Rue's Herb Garden
Pineapple Sage and Bay Laurel
Written by Lorrie MacKenzie   
Saturday, 27 February 2010 07:28
(0 votes)

Rain, rain, come and stay! We have had rain the last couple of days and it's wonderful. Now we'll have a couple days without it and then it comes back. I live in inland San Diego and we need water.

Tomorrow I get to visit with my brother, who lives in Maryland. It's a long story, but I only found out I have a brother about a year ago so it's been a real adventure absorbing him into the family. He's a terrific guy and very interesting. My father and one of my sisters will be there also so I'm looking forward to a great day.

I went out today and chewed a leaf off of my dwarf pineapple sage. It tasted nice and herby, but not really like pineapple. Maybe it hasn't grown up enough to have its full flavor.

I was looking up bay laurel the other day. There was a physician back in the thirteenth century who thought a bay leaf tucked behind someone's ear kept them from getting drunk. I wouldn't count on that - I wonder why he thought it worked. Could he have tried it? It was also used by front doors to ward off evil spirits. It apparently is not as hardy as some of the herbs because it has a shallow root system, but it can be grown easily in a pot and moved indoors when the weather gets really cold. It does well in zones 8-10. Add a bay leaf or two to your soup - delicious!

Add a comment
 
Gardening and Moonshine Yarrow
Written by Lorrie MacKenzie   
Saturday, 27 February 2010 07:26
(0 votes)

My movie review of the week - Valentine's Day. It's a cute movie but you probably won't like it well enough to buy it. But there are lots of stars and it's kind of interesting because of that.

Today I repotted several plants, among them a moonshine yarrow plant. I got this at a gardening club meeting I attended where people bring plants, they sell raffle tickets and draw them and whoever's ticket gets drawn gets to choose a plant. This goes on until all the plants are gone. I really love this activity.

Anyway, one of the plants I chose was a moonshine yarrow. I already had yarrow in my garden (although some things have gone away over the winter) but I loved the word moonshine in there. It's a little scraggly right now but I'm enthused about gardening again and will nurse it back to health. Yarrow is good for the fever you get when you have a cold, inflammation and arthritis, and irritable bowel and colic. It can be taken in a tea or as a tincture.

This weekend I will start a tincture but I'm not sure what. Stay tuned to see what I decide. Any suggestions?

Add a comment
 
Baby Showers and Sage
Written by Lorrie MacKenzie   
Saturday, 27 February 2010 07:25
(0 votes)

My husband went to his first baby shower yesterday. It was a couples shower and we weren't sure what to expect. We heard ahead of time that one of the games was pregnancy twister, which is where you strap on something simulating pregnancy and then play twister. That was not in the cards for either one of us. So we went with our guards up a little.

The shower turned out to be lovely. Beautifully decorated, wonderful food, nice people. I thought we were doing fine. We had a great time until the games started. I was inside talking to a couple of friends so I didn't care but my husband had to bow out of the first men's game. When the second game came around he panicked, rushed inside and talked me into going home early ( which was okay because we had a dog at our house that needed extra attention). But I'm not sure I'll ever get him to another couples shower and certainly I'll never be able to stay at one until the finish! Oh, well, he never would have lasted through the present opening.

I live in an 8-9 zone and today is lovely and warm, although we have had a lot of rain recently. My thoughts are turning to planting a garden, although it is still too early to count on no frosts. So, because I can't wait, I'm thinking of starting some plants under grow lights. For some reason I'm thinking about sage, partly because I think of sage as an old and wise herb. It is also drought-tolerant and loves sun which is good for the summers here, which typically reach temperatures of 100. I've read that sage should be replaced every 2-3 years but my guess is that I won't be able to bring myself to do that. Sage is good added to pasta and I"ve heard the leaves can be deep fried. Its seeds should be frozen for 3 days before planting indoors and moved outdoors in about 8 weeks (after the last frost). It's still too early to talk about how to harvest it. But in another month or two it might be time to take a smudge stick made of sage and cleanse my house!

Add a comment
 
SOAP SALE!
Written by Lorrie MacKenzie   
Thursday, 25 February 2010 18:46
(0 votes)

Welcome to our blog! We are thinking about discontinuing some of our soap scents so we've decided to have a sale. Through March all of our bars of soap will be $3.50. They are wonderful, healthy bars of soap. In the meantime, we are also concentrating on hand salve, which is our specialty. If you place an order for over $10 of product we will include a lavender-scented sachet for your purse or your pillow. So feel free to get a really great deal!

If you have any problems or questions ordering through the website please give me a call at 760-788-4375 and I will take your order on the phone.

Thanks so much.

Lorrie MacKenzie

Add a comment
 
Birthdays & Dill
Written by Lorrie MacKenzie   
Thursday, 11 February 2010 16:08
(0 votes)

Well, Tuesday was my birthday and it was a good day. The end of the day was especially nice because I picked up two of my grandchildren and took them out to dinner. Then yesterday the other three grandchildren came to spend a couple of days while their parents are out of town. It's good to have days that revolve around child events and then quieter days that are more adult. I like them all.

Dill is the International Herb Association's herb of the year. Dill is a simple, homey kind of herb that is great for seasoning dishes like fish, soups and even eggs. You can eat dill over the growing season (during warmer weather) in more than one incarnation. The flowers can be used in salads, eggs, vinegar and much more. After the flowers, seeds form. At first they are green and taste vivid. Then the seeds turn brown and can be dried. The dill leaves can also be added to salads. So the whole plant is useful! The roots need lots of room so it's not a good indoors plant (and it grows sometimes to eye level). Who doesn't love a dill pickle?

For more information on dill go to www.herbcompanion.com. Their March 2010 issue has lots more to say!

Lorrie MacKenzie

Add a comment
 


Page 3 of 5

Sign Up For Blog

Enter your email address:

Shopping Cart

Your Cart is currently empty.

Categories


List All Products


Advanced Search

Login Form