The Greenhouse

Hi everyone!

I thought you might actually like to see the greenhouse at Roosevelt High School that we are always talking about and were you will find us quite often.

This greenhouse is behind the high school. And I mean immediately behind it.

This side is right along the street. You see those metal racks on the side of the building? During the warmer months you will see those racks filled with hanging flowers for sale.

All kinds of watering and plant hanging systems.

Hanging plants are starting to pop up already.

Potting and work stations.

So, that is a peek into one of our favorite places! If you are a avid gardener, isn’t this like a candy store? A place to play all year long!

Tonight (March 1) Troy will be giving a presentation at Roosevelt High School at 6:30 pm until 8:00 pm on “How to grow herbs”.

There will also be a tour of the greenhouse. This is part of a 3 part series. On March 15, Troy will be presenting “Harvesting and preserving herbs” and on March 29 he will talk about “Using herbs”. Lots of fun info!

In the other two nights of presentation there will also include a tour of the Hydroponics and the Tilapia farm.

If you get a chance and live locally, hope to see you there!

A Touch of Flowering Beauty

Hi everyone!

Last year, at the markets, we used a couple of 5 gallon buckets planted with different herbs to help hold down our canopy. One of the buckets had a sage plant in it.

If you grow or have ever grown sage, you know it is one hardy plant. After the market season was over. We took the bucket to the greenhouse. And of course it is growing beautifully.

Another wonderful part about growing sage is it has the prettiest delicate purple flowers.

It is so nice to see flowering blooms at this time of the year!

And don’t forget, the pretty little sage flowers are edible. They have a more subtle taste than the leaves. Adding them to a fresh garden salad would not only taste good but, the soft purple color would add a wonderful visual contrast to all the greens.

These little flowers are also lovely floating in a cup of hot tea. The flavor would be very mild and you could still get the effects that sage has to offer. When we have a sore throat or congestion, I always add a bit of sage to our tea. It has always had a soothing effect.

Sage,(Salvia Officinalis), is referred to as the herb of longevity. Although best known as an ingredient in poultry stuffing, Sage(or edible sage/garden sage) has been used medicinally for thousands of years. In the Middle ages, Sage was thought to promote longevity. One legend says its healing comes directly from the Virgin Mary.

Native to the Mediterranean region, its name comes from the Latin Salvare, which translates roughly as "to rescue" or "to heal." Sage is often used as a remedy for respiratory infections, congestion, cough, sore throats, appetite stimulant, indigestion and is said to have a beneficial effect on the liver. It is also given for fever, night sweats and urinary problems. Some women even find that it helps with menopausal symptoms.

Sage is a uterine stimulant, so it should be avoided in therapeutic doses during pregnancy. It is safe to use in cooking however. It may also decrease milk production so nursing mothers be aware of that. Gargling or swishing the tea without swallowing should not lead to this effect.

Source

When you plant your herbs remember they also can add color to your garden. Most herbs have beautiful flowers. Since we grow more than just one of each plant, I try to let one flower to see the pretty blooms and to use them in different ways.

We are joining  Fertilizer Friday.

Got Spring Fever? Take a Free Class!

Hi everyone!

I am completely into learning new stuff and when that education comes FREE, hello, I am there! and right now I have Spring fever so bad, it’s driving me insane! so, I am constantly looking for anything to do that is gardening related these days to get my “fix”.

So, I thought I would share a couple free classes being held at Home Depot. One is for Landscaping design and the other is for Lawn Maintenance. I am not sure if it is nationwide so, you may want to go to the site and check to see if your local Home Depot is offering them as well.

Get more info here

And no, Home Depot has no idea who I am or that I am talking about them. LOL

MARCH WEEKLY WORKSHOPS

Landscape Design

Learn to create your own garden landscape

• Discover the basic principles of landscape design
• Learn to identify plants that grow in specific climate zones

Get the latest landscape supplies here

Dates:

• Sunday, March 4, 2012
• Sunday, March 11, 2012
• Sunday, March 18, 2012
• Sunday, March 25, 2012

Time: 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.

Lawn Maintenance

Add curb appeal to your home with essential lawn maintenance tips

• Learn how to identify the appropriate products for your spring lawn care needs
• Learn the four steps of a lawn care system

Gather more information on lawn care and tools here

Dates:

• Saturday, March 3, 2012
• Saturday, March 10, 2012
• Saturday, March 17, 2012
• Saturday, March 24, 2012
• Saturday, March 31, 2012

Time: 10 a.m. – 11 a.m.

Fresh Lettuce

Hi everyone!

After a visit to the greenhouse and spending a good deal of time snapping pictures left and right, I thought I would share some gorgeous lettuce that is ready to pick.

It is growing hydroponically and is beautiful!

Now, last time we posted pictures of the hydroponic beds, we had lots of questions about them. So here is a little bit about them.  The hydroponic systems are made from everyday materials available at Lowes, or Home Depot, or any store like that. They are simply downspouts, with holes cut in them, drip irrigation tubing, a water reservoir and a pump. They were developed and designed by a retired engineer who volunteers at the school, and built by students.

Did you know that a lot of this wonderful fresh lettuce is used at the school in the cafeteria? These students are literally growing their own food. They aren’t at the level to completely supply the school cafeteria yet but, they sure are working at that goal. Isn’t that awesome!

They do sell some of the lettuce as well. This is one of the ways they earn money to put back into the greenhouse. And where would you rather buy your lettuce at this time of the year? The grocery store, where you have no idea where it came from and what was sprayed on it? Or right here at a local high school greenhouse where you could go in and look at it and choose what you want 

Don’t you wish all schools could have this amazing program in place?

Are you planning on growing some lettuce? With the weird weather we have had here in Michigan, it is going to be interesting to see how early crops will be able to be planted and produce.

I think I am going to try a variety of different lettuces (love all the beautiful colors lettuce comes in) and other greens as an early crop this year. If I have luck with them, I will try a fall harvest as well.

Now, decisions, decisions….which varieties to try out?

Check out this interesting idea to try different lettuce without using a lot of space. Hummm…..

I found this photo online and have no idea who the original source is. Sorry about that. I would love to see more detail on this.

Lime Mint

Hi everyone!

Last weekend we had a few inches of snow on the ground. Today the snow is almost gone and it is sunny out.

After last week’s Master Gardener’s class, which was all about flowers and landscaping, I was just itching to get outside and play in the soil!

Since it was sunny, I decided to bundle up and go outside and putter around a little bit.

I started cleaning out the dead debris from a pot of Lime Mint. This was a new herb for us last year.

All the dead stuff is gone and out of the pot.

Now look what I found.

Lots of new growth! I had to cut off several runners that had planted themselves into the yard near the pot.

I love trying new mints. They are fun to play with. But, they are aggressive so, when you plant them, you need to plant them in their own area. I use large pots to get them established. If you don’t contain them, they will completely take over wherever they are planted!

Next, I am tackling the chocolate mint!

While I was outside working, I noticed that our oak barrel with peppermint has standing water.

 It is the only barrel doing this. We are going to have to come up with a drainage solution for this barrel. It will be a project to deal with next month. Have you taken a look at your gardening areas and noticed any drainage problem? This is the time to start checking things out and come up with a game plan for Spring.

This has been such a weird winter here in Michigan. We have had very little snow and relatively mild temps. I think all our poor plants are so confused!

Herb of The Year: Rose

Hi everyone!

Does that surprise you? The herb of the year is the Rose? It surprised me when I heard about it last summer! I never think of a rose as an herb. However, if we refer back to the definition I posted:

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.

Roses definitely fit into that category.

**Very Important: ONLY use culinary roses. NEVER use roses from a florist. They are treated several times with chemicals. Use the roses you grow if you do not use chemicals on them or look for local organic growers.**

Culinary Use

Rose petal and rose hips are used a lot to make jams, jellies, cordials, vinegars and sweets. Rose flavoured Turkish delight has been produced in Turkey since the 15th century and is known there as lokum.

Rosehip syrup is a natural source of vitamin C, containing 20 times more vitamin C than oranges by weight.

Recipe - Rose Vinegar

I found this recipe for treating mild headaches and as a gargle for sore throats. It's also good to use as a facial toner.

Quantities

• 3 Handfuls Fresh Highly Scented Rose Petals (red or deep pink give the best colour).
• 7 Tbsp's Distilled White Vinegar.
• 1 Tbsp Rose Water
• 1 Pint Distilled Water.

Method

• Place the rose petals in a glass container and add the wine vinegar
• Leave the container in a cool, dark place for 1 week, shaking the liquid every day
• Strain through a muslin cloth and discard the petals
• To use, dilute the 1 Tbsp of rose vinegar with 1 pint of waterSource: Herb Society.org

I will be sharing different things I try with roses this year. There are so many fun and interesting uses for them. Who knew?

It’s All About the Worms!

Hi everyone!

Last week we organized a special presentation for the kids during school. It was….Worm Day!

Let me explain.

At the High School we volunteer, we started teaching them about composting. And one of the very best composting is Vermi Posting. This is a worm compost method. The rich black compost that is created through this method is referred to as Black Gold by gardeners. The is the crème de le crème of compost! One tablespoon of this in a houseplant will do miracles for you plant. It is in very high demand and is very expensive.

Given the right environment, the worms will go to work to digest the kitchen scraps and bedding faster than any other compost method. The material will pass through the worms' bodies and become "castings." In about 3-4 months, the worms will have digested nearly all the garbage and bedding and the bin will be filled with a rich, black natural fertilizer and soil amendment. Compared to ordinary soil, the worm castings contain five times more nitrogen, seven times more phosphorus and 11 times more potassium. They are rich in humic acids and improve the structure of the soil

Check out this source to read more and to learn how to built and maintain your own worm compost. UNL Extension in Lancaster County

Red Compost Worms

There is a select group of teenagers that have been working with Troy to create this compost and keep it up. Four teenage girls really got involved and decided that this is what they wanted to work on for their project for the FFA Leadership Skills Demonstration Competition.

We offered them the opportunity to practice their demonstration at the princess’s preschool class as a way to prepare for this big competition. The girls jumped at the chance! We knew the kids would love it! hello….we are talking worms here!

The girls did a great presentation and all the kids loved it.

The next day, this modified gray tub made it’s permanent home in the classroom. It is filled with worms, shredded newspaper, a little soil and a pulverized apple to get the worms feeding.

And of course, part of the learning process is to let the kids touch and pick up the worms. Those worms were all over this table!

The children gather around when one of us or the teachers feed the worms. They are excited to realize that their lunch time vegetable/fruit leftovers get recycled by feeding them to the worms.

There are so many amazing lessons that can be taught through this project. I know that our volunteer project aren’t exactly the “norm” for preschoolers but, they seem to enjoy them as do the teachers and even other classrooms want to visit this classroom!

And we have a worm compost and a regular compost at the high school. We are excited because we have been talking with a professional composting company in partnering up with us at the high school for even more learning experience in this area.

Project: Preschool Indoor Herb Garden

Hi everyone!

Does it surprise you in the least that one of the first volunteer projects we did with the Princess's preschool class was to start them an herb garden? Of course not, I didn’t think so.

Kids are like little sponges. If you make something fun and interesting, they just absorb the information up. And when you let them be part of something, they get a wonderful sense of ownership.

 

The above picture is Cuban Oregano (it is in the pot with the Aloe Vera). This plant started out as a small piece of broken Cuban Oregano from our home. We started it in a glass of water so the kids could see how it grew roots. Once it was big enough, they were part of planting it and now watching how big it is growing.

The Aloe Vera plant was a rescue. At the high school there is a compost pile and a place where people can drop off unwanted containers/pots for the students to use. Well, someone dumped their Aloe Vera plant in the compost pile. It was pretty beaten up but, it gave the kids a fun chance to see a plant being rescued and brought back to life.

Since we volunteer with the high school students as well and have access to their wonderful greenhouse, we have a lot of herbs growing right now. So, starting a small window ledge herb garden for the children at the preschool was just a natural thing to do.

We wanted to have a variety of different types of herbs.

When it comes to watering and taking care of the herbs, the students wait for one of us, then a few kids at a time can take turn watering.

This has become their garden. We are hoping to do an actual outside garden with them in the Spring.

We occasionally will bring in a new herb. They are always so excited when they can pinch a leaf and smell it. They know that this one is a “Pizza Herb” (oregano) or that one is a “Candy Herb” (peppermint). It is so fun to see their faces when the recognition of the scent hits them!

The sense of smell is such a powerful sense. It was interesting to observe one of the children smell the citronella when we first brought it into the class room. When a new herb comes in, they each get to smell it and this child instantly said, “That smells like camping!” This is a 3 year old! How cool.

**The Lincoln Park Indoor Farmer’s Market will be open again this coming Sunday. We will be there and hope you are too!**

 

I’m joining:

Fertilizer Friday

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!