Supernatural Botanicals

It’s late September and summer is feeling like it’s over.  I had such a great spring/summer growing season (see picture) with flowers, herbs, vegetables, peppers, etc.  May is such a perfect time to find the greenest of greens in nature.  But fall definitely has its perks, too…especially for colors.  Fall definitely has its advantages in the style department…think hats, boots, beautiful soft sweaters and scarves.  Yum!

Goodbye to summer.

Rosemary is traditionally known as the herb associated with hair.  It has been said that it strengthens the hair and stimulates the scalp, and Rosemary essential oil is also thought to stimulate the mind and lift fatigue. And it makes your hair smell good, too!

Put a few sprigs of fresh rosemary in a heatproof bowl and pour on boiling water.  Allow them to steep and, when cool, take out the Rosemary.  Use as a final rinse to keep hair glossy and sleek .  Rosemary also helps discourage dandruff.  You can put the rest of the infusion into a pretty glass bottle and keep in the fridge, or somewhere out of direct light, for later use. 

Rosemary is easy to grow, and spreads fairly quickly in either container gardening, or in-ground gardening. 

An eco-idea:  Planting mint near a downspout fills your garden with its fresh scent after every rain shower. 

Beyond endless health benefits and countless delicious recipes, here are a few (more) things you should know about garlic:

*  In order to maximize the photochemical power of garlic, it should be allowed to sit for at least several minutes after being crush or chopped. 

*  The more finely garlic is chopped or crushed, the more healthful properties are activated…and the more that are retained in cooking.

*  The aromatic compounds in garlic undergo conversion and are released when the cell walls of a clove are breached by crushing or chopping and the contents oxidize.  This is why we cry when chopping onions, garlic’s first cousin. 

I’ve been purchasing these Limelight Hydrangeas (a newer hybrid breed flower) from the farmers market every weekend.  They last all week long…even lasting up to 2 weeks in vases.  They are old-fashioned looking, romantic and girly, and just beautiful.  Not only do I use them as a centerpiece on my dining room table, I also have a small vase of them on my nightstand.  They make a room sing!  They even make outdoor rooms come to life…see above.

I’ve decided to dedicate an entire planting bed in my yard to these hydrangeas for next year’s growing season.  Optimum time for planting is fall.  To read more about limelight hydrangeas, click here. 

Backyard dinner dates….one of my very favorite things!  You don’t need to find a sitter for the kids and spend a ton of money in order to have a dinner date with your man….or entire family. Create a beautiful place in your yard or on your balcony to dine outside.  I created my secret spot under a huge tree in my yard, and designed a seating area, lined with Brassfield Chips (pebble ground cover seen above.)

Beautiful linens/tablecloths can create so many different looks.  The picture above happens to be a Saturday morning breakfast date with the newspaper and fresh papaya juice (coffee being brewed).  It’s a beautiful way to start the day or end an evening.

A backyard dinner date just takes creativity.  It can be breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner; the backyard dates are especially beneficial when you feel like you haven’t been on a real date in 100 years.  Create a romantic dinner for two (don’t forget candles), or serve dinner for the entire family there.   Have coffee and bagels in the morning, or gourmet cheeses and a bottle of wine in the evening.

Get creative and surprise your guy with a backyard dinner date.

Check out this rare behind the scenes peek of Jamie Oliver at home. 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJJi8ROrvZE

This is a look at my backyard garden today.  My purple hydrangea from the Farmers Market this past Saturday still looks great today, Thursday.  I change the water in the vase every other day, and add sweet lemon thyme to the vase, free floating.  It’s such a great look for clear vases.  Tender young green leaf lettuce is in full bloom.  My Roma tomatoes have their first bud, a single tiny green ball.  The Tabasco pepper plant has tiny little yellow peppers budding everywhere.  (editorial note….these peppers are as hot as fire!)  Very young Jalapenos, two single stubby peppers emerging out, in the past few days.  Cayenne peppers are green, and will turn red if you leave them on the vine long enough.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7drx7gwO0Ww

Bell jars make backyard gardening so easy.  Positioned on top of sunken pots of lettuces, they create a greenhouse-like effect for accelerated growth of plants, and also do double-duty by protecting young growing plants from frost.  They also look beautiful in your garden, making your backyard garden aesthetically more appealing to the eye.

I buy vintage garden bell jars any time I find them.  Although they are glass, they are made of very thick, very hard to break glass.  They are also very heavy, so you won’t have a problem with rabbits or squirrels knocking them over.  They give your garden instant “wow” factor.  It turns a backyard garden into an English garden look-a-like in seconds.  Perfect for lettuces.  Talk about a garden salad!  Super-fresh and delicious.

By now, surely you know that the eco-awareness movement isn’t just for wacked-out enviormentalist nut-jobs.  For those of us who have been eco-aware for years, we’re glad the masses are catching up.  It’s not a job we can leave for someone else to do; we all have to take part in saving the planet.   Here are five ideas that can get you proactively moving in the right direction. 

1.  Use you slow cooker (crock pot) to save on energy costs. 

2.  Group errands together to not only save on gas, but produce less polution.

3.  Don’t automatically turn on the air conditioning in the summer.  First, start with the windows open.  It airs out your house and puts you in a happy mood because you are a bit closer to nature.  If it’s miserable out, go ahead and turn the air on to breathe better.  I’ve noticed that when I don’t automatically turn the central air on, it forces me to turn my “auto-pilot” off and think about whether or not I really need to turn the air conditioning on. 

4.  Don’t use disposable plates and cups, use real plates and cups.  It saves them from eventually being dumped in landfills.  Beyond the practical, think esthetics.  Who wants to eat off of plastic when you can eat off of a beautiful plate? 

5.  Grow a garden.  Trees and plants oxygenate the air, helping you to breathe better, and you’ll save a ton of money in the produce department by growing your own veggies.  The taste is superior when freshly picked and the veggies’ natural sugars are flowing.