehydrate them and then follow the recipe as written.

• 10 fresh rose hips from unsprayed shrubs
• Water
• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt

1. Remove the stalk and blossom ends of the rose hips. Rinse the hips, place them in a small saucepan, and cover them with water. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes. Drain, then pour the rose hips into a blender or food processor and puree. Let it cool, then mix with the yogurt.

2. Spread the mask on your face and neck. Leave it on for 10 to 15 minutes. Rinse with cool water and pat your skin dry. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for as long as 2 weeks.

Photo by Carmen Sotuela/ Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carmensotuela/

When the weather gets hot and humid, stay cool by smoothing on some Cooling Peppermint Body Powder:

The fresh, clean scent of peppermint is an instant energizer. Mixing the essential oil into cornstarch makes a refreshing body powder.

• ½ teaspoon peppermint oil
• 1 cup cornstarch

1. Place the peppermint oil and cornstarch in a plastic zip-close bag or a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake the container well to combine the ingredients. Store the scented powder in a clean container with a lid. A large saltshaker makes a good dispenser.

2. Shake the powder on clean, dry skin or apply it with a powder puff.

Humidity can really get your hair on the fritz; keep it in place with Summer Braid Gel:

The small, shiny brown seeds are the source of linseed oil. When soaked in water, they form a gel that gives hair extra body and lift.

• 3 tablespoons flaxseed
• 1 cup water

1. Mix the flaxseed and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Off heat, let the mixture stand for 15 minutes. Strain out the seeds and allow the jellylike liquid to cool completely. Pour the gel into a clean container and cap it. The mixture will continue to thicken if left uncovered.

2. Apply a small amount to wet or dry hair as you would any other styling gel.

How do you keep yourself clean and gorgeous during the summer heat? Leave me comments and let me know!

Listening to music helps me get through just about any task. I have a playlist on my ipod for work and another one for walking up the hill to school. I’m actually addicted to making mix CDs for every occasion. When I drive from New Mexico to Kansas, I make a CD with some Willie Nelson and Patsy Cline. (Country is my first choice for this particular road trip because it fits the scenery.) 

I’ve wanted to make a gardening playlist for quite some time and I’ve finally accumulated enough songs to do so. Don’t get me wrong, I love the sound of Mother Nature but listening to some tunes will make tending to the garden a totally different experience.

Here is my list of songs that I would listen to while gardening. I would love to hear what songs you would add to this playlist, so please share!

Photo by pokpok313/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pokpok/

• Simon and Garfunkel, “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme” – A garden mix without this song? Are you kidding me?

• Peter Bjorn and John, “Young Folks” – This song reminds me of spring and it makes me want to be outside whenever I listen to it. It has a catchy beat and it has whistling in it, too! Any song with whistling is fine by me. 

• Booker T. and The MGs, “Green Onions” – This song makes me feel like I’m on a mission. It might give you the motivation to bring your beloved herbs indoors.

• The Kinks, “Village Green” – This is a great tune to skip to! I could also water some plants to it. 

• The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil” – Try tilling to this song. It might give you the motivation to dig and create new garden spaces.

• Ella Fitzgerald, “Give Me The Simple Life” – This one goes out to Samurai Sage, a.k.a. K.C. Compton.

• Manu Chao, “Mi Vida” – For some reason this song makes me want to cook. Maybe it would be good for planting your culinary herb garden. 

• John Denver, “Home Grown Tomatoes” – He’s right, money can’t buy home-grown tomatoes. Life is just so much better with home-grown tomatoes and this song to listen to while growing them.

Let me know if you have any more suggestions for my gardening mix by leaving a comment!

I think I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m an awful cook.  Desperate, really. But with a backyard of herbs, it’s tough not to do some experimenting and, with me, desserts are the way to go!

Here are some great recipes I’ve made, perfect for any mint-grower. And believe me, if I can make them, you can too!

Candied Mint Leaves:

Serve these easy-to-make candies as an after-dinner mint or a garnish to a sorbet. They’ll leave you with a surprisingly refreshing taste like you’ve never experienced.

My candied mint leaves were a big hit at my 4th of July party. I served them aligned in rows on a platter I bought from Natural Home magazine (which is now on clearance!)

• 1 egg white
• Small amount of water
• Handful of rinsed mint leaves (chocolate-mint, spearmint, peppermint, lemon-balm, orange mint and/or cinnamon-mint)

1. Beat egg white with water.

2. Dip or brush mixture on to mint leaves.

3. Coat mixture in granulated sugar.

4. Cool in refrigerator for one hour and serve. 

“Hint of Mint” Dark-Chocolate Truffles:

So easy to make and always in demand, these dark chocolate truffles can be a bad-cook’s best friend!

Inspired by truffle mushrooms, good chocolate truffles should have a fresh-from-the earth look. Pictured here are a few of my truffle variations rolled in cocoa: mint, orange-almond and coffee. I served them with a sprig of chocolate mint and I used a recycled glass bowl from Natural Home magazine (which is also on clearance!). 

• 1 large handful of freshly-cut chocolate-mint leaves (substitute peppermint leaves)
• 1 pound dark chocolate baking chips or baking chocolate bar, chopped
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

1. Rinse mint leaves and crush in a mortar and pestle until smooth. You can also chop them using a food processor or  just crush them with a spoon.

2. Pour chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate bars) and crushed mint leaves into a mixing bowl

3. Bring cream to boil in saucepan and immediately pour over chocolate chips. Let cool for 60 seconds

4. Next, take a whisk and, beginning in the center, very gently stir the mixture at the surface in small circles. As the cream melts the chips, you can continue to stir deeper and more quickly until the mixture is even and shiny. This smooth, almost pudding-like mixture is called a ganache.

5. Now, you should let the ganache chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. When you remove the mixture, it will have firmed and can be sculpted.

6. For my truffles, I used a small melon-baller to scoop spheres and rolled them in cocoa powder as a coat. You can also roll in crushed cookies, graham crackers, hot chocolate powder, or you can coat with chocolate syrup that hardens.

Substitutions:

By simply substituting other ingredients for the mint in this recipe, you can completely transform the flavoring of your truffles for a wonderful mixture of candies.

- Lemon Truffles: Substitute lemon balm and a pinch of lemon juice for the chocolate-mint leaves to punch up a citrusy flavor.

- Lime Truffles:  Peel, chop and mix-in half a lime and all its juice.

- Lavender Truffles: Crush and chop finely a handsome bunch with a touch of mint leaves to taste.

- Orange-Almond Truffles: Substitute freshly-chopped orange zest or orange oil extract and a small bag of chopped almonds.

- Coffee Truffles: Use instant coffee and a bit of cinnamon to taste. A little can go a long way in terms of flavor.

- Spicy Truffles: Add a few shakes of cayenne pepper (I would half this recipe with another variation of truffle if you’re not sure you’ll like it).

The variations really are endless, try ginger, white-chocolate and saffron, peanut butter, etc. Any basket of truffles would make for a thoughtful, homemade gift.

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

It’s time to stop going out for lunch and start brown-baggin’ it. Lara Starr and Lynette Shirk offer this advice in their new book, The Frugal Foodie Cookbook: Waste-Not Recipes for the Wise Cook (Viva Editions, 2009). Flipping through pages and pages of money-saving recipes, I realized this is just the book for me. I’m young, lazy and I continually forget to pack a lunch for work. Now, more than ever, is the time to really start saving money. I just graduated college and I need those extra dollars to get by. The problem is that I’m so sick of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but that’s all I have time to make in morning (my lunch is prepared five minutes before I rush out the door).

Photo courtesy of Viva Editions

The Frugal Foodie Cookbook is a great source for delicious, herb-infused recipes. Try this recipe for Roasted Garlic, Spinach, and Feta Pizza.

• 1 whole head of garlic, unpeeled
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ¼ large red onion, very finely minced
• 1 pound fresh spinach, washed, stemmed, and chopped
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ pound feta cheese, crumbled

* Roast the garlic before baking the pizza dough 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cut off the top of the head of garlic about ¼ inch from the top, exposing most of the cloves. Place garlic on a square of aluminum foil and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Wrap the foil around the garlic, covering completely. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until soft to the touch. Let the bulb cool, then squeeze the soft garlic into a small bowl.

Make the Sauce

1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large, lidded skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the spinach, cover the pan, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until wilted. Stir in the vinegar and salt. Cook uncovered, stirring, for about 2 minutes more. If the spinach is very wet, transfer to a mesh strainer and press with a wooden spoon to remove excess liquid.

2. Brush the prebaked pizza crust with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Spread the roasted garlic over the olive oil. Add the spinach in an even layer and top with the crumbled cheese. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes.

With a cat, a sink full of dishes and teeming garbage, my house is in constant need of air freshening. My stand-by method of air freshening was burning incense, but I quickly run out of incense to burn. As a resutl, I decided to switch to a plug-in air freshener. Although I’ve missed the relaxing waft of incense smoke, I haven’t missed dusty ashes covering my book shelf. The absence of visible smoke, however, does not mean that my air is clean. The invisible chemicals ejected into the air from my plug-in air freshener may be just as harmful as the smoke was, if not more.

Photo by CM Sims/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragmentsofsobriquets/

It turns out that some automatic air fresheners emit chemicals such as phthalates. According to a 2007 study by the Natural Resources Defense Council, these chemicals can disrupt hormone levels and lead to reproductive abnormalities.

I don’t think I’ll revert back to incense with gusto because a recent University of Minnesota study indicates that excessive usage can contribute to respiratory tract cancers. 

Instead, my new favorite freshening friend has become a potted chrysanthemum. Chrysanthemums, as well as other indoor plants, offer a number of health and freshening benefits. Specifically, they can neutralize airborne chemicals such as formaldehyde, benzene and carbon monoxide. In a clean air study, done jointly by NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America, houseplants were proven to effectively remove up to 87 percent of air borne pollutants within 24 hours.

Another alternative to mainstream air fresheners are pure essential oils. These oils can be used with diffusers or nebulizers found at your nearest health food store or online.

While I will give household plants and essential oil diffusers a try, I can’t completely give up incense; it is just too much a part of my cleaning routine.

How about you? Have you found any natural air fresheners that work great at your place? Leave a comment and let me know!  

When the weather gets warm, my socks and shoes come off. I like my feet to feel free and therefore spend most of my time barefoot during the summer months. But the constant wear from my lack of shoes leaves my tootsies dry and callused.

If you go barefoot like me and your feet need some TLC, or if you just want your feet to look great in some strappy sandals, try this five-step natural pedicure.

Step One: Soak and Relax

Light some candles and unwind by soaking your feet in a bath of warm water for 10 minutes. Add 1 cup of baking soda and ½ cup of borax to soften calluses to remove rough skin more easily. For a fresh scent, also add a few drops of an essential oil, such as lavender or peppermint.

Step Two: Deep Cleanse

After soaking, soap up your feet and thoroughly scrub them with a natural bristle foot brush. To make a revitalizing foot soap, combine 4 ounces of unscented liquid body soap with 10 drops each of rosemary essential oil, lavender essential oil and peppermint essential oil in a plastic bottle.

Photo By Diva Bex/Courtesy Flickr
www.flickr.com/photos/bexshots/

Step Three: Smooth Your Feet

Finish the foot bath with an exfoliating scrub. Try this Peppermint Foot Scrub.

• 1/4 cup cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon almond oil
• 3 drops peppermint essential oil

1. Combine the ingredients and add enough warm water to make a thick paste. Massage your feet with the scrub, paying special attention to rough, callused areas.

2. Rinse well with warm, soapy water.

Step Four: Moisturize for Soft Feet

Pat your feet dry and slather them with a rich moisturizing cream. Massage a small amount of the cream into cuticles and nails or use this cuticle and nail butter. Gently push back cuticles with the blunt end of an orangewood stick; don’t cut cuticles, they help protect the nails and keep bacteria out.

Step Five: Trim, Shape and Buff

Trim toenails straight across. Prevent ingrown toenails by not cutting nails too short and rounding the corners of the nails. File toenails with an emery board in one direction, following the natural shape of your toenails. Finish by buffing nails with a nail buffer. 

This easy (and inexpensive!) do-it-yourself pedicure will leave feet soft and refreshed.

Do you have any tips for keeping feet from getting dry and callused during the summer? What are your natural foot care remedies? Tell me about them in the comment section.

Growing up in Hawaii, I would camp on the shore, hike around volcanoes, relax at the beach, swim in waterfalls, kayak and bike down beautiful trails. (It was a rough life, but someone had to do it!)

Unfortunately, despite my previous experiences, I always seemed to return home with a pink glowing aura around my burnt body. The Hawaiian summer sun is relentless! Before I could even step out of the car, my mom would fill my ears with her endless speech on the benefits of using more sunscreen. She said I didn’t use enough sunscreen to start out with and that I had neglected to reapply. Nonetheless, the damage was done.

Once I got home the “ritualistic process” would begin: My mom would start a cool shower for her burnt, crispy daughter and then I would douse myself in aloe vera.

Aloe was my number one remedy as it would soothe my skin and cease the burning sensation. What more could you ask for when you feel like you’ve been deep-fried? The miracle plant also relieves thermal burned skin and it stimulates wounds to heal quicker.

There are a plethora of aloe plants throughout Hawaii and extracting the gel is as easy as snapping off a leaf. The aloe leaf is like a hallow tube and clear gel occupies the space. If you extract aloe for skin related purposes, make sure the gel is clear and not yellow. The yellow juice is found in the resin canal cells of the plant and acts as a laxative.

Even though I currently live in Denver, I still do many of the same activities I did in Hawaii. With the high elevation and the summer sun, I still manage to get burned (regardless of the amount of sunscreen I use). Fortunately, a bottle of aloe vera is always close by. 

Marguerite Dunne is a city girl and traveler. Visit her website at www.herbs-on-hudson.com or listen to her radio show, The Urban Herbalist, on www.wtbq.com. Marguerite was also the third place winner in The Herb Companion's essay contest, "Looking Forward to Herbs."

It's officially summertime. The fish are jumping, the catnip is high, the birds and the bees are busy gathering, the plants are busy growing and some herbalists are busy brewing up herbal recipes for skincare lotions and creams. But what about taking care of your skin from the inside?

In The Practicing Herbalist, master herbalist Margi Flint does an outstanding job of explaining Chinese Facial Analysis, illustrating how the laugh lines around your mouth and the lines across your forehead are reflections of a backed-up colon. Other lines are also connected to toxic body sites.

Here are a couple of my favorite herbs that work from the inside to help your skin shine on the outside. 

• Burdock (Arctium lappa). My favorite blood cleanser, with an affinity for the epidermis. So good, it helps with psoriasis and poison ivy. 

• Red clover (Trifolium pratense). An antibacterial agent. It’s been effective with many skin disorders including athlete’s foot.  It also helps with cough, colds and burns. 

• Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica). A safe and effective laxative; also useful for clearing impurities out of the blood.

• Boldo (Peumus boldus). A gentle remedy for the liver, gallbladder and digestion.  
          
Helping to clean the digestive system and liver will assist clearing the body of toxins so that epidermis eruptions, pimples, and rashes don’t have a chance collecting and dispersing on the skin.    

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.

I plan to go camping this summer but don’t want my fun ruined by bug bites, bee stings or poison ivy. With my luck though, I’ll spend most of the camping trip itching my legs rather than enjoying the wilderness. Preventive measures – bug sprays and campfires – can only go so far; try our herbal remedies to soothe those common camping complaints. 

Camping Ailment #1: Poison Ivy  

Prevent poison ivy rashes by learning how to identify them. Poison ivy grows as a vine or a shrub. Most often it coils around trees or along the ground, but it can also form into upright bushes.

The leaves of poison ivy consist of three pointed leaflets. The leaves have a reddish color in the spring, are green in the summer, and have various shades of yellow, orange or red in the fall.

If you do catch poison ivy, try these herbs to soothe the itching:

• Grindelia, also known as gumweed, contains resins and tannins that help relieve pain and itching. Apply a grindelia tincture or spray directly to the rash.

• Jewelweed tends to grow near poison ivy. For instant relief, pick a branch, crush it and apply the juice directly to the rash. To keep jewelweed handy, make this jewelweed vinegar, which stays good for about a year.

• Oatmeal also works well to soothe irritated skin because it pulls out any remaining toxins. Use oatmeal for rashes that have already set in. Try adding a pot of oatmeal to a bath or grind together oatmeal and cold water to make a paste to spread onto the rash.

Photo by Colin Purrington/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cpurrin1/

Camping Ailment #2: Poison Oak

Poison oak grows mainly in the western United States. It usually grows as a shrub but can also grow as a vine.

Like poison ivy, poison oak usually has three leaflets; sometimes it has five. Its leaves are green in the summer, but red or pinkish in the fall.

The remedies for poison ivy work equally well for poison oak.

Camping Ailment #3: Bug Bites

To prevent bug bites, try diluting these herbs with vinegar or oils such as olive, almond, grapeseed, sesame or walnut, to deter mosquitoes, chiggers, gnats, ticks and biting flies.

• Lemongrass
• Eucalyptus
• Lavender
• Lemon Thyme
• Mountain Mint
• Citronella
• Sandalwood 

Unfortunately bug sprays don’t repel against all bugs all the time. Plus they evaporate quickly and require frequent reapplication. If you get bitten, try these herbal remedies for itching relief.

For mosquito or chigger bites, rub tea tree oil on the affected area.

For other bites, try peppermint essential oil or witch hazel extract. With its high concentration of menthol, peppermint works to curb itching caused by bug bites. Distilled witch hazel has astringent, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, which help soothe insect bites.

Lemon juice also relieves itching from bug bites. The juice works against bug saliva, the source of the itching. Baking soda and apple cider vinegar work similarly.

Photo by da100fotos/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/da100fotos/

Camping Ailment #4: Bee Stings

Apply the end of an onion (any type works) to an insect sting. The onion draws out venom and creates a soothing sensation.

Plantains also soothe stings. Crush a few leaves of the plant and apply the juice to the affected area.

Lotions or creams that contain calendula or chamomile can also soothe mild stings.

Enjoying the great outdoors can come with an itchy price. I hope these herbal remedies help. Do you have any natural remedies for soothing common summer ailments? Tell me about them in the comment section.

During the summertime, the living is easy; but what is the only unfortunate part about summer? Bug bites. Apparently, I have sweet-tasting blood that mosquitoes love to dive into, causing tons of bug bites all summer long. Repelling insects is a crucial strategy during the summer, especially to gardeners. Fortunately, there are great herbal bug repellent and itch-relief remedies that can easily be made at home. Be careful! First, try allergy tests to see how your skin reacts to some of these strong herbs.

Photo by James Jordan/Courtesy Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesjordan/

Next, try these two skin oil formulas:

Antiseptic Insect Repellent Skin Oil

• 1/2 cup almond, walnut or grapeseed oil
• 6 drops oregano, thyme or tea tree oil
• 4 drops each of up to four insect repellent oils (click here for a list of oils)

1. Add oil to a small clean bottle, preferably dark glass. Drop in the essential oils of your choice and shake well.

2. Label and keep in a dark, cool place.

Insect Repellent Neat's-foot Oil

• 1/2 teaspoon each orange, eucalyptus and citronella essential oils
• 7.5-ounce bottle neat’s-foot oil (available in sporting goods stores)

1. Add the essential oils to the neat’s-foot oil bottle and shake well.

2. Apply to boots as directed on bottle.

You can also try these two vinegar formulas. Use them separate or mixed together:

Herbal Insect Repellent Vinegar

You can pour vinegars into spray bottles for easy application.

• 2 cups fresh insect-repellent herbs (click here for a list of herbs)
• 2 cups apple cider vinegar

1. Crush herbs with a mortar and pestle. Place herbs in a glass quart jar and cover with vinegar. Use a plastic lid to seal the jar (vinegar corrodes metal).

2. Shake every day for 3 to 7 days. Filter vinegar within a week and use within the year.

Jewelweed Vinegar

Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) grows in the wild, wet places in the eastern United States. The juice of the plant is a traditional remedy for all sorts of skin ailments. To use it, simply crush the leaves and stems and rub the juice on itchy spots. To preserve and keep it handy, make this vinegar.

• 1 cup fresh crushed jewelweed
• 2 cups apple cider vinegar

1. Place jewelweed in glass quart jar. Cover with vinegar and seal with a plastic lid. You can leave the herb in for up to four weeks. Pour vinegar through a cheesecloth-lined strainer.

2. We add insect-repellent and antiseptic essential oils to the vinegar, 10 drops to a one-pint sprayer. Vinegars are good for about a year.

Finally, you could also try this formula for a foot powder:

Gardener's Foot Powder

• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup baking soda
• 10 drops each lavender and tea tree oils

1. Put cornstarch and baking soda in a jar; add essential oils and stir.

I am a big coffee drinker. I need the caffeine to keep me going while I’m at work and when I’m pulling all-nighters for papers and tests. As a result, I admit, I can get bad breath. Sure, I could brush my teeth 10 times a day, but who has time for that? Luckily, Health 911 and MotherNature have some herbal remedies to assist me with solving the issue.

Parsley is particularly high in chlorophyll, so there’s no doubt that it’s a great mouth-freshener. Parsley is often used as a garnish on platters when you’re out to eat, so take advantage of this free breath mint. Effective mostly against garlic and onion, munching on this herb after your meal will give you instant fresh breath. If swallowed, it will digest and can keep your mouth fresh for hours. Personally, this is my favorite post-meal freshener.

Photo by Sarah Norden

Chewing on some sage helps to neutralize mouth odors because of its essential and antibacterial oils. You can also gargle sage tea to freshen up or to help heal mouth sores.

Anise is known to eliminate the bacteria in your mouth that causes bad breath. Chewing on some anise seeds will get rid of the bad smell and it tastes like licorice. You can even boil it into a tea and drink it or use it as a mouthwash.

Photo by Whirling Phoenix/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kelloggphotography/

The oil from cloves is a strong antiseptic. Boil it into a tea or let it steep in some vodka to create a potent and effective mouthwash. Chew on a bit of clove to get a quick breath freshener as well.

So if you think you’re too afraid for the up-close-and-personal moments, just give one of these homemade herbal remedies a shot and let those concerns fade. Leave me a comment and let me know how you solve your daily bad breath!

When cooking, I never use herbs as the heart of a dish. A sprinkling of basil or parsley can add that extra zing of flavor that pushes a meal from blah to delish, so I have never considered using herbs as more than ingredients. But they can be!

Because it's summertime, I crave cool, refreshing salads. For your next meal, rather than falling back on the standard lettuce-tomato-cucumber salad, skip the lettuce and use fresh herbs instead. Try this mouth-watering mushroom and fresh herb salad, from The New York Times, which is rich in vitamins, beneficial flavonoids and volatile elements. The recipe uses "sweet- and sharp-tasting herbs, such as tarragon, chervil, parsley, wild arugula and dill."

(Read The New York Time's "A Focus on Fresh Herbs")

Try combining fresh herbs with mixed greens like in our Herb Companion recipe for a fresh herb and flower salad.

Photo by Vigilant20/Courtesy Flickr
www.flickr.com/photos/lynnszwalkiewicz/

Wild Spring Herb and Flower Salad

Serves 4

• 1/2 head romaine lettuce, washed, patted dry, and torn into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 head red leaf lettuce, washed, patted dry, and torn into bite-sized pieces
• 1/4 cup sweet violet flowers (Viola spp., the common wild perennial)
• 1/3 cup unsprayed sweet violet leaves, stems removed
• 12 small young yarrow leaves
• 1/4 cup arugula flowers or 8 arugula leaves
• 1/4 cup organic dandelion leaves, picked before flowering
• 12 tips each of two mild herbs, such as dill and lemon balm
• 3 tablespoons cold-pressed olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. In a large bowl, toss all the greens and herbs with the olive oil. Drizzle the rice wine vinegar over the greens and serve with salt and pepper on the side.

Not only do herb salads make for a refreshing change, but they also offer health benefits. The dark green color of fresh herbs indicates their high nutrition value. For example, parsley is a good source of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K and iron, while basil packs a punch with vitamin A, vitamin K, iron and calcium.

Do you have a delicious (and nutritious) herb salad recipe? What herbs do you think would make the best salads? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Whether you have children, a fast-paced job, or classes to take, we all lead hectic lives. The stress from our lives can bring on a lot of anxiety. As a student, I get stressed and anxious fairly often, but there are many herbs that can help ease this anxiety. Some of these herbs include kava kava, valerian, St. John’s wort, bugleweed, ginseng, and chamomile.

 According to www.iampanicked.com, kava kava can ease your anxiety level in just one week and can also help you sleep.

LoveToKnow tells us that valerian is very effective when it comes to healing anxiety. Valerian works as a sedative and seems to have the least amount of side effects of any anxiety-healing herb. It also can work within a week of consumption.

St. John’s wort can provide long-term treatment for anxiety according to LoveToKnow, although it can cause interference with some prescription drugs such as anti-depressants, birth control pills, cyclosporine, digoxin, and wafarin.

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

Holisticonline.com says that bugleweed can help soothe nerves as a way to treat anxiety.

Ginseng has stimulant properties, can help reduce anxiety and give you an extra energy-boost, according to iampanicked.com.

According to holisticonline.com, chamomile has a few anxiety-healing properties. It gently acts therapeutically on your nerves and can help to soothe an upset stomach.

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

Instead of risking addiction to anxiety drugs, try herbal treatment! Create teas or take capsules of these herbs for treatment. You can pick these herbs up at your local organic market.

It's been wonderful to write for The Herb Companion, Natural Home and GRIT. I'm excited about my herb cooking feature on quick pickling in the September issue. To date, I've written over 1,000 published articles, including features on gardening, green living, travel, beauty, healthy cooking and good eating.  You can reach me at lstarart@gmail.com.

When interviewing Chef Bruce Sherman for the July 2009 article, "Herbal Escape: North Pond Restaurant in Chicago", I was impressed by his reliance on herbs. Although he and his staff regularly pluck a rich, fragrant variety of herbs from the restaurant's own kitchen garden, he also relies on local farms for outstanding in-season herbs and other produce.

City Farm, Chicago; www.cityfarmchicago.org 

One of his suppliers is City Farm, just a short drive from his famous Lincoln Park eatery and the Chicago's Magnificient Mile. An ardent supporter, Chef Sherman is lavish in his praise of the organic offerings from this green oasis which thrives on only one acre by the intersection of Division Street and Clybourn Avenue. You can buy fresh, organically grown herbs at the City Farm farmstand, located on its site which borders the diverse neighborhoods of Cabrini-Green and the Gold Coast.

City Farm grows organic herbs on Chicago's near north side. Here Tim Wilson (left) and Ken Dunn (right) examine new fall turnips.

Sustainable urban farms such as City Farm are literally sprouting up all over the country. (Please forgive the pun.) This is excellent news for herb enthusiasts because many of these community-minded ventures grow and sell herbs, as well as herb plants. Urban farms can be an excellent source of formal or informal gardening instruction, which often includes herb cultivation. Also look for handmade herb-based products from the farm's own workshop.

Homeless Garden Project, Santa Cruz, California; www.homelessgardenproject.org 

Do you particularly love lavender? Not just the scent, but also the taste, color and texture? You can buy an amazing, creative array of lavender offerings from the Homeless Garden Project, located in Santa Cruz, California. This innovative program provides homeless men and women with job training and transitional services. The Homeless Garden Project cultivates organic herbs, produce, flowers -- and hope. Go to the online store at to buy Lavender Shortbread & Herb Biscuit Mix, Lavender Shortbread Cookie Mix, lavender sachets and more.

Greensgrow Farms, Philadelphia; www.greensgrow.org 

Another inspiring urban farm is a one-acre gem located near the heart of downtown Philadelphia. What's remarkable is that this pesticide-free farm was once a former toxic steel industrial site. Mary Seton Corboy, hailed as an urban agricultural hero, and her partner Tom Sereduk founded Greensgrow Farms over a decade ago -- making it one of the first urban farms in the nation. Today, Greensgrow Farms cultivates produce and flowers for Philly's grateful urban dwellers and restaurants. It also operates a CSA (community-supported agriculture) program with 65 local farms, a successful nursery, a farm stand, green roofs, and many community and educational programs. Of particular note are the herb plants that Greensgrow sells in its prolific nursery.

Urban Farms Near You

Throughout the nation, there are many urban farms that very much want and need your support. A quick way to find farms in your area is to conduct an online search for "urban farm" and the "city name." Also go to www.localharvest.org.

Do you have a favorite urban farm? Please share your thoughts with other readers in the comment form.

An herbal-themed gift basket will make a great present for your dad this Father’s Day. Whether he’s a cook, a gardener or enjoys an occasional spa day, giving him a variety of treats that incorporate herbs will make his day complete. Check out some herb-inspired gifts to include in your Father’s Day gift basket this year.

Your gift basket can be simple, inexpensive and still include a variety of gifts that cater to your dad’s interests. For example, my dad enjoys cooking with herbs from his garden, and his favorite snack is a cheese sandwich with a little Roma tomato and fresh basil (Ocimum basilicum). He grows basil in his garden, but he’s always looking to try a new cheese to put on his sandwich. I found this recipe for an herbed cheese that makes a wonderful spread on crackers and I plan on making the cheese or including the recipe in his basket. Here are a few ideas for herbal-themed treats to put in your Father’s Day gift basket.

Photo by Calvert Cafe & Catering/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37468351@N03/

• Make a botanical card: Create your own paper, embedded with bits of plants and delicious herbal scents. For instructions, read Easy-To-Make Herbal Cards.

• Herbal tea: Give your dad a variety of herbal infused teas such as chamomile (Matricaria recutita), yerba mate, peppermint (Mentha piperita) or green tea (Camellia sinensis).

• Herbal fragrances for men: Make your dad bath salts, potpourri or an air freshener. For recipes read Herbal Scents for Men.  

• Chocolates: Exotic chocolates flavored with herbs, such as lavender honey, garden mint and much more are great gifts for dad.

• A book for the gardener: Nancy Arrowsmith’s book, Essential Herbal Wisdom is a great gift for a gardener. Read this review for more information. 

These are just a few treats to fill your Father’s Day gift basket. I’m interested to hear what herbal-themed gifts you would give to your dad. Please share by leaving a comment.

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.

What are the health risks of chemical cleaners and which ingredients should we look out for? The more I read about harmful household cleaners the more I want to know about the chemical ingredients that make these products unsafe. Here’s a look at some of the problematic chemicals found in many household cleaners and some greener/healthier alternatives for you to try instead.

According to a 2006 study by the University of California Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, one of the most offensive common ingredients found in household cleaners, is ethylene-based glycol ethers, used commonly in cleaning agents. Also, chlorine bleach, often labeled as “sodium hypochlorite” or “hypochlorite,” is often found in household cleaners. It's  used to whiten fabrics or remove mold from surfaces. High-level exposure can irritate the lungs and cause chronic respiratory problems. Usually these conditions occur if you’re storing chlorine bleach in poorly ventilated rooms and breathing in its toxic fumes.  

Some other problematic chemicals found in many household cleaners include ammonia. Mild exposure to ammonia vapors may cause respiratory irritation; repeated or prolonged exposure to vapors may cause irritation, bronchitis, and pneumonia. Butyl cellosolve is a toxic ingredient used in some all-purpose cleaners, window cleaners and other household cleaning products. It's an eye irritant that has been linked to kidney and liver problems and is reportedly toxic to forming cells.

Here are some commonly used household products that should be avoided and a list of greener/healthier alternatives.

Photo by Rebecca Weeks/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marinegirl/385097057/sizes/m/

Avoid: All-purpose cleaners with butyl cellosolve or ammonia.
Instead: Make a simple, herbal all-purpose cleaner. It’s eco-friendly, healthy and only takes five minutes to make. The following ingredients are non-toxic and most of them you probably have on hand.

Avoid: Household bleach, used to whiten fabrics and remove spots, that contains chlorine bleach.
Instead: Try making a bleach/brightener substitute to brighten your clothes. Use hydrogen peroxide, water, lemon juice and tea tree oil (which contains antibacterial properties) instead of using bleach that contains harsh chemicals.

Avoid: Air fresheners with the chemical, isopar (deodorized kerosene). It is a moderate eye and skin irritant.
Instead: use essential oils such as lavender and rosemary to naturally scent your home.

Avoid: Carpet cleaners with butyl cellosolve.
Instead: make a lavender-ginger suds rug shampoo. All you need is water, vinegar, sodium lauryl sulfate, baking soda and a few essential oils. The lavender and ginger essential oils help if animal smells are a problem.                  

References: 
“Hazardous Ingredients In Household Products,” provided by the Cancer Prevention Coalition.  
Household Products Database, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

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

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.

With my very fair skin, all it takes is ten minutes under the harsh summer sun and I begin to burn. My usual sunburn remedy consists of slathering aloe vera onto my skin and then lying in front of a floor fan to cool off. However, aloe vera isn’t the only herbal remedy for burn relief. Many herbs can help protect skin and soothe it after a burn. Here are my four favorites.

1. Aloe vera, the common go-to sunburn remedy, helps heal and relieve skin. Whether it is in the form of a store-bought gel or came straight from its leaves, aloe leaves a noticeable cooling sensation on burned skin. This herb works most effectively on minor burns.

The juice from aloe leaves can help heal minor burns.

Photo by Powerhouse Museum/courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/powerhouse_museum_photography/ 

Try Pure Aloe Vera Gel by Aubrey Organics, $7.78. This four-ounce bottle is 98 percent organic.

2. Chickweed, best known for relieving itchy skin, also works well for healing sunburns because of its cooling effects. This herb can be used immediately by pulling some up from the ground and applying it to the affected area. Another method is to crush some with a mortar and pestle into a paste and bandage it on the wound.

3. Green tea, the delicious hot drink you sip to soothe a sore throat, also works to relieve sunburns. The antioxidants in this herb help heal skin damage caused by ultraviolet rays. You can benefit from applying the tea to the burn externally and also by drinking it.

Try this recipe for a soothing aloe-green-tea-lavender mist.

• 1/4 cup brewed green tea
• 1/4 cup aloe vera juice
• 1/4 teaspoon lavender essential oil

1. Mix together cool green tea, aloe and lavender essential oil in a spray bottle. Shake well. Spray liberally onto skin as often as desired.

2. Refrigerate, and use within two weeks.

4. Since lavender has anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties it is great for soothing sunburns. Add lavender essential oil to a cool bath for immediate relief.

Although these herbs work well for soothing sunburns, there’s nothing worse than having skin that resembles a tomato. The real key is prevention. When out in the sun, stay in the shade as much as possible and make sure to wear sunscreen.

For an organic sunscreen option, try SPF 30 Organic Lavender Face and Body Sun Protection by Tuscan Heights Lavender Gardens, $15.30.

References: Backyard Medicine: Harvest and Make Your Own Herbal Remedies by Julie Bruton-Seal and Matthew Seal (Skyhorse Publishing, 2009)

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.

Marguerite Dunne is a c ity girl and traveler. Visit her website at www.herbs-on-hudson.com or listen to her radio show, The Urban Herbalist, on www.wtbq.com. Marguerite was also the third place winner in The Herb Companion's essay contest, "Looking Forward to Herbs."

A friend asked me to be a guest speaker in her college class one night, with the noble task of explaining to her students how to get started using medicinal herbs. Twenty intelligent adults leaned forward as the spotlight was on me and I told the tale of how I got started with herbs. I talked about how the doctors had pumped me with drugs, which made me feel worse, and about how herbal roots and leaves were what gave me back my body.

One flustered 40-year-old lady raised her hand. She described, in scathing detail, her arthritis, hip replacements, autoimmune diseases and the various failing pill protocols the doctors placed her on and off and on and off for the past five years. She raged over a lopsided conversation she’d had with a young clerk in a health food store. Pounding her fist into her hand, to the beat of every spoken word, she intoned, “How do I know I’m getting the right medical advice when I go into a health food store?” 

What I would have liked to have said was, “So, you want to make sure this 18-year-old young woman in a health food store can give you the proper diagnosis to your illness, which three medical doctors and, collectively, 55 years of graduate medical school, have failed to correctly analyze? Did I get that right?”

It’s frustrating as heck when your body is going one way and you want it to go the other and nobody, but nobody, is giving you the right information and you just want some answers; when it isn’t like anything you or your friend has experienced before; when you did all the things the doctor told you to do! I remember how sick I was for three years after I stopped taking birth control pills: I lost my period, gained 30 pounds, got all kinds of allergies and suffered from 104 degree fevers for days. I went in for all kinds of tests and got all kinds of pills and shots from nine different doctors—nobody could tell me what was wrong with my body.

That was when an old and dear friend, turned me on to herbs. My friend took me to a chiropractor who adjusted my back and suggested I use aloe root and blue cohosh. Within two weeks, I got my period back for the first time in nearly three years and fifteen pounds fell off of me. I was sold!

My very first herb book, which I still recommend and now holds the highest place of honor on my bookshelf, was the original 1939 version of Back to Eden by Jethro Kloss (Lotus Press, 1997). Yeah, I know there are thousands of scientific studies about herbs and all kinds of texts with annotations written and efficient, systematic technobrews that have been sliced-and-diced-analyzed, investigated, footnoted, and refined, but after 30 years as a practicing herbalist, I still prefer the sweet sensibility of the wise, old healing shaman of the village. I learned so much from trying each herb. Sometimes, there is no exact name for one disease to explain all the knotty symptoms your body is showing. Locate which body system feels the most affected, and begin there. When anyone asks, I just say, “Start with one herb related to one health issue you want to work on.”  Jethro Kloss would approve.

Making your own household cleaners is a small investment upfront but, in the long run, is a cheaper and healthier alternative.

Homemade cleaners are toxin free and easy to make. If you want to know exactly what your cleaning products are made of, making your own is the best option. Homemade cleaning products will make your house smell fresh and keep it chemical free—without stretching your budget.

The recipes for homemade cleaners call for a list of basic ingredients that you probably already have on hand. If not, they can easily be purchased for cheaper in bulk. For example, baking soda, white vinegar, borax and liquid vegetable-based soap are needed to make the majority of these recipes. These supplies will last a long time, so instead of continually restocking these supplies and making several trips to the grocery store, purchase your most used products in bulk.

The most expensive of the ingredients you might need are essential oils. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), ginger (Zingiber officinale) and lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) will add wonderful scents to your cleaners; tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) will add antiseptic and antibacterial qualities to all of your homemade products. For other miscellaneous equipment, you may need spray bottles, sponges and a few labels to identify your cleaner. Some of these products, such as the spray bottles, can be reused and recycled.

Photo by astro twilight/courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dogbytes/

Many homemade recipes for natural cleaning products require a small amount of the more expensive ingredients. With that in mind, a 0.33-ounce bottle of essential oil should last you a while. Remember that essential oils are not required for all homemade natural cleaning product recipes. I made a bleach brightener and the only ingredient I had to purchase was hydrogen peroxide. The other ingredients I used were water and lemon juice (look for the results of my homemade cleaner in an upcoming blog).

In the end, you will end up saving money if you make your own cleaners—most of the ingredients are already under your kitchen sink and if not, they're cheap. Here is a brief cost comparison of the basic ingredients you will need to make homemade cleaners versus the cost of brand-name products.

Ingredients for Homemade Cleaners

• Baking soda: Arm and Hammer baking soda is $3.77-$4.00 for 4 pounds.
• Vinegar: Heinz Distilled White Vinegar is $2.19 for 32 ounces.
• Borax: 20 Mule-Team Borax is $4.79 for 76 ounces.
• Vegetable-based soap: Tea Tree Therapy Vegetable Based Soap is $2.31 for 3.5 ounce bars.
• Essential oils: $4.00-$10.00 for 0.33 ounces.

Common Brand-Name Products

• General purpose cleaner: Simple Green All Purpose Cleaner is $4.49 for 16 ounces.
• Glass cleaners: Windex Antibacterial Glass and Surface Cleaner is $5.99 for 32 ounces.
• Soap: Dial Antibacterial Liquid Soap is $17.58 for 1 gallon.
• Bleach: Clorox Laundry Detergent Bleach is $3.99 for 96 ounces.  

Have you ever channeled your inner environmentalist and made a homemade cleaner? If so, please share your experiences by leaving me a comment.

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

At the Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability conference last year, Simran Sethi, one of the guest speakers, put chemical cleaning products in perspective for me. Sethi basically asked her audience this question: Would you feel comfortable leaving your child alone in a room with toxic household cleaners? Although I’m not a parent, the answer is clearly no. Sethi’s point was that this scenario is the same as using toxic products all around the house.

Since talking to Sethi, I’ve looked at household cleaners in a whole new light and I’ve started making my own as means to replace these toxic chemicals. This simple, herbal all-purpose cleaner is eco-friendly and only takes five minutes to make.  

All-Purpose Cleaner

• 2 tablespoons borax
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 2 cups hot water
• 20 drops tea tree essential oil

1. Combine the borax and lemon juice with the water in a spray bottle. Cap and shake well to dissolve the mineral.

2. Add the tea tree oil and shake again to disperse the oil.

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

Last week I was reading my favorite Herb Companion blogs Samurai Sage and The Herbalista. Editor-in-chief K.C. Compton’s post, At My Place: Spring Vegetable Gardening, and associate editor Allison Martin’s post, Kitchen Vegetable Gardening for Beginners, made me think of the various herbs, flowers and vegetables I wanted to grow in my own backyard. Shortly after, I took off to my local nursery.

I asked the owner of my local nursery for some advice and which plants they recommend for my area. The owner suggested a few books I should read, one of which was Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (Harper Collins Publishers, 2007) authored by Barbara Kingsolver and her family. I had already read this book last summer because I was so excited to pick seeds, watch things grow and become affectionate toward my garden.

Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle documents Barbara and her family’s year of eating local food from their own backyard, farmers’ markets and neighboring farms.

Barbara, her husband, Steven L. Hopp, and their two daughters, Camille and Lily, wrote the book as a family. Barbara wrote the main narrative while her husband contributed sidebars focused on the food industry and food production. Camille wrote about meal plans, seasonal recipes and important nutritional information. The youngest in the family, Lily, raised their chickens, turkeys and helped with the farm work.

This book is at the top of my “Favorite Books List” for a few reasons. First, I enjoy the concept of living off of the land and becoming a localvore. Since reading the book last summer, I’ve tried to eat local, in-season foods and grow my own handful of herbs. Second, I enjoyed the family's collaborative effort to follow through with their goal to eat locally produced food. The family proved that with enough planning and preparation, eating local doesn’t have to be limiting or expensive.

Here are a few tips from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle on becoming a localvore:

•  Eat in season. Find out what season your favorite produce grow in and plan accordingly—this will vary for each Zone.
•  Start a community garden or, if your community already has one, join in.
•  Attend farmer’s markets—who knew you could support local farmers while enjoying delicious, fresh foods!

Have you read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle? Are you a localvore? If you have any tips or suggestions for eating local or growing your own food, let’s chat about it. Leave me a comment or send me an email at snelson@ogdenpubs.com.

Q: I started my first herb garden 13 years ago—I never had any trouble growing sage. My husband and I moved to a new house three years ago—each year, I plant sage, and it dies. Any ideas? 
– E.  Darnell

A: The fifth part in our “Herb 911” series is dedicated to sage (Salvia officinalis), member of Labiatae or the mint family. Sage is a great addition to the series, as the herb’s growing conditions are similar to other herbs in the series. Sage is a fairly resilient herb, so it can bear a trial-and-error gardening method. Like most herbs, sage is better when fresh, yet still good when frozen.

If you are planting seeds, it should germinate in temperatures that don’t drop below 60 degrees or go higher than 70 degrees. Also, growing sage seeds indoors with lots of light is more successful then leaving them outdoors as the sage germination period can be tricky. Keep overnight temperatures in mind if you plan on leaving seeds outdoors. A couple of weeks ago, I planted sage seeds in a pot. This past weekend, they were starting to come up when a spring cold front moved into the Denver area. I’m not sure what the damage is, but just in case I planted more seeds. If your sage plant is established, but still young, you have a little more leeway with the temperature—keep it about 55 degrees to 85 degrees. If your sage is an adult shrub, it can withstand -30 degrees winter temperatures, if properly covered.

Like rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), also from the Labiatae family, sage prefers a light fertilizer and for the soil pH to be between 6.0 and 7.0. To measure the soil’s pH, you can buy a pH reader from your local garden store. Sage thrives in fairly rich soil that is well-drained. However, sage can tolerate droughts and poor soil conditions just like lavender.

The size of the plant will determine how much water it will need. Start with two cups of water every three days. Adjust this amount if you see mold or fungus at the base of the plant, which indicates too much water, or if the soil dries out.

There are many different types of sage: common (or garden) sage, pineapple sage (Salvia elegans), blue (or Cleveland) sage (S. clevelandii), broad leaf sage, clary (or muscatel) sage (S. scleria), golden sage (S. off. “Aurea”), purple sage (S. off. ‘Purpurea’) and tri-color sage (S. off. ‘Tricolor’).

Although these general growing conditions can be applied to the various types of sage, each variety has specific needs and purposes. Common sage is used primarily for cooking and is typically used in medicine as an antiseptic, a disinfectant and to help restore the liver and the digestive system. Clary or muscatel sage is occasionally mixed with Muscatel wine, and this variety prefers heavier soils and is not typically used for cooking. The tri-color sage can withstand 20 degree temperatures and is also used in culinary dishes. Diviners’ sage or sage of the seers (Salvia divinorum) is a psychoactive sage. This herb was used medicinally as a healing agent and for divination practices in some ancient cultures.

Photo by Narisa /Courtsey Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/narisa/

Tips for Keeping Sage Alive

There are many different variables for solving Darnell’s sage problem. Here are a few general tips and pointers.

• Don’t plant sage next to cucumbers or members of the onion family as they are not compatible plants. Incompatible plants can spread dominant flavors to another plant, causing it to loose original taste, can lead to an increased number of insects in your garden, or can lead to a decreased plant production.

• Sage has a difficult time germinating. Start your seeds indoors if the temperature is too cold outside. You can move your seeds outdoors after a month or two.

• Keep an 18- to 20-inch distance between sage and other plants when planted in a bed for root growth and bushiness of the plant.

• When planting sage in a garden, keep in mind that sage is compatible with tomatoes, rosemary, strawberries, carrots and marjoram among a few other plants. Plants that are companions often have similar growing habits and conditions.  

Do you have problems growing sage? What herbs do you have a difficult time growing? Let’s chat about it; drop me a comment or email me at snelson@ogdenpubs.com.

Human cases of Swine Influenza, otherwise known as swine flu, may be emerging in the United States. On April 29, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the nation’s first fatality from this outbreak. The CDC also reported a number of laboratory confirmed cases of the swine flu in 10 states throughout the U.S.

According to the CDC, the swine flu is a respiratory disease caused by type A influenza viruses, which cause regular outbreaks in pigs. People do not normally get swine flu, but human infections can and do happen. Usually, swine flu viruses infect humans with direct exposure to pigs. But more recently, it has been reported to spread from person-to-person. The anxiety this flu is causing is so strong all over the world that the Egyptian government has ordered the slaughter of the country's entire hog population, according to NPR.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/

What can you do? Washing your hands frequently is one of the most important steps we can take to prevent infection and spreading germs. Here are some guidelines for washing your hands the right way from the CDC.

• Wet your hands with clean running water and apply soap. Use warm water if available.
• Rub hands together to make a lather and scrub all surfaces.
• Continue rubbing hands for 15-20 seconds. Need a timer? Imagine singing "Happy Birthday" twice through to a friend.
• Rinse hands well under running water.
• Dry your hands using a paper towel or air dryer. If possible, use your paper towel to turn off the faucet.
• Always use soap and water if your hands are visibly dirty.

When using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer:

• Apply product to the palm of one hand.
• Rub hands together.
• Rub the product over all surfaces of hands and fingers until hands are dry.

Courtesy Flickr/Andreas Levers
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96dpi/

Here are some antiviral soaps that you can use to stay healthy and swine flu-free. Herbs such as elderberry, astragalus, ginger, licorice, zinc, lavender and ginseng all appear to have antiviral activity.

• Peppermint Frog Bar Soap by Brigit True Organics ($10) is 88 percent organic, has pure essential oils of peppermint, and is both antiviral and antiseptic.   
• Elderberry Flowers with Garden Iris and French Clay by Botanical Soap Shop ($7.99) is certified organic, soothing and calming and acts as an antiviral and antibacterial agent.
• Ginger Pomelo Hand Soap Liquid by Caldrea ($10.50) has a blend of essential oils including ginger, pomelo and aloe vera.

And last but certainly not least, you can enter for a chance to win Natural Hand Refresher by Green Tea Goods on our website in a few weeks.  It’s a wonderful hand sanitizer that naturally cleans your skin without that alcohol smell. The product uses a blend of Chinese herbs that have anti-bacterial functions. These herbs include mugwort leaf, licorice root and coptis chinensis.

Honeybees are the best of friends for blooming fruit trees flowers, and herbs, such as apricot, cherry, members of the daisy family, lavender, oregano and sage. We’ve known that bees help pollinate plants before Jugen Tautz’s study. Tautz, of Biozentrum Universitat Wurzburg, Germany, has studied bees since 1973 and in 2008 released his book The Buzz About Bees: Biology of a Superorganism (Springer, 2008). Now, Tautz has studied even more about the relationship between honeybees and plants. In 2008, his extensive study on honeybees, caterpillars and blooming plants and trees, proved that honeybees protect plants from hungry caterpillars. 

Tautz’s findings revealed that caterpillars have sensory hairs located on the front portion of their body. Although these sensory hairs can detect vibrations, such as the buzzing of a bee, they are unable to distinguish bees from wasps, which fall into the same vibration level. Assuming the worst, the caterpillar will often stop moving or intentionally fall from the plant when a bee or wasp is overhead. (It is a technique to fool the flying creature by making them believe they are dead.)  

In addition to this, Tautz found that if bees or wasps are present, caterpillars will become stressed and feed less. This is especially true for caterpillars feeding on blossoming fruit trees. He says that plants that were “protected” by visiting honeybees suffered 60 to 70 percent less leaf damage.

Courtesty of Flickr/Energetic_Spirit
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nperlapro/

To protect your garden from caterpillars, put blooming trees and plants near non-flowering plants to create a bee-friendly yard. Bees are attracted to yellow, blue and purple colored flowers. According to Tautz’s study, the honeybees will create a stressful environment for the herbivores to the extent that they will be discouraged from eating in that location.

Q: Why are my herbs dying?

A: The fourth part in our “Herb 911” series is dedicated to mint (Mentha spp.). Although it is easy to grow, I’ve killed a few mint plants for many different reasons. Whether you have better luck or a light brown gardening thumb like me, these tips will improve the health of your mint.

All mint varieties are “easy” to grow because they can flourish in almost any lighting condition, but mint performs the best in full sun. The general ideal temperature range is between 60 to 80 degrees.

The herb likes a medium-rich soil—not too moist and not too dry. The pH should be around 5.6 to 7.5. If you live in a dry climate, you might want to water more frequently. The opposite goes for wet tropical climates, such as southern California or Hawaii.

A few common types of mint are spearmint, which is often used in dishes; peppermint, which is commonly used in teas as it is stronger than spearmint; and apple mint, which is used in teas and salads. The main differences between these various types of mints are their scents, flavors and appearance.

Tips for Keeping Mint Alive:

In general, the same tips for growing common types of mint are the same for unique and rare types of mint.

• If you plan on planting mint in a pot, keep in mind that its roots grow quickly. I recommend using a medium sized pot, around 12 to 15 inches deep and seven to 10 inches wide.

• If you are going to plant mint in the ground, keep it away from other herbs. It will give a minty flavor to its closely surrounding plants. On that same note, don’t plant different types of mint next to each other, as they will loose their original flavors.

• Keep an eye out for weather conditions, such as sudden freezes or heat waves that could damage your plants and adapt water and fertilizer amounts.

• Find an appropriate watering balance for your growing Zone and plant size. For a medium sized plant, about five to seven inches, use about two to three cups of water every three days and adjust from there. 

Do you have problems growing mint? What herbs do you have a difficult time growing? Let’s chat about it; drop me a comment or email me at snelson@ogdenpubs.com.

Q: Why are my herbs dying?

A: The third part in our “Herb 911” series is dedicated to lavender (Lavendula angustifolia), a versatile herb used in cooking, used medicinally and used decoratively throughout the home. When I think about lavender, the romantic purple fields of Provence, France, and endless products come to mind. This dreamy herb is a warm-season perennial plant that is durable to frosts and mild freezes.

English lavender blooms in early summer. Compared to other types of lavender it is darker in color and taller with longer flowers. French lavender (Lavendula dentana) is a medium-sized plant that is gray in color and capable of blooming year round (depending on location). There are many types of lavender but English lavender and French lavender are the most common.

The native Mediterranean herb prospers in sunlight—we recommend anywhere between six to eight hours of warm sunlight. Create a growing space that offers the appropriate amount of light. You can plant lavender in the ground or in a pot for easy transportation during cold months.

Another important aspect is proper soil drainage; too much rain and humidity can lead to mildew or root-rot, which is a common reason why this otherwise resilient herb dies.

Lavender is a long-lasting herb that likes well-drained soil and can withstand minor drought conditions. If you are growing lavender in humid conditions, avoid dark mulches as they encourage fungus growth. The soil should be between neutral to slightly alkaline and have a pH of 6.5 to 8.2. Testing the quality of your soil is easy with a pH kit from your local gardening store. Although there are many types of lavender, most can handle Zone 5 growing conditions.

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

Tips for Keeping Your Lavender Alive:

• If you are going to take clippings of the herb, take them when the stems break easily. (This usually happens in June.) Clippings promote a healthy, bush-like growth.

• Make sure your plants have a good drainage system to reduce root-rot and fungus growth. To achieve this you might add sand or perlite to your soil, but keep in mind that too much will dry the plant out. If you live in a wet climate and want to add sand or perlite, add no more then 1/5 of the pot’s container, if growing in a pot.

• If planting in the ground, place lavender 2-3 feet apart; lavender can have an expansive root system and can be tall and bushy.

• Keep an eye out for weather conditions, such as overnight frosts, that could damage your plants; adapt water and fertilizer amounts accordingly.

• Find an appropriate watering balance for you climate and plant size—lavender needs lots of watering, especially in the first season of growth. You can start with 3 cups of water and adjust from there. 

Do you have problems growing lavender? What herbs do you have a difficult time growing? Let’s chat about it; drop me a comment or email me at snelson@ogdenpubs.com.

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.

Q: Why are my herbs dying?

A: The second part in our “Herb 911” series is dedicated to one of my favorite herbs: rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis). The perennial herb thrives in warm sunny conditions and germinates in temperatures that range from 65 degrees to 75 degrees.

Rosemary is sensitive to frost, cold temperatures and sudden freezes. Especially if you live above Zone 8, I recommended that you plant your rosemary in pots rather than in the ground so it can survive the winters. The exception to this is Arp, which is the only hardy strand of rosemary that can handle Zone 5 temperatures.

The pH in the soil can vary from 4.5 to 8.7 and it can tolerate anywhere between 12 and 100 inches of water. Because this is such a wide range, it can be difficult to find the right balance.

Photo by geishaboy500/Courtesy Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/geishaboy500/

Last week, Debby asked “Part of the plants branches have turned brown; is this from lack of water or too much?” Although I have not seen Debby’s rosemary plant, I think the problem lies in the watering amount. Last summer I was a little water happy and a few of my rosemary branches turned brown and the leaves fell off. To remedy this, I reduced the amount of water and watered less often. I think Debby’s plant will bounce back if it has a good drainage system and is watered less often.

Tips for Keeping Your Rosemary Alive

• Place your rosemary in a warm, sunny location to maximize its growth.

• Find a good watering balance.

• Keep an eye out for weather conditions that could damage your plants and adapt water and fertilizer amounts.

• Don’t be afraid to trim rosemary back, it is healthy to frequently cut branches. However, keep at least 20 percent of the plant in tact.

Do you have problems growing rosemary? What other herbs do you have a difficult time growing?

For further information on growing rosemary, check out Tanya L.K. Denckla’s The Gardener’s A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food.

Q:  Taylor, my question is multi-layered. I live in the Western NC mountains (Waynesville) at about 3500 feet. Last summer, I put out two upright rosemary plants in areas with Eastern exposure, also a winter-hardy gardenia and a trailing gardenia, none of which survived our winter this year. I learned a very expensive lesson. Therefore, they're going to need to be pot plants. My question: What dimensions/depth should the planters be for:

• Upright gardenia
• Trailing gardenia
• Upright rosemary
• Trailing rosemary
 
Also, finally, how long could they each stay in their respective planters at these dimensions?  How will I know they're unhappy?
 
Thank you so much for your help,
–Lanie

A:  Admittedly, I’ve never grown gardenia plants before, but like I say to users who submit questions, either I will have an answer, or I’ll go out and find one for you. So, I spoke with a couple gardening experts, did some heavy reading, and arrived at a few learned suggestions for Lanie and the blogging community regarding gardenias, which are some of the most beautiful, most fragrant white flowers out there.

First, the quick answer: Pick a pot 2-4" wider and 4-6" deeper than the rootball of the plant you buy to start off the summer. You'll need to transplant them before the summer is through. Find out how to tell when they're ready, below.

1. Know your growing environment: 

Gardenias originated in an oriental environment with mild winters and warm summers – so in a region 6 growing zone, even when labeled “hardy,” if they aren’t in a protected area, they’ll freeze. So, at least with the gardenias in your area, you’re right to pot. (Note: Gardenias will thrive in warmer growing zones throughout the winter.)

While outside, your gardenia will want bright, filtered light (not direct sun), and it will want to stay at a temperature around 73 degrees Fahrenheit. When you move it indoors over the winter, however, it will need the brightest window.
 
2. How to pot: Gardenias are very finicky and like acidic, moist (but not TOO moist) environments, like azaelas, so it’s smart to mix your own potting soil rather than using a standard “garden variety” like Miracle Gro.

Fill the pot half way with organic top soil and then add a handful-or-so of coffee grounds to lower the PH level (make it more acidic). Mix thoroughly. Now add a third more top soil and find some dead leaves to mix in. Leaves will help the plant with moisture, but more importantly, this organic material will help the soil retain acid from the coffee. Finish with enough top soil so that the plant sits right below the mouth of the pot.

Gardenias will want an acidic PH level between 4.8 and 6.2. When mixing your own soil, especially when it’s this specific, it’s best to make only enough for what you need at the moment. Occasionally top soil will come with a PH reading, but if not, any garden center should be able to test the soil for you if you are really concerned with a correct balance. You will also want to refertilize your plants in mid-summer, near the end of June. This can be done with either more coffee grounds or an azaela fertilizer that's commercially available.

Most resources say that, outside of over-watering, an alkaline soil environment will kill your plant fastest, or prevent root formation, which inevitably stops the plant from coming back in the spring. Although they may have been fine during the growing season, it is possible that the plants had stored most of their resources in their leaves and could not grow back from their roots.

(About PH: A soil PH of 7 is neutral. Anything below is acidic and above is alkaline. Stones and building materials like limestone, gravel and concrete are alkaline and can affect the surrounding soil, so if you plant gardenias into the ground, it is best to plant them away from the foundation, walkways and driveways of your home to avoid difficult PH balancing.)  

3. Don’t over/under water: Water your plant every second day, because unlike most outdoor plants, gardenias are very susceptible to root rot, so you only want to water when they are nearly dry. On the second day, you’ll want to soak them well but make sure the plant is not sitting in water (drainage holes in pots are essential with gardenias), and saucers should be emptied.

The best way to ensure that your gardenia is watered (but not overwatered) is to mulch. Using a cedar mulch around the base of your plant will discourage pests (which are common with this flower) and will hold mositure in for a long period of time. This moisture is released more slowly into the soil, so the roots aren't sitting in a pool of water.

Some say that misting gardenias is important, which is in a way, true. Gardenias need humidity - but if they are over-misted and water begins accumulating, their leaves may also begin fostering black fungus, so take it easy with the misting, if you do it at all. Much like with indoor orchids, a better option when you bring the plant inside is to set it on a pebble tray filled with water. (Note: Do not sit roots in the water, instead set the pot above the pebble tray using a small clay saucer turned upside down).

When is the plant unhappy? You will notice that your plant needs to be upgraded to a bigger pot when the soil dries out very quickly because of the size of the roots eating up all the water. Gardenias like to be tight in their containers but not root-bound. And they should be transplanted when necessary, perhaps a few times throughout the growing season, to encourage the maximum amount of growth.

Several sources say that the best gardenia flowers for pots are the more vigorous growers, such as Belmont or Miami Supreme.

About your rosemary:

Herb Companion garden columnist and herb expert, Jim Long, said that it is possible for you to raise rosemary outside your home in your growing zone in North Carolina, and may be preferable to potting it. He said he learned an important lesson about rosemary from one of his mentors, Madalene Hill, late president of International Herb Association: It’s not the heat of the summer or the cold of the winter, but how you treat your plant.

Clipped directly from Jim’s blog:

“[Madalene] went on to explain that rosemary plants have very small root systems and suggested I try this: Plant the rosemary plant in the garden in the spring, regardless of what size the plant is. Grow it all summer and after the first frost, dig the plant, repot it and bring it indoors. Keep the plant in an unheated room, with light, like a garage window or unheated back enclosed back porch. The following spring, unpot and plant the rosemary back in the garden, then leave it alone. And by golly it works! I followed her advice and have rosemaries in the garden that have been there almost 10 years, growing quite happily.”

After reading that, I think it’s still important to exercise caution with your rosemary plants. So, try an experiment; plant two rosemary plants directly into the ground and two in pots following the instructions above. You might find that, when the plants are sown directly into the ground, they will develop larger and more fully than those grown in pots. It is also very difficult to give rosemary the requisite amount of humidity it needs when planted indoors (and not allowed to go dormant).

Plant rosemary in full sun, or slightly filtered light, allowing the potting soil in containers to almost dry before watering; it’s also important that your potted plants have good drainage. Transplant at the same depth as they were growing in the nursery, with a neutral soil PH. Cactus soil with a bit of perlite is your easiest option

You can read more about growing rosemary in challenging conditions from Jim’s post and check out his blog.

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

This spring, I am dreaming of delicious, beefy summer tomatoes. So I planted some; they're taking over my kitchen as we speak. I love fresh, homegrown tomatoes. And I just can't find delicious tomatoes in stores; even the local, organic market. Not to mention, I'm sick of paying for them! In fact, I'm tired of buying produce overall. Hence, my new vegetable garden.

I'm a little nervous; I haven't had a vegetable garden since I was small. Sure, I used to 'help' with the planting and harvest lettuce, asparagus, new pototoes and strawberries from the garden for dinner. But come on; I was seven. It was a desire for produce like we remember from when our parents had gardens that prompted my boyfriend and I to plant this garden. But we've been re-learning vegetable gardening as we go along.

So far, we have flats of seeds lined up in our kitchen under a grow light. We've been experimenting with 3 varieties of tomatoes (including some amazing organic, heirloom  'Brandywine' tomatoes donated by Samurai Sage, our own Editor in Chief KC Compton), corn, cucumbers, eggplants, carrots and basil.

Yesterday, I consulted Hank Will, editor of Grit magazine (follow him on Twitter), for some more vegetable gardening tips. And I found out some important stuff! Like, for instance, carrots and corn don't like to be transplanted. Oops? All is not lost.

Photo by verymissberry/courtesty Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/73425282@N00/

1)  Rule Number One: Make it up as you go. Okay, so corn doesn't like to have it's roots disturbed. Planting in flats? Maybe we got a little ahead of ourselves. But the best part of this whole project has been watching the corn grow in the kitchen (it grows really fast). It may not transfer to the garden, and we may need to replant, but it's been fun to see the plants growing up close.

2) Rule Number Two: Peat moss disks are awesome. We picked up some peat moss disks and a greenhouse tray (kind of like this one) at the local hardware store. They suck water up while you watch and spring into columns of soil, ready for seeds. We put the greenhouses on the counter over the dishwasher, so that when it ran, the greenhouses got warm and steamy. The plants seemed to respond. It didn't take our plants long to grow large enough to move our plants, peat moss columns and all, into these peat moss pots (with a little soil added, of course).

3) Rule Number Three: Did I mention how much fun we're having? Our garden isn't ready to plant in yet, it snowed over the weekend, our entire kitchen is overwhelmed with garden supplies and there are no vegetables to eat yet. But it's already a great project. I'm getting to excercise the knowledge I've been steeped in over the last couple of years and learn from my colleagues; and my boyfriend is loving the dirt-factor. I'll keep you posted on the project! We'll be building our raised garden bed soon ...

For muscle and joint pain, my homeopathic remedy is arnica (Arnica montana). Applied topically as a cream, gel, ointment, tincture or salve, arnica relieves soreness and reduces swelling.

In junior high, my dance teacher made it a requirement to bring arnica cream to class in case of an injury. Audrey, my instructor, would rub the cream on her ankles before and after class. When a dancer would fall, someone would run across the street to grab ice and everyone else would grab arnica from their dance bag. Audrey would always scold the students who didn’t bring their arnica cream, as if they had forgotten their jazz shoes.

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

Helenalin is a compound found in this daisy-like mountain flower and it’s responsible for the anti-inflammatory affects of arnica. Dr. Andrew Weil says arnica is toxic if it gets inside the body and it shouldn’t be applied to an open wound or any form of broken skin. It’s a mild pain reliever so it should only be used for acute conditions.

Using arnica externally is recommended for muscle and joint injuries, sprains, bruising and swelling. Whenever I take a dance class I bring my arnica in case of an injury. Like Audrey, I massage it on my ankles before and after class to reduce inflammation and relieve any pain.

Have you every used arnica ointment, cream or salve? If so, for what? Share your experiences with me by posting a comment!

Q: Why are my herbs dying?   

A: Many readers have called and written our office with a common frustration: Why are my herbs dying? 

Here at The Herb Companion, we thought everyone would be interested in the answer, so we crafted this five-part series about "Herb 911."

Although finding a cure varies for each herb, I’ll do my best to touch upon common herbs and their growing conditions in this series. I will cover basil (Ocimum basilicum), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), mint (Mentha spp.) and lavender (Lavandula spp.) and on the final posting, I will take requests from readers about which herbs to address. Comment with your requests at the end of each blog post!   

Flash 'Red Rubin' basil teams up with classic 'Genovese'.

Herbs can die for many reasons; a few being location, exposure to sun, amount of water and pests. Basil is an annual herb that is hardy and easy to cultivate. That being said, I’ve had my fair share of dead basil plants.  

Tips for Keeping your Basil Alive 

• If your basil is taking a turn for the worse, it may be because of the location. Pick a location that is sheltered from harsh wind and yields lots of sun exposure. Basil thrives in warmer conditions, especially in the summer months. Choose a site that receives at least six hours of direct sun each day. (Explore the Bountiful World of Basil)

• If your basil meets the location requirements and it is still not holding up, the cure may be in the soil conditions. Like most herbs, basil loves rich, moist and well-drained soil and the ideal pH range should be close to or around 6.0. Your local nursery or hardware store will have pH test kit that comes with a color chart.

• If the location is spot on and you’ve achieved a balance in the soil, it might be a temperature issue. Anything below 50 degrees is too cold for basil, and the herb will start wilting and turning brown.

• Keep in mind that the lower leaves which are closest to the soil may turn a yellow-brown and fall off. This is normal and healthy, due to the larger and higher up leaves soaking in the majority of the sun.

What do you do to keep your basil alive? What other herbs do you have problems keeping alive? Drop me a comment and let's discuss!

Admittedly, I have a tough time finding house plants that are safe around my cats. Because, for the most part, my cats are well behaved and prefer to bite eachother rather than the plants (playful bites, not PETA bites), but occasionaly my three-legger, Pitters, has a hanerkin' for something green.

Recently, I bought a 3- or 4-foot yucca cane plant to put in my bedroom window—something that could go well in an ecclectic "folkloric" room. I found out after I bought it, and went through the hundred battles necessary to transport it in my car, "Yuccas are bad for cats." 

Great. Well, the quick fix for my cats has always been to mist the plant leaves and sprinkle with either cinnamon or cayenne pepper.  It works for me, and it very well may work for you, but like I said, my cats are well trained.

If your cats are simply insatiable, but you'd still like to have a nice houseplant, there's good news—buy an orchid!

My dining room, which has effectively become a conservatory!

Orchids are classified safe by the ASPCA, and in some cultures, orchids are used in dishes. The vanilla bean plant is an example of a comestible orchid (but isn't normally eaten directly).

The root-like parts of an orchid, called tubers, are composed of a starchy substance called Bassorin.  This substance, being a part of a type of gum (no, not dental ones) called tragacanth, is insoluable in water, but swells when wet.  The short version is, it likes water - it likes being moist - but it can drown.

Bassorin is one of the primary ingredients of the old-world hot drink, saloop - or salep - the olden-days version of Starbucks coffee. Because the starchy substance is so highly nutritious, the drink was used as a backup ration for sailing-ship crewmen centuries ago, and it is still used in some herbal folk remedies. The starchy, gooey material can be used for the treatment of stomach problems - coating the GI tract in a manner similar to the more common Slippery Elm Bark.  Apparently orchid tubers were even used in some spells and potions to promote love. Funny that, so many years later, it's a different part of the plant that's the present.

Anyway that's the good news—the bad news is that, of all the plants I've ever had the orchid is the only thing I've ever killed. I've heard so many rumors about ways to raise and care for orchids—crazy things like watering the orchid in the shower, setting ice cubes on the moss to water the plant slowly and soaking the orchid in a pot of water. Like with any internet search, two sources provide suggestions that are in complete opposition.

But, for the most part, it seems that the orchid has basic needs: it needs to be moist, not soggy; it needs to have bright, indirect light; it needs a lot of humidity (which can be provided by putting the pot over a tray of water filled with pebbles); and it requires a quick draining potting medium. However, your orchid probably will not need to be repotted, as they prefer being root-bound, so buy a decorative outer potter instead, setting your orchid and its native pot inside.

Orchids are not big fans of soil, because, natively, they do not grow in soil. Their roots grow air-exposed, climbing the bark of a tree or near other porous materials that can provide water. If you do need to repot your orchid, some retailers have specific media that should be used.

To water, take the native pot to the sink and water completely, letting it drain over night. Do not get the flowers wet. Return the orchid to your decorative potter and repeat whenever the growing medium is nearly, but not completely dry. When the orchid is flowering, it will need more attention, and this can last up to 12 weeks. Even if the flowers have fallen, the plant isn't necessarily dead. In this stage, it is important to give your orchid light, food, and patience, constantly watching for new stalks to grow from the base.

By the way, it's been several weeks, and the flowers are still continuing to grow (I have 16 flowers now!). The cats have left it alone (I bought them some cat grass), and I'm almost counting down the days until I kill it (and, yes, a PETA kinda kill).

Have any of you had the luck of the orchid? Any suggestions for me?

I'm very exciteable today. One of my colleagues, Hank Will, editor of Grit Magazine, had received an electric incubator to sample from a company.  In jest I said, "Oh, you should raise me some chickens for my townhouse!" He smiled at me very seriously and said, "Yeah, totally! You could totally raise a couple chickens in your backyard - and between two of them, you might get about 10 eggs a week."

I had never thought of raising chickens in the city - Was it legal? Would they have enough room? What do chickens eat?

These were all questions to which I was excited to find the answers. But my biggest concern was where would I put these living, breathing, winged animals?

That's when Herb Companion Editor KC Compton sent me a link about urban chicken raising. Who knew?!

On the site, I found information on how to build a MOVING COOP! They call it "the chicken tractor," and you can move it around your yard so your chickens don't peck at just one spot - genius!

So, I have a few months before I'm going to actually have the birds - time in which, I suppose, I'm going to have to build this contraption. Sure, it looks easy enough - a few boards nailed together with some chicken wire and wheels, fine. But, I'm sure I'll find a way to screw something up. And with images of escaping chickens fleeing from a running me, I'm sure this is going to be a bumpy ride.

Also - I'm brainstorming clever names. Like Popeyes or Strips. Any suggestions?

Q: I need plants that deer don't like!

--- via e-mail, from 'rejean'

A: This is a question we hear often; you are definitely not alone. 

Fortunately, Kathleen Halloran tackled this question in the November 2008 issue of The Herb Companion.

Here are some quick solutions from Kathleen:

1) Plant rosemary, or other Mediterranean herbs, such as oregano, sage and thyme. Deer generally dislike the fragrance.

2) Try native ornamental grasses, which are beautiful and close to deer-proof.

3) Daffodils are more deer-resistant than tulips.

4) Plan your garden to repel deer. Use these 14 plants for a Deer-Be-Gone Garden.

5) Never feed the deer ... and spread the word to your neighbors. You may think putting out corn for the deer during the cold seasons helps them survive, but it doesn't. In fact, corn is nutritionally deficient for the needs of a deer, can even be bad for them, and lures them closer to your garden.

Still looking for more advice? Check out these tips for repelling deer. 

Last night, I was surprised to hear on the news what Ankeny, Iowa recently used to de-ice their roads: garlic salt.

Photo by dogfaceboy/ Courtesy flickr

The garlic, which was mixed with regular road salt, was donated by spice producer Tone Brothers, Inc. The nine tons of garlic salt would have ended up in a landfill if it hadn’t have been for this donation.

It’s great to see how people continue to discover new ways herbs can be used in this modern day in age, but I have to wonder how this new use really works. Why did they have to mix the garlic salt with regular road salt? Was the use of less road salt the main benefit, saving road salt for future icy days? Or was the benefit a sustainable solution for using landfill-destined waste. Does garlic salt actually work best for ensuring safety on the roads? And wouldn’t the roads smell like a pizza joint? Tell me what you think!

I’ll leave you with these Herb Companion garlic articles:
• The Goodness of Garlic 
• Garlic: Nature’s Gift for Life 
• Garlic Makes it Good
 

Photo by Geraldine Laufer

Herbs might not be the first thing that come to mind when you start considering ways to save money, but they actually can be a great help in cutting costs while boosting health, flavor and the general deliciousness of life.

In coming issues of The Herb Companion, we'll discuss these possibilities in detail, starting with Jim Long's "Cut Your Grocery Bill, Grow Your Own Food" article in our March issue and continuing with Kim Erickson's "15 Herbs to Save Money on Your Medical Bill," in June and continuing with "An Ordinary Food Makeover," by Pat Crocker in one of our fall issues.

• With herbs, you can boost your immune system so you don't get sick as often, and can gently treat the symptoms if you do.
• You can dress up any garden, patio or sunny windowsill with beautiful, aromatic herbs--there's no home decorating option as inexpensive or rewarding.
• Your cleaning supplies can be as inexpensive as vinegar and water, and smell as rich and relaxing as a stroll through a lavender garden with the help of a little essential oil.
• And even the most ordinary of dishes--for instance the scrambled eggs I had for breakfast–can become extraordinary with the addition of some garlic and a few fresh herbs (this morning: flat-leaf parsley and my container garden's last, brave marjoram).

For expert advice on turning your home from everyday to splendidly herbal, check out our regular contributors Tina-Marie Wilcox and Susan Belsinger's delightful and wildly useful book The Creative Herbal Home. And meanwhile, pick up a copy of The Herb Companion or keep coming back to this website.

Herbs can help us make it through these challenging times and we're going to be here to make sure that happens.

Like herbs, evergreen trees have a powerful fragrance, some even with medicinal properties, and with a few simple steps, you can find the perfect tree to keep safe from fire and fresh throughout the holidays.

1. Aroma is everything. Balsam fir, Arizona cypress and Virgina pine are three of the most fragrant varieties. Balsam fir, a relative of the Fraser fir, has a sharp, rosemary-fresh scent, and its pitch, or the sappy resin that makes a tree sticky, is a natural anti-bacterial and an astringent that was used to treat wounds during the Civil War. Arizona cypress has a steel blue tint and a lemony-mint smell while Virginia pine has the traditional piney-holiday scent classic for the holidays

2. Get it fresh. When selecting a pre-cut tree, pinch a branch near the trunk and pull toward you. If several needles dislodge, the tree is dry and may be dangerous in your home. Next, bounce the tree and notice shed needles – paying special attention to the edges of the tree. More needles should fall from the interior; this is normal.

3. Cut the base and water well. Saw at least an inch off the trunk of your tree when you get it home and place immediately in a sturdy tree stand with a large water reservoir. Trees are amazingly thirsty and can absorb nearly a gallon a day, so check frequently, especially in the first few days. Never let the water level drop below the cut; if it does the pitch will seal the trunk and the tree will not be able to drink.

4. Recycle when you first notice dryness. While a wet, well-watered tree is very hard to set on fire, dry trees are extremely flammable. As you can see in this video, a dry pine left unattended can destroy a living room in under a minute.

Most communities have a tree recycling program, but if not, you can reuse your tree in your garden as a bird feeder, as mulch or even as a weed killer.

While some sites suggest chopping and burning your used tree DON'T! Most trees have something called creosote, which, when burned, even responsibly, can leave deposits in your chimney and can be carcinogenic.

A better option is to use the tree in your garden and adorn with bird feeders - or save the needles to scatterONLY ONweeds as an herbicide. You can also strip the tree of its needles, dry them outside and use them in muslin fabric for a rich, fragrant punch.

Tip 8

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! I had both Thanksgiving lunch and Thanksgiving dinner with my family, so there was a lot of delicious food to enjoy.

Now that Thanksgiving is over and the Macy Day Parade blimps have deflated, I’ve realized Christmas is less than a month away. Are you ready? Because I’m not! Here are my eight ways to create an herb-inspired Christmas.

8. Get in the kitchen and start baking delicious treats for your friends and family. It’s easier than finding everyone you know and love individual gifts. I’m most excited to try creating these Christmas Cookie Trees. Bake one of the six cookie recipes as the perfect centerpiece for any Christmas party.

7. I have been in love with paper ever since I was little and put in charge of wrapping Christmas gifts. Since then I’ve gotten tired of the same wrapping plus store-bought bow combination and have tried more creative decoration methods. As you start getting gifts, try getting creative with some of these fun wrappings.

Tip 2

6. Create something handmade for all of your family, friends and coworkers. It’s a gift that is both from the heart and easy on your wallet. I recommend making soap for everyone you love. Try these nine different soap recipes, and if they don’t suit you, play around with the herbs you have around the house to create your own scent. 

5. Tweak that Christmas menu with these eight delicious Italian-inspired recipes. I highly recommend Nina Mirabile’s Mint & Applecello Cake.

4. Decorate a gingerbread house using herbs from your indoor garden.

3. Make a donation to your favorite charity. The Herb Companion recommends these six charities that support the prosperity of herbs.

Tip 1

2. Reduce your carbon footprint with carbon neutral shopping at www.EarthMoment.com. This website allows you to buy products online from almost 1,000 retailers like Target and Wal-mart (click here for the complete list) while staying friendly to the environment.

1. A fairy cottage, luxurious jewelry and a decorative vase are only some of the products The Herb Companion picked for its 2008 holiday gift guide. Click here to learn more about our favorite gifts of the season! 

Sometimes, cleaning is my escape from stress and other responsibilities. I spend an hour or an afternoon taking everything off my floor and tables, and scrubing every counter until it is shiny clean.

But most cleaning products can be bad for you to breathe in, and the smell of ammonia isn't very refreshing, either. What starts as a relaxing hobby could quickly become an unhealthy chore.

So what are some eco-friendly alternatives? Here are some common concerns when it comes to cleaning products and habits, and what I suggest you do to make positive decisions regarding your cleaning supply closet.

Are there any ways to use produce in my cleaning? 

Lemon, lime and grapefruit juices, fresh or in concentrate, are acidic and antibacterial and can be an addition to any cleaning formula, according to our story "Clean Deep, Clean Sweet with Herbs."

Here's a recipe for lemon-mint window wash, to get your sliding doors, windows and mirrors clean.

I have some essential oils but no use for them. How can I make my own cleaning products with oils?

Essential oils are good for so many uses, especially cleaning. But be careful to dilute them a lot. A little goes a long way with essential oils.

Lavender is a disinfectant. Tea tree is effective against bacteria, fungus and some viruses (use when you or someone you live with are sick). Eucalyptus is a disinfectant and helps relieve stuffy noses (use if you are fighting a cold). Pine is a degreaser and slightly disinfects (it also stimulates alertness). (All of these tips are courtesy of the same article: "Clean Deep, Clean Sweet with Herbs.")

This general cleaning spray uses eucalyptus, lavender and tea tree essential oils.

I don't have time to make my own cleaning products, or I want to buy them as a gift.

One of the cheapest and best cleaning companies to buy from is Mrs. Meyer's. Last time I went grocery shopping, I even saw them in the herbal section — so their products should be easy to find.

Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products come in fragrances such as basil, lavender and lemon verbena. The company uses "naturally derived ingredients whenever possible" and obtain "materials from renewable plant resources such as olive, coconut, corn and soy," according to their Web site.

Do you regularly use herbs and natural ingredients in your cleaning? Share your tips and recipes with our other readers in the comments! Or if you have any other questions about how to get started, leave me a question.

— Jessica is an editorial intern at The Herb Companion.

I don’t like tea.  I hate the taste of tinctures.  And I’m terrible at chefing (but trying to get better).  You could understand how these are ironic traits for an employee of The Herb Companion (I garden. That’s what makes me helpful).

So when my boss offered to share an immune boosting tincture with me for this terrible cold, I grimaced.  It was disgusting (no offense, KC).  But, then I remembered a product sample on our shelves – CAPSULINE – and wondered if that could do the trick.   

I dropped a pipet of tincture into a Capsuline flavored capsule (G-Cap, which are grape flavored empty gel capsules) closed the pill and swallowed – problem solved!  So, I used it for Meadowsweet to treat my heartburn (read my blog: Healing Heartburn [and yes, it's working]) then, I started thinking of other uses – powders, crushed herbs, other medicines, etc.  Because tinctures are liquids, you obviously can't fill them in advance, so sitting at a restaurant table filling a drug capsule with a mysterious brown liquid is bound to cause a few eyebrows to lift.  But it makes for a great prank.

When we first got the Capsuline flavored capsules, I winced at their display of “100% Bovine Gelatin” – not appetizing.  Searching their site, I found that the gelatin is Kosher and Halal certified and inspected, uses natural dyes and comes only from BSE-free (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) countries.  Bascially, from cows that are not mad.  Fish gelatin and vegetarian alternatives are also available, made from Kosher-certified preservative free materials that do not contain starch, sugar, corn, soy, wheat or dairy!

You can even get DOGCaps and CATCaps in various meat flavors, to make giving meds easier (and taste better) for all your animals.

Way healthier and animal-friendly than the meat I consume in my daily diet – (chefing [or fancy cooking] is the next goal on my action-item agenda).  I think I can give up hot pockets, but I just can’t do tea.*

I really recommend Capsuline flavored capsules - specifically the G-caps!  It’s much healthier using fresh herbal tinctures or powders from your local CO-OP, rather than those preservative-packed supplements.  And they come in other flavors too:  Strawberry, lime, berry, orange …. coffee.

* When people say something is "...not your cup of tea..." I sigh and respond, "I don't even like tea."

iHola Taylor!  I’ve had a kalanchoe plant for several years, but I noticed today that I have all these little white and green buggy … THINGS … on the leaves.  And a LOT of them!  They kind of look like little crustaceans, but they’re so small it’s hard to describe them.  White, crustaceany, things, I guess.  How do I get rid of them? – Bárbara from Florida
                                  
I had a feeling about Bárbara’s infestation, and when I sent her this photo, she said, THERE THEY ARE! 

They’re aphids (Aphidius colemanii).  And aphid skin casts (observe the white shells).  Aphids come en masse between seasons and reproduce fast.  Also, they secret a substance called honeydew, which can attract both ants and sooty mold. 

CURE:  Bárbara, the first thing I would do is to take the plant outside and spray it off with your hose’s jet setting.  Or if you don’t have a hose, get one of those cans of air (that are so fun to play with) and knock off as many aphids and their casts as you can.

Then move the kalanchoe to an isolated location away from any plant close enough for an aphid migration via air current.  If you only have a garage or a dark location available, you can buy a compact fluorescent bulb which is labeled “natural sunlight” or “natural light” as a sort of make-shift grow light.

Next, mix some rubbing alcohol with water in a sprayer – 1 part alcohol, 2 parts water – and spray on the plant leaves daily in the morning, making sure to get under the leaves, in the plant crevices and on the stems without over-misting.

Aphids are attracted to yellow, so rub Vaseline on some Post-Its and circle them around the base of your plant. Change daily, and when you notice no more insects, you’re probably safe. 

WHY THIS WORKS:  In the US, what we call rubbing alcohol is also called isopropyl alcohol or more scientifically, isopropanol. 

Kalanchoes are succulents that don’t have a high tolerance for pesticides or humidity (both which can be super-effective for destroying infestations).  So isopropanol is ideal, because it’s cheap, doesn’t stink, dries quickly, is relatively non-toxic and it leaves the waxy shine so important in indoor ornamental kalanchoes.

Isopropanol cuts through lipophilic substances, like oil, which is why it’s so great at removing that smudgy gunk on your eyeglasses.  When bugs come into contact with it, the waxy cover of their skin is dissolved, and they are poisoned.

This poisoning works the same in humans, but only in much larger doses.  When the isopropanol hits the liver, it is oxidized into acetone (finger-nail polish remover).  Yikes, huh?  But, every year Americans use 500 million pounds of toxic pesticides wayyy worse than isopropanol.

Because it dries quickly, it’s diluted and you won’t be soaking your plants in it, misting will be safe for you and your kalanchoe – just not for your bugs.

(CAUTION:  If you notice other white or cotton-bally insects growing on your plants, it may be a sign of a more serious infestation.)

If you’ve got a problem, I’ve got a solution – shoot an email over to Taylor at tmiller@ogdenpubs.com.

About 100 million Americans suffer or have suffered from heartburn, with 15 million suffering daily. You may take a Zantac, Tums or maybe a Prilosec, but when the problem goes away you tend to forget about it.

Experts say you should be more concerned – not only with heartburn, but what you’re taking to “cure” it.

Call it what you want, heartburn, acid reflux or gastritis – stomach-to-esophagus problems can have serious effects such as swallowing problems, adenocarcinoma, cancer of the esophagus and chronic or violent cough.

There are three levels of heartburn treatment – antacids, h-2 blockers and PPIs.

When I was alerted to the issue, I’d been using Zantac, which is a histamine-2 blocker (as are Pepcid and Tagamet).  Histamine 2 is what signals the stomach to produce acid.  Supressing acid in this way can cause an alkaline environment in the stomach that is ideal for the production of the bacteria Helicobacter pylori. 

This bacteria can ultimately cause stomach ulcers, which, paradoxically, result in reflux problems. Proton-pump inhibitors (PPI) [Prevacid and Prilosec] can have an even more severe effect. Antacids have high concentrations of Calcium carbonate, which can potentially lead to kidney stones.

More frustrating are the contradictory suggestions made online for natural treatments.  But here, I’ve sifted through the suggestions to find the most consistent natural prevention methods and treatments.  Hope they help – both in your case, and in mine.

Prevention:

1.  Avoid carbonated beverages, coffee, alcohol, whole milk and caffeinated tea.

2.  Avoid tomatoes, citrus fruits, chocolates, onions and peppermints.

3.  Avoid fatty and fried foods.

4.  Eat smaller meals more often with plenty of water.

5.  Elevate your head at night with pillows or sleep on your left side.

6.  Avoid eating right before bed or exercise.

Herbal Remedies:

To absorb stomach acid try marshmallow root or slippery elm bark.  To decrease acid use chamomile, licorice root, or meadowsweet. 

For more information, check out these Herb Companion articles:

My husband has acid reflux disease. Help! ... (scroll down for article)
Treating Heartburn Naturally (scroll down)
Holiday Heartburn

Two months ago, I received a complete worm composting system from Uncle Jim’s Worm Farms. Having 4,000 worms arrive in a package frightened one of my unsuspecting coworkers, but so far, my experience with worm composting has been deliciously disturbing. 

This is the Worm Factory, which advertises itself as an incredibly-efficient, easy and odorless method for recycling kitchen waste into nutrient-rich compost.  Or growing fishing worms!

Politically named a “vermicomposter,” each factory comes with several bins to fill with bedding and food material, along with red wigglers (Eisenia fetida).  The composting system recreates the recycling process in nature at an advanced pace using thousands of worms and millions of bacteria.  

The Worm Factory is most certainly efficient – perhaps a little too efficient.  The worms are expected to double in numbers by month 3, so, soon, I should have nearly 8,000 worms that require half a pound a food (minus meat and dairy) a day. That’s a lot of wigglers!

After the digestion process, worms secret “worm castings” (poo-poos) that are rich in natural nitrogen, an important fertilizer for soil.  Unlike with sensitive artificial fertilizers, worm castings won’t burn your plants.

You can use the soil-like material left in the bins after composting is completed in potting mix or top soil, or collect “Compost Tea” – liquid fertilizer – at any time from a spigot on the front of the factory. 

The composter, if used correctly, as an earthy smell, so it can be used indoors.  Odors occur only when meat or dairy is placed in the composter (a big no-no) or if there is too much food, in which case any kind of fiber can be added such as dryer lint, tissue, wood chips, egg shells, shredded paper, vacuum dust or junk mail (all of which are composted!).

I should say, that to date, my composter is very clean, no red wigglers have crawled out, and no offensive odors have been noted. 

But I just can’t bring the worms into my kitchen – just like I just couldn’t eat green or purple ketchup (remember that?)  The vermicomposter has to be in a temperature between 60 and 80 degrees, so for me, they are safe and out of the way in my garage.

Vermicomposters can ultimately attract other types of bugs, some good and some bad (such fruit flies or fungus gnats [read: Your Fungus Gnats are Showing]), and should be avoided around cats who might use it as a litterbox.

Why?  Cats can be infected by a parasitic protozoa called Toxoplasma gondii, which can result in an infection called Toxoplasmosis.  This infection is one reason why pregnant women should STAY AWAY from cat litter. 

But, in a creepy way, the infection is really cool: T. gondii affects a rodent's natural fear of cats (surgically precise - ONLY its fear of cats), so they are less likely to flee when a cat is near.  When cats prey on the affected rodents, they become carriers, with a high instance of the protozoa in their urine.

The infection, along with the high level of ammonia can be toxic to both you and your worms.  In humans, active toxoplasmosis can cause neurological disorders, organ infections and even death.  Latent infections can cause anxiety issues, feelings of in-security or neuroticism, just what we need, huh?

Keep your cats away from the worms, and all will be right in the world.  Rodents aren't a problem if you don't try to compost meat or dairy.

If you have any questions about vermicomposting, leave a comment or send me an email.  I’ll be happy to provide you with specific and further information about this delightfully disgusting art of recycling.  

Ever since I graduated college I’ve noticed that an extra few pounds have found their way onto my scale. I no longer walk up hills to make it on time for classes. Instead, I spend day after day sitting at my desk in front of a computer reading about herbs. To prevent this weight I went running for the first time yesterday and it paid off. My legs are killing me! (I probably shouldn’t have worn heels the following day.)

However, I fear I’ll stray from this healthy path and take a detour towards the couch with a fresh supply of DVDs. Using herbs can prevent this by giving me that extra strength I will need to stay focused and energized.

According to the July 1997 Herb Companion article Herbs for Energy, herbs fall into two categories: stimulants and adaptogens. Stimulants increase your heart rate, respiration and blood pressure whereas adaptogens increase your body’s resistance to physical stress.

The article recommends using these herbs for long-term energy:

Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra). This herbal stimulant can regulate your metabolism.	Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus) This adaptogen decreases fatigue and increases the body’s ability to adapt to stress.
Indian ginseng (Withania somnifera) This herbal adaptogen facilitates learning and memory and fights stress and insomnia.	Schisandra (Schizandra chinesis) This herbal adaptogen improves endurance and increases work capacity.

How do you use herbs in your life to stay energized? If it’s not herbs that keep you energized, what does? And how do you stay in shape?

October is my favorite month.  I get REALLY excited about Halloween*.  I especially love reading Martha Stewart’s Halloween issue.  But, when cutting out construction paper bats and applying a perfectly manicured mansion to the top of a three-layer cake just becomes too laborious, I go out and look for my own terrifying trinkets, and I’d like to share with you a few of my finds!

1.  Use your Hosta -- By now, your Hosta flowers should be about spent, leaving their white, lonely sticks jutting into the air like skeleton fingers.  Normally you might just trim them down, but this year, recycle your plant.  Using both hands, gently pull each of the sticks from the plant.  They are very brittle, so pull from the base.  The long shoots (three of mine are over 6 feet!) make for a creepy vase arrangement, but one that could work year-round.

2.  Use your Day lily – Harvested the same way, Day Lily sticks are much less brittle, which makes them more accessible for other uses.  I took last year’s sticks and with a long piece of jute twine, tied them to a small broken tree branch to make an authentic and unique witch’s broom.  You could also trim and de-leaf your Spirea bushes for a smaller broom.  

The chandelier in my dining room is boring, so I hung some sticks from it tied with spent Morning Glory vines, to up the creep factor.  Day lily sticks also look great just in a vase, and cleaned Morning Glory vines could be draped eeriely almost anywhere.

3.  Use your old records -- These record bowls are great candy dishes (especially for candy corn), not to mention great conversational pieces.  Plus, they’re easy to make:  Find an old record or buy one cheap at a thrift shop.  Put a terracotta pot upside down on a cookie sheet, place the record on top, set the oven at 200 and watch it melt, it won’t take long.

4.  Use your artistic skills – Art projects are fun for the family or for parties.  To make this Hocus Pocus inspired spell-book, I took a hollowed-out book from a craft shop and covered it in a polymer clay called Bake-n-Bend, which doesn’t harden until baked.  I found a pair of mannequin eyes and hand-stitched the cover to look like human skin as described in the movie.

5.  Use your imagination. --  Find things in your garden you could use and be creative.  These are birdhouse gourds I grew two years ago that are just waiting to be painted and hung from the ceiling.    

If you find or come up with any fun ideas, drop a comment!  Or, if you want any help with some of mine, email me.

* My love for Halloween is best represented by this lady’s love of surprise parties.  From SNL. Ooooomiiiiiiigodddddddd

 Some people scream “RATS!” when something goes wrong.  Sometimes, though, I think the saying should be “GNATS!”  If you’ve got a bug problem, don’t fret, hope is on the horizon, (or at least in the top layer of your soil).   

Question:  I have noticed more fruit flies in the house now that it's getting cooler. I know that they're attracted to my plants, but they're kind of embarrassing when I have people over. Do you know of a way I can get rid of them, short of walking around and trying to catch each one?? Thanks! - Susan, Kansas

Susan, great question!  First, it’s important to understand the problem:  It’s likely that these buzzers actually aren’t Fruit Flies (Drosophila melanogaster), but a relative insect known as the Fungus Gnat (Sciaridae).  I spoke with an entomologist who said it is a common misnomer.  Even a few exterminators I spoke with had no idea what a Fungus Gnat is (now that is scary, and a good litmus test for a potential exterminator!)   

Fungus Gnats are the most frequent houseplant annoyance and are distinguished from common Fruit Flies because of their darker color.  While Fruit Flies hang out primarily in exposed fruit, rotten food and in leaky fridges, you’ll find Fungus Gnats in wet plant soil, in sewer situations and in household drains.  They’re also attracted to CO₂ (Carbon Dioxide) which explains why they’re always right up in your face. 

Adult Fungus Gnats live a week and a half, and in that span can lay up to 200 eggs each in moist soil.  The eggs hatch in 4 to 6 days and feed on plant roots in their larval stage for about 2 weeks.  They love moist, compost-rich potting soils, so it’s more likely you’ll find them in the brand names, like Miracle-Gro®.

Because Fungus Gnats need moist soil in order to complete this four-week life cycle, most experts think you can eradicate the problem by letting your plants completely dry out and get into the practice of watering "...just enough."  But if your watering methods aren't cryptically precise, there are other more accessible solutions.

Questions about Fungus Gnats:

So, do I have Fungus Gnats?  - To see if you have larvae in your plants, and can’t tell just by looking, cut a potato into ½ inch slices and set on top of the soil. FG larvae are attracted to the potato and will move to the surface to feed on it. In a couple days, check the slices, and discard if engulfed with Gna-ggots.  My advice, skip this step unless you’re morbid and have a strong stomach.

Ack, I have them!  Make them leave!  - Pour a generous layer of sand on top of the soil and cover with cedar mulch.  FGs are attracted to the top layer of wet soil. Because sand drains quickly, adults are confused by the newly dry top layer of soil, even though your plant is perfectly watered.  The cedar mulch is ornamental and most insects hate the smell.

OK, so the larvae are dying.  But how do I kill the adults? – Smear Vaseline® on a yellow sticky note and hang vertically.  FGs are specifically attracted to the color yellow and will bang up against it if it is hung vertically.  Another trick is to uncap and cut the top ^_1/3 off a soda (pop) bottle, turning it upside down inside the bottle (so it looks like a funnel).  Then fill the base with a mixture of vegetable oil and apple cider vinegar.  Attracted to the fermented smell, the FGs will drown when the surface tension is broken by the vegetable oil.     

I think my case is serious! – Most greenhouses use a peat mixture infused with an FG predator called Hypoaspis miles.  The mite lives and feeds on insect larvae and is commercially available for about $30.  You can also buy Gnatrol, a bacterial insecticide that is human and pet friendly and retails for around $20.  Residential exterminators can also control the problem but for, at minimum, $45.

For more information on indoor gardening, visit my blog entry:  5 Tips for Indoor Gardens 

Essential Oils, or EO’s, have infinite purposes.  Here are 19 tried and true practices for the beginning user.  Believe it or not, this list is by no means exhaustive, but it was somewhat exhausting to write! 

Lots of mixing to ensue.

An Essential oil will release its powerful fragrance if cleverly placed … 

 1.  Put a few drops of Peppermint Essential Oil on a napkin, and rub over a lightbulb.  When you switch it on, the bulb will heat and release a beautiful minty scent.  But please use only on tungstens, not compact fluorescents.  If you are more environmentally friendly, a stove top, when warmed, creates a similar effect.

 2.  I always put a few drops of essential oil on my new furnace filters.  When the air blows through the vent, it circulates the beautiful scent throughout your house (much cheaper and healthier than those room-to-room evanescent fresheners!)  If you use a disinfecting oil, like Lavender or Tea Tree, you can stop some nasties before they invade or to cut back on dust mites, use Eucalyptus.  Every week or so, add a few more drops for continued enjoyment.

 3.  If the night lights in said “fresheners” (Tip 2) are just too irresistible to give up, refill the reservoir with a few drops of Essential Oil and water for an easy-peasy, CHEAP, solution.

 4.  Harvest and dry some of your summer flowers, your spike speedwells and roses, your lavenders and mums.  Dry them by hanging them upside down, and then cut ‘em into small pieces.  Mix in a few drops of your favorite smelling EO, wrap in a tissue or thin cloth and BAM, instant potpourri.

5.  For an air freshener that lasts, mix 10 parts vodka with 1 part of your favorite EO (maybe Bergamont or Cedar) in a spray bottle.  But just don’t drink it, kapeesh?

6.  And why not mix in some EO with a bucket of paint (might I suggest lemon)?  Essential oils aren’t fatty, so oil spots shouldn’t be a problem.  But if you’re a worry-wort (like me), experiment on a small patch of wall and let dry.

7.  ¡Amor, amoré!  Scent love letters by stretching a half cotton ball, doused with a couple drops of Jasmine EO and seal in an envelope.  Caution:  Jasmine is an aphrodisiac.  Well, that may not be so much of a caution, really as just a … a head’s up.   

Many essential oils are concentrated enough, they disinfect!

8.  Vinegar is a super-effective cleaner but smells egregiously bad.  And anti-bacterial sprays do only that, kill bacteria.  But fungal spores are a growing problem (literally), and EO’s can save the day.  In a large spray bottle, mix Tea Tree or Lavender oil (and be generous) with a cup of vinegar.  It’s an instant multi-surface cleaner, so use it.

9.  For caked on gunk (in the bath or kitch), mix in a bowl some baking soda and lemon juice until you have a paste, then add an EO for extra scent and as an antiseptic.  The baking soda is used as a mild-abrasive, and the citric acid in the lemon juice cuts through the grease and grime.  Basically, Lemon juice + EO = Love.

10.  Brush a TINSY bit of EO onto your microfibre or brand name duster to super-scent your daily dust-bust.

11.  Last night I dropped a couple drops of Peppermint EO in the dishwasher with the detergent, and as the dishes heated, the aroma warmed my home.

12.  For a home-made carpet deodorizer, mix some EO with baking soda in a large bowl.  Let the oil dry for several hours (or you’ll have oil spots), then stick in a mason jar and punch holes in the lid.  Shake-it-like-a-salt-shaker on your carpets, let it breathe for 4 hours, and vacuum away!

And surely you’re aware of the health benefits …

13.  The EO vs. the Dust Mite.  Ah, how I hate the dust mite (See the post:  Attack of the Killer Tea Bag).  All my friends have allergies, and I’ve been trying to find effective solutions to make them more comfortable visitors.  I read a study on the USDA Web site that says, in small quantities, Eucalyptus oil, when added to the wash, kills dust mites on fabric (which is tough to do, because most can survive washing AND drying).  Don’t put too many drops of EEO on fabrics or you could potentially damage your washer.  Like they say, a lil’ dab’ll do ya.

14.  After you’ve applied tip 13 in the wash, put a few drops of Lavender EO on a damp cloth and throw it in the dryer with your bed sheets.  Bugs hate it (see tip 15), and studies have shown Lavender to be an effective sleep aid.  Don’t let the bed bugs bite!  You can use the same trick for towels, because it won’t reduce static like fabric softener or dryer sheets (so your towels will still absorb water).

15.  Eucalyptus oil can be your one stop shop for essential health:  Put a drop on your toothbrush to wake up your gums.  Rub a bit under your stuffy nose to clear your nasal passages.  Sit a bottle on your desk at work, and inhale every so often to keep you awake.  Mix with a bit of baby oil and massage on achy joints or muscles.  Mix one teaspoon with some Epsom salts and soak your worked-out feet.  And mix a few drops of Eucalyptus oil with your shampoo to stimulate blood flow to the scalp (baldness-be-gone). 

Bugs vs. Essential Oils, a one-sided war …

16.  My grandma has this beautiful trunk that reeks of moth balls, gross.  There’s a better solution:  Lavender, Rosemary and Sweet Basil all contain a chemical compound known as camphor, which is the effective ingredient in moth balls.  Camphor has a distinctive smell that moths hate, and most of the aforementioned essential oils have retained some camphor in the oil process, but smell good.  Mix it with a Cedar EO in potpourri and wrap them in a tissue or thin fabric to put in drawers, chests or trunks.  BEWARE:  Moth balls, when consumed or inhaled, can be fatal! 

17.  Put Citronella oil on a rag and wipe buggy or spidery walls.  Insects hate it, and if there are no bugs, there are no spiders.

18.  Put a dab of Eucalyptus oil between the shoulder blades of your dog (where they can’t lick it off) to discourage ticks.

  19.  2 cups of water + 1 TSP of Eucalyptus Oil + ½ TSP of Dishwashing Fluid = bug repellent spray for plants.

I’ll keep posting Essential Oil posts as I discover new uses.  Feel free to contribute (with a credit, of course) by writing tmiller@ogdenpubs.com.

Also, a BIG thanks to CleanAirGardening.com for the new  Display Gnome .  The beautiful and detailed 15” Gnome was created by the famous Dutchman, Rien Poortvielt, and retails on CleanAirGardening.com for just $39.99, watch for him in future posts. 

I’m now accepting name ideas for the little guy, so, please, comment away!

Hi!  My name’s Taylor, and I’m gnome for my green thumb.  In this weekly blog, I’ll share with you a few of the tips I’ve learned over the years for growing healthy, beautiful plants; answer or find the answer to your questions; and test out some of the products sent to The Herb Companion every week.  My first topic:  Indoor gardening

Question:  I’ve been successfully growing plants and flowers outside for a few years, it’s easy!  But when it comes to indoor plants, even ornamentals, I’m lost.  The leaves get dusty and brown, gnats are EVERYWHERE, and my cats are constantly conducting business in the larger pots.  What do I do? – Lacey, Kansas

5.  Don’t water straight from the tap:  Indoor plants, unlike outside ones, maintain a fairly consistent temperature.  Adjusting to the correct water temperature directly from the tap is nearly impossible, and too much heat or cold can shock something called the thermoreceptors (thank-you college biology credit!) of your plant.  Also, the browning in leaves and leaf tips on some of the more sensitive plants, especially lucky bamboo, is caused by something called salt burn, the plant equivalent of chemical poisoning.  To kill two birds with one stone, fill a CLEANED milk jug with water and leave at room temperature for at least 24 hours, without the cap, before watering.  The exposure to the open air releases some of the chemicals (not totally scientific, but hey-ho, it works), and the temperature normalizes.  After watering, refill, and set it out for weekly use.

4.  Schedule a watering regimen:  A lot of indoor plants die for two similar reasons:  Too much watering, or not enough watering, but there’s an easy way to avoid both.  Depending on the amount of sun or the type of plant, your watering time might be varied.  First, lightly touch the top of the soil to see if it’s moist, if it isn’t, grab a shish-ka-bob poker to see if it’s wet below the surface.  For most plants, you don’t want the soil to be bone-dry but not drowning, either.  Take notes for a few weeks while you observe how often and how much your plants need watered.  Record the trends and water accordingly.  Simple enough, right?  But, be aware that certain plants, like orchids, have special needs.  It’s always best to check the tags or do a quick internet search depending on the plant.

3.    Like shampoo and conditioner, planters and saucers should be two different things:  The planter + attached saucer combo seems to be the latest trend in indoor garden design, and people think they’re saving money by purchasing two for the price of one.  The problem? Drainage.  My mint pot had an attached saucer, and after a few weeks, I started noticing a curiously fetid smell coming from an otherwise great-smelling herb.  When I noticed that water didn’t seem to drain into the saucer, I got worried.  Stagnant, brown liquid had gathered under the pot and was blocked from draining evenly into the saucer.  Like me, if you already have such a planter, simply take a hammer and cover with a folded cloth or use a rubber mallet to lightly tap off the saucer.  I tapped on all four sides of the planter to make sure it came off evenly, and if you’re lucky, it will.  If not, tap off the sharp edges, and buy a terracotta saucer.  Jiggles the Gnome now has a reason to smile.

2.  Cinnamon, your one-stop pest control:  The soil in many of your freshly planted or transplanted herbs can be home to myriad insects, but because you have pets, you shouldn’t be spraying a lot of pesticides inside your home, especially if your animals are showing an interest in your herbs.  Lucky for you, both insects AND animals hate the smell of cinnamon.  Just sprinkle a thin layer of ground cinnamon (NOT cinnamon oil) on the top of the soil to suffocate the eggs and burrowed insects.  To quickly kill residual bugsters, fill a bowl with soapy, sudsy water and set it under a small lamp to leave overnight.  I have also spread cinnamon under the carpet around my baseboards to fix an invading ant problem.  As for the cats, because their urine has such a high concentration of ammonia, it can be caustic to your peace lily or selloum-philo.  The good news is that cats almost ALWAYS smell where they’re about to go, and they won’t want to go on a layer of cinnamon.  As a triple threat, cinnamon is composed of about 35% of the element manganese, which is essential in photosynthesis and also a common ingredient of most fertilizers.  When the cinnamon breaks down after multiple waterings, it feeds your plant.  Reapply as needed.

1.  Use banana peels to give indoor plants a straight-from-the-florist shine:   Feather-dusting plant leaves just doesn’t cut it when it comes to plant-maintenance, and it might not remove all the dust.  The texture and oils of the inside of a banana peel serve as a mild-abrasive for dusting and shining, and the nutrients of the peel feed the plant.  The trick can be especially useful for nearly-expired bananas (which Bogart the Gnome is handsomely demonstrating) that you might not want to eat. Simply use the peels for your plants, and then use the bananas for a great banana bread.  And heck, why not add some cinnamon while you’ve got it out!

If you have a question, send it to tmiller@ogdenpubs.com or if you have a product you’d like to recommend or ask us to test, mail it to the following address (and email me a note that it’s coming!)

Taylor Miller
The Herb Companion
1503 S.W. 42^nd Street
Topeka, Kansas 66609-1265

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.