The Modern Hippy

Fresh herbs prepped to dry

     Planning my herb garden the end result, after all the dirty fun of course, was to have herbs to dry for cooking all winter long. Or at least until then ran out. So to save me money. So far, so good! I’ve dried so many herbs so far! Although, the end is in sight soon. The annual herbs are slowing because of the seasonal change. Margoram has already died, though that might be do to up rooting by an excited, energetic dog.
     I did some research about drying herbs. It seems that two weeks in the magic time listed by many people. I’ve added a few more weeks sometimes with those herbs like sage that are softer and more succulent. Don’t want mold to ruin anything. Hanging herbs on the wall or laying them out on plates, out of the way of the cat has worked best for me. Remember to keep them out of direct sun light. Store the herbs out of sunlight if you can. I have mine on a shelf in the kitchen. There is no direct light on them because of where the sun rises and where the window is.
     I’ve done some experimenting with drying herbs. Fennel is not supposed to dry well, but I left it out for almost a month and placing it in the jar I could still smell the black licorice scent. I have heard that sage doesn’t dry well. No problems so far. Cooking with both dried and fresh sage isn’t a lot different. Not a lot of flavor is lost with the moisture.
What I have noticed is that cooking with these fresh herbs requires a lot less. Sometimes the flavor is completely different that grocery store bottled cooking spices. Rubbed sage, even organic can’t compare to the stuff from my garden. It’s awesome! I can hardly wait until next year when I plant new and exciting herbs!

Borage Flowers

     I’ve mentioned this nifty surprising herb. We got it for my herb garden at my parents. Originally I bought it to feed the bees and as an experiment. A lady at the Mount Vernon Co-op said she had it one year, but didn’t use it very much. She noticed that the bees loved it though. Well, I’m all for feeding those hard working bees.
     My one plant has grown faster and bigger than any of the other herbs. It has to be at least two feet high, and four or five feet across. It’s funny looking, very hairy and gangly looking, with gorgeous, simple blue and pink flowers. It is horribly poky.

Cultivation:

     It’s a low maintenance herb, an annual that will reseed itself well. It’s spreads and loves full sun. It’s recommended to plant with strawberries, squash, or tomatoes – it is suppose to improve the flavor of tomatoes and repel tomato hornworm.
     My experience: It’s super easy. I planted a start and it’s been water a few times through the dryer months. It grew very fast and is starting to grow over a couple other herbs so I will have to cut it back. Be sure to leave plenty of space, even if you think it’s too much, it probably isn’t. I’ve read that trimming it will contain it a little. I haven’t done that with it though.

Uses:

*Culinary:
     The leaves and flowers can be used fresh in salad. The leaves can also be steamed, but for a short time because they are so thin they will cook down quickly – or added to stew and soups at the last minute. They both can be used in tea. And have been used in gin drinks. The flowers can be candied and used on cakes. The fresh flowers taste like honey.
     My experience: I’ve used the flowers several times to make tea. It has a very smooth soothing taste, like chamomile, but even softer. I like it. I have tried using the leaves in cooking a couple of times. However, I think I’ve put them in too early. Also, as far as I can see, it should be eaten and not turned into leftovers. It doesn’t keep well.

*Medicinal:
     It’s is considered to be good for PMS and menopause. Used in tea is good for colds, respiratory infections, high cholesterol, constipation, soothing to the digestive tract. It can help to regulate the adrenal glands and is a galactogogue (milk production stimulant), and emollient.

Borage Oil:

     Borage oil is extracted from the seed of the flower. It is showing through studies that it is good for eczema – on the list of things to try for me!

     Cautionary Notes: I’ve read in many places that it is furry, but nowhere did it say how pokey it is. The leaves aren’t as bad, but the larger stocks are prickly enough to be painful so becareful! One site cautioned, and I will reiterate – be careful of bees. The flowers hang down so it may be hard to spot a bee before picking a flower without looking closer.

Borage Flowers on Fennel

Resources:
Borage(Borago offincinalis)
What is Borage Oil?

Baked Chicken Breasts with Fresh Herbs

     It’s been about a year and a half since I’ve had to learn to cook everything from scratch. I’m getting very good. I’m also embracing the frugal side of me that lay dormant for many years. I search for deals, though if quality is more expensive then I will take a leap and buy. One thing last year that seemed to cost a fortune was all the herbs I was buying to flavor the food. I went through a ton of coriander, salt, pepper, paprika, rosemary and many, many others. Aside from the cost it bothered me that I had no idea how fresh the herbs were in those nifty little glass bottles. So I decided, after asking my parents if I could have a little plot of land in their garden for my herbs. I didn’t know what I was going to grow, or what would grow wonderfully in this climate, but I knew that I wanted fresh, cheap and quality. When you grow your own that combination is possible.
     Now a few months after spading up the lovely, sweet smelling soil I am starting to see the fruits of my labor. I’m trying to use fresh herbs in my cooking daily. I’ve noticed that fresh herbs taste completely different than dried herbs (except for rosemary, that’s about the same just more potent fresh). Previously I thought sage was boring, but fresh it has wonderful flavor.

Baked chicken breasts with fresh herbs:
One of my first experiments was with chicken of course. To follow my “recipe”, you will need:

• Two or more uncooked chicken breasts – not frozen (freezing meat changes it, makes it less yummy.)
• A baking dish with a lid – the lid will keep the steam in and not let the meat dry out.
• A selection of fresh herbs – I used sage, curry, oregano, marjoram, and basil.
• Salt

Simply place chicken breasts in a baking dish. Tear or mince herbs to smallish size and sprinkle over meat and into bottom of pan. Sprinkle salt. Bake at 350 degrees F, for about 30-40 minutes, or until done. Temperature for poultry is about 160 degrees F. (Chicken is easy to tell though, it will no longer look clear and pink, but solid and more white or brown than pink.)

Raw Chicken Breasts with Fresh Herbs - before baking

     I’m a little behind on updating about my lovely herb garden. It is thriving! I have rosemary, sage, margoram, thyme, oregano, lemon verbena, fennel, chives, basil, borage, and two kinds of mint.

     They have now grown enough for me to use them in cooking! I’m so proud of my little herbs – I feel like a mother. Haha.

Herb Garden Early

     Here is my “baby” a couple weeks after planting. It’s so cute!

Herb Garden

     The big one in the back is the borage. It is the fastest growing herb I have. The funny thing is I use it the least. At some point I will make a post about it – I use the flowers in tea, it’s good. More experimentation will occur over the rest of the summer. From what I’ve read, it will stick around and spread crazily. I must learn how to use it well. One good thing about it is my dad’s bees love it. So honey for us!

Infant herb garden

     This year I’m growing some of my own herbs. In the last year I have spent a fortune on herbs. They make things taste interesting and are beneficial to digestion, so in my opinion they are a must!

     Since there is a good possibility that if I try to start some inside for a kitchen garden Milo, my cat, will eat them, I’m growing them at my parents’ house. They live on about an acre, the “farm” I grew up on. I planted them about a month ago. I have a couple different types of mint, rosemary, sage, oregano, lemon verbena, fennel, basil, and a couple of others I can’t remember. Last weekend I planted three different lettuces between the baby spice plants. They will be gone before it gets too crowded for them. Only one plant died, the original basil plant. They are a little too delicate for our recent crazy weather, probably should have waited to plant it for another month. But the most recent replacement should do okay. I hope.

     Being a crazy-picture-taker, I will be documenting a lot of the gardening at my parents’ house. They have a lot of room and I have a lot of willingness to play in the dirt. Check back for updates from the “farm” weekly or so. I’m trying to get back to blogging more. However, looking for a job and the impending move will take up a lot of time. So please be patient.

It’s fall now so of course now I want a garden. Must be contrary. Well, I told Rick about wanting to go to pick up a couple of plants. He pointed out that I’ve been having trouble keeping my plants alive recently. The cactus that I’ve had since I was a teen has died. It had been knocked out of its pot by my cat too many times to count. My coleus has died back and once again I’m not sure why. It’s almost died on me before, it does each time we move, but we haven’t moved in almost a year so what give? Milo my kitty has knocked of its branches. My peace lily is still alive though, though Milo likes to chew on it. And now my jade plant is acting weird, it’s not standing tall like normal; it’s spreading out and then growing up.
Basically my apartment garden is acting strange. This summer I had a hell of a time keeping everything watered and happy. My memory has been horrible, plus I think I was really burned out, had trouble caring about regular things. Things around me sadly suffered.
Well, I’m back, the old Missy, the one that organizes everything to the last degree of ridiculousness. I was however swayed by Rick; I’m not buying a plant any time soon. I want to keep the ones I have alive and well for a while. So I’m researching what I should focus on for an apartment. I think when I get more plants either already in plant form or seeds I’ll have a better idea as to what to get. I’ll say that I’m having trouble with something. This apartment does never have direct sun, but what about when we move? My coleus was so healthy in the old apartment; it had plenty of sun there.
I have a section of wall that I may reorganize and get grow lights to place on the lowered ceiling. It’s just a mass of clutter now. If we can afford it I want to get a shelving unit or a table of some sort. Fine plan, sounds good to me. I figure that if I plan everything to death it will help with my missing plants. Logics get in my way. I want instant gratification and cute little green plant. Patience sucks.

I have some gardening supplies, fresh soil, lots of pots and I mean lots of pots all nicely stacked. The little ones are so cute. I have a broom; every porch or apartment gardener needs one. And a trowel that is too big for some of the pots but perfect for my huge pots.

List of Gardening Needs & Wants

1. A table of shelf
2. Smaller trowel
3. Little planter tray tiny, so I can plant seeds and transplant them out into something bigger.
4. Seeds possibly organic
5. Grow lamp

So far that’s all I can think of, if anyone has anymore ideas let me know. If I come up with something else I’ll add it.

The last of my porch garden

I’ve salvaged the rest of my garden. My apple mint went to seed nearly a month ago. Rick’s peppermint has also gone to seed, but as it was a little shoot came up and grew. It is going to seed again. My lavender dried out and started to die back. It’s growing back now though. It’s over two years old. I started it just before a winter at our old apartment. It made it through two cold winters and snows. By its self mind you, I didn’t help it.