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Welcome to The Herb Cottage Monthly
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August 2008

I've been very lax about adding back issues to the newsletter archives for the past year and a half. I've now started to add issues, so new subscribers and old, can read past issues, if desired.

Eventually, I'll have them titled, so if you're looking for some specific information, you can find it.

Cindy

Newsletter Back Issues
2/02 3/02/ 4/02 5/02 6-7/02 8/02 9/02 10/02 11/02 12/02 1/03 7/04 8/04 9/04 10/04 11/04 12/04 1/05
1/06 6/06 2/07 3/07 2/08- gen. gardening 3/08- Seed Sowing 4/08- Mints 5/08- Oregano 6/08- Heat, Drought 7/08- Cilantro 8/08- Harvesting, Fall Planting
February, 2002 --- this is the first issue!!

First, let me introduce myself and tell you a little about me. I'm Cindy Meredith. I've lived on this lovely farm in South Central Texas for about 15 years. For almost 10 of those years, my husband and I operated a clothing business. We sewed (and sewed and sewed and...) clothing, some of which we sold at various Renaissance Festivals around the country.

Traveling was fun and challenging, but it became more difficult each year to leave our farm to go on the road. Each year, I planted more things around the farmhouse and was reluctant to leave them each Spring. So, we decided to retire from the sewing business.... my back and hands thanked me...... and stay closer to home. Mike took a job with Lavaca county, and I decided to let my interest and time in herbs and gardening flow into a business.
I hope this monthly newsletter will enhance your interest in and knowledge of herbs and gardening.

Enough already!!!......... Let's talk herbs and gardening.

Why would anyone want to grow herbs anyway? Well, they're tough plants, easy to grow. They are not much bothered by bugs or disease, as plants go. Many take little water, and thrive in areas that are hot and unsuited to other more tender plants. In my gardens, rosemary, oregano and thyme grow in beds that are in full afternoon, Texas summer sun....... that's a torture test for any plant. Those and other Mediterranean herbs like lavender and fennel thrive there with very little irrigation.

Herbs look good in the garden mixed with flowers or vegetables. There are almost as many different shapes and colors of herbs as there are varieties. Mounding oregano, tall dill or fennel, green and purple basils, grassy chives are just a few of the forms that mix with perennial and annual flowers.

Growing herbs in your vegetable garden not only gives you quick access to herbs that will compliment your vegetable harvest in the kitchen, but herbs attract many beneficial insects. In this time of concern over pesticide use and other chemical alterations of our food supply, it's good to know you can help nature keep a balance in your garden just by growing a variety of herbs and flowers to help keep damaging insects under control.

No discussion of growing herbs is complete without the primary reason herbs are grown---- their taste! Fresh basil sprinkled over garden-ripe tomatoes........ a touch of fennel in that pasta sauce......... crisp cucumber salad wouldn't be complete without fresh dill. Fish, chicken, beef, pork all are enhanced by the use of fresh herbs. Fruit salad with mint is a lovely summer dessert or lunch. Lemon balm or lemon grass is a wonderful hot tea to chase away the winter blues. Add some mint or green tea for a more complex flavor.

So, as the season progresses and you plan your gardens this year, think about incorporating herbs in your planting. How about a parsley border for your annual flower bed? Or, bronze fennel at the back of a perennial border? The color and airy form of the fennel will add interest among your other plantings. Underplant some roses with garlic chives.... it is said "roses love garlic".

Until next time, from the garden notes of
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage



March 2002
Being too busy to prune.....

I discovered this week how being too busy to tend to a gardening chore actually helped my plants. I finally got around to trimming back my big lemon grass plant and Mexican Mint Marigold (Tagetes lucida or Sweet Marigold, Texas or Mexican Tarragon) this afternoon when I realized something. I had wanted to get those plants cut back earlier--, about 3 weeks ago, actually. But, I just got around to it today. Well..... that dead looking foliage actually helped protect the new shoots coming from the root ball.

We'd been experiencing a definite warming trend thinking spring had really arrived when WHAM! -- we were hit with the coldest temperatures of the season. In fact, we hadn't experienced temps in the low 20's and teens in several years. Many plants had started putting out new growth, and the ones I had cut back earlier lost all that new growth. But, the ones I cut back today had their new growth protected by the mass of dead foliage.

Both plants I cut back today are considered tender perennials. In Zone 7 and above neither the lemon grass or Mexican Mint Marigold is winter hardy. See, that's why we're so spoiled. To us here in the southern part of the state, cold weather is something that arrives for a few days, gives us something to complain about, and then the winds turn around from the South, and we're warm again. Our plants really like it that way. But, a plant can be tricked by prolonged warm weather in Jan. or Feb. and start sending out new growth. The next cold snap kills that new vegetation, and the energy that went into making those new shoots is lost from the root system.

Companion Planting

This year because of the late freeze and last summer's drought and prolonged extreme temperatures there are lots of areas in my planting beds to be filled. I've decided to interplant the flower beds with herbs and vegetables. Now, there are herbs already in my flower beds: rosemary is a mainstay by the path to the back door so I can run my hand along a branch as I enter or leave the house and have than refreshing fragrance on my hands. And, I usually grow a big Hibiscus sabdariffa for tea in the flower bed.

Since my vegetable patch shrank this year even more due to a new grow house and lack of time for a big vegetable garden, I've decided to really mix things up and plant peppers in my flower beds and flowers with my tomatoes, beans, cukes and such and plant more herbs wherever I can. In my reading, I've learned that pests are better kept at bay with mixed plantings because their targets are spread out. And, mixed plantings help keep the good bugs nearby. I also think I'll take better care of things if I have vegetables in mixed plantings as I often seem to leave my vegetable garden for last. This idea might not be practical for a person who grows a large vegetable garden, but for our needs, the idea seems perfect.

I think vegetable plants are very attractive. The glossy green leaves of peppers, the soft green leaves of eggplants and the different shapes and colors of the bean leaves all add to the interest of vegetable plants. Beans, cukes and melons can be grown on trellises in the garden to add height or to shade a tender plant. Then, of course, there is the great variety of shapes and colors of the fruit: purple and green beans, bright red or yellow peppers and tomatoes, dark green cucumbers.

So there is no reason not to plant some peppers near my stand of red and green cannas. Both plants like full sun and water. I plan to plant basil and Tagetes lucida (Mexican Mint Marigold or Texas Tarragon) among my tomatoes. The basil looks great with tomato plants and is convenient for harvesting there, and the Tagetes family helps repel nematodes that attack tomatoes. It is said plants in the onion family help repel red spider mites, so a few chive plants could go in around the tomatoes, too. It is said chives or garlic planted near your roses will help them repel aphids better, too.

I like to grow hardy hibiscus since it does so well here in our hot summers as long as it gets enough water, and it's a bushy plant. It would look good with fennel - green or bronze- as a neighbor. The fennel plants are hosts to the swallowtail butterfly. Even if the larva eat some of the foliage, it's worth it to have those beautiful butterflies around. The flowers of the fennel also attract other butterflies and beneficial insects. I already mentioned Hibiscus sabdariffa, also know as Jamaica or Roselle, which is an annual and grows into a huge bush in one season. It looks great with the bronze fennel late in the season as the Roselle flowers are blooming.

For tea, use the calyx of the Hibiscus sabdariffa flower. Pick the flowers when in bloom, or just as they're fading and remove the petals. The part the petals are attached to is the calyx. Pour just boiled water over the calyxes and steep for tea either alone or with mint, lemon grass, lemon verbena, green tea....... you get the idea. Your tea will turn red and have a delicious flavor. You can also dry the calyxes for later use.

Some more ways to use herbs in mixed plantings is to border a bed with curly parsley or with the little spicy globe basil, which makes little topiary like balls all by themselves.... no pruning by you. The red and purple basils are extremely attractive planted with summer annuals like zinnias, marigolds, and celosia or annual salvias. Almost any herb would be at home in your vegetable patch. And, why not plant some flowers nearby, too? They'll help the diversity needed to attract beneficial insects and keep the pests in check.

So, go to your herb books and really look at the form, color and cultural requirements of different herb plants. Plant varieties of herbs and flowers that have the same cultural requirements. Think about how different the bright orange marigolds we plant each year would look with purple ruffled basil as a companion. Or let fennel or a pepper plant fill in after your gladiolas or iris are through blooming. In cooler climates where you can grow lettuce all summer (unlike here in Texas where lettuce is finished in late April), use lettuce mixed with parsley as a border for your flower bed. It's pretty and useful.

Let your imagination be your guide. Choose color combinations and forms that please you. And, if you want to tap into the benefits of companion planting in your garden, two books I recommend are Roses Love Garlic and Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte. Both these books are full of beneficial companion planting ideas and also warns you about combinations that are unfavorable to one or the other crop. These books are available at many book stores and on-line.

Have fun in your garden this spring. Enjoy the warm sun and soil. By planting a seed you are putting your faith in the laws of nature and the future.

Good Gardening to You All.

Until next time, from the garden notes of
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage



April 2002

It's Spring in Texas..... (and, yes, this newsletter is a little late...... it is spring you know.....)

which means the roadsides and pastures are filled with drifts of blue, pink, orange and bright yellow. The Texas state flower, the bluebonnet, is a sky blue lupin that has been planted all over the state, thanks in part to Lady Bird Johnson. The bluebonnet pods split open when the seeds are ripe and the seeds are tossed here and there to germinate for next year. Pink primroses, called buttercups by many because of the yellow centers, grow in concert with the orange Indian Paintbrush and golden yellow coreopsis to create vibrant color combinations. The trees are leafing out with the bright, fresh green of new growth. The pastures themselves look velvety green with new grass for the cattle to graze.

In the herb garden, the lavender and thyme blossoms are abuzz with bees, new basil plants have been put in and the oregano and marjoram plants are sending up tall stalks that will flower later in the season. Roses and poppies are blooming everywhere. In my gardens, I seem to have an abundance of dark red roses: climbers and shrubs. They are a lovely foil to the yellow irises blooming in and around the water garden.

April is a busy sales season here because it'll soon be too hot to plant new things or to work outside in the middle of the day. Sales have been brisk this spring at the many garden and botanical shows I've attended. Lavender is still a favorite, although the purchase of lavender plants comes with lots of questions. So, here are some tips for growing lavender in the south, along with some general information which may help you choose the variety that's best for your area.

Lavender varieties The word lavender, 'Lavandula', comes from the Latin "lavare" to wash..... the aroma is light, clean and refreshing. Greeks and Romans added lavender flowers to their baths as we use lavender oil or scented bath products today. Lavandula augustifolia, also known as true lavender or English lavender, has been the most economically important variety due to the fragrance and oils extracted. It is a plant of high altitudes and doesn't generally perform well in the humid regions of the south. All augustifolias are subject to Sudden Wilt our humid southern summers.

Spike Lavender or L. latifolia is normally a variety for low altitudes.... not so much used in perfume, but in "coarser vehicles" (as they are known in the cosmetic industry) such as soap. The aroma is more eucalyptus-like, not sweet like the true lavender. It does flower later in season and is hardy to Zone 7. It is not commonly sold as garden plants, though and is hard to find.

This next group include some of my favorites, L. Xintermedia , the lavandins or hybrid lavenders. These varieties are a cross between common, L. augustifolia and spike, L. latifolia varieties. They are easy to grow, and have been increasingly used as a substitute for both the others in cosmetics. The lavandins are resistant to Sudden Wilt, and perform well in the southern garden. They survive our southern winters as well, blooming in Spring. These varieties must be propagated by cuttings, as they do not come true from seed. Some of the common varieties are: Grosso---- a French introduction used for perfume. Provence---- a variety with grayish leaves, tall flower stalks that I like very much.

L. dentata is a fringed or toothed leaf lavender The leaves are pale green and the flowers are a soft lavender with showy bracts. This variety is not susceptible to Sudden Wilt, but is only hardy really in Zone 9 and 10. With a good mulch, it will over winter in the lower south.

L. hybrida is a cross between L. dentata and L. lanata (wooly lavender.) Goodwin Creek is a variety that has shown itself to do well in South and is popular here in Central Texas. It is winter hardy, too.

Spanish Lavender or L. stoechas is another one well suited to southern gardens. It has smaller dark purple/violet blooms. Very attractive and suited for Southern gardens. I have an established one in the garden that didn't even blink during our late cold snap and is blooming beautifully now.

L. multifida or fern leaf lavender grows in a very attractive open form with fern like leaves. It sports tall, very blue violet flowers all summer. It's not reliably winter hardy north of Zone 9, although with mulch I've had mine for several winters.

How to Grow

Now, for some growing tips. All lavenders need full sun and good drainage. Humidity is their enemy, so in the humid south use coarse, rocky soil to grow your lavenders and make sure there is good airflow around them. Mulching with gravel or rock will keep the surrounding environment drier and looks very good. The most important this is not to over water your plants. In fact, after they are established, give them no or very little supplemental water if they are growing in the ground. Even if you follow these tips, you could still lose lavenders after heavy spring rains. Don't despair, there are more plants to be had.

All lavenders do well in containers. They still need good drainage and do appreciate some afternoon shade. Allow the container to dry out between watering. If you do grow them in containers and can move them around, put them under shelter if you are in a very rainy period so the plants don't become so water logged.

The winter hardy varieties are really best planted in fall in the south so they can become very established before the next summer's heat and humidity. Although early spring plantings can be successful, too.

So, there you have more information about lavender than you probably knew you wanted. We are just about sold out of lavender for the spring season, but will have a new stock ready for your fall planting needs. Relish the spring...... it is short lived. Don't forget your sunblock and sun hat.

Good Gardening to You All.

Until next time, from the garden notes of
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage



May 2002

Summer has arrived already here in Texas. It seems we jumped

from a pleasant warming trend to hot, sticky, windy days overnight. And, it's only May. What will it be like in August...... or September when the rest of the country is cooling down and it's still hot as blazes and the humidity is stuck at around 95%? I remember conversations like this last year. And it was hot and uncomfortable in August and September. We all survived.... and complained the whole time.

We do need rain, though. The storms pounding other parts of Texas and the country have not reached us. "They" say we have a dome of high pressure over us that prevents "lifting" to produce storms. We have plenty of moisture in the atmosphere, "they" say.....(I could have told "them" that. Just go into the garden in the morning and try to breathe. The air is heavy and the sweat just rolls off the body.... and it's only 8 a.m.!) ....... but there's no lift to the atmosphere. What, not enough hot air here in Texas?..... please.

So, what's a person to do? Complaining about the weather is only beneficial to get a conversation started around here, it doesn't change the weather outdoors. One way to stay cool (and hydrate the body) is to drink herbal iced tea during the hot days and evenings. I've been experimenting with various lemon herbs for my daily tea drink. So, I thought a discussion of lemon-flavored herbs would be appropriate.

The ones that grow well for me and produce lots of foliage and/or flowers for tea are:

lemon verbena--Aloysia triphylla- which I call the Queen of Lemon Herbs for her clear, clean lemon flavor. The plant is kind of shrubby. Even with pinching and harvesting, the form of the plant is never very tidy. It doesn't belong in a formal setting because it really has a mind and shape of its own. Its redeeming value, however, is the fabulous lemon flavor the leaves impart to tea, lemonade, cookies, cakes and fruit salads. It is perennial here in Central Texas. It looses its leaves for the winter, so a full harvesting and drying of the leaves during the fall is a good way to preserve the flavor for winter teas that make you remember the warm and soft days of summer.

lemon grass-- Cymbopogon citratus or C. flexuosus- careful, don't slice your finger when harvesting. The leaves are sharp edged. The fleshy, basal parts of the leaf stalks are crushed and used for flavoring in Southeast Asian cooking. The whole leaf stalk can be used fresh in tea. Just chop it up or crush it a little to release the flavorful oils. The flavor holds up to drying as well, so we can enjoy the lemony flavor when the plant is dormant during the winter months. Lemon grass is an attractive in the garden because of its grassy leaves and pretty green color.

lemon balm-- Melissa officinalis- some call this lovely plant invasive, but it's good for a partly shady spot. Fresh leaves are used in tea, soups, sauces, fish dishes and in flavored vinegar. The herb is said to have a relaxing effect. Lemon balm leaves are also used in the liqueurs Benedictine and Chartreuse. The plant creates a nice mound and is easy to keep in shape by shearing a couple times a year -- especially after it blooms.

lemon thyme- Thymus x citriodorus, lemon catnip- Nepeta citriodora, lemon mint- Mentha x piperata 'Citrata' and lemon basil- Ocimum basilicum x citriodorum are some other herbs used to add zip and more complex flavors to the tea.

Lemon catnip adds a relaxing component to the tea, as catnip has a mildly sedative effect on most people. Lemon thyme adds the stronger flavor of thyme mixed with the lemon. Lemon thyme comes is a beautiful variegated form with green leaves with a golden rim around each tiny leaf. Lemon mint adds sweetness along with a minty flavor. And the lemon basil adds the flavor of basil to the tea. (Lime basil is another wonderful, fruity tea herb.)

There you have my favorite lemon flavored herbs to be used not only in teas, but also in cooking, grilling fish or seafood, used in flavored vinegars, salads, baked goods... where ever you'd like a nice lemony flavor.

Don't wear yourself out this summer in the garden. Take lots of breaks in the shade, perhaps with a glass of lemony herbal iced tea. You'll be glad you did.

Until next time, remember...... Nature is in control in your garden --- go with the flow.
Don't forget your hat and sun block.
Kindness makes a fellow feel good whether it's being done to him or by him. -Frank A. Clark

Good Gardening to You All.

Until next time, from the garden notes of
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage



June/July 2002

The Summer solstice

is behind us, and already the days are getting shorter. Even though there is still lots of summer left, lots of time to grow and enjoy our gardens, I'm always a little sad when it starts to stay darker in the mornings and gets dark earlier in the evenings. I had the same feeling a few weeks ago when I had the opportunity to drive over the Sierra Nevada mountains that lie on the California/Nevada border. Being at the highest point was spectacular and exhilarating. As the car descended through the pass and on into the Sacramento Valley, I felt a kind of loss. Then, in a few moments the feeling was gone, and I felt like myself again, full of confidence and energy.

And, that's how gardening and growing herbs helps me feel: full of confidence and energy. Growing any type of garden involves many aspects of life: patience, learning, physical activity, sight, smell, taste, and risk are what comes to mind.

One learns patience by planting a tiny (or large!) seed and waiting for the seed to germinate, watching it grow, caring for the plant it becomes then enjoying the fruit of the plant whether it be a fragrant stalk of lavender or tasty leaves of thyme, a zinnia or an iris, tomato or cucumber, or a cherry or a peach. You can't hurry Mother Nature.

Learning all you can about gardening in general, vegetables, herbs, flowers or whatever it is you like to grow may lead you beyond the garden into family history to learn whether your grandparents grew a garden, and if so, what kinds of plants they grew. Or, you may become interested in the history and lore of herbs or the stories behind heirloom vegetables. Or, you may turn to the very basis of gardening and begin to study botany, soil composition, organic growing or any of the many facets of the insect world. There is no end to the avenues that are open to you when you begin to look at your garden as the start of an education.

Take a break from your mental gardening activities. Get into the garden and pull weeds, hoe your vegetable rows, spread more mulch, prune the errant branch, deadhead those marigolds (save the seed heads for next year, or just crumble them through your fingers to sow seeds for later in the season), dig a new bed, mow the lawn.... gardening is great exercise. Why pay for an expensive gym or spend time indoors on a machine when you have the best of all gyms right out your back door? Gardening involves weight training... just lift a few big bags of mulch or turn your compost pile. Gardening involves stretching... bend at the waist and keep your knees straight when you pull weeds. Then, do some squats and pull some more weeds or harvest those strawberries off the ground. Hoeing and raking are terrific aerobic activities. And, after your workout, look at the results-- a weed-free herb bed, healthier vegetables with more mulch or a neatly trimmed lawn. Then, sit back with a cool beverage and admire what you've done. You've earned it.

Don't let the books, magazines and Internet take you so far from your garden and plants that you lose sight of why you started a garden in the first place. For it's there, walking through your garden in the early morning seeing the dew sparkle on the rose petals, touching the soft leaves of the lamb's ear, smelling the oregano and rosemary, eating those crunchy and sweet snap beans right off the vine, and, especially, getting your hands dirty with that wonderful, rich, loamy garden soil...don't you wish you actually had that kind of soil??.. that you really experience the garden. It's why you spend so much time poring over seed catalogs, searching Internet gardening sites, combing nurseries for just the right plant. You've created your own little Eden right there where you and those you invite into your realm can see the best that nature has to offer. You've tended and coaxed and weeded and pruned and watered and worried and even though the garden is never done, always in flux, you can see and touch and smell and eat the results of your efforts.

And, yes, there is risk in the garden, just like in life. Your new seedlings can be eaten by grasshoppers or rabbits. Deer may come and dine on the new shrub you just paid too much for. Early blight may attack your tomato plants. Corn ear worms may spoil the succulent ears you've been waiting so patiently for. A hail storm may come and smash down the corn stalks. You can experience a drought, complete with water rationing, so your plants don't look their best. You have to pick and choose which to water. There are many risks in gardening... you may have chosen a poorly adapted variety of vegetable or flower, or planted a sun loving rosemary in the shade and it's just not doing well. But we learn by making many, many mistakes. It is said if you don't kill many plants, you're not gardening!! I don't know about that, but I do know that experimenting is part of the fun of growing and if you don't try, you'll never know what will grow in your garden. So, try a new tomato variety or a new flower that you have to purchase mail order because no one in your area sells it, or even grows it... yet. You may start a new trend. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.... right?

Look for the next newsletter in early August. I'll try and stay on a monthly schedule... things got a little busy around The Herb Cottage this early summer just when I thought the pace would slow down. Ah well..... I'm sure you're all out in your gardens, too, and spending time with your plants and didn't even miss the early June issue.

The Herb Cottage has lots of stock and we'll ship all summer, too, so if you have empty spots to fill in or you have some empty containers, think herbs for more summer planting or a new vine to cover that unsightly wall.
And, remember
"there are people so poor that they only have money", anonymous

Good Gardening to You All

From the garden notes of
Cindy Meredith, prop.
The Herb Cottage



August 2002

It's August now,

and the Texas heat and humidity has set in for real. Oh, we flirt with hot weather in July, and even earlier some years. During an early hot spell people are fond of saying, "If it's this hot now, how will we ever get through August and September?" Well, I can tell you how... we endure. In most places the air conditioning is running night and day... a cool morning is 75 deg... and even children are encouraged to stay indoors to watch videos (DVDs) or play on their computer, or in very rare cases, to read. It's almost like the out-of-doors becomes unhealthy when it's this hot.

Here at The Herb Cottage we live in un-air conditioned comfort. Fans, windows and a shaded porch keep our old farm house fairly cool. No AC (as it's known here) indoors makes outdoor work seem less extreme. Watering, seeding for fall, taking cuttings, keeping the beds looking good all still need to be done, no matter what the temperature. We're building a new greenhouse this summer, too. In contrast to the outdoors, the house feels cool and inviting after coming in from 95+ deg. and searing sun.

So, what can thrive in the herb garden this time of year, you may ask? In my display gardens there are many plants soaking up the heat. Basil, of course, is flourishing. I've given up on trying to keep the flower heads picked off to prolong the life of early planted ones, and have started new ones from seed for my fall crop. As many of you might know, basil is very easy to start from cuttings, but if you take cuttings from older plants, the resultant "new" plant is the same age as its parent. It'll flower quickly and try and set seed. So, you need to start new plants from seed for a late season crop.

Mexican Oregano (Poliomintha bustamanta) and Russian Sage (Perovskia ) are blooming in the full sun with very little water. These are two under used landscape herbs, in my opinion. Russian Sage is not a culinary variety, but its airy, gray-green foliage and lavender flower spikes really brighten up a bed.

Mexican Oregano is a terrific shrubby, evergreen that blooms with medium pink, tubular flowers all summer long. The small, shiny green leaves stay on the plant all winter through zone 8. And, the taste says "oregano". In fact, we like it in all our Southwest style dishes including salsa, beans, and stews.

Fennel is another plant laughing at the hot weather, blooming profusely right now. The plants have survived the onslaught of the Swallowtail Butterfly larvae and the seed heads look like little star clusters atop the tall plant. I like the licorice taste of fennel, although it's not a very popular herb here in America.

One of the facts about fennel you might not be aware of is the ancient Greeks called fennel marathron, from marainein, to grow thin. Some think fennel was called marathron after a village about 25 miles from Athens, where a wild fennel grew. Athenians defeated Persians at this village in 490 BC. Before the battle, a fellow names Pheidippides had carried a stalk of fennel (why?... no one knows...) while running 120 miles in 2 days to recruit soldiers from Sparta. There, another long-distance runner took news of the victory to Athens and fell dead upon arrival! Modern marathon races owe their name to this bit of trivia.

Fennel has a long history in folklore as an appetite suppressant. In a book called "Nature's Paradise" (1650), William Coles wrote: "...both the seeds, leaves and root of our Garden Fennel are much used in drinks and broths for those that are grown fat, to abate their unwieldiness and cause them to grow more gaunt and lank." Fennel has also long been known as a digestive aid and anti-flatulent. Seeds of fennel are often chewed after a meal. No scientific studies have substantiated this claim, however.

For culinary uses, fennel is paired with seafood, meats and vegetables. A few stems on the grill with vegetables or meats adds a hint of flavor. Fennel is used in many confections, liqueurs (anisette), and the seeds are a must in sweet Italian sausage.

In the garden, fennel can become a pest if the seeds are allowed to self sow freely. By cutting the seed heads before the fruit (seeds) mature, self sowing can be kept at a minimum.

The vegetable form of fennel, Florence Fennel, produces a large bulb at the base of the stem. The bulb is harvested, sliced and used either raw in salads or sauteed alone or with other vegetables. It can be used in soups or stews as well.

Bronze fennel is a very attractive variety with its dark, coppery-red leaves. It my garden it doesn't grow as tall as the green fennel, but looks lovely in the flower bed.

So, those of you in the hot, humid climates take heart. There are plants that will fill your garden with color and aroma even in August and September.

And, as Habib Bourguiba says: happy is he who laughs at himself; he will not go short of entertainment

Until next time,
Good Gardening to You,
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage



September 2002

September is an odd month in the South.

It's not really summer, but not fall either. It's still plenty hot and humid, but it gets dark earlier in the evening and the nationally distributed gardening magazines are all talking about fall, putting the garden to bed and warm, homey recipes for cooler weather. In much of Texas, people have planted a second crop of warm season vegetables and herbs such as basil, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers and the like. Lettuce, broccoli and cool season herbs and flowers are just being put in the ground. I'm already getting requests for the cool season herbs cilantro, chamomile, chervil and dill. It's just too hot for those seeds to germinate without climate controlled facilities, which I do not have. You can direct seed these cool season annual herbs, though, in your own herb garden if you live in the South. When the soil cools down, the seeds will sprout. Just make sure the seedbed stays damp to allow for good germination.

So, what else to do in the herb garden in September? Well, no matter where you live, this is a good time to harvest and preserve your herbs for winter kitchen use or for craft projects. October is a popular month for Harvest Festivals where you may be able to rent a space and sell some herbal craft products. Culinary herbs make lovely wreaths, swags and bunches. Just remind your customers that if they hang a dried herbal decoration in the kitchen for very long, it's best not to use it for cooking due to dust that may have accumulated on it.

If you're not interested in selling things, herbal products make lovely gifts. Look in magazines or on the Internet for ideas for wreaths and swags. Simple herb bundles tied with raffia or ribbons are useful and attractive. Make bundles of individual herbs then tie them together so they hang from a wide ribbon or more raffia. Globe amaranth, roses, and other summer and fall flowers that you have dried make colorful additions to the herbs you choose for your wreaths, swags and bundles.

Edible herb products make gifts that will be appreciated. Of course, if you plan to sell edible products, you must check with your state Health Department for regulations regarding the manufacture and sale of such items. But, if you're simply giving edible products as gifts or making them for yourself, your normal careful kitchen procedures are just fine.

Flavored vinegars are one of my favorite ways to use herbs at the end of the season... throughout the season, too, for that matter. It's easy to make and you can be as unique as you choose. Go to the Tip & Ideas page, http://theherbcottage.com/tips.html, for easy instructions on how to make herbal vinegar and ideas on how to use it. Herbal vinegars make great gifts bottled in fancy bottles with little bundles of herbs tied around the neck of the bottle. Include some ideas about how to use the vinegar, and your gift will be one that is well used and appreciated.

With a little more work you can make herbal jellies, herb butter, herb infused oils -- keep herbal oils frozen to keep them from spoiling -- then just scrape off as much as you want and leave the rest in the freezer. You can also freeze herbal butter. Use a melon baller or fancy mold for decorative herbal butters.

After you've harvested your herbs, you can prepare your herb bed for winter. If you live where it's very cold and most things freeze, treat the herb bed like any perennial bed. Mulch the ground around the perennial herbs and mark where they are if you think you might forget. In the spring when you're enthusiastically digging places for new planting, you don't want to disturb perennial roots of your oregano or Mexican Mint Marigold.

If you live where it's warmer, like I do, a light mulch is still a good idea. In my Mediterranean bed, where I have mulched my thymes, lavender, oregano, and sage with gravel, I do not add an organic mulch because it'd be very difficult to remove it from the gravel in the spring. The plants in that bed survive our winters just fine, even when it gets down into the 20's or occasionally even lower. Our cold temps do not last very long, though, and that's why the herbs do so well in the cooler months.

Another thing you can do if you live in the colder regions is to bring some of your herbs indoors for the winter. I'll talk about that in the next issue. So, get busy and harvest those luscious and flavorful herbs, make some herbal vinegar or some decorative hangings or wreaths. It's fun and a great way to scent your home. Don't forget those on your gift list when it comes to herbs. Simple decorated herb bundles or even a pot of live herbs makes a thoughtful gift.

Don't forget to peruse The Herb Cottage herbal listings for selections of cool weather herbs or new herbs to grow indoors, http://theherbcottage.com/herbs.html. And, our cool season vegetables are ready to ship to gardeners in the southern regions, http://theherbcottage.vegetables/html.

Until next time,
Good Growing to You,
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage



October 2002

Savory soup, hearty stews, warm, crusty bread.....

just the fare for those cooler fall days. Wouldn't fresh thyme make a tastier soup, fresh rosemary make a more satisfying stew and how about some fresh homemade herb bread? In this issue I'll give you some tips and ideas about over wintering your favorite herbs indoors so you'll have fresh, tasty herbs for all your fall and winter culinary delights.

I know we southern gardeners can grow most culinary herbs outdoors all winter. In fact many of these herbs come back to life in our cooler fall and winter temperatures. The summer heat and humidity take their toll especially on thymes, lavender, sage and even parsley. Fall brings the color and flavor back into the herbs that have been stressed by summer.

Don't forget about the herbs that absolutely will not grow well or at all in the south during the summer. We wait for fall to replant cilantro, dill, nasturtiums, salad burnet, and in some cases, even parsley. If you're a southern gardener, enjoy the fall, recompost those beds, seed or transplant your cool season herbs and relax in the mild temperatures.

INDOOR HERB GROWING
If you already have your plants in pots, you're ahead of the game. It's a good idea to trim the plants back a little before you bring them in. At the same time, inspect them closely for any bugs that might want to hitchhike into your house. If you see bugs, such as a few aphids or whitefly, go ahead and spray the plants with an insecticidal soap. If you'd like to make your own soap, I've found that Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap makes a great insecticidal soap. The peppermint seems to act as a repellent and the pure castile soap works great as a bug killer! Add a little light horticultural oil or even vegetable oil to help the soap stick. (If you'd like to try Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap and can't find it, drop me a line. I just got some in, but haven't put it on the web site yet.) You need to find the right spot for your plants indoors so they'll thrive and make good, lush growth for your supply of herbs. Herbs do best with lots of light so you need a bright window, even a window with sun shining in. Without lots of light, your herbs could grow leggy with smaller leaves, leaving you with fewer harvestable leaves.

If you don't have a place with good natural light, then you need to provide light. If you have only a few pots, a grow light would be a wise choice. If you have lots of plants and grow lights seem expensive, regular fluorescent lights work fine. An inexpensive shop light fixture suspended over your herbs will provide them with ample light. Position the light about 4"-6" above the plants so the branches don't stretch. You'll need to leave lights on about 16 hours a day. You can turn the lights on and off manually, or set up a simple timer.

The other necessity for plant growth besides light, of course, is water. While your herbs need water, more indoor herbs (and other house plants) are killed through over watering than under watering. It's important to let your pots dry out between watering. That way, you'll allow oxygen to enter the soil and then the roots for good growth.

Another problem sometimes encountered with indoor plants of all kinds is fungus gnats. These little bugs aren't quite as nasty as they sound. But, they are an annoyance. If you see little black bugs flying around your plants and landing on and hanging around the soil, it's probably fungus gnats. Fungus gnats are supported by constantly moist soil, so you can prevent them by not over watering.

Now that you have the general guidelines for keeping herbs healthy indoors, how do you get your herbs indoors if they're not in pots already? There are several ways. Some herbs grow easily from cuttings, some can be dug out wholly, and some can have part of the large plant dug out and potted.

Some of the easiest herbs to grow from cuttings are basil, mints, rosemary, and the oregano/marjoram family. Mints and basil can root cuttings in water, while rosemary and others need to root in a soilless medium. For a tutorial on rooting cuttings go to The Herb Cottage web page: http://theherbcottage.com/tips.html

With herbs like thymes, parsley, chives, cutting celery, mints, oreganos and more you can dig up a portion of the root ball and pot it. Simply take a trowel or small shovel and push it through the root ball until you separate a small section from the "mother plant". Trimming back the plant by about a third at this time will help the plant survive the shock of transplanting. Also prune away any damaged roots before you pot the plant.

Use well draining medium for you indoor potted herbs. You might want to check the soil in plants that have been outdoors for the summer and make sure the soil is still loose and well draining. You can fluff up the soil a little with a cultivator.... I use an old fork.... and add more soil if the soil in the pot has settled.

With care and a little effort you can have flavorful fresh herbs growing indoors all winter long. Don't forget the eye appeal healthy pots of herbs have for your kitchen or where ever you decide to grow your plants. I have lived in the north, Wisconsin and Michigan, and I know the value of green and growing things indoors during the long winter months. Fertilize your plants sparingly with a liquid organic fertilizer, check for bugs and enjoy your herbs.

Pablo Picasso - art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life

Until next time,
Good Growing to You,
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage

November 2002
A couple of years ago,

sage was designated the herb of the year. A t-shirt I purchased at a show had a beautiful drawing of a sage plant in great colors and went with lots of things. But, I think sage is an underused herb most of the year. It's during the holidays when we roast a turkey or a goose, and the aroma fills the house, that sage comes into its own. Sage, Salvia officinalis, is a traditional ingredient in poultry stuffing, but it shows up in other recipes too. If you purchase something called "poultry seasoning" at the grocery store, it contains sage. Many recipes for breakfast sausage or "Yankee sausage", as I've seen it called, call for the addition of sage.

Sage is a strong herb and if used too generously, can be unpleasant. But, a light touch with sage does wonders for roast potatoes, pork roast and even an omelet. Sage is a flavorful addition to an herb butter. Sage tea is refreshing..... add a little honey since the sage is not sweet. Sage has been used as a topical antiseptic to cleanse a wound and to ease the pain of insect bites.

As with many herbs we are familiar with only as a culinary ingredient, sage has a long and varied history with any number of ancient civilizations. Dioscorides, the ancient Greek physician, was familiar with sage for its medicinal properties, as were the Egyptians who used it to increase fertility. In Central American the leaves of a variety of sage, S. microphylla, are infused to make a drink to treat fever. And, in Mexico, the mucilaginous seeds of S. hispanica are mixed with lemon juice, water and sugar to make a drink known as "chia". S. miltiorhiza (known as red ginseng, because of its red roots) has been used in Chinese medicine since 206 BC.

As you may know, there are many varieties of plants in the Salvia family. Most are edible and all are ornamental to some degree..... some more so than others, of course.The most common culinary variety grown in the US is S. officinalis, common sage. It is a short lived perennial in most of the country, getting woody and less productive for leaf harvest after several years. It can take full sun or part shade in the south, and needs little water. The leaves can be harvested at any time and used fresh or dried. When dried, they still retain lots of the camporaceous oil that gives sage its flavor. Madalene Hill, the doyen of southern herb growing, recommends storing even dried sage in the refrigerator or freezer to keep the oil in the leaves from going rancid.

There are other salvias that are commonly used in cooking or tea such as S. fruticosa or Greek sage and S. elegans or pineapple sage. There are cultivars of S. officinalis called golden sage, purple sage or even tri-color sage which are just as flavorful as the green/gray standard variety and add more color and interest to the garden. S. officinalis 'Berggarten' is a wonderful large, green leaf variety that is very hardy in our humid southern conditions.

S. fruticosa or Green sage has more rounded leaves that S. officinalis and the flowers are mauve to pink or even white in some cases. The plant grows to about 3 ft and will bloom in spring, summer or fall, depending on rain fall and temperatures. This variety is very edible, in fact, much of the packaged rubbed sage sold commercially is a mix of S. officinalis and S. fruticosa.

Anyone who enjoys herb tea knows the value of Pineapple sage or S. elegans. This bright red flowering sage is delicious in tea, cookies and even mixed with fruit juice in drinks. It is a hummingbird magnet in the fall here in Texas, and blooms right up until frost.

There are many forms of purely ornamental salvias, which I won't go into in this essay because they are too numerous and diverse. They are a topic to be covered in another newsletter. All salvias make interesting and worthy landscape plants, however. The colored forms of S. officinalis add interest to perennial beds. There is even a dwarf S. officinalis which makes a cute border with its gray/green narrow leaves. Pineapple sage, as I've mentioned, has bright red flowers in late summer and fall. All blooming salvias attract butterflies and other pollinators to the garden.

Salvias are a family of plants known and used since ancient times. One of the things I like about growing herbs is the historical connection. To think that the same plant I have in my garden was grown and used thousands of years ago gives me a sense of connection with the men and women of long ago. Grow or purchase some fresh sage for your holiday meals this season. Think of the Greeks, the Egyptians and the new world people as you take in its musty, aromatic scent. And then enjoy the holidays with your family and friends.
Much of the historical information about sage in this newsletter comes from Deni Bown's book, The Herb Society of American Encyclopedia of Herbs & Their Uses.

Until next time,
Good Growing to You,
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage

December 2002

December 2002

Have you ever heard the expression, "Madder than a wet hen"? I don't know how that expression came into use. My hens don't seem to mind the water a bit. Today is a cold and rainy day, but I made my mucky way out to the chicken yard to open the doors for the birds. There are ducks housed with the chickens and I knew they'd love to be out in the mud and rain, no matter what the temperature. Did the chickens stay inside where it was dry, where I spread their scratch grain? No, not those chickens. They wandered outside in the rain and mud to peck around and enjoy the cold. I don't expect them to stay out very long.... but, go out they did, got wet and kept their even temper.

The weather today is conducive to staying indoors putting on a pot of soup or stew, baking savory bread or sweet, buttery cookies, curling up with a book or even going over your garden notes from last season. I've learned to actually keep notes on growing conditions both in the greenhouse and the display gardens. I track germination times, hardiness, water needs, sun or shade preference and mature size of different plants. If you like using a computer, set up a database for yourself listing your plants, various characteristics, notes throughout the season, and perhaps where you acquired the seeds or plants and the cost. You can include anything that you would find helpful to evaluate your plants. It gives you a way to evaluate new plants and old favorites.

Last month I profiled sage, often used in holiday cooking. This month I find myself thinking about an herb often used in soups, stews and other winter dishes, and to my way of thinking, not used enough: thyme. Thyme is considered a savory herb and compliments beef, chicken or pork as well as vegetarian soups and bean dishes. Since some varieties of thyme are hardy to zone 4, many people can have fresh thyme even during the winter. Thyme is an herb that dries well, too, so you can dry it for use in the kitchen. Thyme is an excellent addition to a savory herb butter or herbal vinegar.

Growing thyme in most of the country poses no special problems. It's a Mediterranean herb, so it likes more alkaline soil, good drainage and lots of sun. If you live where it humidity is a problem, like I do, some of the same tips for growing lavender will aid in growing thyme. Adding organic amendments to the soil for better drainage and mulching with gravel so the leaves don't rest on damp soil will help thyme survive rainy winters and steamy summers. Harvest thyme at any time, even using the flowers. Cutting the plants back by about 2/3 during the hottest part of the summer will help where humidity is high, and you'll have lots of branches for tea, vinegar, herb bundles or for drying.

There are various varieties of thyme, the most common being Thymus vulgaris, or English Thyme. This is the most common for culinary use. A favorite with me is the lemon thyme or T. x citriodorus, especially the variegated type. It simply glows in the garden. Silver edged thyme, T. vulgaris spp. is another especially pretty one with a silver edge on all the leaves.

Many people are familiar with T. praecox or creeping thyme. This one makes a nice ground cover or a planing around stones in a pathway. Mother of thyme or T. serpyllum, is another good ground cover or to plant in a rock garden. These are edible, but since they grow so low to the ground they tend to collect soil on their leaves more readily and be difficult to harvest. Wooly thyme, T. pseudolanuginosus is another attractive, low growing variety that is edible, but not usually used as such. Caraway thyme or T. herba-barona is a lovely tiny shrubby variety that tastes of nutmeg, caraway or even lemon.

The flowers of thyme are tiny, labiate flowers indicating the inclusion of thyme in the large Labiatae or mint family. Colors can range from white to magenta with all the pinks in between. Thyme flowers are very much loved by bees and small butterflies. The flowers are edible, of course.

Medicinally, thyme has been used for cough remedies combined with other herbs. Thyme oil from some varieties is used in aromatherapy for, among other things, aches and pains, depression, and skin and scalp complaints. Thyme oil from T. capitatus or conehead thyme is an ingredient in men's toiletries, food flavoring and soap. This variety should not be used in aromatherapy as it is irritating to the mucous membranes. T. vulgaris contains the compound thymol and is used in many commercial products such as toothpaste, topical anti-rheumatic preparations and mouthwash.

In the garden, thyme can be planted as a companion plant to control flea beetles, cabbage moths and other cabbage pests. Of course, it attracts pollinators to the garden as well. There are many more varieties of thyme than I have listed here, and new crosses can happen in your garden. Thyme is a versatile plant to be used in the garden and in the kitchen. When you're planning your spring herb plantings, give thymes another look. For our current selection of thymes, go to http://theherbcottage.com/thyme.html.

selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live
Oscar Wilde

Until next time,
Good Growing to You,
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage


January 2003

A belated Happy New Year to you all (or should I say y'all, as this letter comes from Texas). As the new year begins, we tend to reflect upon our place in the world and, perhaps, our plans for the future. Here at The Herb Cottage, we've got a good start on cuttings and seeded crops for the coming season. In the south, the growing season for most vegetables is actually very short because, after a short spring, the weather quickly gets too hot and/or humid for vegetable plants to produce. So, I'm already well into production of tomato seedlings, peppers, eggplant, as well as lots of herbs and ornamentals.

Tomatoes are the #1 vegetable grown in today's vegetable gardens. And why not? They are a sign of summer, aren't they? Many people compete with neighbors to see who can raise the first tomato of the season. Personally, my treat is the first BLT sandwich with our own tomatoes and homemade white bread. Usually our lettuce has already bolted for the season by the time the tomatoes are ripe, so I have to settle for store bought lettuce. But, that first bite of the tangy, salty sandwich is heaven to me.

This year The Herb Cottage is offering over 25 varieties of heirloom and open-pollinated tomato varieties, around 20 varieties of peppers and 7 types of eggplant. What a feast for the eyes and well as the palate!

I raise and offer heirloom and open-pollinated vegetable seedlings because I think it's important for you to be able to save your own seeds, if you so choose. If you grow the same variety from saved seed for several seasons in your garden, most vegetable varieties will become better adapted to your area. If you live in Mississippi, the tomatoes you grow from saved seed will be better adapted to the humid conditions there. If your soil is less than perfect, the varieties you grow from saved seed will do better each year. You can share seed with your neighbors and local gardeners with the knowledge the plants will do extremely well in your area.

Another reason I like the heirloom tomatoes is diversity. Who ever decided tomatoes had to be red? There are delicious and interesting tomatoes of other colors. Plum Lemon, a bright yellow plum tomato, makes golden salsa and sauces with a mild tomato flavor. Garden Peach and Tangerine are yellow and orange varieties of medium size slicers to add interest and a mild taste to a salad to tomato plate. Cherokee Purple is a dark rose color inside and out. The flavor is rich and sweet. Purple Calabash looks like a little purple pumpkin with its deep ridges. Sliced crosswise, the scalloped edges are very decorative.

Cherry tomatoes come in all colors, too, perfect for snacking. Gold Nugget is a sweet, golden type on a somewhat compact vine. Green Grape is a grape-type tomato, very sweet, that stays green even when ripe and grows on a short, sturdy plant. Imagine a bowl filled with Gold Nugget, Green Grape and Isis Candy, a red variety with faint yellow stripes. What a picture! And, so tasty.

And, there are stories behind heirloom and open-pollinated tomatoes. We offer a nice, medium red variety that does well into the heat of our early summer called Georgia Prison. I received the original seeds in a swap years ago. I can't tell you why it's called Georgia Prison.... was it developed on a prison farm, perhaps? I tell people to make up their own stories! Riesenstraube is a German cherry tomato with a big taste, like a Brandywine. The name means, in German, "giant grape", and that is how the tomatoes look. The plants are extremely productive, to say the least, and produce clusters of 20-40 fruit per stem. Give this one strong support. The same tomato is also known in Hungary and is called "goat tit" due to its shape. It's oval with a little point at the bottom! This is a very sugary variety, and has been used to make tomato wine, which is said to taste like a dry sherry.

For those who think eggplant is more than just the big, dull, purple, tasteless blob from the produce section of a grocery store, there are long ones, small round ones, green ones, purple with white stripes. The flesh of Rosa Bianca is white and creamy. Harvested young, it doesn't even need to be peeled. Apple Green looks like its name. The flesh is tinted a little green and is very mild. Perfect for Eggplant Parmesan or your favorite stir-fry. One of my favorites is Little Fingers. These are small, purple ones that grow in clusters like the fingers of a little hand. They can be picked at any size and grilled whole.

I'll leave the subject of peppers for another day. Just let the visions of yellow, purple, green, red and pleated tomatoes with names like Arkansas Traveler, Eva Purple Ball and Polish Linguisa run through your imagination as you're perusing all the seed catalogs this winter. If you'd like to check out all our vegetable varieties for 2003 go to: http://theherbcottage.com/vegetables.html.

What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset. -Crowfoot, Native American warrior and orator (1821-1890)

Until next time,
Good Growing to You,
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage

July 2004

Happy Independence Day, everyone. It's the morning of July 4th as I write this. I've been listening to the audio book called Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts. It tells the stories of many of the women related to or married to the founding fathers of the United States. It's an uplifting and fascinating book. Anyone interested in learning how the women of our young country contributed to its beginnings would find the book a good read. I was interested in the part where the colonists boycotted "English Tea", which was their preferred drink. What kinds of "tea" did they then drink, I wondered. So, after a little research, I came upon some interesting information.

Of course, not everyone in The Colonies could afford to drink the imported English Tea, which was actually imported from either India or China. Some of the native herbs used for tea were bee balm, Monarda didyma, wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens, a variety of goldenrod, Solidago odorata, New Jersey tea, Ceanothus americanus, and leaves of the raspberry bush. In the southern colonies, sassafrass tea was enjoyed, made from the bark of sassafrass root. This also is the original ingredient in root beer.

In the Virginia Gazette, Williamsburg, Virginia, January 13, 1774 is an article signed by one Philo-Aletheias that details the patriotism of the "English Tea" boycott and gives some examples of "Liberty Tea". The article begins as follows: "Can posterity believe that the constitutional liberties of North America were on the Point of being given up for Tea? Is this exotic Plant necessary to Life? ... But if we must through Custom have some warm Tea once or twice a day, why ma be not exchange this slow poison which not only destroys our Constitution but endangers our Liberties and drains our Country of so many thousands of Pounds a Year for Teas of our own American Plants, many of which may be found pleasant to the taste, and very salutary, according to our various constitutions..." And, Mr./Ms Philo-Aletheias gives 17 examples of substitutions, some of which are: "Sweet marjoram and a little mint; mother of thyme, a little hyssop; sage and balm leaves joined witha little lemon juice, rosemary and lavender, a very few small twigs of White Oak well dried in the Sun with two leaves and a Half of Sweet Myrtle; Clover with a little chamomile; Peppermint and Yarrow; Twigs of liquid Amber Tree (commonly called Sweet Gum) with or without the flowers of Elder..." The list goes on.

Herbs certainly were used for more than tea during the colonial period of our history. A well stocked medicine cabinet would contain portions of dried herbs for poultices or to make a soothing draught for a cold or sore throat. The kitchen was not neglected, either, when it came to using herbs. Some of the notes on cookery that survive mention sassafrass flavored New Orleans gumbo, rose water added to a wedding cake, and Sally Washington's chicken dressing had thyme in it. A "smothered veal" dish contained the heady combination of parsley, thyme, carrots, turnips, roast chestnuts, potatoes, onions and celery root. In Louisiana the French flavored their dishes with Bay Leaves , thyme, cloves, garlic, cayenne pepper, mustard, tomato and parsley. In the West, marjoram was a Spanish influence added to cayenne peppers.

Many of the colonists brought over seeds and a few plants from the gardens they left behind. Since regular shipping routes were in place, plants and seeds were soon being sent for. Some newspaper clippings have survived with notices such as this one from the South Carolina Gazette in 1735: "Just imported from London to be sold by John Watson... mustard seed", and from the same paper, December 28, 1738: "Just imported from London by Doctor Jacob Moon... anis seeds, carraway seeds, sweet fennel seeds."

So, as you celebrate this Independence Day, think about the people who came to the Americas and made a life here, eventually risking all for freedom from England. And, if you'd like a different take on the history of the Revolution, read "Founding Mothers" and you'll realize all the people of the colonies played a part in the birth of our nation.

(Much of the information for this newsletter came from a book originally published in 1933, Gardening with Herbs for Flavor and Fragrance, by Helen Morgenthau Fox. It was reprinted in its entirety in 1970, and is sold by Dover Books)

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. -Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President (1809-1865)

Until next time,
Good Growing to You
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage
442 CR 233
Hallettsville, TX 77964


 August 2004

Well, it's been hot here in Texas. No surprise, there, right? I was spoiled after our cool, wet spring and cooler-than-normal July. I was lulled into believing summer wasn't so bad after all. Wrong!! August is summer. Pots need water every 24 hours or they get really heat stressed. It's easy to see which plants are pot-bound and need potting up into larger containers. They're the ones that seem to need water morning and afternoon! Even my "drought tolerant" plants start looking a little weary. The chickens spend the afternoons in their house where it's shady and cooler, bathing in the dust that makes up the floor of their house.

Yesterday was somewhat cooler due to a weak "norther". That's air flowing in from the north rather than the hot dry west or the hot, humid gulf. North is where our cold weather comes from, too. You might hear me complain in the winter about a "blue norther", a very cold front that sweeps down over us freezing everything. But, now a norther is quite welcome. I took advantage of the temps only in the low 90's and cleaned up the herb bed, pulling out bermuda grass, pruning my Vitex tree and other herbs that had grown rampant and ungainly. I decided the Vitex would be better as a single trunk tree, rather than a multi trunk specimen, so I pruned off the lower branches. I was surrounded by the wonderful aroma of Vitex while the branches were falling around me. I will loose blooms, though, as I cut off a lot of foliage. The area looks neater, though, and there's now room underneath for other plants. (Look for Vitex to show up on my availability list next spring... I set cuttings from the cut offs.)

My big Poliomintha longiflora, Mexican Oregano, was looking very poorly. It only had blooms and leaves on the tips of the branches. It's gotten very woody with many stems about an inch in diameter. New growth is showing in the middle, though, so I cut it back to 6 or 8 inch stems. I'll see how it recovers. I may decide to dig it out and divide the mass of woody stems, replanting only a few in the spot in the herb garden where it's growing, and pot up the rest. But, that's a job for a much cooler day in the fall. This practice is necessary for many of the perennials that become woody over time. The center of the plant looses the ability to produce leaves and the plant sprawls and no longer produces dense foliage. To be sure, more frequent, lighter pruning would be better, but as I am nowhere near a perfect gardener, I do not get to those chores on a regular basis.

If you're not familiar with Mexican Oregano, poliomintha longiflora, it has many virtues. First is its taste. Even though it's not in the Origanum family, it has a wonderful aromatic, full oregano flavor. It grows into a mounding shrubby plant with small, narrow leaves of a bright medium green. Then, it puts out lavender/pink tubular flowers all summer long. Even in the worst heat, the poliomintha is blooming. Butterflies and hummingbirds are attracted to the nectar within the flowers. All in all, it's a very drought tolerant, pretty plant. My specimen is at least 5 or 6 years old, and its age is the reason it's getting woody. The stems are interesting, though, with the bark a dark brown and shaggy in appearance. It's root hardy to Zone 8.

Some of the other things I pruned back were the catnip... which really needed water. It's not as drought tolerant as some of the other herbs in that garden. The Greek Oregano had finished blooming weeks ago, and needed the tall flower stems cut off. The winter savory, a very drought tolerant plant that I'm just learning to use in the kitchen, was over grown with the Greek Oregano and as I uncovered it, I realized it had sent out long branches in search of the sun. So, the savory has its spot back to itself and it's pruned back into shape.

With a couple of deep, infrequent waterings during the rest of the summer, which here will last at least until the end of September or mid October, these plants will flush out and be ready for fall harvest. I plan to make lots of herb vinegar, some wreaths for gifts and enjoy the garden in the cooler months of fall and winter.

For those of you gardening in the south, it's time to plant tomatoes and add a few extra peppers and eggplant for fall harvest as well. There's still a great selection at the web site. And, before too long, fall vegetables such as heirloom Italian broccoli, lettuce, Asian Greens and more will be available for planting. Let The Herb Cottage be your place for sturdy, well established fall seedlings. Visit the web site at: http://theherbcottage.com

Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members. -Pearl S. Buck, Nobelist novelist (1892-1973)

Until next time,
Good Growing to You
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage
442 CR 233
Hallettsville, TX 77964


 The Herb Cottage Newsletter
September, 2004

The newsletter is a little late this month because I thought I might find an interesting topic to share with you at our Texas Herb Growers and Marketers Association Conference last weekend. While there were some very interesting speakers (and maybe a topic for a later newsletter), lots of networking among attendees and all sorts of good herbal information, an article from an old newspaper given me by a colleague at the library sparked my imagination for this issue.

The newspaper is the Lavaca County Tribune, Tuesday, June 2, 1942. The byline on the article is from College Station, TX. As any college football fan knows, College Station is the home of Texas A&M University, The Fightin' Aggies, as they're fondly known. It is a major agricultural research center and the home of the Texas Extension Service. Lots of solid gardening information can be found on their web site concerning home gardening, market gardening, growing vegetables, fruit, herbs, ornamentals and more. There is information regarding pests and diseases in the garden, orchard and field, a question and answer section and links to other resources. The website address is: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu

The article that caught my colleague's eye is titled "Herbs in Victory Gardens". Most gardeners have heard of the Victory Gardens encouraged by our government during W.W.II, some of you may have even planted them or helped tend them as children. These gardens were a major source, 40%-50%, of produce for American families while the major portion of commercially raised crops went to feed our troops. Most people think of the Victory Gardens as being just vegetables. I found a list of the common vegetables grown and it reads like a well stocked farmers' market: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, cabbage, lettuce, radishes, cucumbers and more.

People still wanted their food to taste good, so the article from College Station tells about the different herbs that are adapted or native to Texas that could be grown to compliment the vegetables. Basil is listed first, because what is summer without basil for your fresh tomatoes, then dill is listed because pickles are a bore without it, and canning was a big part of the Victory Garden plan. In fact, community kitchens were set up in towns where women could go and learn to can vegetables, use the facilities and spend time visiting with other women. I wish these facilities were still available... think of the shared knowledge about all sorts of things... gardening, raising children, home repairs, sewing, and more. Then comes mint, sage, parsley, anise, bergamot, catnip (as a sedative, perhaps, to calm cranky children?), fennel, hyssop, savory, tarragon, and lemon verbena.

The article goes on to suggest ways to use herbs in cooking, "an art which is practiced too little", according to Miss Camp, home production planning specialist for the Extension Service at A&M. Herbs give stimulating flavors to drinks and distinctive flavors to "warmed-over dishes and in many other ways can aid the homemaker in making cooking an adventure rather than a daily chore." Well, I can just see an over-worked mother whose husband may be overseas thinking about her adventure in the kitchen...

Miss Camp goes on to suggest parsley and fennel are good with poultry, veal venison and fish. A dish of mint or tarragon will make a fruit salad more "delightful". Chives, mint, watercress and sorrel give salad a new dimension. And, she says, mint, lemon verbena and rose geranium are good in beverages.

As you're tending, or harvesting, your gardens this fall, think about those Americans a couple of generations before us who were concerned about loved ones abroad in harm's way and did what they could here at home without complaining and with a sense of purpose. Our gardening traditions are a wonderful way to connect to the past.

For information about Victory Gardens, I used the following web site: http://www.victoryseeds.com/TheVictoryGarden

"No unemployment insurance can be compared to an alliance between man and a plot of land."
Henry Ford

Until next time,
Good Growing to You
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage
442 CR 233
Hallettsville, TX 77964


The Herb Cottage Newsletter
October 2004


Fall..... autumn..... vernal equinox. To me, fall brings images of the late afternoon sun slanting into the chicken house with a warm glow as I close the flock up for the night. Darkness falls earlier and earlier. It's always surprising to me how fast the days shorten once the equinox passes. It's a time of thinking about colder days ahead, comfort foods in the kitchen and baking to warm up the house a little.

I do very little baking in the summer. In our farm house with an air conditioner used only in the bedroom when it's extremely hot and sticky over night, the kitchen (and the rest of the house) stay very warm for about 3 or 4 months. We do lots of outdoor cooking and quick meals. But, during the cooler months, the kitchen again releases those wonderful aromas of bread, cookies, stews, bean pots and sauces.

Many people don't think of herbs as an ingredient in dessert food or sweet treats. We all know herbs are used liberally in dishes like stew, casseroles, pasta sauce, soup and roasted fowl or meat and, of course, tea. But, baked goods are a perfect place to incorporate more herbs in your meals. And, remember, herbs are not used only for flavor. Many of the common culinary herbs we use every day have health benefits. The seemingly small amounts of herbs used daily add up to give the body added immune properties, vitamins and other health benefits.

I have favorite herbs for desserts and sweet treats and like to experiment, too. An easy way to incorporate herbs in baking is to find a quick bread recipe that is rather plain. Then, chop some lemony herbs to add to it. Or, if you don't want little green specks in the bread, steep your lemon herbs in the required liquid over night, remove the herbs and use the flavored liquid. I think either lemon balm or lemon verbena works best for this type of recipe. For a holiday splash, instead of using lemon herbs, use the flowers and leaves of pineapple sage. You'll have red and green speckles throughout the bread.

Shortbread is a good carrier for herbs in a dessert. The butter in shortbread brings out the flavor of the herbs. I like to use a combination of finely chopped rosemary and thyme in a plain shortbread recipe. With fresh herbs, I use about a total of 1 tablespoon to a single recipe. If you're using dried herbs, you'll want to use about one and a half teaspoons of herbs. The resulting shortbread is buttery and savory, very unusual and flavorful.

A plain sugar cookie recipe is another perfect starting place for using herbs in baking. I like to use about a tablespoon of chopped mint in a sugar cookie recipe. I like peppermint, chocolate mint (a peppermint cultivar) or orange mint in sugar cookies. If you want a little stronger flavor, mix the chopped herbs into the butter a few days before baking as if you're making herbed butter. Then, use the flavored butter. You can always add a little mint or orange extract, too, to enhance the flavor.

And, don't forget what a lovely flavor rose geranium adds to an angel food or white cake. Line the cake pan with clean, dry, fresh leaves, pour in the batter and bake. When you remove the cake from the pan, the leaves will be baked into the top of the cake. If you're going to frost the cake, remove the leaves first. After frosting, decorate the cake with more leaves, and you have a lovely and attractive dessert. Rose or lemon-rose geranium leaves can also be finely chopped and mixed with the sugar in the recipe to give a special flavor to the cake.

One of the things I like best about cooking, including baking, is the fun of experimenting. After making a recipe once the way it's written, I like to add or change flavors to make something a little different. When working with herbs, just remember, a little can go a long way, especially when baking. The flavors seem to wake up and really permeate the food. So, my advice is to go easy on the amount of herbs you use. You don't want the herbs to overpower the flavor of the dish.

If you've been preserving your herbs this fall for use over the winter, you can just as easily use the dried herbs in your baked goods. Chop them finely or rub them, and add to the dough or batter when you're mixing.

For yeast bread, I usually add the herbs when I'm first adding ingredients so the herbs get mixed in well. Rosemary and oregano added to a crusty bread adds to any meal with Mediterranean flavors. Dill, chervil or fennel also give a distinctive flavor for bread or biscuits to be served with a hearty soup. Choose your herbs to go with your favorite meals and the bread you bake will add more enjoyment to your table.

I hope you all enjoy your fall season and winter doesn't rush in too soon.

A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday. -Alexander Pope, poet (1688-1744)
Until next time,
Good Growing to You
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage
442 CR 233
Hallettsville, TX 77964


 November 2004
Fall has finally come to our part of Texas. We had a very hot and humid October after a cool spell in August, which tricked us into believing fall had arrived way back then. But, no, of course not.... we were in for more uncomfortable weather. The fall plants were sulking in the late humidity and there was no rush to get in our cool weather crops like dill, cilantro, chervil, calendula, the brassicas and lettuce that we love in the winter here. The basil was still blooming and it was too hot even for the fall tomatoes to ripen.

But, about a week or so ago a cool front blew in with much needed rain and now we are enjoying our short fall season. Texas seems to have very short transitional seasons. We go from hot to cold or from cold to hot very quickly, so when we do have cool nights and dry, sunny days of fall, we take advantage of it.

I've been seeding herbs and flowers for early spring already and cleaning out flower beds. While I've been outdoors in this lovely weather, I'm amazed at the number of butterflies and bees that are taking advantage of the blooms in all the beds. There are the small skipper butterflies, beautiful bluish black swallowtails, huge yellow and black swallowtails and the yellow sulpher butterflies. Then there are the Gulf fritillaries that lay their eggs on my passion vines, but get nectar from many sources. And, monarchs mimics, the Viceroy, are taking advantage of the Asclepius tuberosa or Butterfly Weed flowers. Standing still in the yard and watching, I can see literally hundreds of flying insects all collecting nectar or pollen from the flowers and pollenating them in return.

One plant that is a real magnet for bumble bees and the skipper butterflies is the African Blue Basil that is blooming tall flower stalks from every branch. It is alive with the little critters quickly flying from flower to flower. The big, fat blossoms of Siam Queen basil attract the flying squads, as do all the basils that are blooming now... sweet, Genovese, lemon, purple ruffles and cinnamon.

Bees and butterflies hold on tight in the breeze to the small flowers on the tall stalks of the porterweed. Red, purple and lavender, all the porterweed colors beckon to the insects. I have lots of the old-fashioned vine we call Coral Vine, Antigonon leptopus, and it just hums with bees and bumblebees. The sound, almost a palpable vibration, is constant around the places the vine has climbed up walls and over trellises.

Not to be left out of the party, salvia 'Indigo Spires', the greggi salvias and salvia 'Anthony Parker' all are attracting their share of butterflies and bees to their flowers. 'Anthony Parker' is especially full and lush with dark purple blooms thick on each flower spike. Red stalks of Russelia sarmontosa grow through the 'Anthony Parker' to lure butterflies to its flowers and to create a very striking combination for the humans in the garden to enjoy. In my desire to reclaim one garden bed, I pruned a blue plumbago and was dive bombed by bumblebees that didn't appreciate my efforts since I did prune off several blooming stalks they were working on.

I know this is the last hurrah for many of these plants before they put themselves to bed for the few cooler winter months we experience here. It seems the insects, too, are aware of the closing of the season and are taking full advantage of the bounty that is there for them.

When planning your gardens next spring, if you want to have a garden full of flying colors and pollenators, think The Herb Cottage for flowers and herbs that will attract many different butterflies for you and your family to watch and enjoy. Look for the butterfly symbol by the plant listing when shopping The Herb Cottage website, http://theherbcottage.com.

I hope Thanksgiving brings you and your families together, if possible, to give thanks for the bounty we enjoy from Mother Nature. If you are not able to be with family members, my hope is that they will be with you soon and that they are safe and well.
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Home is not where you live but where they understand you. -Christion Morgenstern, writer (1871-1914)
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A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)
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Until next time,
Good Growing to You
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage
442 CR 233
Hallettsville, TX 77964


 December 2004

Cold weather and gloomy skies have come to my part of Texas. We're experiencing the most rainfall in a year than we've had in some time. In one way, it's good because my outdoor watering chores are kept to a minimum. And, since it's been cloudy a good bit of the time, even the pots in the greenhouse are slow to dry out. In another way, though, the over-abundant rain has caused problems. Around several parts of Texas there has been flooding, causing people to evacuate their homes, and the fields are very wet... too wet to plow and plant with winter crops.

This time of year I turn my focus to planning and planting for spring. Like many of you, I look at the catalogs that come in the mail, dreaming about next year's crops of flowers, herbs and vegetables. I look for new items that I think would be attractive to my customers or items that compliment the collections I already offer. One thing I've noticed is more and more seed companies are offering seedlings for sale of their, presumably, best sellers. I guess they've figured out that many people prefer already grown plants to starting their own seeds. After all, I'm in the plant business, too, because I saw a market for plants. I am offering more seeds this year, however, for those of you who would like to grow your own herbs, vegetables and flowers from seed.

Some varieties of plants really do better from seed in your own garden than started plants. One that comes to mind is the sweet pea. Here in the southern U.S., we plant sweet peas in fall or winter and they grow and then bloom in early to mid spring. Those of you in the more northern reaches of the U.S., will plant them as soon as possible after the last frost. The old varieties of sweet peas are grown not only for their lovely flower colors, but also for their spicy or sweet fragrance. I love them in a vase perfuming the house.

Sweet Peas are best direct sown in the soil where they are to be grown. But, you can give them a head start by starting them in the house or a greenhouse beforehand. Indoor seed starting seems daunting to many people, hence the popularity in purchasing plants. But, there is something quite satisfying about starting your own crops and plants from seed. Each seed has all the information necessary to grow to fruition if you have the patience to see the process through.

To successfully grow your own starts for the garden is pretty easy. You only need to follow a few basic guidelines to have the seeds up and growing in time for your garden. Timing is important, because you don't want the seedlings too large before you plant them out, unless you intend to keep potting them up until the correct outdoor planting date for your area. Most seeds take 6-10 weeks to reach a good size for outdoor planting. Annuals tend to grow more quickly than perennials, so you don't need to start annuals as early as perennials. Since most vegetables are annuals and do grow quickly, you'll want to start them about 6-8 weeks before time to set them out. Perennials, especially many herbs such as oregano, lavender, Mexican Mint Marigold, thyme, stevia and chives take longer to get started. These can even be planted as much as 12 weeks before your frost free date.

The type of soil mixture you use is important when starting seeds. You need a light mixture, not, generally the soil from you garden. For one thing, garden soil is usually too heavy and it can contain pathogens that don't bother established plants, but can be a problem for tiny seedlings. So, use a good potting mix that contains peat or coir, vermiculite and/or perlite. You can use recycled pots or cell packs from your garden purchases. It's a good idea to wash and even rinse them in a bleach solution to kill any bugs or diseases that may linger there. Then, fill the pots with your potting mix and water it in. Let the filled pots set for a few hours or even overnight to moisten the soil mix evenly.

Then, the fun part begins. Gather your seed packages and make tags or labels for each variety you're going to plant. You can use any number of different recycled and found items for tags. I like the unused slats of mini blinds. They're easy to cut and an indelible marker writes on them easily. If you have spring type clothes pins, take them apart and use each side as a plant stake. Again, an indelible marker will write on them. But, be sure to mark your planting. You may think you'll remember, but you won't!! Making tags with the variety name and date planted makes sure you'll know exactly what's in that pot or cell pack. If you like record keeping, start a notebook or file in your computer with all pertinent information: date of planting, brand of seed, variety, and leave a place for notes so you can record the progress of your seeds. Your records can be as full or abbreviated as you wish or have the time and inclination to do.

Follow the directions on the seed packet as to how deep to plant or if the seed needs light to germinate, just sprinkle the seed onto the surface of your soil mix. Water the seeds in gently so you don't disturb them. Many people like to place the pots in a pan of water and allow the water to be taken up by the soil. That way you are sure not to disturb the newly planted seeds. A light spray is also a way to water newly planted seeds.

Then, you'll need to find a place to grow your seeds. They'll need light as soon as they come up so they won't get leggy. A sunny window is OK, but you'll need to turn your pots so the plants don't lean toward the sun. An inexpensive shop light fixture with fluorescent tubes is a great plant light. It should hang only a couple of inches above the soil and be able to be raised as the plants grow.

Sometimes problems occur when growing plants indoors. One common problem is a fungus that causes damping off. A seemingly healthy seedling is found just lying over. This fungus is caused by too much dampness, not enough airflow or soil that had the fungus lying dormant in it. So, it's important to have good airflow around your seedlings, even a small fan turned low will help keep conditions healthy and use new, sterile soil. Don't crowd your plants together too much. Try and find another roomier spot if you think you're crowding them.

Then, water just enough to keep the soil moist so the seeds don't dry out. As the seedlings grow, you can cut back on watering a little, so the soil dries out a little between watering.... not enough to wilt your seedlings, of course. You'll avoid fungus gnats that can appear as if by magic if you keep the soil a little dry. As the seedlings age a little, you can water less frequently as their root systems can take up and hold moisture longer.

Then, just give them a little half strength organic fertilizer every 2 weeks and before you know it, it'll be time to get the garden ready for your new plants. You'll be so proud of the crops you harvest from plants you started from a tiny seed. And, you may have a better appreciation for the plants you do purchase, knowing all the work that goes into producing those plants from seed.

Be sure to check out our seed selection at: http://theherbcottage.com/seeds.htm. for seeds from Botanical Interest Seed Co.

And, don't forget The Herb Cottage to help you make holiday shopping easier with either a gift certificate or one of our Kitchen Gardens of the World. Just make your purchase with the recipient's name and address in the 'ship to' field, and I'll send a holiday greeting to the recipient and the garden will be shipped at the right time to plant outdoors.
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A book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition. Like money, books must be kept in constant circulation. Lend and borrow to the maximum. -Henry Miller, novelist (1891-1980)

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Until next time,
Good Growing to You
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage
442 CR 233
Hallettsville, TX 77964


 January 2005


Happy New Year to You.

The beginning of a new year is as good a time as any to make changes. People make resolutions, go on diets, resolve to be more tolerant or understanding of others, get more exercise, weed the garden beds more often, get organized, clean the garage, organize the potting shed or get the garden in earlier. All things seem possible at the beginning of a new year. It’s like looking at a clean sheet of paper or a blank document in the computer, waiting for it to fill up with your best efforts.

Well, I am no different than the rest of you. I’ve resolved to eat less (ha!), sweep up the dog hair in the house more often, maintain my bookkeeping up to date, and rework The Herb Cottage Website. So, far, on this 9th day of the new year, I’ve done exactly one of my resolutions. I’ve begun to rework the website. I think I’ve got it within a week of being uploaded for all to see. One thing that is accessible already is a new section I’m calling Plant Facts where you’ll be able to go to find out more information about the herbs I offer for sale. Right now there is only one listing and that is the 2005 Herb of the Year: Oregano.

Oregano is indispensable in the kitchen, of course, to flavor tomato dishes, omelets, poultry and herbed vinegar or butter. There are numerous varieties of oregano in the Origanum family. We know them commonly as either Greek Oregano, Italian Oregano, Marjoram, or Dittany of Crete. The distinctions can be confusing. Some are very ornamental like the Dittany of Crete and make wonderful hanging basket selections due to their low growth habit and interesting and fragrant flowers. Others are more suited to the garden beds, such as the Greek and Italian varieties due to their vigorous growth habits, where they attract tiny beneficial insects as well as honey bees and even hummingbirds. If you’d like to learn a little more about the varieties of Oregano and some of its history, follow the link: http://theherbcottage.com/oreg.html.

As long as we’re on the topic of new things, I’d like to draw your attention to the vegetable varieties I’m offering this year. There are new tomatoes that I hope you’ll find tasty and attractive. In the red tomatoes, I’ve added Abraham Lincoln, a fairly short season variety, 77 days, introduced by Buckbee’s Seed in 1923; Sioux, a 70 day variety, released by the University of Nebraska in 1944, that does well in hot weather, isn’t too large, about 6 oz, average, but has a fabulous, rich, complex tomato taste that has to be eaten to be believed; and Ugly, a 75-day red tomato that produces a heavy crop of ribbed beefsteak-type fruit with a flavor that is the reason you grow your own tomatoes.

There are also some new purple, orange and cherry and grape varieties, so please take some time to peruse the new listings at: http://theherbcottage.com/vegetables.html

For you Pepperheads, there is a limited selection of Capsicum varieties from Eco Seed that I’m growing out. I don’t have a lot of seed of any one variety, but I counted 85 different peppers in the collection of seed given to me by a fellow who lives near Corpus Christi, TX. The seeds are planted and being kept toasty warm on my heat mats. I’m expecting them to be ready for sale by the end of February or middle of March. To view the listings, go to: http://theherbcottage.com/peppsp.html

So, there are a few new things going on at The Herb Cottage for 2005. I’m looking forward to a busy season. But, with the unusual weather we’ve had the last year and the unpredictability of Mother Nature and our planet Earth, one never knows what the future will bring. All we can do is prepare and hope for the best.

I wish you all a prosperous and fortunate New Year.

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Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.
-Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, musician, Nobel laureate(1875-1965)

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Until next time,

Good Growing to You,
Cindy Meredith, proprietor
The Herb Cottage
442 CR 233
Hallettsville, TX 77964

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