Plants of the Week: It's all about the HERBS!

Welcome to the basil forest!

It’s official- harvesting plant medicine has begun in earnest and, depending on who’s in your garden, won’t stop until first frost. This time of year it’s all about the Aster and Mint families.

Blossoms like calendula, chamomile, echinacea and yarrow all benefit from regular deadheading, and create small consistent harvests that lend themselves well to infusions in oil or apple cider vinegar to create soothing topical applications for all manner of skin ailments. Infuse a pint of oil (local sunflower, olive or jojoba are lovely) with freshly-wilted chamomile, calendula and yarrow, then blend with local beeswax for tins of salve. You’ll be the hero of every chapped lip and dry hand you know!

Mint family plants like lemon balm, tulsi, basil, peppermint and spearmint should be harvested when the bottommost flowers on their spikes have begun blooming, or slightly before. Cutting at this time encourages bushy regrowth, and gives you the highest quantity of aromatic leaves and flowers without a lot of stem or seed. Be sure to make yourself a half gallon of fresh mint tea to have on hand in the fridge- plants with high volatile oil content (read: nice and smelly) will last the longest in the fridge, as the volatile oils do double duty inhibiting fermentation. This also clues us in to their amazing ability as general support for our immune system. Harvest on a hot, sunny day and dry quickly in a breezy, warm spot to get the highest volatile oil content from your plants.

Tulsi drying on racks in our greenhouse

We are doing a big sale this week- buy one herb pot, get one free! Culinary staples, perennials, and tea herbs are all available and will continue to produce well into early fall. Come by the greenhouses between 8-6 every day to stock up on herbaceous joy this week!

This is a great time to bulk up your herb garden with a new-to-you plant or more of your favorites. Include a couple of lemon verbena and rosemary plants to make Sophie’s favorite “lazy tea”: Just add a few whole leaves of lemon verbena and a sprig of rosemary to the bottom of your cup, then cover with hot water and steep five minutes. It’s the perfect afternoon pick-me-up, and is even better when steeped overnight and served on ice.

No more room for herbs in the garden? We’ve got you covered! We are now offering bulk fresh herbs for pickup at our greenhouse. Dry sage and thyme for holiday gifts, brew tulsi and anise hyssop tea for your whole cookout, make a cool mint bath for your sunburn… the possibilities are endless!

Building mesh screens to sift dried herbs

We have some upcoming classes for the herbal enthusiast (registration required):

July 20th: Know and Grow your Chicory. Julie and I are teaming up to talk all things chicory- from its use as an ancient medicinal herb, to coffee substitute, to revered Italian vegetable and everything in between. Taste tests included!

August 5th: First Thursdays in the Garden: Chad will be talking integrated pest management this month- how we do it at RWP and how you can at home. Julie will offer a behind-the-scenes tour of our greenhouses. I’ll also be hosting our September 2nd edition to talk about fall herbs!

August 21st: Harvesting and Processing Medicinal Herbs. We’ll dive deep into the different ways to preserve and use the herbal bounty in this hands-on three-hour class, so bring your questions and jars!

Let us know what you’re making from the season’s bounty, and of course come by any day 8-6 with questions, concerns, and success stories. We’re happy to help and love hearing about your garden journeys.

Plant of the Week (POW)

This week’s plant of the week is actually a whole group of plants. We are offering flowering vines, and if you buy ONE, you will get THREE free! They’re a bit tangled together at this point, but they are healthy and dark green, and with a little patience can be untangled and turned into an almost instant trellised green wall. Or make a teepee out of bamboo and let them climb all over the structure. Cover an old fence, create a privacy screen, pull down the gone-by spring peas and replant with flower vines. You get the picture - there are lots of fun uses for flowering vines. Please note, that this is while supplies last. If we run out of vines, we will switch to something else for our Plant of the Week (POW). The selection includes

• Cypress VIne

• Morning Glories (3 different kinds)

• Hyacinth Bean Vine

• Sweet Peas

• Scarlet Runner Beans

IN THE GARDEN

Maintenance pruning and weeding in the perennial gardens

The rain has been such a blessing this past week. We are now seeing lots of weeds and quick new growth and jungle feeling is real! May I suggest our sickle weeder and our small snips as tools to help you in that endeavor? When the garden is growing so quickly, it becomes harder to get weeds with a hoe, so I turn to my hand tools for a quick cultivation run through when the weeds are small.

If your strawberries have finished producing fruit, it is time to renovate them

1. mow it down (the whole thing, with a line trimmer)

2. rototill the edges of the beds to keep the growth in the center of the bed, and out of the walking paths

3. fertilize the strip of stubble that will remain and become next year’s bed and water it well if we have another dry spell.

Check your garlic. It is ready to harvest when about ⅔ to ¾ of the leaves have turned brown. We will probably harvest ours next week.

Wash and prep your vegetables as soon as you harvest them. Lettuce greens store so much better when they have been washed and dried first. I try to prep everything I harvest as soon as I bring it into the kitchen. Bags of dirty, hot greens just wilt and get ignored, but if I trim, wash, and dry salad greens, I am much more likely to eat a salad with every meal. I have been blanching chard and kale as I bring it home too. I then have an easy cooked green to eat with eggs or add to a taco, or a grain bowl. It makes meal planning a lot easier.

Herbes Salées - a Traditional Quebequois Preservation Method

Recipe for Herbes Salées (adapted from Spruce Eats)

Here is a traditional Quebequois way to preserve large amounts of herbs to use all winter.

Suggested uses: A teaspoon in hot water makes a soothing and instant herbal broth. Stir into soups and stews, mix into salad dressings and tomato sauce, mix with cream cheese, yogurt or cottage cheese for dips, spreads and snacks….the uses are endless and a jar of these preserved herbs will be a welcome reminder of summer’s freshness during the depths of winter.

• 1 cup chives (fresh, chopped)

• 1 cup savory (fresh, chopped)

• 1 cup parsley (fresh, chopped)

• 1 cup chervil (fresh, chopped)

• 1 cup carrots (grated)

• 1 cup celery leaves or lovage or cutting celery (chopped)

• 1 cup green onions (chopped)

• 1/4 to 1/2 cup coarse salt

  In a large bowl, combine chopped chives, savory, parsley, chervil, carrots, celery leaves, and green onions.. Layer 1 inch of herb mixture in the bottom of a crock or glass bowl and sprinkle with some of the salt. Repeat layers until all of the herb mixture and salt is used.

  Cover and refrigerate for 2 weeks. Drain off accumulated liquid and pack herb mixture into sterilized jars. Refrigerate until ready to use. Can keep for up to a year in the refrigerator.

Herbes Salées photo by Kate Bentley

Plant(s) of the Week: A power trio

Tulsi with bee friend. Photo by Sophie Cassel

Happy Solstice! We are finally beginning to see the fruits of our early season labor, as the chamomile and calendula come into full flower, the mints begin to really take off, and the perennial valerian and angelica stand tall. I have been absolutely flabbergasted by the way my second-year lemon balm and catnip plants have bushed out, and have begun cutting them back to dry for winter teas. Any time I harvest plants for drying, I also make a batch of fresh herbal tea. This weekend I gathered

• the first calendula blossoms

• a handful of chamomile

• a few sprigs of bronze fennel

• a big bundle of lemon balm

I chopped them all into a half-gallon mason jar and let it steep in the sunshine for a few hours before straining over ice for a perfect “sun tea”. A tea like this only exists at a unique moment, and in a unique garden. This snapshot of the season is a great way to get to know your individual herbs.

This week, in our retail greenhouse, we are offering a trio of herbs as our “Plant(s) of the Week”

• Anise Hyssop

• Tulsi (which we have a blog post about)

• Chamomile.

These are a perfect sun tea trio. All three are plants that you’ll definitely want more than one of in your garden, and when you buy these three staple medicinal herbs, you get three free!

You can find me in the garden drinking sun tea, reading, and hanging out with the plants,

Sophie Cassel

Late June Garden Chores

Plant now for this look later in the summer.

IN THE GARDEN

—> Keeping up with the weeds after the rain is a priority. They will all bounce up and make a carpet in no time. For best results, cultivate when the weeds are young, once the soil has dried out.

—> Fertilize onions, leeks, and shallots because this is when they put on the most growth. I use Compost Plus and water once or twice with fish emulsion during the weeks of late June and early July.

—> Stake and prune tomatoes. Keep the suckers pinched off, and the foliage off the ground. Doing this now will keep the plants disease free for much longer. If you have not yet, I recommend mulching under the plants to keep the soil from splashing up on the leaves since this is one of the ways disease can spread. We will show you how to do this on our July 1st Plant Walk.

—> Now is a great time to put in a strawberry or asparagus patch. We have both available as bare root stock and our retail team can explain how to do it if you are not sure.

—> I have planted all the required staples such as tomatoes, peppers, squash, etc, and now I am ready to plant the electives. This week it is the cut flower garden. I have the following combos planned for different spots in the new display garden (which you can see on our First Thursday Plant Walks).

• -Marble Arch Mix Salvia, Cosmos, Zinnia ‘Benary’s Giant White’

• -Verbena bonariensis, Zinnias ‘Benary’s Giant Mix’ and ‘State Fair Mix’, Rudbeckia hirta

• -Statice, Strawflower, Gomphrena, Celosia, Amaranth (all for drying)

• -Sunflowers - a crazy mix of all of our varieties

Medicinal Herb Bundles for 2021

2021 is going to be a big year for medicinal herb growing! With ever more people finding joy and solace in tending to plants, many folks are also realizing that home gardening can be more than just tomatoes and pansies. At Red Wagon we’re branching out as well, and growing even more herbs with traditional medicinal uses. Maybe you’re feeling ready to dive in to the world of healing herbs but a little overwhelmed at all the choices available (don’t even get me started on how *all* plants are medicinal!) Our specially tailored herb bundles are a great way to fill your garden with plants that you know you’ll use and enjoy. Additionally, we’ll offer support through educational videos and recommendations all season.

Our pre-made bundles are only available through our online store; you can also find the individual plants in our retail greenhouses when you come to shop in-person.

To help you get to know the herbs, we’ve made introductory videos for all four bundles; check them out on our Youtube channel. In the video descriptions you’ll also find some book recommendations, many of whose authors have their own super-informative youtube channels. Let these resources be a jumping-off point for your own personal experiences and kitchen experiments with the herbs!

Garden Tea Time Bundle: This kit is full of only the tastiest herbs for making fresh and dried teas. If you’re working with herbs and children, this bundle offers kids a safe and yummy way to pick their own medicine.

Skin Care Herb Bundle: This kit makes a great gift for that glowing garden goddess in your life! Infuse oils for salves and make at-home hydrosols (floral waters) with the vibrant herbs in this bundle.

Sweet Dreams Herb Bundle: Whether you need help counting sheep or just a little support getting through the stresses of the day, the herbs in this kit have got your back.

Basic Home Apothecary Bundle: If you’re ready to form long-term relationships with some perennial herbs, this bundle is full of highly regarded medicinal plants that can be harvested from for years to come. These are great herbs to use when learning how to make tinctures (shelf-stable infusions using alcohol, vinegar or glycerine).

You might be wondering how to start working with herbs early this season, in addition to planning and planting the garden. One thing I do in the spring is go through the dried herbs I still have from seasons past. Now is the time to blend up those random dried herbs to make room for this year’s bounty. I also find it much easier to drink a daily herbal infusion when I have it already mixed up in a pretty jar on the counter. Right now, I’m drinking a blend of garden staples like lemon balm, wood betony and peppermint mixed with some early spring wild plants that will be ready to harvest soon: self-heal, nettles, and red clover. These herbs are mineral rich and help support the healthy liver and lymph function to ease the transition from winter into spring.

If you still have a bunch of dried culinary herbs, try mixing them up to use on roast chicken, spring soups (Nettle and potato soup anyone?), or sprinkled on toast with butter and the first radishes of the year. And remember, culinary herbs are good medicine, too!

2021 can be the year you work more deeply with herbs as a part of your everyday life. We look forward to offering more resources, and hearing about your experiences in the garden this growing season!

New Medicinal Herbs for 2021

By Sophie Cassel

Note: The plants discussed here have long histories of use, and the information included does not constitute medical advice. Be sure to check in with your medical provider before using any new herbs long-term. 

This year I have the honor of introducing you to some of our newest additions to the Red Wagon Plants medicinal herb family. In addition to the many medicinal herb starts we grow every year, we have added some plants that are tried and true herbal allies, if not as common in the modern Vermont garden. 

Medicinal herbs tend to be very closely related if not identical to their “wild” counterparts, with very little breeding done by humans for horticultural production. In this way, the most adaptable and hardy plants tend to thrive, and those very compounds that aid the plant’s survival also serve to act medicinally in the human body. Horticultural plant breeding is often targeted towards things like bloom time and flower color, so medicinal constituents may decrease as the plant adjusts in favor of these showy adaptations. For those of us who appreciate a more natural looking perennial garden, the wild beauty of the unmodified plants is part of their charm, and an assurance that we are growing high-quality medicine as well. 

Another trick to medicinal plant growing is germination. Many of these more wild plants have adaptations to ensure seed viability which actually make them much more difficult to reliably germinate at home. Replicating the plant’s natural experience, such as letting the seeds go through a period of cold stratification (for northern climate plants) or nicking the seed coats to mimic the passage through an animal’s intestine, will help increase germination. They’ll never behave quite like a tomato or spinach seed, because these medicinal plants have not adapted to rely on human propagation. This means that buying established plant starts is a great way to ensure success this year, and you’ll be able to save seed to experiment with expanding your patch in years to come. 

You’ll notice that a couple of these plants have the species name “officinalis”, as do other herbs that we grow; that’s a clue to the fact that these plants were historically included in official pharmacopeias and monastic apothecaries well before Linnaeus’s time in the early 18th century. 

Without further ado, here are some of the newest additions to the Red Wagon medicinal herb family:

Marshmallow (Althea officinalis): A relative of hollyhock and hibiscus, this pale-pink flowering beauty lives up to its name, thriving in wet or dense soils. It will also do just fine in garden soils with enough moisture. Growing 3-5’ tall, plant marshmallow towards the back of your perennial beds, but still within easy enough reach to harvest the flowers and soft, velvety leaves for tea. All parts of this plant, including the 2+ year old roots, are valuable for their soothing mucilaginous qualities, which smooth out digestion and soften skin. A great herb for the kid’s garden!

Wood Betony (Stachys officinalis): This plant used to be a staple in old European herb gardens, and has been venerated for centuries as a panacea to “preserve the liver” and ease emotional malaise. Well-behaved clumps of deep green leaves form attractive mounds for the front of the garden, with stately 2’ spikes of purple flowers that will continue to sprout as you harvest through the season. Clip back stems, leaves and flowers and dry for a subtle, earthy tea that can clarify the mind and support healthy digestive function.

Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora): As our retail manager and fellow herb aficionado Lily said, “After 2020, everyone could use some skullcap!” A native wetland herb in the Mint family, skullcap will happily sort itself around plants like marshmallow and valerian, growing 1-2’ tall with petite periwinkle-colored flowers appearing along the stems. One of our most valued herbs for relaxing muscle tension and general anxiousness, this plant is used both to support sleep and simply find ease through the day. Cut back a few times over the season and dry for tea or infuse in alcohol to make a tincture. Skullcap doesn’t have much of a flavor, so it plays well with other aromatic family members like lemon balm, peppermint, and tulsi. 

Elecampane (Inula helenium): Do you ever wish your sunflowers had a little more sass and came back every year? Elecampane is your answer! Growing up to 6’ tall, elecampane sports finely-petaled yellow flowers born on thick bracts, with large clasping leaves that are a showstopper in the garden. Named after Helen of Troy, the root of this plant has been long revered as a pungent digestive tonic with a camphorous aroma that lends itself well to infused honeys and cordials. It’s valuable in supporting lung health and getting out stuck “gunk” wherever it may be lodged. 

California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica): We’re bringing back the California state flower to our collection this year. While related to the other garden poppies, Eschscholzia flowers later and requires far less in terms of soil quality to thrive. The only annual on this list, plant California poppy alongside other self-seeding annuals like chamomile and calendula, or tuck it around the front of a sunny perennial border that you don’t have time to mulch or fertilize. The whole plant is used medicinally, including the striking red root and attractive long seed pods (which also make excellent everlasting bouquet additions). Tincture the plant in vinegar or alcohol to make a tonic for sleep that is impeded by either pain or discomfort of body and mind alike.

Pruning Raspberries with Lily Belisle

Many trees, shrubs, vines and brambles benefit from annual pruning. Many plants have their own preferred way to be pruned. It can be difficult to gain confidence with a task you only get to do once a year. Plants are forgiving, and give second chances. So my suggestion is to watch a YouTube video and give it a try. Raspberries are a great place to start.

Raspberries are vigorous growers once the plants are established and you'll greatly improve your yield, disease resistance, and ease of harvest with annual pruning. There are 2 types of raspberries - ones that make fruit on second year canes (floricanes), these are your summer raspberries - and ones that make fruit on first (primocane) and second year canes (floricanes), these are your fall raspberries with a few fruits in the summer. I grow both types at my house and prefer to prune them all the same way.

You'll need hand pruners or loppers and gloves. These canes are prickly.

The goal is to remove all canes that are 2 years old (floricanes) and any damaged or weak canes. Cut cane down as close to the soil level as possible.

How do you tell which canes are floricanes? They will have branching, the bark will look dull and weathered, and when you cut them the wood will be dead.

Many of my canes were damaged by rabbits, so I cut all those down too. Any very thin canes should also be removed.

Lastly with all the remaining canes that I'm keeping I prune them down to be about 4-5' tall.

Enjoy!

Tiny Clay Pots, Living Greens, Medicinal Herbs, and What to Do in the Garden.

The greenhouse industry once propagated and sold plants in these tiny pots.

For this week’s curbside pick up, happening Friday between noon and 6, we have some very sweet offerings to bring life and cheer to your weekend. First up, are these adorable viola collections. They are planted in tiny antique terracotta pots, and will make a lovely statement on your table. The greenhouse industry is full of plastic, and this year we are kicking off a year long experiment with reducing plastic use. Plants were once propagated and sold in these tiny clay pots, and by offering them to you this week, we are including you in that mission. Keep your eye out for more efforts to reduce plastic, and please give us your feedback.

Our Living Greens are so good right now. I have been making a daily salad with clipped mustard greens (mizuna, Tokyo bekana, arugula, Cheap Frills) and dressing it with just a squeeze of lemon, hazelnut oil, and our herb salts. It is just so good! When you order a tray of mustards, we will give you two kinds of each, and you will have fun textures and colors to mix into your salads. These are mild, sweet mustards. Not sharp at all.

Our greens are a living tapestry of colors, textures and flavors.

IN THE GARDEN

It looks like after this weekend, the daytime temperatures will be in the 50’s, and night time temperatures will be at or just above freezing. If your garden is dry enough, towards the end of next week, you can direct seed the following into your soil:

• Peas

• kale

• spinach

• mustards

• lettuce

• carrots

• beets

• turnips

How do you know the soil is dry enough to work?

Do this simple test: make a handful of soil into a little ball, drop it from knee height. If it shatters, you soil is dry enough But if it stays in a little ball or breaks into just 2 or 3 pieces, it is too wet. Walking, rototilling and digging in a wet garden creates compaction. This means that your soil will feel like concrete all summer, and plants won’t grow well, and certain weeds will thrive and be very hard to pull out. Think of your garden beds as fluffy pillows, and avoid doing anything that reduces the loft. For best results, please just wait until the soil is dry before working the soil, seeding and planting.

If your garden soil is too wet, or you live in a colder place, you can always scratch the garden itch by cleaning up the shed, sharpening tools, and cleaning out your containers. It is nice to get a fresh start, and have everything ready once the weather is warm enough.

MEDICINAL HERB WORKSHOP

Sophie Cassel, herbalist, Red Wagon team member, and owner of Patchwork Plants, will be teaching a Zoom class this Saturday at 10 am on growing herbs for health and wellness. I hope you join her for a fun, inspiring, and incredibly informative look at how plants can help us thrive. Sohpie’s knowledge and enthusiasm knows no bounds. You can sign up here.

UPCOMING

We will be open to the public on April 16th and we will continue to offer curbside pick up and online ordering. For the next two weeks, we will continue to offer curbside pick up on Fridays, and then, once we open, we will switch to next day pick up. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions.

For in - person shopping, we ask that everyone wear a mask and ask that you shop on weekdays if your schedule allows. We are hoping to avoid the weekend crowds, and will give away a free plant to customers who shop Monday through Thursday. Thanks so much for your consideration as we work hard to keep our staff and community safe.

For pick up tomorrow, please have your orders in by midnight tonight.

Thanks so much, and happy gardening, Julie

Pollinator Habitat Gardening

When planting a garden to attract pollinators, it is important to look at all the life cycles of the beneficial insects you are trying to help and to attract. Sometimes, we are just focused on that flashy butterfly feeding on nectar, but we need to also think about the less showy stages of the caterpillar and the cocoon. They need different plants at different stages. While focusing on the feeding stage of adult insects and butterflies is a great start, we invite you to dig a little deeper. 

Tips to  encourage a lively community of beneficial insects:

• Have a community of plants that bloom for as long a time as possible. Think about early spring all the way to deep freeze

• Leave debris in the garden over the winter. Do your “fall” clean up in the spring, once the soil is warm and all the eggs have hatched out of hollow stems, bark, under the leaves, and mulch.  If you feel compelled to cut back the plants in the fall, leave them in piles on the edge of the garden to keep intact the winter habitat. 

• Instead of raking leaves in the fall, let them stay in place. they will break down and add to your garden soil. In the spring, any leaves that have  not broken down over the winter can be added to parts of the garden that need the soil built up or you can add them to the compost pile. 

Some of my favorite plants to include: 

Valerian – easy, tall, and leaves you lots of woody, hollow stems for winter shelter. The while umbel flowers are attractive, and the seed heads persist all summer long, into the fall and winter. 

Eupatorium – also known as Joe Pye Weed. This is a favorite native meadow plant that does well in heavy soils. It has huge, umbel shaped flowers in late summer, and the seed heads look great going into winter. 

Echinacea and Rudbeckia – cone flowers and black eyed susan. These are mainstays of the  perennial garden for a reason. They are easy to grow and attract many beneficial insects to the garden. Large patches of them are more effective than single plants here and there. 

Try to create a big swathes of these plants, and create variation in height and texture by interspersing them with 

Calamintah nepeta ssp nepeta photo credit: Stonehouse Nursery

• Calamintha nepeta  ssp nepeta

• Salvia

• Penstemon

• Alium

• Eryngium yuccafolium

• Heliopsis

• Helenium

• Grasses

Finally, tuck in ground covers to help suppress weeds by covering all the bare soil:

• Geranium maculatum 

• Geranium sanguineum

• Tiarella

• Lamium

• Carex

• Epimedium

Zinnias, verbena bonariensis, calendula, bronze leaf fennel, and tulsi basil are annual flowers and herbs that I love to introduce into the perennial garden or the vegetable garden. They do a great job of feeding a large group of insects and butterflies and will attract many pollinators to the vegetable and fruit garden. Plus their pops of color and varying textures charm and catch the eye from a distance. 

Red Wagon resources to get you started:

• Keep an eye out for Chad’s Beneficial Insect Seed Mix this year to try some of this at home, from seed.

• We will be offering plant collections that include many of these varieties so that you can follow our formula without having to search each individual plant.

• And you can take a workshop this Saturday, March 30th with Julia Parker-Dickerson to learn all about her experience making Pollinator Habitat Gardens in public spaces.

Thanks for caring about the smallest creatures.

Happy gardening,

Julie

Virtual Workshop Schedule for Spring 2021

We are so excited to share our spring workshop line up with you. This year, our three main workshops will be supplemented with an exciting array of follow up opportunities: related plant and seed collections; garden visits with presenters; tools and other merchandise that complement the topic; and late summer and fall workshops to help with harvesting, preserving and maintaining the food, medicine and gardens you will create with us this year.

Your success in the garden is our goal. Plain and simple. We will provide you with everything you need to make it work.

Julia Parker Dickerson: Introduction to Pollinator Gardens 

Saturday, March 20th from 10:00AM -11:30AM 

Delve into the importance of pollinator gardens, and prepare to create your own wildlife haven. Julia has so much inspiring, hands on experience transforming public spaces into beautiful oases for our beneficial insects and friends. Participants in this workshop can recreate this at home with our plant and seed collections and garden visits with Master Gardener Julia and members of the Red Wagon Team. Cost $15.  

Julie Rubaud: Onions 101 

Tuesday, March 23rd from 5:30PM -6:15PM 

Back by popular demand! Everything you need to know to grow, harvest and store onions. Onions need to go in the ground early. Find out why and all the other tips and tricks to growing and storing onions, leeks, and shallots. Never buy another onion! Cost $10.

Julie Rubaud: Gardening for Abundance - Vegetables 

Saturday, March 27th from 10:00AM -11:30AM 

Gain guidance and tips in creating a garden to support your definition of abundance this year. We will focus on storage crops, growing for preserving, and sharing with local food pantries. Red Wagon will offer additional support with plant and seed collections that will be available for purchase during the season, garden visits with Julie and other Red Wagon team members, and late summer and fall workshops that support your canning and freezing and dehydrating activities. We will help you partner up with local food pantries if you would like to share the abundance. Cost $15.  

Julie Rubaud: Strawberries 101 

Tuesday, March 30th from 5:30PM -6:15PM 

Plants? Bare root? What is the difference? Come find out! We are bringing back this popular workshop to help new gardeners learn all about growing strawberries. They are easy to grow as long as you know what they like and have realistic expectations. Jam, frozen berries, and countless fresh fruit can be had from the home garden. Cost $10.

 

Sophie Cassel: The Medicinal Herb Garden - Growing for Beauty and Wellness 

Saturday, April 3rd from 10:00AM -11:30AM 

An introduction to why and how to create and utilize your own medicinal herb garden. Sophie’s workshops are fun and filled with practical easy to follow instruction. Her understanding of medicinal plants is vast and enthusiastic. Participants can follow up with this class by purchasing our medicinal plant collections, scheduling garden visits with Sophie, and singing up for follow up workshops in late summer and fall to help you process your medicinal herb garden into products for home use. Cost $15.

Chad Donovan: Pests and Disease of the Garden 101

Tuesday, April 13th from 5:30PM -6:15PM 

Learn to prevent, identify and treat regular pests. Pro tips for garden success! Chad brings his decades of gardening and greenhouse experience to you in an accessible and easy to understand format. He is responsible for our the overall health of our plants in our greenhouses and herb farm, and does an incredible job explaining how home gardeners can achieve similar results. Cost $10.

  

Ben Mayock: Basketry for the Garden: Weaving the Carrying Tray

Tuesday, April 17th from 10:00AM -12:00PM 

A hands-on experience weaving your own 'Carrying Tray' garden basket with local artist and basket maker, Ben Mayock. After a winter of private Zoom workshops with Ben, we are so excited to share our experience with all of you. Space is limited, and will require a pick up of the materials prior to the workshop. Materials can be shipped for an additional cost if you are not local. Cost $55. 

Julie Rubaud: Tomatoes 101

Tuesday, May 11th at 5:30PM -6:15PM 

Back by popular demand! This is the day we release our tomato plants and answer all your questions. Julie will go over her favorite varieties, the best practices for planting and trellising and some of her favorite preservation methods. We grow 75 tomato varieties - find out why and which ones are right for you. Cost $10.

Growing Indoor Greens - a great project to do with kids.

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Tokyo Bekana and Ruby Streaks

We all have the spring fever itch around late February, and it can be scratched a little by growing some edible greens indoors. We recommend mustard greens because they tolerate low light, can be eaten while small and they grow relatively quickly.

Just fill a shallow tray with good potting soil that you have moistened well. It should feel like a sponge that has just been wrung out - not drippy, but not dry either. Place seeds on top, about ¼” apart; it does not have to be exact. Gently press the seeds into the soil, and sprinkle a very small dusting of soil over the seeds. It is best to NOT bury them deeply, they don’t need that and it will just slow down the germination.

Keep the soil in the tray moist by watering regularly, and then start to eat the greens when they are anywhere from sprout sized to 4” or so in height. They probably won’t regrow much indoors, but you can experiment and see how they do. The types of seeds you use and the soil and the amount of light you have and how much you water all are factors that affect the rate of growth. Try different varieties, different watering methods and see what works best for you. You can usually have a small “micro-green” harvest within 2 to 3 weeks.

Here are some varieties we recommend for your indoor shoots and micro-greens:

Arugula

Spicy Blend

Mustards

• Tokyo Bekana

• Yukina Savoy

• Tatsoi

• Ruby Streaks

Blast Off!

The last week of February is when we typically start up the greenhouses. That means we turn on the heaters, run the water, clean up and sanitize all the surfaces of each greenhouse, and get some seeds into the soil. Our spring starts now, with more time in the greenhouse touching plants and dirt and feeling the sun warm us up. While we fast track ourselves out of winter with the help of the greenhouses, here are a few things you could do at home to follow along.

1. Start seeds. If you have grow lights, now is a great time to start leeks, onions, shallots, and certain perennials. If you don’t have grow lights, you could sprout seeds in a mason jar or start some edible shoots in a sunny window. Mustard greens are the quickest, and the most forgiving of poor light. Here is a blog post on how to start your own shoots and micro-greens indoors. You can order seeds in our online store and pick up your order Friday afternoon (or get in touch to arrange a time that suits you). Our bagged soil has started to come in too. You can s find that here. More soil and seeds coming soon!

2. Make a plant list. Here is what we are growing this year. This is a perfect time to get out the graph paper, the garden journal or the art supplies and dream up your garden plan. Some people make “mood boards” by cutting out pictures from garden magazines. You can create a digital version using Pinterest, Google Slides, or Powerpoint. Or, if you are like me, you can simply make lists of plant names. I just love keeping a list of plants in a notebook, or on my phone that I can keep adding to as I the mood strikes or as I learn about a new variety. There are so many ways to plan a garden, and they are all correct. Let us know if you want help!

3. Learn about something new you would like to grow. This year, I really want to get into forcing Belgian endive. I am learning about it on You Tube and by talking to other growers. It is one of my favorite things to eat, but it requires some planning. You can learn more about how it is done on a big commercial scale here, . Chicories in general are on my list for this year. This video by Charles Dowding is a great introduction if you are curious too.

4. Mark your calendar! We will be opening for walk in shopping on Friday, April 16th. Please keep your eye out for more information about in-person shopping, hours, and COVID protocols. We cannot wait to see you and share the greenhouses with you again.

With gratitude for all of your support,

Julie

PS.

We want to let you know that Family Cow Farmstand will be closing at the end of this week. We are so sad to say goodbye to Aubrey and Scott, and we wish them well on their next adventure. They have been the absolute best farmers, neighbors and friends. We eagerly await their next iteration. For now, come to the farm stand and stock up in the next few days.

A perfect gift from Aubrey this winter - chicories grown in Massachusetts at Kitchen Garden Farm. This photo has inspired my 2021 garden plan and set the bar quite high for improved radicchio growing in our display garden. I cannot wait.

Workshop and Story Telling Series

Life Lessons Harvested from my Garden

A 3-part series Saturdays 2/20, 2/27, 3/6

10:00 am to 11:30 am

Virtual workshop. Zoom link provided prior to event.

We are so excited for this offering from Ferene Paris Meyer to kick off our 2021 gardening season with meaning, love and community.

Ellen Everett encourages us to live like flowers, “wild and beautiful and drenched in the sun”. During these gray, winter days, our anticipation of how our gardens will evolve serve as a light of hope. Ferene Paris Meyer, storyteller with All Heart Inspirations, will rejoin us to host a 3-week storytelling series. During our time together, we will reflect and share stories harvested from gardens. Enjoy this heartfelt space for gardening dreamers, lovers, and enthusiasts as we prepare for the new bountiful season.  

****For those in need of a subsidized registration fee, please contact Ferene allheartinspirations@gmail.com for a discounted code to register online. We encourage anyone who wants to partake in this conversation to join us, regardless of ability to pay.****

The Changing Light

Have you been home, staring out the window? Probably, right? I am certainly doing more of that than ever, and am taking delight in the little details I don’t normally slow down enough to notice. Like the way goldfinches come into their yellow plumage gradually going from buff to bright, or the angle of the sun, or the patterns of mist rising off the snow at sunset. I have picked up a watercolor hobby during this pandemic time, and am grateful for the new ways of seeing. I am learning to pick out the yellow in a blue sky or the infinite shades of purple and orange in a stone wall. It is pure magic. And our gardens are slowly awakening deep underground. The plants certainly notice that change in the sun’s angle; their life depends on it.

It is with that in mind that I wanted to update all of you with a few newsy bits:

1) We will open our greenhouses to the public this season. The survey results are in, and the outpouring of requests for us to open has been heard. We will require masks, hand sanitizing, and we will limit the amount of cars in the parking lot. Keep your eyes on this newsletter for more information as we get closer.

2) We will continue to offer plants, tools, seeds, herb farm products, and merchandise through our online store with curbside pick up. This will begin by the end of this month for anyone looking for seeds, soil, etc. Initially curbside pick up will be every Friday afternoon or by appointment on a pre-arranged day. As the season progresses, we will change to next day curbside pick up.

3) We are putting together our 2021 workshop series, and have some exciting new programs for you. To kick off the season, we are starting with a 3 part series with Ferene Paris Meyer, of All Heart Inspirations, Inc. We are so excited for this time to get together with other gardeners to talk about what gardening means to us, what is our vision, and what do we do to get there. Here is the link to sign up. See below for all the details. Ferene’s class in early December was absolutely perfect. No one wanted it to end; her energy is contagiously enthusiastic, and we can all use that right now.

Life Lessons Harvested from my Garden

A three part series with Ferene Paris Meyer

Saturdays 10 to 11:30 am

2/20, 2/27, 3/6

During these gray, winter days, our anticipation of how our gardens will evolve serve as a light of hope. Ferene Paris Meyer, storyteller with All Heart Inspirations, will rejoin us to host a 3-week storytelling series. During our time together, we will reflect and share stories harvested from gardens. Enjoy this heartfelt space for gardening dreamers, lovers, and enthusiasts as we prepare for the new bountiful season.

****For those in need of a subsidized registration fee, please contact Ferene allheartinspirations@gmail.com for a discounted code to register online. We encourage anyone who wants to partake in this conversation to join us, regardless of ability to pay.****

Thanks for reading, and looking forward to connecting soon,

XOX

Julie

Herb Wreath How To

Here is a little project that is easy to do and uses up herbs from your garden (or purchase one of our kits). Lily and Julie made some herb wreaths this week to give you a sense of how to do it. We instantly felt better after doing a creative project like this, and my wreath is in the kitchen smelling and looking great. Check out this video for a tutorial on how to do it. And if you would like to purchase one of our kits, you can find them here for purchase (we will contact you to arrange pick up at our Hinesburg location).

Peppers

We grew an abundance of peppers this year. With 35 varieties on our plant list, it is hard to not grow too many. Every variety deserves a chance and some are absolute favorites and I end up planting 6 or more plants of each, but really I am making a giant note to stop this madness next year. Every day, for the past month, I am starring at huge bags of peppers in the fridge and figuring out what to do with them. Not a bad problem to have, especially these days. Here are a few things I have been doing.

Pickled Cherry Bomb and other Hot Peppers

I make a brine that is based on this basic recipe from the cook book 6 Seasons by Joshua McFadden and Martha Holmberg. This amount is about enough for 3 pints.

½ cup rice vinegar

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 ½ cups water

3 tablespoons sugar (original recipe calls for 5 TBS)

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Bring ingredients to a boil,

Pack washed, stemmed and seeded (optional) peppers into clean glass jars. Add a clove of garlic and a sprig of thyme to each jar.

Pour hot brine over the peppers, filling each jar to the top. Let cool to room temperature and then store in the refrigerator. Please note this brine solution is not acidic enough to preserve the peppers with a hot water bath method of canning. These are refrigerator pickles that will keep for months. I pack big ½ gallon jars of them into the back of the fridge and use them all winter, chopped into tacos, as a topping for sandwiches, stuffed, etc.

You can pickle sweet peppers too, using this method.

Hungarian Hot Wax peppers are perfect for pickling.

I also made this pepper relish recently and really liked it. You can incorporate some hot peppers into the mix if you want it spicy. This is for canning with a hot water bath method. If you have never done this, please make sure to look up a reliable tutorial, like this one.

Pepper Relish

adapted from Well Preserved by Mary Anne Dragan

6 cups of finely chopped sweet peppers, combination of colors. A few hot peppers can be included in the 6 cups for a spicy relish.

2 cups of finely chopped onion

2 cups of cider vinegar

1 cup of sugar (I used ¾)

2 tablespoons of mixed pickling spice (I did not have a pre-made blend, so made my own with coriander seed, bay leaf, a few cloves, a few black peppercorns, 2 dried chilies, and a tsp of mustard seed) in a cheesecloth bundle or a tea ball.

2 teaspoons of dried hot pepper flakes or substitute with fresh hot peppers

2 teaspoons of salt

Combine peppers and onions into a bowl, and pour boiling water over them. Let sit 5 minutes, then drain well.

Combine the remaining ingredients into a large pot, and bring to a boil. Add the vegetables, and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes.

Remove from the heat, take out the spice bag. Spoon the relish into hot sterilized jars, leaving ½ inch of head space. Release the air bubbles, wipe the rims of jars clean, seal according to manufacturer’s directions. Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Please refer to this process here if you are not familiar with canning.

Other ways to preserve peppers

I freeze them. Just chop up raw peppers, and slide them into a freezer bag. That is it. They can be used in all kinds of stews, soups and braises over the winter.

I make a big pot of sautéed peppers and caramelized onions and freeze that in small bags. In winter, it can be turned into a tasty spread or dip by placing the thawed mixture in a blender with some walnuts, or cheese, or olives or dehydrated tomatoes.

I roast peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, onions and summer squash or zucchini with olive oil, salt, garlic and herbs at 400F for about 45 minutes. I freeze that mixture in freezer bags and then use it as a base for pasta sauces, soups, and a topping for pizza.

Fermented Fresh Salsa

by Guest blogger, herbalist, and RWP Staffer, Sophie Cassel

This is a salsa you make to eat fresh and eat in the fridge, not canned for storage.

Ask anyone in my house or social circle what the big culinary wonder was last summer, and they’ll all tell you: “Fermented salsa!”. Far removed from the cooked salsa in jars, fermented salsa is like a tangy, juicy version of the popular pico de gallo type of dip. This was a technique I learned about years ago on a homestead in Maine, but started preparing last summer when faced with a constant glut of tomatoes and absolutely no desire to turn the oven on for canning.

By mid-August, I was making a half- to whole-gallon of fermented salsa per week, and we were eating it just as fast. It makes a great snack and is a tasty conversation starter when brought to backyard cookouts. Suddenly, adding fermented foods to your diet is as easy as breaking out the tortilla chips! It also makes the best topping for tacos and grilled meats. 

Below is the basic recipe. I change the proportions a little each time, based on what I have ripening in my garden or on the kitchen counter at that moment, and how much I could fit into the half-gallon jar. 

Ingredients:

• 2-3 lbs ripe tomatoes 

• 1 small onion

• 1-3 cloves of garlic

• 2-3 bell peppers

• Hot peppers of your choice (I like my salsa more mild, so I use 1 jalapeno or 2 hungarian hot wax peppers, but the sky's the limit!)

• Cilantro (stems included), or a mix of cilantro, pepiche, and papalo leaves

• Salt to taste

Method:

• Finely chop all ingredients into similar sizes and layer into a half-gallon mason jar. Add salt and taste; it should be just shy of “too salty”. Stir well (a long-handled cocktail stirrer works well), and cover loosely with the jar lid. Place jar on a plate to catch any overflow during fermentation, and leave on your kitchen counter. 

• Shake jar (with lid tight) 2-3 times per day, loosening the lid to allow for gas to escape through the course of the day. You will start to see bubbles rising to the surface, but shaking ensures that all ingredients stay below the liquid.

• After a day or two, taste to evaluate how the tanginess is developing. Depending on weather, it could take anywhere from 2-5 days to achieve desired levels of fermented flavor. You get to decide when you think it’s ready!

• Eat immediately, or funnel into smaller jars and store in the fridge. It will store indefinitely, slowly building its fermented flavor, but good luck getting it to last long enough!

• Note: If your tomatoes are really juicy, you may want to strain some of the excess liquid when transferring to storage jars. This fermented tomato juice is a refreshing drink, and makes a great addition to gazpacho or cocktails! 

Calendula

Calendula (Calendula officinalis), historically also known as Pot Marigold, is one of those cheery plants that has successfully transcended the gap between herbal medicine and ornamental gardening. Its sunny blossoms start blooming early in the summer if transplanted, and will proliferate all season long and even after frost, as long as the flowers are picked before going to seed. Like others in the Asteraceae family, pollinators flock to this plant, which provides a valuable long-term nectar source. While there are many types of ornamental calendula available on the market, highly medicinal varieties include Resina, Alpha, and Erfurter Orangefarbige. You’ll know you’ve got a potent calendula if when you pick the blossom (snapping it from the stem and removing the flower head and green bracts) your fingers get sticky with resin.

If you’re growing calendula and deadheading the plants regularly, you’ll find yourself with a wealth of flower heads to use. Luckily, there are endless ways to make use of this beautiful and powerful plant! 

Calendula occupies a unique and important place in any herbal medicine chest. Powerful yet gentle, it’s listed as an active ingredient in balms for everything from cracked hands to rashy baby bums. Calendula enjoys a long history of use as a venerated wound healer and anti-inflammatory herb, soothing and repairing injuries and ulcerations of all kinds. As it also has documented immune-stimulating affects (through its work on the lymphatic system), calendula is also useful when dealing with skin issues that stem from some kind of infection. At the start of gardening season, I can often be found soaking my roughed-up hands in strong calendula tea to heal cracked cuticles and scraped knuckles. 

But we can’t talk about skin without mentioning the skin that lines our insides- the digestive tract! In the same way that calendula heals external wounds, it is equally as powerful when taken internally to alleviate the effects of inflammation in the gut. Allergic reactions both inside and out can benefit from application of this herb, and it is gentle enough to use every day in a variety of ways. I love including calendula in mouthwash formulas to heal irritation and inflammation in the gums.

There’s no reason to relegate calendula to the first-aid kit, though. It is also a wonderful tool in the kitchen, adding color and beauty to baked goods and salads as the “poor man’s saffron”. To use, simply pluck the petals off the flower head, and sprinkle into your batter or lettuce mix. The center of the heads, with their sticky resin, tend to leave an uncomfortable feeling on the back of the throat when consumed raw, so it’s best to save those for tea infusions, or thrown into soups and bone broths where you’ll get the benefit of the herb and the visual delight as well. 

Now that you’ve harvested your blossoms and dreamed up all the ways you’ll use your calendula, make sure to dry some for winter use. Flowers should be picked in the height of the day, when they have fully opened and any dew has dried. Dry flowers in baskets or on newspaper, spread in a single layer so that they are not touching (you can also use a dehydrator on the lowest setting). Calendula flowers hold lots of moisture, so it’s important to let them dry fully before storing, lest they get moldy on you. The center of the head should snap apart easily when dry. As the season wanes, leave some flowers to go to seed on the plant. You can harvest these fossil-like structures once they’ve turned brown and come off easily in your hand. 

Calendula is an excellent and safe introduction into the world of herbal medicine, and with its myriad uses, it’s one of the most reliable plants you can keep on hand throughout the year. 

Basic Calendula Oil, Two Ways:

• Calendula flowers, wilted for a few days or completely dried

• High quality oil, such as olive, sunflower, grapeseed, almond, or jojoba

Roughly chop calendula flowers and pack into jar, then fully cover with oil (add an extra glug or two to make sure flowers stay submerged). Label with contents and date, then leave to steep in a dry, shady place for 2-4 weeks. Different herbalists have different habits, and some prefer to let their oils steep in the sunshine, while I keep mine out of direct sunlight. 

If you’re in a rush, you can quickly make an infused oil by heating the oil and flowers slowly in a double boiler, making sure that you stay well below the smoke point for that oil. Heat gently for an hour or two. In either case, when you’re finished infusing the oil, strain out and compost the flowers, label your oil, and store in a dark place for up to a year. You can use this oil to make salves, lotions, and creams, or apply directly to skin. 

Gut-Healing Tea (make with fresh or dry herbs):

• Calendula flower

• Chamomile flower

• Plantain leaf (Plantago spp.)

• Fennel seed

• Peppermint leaf

Blend equal parts of all herbs. Infuse about a handful (approx. ¼-½ cup) of herbs in 1 quart of boiled water, and allow to steep for an hour or overnight. Enjoy hot or iced, and drink daily as part of a regimen to help with digestive upset (can also be enjoyed as part of a healthy-skin regimen, too!)

Resources:

Calendula Monograph: https://www.herbrally.com/monographs/calendula

Henriette’s Herbal: https://www.henriettes-herb.com/blog/yell-calendula.html

Drying Herbs for the Home Apothecary

By Sophie Cassel, herbalist, gardener, educator, and RWP employee. 

So, you’ve planned out the garden beds, planted your herbs, tended dutifully to their new growth, and now you’ve got a garden full of medicinal flowers and bushy growth, beginning to attract the attention of busy pollinators and your awe-struck neighbors. What next? Of course, you could leave the plants as ornamentals, or allow them to go to seed in hopes of expanding the garden next year. But if you’re interested in harvesting plant medicine, you’ll want to have all the tools you need to gather, dry, and store your bounty. Read on for some tips on tools and methods for keeping on top of the harvest, and you’ll be rewarded with aromatic and delicious herbs that will store well through the winter months!

Harvesting

First, a note on harvest. Medicinal plants have been used and revered for as long as humans have been humans, and we can and should show gratitude to the plants for all they offer us. While it bears repeating that wild plants should always be collected with utmost respect and caution towards the continuity of the stand or the species, even our own gardens can be the site of conscious harvest. Remember that maintaining a healthy pollinator population is essential for maintaining a healthy garden, and leave at least a third of flowers for the little critters who make all that abundance possible. With many commonly grown medicinals, leaving flowers for the bugs and birds will also promote seed production, which can then be gathered from in the fall to save for next year or offer to friends. Dead standing seed heads also provide important food sources to birds in the winter, which is another way to pay forward the bounty of the garden. 

That said, it’s helpful to have some key tools to make the harvest go smoothly:

• Baskets: Wide woven baskets are ideal for harvesting big bunches of herbs. They also make good places to dry the plants, since they provide plenty of surface area for air flow. If your basket has an open weave, line it with newspaper to prevent leaves and flowers from falling through the gaps.

• Clippers: Small snips are best for quickly and cleanly trimming off leaves and small stems, especially with plants whose stems don’t snap off cleanly. Make sure to keep your clippers clean to prevent the spread of disease from plant to plant. 

• Rubber bands: Save your old bands and twist-ties from produce and use them to make small bunches of herb sprigs- the diameter of the bunched stems should be between nickel- and quarter-sized to allow for air flow through the leaves. 

When it comes to drying herbs, there are a few different methods, and they work well for different plants, depending on the moisture content of the material you’re harvesting. Small-leaved and twiggy plants like thyme or lavender dry quickly in a bundle, whereas juicier plants like tulsi or calendula flowers need time and lots of air flow. Generally speaking, you want to create an environment that is warm, dry, breezy, and out of direct sunlight. That may be a corner of your kitchen, under the eaves of a garage or barn, or hanging from the ceiling of a three-season porch. Here are some methods you can consider, depending on the type of plant you’re collecting.

• Hanging: Tied up in those small bundles, herbs that are cut by the stem can be hung from a clothesline or string around the house. If it’s a plant that tends to shed its leaves as it dries, like tulsi or bee balm, you can hang the plant inside of a paper bag, so that as the leaves dry down they fall into the bag. Be sure to check bundles regularly to make sure they are drying evenly, without excess moisture in the inside of the bundle.

• Baskets and Racks: This method works best for flower heads, leaves, and anything with soft or short stems that won’t hold up to bunching. Spread your herbs in a single layer on your basket (lined with newspaper if needed) and place somewhere dry and warm. If you do place your herbs in direct sun, be sure to check them regularly and bring them in before they get too crispy or bleached out. I like to swirl the herbs around in the basket every day or so to make sure they are drying evenly- this is also a good time to remove any thicker stems that are drying more slowly than the other plants. For juicy flowers like calendula or red clover, be sure to check that their middles are fully dry (the centers should snap apart). If you’d like to build your own simple drying screens, there’s a great tutorial here. I set up a wooden clothes drying rack in my living room and place these screens on it, which creates vertical space for drying that doesn’t tie up counter space. 

• Dehydrator: Only use a dehydrator that has a temperature adjustment, as most standard dehydrators will run too hot for delicate plant material. Models like the Excalibur are pricey, but if you already own one for food preservation, they make great herb dryers. Make sure your temperature is on the lowest setting, and check the plants often to make sure they don’t overdry or begin to cook. It may help to chop the herbs a bit first so that they fit on the trays and don’t crowd each other.

Whichever drying method you use, make sure to label your plants, particularly the leafy green herbs that may only be identifiable by taste or smell. Label the drying plants with their name and when they were harvested- this way you’ll also develop a sense of how long it takes for each herb to dry down. Things like ambient temperature and humidity can dramatically lengthen the time it takes for herbs to dry.

After the plants have dried fully, it’s time for the most satisfying step with the funniest name: Garbling! Garbling is the process of stripping and shredding the useful medicinal leaves and flowers from the woody stems, resulting in a finished product that is uniform and easy to use. The best way to garble is to rub the dried plants against a screen (just like the drying screens above) made with half-inch hardware cloth, which will allow the crumbled herbs to pass through into a bucket or bowl below. You can also of course also do this by hand, in one of your big baskets or a large bowl. 

Once your herbs have been processed fully, store them in a sealed plastic bag or glass jar to prevent moisture moving in. Label well and keep in a dark place to preserve their shelf life. Stored this way, home grown herbs will last well over a year. If you’re unsure of whether the herbs are still useful, use your nose and eyes as guides: If the plants look bleached out or yellowy, or if they have no fragrance (or a funky/moldy one), it’s time to add them back to the compost. If you’ve dried them properly, your dried herbs will stay fresh-looking and aromatic, and provide you with an abundance of medicinal and culinary delights well after the garden has been put to bed. 

Resources:

• The Herbal Academy, “How to Make an Herb and Flower Drying Screen”: https://theherbalacademy.com/how-to-make-an-herb-and-flower-drying-screen/

• Carpenter, Jeff and Melanie. The Organic Medicinal Herb Farmer. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2015.