Garden Fresh Herbal Tea

Herbal teas can do wonders for the body with their natural healing properties.  Lucky for me, I have plenty of fresh herbs out in the garden, so I decided to make some fresh herbal tea today.

For today's concoction, I selected lemon balm (melissa offinalis) and spearmint (mentha spicata).  Lemon balm helps calm nerves and anxiety, as well as aid in digestion and can improve memory and uplift one's mood.  Spearmint helps with digestion, including nausea and relaxes stomach muscles.  It also includes the essential oil menthol, which has local anesthetic and counter-irritant properties.

I grabbed about two handfuls of herb leaves (one of each type of herb in this case), then chopped up the leaves so that they will infuse the tea better.

I then put the herbs in a tea ball, and placed the tea ball in a 20 oz glass jar.  Next, I poured boiling water over the tea ball and let it steep for 20 minutes.  If you don't have a tea ball or other infuser, you can also place the herbs directly in the boiling water and either stain them out, or let the herbs settle to the bottom of the glass.

After steeping, add some extra flare to the beverage by adding some stevia or honey (antibacterial/anti-inflammatory) for sweetness, and maybe some lemon (antioxidant vitamin C) for some zestiness.  It ended up being a very mild and enjoyable tea.  

I can't wait to try out some other herbal tea concoctions.  Some future herbs (and a couple extra additions) I may try and their medical benefits include:

BASIL _{is useful in maintaining liver health and eyesight, is high in vitamin A, magnesium, iron and beta carotene, reduces kidney stones, cholesterol, inflammation, fever and free radicals, is a fungicidal, antioxidant, COX-2 inhibitor which can aid in the treatment of colds, asthma, cough, acid reflux, indigestion and headaches.}

BAY LEAF _{is a decongestant, antibacterial, antimicrobial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, astringent and diuretic capable of aiding digestion and boosting the appetite as well as improving insulin function.}

BLACKBERRY LEAF _{contain flavonoids, which are known for their antioxidant properties.  The leaves will also add a berry flavor to the tea.}

CHAMMOMILE _{is an anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic uterine stimulant and a mild sedative which assists in stress relief and muscle relaxation, contains apigenin - a flavonoid capable of initiating renal regeneration in rats and potentially capable of triggering adult neurogenesis in humans and works to reduce nausea, bloating and singular instances of insomnia.}

CHILI _{boosts the immune system, reduces chills and aids in pain relief due to the effects of capsaicin.}

DILL _{can cure indigestion or flatulence, aid in treating bronchitis, UTI, cough or cramps and is high in calcium.}

ECHINEACA _{is used to prevent the common cold.  It boosts the immune system, relieves pain, and reduces inflammation.}

FENNEL _{relieves gas, helps to treat stomach ailments or indigestion, reduces fever and encourages healthy menstruation.}

GINGER _{is an anti-inflammatory, anti-emetic, expectorant and antioxidant which aids in the production of saliva and digestive enzymes, reduces heartburn and nausea, clears sinuses, boosts the immune system, cleanses the lymphatic system, flushes toxins, stimulates the appetite and soothes a sore throat.}

HIBISCUS FLOWER _{is known to reduce blood pressure, reduce high cholesterol, and strengthen the immune system (high in vitamin C).}

HONEY _{is anti-bacterial, anti-septic and anti-oxidant, full of minerals, capable of soothing the throat, reducing GERD or acid reflux and allergies, is an antitussive that has been proven to lessen coughing in children and helps to sweeten bitter herbal teas.}

LAVENDER _{can assist in the treatment of anxiety, flatulence, tension and indigestion and is also a sleep aid.}

LEMON _{is astringent, antioxidant, diuretic, full of vitamin C and potassium, capable of maintaining an alkaline state and can stabilize the catechins in tea.}

LEMON BALM _{calms nerves and anxiety and can aid digestion.  It also has several properties which control herpes (including cold sores) and also regulates the thyroid.}

LEMONGRASS _{aids in digestion and can add a lemon flavor to teas.}

NETTLE _{lowers blood pressure, reduces cramps, PMS, dysmenorrhea, menorrhagia and coughs, improves circulation, is high in calcium-magnesium, anti-spasmodic, anti-rheumatic, decongestant, expectorant, astringent and an anti-histamine.}

OREGANO _{is an anti-rheumatic and anti-fungal used to treat sore throat, coughs, UTI, slow digestion, menstrual pain, malaria, insomnia, anxiety, asthma, congestion and flatulence.}

PARSLEY _{contains apigenin - a flavonoid capable of initiating renal regeneration in rats and potentially capable of triggering adult neurogenesis in humans, is used to treat UTIs, kidney stones, colic, dropsy, bloating, flatulence and amenorrhea and also stimulates blood vessel rejuvenation.}

PASSIONFLOWER _{is used for insomnia and to aid in a restful night’s sleep.}

PEPPERMINT _{is effective at treating nausea and cramps by numbing the nerve endings in the stomach, reduces stress, soothes coughs or sore throats, is anti-spasmodic and boosts the immune system.}

POPPY _{(Papaver Rhoeas) is a narcotic, soporific, mild sedative, analgesic, anti-diarrheal and antitussive that is highly effective at relieving pain and inducing sleep.}

ROSEHIP _{is high in vitamin C, which is important for the immune system, skin and tissue health, and adrenal function.}

ROSEMARY _{is antioxidant, antiseptic and analgesic, stimulates blood flow, helps to treat headaches, indigestion and fever, and prevents the breakdown of acetylcholine.}

SAGE _{is an anti-inflammatory and an anti-fungal, can be used to treat sore throat, insomnia, indigestion, anxiety, hot flashes and fever, is a COX-2 inhibitor, and prevents both the loss of acetylcholine and the depletion of glutathione.}

SPEARMINT _{helps with digestion, including nausea and relaxes stomach muscles.  It also includes the essential oil menthol, which has local anesthetic and counter-irritant properties.}

THYME _{is an antioxidant, antimicrobial, decongestant, aids digestion, relieves bloating, rich in vitamin K, helps to treat both respiratory and nervous disorders.}

Foliage Follow-Up: January 2015

Normally at this time of the month, I participate in Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.  Unfortunately, I could not find a single bloom in my Zone 8 Central Texas garden right now.  While I'm bummed that there are no blooms to share right now, it made me realize that there is plenty of foliage to admire instead.  That is why I'm partaking in my first Foliage Follow-Up, hosted by Pam over at Digging.  This month's foliage is not only beautiful, but also EDIBLE - they are my winter veggie greens!

There are the collards...

(Flash)

...the Swiss chard...

(Ruby Red and Fordhook Giant varieties)

...the broccoli...

(Sun King Hybrid)

...the kale...

(Toscano and unknown varieties)

...the romaine lettuce...

...and the arugula.

There was such an abundance of these delicious greens in the garden today that I harvest almost a full pound of them and juiced them into a healthy drink along with some celery, apples, and lemon.

My harvest totals so far this year include:

• 7.5 oz Cherry Bell radish
• 4.8 oz kale (unknown variety)
• 5.9 oz Flash collards
• 1.3 oz Ruby Red chard
• 2.9 oz Fordhook Giant chard
• 2 colanders salad greens (lettuce, spinach, arugula) 

Thanks for stopping by my first Foliage Follow-Up.  Be sure to stop by Digging to see what other gardeners have to show.

First Plantings of 2015

The start of the new year means it is time to start thinking about the spring garden in Central Texas.  Our long growing season means that cool weather transplants can start going in the ground in the ground in late February and early March.  So that means, it is time to start sowing some seeds indoors!

Ten days ago, on January 4th, I sowed my first seeds of the new year indoors.

Seeds sown included:

• Burpee Kale - Dwarf Blue Curled Vates (3 cells)
• Burpee Kale - Lacinato (3 cells)
• Burpee Spinach - Bloomsdale Long-Standing (6 cells)
• Burpee Collards - Georgia (6 cells)
• Burpee Broccoli - Sun King Hybrid (6 cells)
• Botanical Interests Lettuce Leaf - Black Seeded Simpson (6 cells)
• Botanical Interests Lettuce Butterhead - Buttercrunch (6 cells)
• Botanical Interests Lettuce Romaine - Parris Island Cos (6 cells)
• Botanical Interests Lettuce Leaf - Salad Bowl Blend (6 cells)
• Botanical Interests Leek - King Richard (12 cells)
• Botanical Interests Marjoram (9 pots)
• Burpee Alyssum - Royal Carpet (12 cells)
• Ferry-Morse Butterfly Flower (9 pots)

That's a lot of plants, and if all the seedlings make it, I'm not sure if I'll be able to fit all the plants in the garden, much less consume the harvests.  Oh well, I'm sure my gardening friends and neighbors wouldn't mind helping take on my surplus plants.

While I've grown lettuce, spinach, collards, and kale from seed before, I've always done it by sowing the seeds directly in the garden bed during fall planting.  This is my first go at trying out planing these seeds for the spring crop by starting indoors.  We'll see how it goes!

The leeks, marjoram, butterfly week and alyssum are all new plants and seeds for me.  Well, that is not entirely true.  I've planted several tropical butterfly weed store-bought transplants in my garden before, but after learning how the tropical variety is not the greatest for my beloved monarchs, I'm trying to plant more native varieties.  I've read that the alyssum is a great necter plant for pollinators, though it is an annual, so it will only be in the garden for one season.  Marjoram is similar to oregano and frequently used in an herbes de Provence spice mixture.

I placed my newly planted seedlings under my grow lights on my grow shelves.  After 10 days, all of the seeds have started to sprout.  In a couple of days, I'll need to start thinning the plants (I'm still terrible at planting too many seeds per cell...I always seem to underestimate how many of the seeds will sprout).  It is a heart-wrenching exercise (ok, that's a little dramatic), but it must be done in order for the remaining plants to thrive.

I'm already looking forward to the ground warming up a bit so I can get these new plants growing out in the garden!

Icicles

It is a cold and dreary day in Central Texas today, hovering around freezing - not exactly the kind of weather I want to go out and garden in.  But, now that the holidays are over and the days are still short, the weekends are the only time I have to really enjoy my garden.  So, I bundled up and ventured out.

What I saw were icicles...EVERYWHERE!

Hanging off shrubs...

...holding onto veggie vines...

...trimming the new bluebird house...

...grasping onto the shed and deck...

...and decorating branches with glistening prisms.

While it might be too cold and wet to enjoy digging in the dirt today, there was still much beauty to behold in the great outdoors.

Wildlife Wednesday - January 2015

The new year is bringing new wildlife to my garden!  I'm excited to share my new visitors with you as part of Tina's Wildlife Wednesday over at My Gardener Says.

New Visitors

While I was out of town over the holidays, my husband remained at home in Texas and noticed some commotion in the yard one day.  After looking out the window, he noticed a hawk was swooping down into our bushes, looking to catch a tasty meal of the poultry type.  He quickly grabbed his phone and snapped a couple of quick pics for me (sorry for the poor quality), but props to him, knowing this was a sight I'd want to see.

The hawk was a bit small in size compared to other hawks I've seen.  And with his (her?) coloring, my best guess is that this is a sharp-shinned hawk.  Another possibility might be Cooper's hawk.  If I have any bird experts reading this post, I'd appreciate a confirmation or correction.  This type of hawk fancies smaller birds for meals, which made sense, since the hubby said the visitor was chasing some of the birds in the yard.

Just a week ago, I noticed a pile of feathers just a few feet away from the evergreen bush captured in the picture below.  I assume our new visitor had captured a tasty treat.  From what I could tell, the hawk appeared to have gotten a white-winged dove for its meal, which is fine by me, since there are a few too many white-winged doves hanging around my yard.

This guys was definitely my favorite visitor over the past month.

This past weekend, I noticed another hawk circling overhead.  I think it might be a different hawk, since the undercarriage looks much more red/rusty brown instead of which with rusty splotches.

Another new visitor to the garden this month were European Starlings.  They are considered an invasive species, competing with native birds and destroying crops.

Rare Guests

Given the colder months and scarcer food sources, I've noticed some visitors to the garden that I tend to see much more frequently during the winter time, including...

...the ladder-backed woodpecker...

...the Eastern bluebird...

...Inca doves...

...and the tufted titmouse.

I also had a large army of Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillars in my dill and parsley over the past month (and yes, a group of caterpillars is called an army).  I started with at least 20 cats and last I checked over the weekend, there were still at least 10 out there in their last instar.  I'm not sure if they will survive the freezing temperatures headed our way this week.  I've certainly been impressed with the nearly- freezing temps they have already survived, so maybe there is still hope for them to make it through the looming cold front.

Common Patrons

That brings us to the visitors that I can see out in the yard almost every day...

...the Carolina chickadee...

...the Carolina wren...

...the Lesser goldfinches...

...and of course, the sparrows.  After a decent rain last week, the sparrows were really enjoying their time splashing around in all the impromptu bird baths.

Overall, here is a count of all the birds I noticed in the garden over the last month:

• 40 white-winged doves
• 20-25 sparrows
• 12 yellow-rumped warblers
• 6 Inca doves
• 6-8 Lesser goldfinches
• 3 Carolina wrens
• 2 Carolina chickadees
• 2 Northern cardinals (1 male, 1 female)
• 2 blue jays
• 2 Eastern bluebirds
• 2 European starlings
• 2 ladder-backed woodpeckers (1 male, 1 female)
• 2 house finches
• 1 red-bellied woodpecker
• 1 tufted titmouse

Be sure to check out the wildlife other gardeners have found in their beds and yards at My Gardener Says!

Wintertime Greens

My winter greens are finally ready to start harvesting.  There is a ridiculous amount of arugula, so I skimmed the internet for several recipes that sounded appealing and called for a decent amount of my rocket.  I have some spinach and lettuce also ready for harvesting, so I found a delectable salad that called for such ingredients.

I picked a full colander full of arugula, baby spinach, romaine lettuce and sylvestra lettuce and decided to make myself a delightful salad to get the new year started off right.

I found a recipe on Love & Lemons that I found appealing and made a few modifications for what I had on hand.

Arugula, Apricot & Goat Cheese Salad

Ingredients (1 large salad or 2 side salads):

• large handful of arugula (I added in my available spinach and lettuce varieties as well)
• 1 avocado, cubed
• 5 dried apricots, diced
• 1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled
• 1/4 cup raw almonds, chopped

Dressing (2 servings):

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 medium lemon, juiced
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• salt & pepper (I used my rosemary, parley and lemon herb salt)

Instructions:

1. Whisk the dressing ingredients together.
2. Toss the arugula and other greens, avocado, apricots and goat cheese together.  Drizzle with the dressing and top with chopped almonds.
3. For additional heartiness, toss salad with 1 cup of cooked quinoa.

The salad was absolutely delicious.  I've never had a more flavorful salad in all my life.  What a treat to have my own greens grown right in my backyard garden!  I didn't have any quinoa on hand today to toss the greens with, but I'll definitely be trying this option in the future!

I also had a craving for a pizza that I recently enjoyed in New York City and wanted to recreate...an arugula, mushroom and truffle oil no-sauce pizza (or cheesy bread, as my husband would say).

Arugula, Mushroom and Truffle Oil Pizza
Makes 3-4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 pound pizza dough (I used Pillsbury dough)
• 1/2 pound sliced mushrooms (I used half portobello, half shiitake)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1-2 handfuls coarsely chopped arugula
• 1 tablespoon truffle oil
• salt & pepper to taste (I used my herb salt)

Instructions:

1. Put a large heavy baking sheet on the lowest rack of the oven, preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
2. Stretch out dough on a lightly floured surface, pulling on corners to form a roughly 16 x 13 inch rectangle.  Transfer to a tray lined with parchment paper.  Lightly prick dough all over with a fork.
3. Slide dough (still on parchment) onto hot baking sheet.  Bake until top is puffed and pale golden in patches, about 6 to 10 minutes.
4. Remove from oven; prick any large bubbles with a fork and flatten.  Scatter mushrooms over crust, then season with salt and pepper and lay cheese on top.  Top with roughly chopped arugula.
5. Bake pizza until edge of crust is deep golden and cheese is bubbling and golden in patches, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Drizzle with truffle oil.  Serve immediately.

This was extremely delicious, but very rich, so I couldn't eat more than 3-4 small square pieces at a time (my waistline thanks me).  I may try a version with a white cream sauce next time to see how it would compare, but will definitely keep this recipe in my box.

Do you have any favorite arugula recipes that I should try out?

Garden Goals for 2015

What is a new year without resolutions and goals?  Every year, we try to improve ourselves and I feel the exact same way about my garden.  I want my 2015 garden to be even better than my 2014 garden.  I want to become a better gardener in 2015.  Here are some of my goals, projects and wishlist items for my garden in the new year:

1. Produce 100+ pounds of fresh, organic fruits and vegetables
2. Plant a new shade tree in the courtyard
3. Plant 4-5 rose bushes along the neighbor fence line
4. Plant sunflowers throughout spring and summer for cut flowers and seeds for wildlife
5. Plant 3-5 berry shrubs or trees for the birds
6. Plant at least 3 more blackberry bushes
7. Plant 5-10 more host plants for butterfly caterpillars (native milkweed and passion flowers)
8. Plant 2-3 globemallow plants in the front fence line bed
9. Plant at least 5 new dahlia tubers in the bulb bed
10. Plant at least 2 new varieties of ornamental/wildlife grasses
11. Try squash one more year, using cover rows to prevent squash vine borer infestations
12. Install at least 2 birdbaths and 5 birdhouses
13. Become monarch way-station certified
14. Plant more evergreen plants (shoot for 1/4-1/3 plants to be evergreen)
15. Improve succession/companion planting skills (read 1-2 books on the topic)
16. Propagate more plants to share with family and friends (try at least 3 different and new plants)
17. Install new backyard fence
18. Build back patio stairs and incorporate new garden bed into the landscaping
19. Install at least one rainwater tank
20. Post 100+ blog posts

Some of the items are a bit more achievable than others.  The building projects take a lot more time and money, so they likely will not all happen, but they are certainly on my wishlist for the next couple of years!  I'll be happy if I can achieve at least 12 of the items on my 2015 Garden Goal list by this time next year.

Happy New Year!