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 blog at http://patsybell.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner.

Hort Couture is a company that offers "the most sought after new plants and genetics from the world's best breeders and plants people," according to their website. One of their more popular plant collections is Culinary Couture, a line of fashionable heirloom vegetables and herbs. 

So far, I've grown the following plants with panache this summer: Salvia officinalis 'La Crema', 'Black Krim' (an heirloom tomato) and the worldwide hit ' Tomaccio' (a new dried snack tomato). I'll share the results of my tomatoes later this year. (It will be more than a month before I'll have dried tomatoes and a final report.)

One of my favorite herbs from Culinary Couture is ‘La Crema’, a fragrant, variegated sage that is currently thriving in my Zone 6 garden. Reminiscent of the familiar common garden sage, 'La Crema' is aromatic and beautiful enough to be in the flower garden. 

Look for 'La Crema' in independent garden centers next spring.
It is thriving in my humid, Zone 6 garden.
Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

What I'm most excited about is using this flavorful herb in my family's cornbread and sage dressing this Thanksgiving. I suggest that you use this sage as you would any other garden sage. Low-growing sage can grow as a border plant in a perennial garden. In spring, blue sage flowers appear about the time chives have blossomed. The flowers also make a pretty bouquet or can be used as an edible garnish.

  
Photos by Patsy Bell Hobson

Hort Couture is the fastest growing plant brand in North America. Their plant collections include Avant Garde Annuals, Prêt a Porter Perennials, Tres Chic Tropicals, Culinary Couture and Sunny Succulents. 'La Crema' is from C. Raker & Sons, a wholesale plant propagation specialist based in Litchfield, Michigan. C. Raker & Sons is in partnership with Hort Couture, the fashionistas of the plant world.

Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

Have you ever bought herbs from Hort Couture? What do you think of their products?

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 blog at http://patsybell.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner.

My garden is bursting with the main ingredients for Ratatouille, a chunky French stew. While you may not be thinking of stew in the heat of the summer, this rich vegetable stew will warm your soul this winter.

Ratatouille is a delicious way to preserve a lot of produce fast. It is even more flavorful reheated the next day. Use the following herbs and vegetables.

Herbs: rosemary, parsley, thyme, oregano, bay, garlic

Vegetables: onions, bell peppers zucchini, eggplants, tomatoes

Herbs are a must for Ratatouille, especially French thyme.
Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

Basic Ratatouille

• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large bell pepper
• 1 medium eggplant
• 2 or 3 large tomatoes
• 2 zucchinis

1. Coursley chop vegetables into bite-size portions.

2. Saute onions in a little olive oil, then add garlic.

3. Add bell pepper, eggplant, tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Cook for 15 minutes.

5. To preserve, divide the remainder of the stew into quart freezer containers, label, cool and freeze.

Tips For Cooking Ratatouille

+ I have plenty of fresh herbs at the peak of summer so I like to add a few herb sprigs to the dish early. Just remember to remove them before serving.

+ Add zucchini or another summer squash to your stew for something a little different.

+ Cook covered over medium heat for about 10 more minutes, or until vegetables are done to your taste. Remove from heat, salt and pepper, and add fresh chopped herbs.

+ On the first snow day of the winter, put a quart of frozen ratatouille in the crockpot on low. By dinner time, your house will smell like a French restaurant. Being snowed in with a big bowl of rich, summery Ratatouille is a privilege for any home gardener.

+ My basic Ratatouille recipe is under-seasoned. To spice it up, season it with Herbs de Provence or add a combination of rosemary, parsley, thyme and, maybe, a cube of your frozen homemade pesto.

+ In my basic recipe, I add several whole cloves of garlic, which is different than the traditional French version. If this isn't your cup of tea, add a variety of squash, peppers or eggplants instead.

+ Serve as a stew with crusty bread, or, for a hardier meal, serve over rice, egg noodles, pasta or a baked potato.

+ I like to make a large batch of this stew and turn off the heat when the Ratatouille is slightly under cooked. Then I add fresh herbs, stir and cover it for 10 minutes.

Seed Packet Giveaway!

I'm excited to announce another give away: Renee's Garden is giving away French thyme seed packets to three lucky Herb Companion readers. Winners will be chosen at random. Details below.

HOW TO ENTER:

• Post a comment below: Tell us how you use thyme. Do you grow it? Do you cook with it? What's your favorite thyme-infused recipe?

•End Date: August 20, 2010 (12:00 AM, Central Time) Courtesy Renee's Garden.

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 blog at http://patsybell.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner.

A plastic picnic knife makes a great gardening tool. I tend to be a frugal person and my frugal gardening suggestion this time is to recycle plastic forks, spoons and knives to make plant markers and plastic bag openers. In the summer season, you will probably use plastic flatware at a picnic and, unfortunately, most of it will go into the trash.

  
Plastic bags open quickly with a plastic knife.
Photo by Pasty Bell Hobson

But, you can recycle plastic flatware from picnics and to-go purchases. (It isn't considered recycling if you buy flatware specifically for this purpose!) So, if you happen to use plastic flatware this summer, recycle it for garden use and you will keep one more thing out of the landfill.

Recycle plastic picnicware into plant markers.
Photo by Pasty Bell Hobson

Do you recycle household items in your garden? Let us 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 blog at http://patsybell.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner. 

Best known for pickling, dill (Anethum graveolens) is also a good herb for succession planting. If making dill pickles is on your Summer To-Do List, try this variety: dill 'Dukat'. This variety, which is bred in Denmark, has finely cut leaves that stay fresh longer than other varieties.

Urban herbs are hung by the window to grow in Brooklyn.
Photo by Dory Komfeld/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66885056@N00/

I like this newer variety of dill. It is pretty enough to plant in a sunny flower garden and it's more compact than taller, older varieties. This is one of the few herbs that I enjoy to use both the ferny leaves and the seeds. Those beautiful lacey leaves are often referred to as dill weed. After this member of the carrot family has bloomed and set seed, cut it and hang it upside down in a paper bag to collect seed.

While the black swallowtail butterfly is a caterpillar, it feeds on dill.
Photo by Ken Pomerance/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrclean/1463218338/

I suggest that you start this plant from seed—it has a long tap root, which means that transplanting it will have limited success. Plant a few seeds every two weeks to extend your season of fresh dill and to grow more than you need to share with local butterflies. Grateful butterfies will enjoy finding this smaller, more compact variety in your garden and caterpillars will appreciate its ready supply. It's a well known fact that dill (as well as parsley and fennel) will attract butterflies to your garden.

To preserve, freeze your dill plant by cutting the branches into sections short enough to fit into heavy plastic freezer bags. Do not chop the leaves into bits until it is ready to use. This will brighten the fragrance and flavor when you use it in any recipe. Dill will keep in the freezer for about six months.

Use dill and garlic to make homemade pickles.
Photo by  Sarah Reid

Use dill for more than pickles and dilly beans. Try a little dill in a favorite biscuit recipe. If you are serving pre-made biscuits, brush a little dill-infused butter on them. Also, I couldn't make potato salad without dill weed.

This dill seed is easy to find. I bought my seeds at Renee's Garden, Burpee and Nichols Garden Nursery online catalogs; several other companies also sell dill seed. But if you don't want to find them on your own, enter my garden giveaway!

Seed Packet Giveaway!

I'm excited to announce another giveaway: Renee's Garden has agreed to give away three dill 'Dukat'   seed packets to three lucky Herb Companion readers. Winners will be chosen at random. Details below.

HOW TO ENTER:

• Post a comment below: Tell us how you use dill in your home. Do you currently grow dill? What's your favorite recipe to use it in? Courtesy Renee's Garden.

• End date: June 27, 2010 (12:00 AM, Central Time) UPDATE: Time's up!

And the winners are ...

Eva in Springfield, Virginia

Margie in Crystal Lake, Illinois

Gail in Peshtigo, Wisconsin

Winners were chosen using www.random.org. Thanks to everyone who entered my Garden Giveaway! Watch out for even more giveaways.

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 blog at http://patsybell.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner. 

Wild strawberries and Alpine strawberries (Fragaria vesca) are hardy, disease-resistant and perfect for a low border or edging plant. They are also a great groundcover. Some folks grow them in grass-free lawns.

You won't be able to find the sweet and fragile Alpine strawberries in grocery stores.
Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

I discovered some wild strawberries at my friend's lake house in Missouri. I was able to bring a few plants home. The wild strawberries loved living at my house and multiplied into a beautiful groundcover in my small flower bed. The love of my life thoughtfully cleaned up that flower bed one spring by ripping out all the weeds—which were my prized wild strawberries.

Since then, I’ve tried a couple of times to grow wild strawberries from seed and failed. When I had the opportunity to start new gardens at a new home I went a little overboard with these tiny berries.

I ordered the 'Mignonette' strawberry seeds, which are a French delicacy, from Renee’s Garden and had great success using the AeroGarden. The plants, once started, are easy to grow. They are compact perennial Alpine strawberry plants that produce sweet, pointed fruits from early spring to the last frost. I notice that Renee has an article about these itty bitty berries on her web page. This is where I got the idea to use these strawberries as an edging plant. It is not too late to start these plants from seed in May or June. (If you order from Renee's Garden, you will get prompt seed delivery!)

That same year, I bought a 'Ruegen' pack of 12 plants from Richter's. These sweet and tangy berries are just a little smaller in size than the 'Mignonette' growing on compact, runnerless plants, but they do multiply and should be thinned every few years. 'Ruegen' bears fruit from May until frost. Richter's has the best selection of culinary and medicinal herbs that I have found.

I think that those tasteless, monster-sized berries at the grocery store turned me away from normal strawberries. The tiny wild or Alpine berry tastes like strawberry candy in comparison.
The first year, it was a contest to see who would get to eat these mini delicacies: me or the birds. There are so many of them and the season is so long; now the birds and I have agreed to share the abundant harvest.

These little strawberry plants produce from spring until fall.
Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

My ‘Mara des Bois’ strawberries, which I bought from White Flower Farm, live in hanging baskets on the patio. Last summer I ate one or two berries and then a winged predator, or possibly my beloved, had the rest. There were not a lot of berries because the plants were busy trying to escape their confinement by sending runners over the edges of the hanging baskets. The berries are twice the size of the Alpine berries, although they are still a very small berry compared to what we find at the grocery. (The little ones fetch premium prices at some markets.) These hardy little plants overwintered in hanging basket while sitting on my patio all winter.

Fraises des bois is a French word for "strawberries of the woods." The strawberries are also known by other names including Fragaria vesca, Alpine strawberry, wild strawberry, Woodland strawberry, American strawberry, European strawberry and fraisier des bois. Remember that these itty bitty berries are too fragile for transport.

Strawberries will not ripen after picking. For the sweetest taste, pick ripe berries. 
Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

The tiny berries are beautiful as a garnish on a dessert plate. It is said that tea made from the leaves will stimulate the appetite. They grow as an evergreen edging along the sidewalk in the potager, making for easy picking as I walk by.

Try adding balsamic vinegar and strawberries to your next salad.
Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

This strawberry seed is easy to find. I bought my seeds at Renee's Garden, Burpee and Richter's catalogs. Several other companies sell the wild strawberry seed. But if you don't want to find them on your own, enter my garden giveaway!

Seed Packet Giveaway!

I'm excited to announce another giveaway: Renee is giving away 'Mignonette' strawberry seed packets to three lucky Herb Companion readers.

• Post a comment below: Tell me how you would like to enjoy your 'Mignonette' strawberry seeds if you were to win? What wonderful dishes would you prepare? Courtesy Renee's Garden.

• End date: June 6, 2010 (12:00 AM, Central Time) UPDATE: Time's up!

And the winners are...

Patricia Meeks in Chehalis, Washington

Dianne Aikey in Mulberry, Florida

Karyl Fulkerson in Livermore, California

Winners were chosen using www.random.org. Thanks to everyone who entered my Garden Giveaway! Watch out for even more giveaways.

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 blog at http://patsybell.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner.

In my Zone 6 garden there are always three kinds of tomatoes: a paste tomato for sauces, a cherry tomato, because these small tomatoes are always the first to ripen (and later, when the big tomatoes are producing, these small ones will be dried), and a big, meaty tomato for eating fresh (and for bragging rights). I love tomatoes and when I saw Tomatoes Garlic Basil (St. Lynn's Press, 2010), I judged the book by its cover. It is beautiful. Eventually, I was tempted to open the paperback tribute to the garden and kitchen's favorite produce and I'm glad that I did. The book only gets better!

Tomatoes, garlic and basil are the holy trinity of the vegetable garden.

Doug Oster's Tomatoes Garlic Basil is a love letter about our favorite home garden produce. If you are one of the millions of backyard gardeners who grow tomatoes, this book is for you. Tomatoes are the star of the show. And, just like most gardens, basil and garlic have strong supporting roles in the book that magnify the magic of home grown tomatoes.

The book will not overwhelm you with soil science and plant genetics. It will give you some good advice about soil preparation and plant selection. The pleasure of reading this book grows as Oster offers us many choices with these three simple garden staples.

Like most gardeners, Oster is generous in sharing his experience and recipes. If you are new to gardening, try the simple combination of these three plants. He also encourages people who do not have garden space and shares some planting options. Each chapter begins with a garden or food quote that ties into the chapter. In Chapter 2, I was inspired by "Summer Celebrations" and looked forward to incorporating some of his ideas as I create new traditions for my own family. And by the time you get to the great advice in Chapter 9, which is about soil preparation and weed control, Oster will feel like an old neighbor

Oster is still on the big adventure of trying some different tomato plants every year as well as growing his favorites. It's a good idea and you will never run out of tomato varieties to try. After reading this book you will be able to speak about basil and garlic as well as tomatoes with any home gardener.

This book would make a great gift for either a new or experienced gardener, as well as for the recipients of your produce bounty. (I recommend you buy the print version to enjoy the artful photographs.) The only difficult part is deciding whether to put this book with my cookbooks or on the shelf with the gardening books. I decided to take the book into the kitchen and try the recipes with my own fresh tomatoes, garlic and basil.

I enjoyed the humorous and serious gardening stories and there are plenty of artsy photographs throughout the book. I will definitely put Doug's recipes and gardening tips to use this summer.

Cherry tomatoes are heavy producers.

Book Details

• Tomatoes Garlic Basil: The Simple Pleasures of Growing and Cooking Your Garden's Most Versatile Veggies by Doug Oster
• Paperback: 272 pages.
• Publisher: St. Lynn's Press; 1st edition, ISBN-10: 0981961517 and ISBN-13: 978-0981961514
• See Doug Oster's Blog at http://www.dougoster.com/books/ to read “My favorite story from Tomatoes Garlic Basil.” 

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 blog at http://patsybell.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner. 

Chard is becoming a favorite summer green for home gardeners. It's beautiful! And, long after the cool season, when greens such as spinach have faded from my Zone 6 garden, chard is the one that steadily produces fresh greens for my favorite salads.

Make tomato and swiss chard soup this summer.
Photo by Robyn Lee/Courtesy Flickr

Grow and Cook with Swiss Chard

Swiss chard 'Bright Lights' was honored as an All-America Selections (AAS) winner in 1998. When buying herb and vegetable seeds, I look for seeds that are AAS winners, which are selected based on their superior performance. AAS winners will also grow most anywhere in North America. The All-America Selections® logo tells me that I can grow this plant easily from seed.

Swiss chard, or chard, is a beet that is usually selected for its leaf production, not for its root formation. Plant chard seeds a week or two before your favorite salad greens, such as spinach, bolt. When you pull up these greens your chard seedlings will be well on their way. Also, by the time tomatoes are ripe and ready, lettuce will be long gone from your garden. Instead, grow young chard leaves as a lettuce substitute. I use it in the summer's best sandwich: the bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, or the BLT.

Many cooks remove chard's colorful stems, which can be yellow, gold, orange, pink, red or white, and cook them separately before adding greens to the mix. (The stems take longer to cook.) Cut off the outer leaves 1 1/2 inches above the ground when they are young and tender, which is when they are about 8 to 10 inches tall. Larger leaves can be cooked and used as you would use spinach. If you like spinach, you will like this hardy and more earthy-flavored relative.

Fill your garden with Swiss chard whereever you find an empty space. It grows well in containers and is pretty enough to grow in a flower bed. Swiss chard is loaded with vitamins A, C, and contain vitamin B, calcium, iron and phosphorus. Like most greens, chard is very low in calories. And unlike most vegetables, it has a slightly higher sodium content than most leafy greens.

Seed Packet Giveaway!

Burpee has generously agreed to give away three seed packets of Swiss chard 'Bright Lights' to my Herb Companion readers. Winners will be selected at random. Details below. 

HOW TO ENTER: 

• Post a comment below: Share your experience with Swiss chard. Do you currently grow this plant? What would you like to use it for? Courtesy Burpee. 

• End date: June 6, 2010 (12:00 AM, Central Time) UPDATE: Time's up!

And the winners are...

Brenda McKenzie in Summerdale, Alabama

Sue in Wilton, New Hampshire

Marsha Allison in Montgomery, Alabama

Winners were chosen using www.random.org. Thanks to everyone who entered my Garden Giveaway! Watch out for even more giveaways.

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 blog at http://patsybell.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner. 

I've never lived where parsley grew as a biennial. Parsley has always been an annual in my garden. Until last summer.

Instead of it growing about a foot tall, it grew to about three feet. Then, this over-achiever bloomed. That’s when its family tree became apparent.

Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is a member of the carrot family. When it blooms, the family resemblance to its cousin, Queen Ann's Lace (Daucus carota), is striking.

This year, volunteer parsley have appeared where the giant grew and self-seeded last summer. The self-seeded plants came weeks ahead of the seeds I sowed. If you are content to let the parsley grow where ever it wants, you won't have to disturb the fussy tap root.

Allow parsley to self seed for an earlier harvest.
Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

How To Preserve Parsley

• Wash and chop the leaves. Fill an ice cube tray with the leaves. Add water (or vegetable broth) to fill the cups of a plastic ice cube tray. Place in freezer until the cubes are frozen. Pop the cubes out and store in an airtight container in your freezer. Thaw when needed by dropping a cube into soup or sauce.

• You can make a parsley pesto in the same way you make your favorite version of basil pesto. Dry parsley if you must, but it's color is dull and the flavor is similar to notebook paper.

• Parsley butter will also preserve the color and flavor better than drying and freezes well. Read Herbal Butters and Oils: Garden Herb Butter to learn more.

Remove the stems in recipes calling for fresh parsley.
Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

Herbs in the Butterfly Garden

I always plant and grow twice as much parley as I need because parsley is a wonderful choice for attracting black swallowtail butterflies. Curley and flat-leaf parsley have a very high vitamin C content. It also contains vitamin A, B1, B2, calcium, iron, and anti-inflammatory flavonoids.

Other herbs in a butterfly garden should include dill and fennel.

Parsley, dill and fennel are taking over my Zone 6 garden. If you let these herbs self-seed they will come up earlier and hardier than the seeds you sow this spring. If you are not obsessed with growing plants in staight lines or rows, the self-sown plants are a bargain. They don't all come up at once, which will extend your harvest season.

Seed Packet Giveaway!

My "Free Seed Packet" giveaways are attracting readers and the seed companies are very generous. I love introducing you to some of my favorite seed sources. In addition to the volunteer parsley, I am growing Italian 'Gigante' parsley from Renee's Garden.

There are a lot of new herb gardeners out there. So, when I mention seed sources, they consistently deliver the products they advertise on time with a generous seed count. Their seeds thrive in my garden. Renee's Garden has volunteered three packets of Italian 'Gigante' parsley. It is not too late to plant seed. Just be mindful of the moisture and never let the soil or seedlings dry out.

HOW TO ENTER:

• Post a comment below that shares how you enjoy using parsley in your home. Courtesy Renee's Garden. 

• End date: May 23, 2010 (12:00 AM, Central Time) UPDATE: Time's up!

And the winners are...

Robert Smith in Sewickley, Pennsylvania

Karen Bert in Port Angeles, Washington

Theresa Guinan in Kirkwood, New York

Winners were chosen using www.random.org. Thanks to everyone who entered my Garden Giveaway! Watch out for even more giveaways.

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 blog at http://patsybell.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner. 

You still have time to start peppers from seed. I'm growing several chilies and a few different mild or bell peppers. The sweet pepper that caught my attention this year is the baby bell pepper. The plants are compact and heavy producers. Baby bells are a good choice for containers.

 
Left: Cheese-stuffed peppers make a tasty snack. Photo by Pille, courtesy Nami-Nami.
Right: Stuffed yellow peppers are easy to make. Photo courtesy Burpee. 

As you plant peppers, stake or cage them. Pepper plants tend to be brittle and the stems can snap in heavy winds or storms. These cute little peppers can be used fresh or cooked in summer recipes. Leave peppers growing on the plants until their color is bright and the peppers are well ripened for the sweetest flavor.

Peppers, like tomatoes, are native to the Americas. This new baby bell pepper will be pretty served grilled, stuffed as tapas or on an antipasta tray. My little baby bell pepper plants are just about 2 inches tall and looks just like any other pepper plant. Baby pictures will be delivered about the time tomatoes start coming on.

There are truly a rainbow of colors for bell peppers. The green peppers are not as sweet and sometimes more bitter than the red, yellow or orange peppers. Belle peppers are at their sweetest when allowed to ripen on the plant in full sun.

Red peppers have more vitamins and nutrients and contain the antioxidant lycopene. The level of carotene, another antioxidant, is nine times higher in red peppers. Red peppers also have twice the vitamin C content of green peppers. Bell peppers are an excellent source of vitamins C and A. One raw pepper provides more vitamin C than one cup of orange juice.

The red and yellow baby belle peppers are beautiful together
on an antipasto plate or in a large summer salad.
Photo courtesy  Renee's Garden .

This pepper seed is easy to find. Gurney's Seed & Nursery Co., Johnny's Selected Seeds and Renee's Garden and many other catalogs offer baby bell peppers. But if you don't want to find them on your own, enter my giveaway! I'm excited to announce another giveaway: Renee is giving away baby belle pepper seed packets, which contain both red and yellow peppers, to three lucky Herb Companion readers. Winners will be chosen randomy and announced after they have been notified. Good luck!

HOW TO ENTER:

• Post a comment below that shares how you would like to use baby bell peppers in your home. Courtesy Renee's Garden. 

• End date: May 9, 2010 (12:00 AM, Central Time) UPDATE: Time's up! 

And the winners are...

Eileen Pepel in Staten Island, New York

Linda Baylis in Lockhart, Texas

Teresa Dix in Marion, Indiana

Winners were chosen using www.random.org. Thanks to everyone who entered my Garden Giveaway! Watch out for even more giveaways.

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 blog at http://patsybell.blogspot.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner. 

Cilantro is a love-it-or-hate-it herb—most everyone has a strong opinion about this lacey green herb. Like it or not, you've probably eaten it in a Mexican or Thai dish at restaurants.

Use cilantro flowers in salads or as garnish.
Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

Personally, I am a fan of cilantro. However, I grow several plantings from seed each year and it always seems like the herb is never ready to harvest when my other herbal ingredients that are essential to my favorite cilantro-infused recipes are. Because of this, I once let a cilantro plant go to seed. Now, it has moved in and become the dandelion of my herb garden, popping up everywhere. Here are some of tips I've come up with to help you grow cilantro:

• If you see the plants for sale, be aware that cilantro has a long tap root like its sister the carrot. You will have limited success transplanting cilantro. It takes about 45 days for cilantro to transition from seed to a harvestable plant. 

• The very best way to grow this herb is from seed. Sow a few seeds every few weeks to have it fresh when you want to add it to a recipe.

• Thin the seed (six to eight inches) and pinch the seedlings when they are about one to two inches tall in order to encourage more leafy plant growth. Then you can quickly toss the thinnings into a salad or a salsa.

• Cilantro needs full sun and can grow in some light shade in southern states.

• Although cilantro likes a sunny location, it is quick to bolt in the hottest part of summer. Cilantro plants like well drained soil and plenty of water. Plants grow well in containers and is attractive in mixed herb container plantings.

• Succession plantings are best because cilantro has a short life. When the plant blooms, pinch off the flowers and add to salads or use as garnish. Or, if your plants go to seed, harvest the seeds and dry it to use it as its spice coriander.

Long tap roots make this plant best for direct seeding into the garden.
Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

I grow cilantro to use in recipes like salsa, pico de gallo and gazpacho. The seeds were used medicinally to help with sleep and digestion.

Cilantro is truly an herb of summer and best used fresh. The leaves are almost tasteless when dried. Cuttings won't last long in the refrigerator or in a glass of water. This leafy herb does not store well, which is why you seldom see it offered in grocery stores or markets.

Seed Packet Giveaway!

The seed company Burpee has some recipes on their website that use cilantro, such as their Mexican-Style Pizza with Cilantro.

HOW TO ENTER

Three randomly selected readers who comment will receive a packet of cilantro seed.

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 blog at http://patsybell.blogspot.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner. 

I had never used lavender in the kitchen until I went to DayBreak Lavender Farm. You can pick your own lavender or everlasting drying bouquet at the Ohio Lavender Harvest. The odd thing is, lavender isn't supposed to grow in Ohio, but it does. The farm is in the rolling hills of Ohio near Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

I like to flavor sugar with lavender. To flavor sugar, add 2 tablespoons of lavender buds to 2 cups of sugar; stir or shake the jar then seal tightly for two weeks. (The lavender flavors the sugar kind of like when Martha Stewart adds vanilla beans to flavor her sugar.) Two weeks later, sift the sugar to separate the lavender from the sugar. I use this lavender flavored sugar in sugar cookies and butter cookies. You can also use your lavender-infused sugar to make simple syrup for lavender-flavored lemonade.

Step 1: To flavor sugar, add 2 cups of sugar and 2 tablespoons culinary lavender; seal and wait two weeks.
Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

Step 2: Sift sugar after two weeks. U se in place of regular white sugar.
Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

Lavender goes well with baked goods and is especially nice with chocolate. To incorporate lavender into your baking, add a teaspoon to your next batch of brownies. For another lavender infusion, use candied lavender flowers as cake decorations or on ice cream. Also, you can use your mild-flavored lavender sugar in baked goods or beverages. For example, use lavender sugar when making hot chocolate.

Add small amounts of lavender to your espresso along with dark chocolate for lavender-infused hot chocolate.
Courtesy Flickr/Photo by Robyn Lee
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roboppy/

At the lavender harvest in Streetsboro, Ohio, owner Jody Byrn will share her recipes for Dark Chocolate Lavender Truffles and Lavender Tea Cakes. You can also buy lavender gift baskets from DayBreak Lavender Farm. My first experience baking with lavender was using Jody's recipes for lavender desserts. It gave me the confidence to add lavender to other recipes.

These potatoes have been seasoned with Herbes de Provence before roasting.
Courtesy Flickr/Photo by bearsyr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13016943@N05/

The best known herb combination that includes lavender is Herbes de Provence. These herbs have always been key to southern French cooking. But the rest of the world was introduced to Herbes de Provence in the 1970s when the mixture was formulated by spice wholesalers to sell more herbs.

Herbes de Provence Mix

I use this premixed herb combination on cornish hens before they cook on the rotisserie or as a spice rub on kabobs before grilling. Herbes de Provence is a mix of rosemary, cracked fennel, thyme, savory, basil, tarragon, dill weed, Turkish oregano, lavender, chervil and marjoram. Start here if you want to mix your own herb combination perfect for southern French cooking.

• 2 tablespoons dried savory
• 1 tablespoons dried rosemary
• 2 tablespoons dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons dried basil
• 2 tablespoons dried marjoram
• 1 tablespoons dried fennel seed

1. Blend herbs and keep in an air-tight container.

2. Make this recipe your own by adjusting the amounts of the different herbs.

Resources:

• Jody Byrne, founder of DayBreak Lavender Farm
• Rose Marie Nichols McGee, owner of Nichols Garden Nursery

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 blog at http://patsybell.blogspot.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner. 

Lavender attracts butterflies, is drought and heat tolerant and grows well in gardens and containers. Both flowers and foliage are fragrant. The blue-purple flowers on silver foliage make this a must-have plant in a white- and silver-themed garden, or a blue- and purple-themed garden. Its upright habit make lavender a good choice for butterfly- and cutting-gardens. Lavender is a good choice in most any herb garden.

Attract birds, butterflies and pollinators to your garden with lavender.
Photo by DayBreak Lavender Farm

Jody Byrne, founder of DayBreak Lavender Farm says “Lavender is the Swiss Army Knife of herbs. It can be used in crafting, cosmetics, fragrance, cooking, healing and homekeeping.”

“We couldn't say that about oregano, for example. No offense oregano! Lavender is truly the most beloved herb in the world. Its scent is pure and clean, neither masculine nor feminine. And it grows nearly all over the world. Not at the ice caps. Not in the humid jungles. But most everywhere else ... and it grows wild. Which gives you a clue that it is no diva in the garden,” says Byrne.

Like any new plant, you need to give lavender plenty of water and attention until its roots are well established. Herbs in containers will be dependent on you to provide plenty of water year round. Once lavender is established in your herb garden, plants will need to be pruned every year.

Lavender gives height to containers of mixed plants.
Photo by Provern Winners

'Goodwin Creek' lavender (Lavandula heterophylla) has light grey, deeply toothed foliage and small, deep purple flowers. This 'Proven Winners' lavender is an annual (except in Zone 8 and above) making it an excellent choice for mixed plants in a single large container.

Rose Marie Nichols McGee, owner of Nichols Garden Nursery, says “I would in particular recommend 'Sharon Roberts' lavender (Lavender angustifolia) both for hardiness and repeat flowering. However, in Zone 6 you must also deal with fungal diseases, so you should consider planting 'Sweet' lavender (Lavender heterophylla), which blooms steadily through the summer, is disease resistant and a stunning container plant.”

“I should mention a very nice 'Lavender Lady' (L. angustifolia), which was a 1994 All-America Selections winner. It grows easily from seed and, if started in February, will have a fast growing attractive blooming plant the first summer,” advises McGee. “This will sail through most winters but the economy of seed allows those in climates too hot or too cold to have an affordable abundance of lavender plants that can be treated as an annual.”

Lavender shouldn't grow in Ohio, tell that to Jody Byrne.
Photo by DayBreak Lavender Farm

Like me, many beginning gardeners have no luck with seeds or plants in their first attempts. I finally ordered three different types of lavender plants for the garden. Only one was a hardy surviver. It has grown faithfully in my Zone 6 humid summers and freezing winters for six years.

“There are so many choices in with lavenders that there is one suitable for just about anywhere,” says McGee.

If you've been hesitant to try lavender in your garden either for the first time or again, remember Jody Byrne's simple rules:

Lavender fields ready for harvest in Ohio.
Photo by DayBreak Lavender Farm

“Lavender only wants three things, but on these she is adamant:

• Blazing sunlight 6 to 8 hours per day.
• Well-drained soil. More lavender dies from wet roots than any other cause.
• Sweet soil. (Alkaline soil.) I recommend crushed oyster shell. It's slow release, 100% natural and lightens heavy or clay soil”, said Byrne. “Lavender is a sturdy soldier and gives so much, asking very little in return.”

So, if your first attempt at growing lavender was less than successful, try again this spring. Whether you treat lavender like an annual or perennial depends on your location, both the zone and garden placement. Consider planting lavender in a container that you can shelter from the wettest and coldest days.

Find your zone using your zip code. 

Resources:

• Jody Byrne, founder of DayBreak Lavender Farm
• Rose Marie Nichols McGee, owner of Nichols Garden Nursery

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 blog at http://patsybell.blogspot.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner.

The Irish Inn, a cozy little B&B in southern-Illinois, was kind enough to share this traditional Irish stew recipe. I wanted to share how to make Irish stew for Saint Patrick's Day with my friends and fellow herb gardeners because it has a number of herbs and spices that surprised me. Once you taste the stew, it becomes clear just how important the addition of herbs and spices are to its richness.

It takes a long time to prepare this traditioal Irish stew with Guinness, but you will get a few meals out of it.
The stew reheats well and is even better the next day.
Photo courtesy Salihan Crafts. 

I confess, I substituted canned tomatoes for the fresh chopped tomatoes. This Irish stew recipe is simply a guideline for a very rich and tasty stew. There are several ingredient substitution suggestions in the recipe made by innkeeper Lynn McCreery.

McCreery is a world traveler. The use of cinnamon bark in this recipe is a technique she learned in India. Rubbing a little ground cinnamon on the meat is the next best thing. Perhaps the most easily recognized dark ale is Guinness, but any good dark ale will work in the recipe.

Feel free to substitute whichever ingredients are fresh and available.
Photo courtesy Salihan Crafts. 

Traditional Irish Stew with Guinness

The key thing is to make this recipe your own. It reheats well. In fact, I think it tastes even better the next day. 

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 pounds stew beef or lamb cut into one inch cubes
• 1 head garlic, minced (mince all the cloves in the head)
• 2 to 3 large onions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 6 cups beef stock (you can prepare from beef cubes with water)
• 1 cup dark ale
• 1 can tomato paste (you can substitute with a cup of tomato catsup)
• 4 large tomatoes, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (you can substitue with soy sauce)
• 3 1/2 pounds red potatoes
• 3 cups peeled carrots, cut in medallions
• 1/2 stick butter (you can substitue with olive oil)
• One 3-inch cinnamon bark
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Parsley and coriander leaves, for garnish

1. Heat olive oil in very large pot over medium heat. Sauté meat until brown, then add garlic and onion. Continue to move the meat in the pot with new ingredients over heat for another seven minutes, and then sprinkle with sugar.

2. Add beef stock, ale, tomato ingredients, herbs and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for another two hours, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes.

3. In a deep skillet sauté the potatoes and carrots in butter. Add to the stew pot after it has simmered for two hours. Add cinnamon bark and simmer on lowest heat for another 40 minutes. Remove the bark and bay leaves. Garnish with parsley or coriander (or a combination of both).

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 blog at http://patsybell.blogspot.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner. 

I'm fanning through the seed catalogs, looking for seed that will eventually become my favorite dishes. Such as gazpacho, ratatouille or tabouli.

I seldom use a recipe without tweaking it a little. This is The Cook's Garden's recipe for Vegetable Soup. I am sharing the recipe with you because I like the idea of harvesting all these beautiful vegetables from my garden. It is on their website along with many other tried and true recipes for your garden bounty.

Add a can of chick peas or any vegetable you like and skip the ones you don't.
Photo by Harris Graber 

Vegetable Soup

The idea, which you can see as you read the ingredients in the following link, is to grow your own soup vegetables and harvest, store or preserve your very own veggies. Your hard work will be rewarded by your delicious home garden medly.

Ingredients: Click here for the list of ingredients: Ingredients For Vegetable Soup. The herbs in this recipe (garlic, bay and basil) are merely suggestions for an herb gardener. Add many more herbs if desired. (Click here for the full recipe: Vegetable Soup.)

Directions: To prepare this soup, saute cut meat, minced garlic, onions and chopped celery in olive oil and add cup of stock as ingredients cook. Transfer ingredients to a large soup pot and add remaining ingredients. Cook under low heat for many hours. (You can fork test the vegetables for tenderness.) Soup can be thickened easily by using cornstarch or pre-sifted flour. When serving, remove bay leaves. Leftovers are a bonus. A quart of this soup in your freezer is a perfect too-tired-to-cook meal that is much more tempting than fast-food.

Vegetable soup is a medly of your garden.
Make some version of this as your signature soup.
Photo courtesy  The Cook's Garden

My Tweaks: Right before that last hour of cooking, take out enough soup to fill a container and freeze for later. Potatoes and carrots should not be completely cooked through; they will finish cooking when you reheat the soup. Season this portion of the vegetable soup with herbs when you reheat. Herbs are also best added during the last hour of cooking. Add a salt-free, all-purpose combination of bouquet garni. Bouquet garni, it is a traditional French herb combination of savory, rosemary, thyme, oregano dill, marjoram sage and tarragon. If you are unfamiliar with this herb combination, only add a teaspoon to your soup. With this big batch of vegetables, I would probably start with a tablespoon of bouquet garni, or a similar combination of these individual herbs. Also, you can skip the beef or chicken if you like. The Cook's Garden has several great recipes on their website that will showcase your vegetable harvest at its very best.

At first, I was drawn to The Cook's Garden catalog by their broccoli romanesco. This vegetable is an heirloom that has been around a long time but is new to me. I try something new in my garden every year, and this year I chose broccoli romanesco.

I found broccoli romanesco seeds at The Cook's Garden, Territorial Seed Company, Seed Savers and several other seed sources. Although broccoli and cauliflower have always been a challenge, I'm going to give it a try this spring.

HOW TO ENTER

Three randomly selected readers who comment will receive a packet of broccoli romanesco seed.

• Post a comment below: What's your favorite heirloom vegetable to grow from seed? Courtesy The Cook's Garden.

• End date:  April 4, 2010 (12:00 AM, Central Time) UPDATE: Time's up!

And the winners are...

Brenda Davis in
Viroqua, Wisconsin

Lauren Benard in Phoenix, Arizona

Sara O'Shea in Crystal City, Missouri

Expect your seed packets to arrive in the mail directly from The Cook's Garden. Thanks for reading my blog.

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 blog at http://patsybell.blogspot.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner. 

Chili rellenos are one of my favorite Mexican restaurant foods. Last year, when I had a bountiful crop of mild chilis, I attempted to make chili rellenos. I never got the hang of it. The best I could do was make a greasy, cheesy mess. I did become a master at charing peppers.

The cook at El Acapulco Mexican Restaurant in Cape Girardeau, Missouri showed me the secret. Ramon Soriano Cruz is the cook at El Acapulco. He shared the secret about how to make chili rellenos from scratch..

Ramon had already blackened, peeled and stuffed the peppers. That is how the restaurant is able to serve chili rellenos in less than an hour.

    
Gradually add flour to eggs a little at a time. Five egg whites are beaten until stiff.
Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

My lesson started after the whole peppers were charred, peeled and stuffed. At this point the chilis were frozen. Ramon began by rolling the frozen chilis in flour and set them aside while making the batter.

Chili Relleno Instructions

Separate 1 egg for every chili. Beat the whites until stiff then sprinkle in flour to the egg whites as they begin to stiffen. With Ramon's expertise, he mixed an unmeasured amount of flour into the eggs—I think a scant ½ of a cup of all purpose flour. He set aside the batter and rolled each frozen pepper in the flour again.

Then, he used the kitchen's deep fryer to cook the chilis. At home, heat cooking oil 1- to 2-inch deep in a big frying pan to about 375 degrees.

Hold the chili by the stem, dip it in the egg batter until well coated. Use a rubber spatula to help spread batter if it doesn’t cover the entire chili.

Ramon Soriano Cruz can serve a full restaurant. The sauce served over the chili is a mild seasoned tomato sauce.
Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

Gently place the battered pepper in the hot oil, carefully turn the chili until it is well browned. You can cook two or three at a time, just don't fry so many that it lowers the temperature of the oil. As each chili is browned, place it carefully on the plate. Ladle heated tomato sauce, over the pepper. Serve with beans and rice.

Once the beans and rice are on the plate, a quick zap in the microwave insures the complete meal is served steamy hot.
Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

Look for ancho or poblano pepper seeds or plants. Find seeds and plants in most of the seed catalogs. Wait on the last frost date in your area and hold off for another week or two before planting peppers. The seedling and plants do not like wet feet.

Thanks Ramon!
Photo by Patsy Bell Hobson

Resource: El Acapulco Mexican Restaurant; 202 South Mount Auburn Road; Cape Girardeau, MO, 63703; (573) 332-1465

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

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 blog at http://patsybell.blogspot.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner. 

Chili herbs and spices are easy to grow in the heat of my full-sun zone 6 garden. However, it is the impending snowstorm that has gotten me to start thinking about chili. As you page through the seed catalogs this winter, consider growing a salsa garden or a chili garden. Peppers are colorful enough to plant in a full-sun flower bed—not for the flowers, which are usually small, white and unremarkable. The foliage can be lush and the color variety of the peppers ranges as wide as the heat levels.

Nutrients in peppers depend on the variety and maturity. Both sweet and hot peppers are high in vitamins A and C. If you make your own chili seasoning, you will get many levels of taste and a lot less salt.

Chili con carne ingredients change according to the region and the cook.
Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons 

Start with ancho chili peppers, the key ingredient in chili seasonings. These rich and flavorful peppers have very little heat. I buy whole, dried peppers and crush them in a plastic bag for pepper flakes. The best way to crush any kind of dried pepper is to place them inside of a heavy plastic zipper bag. Then, smash the dried peppers.

Use gloves when working with peppers. Even the slightly hot peppers can burn. I can't say this enough: WEAR GLOVES. If you don't have gloves, put your hands in plastic produce bags or plastic zipper bags.

Capsicums are what make spicy dishes hot. Add chipotle, cayenne and/or jalapeno to the ancho in chili to give it spice and heat. Start with just a little hot pepper. It's easy to add more heat later.

  
Left: Dried poblanos (Capsicum annuum) are used in chili.
Right: Fresh and versitile, poblanos are used to make chili rellenos.
Photos courtesy Wikimedia Commons 

If you want to grow your own chili peppers, look for poblano pepper seeds or plants. Green anchos are stuffed and used to make chili rellenos. These triangular peppers are the dried version of the poblano chile—the most common dried pepper in Mexico.

To make your own chili powder, start with ground ancho chili pepper. Add cumin and Mexican oregano. Then, add onion and garlic. I use fresh onion and garlic because it is readily available, but you can use garlic and onion powder. Finally, add hot peppers to taste.

Here is a salt-free chili seasoning mix. This is a guide. Add more or less of any ingredient to make this your own special chili powder. With the rich flavors of your own chili powder, you won't miss the salt.

Chili Seasoning Mix

• 3 tablespoons ground ancho
• 2 teaspoons Mexican oregano, dried
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne

Some chili recipes include tumeric, dried mustard, thyme, cinnamon or paprika. So don't be shy—chili is an easy dish to experiment with and learn about the depth and flavor of herbs and spices. Original Texas-style chili contains no beans or tomatoes, so be creative.

We will talk about other traditional Mexican herbs and seasoning to plant in a salsa or chili garden. Be on the lookout as those catalogs come rolling in.

Resources

How to grow peppers:

• AgriLife Extension 
• University of Illinois Extension 

Pepper seeds and plants:

• The Cook's Garden
• Renee's Garden Seed

Chili spices:

• Penzeys Spices 

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 blog at http://patsybell.blogspot.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner. 

Premixed herb and spice combinations are a time saver and easy on the budget. If you make the blends yourself, you can adapt them to your own taste. Most pumpkin pie spice recipes call for ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and a smidgen of allspice. I’m a fan of nutmeg, so my pumpkin pie spice combination has a little more nutmeg than the typical recipe.

Add a shake of nutmeg, cinnamon or pumpkin spice to your cappuccino.
Photo by  Robyn Lee  

Cinnamon is the key ingredient in any pumpkin pie spice mix. So, buy the best you can afford. A teaspoon or two of pumpkin pie spice added to any store bought cake or quick bread mix, will turn the recipe into your baking secret. Try pumpkin pie spice in bread pudding, on top of a cappuccino, in oatmeal cookies or pumpkin soup.

Pumpkin shakes as simple as adding pumpkin puree and
pumpkin spices to your favorite shake recipe.
Photo by  Hannah

Add extra flavor to any desert, by dusting  the whipped cream topping with a bit of pumpkin pie spice mix. Or, sprinkle dessert plates with pumpkin pie spice before serving a slice of pie.

Pumpkin Pie Spice

• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2  teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2  teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1. Mix ingredients together.

Before holiday baking and festive dishes appear on your menu, clean out the spice cabinet. If you can’t remember the last time you bought dried cinnamon or sage, throw it out. Give your yourself a gift and buy new herbs and spices. My favorite source for the freshest dried herbs is Penszy’s  If there is not a store near you, buy Penzey’s on line. If buying fresh herbs at the grocery store, try to use up any extra in the next day or two. Or, use the extra fresh herbs as garnish. Make herb butter, or toss the left over fresh herbs in your turkey soup pot. Adding a sprinkle of fresh chopped herbs to the next days leftovers will brighten any recipe.

Freeze leftover turkey in recipe sized portions to use later.
Photo by Bearsyr/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bearsyr  

Poultry Seasoning 

• 3/4 teaspoon sage, crumbled
• 1/4 teaspoon leaf thyme, crumbled
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• Dash marjoram
• Dash cloves (optional)

1. Mix ingredients together.

If you seldom use the five individual herbs that make up Poultry Seasoning, save some money and only buy one jar of poultry seasoning. The blend is good in dressing, to season the turkey before roasting, or to make chicken or turkey soup, and turkey (chicken) pot pie.

Give thanks to the friend who will bring you homemade
turkey (or chicken) soup when you are sick.
Photo by  www.africankelli.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.

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.