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!

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!

It's truly a pleasure writing for The Herb Companion for the last three years. Incidentally, I also regularly contribute to two sister magazines of Ogden Publications–GRIT and Natural Home. To date, I've written over 1,000 published articles, including features on gardening, green living, travel, home design, sustainability, healthy cooking and good eating.  You can reach me at lstarart@gmail.com. 

I wish you could experience the English Walled Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois. It's particularly lovely in the spring and early summer. Blooming wisteria drapes over rows of trellised classical columns. Flowering fruit trees shimmer in the breeze.

And then there are herbs. Within this enchanted garden's six distinct "rooms", you'll delightfully discover herb plantings at every turn. In the English-gardening style, herbs are not segregated but thrive among flowers and shrubs. For example, hardneck garlic and triple-curled parsley sprout up near Canterbury Bells, Butterhead lettuce and Night-scented stock. Peek inside the classical urn and you'll observe Rowleaf oregano and cilantro along with California poppy and Tassel hyacinth.

A sign in the Checkerboard Garden requests: "Please step on stone paths, but not on the newly planted baby thymes." Sure enough, looking down you'll find woolly, creeping and lemon thymes serving as ground cover between the bricks. All of this can provide wonderful inspiration for your own garden.

Photo credit: Chicago Botanic Garden photo by Robin Carlson.

Rich Abundance for Herb Lovers

The English Walled Garden is just one of the 23 display gardens and three native habitats in the Chicago Botanic Garden–a 385-acre "living museum," which is part of invaluable conservation efforts in the Chicago area. If you are an herb enthusiast, you could easily spend the entire day here pursuing your passion for herbs.

Once when visiting the Chicago Botanic Garden, I struck up a conversation with a couple who turned out to be Herb Companion readers. It was enjoyable showing them the many herb plantings in the Heritage Garden, which is a replica of Europe's first botanic garden in Padua, Italy. Other gardens burgeoning with herbs include the Enabling Garden, the Sensory Garden, the Landscape Garden and the four-acre Fruit and Vegetable Garden. There's even creeping thyme in the Model Railroad Garden.

Here are more features I enjoyed at the English Walled Garden:   

• Free herb plants. Throughout July and August, receive complementary herb seedlings at the Fruit and Vegetable Garden.

• Free food demonstrations. A highlight of the 2009 Garden Chef Series is the Italian Cooking weekend on July 25 and 26.

• Free horticulture help. Even if you're not a member of the Chicago Botanic Garden, you can get expert advice regarding herb and other plant cultivation. Call (847) 835-0972 to reach the Chicago Botanic Garden Plant Information Service. Or you can bring a photo, cutting or the entire plant up to the walk-up window.

For more details see my article, "Chicago Botanic Garden Inspires Creativity" published in the November 2007 issue of The Herb Companion. (Not available online.) If you can't visit the Chicago Botanic Garden in person, take a virtual tour of the English Walled Garden with a 360-degree panoramic view.

Do you have a special place for "herban renewal"? A favorite public herb garden that you'd like to share with other readers? A fantastic herb festival? Please add your comment below.

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.

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.

National Herb Week was first established in 1991 by the International Herb Association. It is celebrated every year during the week prior to Mother’s Day. The purpose of National Herb Week is to bring attention to herbs, herbal uses and herb businesses. For this reason, many herb farms and businesses celebrate Herb Week with festivals and educational events during this week. Usually the celebrations will include tributes to the “Herb of the Year,” which for 2009 is bay (Laurus nobilis).

(Learn more about the 2009 Herb of the Year.)

Bay laurel is an evergreen, Mediterranean shrub with glossy, dark green leaves. In mild climates, such as Southern California, bay can grow into a substantial tree of 20 feet or more. But in most areas, it is a slow grower and rarely reaches over four to five feet. It is an excellent container plant and is commonly grown as a topiary.

Although this perennial can survive frost in many areas, the leaves can become damaged. In very cold climates, it is best grown in a container and brought indoors for the winter. It does very well indoors if it receives strong light and an occasional misting of the leaves. When grown outside, bay prefers full sun.

Bay leaves can be harvested anytime throughout the year. When you prune or shape your plant, save and dry the leaves for later use. 

(Try cooking bay in a Rice Pudding dish.)

Bay is sometimes called “bay laurel” or “sweet bay”, but check the botanical name when purchasing your plant to be sure your are getting Laurus nobilis. Another plant called bay laurel is actually California bay (Umbellularia californica). Although it is sometimes erroneously sold as a culinary herb, California bay contains toxic oils and should never be eaten.

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

I thought I would take a break from stories about Peru. I was inspired by Taylor Miller's blog (The Garden Gnome), Giving the White House a Green Thumb. This was a lettuce bed in the early days of our kitchen garden BD (before deer). We also have rabbit fencing surrounding the garden now and repellents work for deer browsing. When we forget to spray the repellents, the deer remember to eat! (Learn more about repelling deer from your garden.) 

Whether you have one bed for your kitchen garden or many beds, herbal kitchen gardens are making a huge difference in many lives all over the world. (Learn more about creating your own kitchen garden this summer.)

Several years ago, I went to France with my husband to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. Our English friends, who we stayed with in the Loire Valley, took us to the Château de Villandry. I thought I had died and gone to herbal heaven. It is breathtaking and spectacular all at the same time. It was the last great château to be built in 1536. After the gardens were turned into an English park in the late 19th century, the house and gardens were restored by a Spanish scientist in the 20th century. Thank heavens! The herb garden was placed in a separate location than it was in medieval times. I was really looking forward to seeing it but was disappointed–the herb garden was clipped so severely that I could not recognize my favorite herbs. This one is lemon verbena!  Doesn't look at all like it, does it?

We recently returned from a trip to England. We drove one day to Grafton Underwood and came upon this Englishman starting work on his allotment in early March. He paid 4 pounds (about $5.60) for his plot, which will feed his family and leave enough left for a donation. 

Last week, I did a presentation on herbal kitchen gardens for a local garden club last week–I wrote this ode and would like to share it with you.

Ode to Herbal Kitchen Gardens

The Greeks and Romans celebrated with bay.
The monks grew their sage and thyme and used them every day.
Walls were built around to protect the young herb plants.
The monks needed diversity and left nothing to chance.
The English used the front yard to start the four square plot.
The rosemary, kale and roses were raised and eaten on the spot.
The French made their potagers as pretty as a picture.
Then planted lettuces, marigolds and young fruit trees to add to the mixture.
Washington, Jefferson, FDR and Obama had kitchen gardens in their blood and some haved lived into the next generation like new edible flower buds!
So plant an herbal kitchen garden this very day and you will start reaping the bounty in every savory way!

Hope you are starting your own herbal kitchen gardens because, among other good things, it brings beneficial insects and wonderful, flavorful meals using all of the various herbs you have grown.

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.

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 ...

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.

You've waited and here they are! My picks for the best autumn gardening products*.

4.  The Wearable Garden Stool – An eccentric addition to your gardening arsenal, the Wearable Garden Stool is a fun, efficient and useful way to garden without backache, and just in time for bulb-ing! Read more in my blog: But It's The Pelvic Stool Thrust.  From: CleanAirGardening.com -- For: $54.99** 

3.  The Living Wall – Although this vertical potter can be somewhat difficult to manage, the unique Living Wall is sure to be the talk of the town – or at least of your home. From: Gardeners.com -- For: $169 

2.  The Worm Factory Composter – Providing you with year-round compost and compost tea, The Worm Factory is a fun, environmentally friendly alternative to fertilizer, and a great place to dump your vacuum dust! For detailed info, read my blog: Open a Can of Worms. From: Uncle Jim's Worm Farm -- For: $69.95 

1.  Aerogarden – Topping our charts as the best Autumn Gardening Tool, the hydroponic Aerogarden is the most effective and easy way to create a bountiful garden indoors – without the mess of soil or even watering! And with the array of seed kits offered, the Aerogarden appeals to all chefs and herb aficionados. What could be better than that? From: Aerogarden -- For: $149.95

Have a product you want sampled for possible appearance here? Or, questions? tmiller@ogdenpubs.com
*All products personally sampled by Taylor Miller.
** All prices as of 10.22.08

In the first of my two part series, here are my picks for this year's best autumn gardening products*!

8.  Meyer Lemon Tree – Kicking off the charts at number eight, this dwarf lemon tree can be grown indoors year-round, and its benefits are fruitful.  From: MeyerLemonTree.com -- For: $49.95** 

7.  Culinary Herb Garden – A garden terrarium makes a great gift for friends, kids or even as projects for students. Easy to grow herbs spring up quickly and can be used in no time For more info, read my blog: Biodome! (sans Pauly Shore).  From: DiscoverThis.com -- For: $23.95 

6.  The Garden Ladder – Increasing your surface area for indoor potted plants, the wooden Garden Ladder is easy to install and makes for a beautiful addition to any home.  From: Gardeners.com -- For: $119.88

5. The Herb Savor – At number five, Prepara’s Herb Savor organizes your cuttings into a clean, space-saving container that keeps herbs fresh for weeks. From: Prepara.com -- For: $29.95

For the top four products ...  Click here. 

Questions/Suggestions/Comments? tmiller@ogdenpubs.com
*All products personally sampled by Taylor Miller
**All prices as of 10.22.08

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.  

On September 2, DiscoverThis.com sent me three dome terrariums:  The Culinary Herb Garden, The Fairy Triad and Carnivorous Creations.  I thought the dome terrariums would make great gifts for kids, grandkids or even students, and I was right!

Within two weeks, I noticed wobbly, unusually elongated sprouts that didn’t seem like they would survive past the seedling stage.  But after about 5 weeks of absolutely no care, secondary growth (see photo) occurred in both the Fairy Triad and The Culinary Herb Garden.

Steps toward growth were easy:
1.  Spread provided perlite in the base and cover with peat moss.
2.  Water
3.  Cover with dome and leave in a sunny spot
4.  Wait

The Carnivorous Creations batch was decidedly hairier.  I mixed the seeds in a bag and refrigerated (for six weeks!).  Next, I’ll plant the refrigerated seeds and wait 1-3 months for them to germinate.  It’s likely most kids will lose interest way before you see a FlyTrap sprout, but once you do see growth, it’ll likely be the most popular dome.

 I would easily recommend any of these products for kids.  The Culinary Herb Garden would also make a great gift for that special adult in your life with the big black thumb, as almost no care is needed.  Only one thing:  With all that evaporation going on inside that dome, it’s tough to actually see what’s (grow)ing on!

The Particulars

The Fairy Triad includes: Great Blue Lobelia, Clover, Evening Star (although they left mine out), and Thyme, as well as perlite, peat moss, a pinweel, rainbow string, and a little fairy figure (who I named Pauly-ette).

The Culinary Herb Garden includes:  Basil, Cilantro (which can be really tough to grow, but did), Dill, Parsely, and Sage again with perlite and peat moss.

And the Carnivorous Creations Kit includes:  Venus Fly Trap, Yellow Trumpet, Hooded Pitcher Plant, Purple Pitcher Plant, Pale Trumpet, Temperate Sundew Plants and Cobra Lillies as well as perlite, peat moss, and some rubber lizards.

DiscoverThis.com also sells Biblical Garden Kits, Bonsai Village Kits, Graveyard Gothic Kits, Banana Farm Windowsill Kit, Sensory Dome Kit, Witches Woods Kit, and Nickelodeon’s Diego Desert Garden Kit.  They're also full of other fun, scientific gadgets that make for really creative gifts.

 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 

Product Provided by CleanAirGardening.com

Stand back Cobra Head Hoe.  Look out Crazy Daisy Sprinkler.  There’s a new funny garden gadget in town.  This is the Wearable Gardening Stool - a rather blah name for a hilarious invention.  When I received it to test from CleanAirGardening.com, I appreciated it more for its comedic value than its actual practicality, demonstrating it to my officemates and encouraging them to “sit on it!” (a la Happy Days).

The stool buckles around your waist like a seatbelt, and can be adjusted for different waist, sides and yes, even rear size (for those of us with something of a ba-donka-donk).  That brings up an important point:  I didn’t feel as though I was suffocating the stool, much unlike my bike seat. 

When you stand, the pogo-like contraption points directly out your rear (I know) and makes for a rather amusing sight.  But I have been working on a new garden inspired by our “Mexican Herb Garden” (read: August/September issue), and eventually I overcame the intrinsic embarrassment value and used it.

After a few tens of minutes, I eventually mastered the pelvic thrust required for hands-free seating, and found myself thoroughly enjoying my new tool.  This gadget is the perfect back-saver for planting flowers, weeding, spreading mulch and … milking cows. 

I recorded only a few complaints during my tenure with the stool.  Primarily, having a seat attached to your bum at any given moment makes it that much easier to take breaks, and mud began accumulating in the spring (but easily sprayed off).

Also, sometime in the 2 or 3 hours I was ‘scaping, I managed to lose 1 screw and 2 nuts (and I’m having trouble finding replacements).  So for now, my stool is on hiatus and I’m sad.  I want to do the time warp again, and I hope it's not because of my ba-donka-donk ... !

The Wearable Gardening Stool retails on CleanAirGardening.com for $54.99.

HerbKits.com

Last Tuesday, HerbKits.com sent us a few items for review.  A Culinary Herb Kit, an Herb Tea Garden Kit and a Garden Stacker Planter.  The kit also came with  Jiffy Peat Soil Pellets, a how-to DVD, an instruction manual, tea filters and a tea infuser.  Total retail value: $109.95. Sale Price: $94.94! Price: B+ 

Together, the items are meant to create an indoor herb garden that, if tended properly, should yield fresh indoor herbs all winter long.  And that is just what I’m bound to find out!

Immediately I tried constructing the garden stacker, which was for the most part, intuitive.  The 9-pot plastic stacker can sit on the floor or be hung from a chain, which is provided in the box.  The chain was a hard to attach to the pots, as was the saucer. Other than that, it looks pretty cool.  A- on the stacker.

A Basil Sprout

Opening the kits, I found the seeds organized in neat, clearly labeled containers.  They came with a helpful laminated guide showing detailed plant instructions for each of the seeds:  Light, water and soil requirements, germination periods, tips for growing success and successful seed storage.  In addition, a

German Chamomile

I followed the instructions for the Jiffy Pellets precisely, even though they were quite involved (read: confusing).  However, I found plants that would normally take 10-15 days to germinate, sprouting by the weekend!  My German Chamomile came up first, followed closely by a Citrus (Orange Gem) Marigold and quite suddenly by the Basil.  

Out of the 24 herbs they sent (full list below), my potting capacity was for, at most, 18 varieties.  Ideally, one would use a garden stacker for each Herb Kit.  I give it an A for inclusiveness; I would have liked to have seen a few more herbs for the Tea Kit, Jasmine being a prime example. 

So far, I would recommend this product for yourself or for a gift.  Although a bit pricey, it does come with everything you need.  I’ll continually update you on the success and/or failure of the herbs and the stacker as the fall progresses.

Here’s what all I planted:
Parsley
Garlic and regular Chives
Cilantro
Thyme
Oregano
German Chamomile
Orange Gem Marigold
Basil
Sage
Mustard
Savory
Lemon balm
Catnip
Rosemary
Peppermint
Lemon Grass
Lemon Bergamot

Here’s what I didn’t plant:
Lavender
Dill
Sweet Marjoram
Feverfew
Angelica
Anise

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

Reading about herbs here on www.HerbCompanion.com as well as in The Herb Companion magazine is a great way to pick-up fresh ideas and inspiration. Another is to join The Herb Society of America, an organization founded 75 years ago by a group who wished to learn more about herbs and their uses, and to share what they learned with others. Today, HSA includes 2,300 members who meet in smaller, regional units.

This past weekend, HSA marked its 75th Anniversary by hosting its annual meeting in Boston. Hundreds of members attended to listen and learn from speakers, exchange knowledge and ideas, celebrate the past, and plan the future. I was happy to be among them.

One of the things I enjoy most about events like these is their spirit—an excitement in the air that goes beyond enthusiasm for the event itself. Attendees feel connected through their love for plants, nature and the “web of life.” The person who sits beside you at a workshop or dinner, or who stands next to you admiring a tour garden, instantly becomes your friend.Keynote speaker Holly Shimizu, executive director of the U.S. Botanic Garden (www.USBG.gov) in Washington, D.C., addressed the critical role plants play in sustaining all life, and asked: Why are plants not valued by our modern world? Those of us who love plants must advocate for them—by promoting the use of native plants; sustainable landscapes; organic methods; and water, soil and habitat conservation.

On Saturday evening, HSA recognized eight inspirational members—all plant advocates in some way—for their valuable contributions, many of them spanning decades. To learn more about them, The Herb Society, and how you can become an herbal advocate, visit www.HerbSociety.org. 

herb,HSA,Herb Society of America,sustainable landscape,organic,native plant,Shimizu,U.S. Botanic Garden,USBG
description: * Herb Society of America meets in Boston June 26-28 to celebrate its 75th Anniversary. Keynote speaker Holly Shimizu urges members to advocate for plants.

Here in Zone 6, Mother's Day traditionally is considered the safe-planting date for frost-sensitive plants, such as tomatoes and eggplant. It's also a fine time to plant basil, which thrives only in warm weather. (An annual native to Asia, Africa and Central and South America, basil can take the heat, but seems to shrivel at the mere mention of frost.)

I was thrilled to find a basil I've never encountered before at my local farmers' market this past Sunday, Mother's Day—just in time for planting. According to the grower, "mountain basil" is the same species as standard Mediterranean basils (Ocimum basilicum), yet the tall, purple-green plants are a bit more resistant to frost. (Makes sense if it originates in a mountain region.) The leaves are deep green with an attractive purple-red hue; stems also are purple red. Already 6 inches tall with multiple branches, the plant is about twice the size of the 'Genovese' basils I set out. The leaf I sampled had the characteristic basil flavor, but with a bit more spice.

Eager to learn more about my new mystery basil, I did a quick Google search and also checked the "Dave's Garden" website for other references to the plant ... but found very little. (Other than a reference to Mountain Basil "required for Tier 2 Cooking Mastery recipe" on a Lord of the Rings site!) The plant resembles photos of Indian holy basil, or sacred Thai basil (O. sanctum). I also wonder if it could be 'Ararat’, a basil offered by Johnny's Selected Seeds and J.L.Hudson Seeds; it also has mottled purple/green leaves and grows to 28 inches tall. Does my supplier really have something unique, or is it a familiar plant sold under a different name? I'll try to learn more this weekend.

Worth noting: Of the seven or eight stands at my little community farmers' market this past weekend, about half sold fresh herbs or herbal products! Several growers I spoke with said they used to grow and market veggies but have switched over to mostly herbs because they can be more profitable.

Hello! It's great to see you here at our new meeting place. It's always nice to find like-minded people. I bet you're a plant-lover too. Did you see the story on oregano in the last issue? I loved that story! And the one on moles (sauces, not rodents) had some amazing recipes.

Let me introduce myself! I'm Marci O'Brien, art director for The Herb Companion. I met Herby back in 2000. For the last 4 years, I've been a telecommuter from my home in Colorado, and working with some far-flung editors means I work in four time zones. How many hardiness zones would that be?

My gardening background started when I was born into an Ohio farm family. I grew up exploring the farms and kitchen gardens of my extended family in Indiana and Michigan. I'll tell you more about those places in future posts.

I've always had a garden of some sort, although some have been sad little neglected things. This year I have some herbs going in a rock garden at the top of my yard, most of which have hung on under a few inches of snow this winter. My new passion for plants is in introducing them to my daughter. She's 3 right now and she loves to touch a leaf then smell its scent on her little fingers. "Smell, Mama. So nice!" She knows she can only taste the ones Mama says are safe. All winter long, she has gone on walks with her dad and brought me back a few leaves of lemon sage, so proud of her tasty gift.

My husband and I love to cook, too. So I'll be posting some recipes here for you to try. I would love it if you would share your favorites with me, too.

Spring is almost here! Let's enjoy it together this year.