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Even though I miss the “old-style” covers—there was something magical about them that just looking at the cover calmed me (eventually these new covers will too)—May 2009 is as perfect an herb magazine as I have ever seen. It has been read cover to cover a few times and it will be some time before it is going to be stuffed into the storage case. 
—Lynn McCaslin, via www.herbcompanion.com

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Online Exclusive Letters

I was very interested in the information in the May 2009 article “Keep Herbal Flavors within Reach” (regarding construction of an herb planter) due to the fact that I grow my herbs in pots and each year find I have to replace winter-damaged pots. Would it be advisable to use railroad ties to build the planter or would the treated lumber have an effect on the herbs?
Jean Smalla, Otesgo, Michigan

Railroad ties have usually been treated with coal tar creosote and/or pressure treated (a preservative process in which chemicals like chromated copper arsenate [CCA] are abosorbed into the wood). In 2004, the Environmental Protection Agency banned CCA from residential use, in most cases. While there are non-arsenic chemicals that can be used for pressure treating wood, it will be difficult, if not impossible to know how the railroad ties have been preserved. Ask your local lumber yard to point you in the right direction. —Eds.

Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/ask/fruits_vegetables.html
http://www.toronto.ca/health/factsheet_ptw.htm
http://www.epa.gov/oppad001/reregistration/cca/ 

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I've recently discovered the wonderful positive benefits of herbs and have recently purchased a subscription—thank you for your encouragement! My husband and I just found out that he is being recalled back into the army and will be going to Afghanistan. In my efforts to support him, though being far away, I would like to make and send him a tea that will ease his tension. Would you be able to provide me with either a tea recipe or a list of herbs that might be helpful to him? Thank you in advance for your help!