Thursday, August 09, 2007
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Good grief...
...it's been a long time since I've posted. Well we gardeners do get busy about this time of year. Here's a long update on the Backyard Herb Garden and my doin's to get it to resemble a model 'demonstration gardening project', done on a shoestring.
I'll just cut and paste my log that I'm keeping on the project, and add a stray comment here and there. Some of this has been covered in past entries, but I'll just recap:
Late fall, 2006: I'm still not officially in charge, just scoping out the territory, but no harm in getting reacquainted with this old garden.
I took inventory of the plant list printed on the handout, matching existing signage and existing plants, what needs to be done. It appears that about two thirds of the original plants are gone.
Oh, my gosh! Why, you may ask, did 2/3 of the plants disappear?
Not from Public Garden Pilferage, but because some were annuals, some were short-lived perennials and biennials, and some were not "the right plant for the right place" as they say in gardenerspeak. (There must be a Latin term for that phrase.)
Did I mention I'm taking a class sponsored by the local estate garden, called something like the Applewood Gardening Initiative - Urban Gardening. I've heard it is good for getting trained in how to organize a gardening project. Totally free, they even provide dinner from local, not chain, restaurants, and all I have to do is volunteer 15 hours, as a technical assistant, into a community gardening project. I even convinced my friend Sharron to take the class which will make it fun.
October MG meeting- my submitted at the last minute budget is folded into greater landscape budget, but Terry and Phil reassured me there was extra in it for this garden. I don't know if my plans to "renovate a backyard garden on a shoestring" need a big budget, but it's nice to have backing. I may or may not use it.
I did ask the general meeting for help cleaning up the garden. I really need to work on my presentation, raise my voice. Say something quickly that will garner support...
a.k.a. an elevator pitch. Oy.
My personal reticence may be my biggest hurdle this year. The bubbly project chairs seem to get the biggest response. Bubbly I am not. That's Life, get over it.
Introduced to Dave, our Landscape chair.
Day of work bee, it rained. Dave's co-chair Mel, who by the way is taking the Urban Gardening class as well, reported only a few showed up. The guys piled woodchip mulch in garden paths to avoid snowplow incidents.
I personally melt in the rain.
Oh, not really, but I don't expect people volunteering to be miserable and catch colds, nor is it a particularly good idea to do much of anything with heavy wet soil and wet plants. My philosophy is to stay off of wet soil to avoid compaction ... and melting gardeners.
I think it goes 'way back to the spring of second grade when I lost my shoes in the mud crossing the school baseball field.
Oct. 30, 2006: I took soil test, using a Master Gardener sponsored coupon from Terry. Details: depth: about ten samples, 6" deep, use: perennial flower garden plants.
Also, Terry donated 3 packages (10 each?) of Saffron crocuses (planted in tarragon and thyme quadrants of the round culinary herb bed)left over from the M.G. fall bulb sale. Cool! I'll probably need to move them next summer as the leaves are easy to mistake for seedling chives to the unobservant.
Did a small maintenance cleanup on my own.
November - Received soil test results by mail: We probably need to amend soil while renovating beds. Peat might be a good addition as we are slightly alkaline.
Annuals in culinary circle will need fertilizer or enriched soil. The Landscape committee is ordering Osmocote for the whole landscape that will be stored in the shed for use by all the demo projects.
I began this garden, ten years ago, as an organic demonstration garden, but the subsequent chair went the way of Roundup and Fertilizer. Different stroke for different folks.
I won't use pesticides, but maybe I will use some of this chemical boost with some of the annuals. I have to balance the easy fix with my personal preference.
A little history: We originally were asked to design a pleasant decorative flowerbed in conjunction with a multiple station compost demonstration area. I came up with the idea to use herbs and grow them organically. The design grew like topsy for a couple of years, but the compost area fell by the wayside with personnel changes. The compost bins were moved to the hedgerow, and the herb garden remained. I moved on to volunteer as a diagnostician which was enough on my plate so to speak, and thought that another Master Gardener might want to take over the project.
2007: The baton has been passed, where to begin? Received list of fall class MG trainee volunteers by mail. Need to contact them. Previously mentioned shyness kicks in. AUGH. I will do as much as I can with e-mail, it's easier for me.
Currently attending Applewood sponsored Urban Gardening class (15 weeks). Training and Ideas on how to lead community gardening projects. A flash of inspiration... Maybe I can meld the community garden commitment into my herb garden project?
Somewhere along the way, I started this blog: The Backyard Herbalist @
http://www.thebackyardherbalist.blogspot.com
It links to my personal web log, http://Betsyandherbs.blogspot.com
I also started a moderated Yahoo group page (right on my desktop Yahoo toolbar)
The Backyard Herbalist@
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thebackyardherbalist/
It has a picture of Extension herb garden (birdbath and compost bins)and a snappy description... "Planting an interest in herb gardening - one backyard at a time." Classified by location: Flint-Saginaw, MI.
I posted 2 old photos I had in my collection.
As long as I figured out how to start a group page for this garden, I started a Yahoo group for the Genesee County Herb Society as well! Cool! Too bad none of these new skills I'm learning are marketable.
January: I ordered plants from Bluestone Nursery.
I listed the ordered plants on a database stored in the Yahoo group.
February: I got some free seeds from the Extension.
I listed the free seeds and made a donation list on a database stored in the Yahoo group.
Live and Learn! I taught myself how to export database to MS Access for printable format. Printed a Donation Sign-Up Sheet to pass around Feb. MG meeting.
Feb MG meeting: passed around previously mentioned wish list.
Responses:
Will dig, divide, and donate herb plants: Sue, Alicia, Linda, Ruth and Julianna.
Dave, Dave, and Carol: variety of herb seeds will start them in a M.G. sponsored Grow Lab in a Flint elementary school.
Will grow seeds at home: Sue. And me, of course.
Posted some files to BYHG Yahoo Group. Just Organic Gardening type info. files.
Received an e-mail from Bonnie, She will pot up some yard plants in the spring. I thanked her.
Received a call from Francine. She will pot up some sweet basil seedlings (cut and come again style) in pots on her windowsill. I will bring her seed at the March meeting. (She has serious knee problems and can't work in gardens.)
March 7-8, 2007. Michigan Herb Associates Conference. Pure unrefined Fun for Herbies. I purchased two rosemaries, three scented geraniums (ginger, pungent peppermint and chocolate mint). Both rosemaries died immediately, I suspect they weren't well rooted yet, and the handling disturbed them enough to kill them.
March 14 Sent e-mail to list of trainees. Got 3 responses, but one had to back out for family health reason.
March 21 Carol, Dave, Jr. MG Mindy and Dave and I planted free seeds in Doyle Ryder's school Grow Lab. Dave will shepherd the lab.
April 17: Applewood Urban Gardening. Erin told me if I submit a proposal I might be able to work this project as my commitment.
April 19 MG meeting. Talked to Francine. Basil is up, she will thin and prune. I asked her to keep 4 pots going for me.
April 23: Bluestone order arrived. Some plants not available, had to revise list, re-calculate bill to be reimbursed. Unpacked and watered. Set outside. Sent box of packaging peanuts back to Bluestones to recycle.
4-25 Went to Doyle Ryder school to check up on seedlings. Dave is shepherding grow lab. Brought home 2 pots of kale to harden off outside.
What is coming up: parsley, dill, kale, one marigold, basil, silver dollars. Dave wants the lab cleaned out by Mother's Day.
Wrote proposal letter to Applewood. Brennis sent acceptance letter requiring 7 hours.
My remaining commitment will be spent with the Urban Agriculture project on Holmes Street. I'll have to google a map to find it.
The idea of Urban Agriculture as a tool to revitalize the local community intrigues me. I recently signed up for a share in a CSA at a program sponsored by the Flint Farmer's Market.
Ruth emailed. She will map existing garden using her computer know-how. Rained out first meeting, rescheduled to 4-30 Monday 10am.
The photo was taken by MG volunteer, Ruth.
Dave called, he will purchase 2 rosemary plants at Arrowwood Nursery on day he volunteers for the MG project called "Ask a Master Gardener"(20 percent discount, May 12.)He says maybe show up and see what else I need for the project.
April 26: Added 4 more past photos to the yahoo group album. (Diplomatically... getting them sent to me was like pulling a tooth.)
April 26 and 27: At home. I finally got around to planting seeds in flats: Lemon Gem marigolds, 8 varieties of basil, calendula, summer savory, sweet marjoram, amaranth "love lies bleeding", German chamomile, dill, and sage.
April 30, Monday 10 am: Met Ruth to map garden for an hour. She had previously stopped by to measure and photograph the site! She'll send photos of the dormant garden for me to post. Thank goodness, as I keep forgetting my camera!
Note: I posted one of Ruth's photos above. Here is another one of Ruth's photos:
I remained to pull weeds and spread mulch piles for a couple more hours.
Decided with Dave to pull out unused worm bin. Dave wants to bring more 2-3 lilacs from his property to plant, to screen the hedgerow compost bins from sight lines.
Unfortunately lilac is one plant that has almost no use to herbalists as far as I can tell. If you try to infuse the essence of the fragrance for use in aromatherapy, you get a nasty mulchy smelling result. But who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth? and anyway, a sunny day spent weeding in May with the lilacs blooming all around is a good day.
May 7: Francine called. She will bring her pots of basil to the office on MG night. Going into hospital for knee surgery. She persuaded me to water her garden while she is in rehab.
May 8: E-mailed Winter class trainees to recruit volunteers, and did a second mailing to Fall class volunteers.
May 10: E-mailed Terry with update. Asked her to mention Herb Garden Wednesday Work Bees in 'volunteer opportunities' area of her weekly e-mail. The plan is to hold a regularly scheduled "work bee" on Wednesdays at noon, with Thursdays being a rain delay date.
May 10: Work Bee. I met trainee Mary in garden She worked 2 hours at deadheading, weeding, ripped out lambs ears in culinary circle. I worked 11:30-3pm at weeding, deadheading and ripping out oregano from pioneer herbs bed, and oregano and chives from culinary circle.
May 12: I met Dave at Arrowwood to pick up plants (he paid from the general Landscape account) - 3 lavenders, 3 sages, 1 rosemary. Unfortunately he didn't get a discount. Must be the sagging economy. To make the drive worthwhile I scheduled it around my first workday at the CSA, where I transplanted pepper seedlings into bigger pots. I stopped for a few minutes at the herb garden to harvest enough rhubarb for dessert. Rhubarb crisp, yum!
May 15: While at the Urban Gardening class I picked up 10 nice herb plants from Chuck that Bonnie had dug from her garden. I donated 2 to the Flint Y&G fundraiser plant sale -chives and lambs ears. We've been tossing excess of these into the compost bins, but the Yard and Garden ladies will sell them, nicely potted up.
May 16: Work Bee rained out, emailed about cancellation... I had to emergency babysit.
May 18: I missed the MG meeting because I know my 15 month old granddaughter wouldn't have wanted to sit quietly for the business part. Janet called about Francine's plants. On Friday I picked up the basil at office. At home I emailed Terry with an update.
May 23: Work Bee: I met MaryBeth in the garden. She worked 3 hours helping me clear culinary herb bed. We potted up a bunch of various overly abundant herbs to give to a Macomb County EFNEP nutrition gal who was attending a meeting and who came out with the staff on their break to look at our landscape - we set aside, in the shade, chives, mint, oregano, lemon balm.
Another gal in the same group mentioned she'd like to get our extra herb divisions for some other local gardening projects. She's in charge of the Urban Agriculture class I signed up for in June! Coincidence?
Set up bird bath, added 2 stepping stones. A record setting 90 degrees!
May 25: I picked up seedling plants from the Doyle Ryder Grow Lab that Dave plans on closing next week. Basil, dill, parsley. Donated the remaining plants to the D-R summer garden project.(Wrote a thank you email to Dave with the information.)
Note to Self- Next Work Bee: Bring CAMERA!, weed bucket, water bottle, a wet washcloth in a ziplock bag, shovel along with tools.
Goal next week, to clean up the mint bed!
I'll just cut and paste my log that I'm keeping on the project, and add a stray comment here and there. Some of this has been covered in past entries, but I'll just recap:
Late fall, 2006: I'm still not officially in charge, just scoping out the territory, but no harm in getting reacquainted with this old garden.
I took inventory of the plant list printed on the handout, matching existing signage and existing plants, what needs to be done. It appears that about two thirds of the original plants are gone.
Oh, my gosh! Why, you may ask, did 2/3 of the plants disappear?
Not from Public Garden Pilferage, but because some were annuals, some were short-lived perennials and biennials, and some were not "the right plant for the right place" as they say in gardenerspeak. (There must be a Latin term for that phrase.)
Did I mention I'm taking a class sponsored by the local estate garden, called something like the Applewood Gardening Initiative - Urban Gardening. I've heard it is good for getting trained in how to organize a gardening project. Totally free, they even provide dinner from local, not chain, restaurants, and all I have to do is volunteer 15 hours, as a technical assistant, into a community gardening project. I even convinced my friend Sharron to take the class which will make it fun.
October MG meeting- my submitted at the last minute budget is folded into greater landscape budget, but Terry and Phil reassured me there was extra in it for this garden. I don't know if my plans to "renovate a backyard garden on a shoestring" need a big budget, but it's nice to have backing. I may or may not use it.
I did ask the general meeting for help cleaning up the garden. I really need to work on my presentation, raise my voice. Say something quickly that will garner support...
a.k.a. an elevator pitch. Oy.
My personal reticence may be my biggest hurdle this year. The bubbly project chairs seem to get the biggest response. Bubbly I am not. That's Life, get over it.
Introduced to Dave, our Landscape chair.
Day of work bee, it rained. Dave's co-chair Mel, who by the way is taking the Urban Gardening class as well, reported only a few showed up. The guys piled woodchip mulch in garden paths to avoid snowplow incidents.
I personally melt in the rain.
Oh, not really, but I don't expect people volunteering to be miserable and catch colds, nor is it a particularly good idea to do much of anything with heavy wet soil and wet plants. My philosophy is to stay off of wet soil to avoid compaction ... and melting gardeners.
I think it goes 'way back to the spring of second grade when I lost my shoes in the mud crossing the school baseball field.
Oct. 30, 2006: I took soil test, using a Master Gardener sponsored coupon from Terry. Details: depth: about ten samples, 6" deep, use: perennial flower garden plants.
Also, Terry donated 3 packages (10 each?) of Saffron crocuses (planted in tarragon and thyme quadrants of the round culinary herb bed)left over from the M.G. fall bulb sale. Cool! I'll probably need to move them next summer as the leaves are easy to mistake for seedling chives to the unobservant.
Did a small maintenance cleanup on my own.
November - Received soil test results by mail: We probably need to amend soil while renovating beds. Peat might be a good addition as we are slightly alkaline.
Annuals in culinary circle will need fertilizer or enriched soil. The Landscape committee is ordering Osmocote for the whole landscape that will be stored in the shed for use by all the demo projects.
I began this garden, ten years ago, as an organic demonstration garden, but the subsequent chair went the way of Roundup and Fertilizer. Different stroke for different folks.
I won't use pesticides, but maybe I will use some of this chemical boost with some of the annuals. I have to balance the easy fix with my personal preference.
A little history: We originally were asked to design a pleasant decorative flowerbed in conjunction with a multiple station compost demonstration area. I came up with the idea to use herbs and grow them organically. The design grew like topsy for a couple of years, but the compost area fell by the wayside with personnel changes. The compost bins were moved to the hedgerow, and the herb garden remained. I moved on to volunteer as a diagnostician which was enough on my plate so to speak, and thought that another Master Gardener might want to take over the project.
2007: The baton has been passed, where to begin? Received list of fall class MG trainee volunteers by mail. Need to contact them. Previously mentioned shyness kicks in. AUGH. I will do as much as I can with e-mail, it's easier for me.
Currently attending Applewood sponsored Urban Gardening class (15 weeks). Training and Ideas on how to lead community gardening projects. A flash of inspiration... Maybe I can meld the community garden commitment into my herb garden project?
Somewhere along the way, I started this blog: The Backyard Herbalist @
http://www.thebackyardherbalist.blogspot.com
It links to my personal web log, http://Betsyandherbs.blogspot.com
I also started a moderated Yahoo group page (right on my desktop Yahoo toolbar)
The Backyard Herbalist@
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thebackyardherbalist/
It has a picture of Extension herb garden (birdbath and compost bins)and a snappy description... "Planting an interest in herb gardening - one backyard at a time." Classified by location: Flint-Saginaw, MI.
I posted 2 old photos I had in my collection.
As long as I figured out how to start a group page for this garden, I started a Yahoo group for the Genesee County Herb Society as well! Cool! Too bad none of these new skills I'm learning are marketable.
January: I ordered plants from Bluestone Nursery.
I listed the ordered plants on a database stored in the Yahoo group.
February: I got some free seeds from the Extension.
I listed the free seeds and made a donation list on a database stored in the Yahoo group.
Live and Learn! I taught myself how to export database to MS Access for printable format. Printed a Donation Sign-Up Sheet to pass around Feb. MG meeting.
Feb MG meeting: passed around previously mentioned wish list.
Responses:
Will dig, divide, and donate herb plants: Sue, Alicia, Linda, Ruth and Julianna.
Dave, Dave, and Carol: variety of herb seeds will start them in a M.G. sponsored Grow Lab in a Flint elementary school.
Will grow seeds at home: Sue. And me, of course.
Posted some files to BYHG Yahoo Group. Just Organic Gardening type info. files.
Received an e-mail from Bonnie, She will pot up some yard plants in the spring. I thanked her.
Received a call from Francine. She will pot up some sweet basil seedlings (cut and come again style) in pots on her windowsill. I will bring her seed at the March meeting. (She has serious knee problems and can't work in gardens.)
March 7-8, 2007. Michigan Herb Associates Conference. Pure unrefined Fun for Herbies. I purchased two rosemaries, three scented geraniums (ginger, pungent peppermint and chocolate mint). Both rosemaries died immediately, I suspect they weren't well rooted yet, and the handling disturbed them enough to kill them.
March 14 Sent e-mail to list of trainees. Got 3 responses, but one had to back out for family health reason.
March 21 Carol, Dave, Jr. MG Mindy and Dave and I planted free seeds in Doyle Ryder's school Grow Lab. Dave will shepherd the lab.
April 17: Applewood Urban Gardening. Erin told me if I submit a proposal I might be able to work this project as my commitment.
April 19 MG meeting. Talked to Francine. Basil is up, she will thin and prune. I asked her to keep 4 pots going for me.
April 23: Bluestone order arrived. Some plants not available, had to revise list, re-calculate bill to be reimbursed. Unpacked and watered. Set outside. Sent box of packaging peanuts back to Bluestones to recycle.
4-25 Went to Doyle Ryder school to check up on seedlings. Dave is shepherding grow lab. Brought home 2 pots of kale to harden off outside.
What is coming up: parsley, dill, kale, one marigold, basil, silver dollars. Dave wants the lab cleaned out by Mother's Day.
Wrote proposal letter to Applewood. Brennis sent acceptance letter requiring 7 hours.
My remaining commitment will be spent with the Urban Agriculture project on Holmes Street. I'll have to google a map to find it.
The idea of Urban Agriculture as a tool to revitalize the local community intrigues me. I recently signed up for a share in a CSA at a program sponsored by the Flint Farmer's Market.
Ruth emailed. She will map existing garden using her computer know-how. Rained out first meeting, rescheduled to 4-30 Monday 10am.
The photo was taken by MG volunteer, Ruth.
Dave called, he will purchase 2 rosemary plants at Arrowwood Nursery on day he volunteers for the MG project called "Ask a Master Gardener"(20 percent discount, May 12.)He says maybe show up and see what else I need for the project.
April 26: Added 4 more past photos to the yahoo group album. (Diplomatically... getting them sent to me was like pulling a tooth.)
April 26 and 27: At home. I finally got around to planting seeds in flats: Lemon Gem marigolds, 8 varieties of basil, calendula, summer savory, sweet marjoram, amaranth "love lies bleeding", German chamomile, dill, and sage.
April 30, Monday 10 am: Met Ruth to map garden for an hour. She had previously stopped by to measure and photograph the site! She'll send photos of the dormant garden for me to post. Thank goodness, as I keep forgetting my camera!
Note: I posted one of Ruth's photos above. Here is another one of Ruth's photos:
I remained to pull weeds and spread mulch piles for a couple more hours.
Decided with Dave to pull out unused worm bin. Dave wants to bring more 2-3 lilacs from his property to plant, to screen the hedgerow compost bins from sight lines.
Unfortunately lilac is one plant that has almost no use to herbalists as far as I can tell. If you try to infuse the essence of the fragrance for use in aromatherapy, you get a nasty mulchy smelling result. But who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth? and anyway, a sunny day spent weeding in May with the lilacs blooming all around is a good day.
May 7: Francine called. She will bring her pots of basil to the office on MG night. Going into hospital for knee surgery. She persuaded me to water her garden while she is in rehab.
May 8: E-mailed Winter class trainees to recruit volunteers, and did a second mailing to Fall class volunteers.
May 10: E-mailed Terry with update. Asked her to mention Herb Garden Wednesday Work Bees in 'volunteer opportunities' area of her weekly e-mail. The plan is to hold a regularly scheduled "work bee" on Wednesdays at noon, with Thursdays being a rain delay date.
May 10: Work Bee. I met trainee Mary in garden She worked 2 hours at deadheading, weeding, ripped out lambs ears in culinary circle. I worked 11:30-3pm at weeding, deadheading and ripping out oregano from pioneer herbs bed, and oregano and chives from culinary circle.
May 12: I met Dave at Arrowwood to pick up plants (he paid from the general Landscape account) - 3 lavenders, 3 sages, 1 rosemary. Unfortunately he didn't get a discount. Must be the sagging economy. To make the drive worthwhile I scheduled it around my first workday at the CSA, where I transplanted pepper seedlings into bigger pots. I stopped for a few minutes at the herb garden to harvest enough rhubarb for dessert. Rhubarb crisp, yum!
May 15: While at the Urban Gardening class I picked up 10 nice herb plants from Chuck that Bonnie had dug from her garden. I donated 2 to the Flint Y&G fundraiser plant sale -chives and lambs ears. We've been tossing excess of these into the compost bins, but the Yard and Garden ladies will sell them, nicely potted up.
May 16: Work Bee rained out, emailed about cancellation... I had to emergency babysit.
May 18: I missed the MG meeting because I know my 15 month old granddaughter wouldn't have wanted to sit quietly for the business part. Janet called about Francine's plants. On Friday I picked up the basil at office. At home I emailed Terry with an update.
May 23: Work Bee: I met MaryBeth in the garden. She worked 3 hours helping me clear culinary herb bed. We potted up a bunch of various overly abundant herbs to give to a Macomb County EFNEP nutrition gal who was attending a meeting and who came out with the staff on their break to look at our landscape - we set aside, in the shade, chives, mint, oregano, lemon balm.
Another gal in the same group mentioned she'd like to get our extra herb divisions for some other local gardening projects. She's in charge of the Urban Agriculture class I signed up for in June! Coincidence?
Set up bird bath, added 2 stepping stones. A record setting 90 degrees!
May 25: I picked up seedling plants from the Doyle Ryder Grow Lab that Dave plans on closing next week. Basil, dill, parsley. Donated the remaining plants to the D-R summer garden project.(Wrote a thank you email to Dave with the information.)
Note to Self- Next Work Bee: Bring CAMERA!, weed bucket, water bottle, a wet washcloth in a ziplock bag, shovel along with tools.
Goal next week, to clean up the mint bed!
Monday, April 02, 2007
Winter sown parsley is up
Five weeks.
I had no faith... none of the lists I read listed parsley as a winter sowing candidate, and then, after I set the sown milk jug out on the patio, the temperatures plunged into the teens for days.
I chalked it up to a 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' experience. What a pleasant surprise!
Next year I'm winter sowing!
UPDATE:
The pleasant glow faded after my seedlings cooked on the really hot sunny day we experienced right after they sprouted. Next year, the north side of the house!
I had no faith... none of the lists I read listed parsley as a winter sowing candidate, and then, after I set the sown milk jug out on the patio, the temperatures plunged into the teens for days.
I chalked it up to a 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' experience. What a pleasant surprise!
Next year I'm winter sowing!
UPDATE:
The pleasant glow faded after my seedlings cooked on the really hot sunny day we experienced right after they sprouted. Next year, the north side of the house!
Friday, March 23, 2007
Growing the list of volunteers
I sent a group e-mail to the Fall 2006 class of Master Gardener trainees who signed up to volunteer. Out of nine, two responded, but they sound like they are interested, which is encouraging.
And at the MG meeting another MG volunteered to help if I call her on Wednesdays. Yes!
Also, the Landscape chairperson offered to start seeds for the herb garden in an unused grow lab in the elementary school where he is already the grow lab 'shepherd'.
We (the grow lab chairperson, her family and I) met him there on Wednesday and we all planted several packets - signet marigold, kale, dill, german chamomile, summer savory, basil, silver dollar, painted daisy, and parsley.
Fun to work together, and I was taught a basic lesson on how to garden with a grow lab. I've grown under lights for years, but never had any experience with capillary matting. I got to bring home a used piece that was going to be thrown away, and I'm trying it at home.
You're never too old to pick up a good idea, to experiment, or to learn a new thing.
And at the MG meeting another MG volunteered to help if I call her on Wednesdays. Yes!
Also, the Landscape chairperson offered to start seeds for the herb garden in an unused grow lab in the elementary school where he is already the grow lab 'shepherd'.
We (the grow lab chairperson, her family and I) met him there on Wednesday and we all planted several packets - signet marigold, kale, dill, german chamomile, summer savory, basil, silver dollar, painted daisy, and parsley.
Fun to work together, and I was taught a basic lesson on how to garden with a grow lab. I've grown under lights for years, but never had any experience with capillary matting. I got to bring home a used piece that was going to be thrown away, and I'm trying it at home.
You're never too old to pick up a good idea, to experiment, or to learn a new thing.
Sowing Seed Packets
At the MG meeting last Thursday, some of my volunteers chose seeds to take home and start, from my little stash of free seed packets from the big box in the MG office.
One volunteer took sweet marjoram seeds. I hope she's a good seed sower - marjoram is one of my favorite herbs, and it'll be a great addition to the culinary circle.
One volunteer is starting basil in four inch pots on her windowsill, something I've never had success with. She wants to try a cut and come method, then give me the pinched plants to grow on in the garden. She tells me she's done it before and she has faith she will succeed. Reminds me of Thoreau's faith in a seed.
I left Lavender 'Lady' seeds for one volunteer to pick up when she was in the office. 'Lady' made a big splash a few years ago, as the 'blooms the first year from seed!' variety of angustifolia lavender. Well, yes, you may get a bloom or two the first year. But even well-grown plants may need a couple years to get going. Also, keep in mind, seed grown lavenders are variable. Good thing this isn't a formal garden, or we'd be growing cuttings.
One volunteer took sweet marjoram seeds. I hope she's a good seed sower - marjoram is one of my favorite herbs, and it'll be a great addition to the culinary circle.
One volunteer is starting basil in four inch pots on her windowsill, something I've never had success with. She wants to try a cut and come method, then give me the pinched plants to grow on in the garden. She tells me she's done it before and she has faith she will succeed. Reminds me of Thoreau's faith in a seed.
I left Lavender 'Lady' seeds for one volunteer to pick up when she was in the office. 'Lady' made a big splash a few years ago, as the 'blooms the first year from seed!' variety of angustifolia lavender. Well, yes, you may get a bloom or two the first year. But even well-grown plants may need a couple years to get going. Also, keep in mind, seed grown lavenders are variable. Good thing this isn't a formal garden, or we'd be growing cuttings.
Another reason to grow your own food
A wise man once said, "If you want a revolution, grow your own food."
Here is an excerpt from Michael Pollan speaking at the Bioneers Conference
Here is an excerpt from Michael Pollan speaking at the Bioneers Conference
Saturday, March 03, 2007
The Challenge...
The gal who does the powerpoint slide show for the Master Gardener's annual banquet was finally able to dig up an uploadable photo of the project I'm assuming this year. Someone sent her a photo taken on the garden tour last summer.
This photo shows the herb garden at the Extension that I'm planning to renovate.
Crunch time today: 1. Need to finalize info on the garden stepping stone we're having made for the Herb Society. 2. Run by the Community Education office to sign papers for the class I'm teaching starting tomorrow, and pick up a printer cartridge (I hate my printer! I think it prints only about 20 sheets before it starts the low ink warning!)to finish up the first week's handouts. 3. Finish up the handouts and collect the visual aids.
Every class needs a theme. This year my mantra will be on confidence building:
"If I can do it, YOU can do it."
A Few Days Later: More photos!
In these shots you can see the pamphlet box that holds folded-page handouts that explain the compost area, and some of the remaining compost bins. The site was originally meant to showcase various methods for backyard gardeners to compost. The herb garden was just planned for a pretty backdrop for the compost demo area. Little did they know...
It's hard to get people around here interested in compost (what a shame!) and the individual on the paid staff who was gung-ho about teaching composting has moved on. But the herbs are still here, and some of us hardy old volunteers.
Most of the finicky, short lived perennial or borderline hardy plants have disappeared over the years. The list of remaining plants is about a third of the original list. Some amount of signage from disappeared plants is or are sitting on a shelf. And the plants that were hardy, agressive or 'happy to be here' have grown with very little encouragement into each other and will need to be divided as we go. Lots to do!
Hope we have a gardening-friendly year. I understand it's an El Nino cycle. I'm not a hothouse violet, but I appreciate enjoyable weather for my gardening time. After all, gardening is my avocation, not my vocation.
This photo shows the herb garden at the Extension that I'm planning to renovate.
Crunch time today: 1. Need to finalize info on the garden stepping stone we're having made for the Herb Society. 2. Run by the Community Education office to sign papers for the class I'm teaching starting tomorrow, and pick up a printer cartridge (I hate my printer! I think it prints only about 20 sheets before it starts the low ink warning!)to finish up the first week's handouts. 3. Finish up the handouts and collect the visual aids.
Every class needs a theme. This year my mantra will be on confidence building:
"If I can do it, YOU can do it."
A Few Days Later: More photos!
In these shots you can see the pamphlet box that holds folded-page handouts that explain the compost area, and some of the remaining compost bins. The site was originally meant to showcase various methods for backyard gardeners to compost. The herb garden was just planned for a pretty backdrop for the compost demo area. Little did they know...
It's hard to get people around here interested in compost (what a shame!) and the individual on the paid staff who was gung-ho about teaching composting has moved on. But the herbs are still here, and some of us hardy old volunteers.
Most of the finicky, short lived perennial or borderline hardy plants have disappeared over the years. The list of remaining plants is about a third of the original list. Some amount of signage from disappeared plants is or are sitting on a shelf. And the plants that were hardy, agressive or 'happy to be here' have grown with very little encouragement into each other and will need to be divided as we go. Lots to do!
Hope we have a gardening-friendly year. I understand it's an El Nino cycle. I'm not a hothouse violet, but I appreciate enjoyable weather for my gardening time. After all, gardening is my avocation, not my vocation.
Monday, February 26, 2007
I spent a while this weekend reading everything I could google online about "Winter Sowing".
Hmmm, my space in the family room is limited, what with the four cats and now my crawling grandbaby who needs room to roam without continuous "no"s from her grandma while she's exploring. And... the scented geraniums, rosemaries and the orchid are already taking up all my window space.
It's admittedly been worse, back when I caught the seed-starting bug you couldn't walk across the room, the floor was covered with flats. The light shelves we set up helped somewhat, but I'm just not going back to seedlings, seedlings everywhere for months.
But the backyard?
Hmmm.
I DID have that parsley seed soaking, finally. I even had an extra milk-jug-type jug, (actually a jug from the cider mill, as our milk comes in cardboard cartons).
Here you go:
The jug: cut, filled, sowed, labeled, watered, ready to twist tie closed and put out on the patio.
Snow flurries and 32 degrees. Put a little snow inside just to make sure the seeds stay moist. Parsley goes to hell and back before it sprouts.
Seed starting is an obsession, winter sowing, obviously, is an enabler.
Hmmm, my space in the family room is limited, what with the four cats and now my crawling grandbaby who needs room to roam without continuous "no"s from her grandma while she's exploring. And... the scented geraniums, rosemaries and the orchid are already taking up all my window space.
It's admittedly been worse, back when I caught the seed-starting bug you couldn't walk across the room, the floor was covered with flats. The light shelves we set up helped somewhat, but I'm just not going back to seedlings, seedlings everywhere for months.
But the backyard?
Hmmm.
I DID have that parsley seed soaking, finally. I even had an extra milk-jug-type jug, (actually a jug from the cider mill, as our milk comes in cardboard cartons).
Here you go:
The jug: cut, filled, sowed, labeled, watered, ready to twist tie closed and put out on the patio.
Snow flurries and 32 degrees. Put a little snow inside just to make sure the seeds stay moist. Parsley goes to hell and back before it sprouts.
Seed starting is an obsession, winter sowing, obviously, is an enabler.
Friday, February 16, 2007
project update
I spoke at the meeting last night (easy for you!) and passed around a clipboard with the herb garden plants 'wish list' on it.
My idea is that since it is a "backyard" demo garden, we should be able to trade plants over the fence with our neighbors, so to speak. That's how I got my herb garden started, and it's how gardeners through the ages have increased their plant collections.
Got a couple of folks to sign up to donate plants. (Five! Yes!) and two who will start some seeds!
Adding color with hardy blooming transplants will be helpful to the appearance of the garden.
I gave a short rundown of what I've done in for the project. Gave a little plug for Bluestones, I owe that nursery a debt of gratitude for the low prices and healthy plants I've purchased from their catalogue through the years.
I also approached Mike with an inquiry about his compost. He's promised to set some aside for me, yes! Now I just have to figure out how to get it over to the garden - Mike doesn't deliver. And I have to call ahead when we plan to pick it up, remember that.
Mike sells compost to locals at his place, on May 12 he'll be open for business, a quarter a bucket, or $25 a pickup load. He said last year he topdressed his piles with dehydrated pelletized chicken manure.
Sounds like just what I need.
My idea is that since it is a "backyard" demo garden, we should be able to trade plants over the fence with our neighbors, so to speak. That's how I got my herb garden started, and it's how gardeners through the ages have increased their plant collections.
Got a couple of folks to sign up to donate plants. (Five! Yes!) and two who will start some seeds!
Adding color with hardy blooming transplants will be helpful to the appearance of the garden.
I gave a short rundown of what I've done in for the project. Gave a little plug for Bluestones, I owe that nursery a debt of gratitude for the low prices and healthy plants I've purchased from their catalogue through the years.
I also approached Mike with an inquiry about his compost. He's promised to set some aside for me, yes! Now I just have to figure out how to get it over to the garden - Mike doesn't deliver. And I have to call ahead when we plan to pick it up, remember that.
Mike sells compost to locals at his place, on May 12 he'll be open for business, a quarter a bucket, or $25 a pickup load. He said last year he topdressed his piles with dehydrated pelletized chicken manure.
Sounds like just what I need.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Calendar
The Backyard Herb Garden is pulling together as a project now. I thought the first thing I'd do is record some of the things I've done to prepare the way, so to speak, and come back when time permits to discuss these things.
Last fall, I took inventory: found old plant list, compared existing signage and existing plants, what need to be done. Submitted budget.
October MG meeting- our budget is folded into the greater landscape budget, but Terry and Phil each reassured me there was extra in it for this garden. Met Dave, Landscape chairman.
Asked general membership to show up for Landscape Cleanup.
Day of work bee: it rained. I melt in the rain. Melville reported only a few showed, the guys piled woodchips in garden paths to avoid snowplow.
Oct. 30, 2006: I took a soil test, used MG coupon from Terry.
Details: 6" deep, 10-15 locations, planned use - perennial flower garden plants.
Also, Terry donated 3 packages (10 each?) of Saffron crocuses from the plant sale, I planted them in tarragon and thyme quadrants of round bed.
Did a small cleanup, preventative deadheading. (1-2 hours)
November - Received soil test by mail. The soil is deficient in NPK, clayish, and sweet. We need to generally amend soil while renovating beds. Annuals in culinary circle will need richer soil... fertilizer? Maybe compost and Canadian peat dug in as we lift and replant.
Received list of volunteers by mail. Need to call list. First do asset mapping... that means figure out what resources, including human resources, are available to make use of. See next paragraph...
Currently attending Applewood-sponsored Urban Gardening class (15 weeks). Ideas on how to lead community gardening projects. Quite helpful.
Proposed teaching a class through the Community Education Department.
Started this blog. The Backyard Herbalist @
http://www.thebackyardherbalist.blogspot.com
Set up a Yahoo Group. The Backyard Herbalist@
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thebackyardherbalist/
January: I ordered plants from Bluestone.
I listed the ordered plants on a database stored in the Yahoo group.
February: I got some free seeds from the Extension.
I listed the free seeds and made a donation wish-list on a database stored in the Yahoo group.
Today: I taught myself how to export database to MS Access for printable format.
Printed Donation Sign-Up Sheet to pass around Feb. MG meeting.
Printed Plants list of ordered plants.
Last fall, I took inventory: found old plant list, compared existing signage and existing plants, what need to be done. Submitted budget.
October MG meeting- our budget is folded into the greater landscape budget, but Terry and Phil each reassured me there was extra in it for this garden. Met Dave, Landscape chairman.
Asked general membership to show up for Landscape Cleanup.
Day of work bee: it rained. I melt in the rain. Melville reported only a few showed, the guys piled woodchips in garden paths to avoid snowplow.
Oct. 30, 2006: I took a soil test, used MG coupon from Terry.
Details: 6" deep, 10-15 locations, planned use - perennial flower garden plants.
Also, Terry donated 3 packages (10 each?) of Saffron crocuses from the plant sale, I planted them in tarragon and thyme quadrants of round bed.
Did a small cleanup, preventative deadheading. (1-2 hours)
November - Received soil test by mail. The soil is deficient in NPK, clayish, and sweet. We need to generally amend soil while renovating beds. Annuals in culinary circle will need richer soil... fertilizer? Maybe compost and Canadian peat dug in as we lift and replant.
Received list of volunteers by mail. Need to call list. First do asset mapping... that means figure out what resources, including human resources, are available to make use of. See next paragraph...
Currently attending Applewood-sponsored Urban Gardening class (15 weeks). Ideas on how to lead community gardening projects. Quite helpful.
Proposed teaching a class through the Community Education Department.
Started this blog. The Backyard Herbalist @
http://www.thebackyardherbalist.blogspot.com
Set up a Yahoo Group. The Backyard Herbalist@
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thebackyardherbalist/
January: I ordered plants from Bluestone.
I listed the ordered plants on a database stored in the Yahoo group.
February: I got some free seeds from the Extension.
I listed the free seeds and made a donation wish-list on a database stored in the Yahoo group.
Today: I taught myself how to export database to MS Access for printable format.
Printed Donation Sign-Up Sheet to pass around Feb. MG meeting.
Printed Plants list of ordered plants.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
Learn about GM crops and the "ownership" of life
You can listen to Percy via your computer or podcast it... follow the link below.
MONSANTO VS. PERCY SCHMEISER
Report on the lawsuit that challenges the ownership of life by corporations by Percy Schmeiser and Ignacio Chapela.
Monsanto, the giant multinational agro-chemical company, sued Percy Schmeiser over the presence of their patented canola that had invaded the edges of Schmeiser's field from a neighbor's plot. The Schmeiser case has become one of the most watched and most important cases for organic farmers, seed savers, for the movement against the invasion of the biosphere by genetically modified plants, and against corporate ownership of life.
Part ONE: Schmeiser was recorded in Ukiah, CA, in November 2006. He gave a report of his multi-year legal battle to save his land and home, and his 50 year legacy as plant breeder from being seized by Monsanto over 12 pounds of invading seeds.
After two shattering losses in court he finally won a partial victory in the Canadian Supreme Court. However the court upheld Monsanto's patent rights - even when their genetically modified canola invades another field or cross pollinates with organic or pedigree canola or even their relatives.
Any invaded organism becomes the property of Monsanto as well.
Under globalization the patent rights may apply to the US as well.
Percy is a Canadian farmer from Bruno, Saskatchewan. He took over the family farm in 1947. He and his wife are known on the Prairies as seed savers. Over 50 years they developed a canola seed that was resistant to disease and lost their life's work by contamination from genetically modified canola.
In part TWO Percy Schmeiser shares the stage with Ignacio Chapela, from UC Berkeley. In October 2000 Chapela discovered the contamination of Mexican corn with Monsanto GMO corn.
For a broadcast quality .mp3 version of both parts of the broadcast, courtesy of TUC Radio, and more great programming, click here.
MONSANTO VS. PERCY SCHMEISER
Report on the lawsuit that challenges the ownership of life by corporations by Percy Schmeiser and Ignacio Chapela.
Monsanto, the giant multinational agro-chemical company, sued Percy Schmeiser over the presence of their patented canola that had invaded the edges of Schmeiser's field from a neighbor's plot. The Schmeiser case has become one of the most watched and most important cases for organic farmers, seed savers, for the movement against the invasion of the biosphere by genetically modified plants, and against corporate ownership of life.
Part ONE: Schmeiser was recorded in Ukiah, CA, in November 2006. He gave a report of his multi-year legal battle to save his land and home, and his 50 year legacy as plant breeder from being seized by Monsanto over 12 pounds of invading seeds.
After two shattering losses in court he finally won a partial victory in the Canadian Supreme Court. However the court upheld Monsanto's patent rights - even when their genetically modified canola invades another field or cross pollinates with organic or pedigree canola or even their relatives.
Any invaded organism becomes the property of Monsanto as well.
Under globalization the patent rights may apply to the US as well.
Percy is a Canadian farmer from Bruno, Saskatchewan. He took over the family farm in 1947. He and his wife are known on the Prairies as seed savers. Over 50 years they developed a canola seed that was resistant to disease and lost their life's work by contamination from genetically modified canola.
In part TWO Percy Schmeiser shares the stage with Ignacio Chapela, from UC Berkeley. In October 2000 Chapela discovered the contamination of Mexican corn with Monsanto GMO corn.
For a broadcast quality .mp3 version of both parts of the broadcast, courtesy of TUC Radio, and more great programming, click here.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
A Podcasting Herbalist
While looking for some information for our (GCHS) herb study about Echinacea, I ran across these podcasts by HerbEd, A.K.A. Ed Smith (link). You can download the .mp3s and listen to them, or download the podcasts. I subscribed to the podcasts (easy, free) and they download automatically.
Here are descriptions of some of the podcasts offered on the webpage.
Visit HerbalEd.org to download additional herbal lectures and interviews with Ed Smith.
Alteratives, Depuratives, and Blood Cleansers (Expo West) - Part 1
Posted: Thu, 20 Apr 2006
In this 2-part presentation at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California, Ed Smith discusses alteratives, depuratives, and blood cleansers.
(41min 24sec)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/lc14(a).mp3
Alteratives, Depuratives, and Blood Cleansers (Expo West) - Part 2
Posted: Thu, 20 Apr 2006
In this 2-part presentation at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California, Ed Smith discusses alteratives, depuratives, and blood cleansers.
Total time: 41min 24sec [lc14(b)]
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/lc14(b).mp3
(Whilst these lectures are ostensibly the same presentation Ed delivered at the 16th Annual American Herbalist's Guild's Symposium in Portland, his approach to the material is varied, along with the list of the herbs discussed.)
Response To NEJM Echinacea Study
Posted: Fri, 26 Aug 2005
In this brief 10-minute discussion, Shayne Foley talks with Ed Smith about the negative Echinacea study, published in the July 28, 2005 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
(10min 01sec)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/ech_response.mp3
Echinacea Interview (Part 1)
Posted: Tue, 02 Aug 2005
In this hour long discussion, Shayne Foley talks with Ed Smith about Echinacea, its safe and effective use, how to evaluate the quality of an Echinacea extract, the value and limitations of alcohol-free Echinacea, and how to use specific Echinacea formulas.
(29min)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/sp1v2(a).mp3
Echinacea Interview (Part 2)
Posted: Tue, 02 Aug 2005
In this hour long discussion, Shayne Foley talks with Ed Smith about Echinacea, its safe and effective use, how to evaluate the quality of an Echinacea extract, the value and limitations of alcohol-free Echinacea, and how to use specific Echinacea formulas.
(29min)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/sp1v2(b).mp3
Internal And External Cosmetics For The Skin (Part 1)
Posted: Tue, 24 May 2005
The first commercial product Ed Smith created, was Herbal Eds Salve for the skin. Twenty five years later, at the 2004 Natural Products Expo in Washington, DC, he returns to his roots in this entertaining and informative presentation on using herbs for promoting healthy skin, first-aid support, and chronic skin disorders.
Psoriasis, eczema, acne, spider veins, aging and wrinkles, dermatitis, burns and wounds are all addressed by one of North America’s most respected herbalists.
(32min 15sec)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/lc11(a).mp3
Internal And External Cosmetics For The Skin (Part 2)
Posted: Tue, 24 May 2005
The first commercial product Ed Smith created, was Herbal Eds Salve for the skin. Twenty five years later, at the 2004 Natural Products Expo in Washington, DC, he returns to his roots in this entertaining and informative presentation on using herbs for promoting healthy skin, first-aid support, and chronic skin disorders.
Psoriasis, eczema, acne, spider veins, aging and wrinkles, dermatitis, burns and wounds are all addressed by one of North America’s most respected herbalists.
(32min 28sec)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/lc11(b).mp3
Herbal Extracts Interview (Part 1)
Posted: Wed, 13 Apr 2005
In this discussion, Shayne Foley talks with Ed Smith about the benefits of liquid herbal extracts, teas, capsules and tablets.
Issues such as bioavailability, dosage flexibility, alcohol content, standardization, taste, and extraction methodology will be discussed in depth. Don't miss this interesting review of how the form of a herbal medicine influences the outcome of its use.
(14min 12sec)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/lc08(a).mp3
Herbal Extracts Interview (Part 2)
Posted: Wed, 13 Apr 2005
In this discussion, Shayne Foley talks with Ed Smith about the benefits of liquid herbal extracts, teas, capsules and tablets.
Issues such as bioavailability, dosage flexibility, alcohol content, standardization, taste, and extraction methodology will be discussed in depth. Don't miss this interesting review of how the form of a herbal medicine influences the outcome of its use.
(13min 44sec)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/lc08(b).mp3
SLEEPER HERBS: Great Herbs That Are Not Well Known (Part 1)
Posted: Mon, 21 Mar 2005
Internationally known medical herbalist, Ed Smith, elaborates on various less-popular, slower-selling herbs that deserve more recognition and use as healing herbs.
Herbs discussed: Spilanthes, Culver's Root, Black Haw, Blue Flag, Wild Indigo, Cactus Grandiflorus, Fringe Tree, Jamaican Dogwood, Khella, Scotch Broom, Wood Betony, Yucca, and more.
Recorded March 18th, 2005 at Expo West.
(30min 30sec)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/lc12(a).mp3
SLEEPER HERBS: Great Herbs That Are Not Well Known (Part 2)
Posted: Mon, 21 Mar 2005
Internationally known medical herbalist, Ed Smith, elaborates on various less-popular, slower-selling herbs that deserve more recognition and use as healing herbs.
Herbs discussed: Spilanthes, Culver's Root, Black Haw, Blue Flag, Wild Indigo, Cactus Grandiflorus, Fringe Tree, Jamaican Dogwood, Khella, Scotch Broom, Wood Betony, Yucca, and more.
Recorded March 18th, 2005 at Expo West.
29min 58sec)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/lc12(b).mp3
Here are descriptions of some of the podcasts offered on the webpage.
Visit HerbalEd.org to download additional herbal lectures and interviews with Ed Smith.
Alteratives, Depuratives, and Blood Cleansers (Expo West) - Part 1
Posted: Thu, 20 Apr 2006
In this 2-part presentation at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California, Ed Smith discusses alteratives, depuratives, and blood cleansers.
(41min 24sec)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/lc14(a).mp3
Alteratives, Depuratives, and Blood Cleansers (Expo West) - Part 2
Posted: Thu, 20 Apr 2006
In this 2-part presentation at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California, Ed Smith discusses alteratives, depuratives, and blood cleansers.
Total time: 41min 24sec [lc14(b)]
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/lc14(b).mp3
(Whilst these lectures are ostensibly the same presentation Ed delivered at the 16th Annual American Herbalist's Guild's Symposium in Portland, his approach to the material is varied, along with the list of the herbs discussed.)
Response To NEJM Echinacea Study
Posted: Fri, 26 Aug 2005
In this brief 10-minute discussion, Shayne Foley talks with Ed Smith about the negative Echinacea study, published in the July 28, 2005 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
(10min 01sec)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/ech_response.mp3
Echinacea Interview (Part 1)
Posted: Tue, 02 Aug 2005
In this hour long discussion, Shayne Foley talks with Ed Smith about Echinacea, its safe and effective use, how to evaluate the quality of an Echinacea extract, the value and limitations of alcohol-free Echinacea, and how to use specific Echinacea formulas.
(29min)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/sp1v2(a).mp3
Echinacea Interview (Part 2)
Posted: Tue, 02 Aug 2005
In this hour long discussion, Shayne Foley talks with Ed Smith about Echinacea, its safe and effective use, how to evaluate the quality of an Echinacea extract, the value and limitations of alcohol-free Echinacea, and how to use specific Echinacea formulas.
(29min)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/sp1v2(b).mp3
Internal And External Cosmetics For The Skin (Part 1)
Posted: Tue, 24 May 2005
The first commercial product Ed Smith created, was Herbal Eds Salve for the skin. Twenty five years later, at the 2004 Natural Products Expo in Washington, DC, he returns to his roots in this entertaining and informative presentation on using herbs for promoting healthy skin, first-aid support, and chronic skin disorders.
Psoriasis, eczema, acne, spider veins, aging and wrinkles, dermatitis, burns and wounds are all addressed by one of North America’s most respected herbalists.
(32min 15sec)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/lc11(a).mp3
Internal And External Cosmetics For The Skin (Part 2)
Posted: Tue, 24 May 2005
The first commercial product Ed Smith created, was Herbal Eds Salve for the skin. Twenty five years later, at the 2004 Natural Products Expo in Washington, DC, he returns to his roots in this entertaining and informative presentation on using herbs for promoting healthy skin, first-aid support, and chronic skin disorders.
Psoriasis, eczema, acne, spider veins, aging and wrinkles, dermatitis, burns and wounds are all addressed by one of North America’s most respected herbalists.
(32min 28sec)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/lc11(b).mp3
Herbal Extracts Interview (Part 1)
Posted: Wed, 13 Apr 2005
In this discussion, Shayne Foley talks with Ed Smith about the benefits of liquid herbal extracts, teas, capsules and tablets.
Issues such as bioavailability, dosage flexibility, alcohol content, standardization, taste, and extraction methodology will be discussed in depth. Don't miss this interesting review of how the form of a herbal medicine influences the outcome of its use.
(14min 12sec)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/lc08(a).mp3
Herbal Extracts Interview (Part 2)
Posted: Wed, 13 Apr 2005
In this discussion, Shayne Foley talks with Ed Smith about the benefits of liquid herbal extracts, teas, capsules and tablets.
Issues such as bioavailability, dosage flexibility, alcohol content, standardization, taste, and extraction methodology will be discussed in depth. Don't miss this interesting review of how the form of a herbal medicine influences the outcome of its use.
(13min 44sec)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/lc08(b).mp3
SLEEPER HERBS: Great Herbs That Are Not Well Known (Part 1)
Posted: Mon, 21 Mar 2005
Internationally known medical herbalist, Ed Smith, elaborates on various less-popular, slower-selling herbs that deserve more recognition and use as healing herbs.
Herbs discussed: Spilanthes, Culver's Root, Black Haw, Blue Flag, Wild Indigo, Cactus Grandiflorus, Fringe Tree, Jamaican Dogwood, Khella, Scotch Broom, Wood Betony, Yucca, and more.
Recorded March 18th, 2005 at Expo West.
(30min 30sec)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/lc12(a).mp3
SLEEPER HERBS: Great Herbs That Are Not Well Known (Part 2)
Posted: Mon, 21 Mar 2005
Internationally known medical herbalist, Ed Smith, elaborates on various less-popular, slower-selling herbs that deserve more recognition and use as healing herbs.
Herbs discussed: Spilanthes, Culver's Root, Black Haw, Blue Flag, Wild Indigo, Cactus Grandiflorus, Fringe Tree, Jamaican Dogwood, Khella, Scotch Broom, Wood Betony, Yucca, and more.
Recorded March 18th, 2005 at Expo West.
29min 58sec)
MEDIA ENCLOSURE: http://www.herbaled.org/media/podcasts/lc12(b).mp3
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
organic gardening tips
You don't think you can do everything listed below, and neither do I, but my idea behind posting this is to give both of us an ideal and perhaps an idea. Every step we can take toward organic gardening, by even adopting one method this year that we didn't do last year, every step accomplished or attempted... is one step closer to doing the right thing.
Brother Placid's Tips for Beginning Organic Gardeners
by Emily Gatch
Greenhouse Coordinator and Assistant Seed Cleaner
Seeds of Change
I finally have what I consider a suitable response to the good people who call us at the Research Farm and say, "I want to garden organically. Where do I start?" My response comes in a format that I hope will prove memorable to you: a glimpse into the life and garden of a masterly Master Gardener, Brother Placid of New Melleray Abbey.
I'd like you to take a look with me at an organic vegetable garden on the edge of the prairie in eastern Iowa. Brother Placid operates the twelve acre organic garden at New Melleray, a Trappist monastery and certified organic beef cattle farm near Dubuque, Iowa that was founded 150 years ago by monks from Mount Melleray, Ireland. Brother Placid's garden feeds not only his community of Cistercian monks of the Strict Observance but the year-round visitors to the monastery's guesthouse as well. His credentials and history as a gardener command rapt attention. He is one of fifteen children born to a Polish farming family in northern Minnesota. He had a reputation among his brothers and sisters as his mother's favorite, a status he attributes to his willingness to spend long hours helping her weed in the vegetable garden. At the age of eleven, during the height of the Great Depression, Brother Placid left home to work on the threshing crews that followed the grain harvest north along the Red River valley. He hopped freight trains out West and worked in the orchards of Washington state as an "apple knocker", dug potatoes in the Oregon's Klamath Valley, picked peaches and harvested vegetable crops in the Willamette Valley, and then moved down into California's central valley working the rice, cotton, and olive harvests. After serving in the army during World War II, he joined the monks at New Melleray and has been there ever since.
A brief look at Brother Placid's garden. He divides the twelve acres into three sections, rotated in the following manner:
One third of the garden is planted each year in alfalfa, which he mows three times over the summer and then turns under in the fall. The following spring, that section is planted in sweet corn, a nutrient-hungry crop that benefits from the 125 pounds of nitrogen fixed by the alfalfa. The remaining third is devoted to innumerable varieties of tomatoes, melons, squash, cucumbers, spinach, beets, turnips, potatoes, and his beloved grapes and berries.
Here are a few of Brother Placid's tips for beginning organic gardeners:
Feed the soil, not the plants. This is the dogmatic theology of organic agriculture. If you are just starting out with a barren plot of ground, devote one year to growing nothing but green manures: quick-growing clovers, oats, and annual grasses that are successively tilled into the soil. By planting and tilling under four different green manure crops and adding old chicken manure and rotting alfalfa bales, Brother Placid was able to increase the organic matter content of a plot of land from less than 1% to 18%. Brother Placid also adds fish emulsion and kelp meal to the furrow before planting to create a nutrient-rich environment for developing seedlings.
Vigilance is the best form of pest control. Be in your garden every day, and be watchful. Brother Placid controls Colorado potato beetles on his potatoes by beginning to scout when the plants reach 12 to 14 inches high, and simply picking the bugs off and squashing them by hand.
Learn the secrets of companion planting. The mutually beneficial relationships among certain crops can result in reduced pest problems and increased yields. Brother Placid interplants radishes with his melons, since radishes are known to deter cucumber beetles. He also recommends cosmos flowers for attracting pollinators to the garden.
Welcome the snow, and use it to your advantage. Snow (as well as collected rainwater) contains small amounts of dissolved nitrates and is "soft," unlike well or city water, which often contains dissolved salts and minerals that leave unwanted residues on plant surfaces. Brother Placid opens his cold frames to allow the snow in, and even shovels it into his greenhouse in the winter!
Compost, both the noun and the verb. Brother Placid is lucky to have plentiful raw ingredients for his compost pile in the green refuse that comes from the monastery and guesthouse's vegetarian kitchen, to which he adds oak leaves, pine needles, and old hay and straw. He typically adds about twelve tons of compost to his garden each year. He warns vehemently against using walnut leaves or chips as a compost ingredient or soil amendment, noting that a previous gardener once added walnut chips to his soil and he is still observing, many years later, some localized detrimental effects of the allelopathic compounds present in walnut trees.
Balanced mulching. While surface mulching generally helps to reduce weed pressure and lower disease incidence in the vegetable garden, Brother Placid has found that straw or chip-based mulches invite mice and voles to take up residence in his garden, so he limits his use of mulch to the one acre asparagus patch and to his berries. Evaluate your varmint situation and adjust your use of mulch accordingly, or experiment with less rodent-friendly mulches such as biodegradable landscape fabrics.
Water wisely. Drip irrigation is a much-preferred method of supplying water to plants, since the moisture left on leaves from overhead sprinkling can lead to foliar diseases.
Remember that gardening is hard work, but good work. Brother Placid likes to think of the story of Adam and Eve, and what they were told when they were expelled from the Garden of Eden: "With suffering you shall get your food from the soil, every day of your life… it shall yield you brambles and thistles, and you shall eat wild plants. With sweat on your brow shall you eat your bread, until you return to the soil, as you were taken from it." He smiles as he thinks of this Genesis passage in the heat of the Iowa summer, knowing that he is doing God's work.
I hope you also find in these words not a message of gloom but a glorious invitation to get out in the garden and get moving. Thank you, Brother Placid, for sharing your infectious enthusiasm and wisdom with me on this Sunday morning in March, and blessings to all you gardeners as you begin a new season.
Brother Placid's Tips for Beginning Organic Gardeners
by Emily Gatch
Greenhouse Coordinator and Assistant Seed Cleaner
Seeds of Change
I finally have what I consider a suitable response to the good people who call us at the Research Farm and say, "I want to garden organically. Where do I start?" My response comes in a format that I hope will prove memorable to you: a glimpse into the life and garden of a masterly Master Gardener, Brother Placid of New Melleray Abbey.
I'd like you to take a look with me at an organic vegetable garden on the edge of the prairie in eastern Iowa. Brother Placid operates the twelve acre organic garden at New Melleray, a Trappist monastery and certified organic beef cattle farm near Dubuque, Iowa that was founded 150 years ago by monks from Mount Melleray, Ireland. Brother Placid's garden feeds not only his community of Cistercian monks of the Strict Observance but the year-round visitors to the monastery's guesthouse as well. His credentials and history as a gardener command rapt attention. He is one of fifteen children born to a Polish farming family in northern Minnesota. He had a reputation among his brothers and sisters as his mother's favorite, a status he attributes to his willingness to spend long hours helping her weed in the vegetable garden. At the age of eleven, during the height of the Great Depression, Brother Placid left home to work on the threshing crews that followed the grain harvest north along the Red River valley. He hopped freight trains out West and worked in the orchards of Washington state as an "apple knocker", dug potatoes in the Oregon's Klamath Valley, picked peaches and harvested vegetable crops in the Willamette Valley, and then moved down into California's central valley working the rice, cotton, and olive harvests. After serving in the army during World War II, he joined the monks at New Melleray and has been there ever since.
A brief look at Brother Placid's garden. He divides the twelve acres into three sections, rotated in the following manner:
One third of the garden is planted each year in alfalfa, which he mows three times over the summer and then turns under in the fall. The following spring, that section is planted in sweet corn, a nutrient-hungry crop that benefits from the 125 pounds of nitrogen fixed by the alfalfa. The remaining third is devoted to innumerable varieties of tomatoes, melons, squash, cucumbers, spinach, beets, turnips, potatoes, and his beloved grapes and berries.
Here are a few of Brother Placid's tips for beginning organic gardeners:
Feed the soil, not the plants. This is the dogmatic theology of organic agriculture. If you are just starting out with a barren plot of ground, devote one year to growing nothing but green manures: quick-growing clovers, oats, and annual grasses that are successively tilled into the soil. By planting and tilling under four different green manure crops and adding old chicken manure and rotting alfalfa bales, Brother Placid was able to increase the organic matter content of a plot of land from less than 1% to 18%. Brother Placid also adds fish emulsion and kelp meal to the furrow before planting to create a nutrient-rich environment for developing seedlings.
Vigilance is the best form of pest control. Be in your garden every day, and be watchful. Brother Placid controls Colorado potato beetles on his potatoes by beginning to scout when the plants reach 12 to 14 inches high, and simply picking the bugs off and squashing them by hand.
Learn the secrets of companion planting. The mutually beneficial relationships among certain crops can result in reduced pest problems and increased yields. Brother Placid interplants radishes with his melons, since radishes are known to deter cucumber beetles. He also recommends cosmos flowers for attracting pollinators to the garden.
Welcome the snow, and use it to your advantage. Snow (as well as collected rainwater) contains small amounts of dissolved nitrates and is "soft," unlike well or city water, which often contains dissolved salts and minerals that leave unwanted residues on plant surfaces. Brother Placid opens his cold frames to allow the snow in, and even shovels it into his greenhouse in the winter!
Compost, both the noun and the verb. Brother Placid is lucky to have plentiful raw ingredients for his compost pile in the green refuse that comes from the monastery and guesthouse's vegetarian kitchen, to which he adds oak leaves, pine needles, and old hay and straw. He typically adds about twelve tons of compost to his garden each year. He warns vehemently against using walnut leaves or chips as a compost ingredient or soil amendment, noting that a previous gardener once added walnut chips to his soil and he is still observing, many years later, some localized detrimental effects of the allelopathic compounds present in walnut trees.
Balanced mulching. While surface mulching generally helps to reduce weed pressure and lower disease incidence in the vegetable garden, Brother Placid has found that straw or chip-based mulches invite mice and voles to take up residence in his garden, so he limits his use of mulch to the one acre asparagus patch and to his berries. Evaluate your varmint situation and adjust your use of mulch accordingly, or experiment with less rodent-friendly mulches such as biodegradable landscape fabrics.
Water wisely. Drip irrigation is a much-preferred method of supplying water to plants, since the moisture left on leaves from overhead sprinkling can lead to foliar diseases.
Remember that gardening is hard work, but good work. Brother Placid likes to think of the story of Adam and Eve, and what they were told when they were expelled from the Garden of Eden: "With suffering you shall get your food from the soil, every day of your life… it shall yield you brambles and thistles, and you shall eat wild plants. With sweat on your brow shall you eat your bread, until you return to the soil, as you were taken from it." He smiles as he thinks of this Genesis passage in the heat of the Iowa summer, knowing that he is doing God's work.
I hope you also find in these words not a message of gloom but a glorious invitation to get out in the garden and get moving. Thank you, Brother Placid, for sharing your infectious enthusiasm and wisdom with me on this Sunday morning in March, and blessings to all you gardeners as you begin a new season.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
CSI In My Garden
The January Herb Study at the GCHS was Echinacea.
To paraphrase an old television drama "There are a million stories in the" ...garden... "here is one of them..."
A few years ago I began to notice some significant problem with my purple coneflowers. What! Nothing bothers purple coneflowers! Right!?!
BUT, if something is gonna happen in way of a garden disaster large or small, it'll happen to me.
On closer inspection of my blighted flowers, all of the the ruined cones seemed to be damaged in the same way... blackened broken centers. I cut off the worst flowers and brought them indoors and dissected them on my kitchen counter. Eyuck, small wormy creatures had burrowed straight down from the tip of the seedhead right down into the stem. I took some photos with my first generation digital camera and went out to the garden and deadheaded all of my Echinacea. Dejectedly. I love purple coneflowers.
I couldn't find any clue in my books, or the books at the Extension, or
online, or by asking around. Closest I could figure was a hint from several online sources that certain flowers attract the European Corn Borer, the timing was right, and the damage was identical. It fit the profile of a native plant being decimated by an imported pest, especially because the pest was probably under pressure from all of the cornfields that have surrounded my neighborhood being bulldozed for new subdivisions. But I was still unsettled about it. The little larvae I
had didn't look right, I was seeing stripes and the ECB is spotted. I knew from my time working with the Diagnostic team that the distinction was important. All burrowing larvae are not the same.
I even asked flower experts at conferences. Apparently I didn't paint a grim enough portrait of the damage these flowers were suffering. No one knew or cared. Years passed. I deadheaded as needed, dejectedly.
January 2007, the Genesee County Herb Society's herb study will be Echinacea. It's January, time to read with a purpose! Looking through my coneflower photos from years past, the CSI photos sparked my interest in finding the name of that little grub.
I Googled around and came across a paragraph in a paper I downloaded from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, entitled Perennial Medicinal Herb Trials 1996-1999. On page 7, under Echinacea purpurea L. Moench. is this sentence:
"Echinacea is a member of the aster family, and susceptible to the same insects. Sunflower moth larvae damaged more than 80% of blooms cut in late summer."
Googling furiously, I brought up: "Sunflower Moth" page 3 on a publication from the Maryland Cooperative Extension with a GREAT PHOTO!
Success!
Identification of a pest is the first step in IPM. I feel much better.
Now I have to figure out how to save my purple coneflowers from this particular larvae.
(previously posted in Betsy's Herb Garden)
To paraphrase an old television drama "There are a million stories in the" ...garden... "here is one of them..."
A few years ago I began to notice some significant problem with my purple coneflowers. What! Nothing bothers purple coneflowers! Right!?!
BUT, if something is gonna happen in way of a garden disaster large or small, it'll happen to me.
On closer inspection of my blighted flowers, all of the the ruined cones seemed to be damaged in the same way... blackened broken centers. I cut off the worst flowers and brought them indoors and dissected them on my kitchen counter. Eyuck, small wormy creatures had burrowed straight down from the tip of the seedhead right down into the stem. I took some photos with my first generation digital camera and went out to the garden and deadheaded all of my Echinacea. Dejectedly. I love purple coneflowers.
I couldn't find any clue in my books, or the books at the Extension, or
online, or by asking around. Closest I could figure was a hint from several online sources that certain flowers attract the European Corn Borer, the timing was right, and the damage was identical. It fit the profile of a native plant being decimated by an imported pest, especially because the pest was probably under pressure from all of the cornfields that have surrounded my neighborhood being bulldozed for new subdivisions. But I was still unsettled about it. The little larvae I
had didn't look right, I was seeing stripes and the ECB is spotted. I knew from my time working with the Diagnostic team that the distinction was important. All burrowing larvae are not the same.
I even asked flower experts at conferences. Apparently I didn't paint a grim enough portrait of the damage these flowers were suffering. No one knew or cared. Years passed. I deadheaded as needed, dejectedly.
January 2007, the Genesee County Herb Society's herb study will be Echinacea. It's January, time to read with a purpose! Looking through my coneflower photos from years past, the CSI photos sparked my interest in finding the name of that little grub.
I Googled around and came across a paragraph in a paper I downloaded from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, entitled Perennial Medicinal Herb Trials 1996-1999. On page 7, under Echinacea purpurea L. Moench. is this sentence:
"Echinacea is a member of the aster family, and susceptible to the same insects. Sunflower moth larvae damaged more than 80% of blooms cut in late summer."
Googling furiously, I brought up: "Sunflower Moth" page 3 on a publication from the Maryland Cooperative Extension with a GREAT PHOTO!
Success!
Identification of a pest is the first step in IPM. I feel much better.
Now I have to figure out how to save my purple coneflowers from this particular larvae.
(previously posted in Betsy's Herb Garden)
Friday, January 19, 2007
Ya-hoo...
Today I'm setting up a moderated Yahoo Group webpage for use by Backyard Herb Garden volunteers. It'll have photos as I get them, a calendar, a database of the plants, a bulletin board, and more...
Thursday, January 18, 2007
"To create a garden is to search for a better world. . . . Whether the result is a horticultural masterpiece or only a modest vegetable patch, it is based on the expectation of a glorious future. This hope for the future is at the heart of all gardening."
-- Marina Schinz (Swiss garden writer and photographer)
-- Marina Schinz (Swiss garden writer and photographer)
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
The Herb Gatherer
By Glenn Ward Dresbach
From Collected Poems, 1914-1948
When fragrant fires of autumn smoulder
By upland pastures for wind to blow
And grain shocks stand, row after row,
He throws a sack across his shoulder
And trudges away in the mellow glow
To gather herbs – though he is older
Than most of the old men I know.
He squints in the sun, and always follows
The spring brook where the calamus hides
And he nibbles it, and away he strides
For thyme and tansy in sunny hollows,
Then on to burdock. His faith abides
in it for bitters, in careful swallows,
When winter had chilled his old insides.
Sage and boneset – his eyes keep sighting
Out of profusion the things he would find.
Pennyroyal, horse mint – these he will bind
In neat little bundles, always righting
Some slight disorder . . . at least in his mind.
He will hang them on rafters, ready for fighting
The ills of age . . . with the years so kind!
His old cheeks flush with the autumn weather.
His old eyes shine when the quail wings sound.
A sack that smells of the air and the ground
With tang and mellowness there together
Over his shoulder! And all around
The breath of autumn! . . . I wonder whether
Gathering helps more than the herbs he found.
From Collected Poems, 1914-1948
When fragrant fires of autumn smoulder
By upland pastures for wind to blow
And grain shocks stand, row after row,
He throws a sack across his shoulder
And trudges away in the mellow glow
To gather herbs – though he is older
Than most of the old men I know.
He squints in the sun, and always follows
The spring brook where the calamus hides
And he nibbles it, and away he strides
For thyme and tansy in sunny hollows,
Then on to burdock. His faith abides
in it for bitters, in careful swallows,
When winter had chilled his old insides.
Sage and boneset – his eyes keep sighting
Out of profusion the things he would find.
Pennyroyal, horse mint – these he will bind
In neat little bundles, always righting
Some slight disorder . . . at least in his mind.
He will hang them on rafters, ready for fighting
The ills of age . . . with the years so kind!
His old cheeks flush with the autumn weather.
His old eyes shine when the quail wings sound.
A sack that smells of the air and the ground
With tang and mellowness there together
Over his shoulder! And all around
The breath of autumn! . . . I wonder whether
Gathering helps more than the herbs he found.
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