2012 ~ The Year of the Herbs

Hi everyone!

Did you know that 2012 is “The Year of the Herbs”?

The National Garden Bureau and the Herb Society of America have teamed up to name 2012 Year Of the Herbs.

This is the first time the not-for-profits have partnered in their missions to promote gardening and educate people about growing plants.

How exciting is that for Troy and I! We are hoping that this year DTL Herbs will be a fun and prosperous year.

And since this is the year of the herbs, I plan on sharing tips, ideas, how-to’s, recipes and lots of other fun things.

Spearmint from our garden

As part of owning an Herb Business, we do a lot of educating. And we love doing that! We give presentations, classes and just talking to folks who stop by our booth at the Farmer’s Markets.

Here is a pretty good summary definition of herbs:

What the word “herb” really means
A very fitting definition that defines herbs by their usefulness rather than by their appearance or botanical structure was coined by Holly Shimizu, director of the U.S. Botanic Garden. Holly says, ―Herbs are defined as plants (trees, shrubs, vines, perennials, biennials or annuals) valued historically, presently, or potentially for their flavor, fragrance, medicinal qualities, insecticidal qualities, economic or industrial use, or in the case of dyes, for the coloring material they provide.

Source

I am going to be “dabbling” in some different herb uses in this coming year. Most of our business is in the culinary area of herbs. We do offer a fantastic Herbal Salt Scrub but, I have been wanting to experiment in other non-culinary areas. So, I thought 2012 is the perfect time to play with herbs!

Right now, Troy and I are pouring over seed catalogs and online seed sites decided what new herbs we will add to our gardens this year. This is one of our favorite times of the year~~Dreaming and preparing for Spring!

If you are into gardening whether it be flowers, herbs or vegetables, this is the time of the year to start planning out your gardens, beds, pots etc.

 

This week, I am giving a presentation along with a demo on Victorian Tussie Mussies. I will be discussing the different usage, meanings and history on herbs and flowers from the Victorian Era. I am excited. It should be a lot of fun. It will also be our first non-culinary herb presentation.

So, have you been dreaming of Spring? Can’t wait to get outside and get your hands into the soil?

DTL Herb Blends Make Great Spreads!

Hi everyone!

New years day we created a fun finger food dinner for my parents. One of the things we made was a platter of different spreads and breads. With Super Bowl right around the corner, I thought I would share the different spreads that we made using our blends.

Super simple to make because all the ingredients are already in the package of blends except the cream cheese!

1 packet + 1 block of cream cheese = spread

How easy is that!

The blends we used were:

Mediterranean Style Seasoning

Chive and Dill Vegi Dip

Poultry Blend

Dipping Oil Herb Blend

It is best to make the spreads a day or two before you want to serve them. It gives it time for all the flavors to fully develop.

***Note: Although we used one package of herbs to one 1/2 pound block of cream cheese, you could actually use one package to make up to one full pound. The longer they sit in the refrigerator, the stronger they get, and after about a week, they were pretty intense, so if you have time t make them a week in advance, you wouldn't need as much. So, this weekend is the perfect time to get them ready for Super Bowl Sunday.

We shaped them into logs and rolled them up in wax paper, you could use plastic wrap instead if you wanted.

Serve with breads and/or crackers for a delicious and different spread!

Your guests will love them!

I have to confess we all decided that both the Chive and Dill Vegi Dip and the Dipping Oil Herb Blend were our favorites! We like them all but, these two really stood out as new favorites!

If you want to purchase any of our products, Troy will be at the Lincoln Park Indoor Farmer’s Market the day of Super Bowl from 12:30-4:30.

If you want to purchase before then, just call us at:

734 265 0358

or email us at:

dtlherbsltd@gmail.com

If you can't make it to the market, give us a phone call or an email and we will work out a way to get you the product you need. 

Off to School We Go!

Hi everyone!

Troy and I have decided to return to school and get our Master Gardener Certification. It just made sense to us since we have a herb business.

Our table at a local Farmer’s Market this past summer. 

We both love to grow herbs, veggies and flowers so, going back to school to acquire new skills and knowledge is exciting to us.

Our Future Master Gardener taking care of “her” herb bed.

A big part of getting the M.G. certification involves volunteering with the community and educating others.

One of our herb presentations

We do presentations at different venues.

Growing Basil at the local high school greenhouse (hydroponically)

We are a volunteer business partner with a local high school agriculture program.  Troy has been working extensively with the kids regarding herbs and composting.

End of the year tea herb harvest.

In the Spring I will be working with the kids in creating tea gardens and how to create blends.

We love working with the public and educating as much as we can. We have a small herb garden in the Princess’s preschool class. Kids are so eager to learn. So, working with children is one of our favorite volunteer projects.

So gaining more knowledge and being able to share that is something we are really looking forward to!