Herbal Betty, I'm surprised that the lemon bread recipe doesn't list lemon verbena as an ingredient; it's much more lemon-y than lemon balm, (less citronella-scent)....
Thanks for the recipe, will try it this Oct. or Nov. when I start the holiday baking.
Podster, haven't been here in a while and don't have time to catch up on posts, but if no one volunteers, I have freshly harvested arnica Chamonsis (spelling!) as well as underground runners from it....shall I send you seed? This variety is medicinally comparable to A. Montana, but much easier to grow. If you'd like some seed, please email me as to where I should send it, ok? Since it's viable now, and it's natural planting time, it's probably best to get it now; I don't know how well it keeps in storage. Some seed remains viable a long time if refrigerated; some doesn't, and must be planted when it's fully mature...
What! NO herb afficianados this summer?
cyra, I would imagine lemon balm instead of lemon verbena is in the recipe because lemon balm is winter hardy in the northeast and lemon verbena isn't. I'm growing some Lemonella lemon balm and I find the taste less "lemon pledge" than regular lemon balm. I also have dwarf lemon balm, lime balm and a golden lemon balm. All good.
Lime balm sounds good. I didn't know there were so many varieties. Is Middleburgh, NY in zone 5 or?
roybird, yup zone 5
You know, herbalbetty, that makes perfect sense. Maybe sometime you'd like to trade herb seeds or plants? I'm always trying new varieties, but our climates are very different. I have particular difficulty getting jewelweed or bergamots to grow here. I'm still trying, though.
Podster; you have mail:)
It seemed like that. I'll have to have some lime basil next year. I like scent and I play with essential oils when I have time. One of my favorite combinations is lime, basil and cardamom. It is a summery, Indian food scent.
cyra, would love to trade some stuff. Let's chat!
Well, thanks to you Herbalbetty ~ I figured out why I love the L verbena more the the L. balm... I will NEVER smell my lemon balm again without thinking about lemon pledge! LOL
Well, the lemon tea bread recipe is a treat here, and so is the tip on the book it came from--thank you Herbalbetty and Potster! I will share one of my favorite herbal tea mixes. I laugh at the notion of lemon balm being compared to lemon "Pledge" (the furniture dusting oil)--but I've found that lemon balm makes a great warming winter tea when steeped with fresh or dried Kentucky mint. The brisk cool mint sort of mellows the soapy "Pledge" traces of the lemon balm, but doesn't stiffle the lemon flavor. I believe that the lemon balm is called for in the tea bread recipe because of its ability to be absorbed by the dough. The essence of lemon balm is its concentrated twangy oily zest. It requires less leaves to make a heady tea. I guess this aroma don't sit well with some folks...Oh, well.
Let's hear more of other "new" varieties of common herbs!! I never heard of lime balm, either, and it probably would do well in flavoring a lot of things
I still like the lemon balm but after that analogy, I expect to see it listed as an ingredient on the pledge can... lol
I find only fresh lemon balm to have that "eau de Pledge" essence. Once it is dried, no more of that! Lemon balm keeps it best flavor only for about 6-7 months dried though. Lime balm is really good and does have that lime-y flavor. The Lemonella balm is great with no reminder of house cleaning products. Dwarf lemon balm is the same as lemon balm, only, well, smaller.
Let's see we could talk about varieties of salvia officinalis, or garden sage. There's regular garden sage, Bergartten, lavender-scented, dwarf, white-edged, golden, tri-color, purple...
There's my dopey pineapple sage!! I bought it this spring, just a tiny plant, thinking it would make my hummers very happy. It's huge now, at least 3 feet tall with main stalks as thick as my thumb... and it has never had any sign of a bud or bloom! I'm pretty sure it's correctly labeled, as the leaves have a fruity, mild sage flavor that actually does remind me a bit of pineapple. But I want pretty red flowers!!
Bergarten sage is my favorite culinary sage, but I think tri-color is one of the prettiest...
I have always loved pineapple sage ,but have the same problem, it starts to flower about two weeks before a frost then it's gone.
The last three years I have grown Lady in red salvia it flowers very nicely and looks almost the same but no smell.This tear it even rewarded me with several self sown seedlings.
I love pineapple sage too and have the same problem. It flowers just before we get a frost. However, this isn't a salvia officinalis. It's salvia elegans - I believe that's the spelling. Along that type of sage, besides pineapple, I'm growing a honeydew melon salvia.
Thanks, Betty... I hadn't looked up the species; it's my first year growing Pineapple Sage. :-)
Next year, when I see a Pineapple Sage blooming at a local nursery, I won't resist and tell myself I've got one at home that will be blooming before I know it...
Honeydew Melon Salvia sounds just scrumptious!!
Roybird -
You mentioned you like to work with essential oils when you have time. I do the same. When I first started growing herbs a few years ago, I thought about how fun it might be to try to distill the herbs to make my own essential oils. It only took a little research to convince me to buy the oils - oh, the pile of leaves you need for just one drop of oil! Your combination of lime, basil and cardamom sounds interesting. My favorite scents lean towards the bergamot, grapefruit, lavender (of course), and clary sage. I use my friends as family as guinea pigs for my sprays and perfumes.
Cyra -
Oh, how I wish lemon verbena was winter hardy in my zone. You mentioned having a difficult time with bergamots. They take over the garden here in zone 4.
It's so much fun to exchange information and stories across zones!
Bsulli, even though lemon verbena is a shrub, and will grow to that size if given enough room, you can confine it nicely to a large pot, and grow it indoors in a brightly lit window during the winter; they make excellent houseplants, I keep one indoors all winter, although it does suffer a little leaf-drop due to the climate change, at first. It usually bounces right back, with new growth. Just don't over-water it, I killed one that way, once.
I leave my outdoor lemon verbena shrubs alone after harvesting their leaves, before they drop in the fall, and they act like other deciduous trees, from then on, they drop their leaves and go dormant until spring, when they throw out new green shoots. I do mulch them for the winter, and they're planted next to my apt., for extra warmth.
Btw, Bsulli, I'm thinking of getting a small copper home still...I'm pretty sure I grow enough mint and rosemary and lavenders, at least to make home distillation worth it, wish I grew enough roses, though.
I have something called "Texas Sage" that I got from DeBaggio's nursery a couple of years ago. It is a small salvia with a creeping mounding habit and small, red, feather-like flowers that look like the picture up there posted by gardengus. The plus on this variety is that you get the red flowers all the time, beginning in May!! I had Pineapple Sage before and it got too big for the small garden quads I had. While the large red flower spikes came in late summer in a brilliant show, the scent didn't really live up and then it died over winter and didn't return. "Texas", on the other hand, has proven to be perennial here. It also stays within its designated area with only a little pruning and it seems to be a butterfly magnet. It is not really frangrant and I don't think its leaves can be used for anything culinary or otherwise. But it adds color to all the green foilage in the herb garden, so I'm letting it live on....
I think lemon verbena does poorly indoors during winter due to decreasing light and cool temps. I also have had rotten luck keeping rosemary inddors during winter. I think the lack of humidity and decreasing light are factors. Most herbs grown as annuals or considered tender perennials struggle in winter under my care. I have opted to get new plants in spring rather than keep old ones on artificial life support.
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LOL@ artificial life support! I'll remember that phrase as I try to overwinter my new lemon verbena this year... :-) I'm thinking that I might have better luck with cuttings? We'll see.
Oh, oh, oh, I think I really need to get my paws on that Texas Sage. I wonder if DeBaggio's still carries it? I never did get there this spring, shame on me. Next year I'll make up for it by driving down there and showing very little restraint!
BTW, I see you're not too far from me... check out my threads in the MidAtlantic forum for information on a fall plant swap gathering at my place on Saturday, Sept.8! It would be wonderful to meet you. And you don't even have to bring a cutting of your Texas Sage to be welcome, LOL. :-)
Hi. bsulli42, nice to hear from another scent lover. I, too, experiment and use my family and friends as guinea pigs. Cyra, let me know how your still works out. I read up on the distilling process and the amount of plant material needed and it was pretty daunting. I am currently experimenting with pomades using bee's wax and lavender. I have lemon verbena that has wintered over in my cold studio for 2 years now. It it has suffered whitefly infestations every March, but soon recovers when it gets outside. (I use sticky traps as well.) My rosemary goes in, too. Outside, the culinary sage and the pretty varigated sage do well on their own. I like the flowery salvias...May Queen is one. How many kinds of salvia are there? Umpteen jillion, I think.
Bsulli, we should trade, lemon verbena plant for (hopefully, red, but if not available, pink) bergamot seed, next spring:)
Lemon verbena would make a great house plant for you, I think, if you have a brightly lit window; it likes warmth, but not scorching sun. (A light lacy curtain in a sunny window should keep a verbena from scorching...)
Critter,
I'd love to meet you, also, and everyone on this forum for that matter. This thread has been the most entertaining so far. I do have plans for 9/8 but thanks for the tip on the Mid-Atlantic threads as those certainly look to be of interest. I will start watching over there. I just joined DG in late June and only check in periodically, so I appreciate getting pointers on anything going on around the forums. I know I miss some things.
I do need to lift and divide Texas Sage in the Spring. I would be more than happy to save a pot for you, Critter.
Roybird and Besulli--are you making potpouris? Does anyone have a surefire way of drying herbs besides bunching them and hanging them upside down somewhere for two weeks?
two sure fire ways....for drying herbs
Oven... one layer of herb leaves on a cookie sheet. Cover the cookie sheet with parchment paper, or brown paper lunch bags.Place the leaves on the paper. Set the oven on 150, and preheat it. Set the cookie sheet in the oven, and turn the oven off. Leave the herbs in the oven over night. They will be dry in the morning.
Microwave. Lay a sheet of wax paper on the bottom of the microwave, place a few leaves on the wax paper, zap the leaves on high for about 60 seconds, turn them over, do it again for about 60 seconds. Let them cool, and store them in glass jars. Who has time to let herbs dry for two weeks. lol
I like the microwave idea! I put a link to a post about drying herbs in today's article, but honestly I think the flavor is better (closer to fresh) when I freeze them. http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/111/#discuss
I dry a lot of my herbs in the back of my Jeep. I have tinted windows in the back, so sunlight isn't a problem. I spread out a sheet and then spread my herbs on top of that. In 2-3 days (in the summer) the herbs are wonderfully dried. Of course, sometimes when I have lots of mugwort in the Jeep and get in on a particularly warm day, I get a little light-headed from the intense aroma! " Honest Officer, that's mugwort in the back."
LOL Betty ~ I have heard of others doing quantities of herbs or flowers in car trunks so in the dark.
I use my gas oven with pilot light and spread thinly on a cookie sheet for a few days.
I'll bet this is an ask 10 people, get 10 different answers question... BTW, Critterologist you are doing an interesting series of articles. Thanks pod
This message was edited Sep 4, 2007 7:20 PM
Me too with the freezing, but some people like the jars in the pantry with the dried herbs in them. I like to freeze basil in water in ice cube trays, it looks better. It's just a matter of what you like in the way of herbs. I do a little of each, oven drying, hanging swags [ which look pretty and oh so trendy in the kitchen].
This has been a great thread, and Critter I have enjoyed your articles very much.
Arias
I use dried herbs too, but my own dried ones just never seem to be as good as the ones I get from Penzey's. I do like the look of hanging bunches of dried herbs -- especially lavender!
I'm glad the articles ahve been useful... I'm hoping we'll see a few more herb gardens being chatted up here next summer!
One thing I know for sure... My cat prefers her catnip dried. Just not the same when frozen... lol
My cats hate fresh catnip (they wrinkle up their noses and run away from it), but love it dried.
Oh ~ oh, I can't resist... one of the resident cats has a passion for "fresh". Apologies if you have seen this already.... the first six images are fun...
Was there supposed to be a link added podster? Don't keep me in suspense! :)
That is twice today I have posted a link that becomes the "missing link" The first time I thought it was just sometimers disease .... twice ~ I think not!
Sorry ~ I will try again... http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/607802/ Thanks for pointing it out...
LOL! That is one happy kitty....."like wow man"
This has been a good thread. HerbalBetty, drying herbs in the car! I love it. My D.H. used an old car to dry apricots in. Hey, it works.
Garden_mermaid does that take me back to the late 60's early 70's ~ like really back man... LOL
Thanks for the surefire drying tips, folks! The oven/cookie sheet sounds easy, being able to walk off and leave them and come back to find them dried overnight. But I did go and read Critter's article and it is really informative about the freezing method of preserving. I'll have to try it....
hee hee hee, pod! You mean drying fruits and herbs in the car doesn't take you back there too? :-)
I won't say "those" were the days. Like these days much better. Never dried fruits and herbs in the car either. Sheltered life here ... lol
Don't know if it would be considered an herb but I pick up a Hibiscus sabdariffa ~ Jamaica. Beverages are made from the blooms. Found out they are tropical and I probably wouldn't see blooms but this am I found I have buds! Yea!
Podster, if it sets seed; please remember me? Let me know, will send addy.
Love the tart taste of Jamaican Hibiscus flowers!