Category: Herbs

Details on the most common vegetables and how to grow them!

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Herbal Face Food Plant of the Month: Yarrow

It's time for the Herbal Face Food(HFF) Plant of the Month!  A monthly dedication to the various plants used by HFF to create their amazing skin care products.  This months HFF plant moment is dedicated to the amazing Yarrow. 

Yarrow has become one of my favorite wild herbs. Those who don't have it in their gardens probably are not aware of its medicinal and health benefits. Yarrow provides vitamins A, C potassium, zinc, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, and niacin.  Yarrow is also commonly known as  an astringent with anti-inflammatory properties which is one of the main draws  and with all of this its no wonder HFF wants Yarrow in their amazing serums.

About Yarrow

Yarrow originated from Europe and Asia and is now commonly found all around the globe. The scientific name for Yarrow is Achillea millefolium other names include common yarrow (the white wild Yarrow), nosebleed plant or soldier's wound wort.   Several of these names tell us clearly that one of the benefits of Yarrow is blood and wound dressing.   Dr. Nicole Apelian describes Yarrow in her book, The Lost Book of Herbal Remedies as, “nature's tourniquet.” 

Yarrow comes in several colors from white to light pinks and purples to red and yellow.  kidadl.com has a great list of specific types including their colors!   I have read however that common Yarrow, that grows wild with white flowers is the best and strongest for medicinal use.  

Benefits of Yarrow

The benefits of Yarrow are so vast, it truly is an amazing plant for skin.  Here are just a few of the uses:  

    • Yarrow can be used in teas fresh or dried for nausea or stomach flues, hard menstrual cycles or reducing fevers (as it creates sweating).  Women that are pregnant should not drink Yarrow tea.  
    • Powder from dried yarrow can be used to stop bleeding (many sites caution not to use on deep wounds as it will heal it too quickly from the inside). 
    • Fresh yarrow leaves can also be used as a poultice for bleeding and the leaves can be used for stopping nose bleeds. 
    • Yarrow helps reduce swelling in bruises, or sprains or can be used as a antibacterial on scratches or minor cuts. 
    • Yarrow flowers can be used in baths for itchy skin or hives.  
    • The leaves and flowers can be made into a tincture with Alcohol or as an oil in olive oil or carrier oils.  It can even be made into a salve with beeswax and infused yarrow oil.
    • Yarrow can be substituted for hops and barley in beer and and mead.

Continue The Journey: Read more about growing and using this wonderful plant:

Brought to you by Herbal Face Food

The plant of the month series brought to you by  Herbal Face Food.  A company I'm very happy to support.  Each of their products are made with 100% plants! The most powerful plants in the world.   As they say, "HFF is not plant based it's plant powered" bringing together up to 100 different plants depending on the product.  HFF is the only 100% plant based skin care product on the market.  Note: I do make a small commission on  referrals.  As a result I'm able to offer a 20% discount to my readers along with tips on how to grow and use these same wonderful plants in your own home or plot gardens.

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Growing Yarrow

 

Yarrow has become one of my favorite wild herbs. I received my first yarrow plants as an act of God.  Yep, I found it growing wild in my pesticide/weed killer free lawn right next to the Dandelions! Once this fuzzy fern looking plant was identified as Yarrow, I knew it was staying and moved several clusters to a designated spot in the garden. It now returns annually. I do still tend to find more showing up in other areas. When this occurs I either move it to its designated spot, pull it up, or leave it right where it is and allow it to bloom.  

Growing from Seed

If starting Yarrow from seed start indoors 6 to 8 weeks prior to the last frost. Plant in ground once all fear of frost has passed.

  • If direct sowing start in early spring after all chance of cold has passed.    
  • Yarrow loves full sun, it can grow in partial shade however will not grow as strong.  For this reason its best to find a sunny spot for Yarrow.  
  • Plant in sandy loam soil. Yarrow can grow in clay soil if water does not stand in the area for extended periods of time. 

Companion Plants

  • Lavender
  • Garlic
  • Onions
  • Cabbage, broccoli, and all the Brassicas
  • Oregano
  • Spinach
  • Thyme

Yarrow is susceptible to Powdery Mildew so DON’T grow it around plants that are also susceptible to Powdery Mildew.  For example, squash, pumpkins etc.

Read more about the history and uses of Yarrow here:

HFF Plant of the Month: Yarrow

Brought to you by Herbal Face Food

The plant of the month series brought to you by  Herbal Face Food.  A company I'm very happy to support.  Each of their products are made with 100% plants!  As they say, "HFF is not plant based it's 100% plant powered." Bringing together up to 100 different plants in their products, HFF is the only 100% plant based skin care product on the market.  I do make a discount for any purchases referred.  In turn, I'm able to offer a 20% discount to my readers along with tips on how to use the same wonderful plants in your own home or plot gardens.

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Growing Rosemary

There are so many reasons why growing rosemary is essential in a garden, the simplest being that once established, rosemary is an easy to grow, extremely good smelling and edible shrub!  Rosemary can grow up to several feet in height and can be hedged to fill hard to grow spots, tall background borders and rustic areas in gardens.  It’s the perfect sun lover and is listed by the Farmers Almanac  as a perennial in US zones 7 and up.   Throw in all of the edible and medicinal values of rosemary and it’s easy to understand why growing rosemary is an essential herb.

Harvesting Rosemary. Boots by Western Chief, Gloves by Digzy Gardening Gloves.

Growing Rosemary from Seed

There are a few ways to start rosemary plants; one can use seeds, cuttings or established plants from a nursery or garden center.   Although rosemary is a super strong, hardy and vigorous plant once established, starting from seed is actually the more difficult way to acquire one’s plants. Therefore, we shall start with seeds first. 

    • It’s recommended to start rosemary seeds indoors or in a greenhouse a good 90 to 120 days before planting outside.  
    • Use small seed starter pots made from coconut husk soil or a good organic potting mix. Moisten the pods or soil mixed planters with water.  
    • Ensure the top layer is moist but not drowning.  Shake the tiny rosemary seeds across the top of the soil surface.  
    • Rosemary is open air germinated so take care to not cover he seeds with soil. Simply press them on the soil gently and spray again with water to moisten the seeds.  A quart water spray mister bottle is perfect for this stage of plant growth. 
    • Place moistened seeds in a warm bright window, greenhouse or lighted tent. Spray or mist with water daily ensuring seeds have a moist spot to germinate.  

Once the babies reach about an inch tall, pot them up. Use large enough pots to ensure the roots are not disturbed and will enable the plants to grow a minimum of 90 days before they are migrated outdoors.

Harvesting Rosemary. Boots by Western Chief, Gloves by Digzy Gardening Gloves.

Weather and Soil

When migrating rosemary, consider the following: 

    • Rosemary needs dry hot areas and once established to be left alone! Just come back every now and then for water and a good cut!
    • Rosemary grows best in sandy loam soil. Clay ridden soil will be an issue as it holds water making it conducive to root rot. When faced with clay soil one will need to either modify the soil, move rosemary to another location, or consider them permanently potted.
Harvesting Rosemary. Boots by Western Chief, Gloves by Digzy Gardening gloves.

Companion Plants

Companion planting is the process of joining plants in a way that enhances their natural abilities to thrive.  Some of the best plants to grow with rosemary include:

    • Brassicas: Rosemary is a friend to brassica plants as its smell can confuse their predators .  Therefore, always plant rosemary near cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, Brussels, and any other plants in this wonderful family.
    • Other plants that benefit when paired Rosemary include:
      • Lavender, Thyme, Sage, Marigolds, Marjoram, Strawberries, Sunflowers, Rudbeckia

Cautionary plant combinations

Plant groupings one should avoid if possible; or, if necessary plan ahead ways to manage the challenges ensuring both plants thrive.  

        • Mint:  Mint needs shady moist spots; rosemary needs sunny dry spots.  Right off the bat they do not get along.
        • Basil: Basil loves the sun!! Yea! So why not basil and rosemary?  Water of course. Basil loves the sun; yet, needs a consistently moist bed.   Rosemary, yep.. must have dry soil!
        • Other plants with the same conflicts include:Cucumbers, zinnias, tomatoes and any plant that loves moist hot conditions.
        • Squash:  Why? Powdery mildew.  Squash and pumpkins or other plants in the squash family have a tendency for powdery mildew.  Rosemary, although resistant to bugs, is prone to powdery mildew. Planting them together promotes situations where one or the other plants are consistently passing it back and forth.

Next in works on this series

    • Growing rosemary from cuttings

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Growing and Caring for Garlic Chives

Garlic Chives are my favorite herb to grow; and, it's not because of the culinary uses, although those are amazing too.  It's singularly because of the beautiful white flowers that sit on long sturdy stems from around July to October.  It's no wonder I received so many requests to confirm what these lovely flowers where when posting some of their pictures!

About Garlic Chives

Garlic chives, sometimes called Chinese chives, are a part of the Allium family and are similar to onion chives.  You can certainly see the family resemblance if you look at the grassy leaves and rounded flower tops.  However, onion chives have more of a purple flower with rounder hollow chive leaves.  Garlic chives on the other hand have dark green flat shiny leaves and brilliantly white flowers.

Tips for Growing Garlic Chives

  • Garlic chives are perennials that can be grown up to Zone 3 and planted in spring either from their seeds (which there is plenty of) or from separation of their root base.
  • Although garlic chives are very hardy, they are most week when young.  They have very tiny tender leaves that are easy to mistake for grass or weeds if growing in an area that is not established for chives.
    60 day old chives

    As such, if growing from seed it's best to start them in planters and move them to their permanent home at around 30 days old.  Or, be strategic in where you plant them so you recognize them when the seedlings start to grow.

  • Chives can grow in full sun. By full sun I mean all day in some of the hottest areas, even those crazy southern states.   They can also do well in shade, on a patio in a pot or under a tree.  They won't however produce as many flowers.
  • Although chives can take the heat and are drought tolerant they do best (grow the largest with the most flowers) with a moderately moist soil.
  • Garlic chives flowers  give their best show after they have established their roots for a season and improve as they get older!  These chives you see here are four years old!  They are quite happy with large mounds of chives and many flowers!

Things to Consider When Growing Chives

Managing the Seeds

Garlic chives make a beautiful addition to a boarder or as you see here growing in front of taller plants.  Gardeners however, need to be aware of their seeds!   Each one of the individual flowers will form a seed pod.  

Start of a seed pod on Garlic Chive flowers.

In all honesty the seed stage of the Garlic Chive is quite beautiful.    Flowers will stay on the stems for at least thirty days while the seeds form and the flowers dry out.  There will be many many seeds and they will propagate themselves where ever they fall.   However, what is left behind on the plant is dried pods that make very interesting dried flower arrangements.  When going through the seed stage, to avoid issues, one should place their plants where they either do not care where the seeds fall, or simply cut the flowers and take them in to enjoy.

Companion planting with Garlic Chives

Planting garlic chives in your garden adds both beauty and sensibility as they are a natural deterrent for insects!  Gardening Know How  (one of my favorite sites) even reports they deter black spot on roses and scabs on apples.  I actually have them growing under my apple tree!      Honestly there are chives growing in multiple places around my yard.   In addition as you can see from the short video below the bees absolutely flock to these flowers. so if your planning a fall garden, having garlic chives blooming should be a must in the drive for strong pollination!

Some key plants that benefit particularly well from chives are:

  • Carrots
  • Grapes
  • Roses
  • Tomatoes
  • Corn
  • Okra
  • Squash
  • Peppers

It is said to be an issue to grow garlic with peas and onions.  I grew my garlic chives within two feet of peas this year and found no issue.  This however may be because the garlic chive does not have the traditional bulb that  garlic has.   Unfortunately, one season does not make a trend as such I will be testing these combinations out some more.

Uses for Garlic Chives

  • Both the flowers and the chives themselves can be eaten.
  • Place chives or the flowers in salads.
  • Use chives for stews or to season meats while cooking them.   I love clipping long strands of chives, placing them on the grill and laying the meats on top of them.  The smell is amazing!
  • Here is a quick video on growing chives!

 

Growing and Planning for Garlic Chives

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Growing Dill

About Dill

Dill looks like a plant that comes right out of a fairy garden! It has an almost magical quality with long green stems that branch out into clusters forming an umbrella of bright yellow flowers adorning wispy blue-green fern like leaves. The flowers also make dill nice to have in your bed as they seed profusely making growing dill so easy guaranteeing its return over and over again.

Dill is a biennial and comes from  Mediterranean and southeastern European areas.  It is most commonly known for its wonderful culinary uses where every part of the plant, from its stems to the flowers and seeds can be eaten.   It is a member of the parsley family, which makes it one of those aromatic plants known as umbellifers.  As such, it’s not uncommon to catch the smell when walking through any garden where dill is growing; or, find many pollinators like wasps, bees and butterflies visiting the site.

How to Grow

Dill can be grown in containers or outdoors in natural beds.  It can also be grown indoors as long as it has a bright spot with good sun for at least 6 hours a day.   However, once a decision has been made on where to place it, don’t move it!  Dill has a very large tap-root system that does not like to be moved and would likely not transplant well if attempted.

Dill likes sandy soil or well-drained soil that is around 70 degrees when planting.  It will grow taller and stronger in full sun however it does prefer consistent moderate weather that is not either too hot or too cold so plan for some shade if you are in a spot with extremely high heat. Sow seeds broadly a quarter to 1" deep and within 30 days of sprouting thin to about 12" apart. 

Tips

  • Dill ferns can be cut as soon as they have four branches on them and should be harvested before the flowers bloom for the most optimum flavor.
  • If more ferns are preferred plant fern leaf, for more seeds plant mammoth; or, go wild and plant both to ensure a large supply for canning, garnishing, soups and seasoning.
  • Dill can grow from three to four feet tall and may need support with stakes so try to plan it in a space that is protected from high winds.
  • Harvest dill when the umbel, the flower heard, has turned brown and the stem is still somewhat green.
  • Black Swallow tail butterflies love dill; it would be surprising if they did not show up.  If you want to avoid having them eat the ferns plant several spots around your space and choose one for them; then, migrate them to that section as they appear and enjoy their beauty.

Companions

Dill grows well with cucumbers (of course!) along with cabbage plants,  corn, asparagus, onions lettuce, squash or basil.  Dill does not do well with carrots.

Characteristics:

  • Height:  24 to 48 inches tall
  • Width:  12 to 24 inches
  • Zone:  3 to 11; can be grown in summer in zones 3 and 8 and winter in 8-11
  • Maturity: harvesting can start around 30-45 days with seeds at 60-90

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