WE HAVE SOME HERBS

Several of you mentioned herbs and yes, we already have some.  They are next to impossible to find in the Summer but we got lucky a few weeks back and found a few.  We snatched them up.

I bought five:  dill, thyme, oregano and two basil plants.  I got to use our utility sink in the garage for watering once I had potted them.  It worked great!

We put them on the ledge in the screened in porch and they are happy.  It's been a few weeks now and we regularly go onto the porch and clip herbs.  Especially the basil.  That stuff is so prolific!  2nd Man has used oregano in our sauces and fresh thyme on our chicken.

Since our porch is screened in but still gets nice light, we might see if we can grow them, at least in small amounts like this, during the Fall and Winter (moving them IN the house during a freeze of course).

I'm going to move them to a cart that we have that we posted about in one of our trash to treasure posts a few years back.  It's still in the barn storage from the old house, it's just SO hot right now to get in there and get stuff out.  But slowly we are.

Anyway, we have them and we can truly say, nothing beats having fresh herbs on hand.

GARDEN IS GROWING NICELY

The garden is growing!

The basil is putting on leaves and getting larger.

This is one of the tomatoes, the "better boy" it's looking great and has gotten taller...

And here is the "Early Girl" tomato, also getting bigger and putting on new growth...

Both eggplants are doing well with new leaves coming in at the tops of both...

I didn't take picture of both but here is the pickling cucumbers, they are tall enough now to start working on attaching to the trellis.

So far so good in the garden...

And in other growing well news, a couple of the blueberries are budding out.  They are the two rabbiteye "Austin" varieties.

We bought a "thai basil" plant and a "jalapeño" but that was on the way back from the farm so of course we'll care for them in town until next weekend.

How does your garden grow?

RED CROSS TOOTHACHE MEDICATION

So…2nd Man had a toothache at Thanksgiving.  We tried everything.  3 Advil.  4 Advil.  Aleve (that helped).  Still, he said it was the worst pain he’s had.  It was a holiday weekend so he wanted to get through it until he could get to the dentist.  

The pain was unbearable.  In fact, Thursday night/Friday morning, he said he felt like he might need to go to the ER or Urgent Care.  I did some checking online (others had asked the same question) and the general consensus was that they don’t give strong pain meds, they just give you Extra Strength Tylenol or Advil and tell you to go to the dentist as soon as you can (and charge you $$$).  

2^nd Man said he had to do something, the pain was a 10.  So on those same forums where I was reading about people wanting to go to the ER, people would say “so I found a miracle treatment...”

It was this:

It’s basically a packaged version of clove oil.  So at 3am on Friday morning after Thanksgiving, I was driving around trying to find a place open that had it.   It was our only hope.  Walgreens were closed.  Only two CVS’s were open and they didn't have it.  Then I remembered Walmart.  It was 3am but it was like a Saturday with people shopping for Black Friday deals.  I bypassed the flat screen TVs and found it.

Got home, he put it on and I kid you not, in 5 minutes he said the pain went from 10+ to 1.  Now the only problem I had was reminding him to do it periodically, even if there was zero pain.  After doing some research, I found that clove oil has all sorts of antibiotic properties, anti-inflammatory, and can actually help eliminate an infection.  Once he started using it every few hours, the pain has now gone completely.  Many people said after using it for a few days their tooth/nerve got better.  Now he still has to see the dentist of course at some point soon but for now, it’s letting him go back to a normal life (and letting me get a full night of sleep as well). 

Red Cross Toothache Medication Drops 
(Amazon link but also available at Walmart)

I guess it goes to show that nature sometimes knows better.  This has really gotten us interested in medicinal herbs and their use.  I know essential oils are a big thing now as well and this is basically clove oil that has saved the day.  What else lies out there that we need to learn about?

I’ve always told 2nd Man that when we plant stuff, we should plant things that are beneficial, not just for cooking but for other uses.  I need to look up some medicinal garden designs and ideas.  I know a lot of medicinal herbs are perennials so I can’t just stick them anywhere, need to make a plan.  Start simple with the basics and move forward from there.

FRESH HERBS

Last weekend we were able to harvest some herbs that we have growing in random spots around the outside of the house.

Lots of mint

In the corner flowerbed between the two sets of porch stairs, we planted some mint a couple of years ago.  In the hard freeze Winter we had, they died, to the ground.  Thought they were gone for good.  But as the old axiom about mint goes, you really can't kill this stuff!  It came back like crazy. 

I love when I use the weedeater around that part of the flowerbed, it smells so good, ha.

Fresh mint

I cut some to bring back into town.  Great use for a random Mason jar, and instant vase and best of all, this size fits in the cup holders in the car.

Fresh rosemary

Also cut some rosemary and brought it back.  Again, another Mason jar vase to bring it back easily.  

Any suggestions for LOTS of mint and rosemary (besides the obvious, ice tea and potatoes, ha)!

HARVESTING BAY LEAVES AND DELICIOUS MEATLOAF

It's been a long weekend, which I guess is good. Saturday was farm day solo as 2nd Man had to go in to work. More on Saturday's tasks in tomorrow's update but wanted to post something today and check in.  

Fresh bay leaves

2nd Man reminded me to grab some bay leaves for cooking because we were out.  So I snipped off some leaves and brought them back.

We washed them and left them in the window ledge to let them dry.

Bay leaves

Then we put them into an empty jar we have and they are ready to be used.  Harvesting your own stuff is so rewarding when it comes time to cook with it...even something as simple as bay leaves.

Speaking of bay, does anyone know which leaves are better to harvest?  I mean, I guess obviously the older leaves and not new young growth. My question is more along the lines of how far down the tree and how many can you safely take?  Do they grow back in the same spot or does this cause it get taller and more branches?  It's in a pot and grows slowly so I don't want to take too many leaves.  

Homemade meatloaf

Dinner today is meatloaf and mac and cheese.  Of course after a meal of meatloaf comes leftover meatloaf sandwiches...and that will be tomorrow's yummy meal.

We would be remiss if we didn't mention the horrific act of terror in Pittsburgh, PA.  It just horrifies us that people harbor such hatred and it only seems to be getting worse.  Our deepest sympathies to those families and indeed the residents of Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania.  We are all indeed stronger when we are together and United.  We must get back to that and push the hatred back into the dark recesses it has been let out of.

FRESH TURMERIC

Recently, we saw something we've never seen at the store...this giant pile of...um...wait...what are they?

They looked like worms or larvae of some sort...

It's Turmeric!  

We've used it as a spice of course but I can honestly say we've never known what it looked like in its natural form and we've certainly never thought about using it "fresh" like this.  We're used to a powder in the spice cabinet but not sure how to use it if it were grated or minced.  They are very lightweight so while they seem expensive, a pound would be a LOT.  A few pieces would be fine. Of course we didn't buy them at the time and when I went back a week later, they were gone!  Seasonal I guess?  

We'll keep looking for them and give them a try.

Anyone ever try it like this?

ALOE VERA FLOWERS

Remember a few weeks ago I posted HERE about our Aloe Vera plant that was suddenly blooming?  

We've been on bloom watch every weekend and last weekend, it finally opened up to show us the flowers.

Aloe Vera Flowers

The flowers are orange with a hint of yellow.  It's so pretty, in a minimalist sort of way, ha.  No scent that we could discern but they are small and this was as much at they did.  They sort of opened at the ends and that was it.  

Now with the cold weather upon us, the flowers will be gone. Not sure how long until we see them again, but I'm glad we were able to see it this time!

GARLIC CHIVES, ANY IDEAS

Cut back our perennial garlic chives that are growing in the corner of one of the raised beds.  I put them in this jar of water and they smell delicious of course...

Mason jar full of Garlic Chives

...but normally we harvest what we need, a few chopped into a salad or on potatoes.  This time though, since I was cleaning up the garden bed a bit, I decided to just cut a large bunch, sort of grabbed them all and trimmed to ground level.  Now I'm not sure what to do with this much.  

Anyone have any suggestions?

FALL GARDEN HARVEST

Fall garden update:

Squash bed

Squash and Napa cabbage doing well...

Fall tomato plant

Tomatoes are blooming, not sure if we'll get any this season, might have gotten them in too late or our weather was too weird, but at least they are trying...

Herb raised bed 

Herb bed has gone to seed, but it's OK, the bees and butterflies are loving it.  And we can still harvest the thyme and oregano...

Bibb lettuce

Buttercrunch (Bibb) lettuce was ready to be harvested.  I forgot about staggering the planting and so now it's all ready at once.  Oops!  

So I harvested two ways...I cut some at the base...

...and pulled some up and put them, roots and all, in jars of water.  

Greens raised bed

Here are the greens.  The center plants are mustard greens, with leaves ready for harvesting.

Fall harvest basket

And here is this weeks harvest basket. A yellow squash in the bottom, mustard greens, heads of bibb lettuce, and a handful of lemon thyme.

Let the cooking/eating begin!

BAY LAUREL TREE

This is the bay laurel tree we blogged about a while back. 

 It had some leaf damage after this photo was taken and so we planted it into a larger, clay pot.

Bay Laurel tree

It's growing nicely in its spot and sprouting out new branches.  I'd like to plant it in the ground but not sure how well it would do. I know they are very slooooooow growing so maybe the large clay pot is better for awhile.  

Fresh bay leaves

This past weekend, 2nd Man asked me to bring some leaves home.  I wasn't sure where to cut them off but I chose the bottom of the plant and took some from there.  While I was at the farm, I left them in this basket in the sunshine where they dried nicely and now they are in a small jar waiting to be used.

Anyone have any Bay leaf tips?

SAFFRON AND HERBS OF PROVENCE

2nd Man is in love with any herb or seasoning...

Saffron and Herbs de Provence

And the other day, two of his favorites came in the mail.  I told him to let me snap a picture.  Some days, he must think  I'm crazy, but then I remind him that's what happens when he lives with a blogger, ha!  

Anyway, saffron of course is saffron, he uses it in rice dishes mostly but has been known to drop some in a casserole or a stew.  Saffron is very strong so it doesn't take much.  The other one of his faves is Herbes de Provence...the famous French mixture of savory, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, oregano and lavender.  That last one is what makes him like this this blend.  Often they include all the herbs listed except lavender.  He uses it as a rub on a pork loin that is out of this world.  The lavender adds just the right unique touch.

Do you have a favorite seasoning?

P.S.  Sorry I've fallen behind on comments this week, but will start replying and catch up tonight and this weekend.

CUT BASIL IN WATER

Recently, we had the issue of our basil turning dark.  After all your wonderful suggestions, we decided to try an experiment.  When I was at the farm, I cut some and put it in jars of water right after cutting. 

(Mason jars always come in handy, ha).

Cut basil in water

Here they are after I cut them at the farm, fresh from the garden.  I brought them back into town (thankfully they fit in the car cup holders!).  

We changed the water daily and just left them alone...

Basil cuttings in water

...and here are the same cuttings exactly one week later.  They are doing fine.  Not that we'd wait a week normally but we wanted to perform this experiment to see how they would do.  It's nice to know that treating them like cut flowers was a great idea, at least for transporting them back into town for later use and they won't be turning dark again.

Thanks for the suggestions!

ALOE VERA GROWING WELL

A little over a year ago, 2nd Family GAVE US THIS aloe vera cutting.  They said we needed it because it's always good to have some around in an emergency.

Aloe Vera giveaway cutting

I put it in this pot next to the front door and just watered it on occasion (once every couple of weeks I guess, it is a succulent family plant after all).  

Large Aloe Vera in clay pot

Here it is last weekend!  It's gone aloe-crazy 

Obviously, it's very happy in that spot and happy with the way we care for it.  I think we'll just keep doing the same thing...unless it outgrows the pot it's in.  Might be time to split it up and share the love, ha.

Anyone else keep aloe vera around?

CUT BASIL TURNING BLACK

Harvested a bunch of basil, it's growing like a weed!  Beautiful green plants, beautiful large leaves...but I wrapped it in damp paper towel, brought it back into down, put it in the fridge and...

Cut basil turning brown/black

...the next day it was all black and brown?  I am guessing this is like oxidation that happens with avocados but not sure now to prevent it?  We thought keeping them in water or wet would prevent it.  But when we have purchased fresh basil at the store, it's cut up and packaged and just as bright green as the day it was picked.  I was thinking of quick blanching it next time I harvest?

Any suggestions?

HERB SAVER FOR FRESH HERBS

Did some shopping yesterday, still can't get out to the farm today, roads around there flooded and the property is way too wet to do anything.  Going to head out tomorrow, if it doesn't rain again today (oh and for those asking, 2nd Family checked the bees and they are fine, so that's good!)

While we were out shopping, we found these:

Herb Saver

It's a clearance item...called the HERB SAVER.  You put water in the bottom portion, and then you pop open the clear portion and the cut herbs go inside.  Then you just put it in the fridge.  It's really nothing more than putting them in a glass of water but they do stay nice and neat inside and take up less room in the fridge.  Plus they look kind of cool, ha.

They actually rang up at $2.50 so we got both for $5.00.  It was a pretty good deal.  We would have bought a few more but they only had two left.

I found them on Amazon, click here herb saver, but of course they go for a bit more than our clearance price, ha.  

With the herbs growing at the farm, it will be a good way to make sure we keep our bounty fresh as we use it for cooking.

Today is "RACE DAY" in our household, we love NASCAR but like to watch the others from time to time and...

...first up, is the Indianapolis 500...the 100th.  Someday we want to go watch in person.  It's probably amazing to watch.

Then after that, the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600...however, that race is currently under delay threat as rain comes into the area from Tropical Storm Bonnie.

Hope you are having a great (and dry) weekend!

PLANTED SOME VEGETABLES

I did get some stuff planted!

I don't have the irrigation set up yet, I got it (see the picture from Saturday's post) but I didn't get to that on Sunday because of the rain so we're going to go with nature's irrigation this week and then next weekend, I can get that set up.

Raised Bed Vegetables and Herbs

I planted a few plants I got at a local nursery.  

We're only going to plant in these four, for now anyway, to see how things go this first season back to planting and gardening.  We put in two eggplants, two varieties of Asian eggplant.  Then in the longer middle bed, we have Roma tomato, Homestead Heirloom tomato, and a Jalapeño.  The further bed at the end will be herbs.  For now, I put in regular basil, a purple basil and oregano.  Will add a few more next weekend, planting the herbs that we use most.

Chives in raised bed

This is funny...I was pulling weeds in this bed to just clean it up.  Mostly grass and other types of weeds but when I pulled a bit of this, I noticed the smell immediately.  These are chives from TWO seasons ago when we had some in this bed.  I thought they were gone but they just popped up again.  So I guess we have chives now too.  Nature finds a way!  

There is another raised bed (directly behind me in the top photo) that I may put some okra in.  And if I get a wild hair, might go for some yellow squash.

Fingers crossed!

A GIFT WITH HEALING PROPERTIES

I can't remember if I mentioned this, but a few weeks ago, 2nd Family gave us this clay pot with this Aloe vera in it.  They said we had to have Aloe nearby in case we needed it.  A very thoughtful thing to do.

Newly planted aloe vera

It must be happy in its new home because here it is this weekend...

Aloe vera plant with babies

It's getting bigger and babies are springing up all around it!  Yay! 

We haven't had need to use it yet, thankfully, but it's great to have one handy on the porch...and so that got us to wondering.  What are any other healing herbs/plants to keep in a pot on the porch to pull and use as needed?  I know there are herbs that make teas and such, but we were thinking more of something like the Aloe, something that's right there when you need it and you just break off a piece and use it when you need it.

Anything we must have?