Is It a Little Dry In Here?

There are websites, books, TV shows, and many more sources of information that will tell you home-grown dried herbs are beneficial to your health. I think that most people who garden have thought about growing, harvesting and drying their own herbs at least once. If you're like me then the idea seemed so simple at the time that you just knew it would be amazing.... until you finished your first attempt and thought, "Hmmmm. I wonder what happened."

Well, over the years I have done some reading and some experimenting and, hopefully, have managed to learn a thing or two about drying herbs. With any luck you won't have to, and haven't yet wasted quite as many plants as I did.

1. Always know what you are going to dry. Some herbs have a higher water content and will be more prone to molding if you're not careful. Some herbs involve drying the flowers, some the leaves, some the roots, some the seeds. So also make sure you know which part of the plant you're looking for.
2. Timing is everything. Always cut your herbs from the plant midmorning. You want the dew to be dried up, but you don't want it to be too late in the day or the plants will wilt slightly from the afternoon heat and your herbs won't be as good as they could have been. If you're looking for leaves then cut right before the plant flowers, because that's when the leaves and stems will have the most oil in them. If you wants flowers obviously the flowers should be well established, but not wilting yet. Looking for seeds? Then the flowers should be wilting already. If you want roots then it should be late in the season when the roots will be well established already.
3. Have a place ready. This was my first attempt gone wrong. I got all of my herbs cut, turned around, and said to myself, "What do I do with them now?" If you have a premade drying room then you can place them on racks inside. I have heard of people using a sauna for this, but it would have to be a dry sauna or everything would end up moulding. It is not a good idea to use a storage shed or other outbuilding unless they are airtight and you can guarantee humidity and temperature levels. Alternatively, you can dry them in the oven at about 200F or 100C making sure to turn frequently. If you don't want to risk baking them (1st attempt) then you can place 2-4 branches tied together upsidedown in a paper bag with holes in it and hang the stems/bag from your closet. The area needs to be dark and dry. Make sure that they're not packed in too tightly or you won't get good air movement and everything will mould.
4. Patience is a virtue. If you're drying them in paper bags in a closet or attic then it should take about 1-3 weeks. I don't have a drying room, but would assume that it would take less time, due to the higher temperatures. I never figured out how long it should be in the oven, because I was a little oven-shy after roasting (burning) my first batch of herbs. You should test them every now and then by picking off one leaf or flower and rubbing it in between your thumb and forefinger. If it rolls they're not done yet. If it reduces itself to ashy powder instantly they're over done. The leaves and flowers should crumble slightly when squished, but they should retain roughly the smell and look of when they were growing.
5. Pack it up. It's important when storing dried herbs to find an airtight container to place them in. Your best bet is to store them whole and pick off/crush a few leaves, flowers, or seeds when you're ready to use. It is possible to crush the leaves or flowers ahead of time and store them that way, but they lose their potency sooner. It is not a good idea to crush the seeds until the day they'll be used, but that shouldn't be a problem for storage, because the seeds are fairly small anyway. Do not store them in direct sunlight as it will cause them to lose their potency much, much faster. Discard your dried herbs when they begin to lose their colour or smell. Most properly dried/stored herbs will last about one year if not pre-crushed.

So, there is my spiel on drying herbs. Good luck in your various culinary pursuits in the future. I hope that this information is helpful, though I won't hold it against you if it's just not your cup of tea.

If you want to get to know me better, check out my livejournal. Or check out my website http://www.storagesheds360.com for loads of information and reviews on hardscaping products to meet your every need.

That Healing Touch

As near as I can tell, there are two main reasons why people choose the plants for their garden. Asthetic value and practicality. Of course, the third reason is the one that I usually end up going with. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

If you happen to be a "good idea at the time" gardener like me, then there is a good chance at some point you've ended up with a plant in your garden that's doing incredibly well that you don't seem to have any purpose for. A lot of herbs usually end up in this category. After all, Sage is a very interesting herb and relatively easy to grow, but how often do you use it in your cooking? Lavender is kind of pretty, but are you getting the full potential from your lavender?

In the spirit of rationalizing choices and events that didn't have a rational explanation when they happened, I've learned how to do some pretty interesting things and I thought that I would share them with you.

Today's blog post is about making Massage Oil. Now, some of the most common scents for massage oil are the more relaxing and soothing ones. Lavender and mint both work perfectly for this. However, did you know that cinammon massage oil will actually increase temperature during a massage? This is particularly useful for inflamation of the joints and muscle strains. Imagine getting a foot massage with warming massage oil. I'll bet your toes are almost tingling with anticipation.

Before making your massage oil, it's a good idea to research which types of herbs you want to use and why. Aside from having beautiful or relaxing scents, some herbs have medicinal properties and some, like the cinnamon, will have added perks. Choice of your base oil is also important. I usually use grapeseed oil, because it's easily accessible and good for your skin. I used to use baby oil, but I find the grapeseed oil just works better. It generally lasts longer and seems to me to absorb the essential oils of the herbs better.

There are two ways to make massage oil. Sun infusion and heat infusion. I'll briefly explain the process of each below;

• Sun infusion involves slowly releasing the essential oils from your herbs by placing them in direct sunlight in a clear glass jar or bottle of oil. You would keep them in the sun for about a week, slowly mixing the ingredients once a day. At the end of the week, strain your oil through a cheesecloth to remove the herbs and see how it smells. If it's too strong, place it back in the jar with more oil and no herbs, then mix until it smells right. If it's too weak, place it back in the jar with fresh herbs and leave in the sun for another week.

• Heat infusion involves quickly releasing the essential oils from your herbs by placing them in a pot of oil and heating it. A double boiler is recommended for this, because the oil will burn easily. Place the herbs and oil into the top of the double boiler and fill the bottom with water. Boil the water on the stove and remove from heat when it is at a rapid boil. Place the oil over top and stir as the oil heats up. When the double boiler cools to room temperature you can strain your oil through a cheesecloth and see how it smells. If it's too strong add more oil and mix it until it smells right. If it's too weak reheat the water, remove from heat, and "cook" the oil and herbs again, stirring until it becomes cool again.

Now, these are very simplified instructions, but that's really all you would need to know. Mostly knowledge comes from first hand experience, so try it out every now and then. Practise makes perfect.

Try to keep in mind that you won't end up with the perfect massage oil every time. In fact, I've made some pretty awful ones while I was still trying things out. In fact, I still make some pretty awful ones when a crazy idea gets into my head to try plants I've never used before. I don't know if you've ever heard of horsetail before, but it has a very strong scent in massage oil. Just try to keep in mind, as people we discover through touch.

If you want to get to know me better, check out my livejournal. Or check out my website http://www.storagesheds360.com for loads of information and reviews on hardscaping products to meet your every need.

That's It... You're Outta the House.

No matter what climate you live in, if you start your little seedlings indoors then you're either currently transplanting them to your garden or eagerly awaiting the last frost. If this is your first year gardening, then you might be a little bit anxious. After all, some seedlings that are doing wonderfully indoors don't make it in the outside world. I figured, since planting time is upon us, that I would share a few tidbits about how to have a successful transplant.

1. Harden off your plants for a few weeks before transplanting. I begin by leaving the pots outside in partial shade for an hour a day and increase the time and sunlight a little bit each two or three days. My seedlings are now outside in their pots from the time I wake up until I go to bed and I make sure to leave them outside during the first hour or so of darkness so they'll be ready for the cool nights. They'll be transplanted next weekend so, beginning on Wednesday, I'll have them outside in their pots 24-hours to make sure they're ready.
2. While you're hardening off your plants, prepare their new home for them. Make sure the soil is loose and add a healthy amount of compost or fertilizer by using a tiller. If you don't have access to one, use a shovel and rake to get everything mixed up well. Doing this once or twice a week for a few weeks before transplanting ensures that the soil has had a chance to build a welcoming committee of useful nutrients and soil-borne root-friendly fungi.
3. Make sure that you have researched and planned your garden map. It's important to make sure that all of your seedlings have their place in the garden. You wouldn't want to get half way through transplanting when you realise that you have one square foot of space left for fifteen potato seedlings. Planning ahead and knowing how much space your seedlings need, based on the type of plants you started, will give your garden a better chance of survival. It's also important to consider what your plants will need when mapping out the garden. After all, you wouldn't want to put a full sun plant in the shade from your storage shed or a shade plant baking in the unprotected center of your yard.
4. Time it perfectly. Check the weather forcast to ensure that you're not in for a heat wave or cold snap and delay transplanting if necessary. Obviously the weather might sneak up on you after transplanting, but it's better to try to avoid an upcoming drought or blizzard if at all possible.
5. Water the seedlings thoroughly the day before transplanting to give them an added boost. You'll also water quite a bit while transplanting, but that's step 8.
6. If removing seedlings from the pots, tip the whole pot upside down and gently tap your push the bottom of the pot while using your other had to catch the seedling complete with root system and soil.
7. Place the seedlings in a dug hole that should be slightly larger than the soil ball coming with them. It's a good idea to add a little bit of extra fertilizer or compost in the bottom of this hole. Never carry the seedling by its stem or leaves if at all possible and try not to disturb the root system. If you soil ball is overcrowded with roots, then it is okay to gently tease some of the outer roots to encourage growth into the new soil.
8. Water down the filled hole thoroughly. Giving the seedlings extra water at this point will help to encourage growth and give the root system a chance to recover. It has, after all, just been ripped from it's very comfortable home and set down in alien territory.
9. Cover your seedlings to give them a better chance of survival. I use wooden stakes to hold up a cloth awning over my garden, but I've heard of people using the original planting pots or even cardboard boxes. Covering will protect the seedlings from over exposure to sun and heavy rainfalls. In decent conditions you may only have to cover for two or three days, but you should add a few days if the root system was damaged or if the seedling looks like it needs a little extra help.
10. Water your garden frequently and check up on your plants often. At this stage You're pretty much in the clear, but it's a good idea to keep an eye out for pests and conditions that may affect your seedlings. Once they've been in for a few days you can uncover them and enjoy your garden. :)

So, there you have it. Ten steps to successful transplanting. I wish you the best of luck during transplanting season and hope that your garden thrives.

If you want to get to know me better, check out my livejournal. Or check out my website http://www.storagesheds360.com for loads of information and reviews on hardscaping products to meet your every need.

Do It Again

I've been doing some Spring Cleaning recently and discovered, like I do every year, that I keep way too much useless stuff. So, it's time to throw stuff out, right? Now, more than ever, it's important to take to heart the philosophy of the three R's. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Now my personal favorite, because I hate to get rid of anything that's even remotely possibly useful for future reference, is Reuse. So I thought I would share some of my favorite "reuse" projects that I've done before.

• Old clothes that don't fit can be donated to your local thrift shop if they're in good condition. If they are ripped, stained, or otherwise broken you probably don't want to donate them. In this scenario I usually cut them up and use them for sewing patches, appliques, quilts, or other sewing projects. When my son was in school they made backpacks out of ripped jeans.
• An old dresser with broken tracks makes a great puppet stage. Remove the backing and all drawers. Then cut the backing to 2/3's of the original height and staple gun it to the front. Paint it all in whimsical colours and add a curtain rod and some nice little curtains. Then children sit in the back and lift they're puppets in front of the curtain for the show. The empty drawers standing upright and bolted together to a sheet of plywood make a new bookshelf (depending on the size and shape of the drawers).
• Old computer parts such as broken keyboards and mice, an empty CPU tower, broken printers and scanners, or a shorted monitor can be combined to create a pretend computer for smaller children. Or, for older children you can take them apart together to theorize about what when wrong, why it doesn't work, and what all of those little chips do. (My dad used to do this with me when I was seven and I never forgot how cool it was)
• broken bits of pottery, ceramic, or glass can be pieced together with grout to make custom mosaic tiles. (admittedly I haven't done this one yet, but I found some broken pots in my storage shed while cleaning and I'll be buying the grout this weekend to try it out. I'll tell you all about it and get some pictures up when they're done)

There's so much more you can do, but it all depends on what you have. So the next time that you find something and wonder to yourself why you don't throw it in the garbage, try to think outside the box. It might be more useful than you thought it would ever be.

If you want to get to know me better, check out my livejournal. Or check out my website http://www.storagesheds360.com for loads of information and reviews on hardscaping products to meet your every need.

Hello Little Garden... Grow Faster.

So you're sitting in the garden pulling out weeds and muttering to yourself when you notice the neighbour staring at you funny. A quizzical look on your face, you focuse your attention on him as he chuckles. "Those plants ever talk back to you?" he says. You smile politely and respond, "Plants grow faster when you talk to them."

Now, some people think that this is just something that gardeners say to justify the natural habit of talking to yourself when you work. Certainly there is no "concrete" evidence that this actually works. However, the idea has survived for quite a while.

According to Gustav Theodor Fehner, a German psychologist and author of the book Nanna The Soul Life of Plants (1848), every plant has a consciousness that is diffused throughout their all of their parts. This would explain the reason why plants will move towards light, food, air, and water when needed. The diffusion also explains why a clipping can spread new roots and become a whole new plant in time, as opposed to an animal's consciousness being centered in the brain causing anything seperated from that consciousness to whither and die.

Dr Fehner was the first person to suggest talking to plants as a way to identify with the "soul" existing inside and, unfortunately, most people didn't seem to take to this new theory.

However, the idea persisted and was later followed up with Luther Burbank (1849 - 1926), a famous American botanist, horticulturist and pioneer in argicultural science. Luther believed that plants, although unable to understand and respond to spoken language, would telepathically absorb the meaning of speech and thereby grow healthier if given compassion and praise.

In 1970 the idea of speaking to plants evolve as George Milstein released Music to Grow Plants By, a record of music specifically designed to play for your plants. This was followed up in 1973 by The Sound of Music and Plants written by Dorothy Retallack. This book detailed the results of her experiments which found that plants given soothing classical music intermittently would grow faster and healthier than those with rock music. In fact, plants began leaning towards the classical music radio like they would towards light.

In more recent years, the belief has been "scientifically explained" by saying that carbon dioxide is produced during exhalation while talking and is also used during photosynthesis. This is one of the most popular theories used as explanation currently.

However, the amount of CO2 produced while talking is infintesimal considering how much plants need and, therefor, you would have to sit next to your plants for hours on end. They're already calling us crazy for a stray sentence here and there. Besides, that doesn't explain the classical radio. Radios don't breathe.

Another popular theory bouncing around nowadays is that the soundwaves cause a minor vibration in the plant, causing the plant to respond with additional growth to protect itself. Overly loud or "violent" soundwaves are said to cause too much vibration, affecting the plant negatively due to an inability to counteract the vibrations. Like working out at a gym. If you build up slowly you end up with more strength and endurance, but if you overdo it on the first shot you end up hurting yourself.

Whatever the reason, anyone who has truly talked to their plants swears by the difference. Most people that have never talked to their plants think that we're crazy. In the end, it's all harmless fun anyway so live and let live.

So when people ask me if my plants ever talk back to me I just tell them, "No. My plants are more obedient than that. Why, are yours giving you attitude?"

If you want to get to know me better, check out my livejournal. Or check out my website http://www.storagesheds360.com for loads of information and reviews on hardscaping products to meet your every need.

Honey Bee Good

I was talking with my friend's little girl (4 years old) today and she mentioned that she had seen a beehive last year near their storage shed. So, I told her that bees help out a lot in the garden. She "corrected me" by telling me that bees sting you lots and lots and it hurts.

Bees, traditionally, have a bit of a bad rap. Most people don't know that honey bees are very interesting and generally harmless little creatures. In fact, honey bees can be very beneficial to your garden. The following are some of the interesting, little know facts about bees;

1. Honey is the only natural food that is created by not killing or harming anything. (dairy products are created from the nutrients ingested by the cow when it "kills" the grass)
2. Honey is the only food that includes all of the substances necessary to sustain life, including enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and water. It's also the only food that contains "pinocembrin", an antioxident associated with improving brain function.
3. Each honey bee can only sting one time. The stinger is equipped with a barb that anchors it into whatever has been stung. Shortly after stinging, the bee dies from abdominal rupture.
4. The life expectancy of the average worker bee is 28 to 35 days.
5. To make one pound of honey, the workers of a hive will have to fly 55, 000 miles and tap two million flowers.
6. Throughout the course of her entire lifetime, a worker bee will create 1/12th teaspoon of honey.
7. It is estimated that 1, 100 bee stings are required to be fatal. (Provided you are not allergic to bees, of course)
8. Some of my favorite foods are from crop plants that are commonly pollinated by bees. For example; kiwifruit, cashews, watermelon, coffea arabica (think caffine :)), strawberries, apple trees, almonds, pears, rose hips (key ingredient in most herbal teas), and many more.
9. About 8% of the flowers of the world are primarily pollinated by "buzz pollination", a technique only employed by bees. The bee grabs the flower and moves it's flight muscles rapidly, causing flower and anthers to vibrate, thus dislodging the pollen. (Bumble bees commonly use buzz pollination, while honey bees do rarely, if ever).
10. Feral honey bee populations in the US have declined 90% over the past 50 years, except for in the southwest where they have been replaced by "Africanized bees".

There is speculation as to exactly how important the average honey bee is to the world, but while researching these facts I found several sites making "outrageous" claims like, "the effect of the Western Honey Bee on US crops only totals $14.6 billion USD in food crop value," and, "about one third of human nutrition is due to bee pollination."

I don't know if those things are true, but if you think about it, bees are pretty darn neat. If you don't hurt them, they generally don't hurt you and they can improve your garden, your yard, and in at least a small way, the world. So, if you do ever find a beehive in your backyard, consider the following;

Most cities across the US and Canada will have a professional beekeeper in or nearby that can give you advice or possibly relocate the beehive for you. With the declining population of honey bees that has been occuring over the past ten to twenty years, you might be glad that you chose relocation over extermination.

facts borrowed from;

• http://www.thaibugs.com/Articles/bee%20facts.html
• http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/honey-bee-facts.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crop_plants_pollinated_by_bees
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz_pollination
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollinator_decline

If you want to get to know me better, check out my livejournal. Or check out my website http://www.storagesheds360.com for loads of information and reviews on hardscaping products to meet your every need.

Composting

So, I was looking online yesterday and stumbled across a gardening forum where a woman had posted a question about improving the soil quality in her yard. That got me to thinking, of course, about composting.

If you've never heard of composting before, basically the process involves the breakdown of organic material to create natural fertilizer for your garden or yard. Done properly, it can be more effective and much less expensive than buying specialty soils at a gardening store. Plus, it's all natural and will cut down on the amount of waste disposed of in the garbage.

To start out with, you need a place to compost. If you have a small garden or just one or two raised beds then you won't need very much compost and you could probably keep enough in a medium to large wooden box or plastic container. If you're planning to use the fertilizer for a large area of your yard then you'll want quite a bit of compost, probably a section of your yard fenced off for the pile.

Begin by laying down some loose dirt in your container or pile. I would say your best bet is to have at least 1/3 of the space filled with regular every day kind of dirt that you can dig up. If it's very dry and clumped together, you may want to wet it down and mix it up, trying to break up as many of the clumps as possible.

Once you have a nice layer of dirt, place on top any organic material you might find. This includes apple cores, orange peels, coffee grounds, dry leaves, grass clippings, egg shells, and much more. Things that are NOT okay to use are any animal material or by-products, such as meat and dairy.

Once you have a nice layer of organic material, fill the container or pile the rest of the way with mort dirt. Again, it has to be loose dirt that's not too dry and clumpy. It's important to cover all organic material with dirt. Anything poking out of the top could attract unwanted insects and animals, such as roaches or silverfish and stray cats or racoons depending on the climate you live in. If it's all buried well under a nice covering layer of soil you won't have to worry about that.

The final step is to add a generous helping of worms. It's the worms, you see, that will break down all of that material to create rich, wonderful soil for your plants. The more you can find the better. I usually wait until it rains and then head out with a pair of rubber gloves and a pail to scoop them off the sidewalk. If you'd rather not do that, most fishing tackle shops will have a variety of "live bait" available and you should be able to find live worms there. I like to repeat this step when possible, because in a compost heap, where it's not really blocked off entirely, the worms might migrate out the bottom to another section of the yard.

If you made your compost in a container, sometimes it's a good idea to have the container chained down or otherwise secured. This will prevent curious animals, such as stray cats and dogs or raccoons and other wildlife, from trying to knock over the bin. A medium to large wooden box should be sturdy enough, but some plastic containers will tip over and end up spilling your compost all over the place. If you're using some such container, consider keeping it in a storage shed if you have one available.

Feel free to add more organic materials whenever you have them available. Most people I know keep a small pail in the kitchen, kind of like a recycling bin, to store things in until they're brought to the compost bin at the end of the night. When adding organic material you can scoop off a top layer of dirt, toss in your pail of treasures, and then cover everything over again.

Sometimes it’s a good idea when adding more material to stir everything up a bit so that the soil at the bottom doesn’t become too packed down. It’s important to get the air cycling through at least once every couple of days. This is more difficult with larger compost heaps, but can be accomplished by inserting a shovel into the pile and rotating it. Make sure that you have a very sturdy shovel before attempting this, because there are few things more embarrassing than explaining why you’re holding two separate pieces of the same shovel.

Don't forget to give your compost bin lots of time to work. Things don't usually break down in an hour, after all. I would say roughly once a week, depending on how many worms you have and how hard they work, you should be able to make a withdrawal.

When you're ready to take advantage of all your hard work, pull off the top two layers of dirt/organic material and pull from the bottom of the pile. That's where the soil will be richest. If there's anything still in the soil, such as left over egg shells or apple cores, you can pick it out and put it back in the compost heap if you'd like. Otherwise, don't worry too much about it, because it'll finish composting in your flower bed.

If you want to get to know me better, check out my livejournal. Or check out my website http://www.storagesheds360.com for loads of information and reviews on hardscaping products to meet your every need.