June In the Garden

Like a lot of other things, Lavender bloomed early this year. Once the florets open, the bees go wild.
When they're done and the blooms turn brown, trim off the flower stalks. This is a good time for shaping up your plants. I cut back my lavender hard early in the spring. I just didn't get around to all the plants. So now I'll go through and trim off all the floppy branches and the ones with bare wood and foliage at the end. There's a lot of new growth underneath, which will push out and be more compact and shrubby. The plants have plenty of time to push out new foliage before cold weather arrives.

What I've been harvesting-

culinary herbs - tarragon, oregano, savory, mints, lemon balm (cut off the little white flowers on the lemon balm like the ones in the picture before it seeds or it goes everywhere.)
golden yarrow - also early love in a mist seed pods, larkspur
chamomile flowers - lots of them!

What looks good in the garden-

hydrangeas - they look great
lady's bedstraw - looks like a ground cover, then gets tall with tiny gold flowers. Sweet fragrance like honey.
clary sage - sturdy, upright plants with long lasting blooms
hyssop - dark green foliage, dark blue flowers in a spike and the bees love it. Also anise hyssop, with purple flowers
coneflower - I just love them and when the goldfinches come to them, it's even better.

We have to keep Lucy away from a small bunny that's living in the back corner of the yard. It's out of the nest, but still awfully small to be chased. This is at least the second batch of babies so far this year.

Late Spring

Lucy's had a good spring so far. There are bunnies to chase and holes to dig. She loves to be out with us when we're working. She does help dig holes, but John says she has no garden etiquette. She plops down in front us, sometimes on a plant. She likes to jump over plants when she's running. And there are sugar peas and alpine strawberries to eat from the garden. She thinks vegetables are a great treat.

We didn't plant any basil till the third week of May. It's pretty well established now. Remember to pinch your basil back - pinch the stem off just above a news set of leaves - so the plant will start to branch out, If you pinch when the stems get leggy for the first month, the plant will be full and you'll have lots of yummy foliage. Creek columnar is a low maintenance basil. Whether you pinch it or not, it grows like a little shrub. Very few flowers to remove and the flavor is great. A great herb and a good garden plant

Lavender is still blooming with some later varieties. After I've harvested, I always let the flowers stand for the bees. We've been seeing some honeybees, but not many. Beekeepers say it was another bad winter with up to 50% losses.

'When the bees are done with the lavender, cut off the spent flower stems. If you want to shape up your plant, this is the time. Cut off errant stems. Trim back by 1/3 to 1/2, as long as you don't go into old, hard wood. This plant will push out new foliage before fall.

What looks good in the garden:

• Clary sage - big showy flowers,long lasting
• Santolina - cute, yellow button flowers, I love the shiny gray foliage
• Love in a mist -pretty cornflower-like bloom, attractive seedpod so its pretty a long time
• Hydrangeas - in mass, they're hard to beat for color and effect

Return from Spring!

Well, I'm back! We've made it through the peak of the season, and although there's lots of spring left, I've gotten enough accomplished outside so I can get back to blogging.

Thanks to everyone who has visited the farm this spring and also to all our Landis Valley customers.

We had a good show at Landis Valley. Friday is always our better day and it was great this year! The weather was pleasant, sales were brisk and we had extra help this year. Maryanne and Tina, my soap ladies were kind enough to lend a hand in addition to my friend Candy, who helps me every year. Candy and I waited on customers and Tina and Maryanne kept things stocked and watered, directed people and helped to answer questions. It was great! Our extra hands made a huge difference.

Saturday morning was pretty good and then it got windy - really windy. We wound up taking the tent down, which was a first. Even with the weather, it was still a good show.

We've been busy at the farm helping customers, working in the gardens, and beginning to harvest and dry herbs. I've cut back the vigorous perennials, like oregano, mint, tarragon and catnip. Those I either hang in bunches to dry or dry them on my nice rack of screened shelves that John made. Remember, herbs will re-absorb moisture from the air on humid days. I often finish the drying process in my dehydrator. Make sure your herbs are thoroughly dry before storing, so mold does not develop.

It's lavender season too. Harvest it in bud, before the individual florets open. Bunch and hang upside down where it's warm, dry and dark.

What looks good in the garden:

• Snapdragons- easy, pretty and reliable
• Jupiter's beard- rosy red flowers, cut back later for rebloom
• Valerian- tall, white, fragrant
• Lady's mantle- colorful filler with roses
• Roses- lots of varieties, I like them fragrant

Spring Notes and Musings

I was surprised at how quickly the snow melted (happy, too). Guess it was the perfect combination of warm weather and rain. Lucy misses chasing snowballs, but she was happy to see the grass again. On nice days, she gets an attack of spring fever and rolls around on the grass, kicking her legs. She's on the lookout for bunnies too.

Very little winter damage in the yard, I'm happy to report. A few things took a hit, but no worse than an average winter. Our star magnolia, with its white, shaggy flowers was in full bloom and got zapped on the last cold night. That's the risk with the early bloomers.

Our Greenhouse opened April 1. I'm hard at work potting seedlings and dividing perennials. Hope to move perennials out by mid-week.

It's still early to plant- I usually start planting perennials in the garden by mid-April, weather permitting. Annuals don't go out till mid-May. Most plants are ready for sale by the end of April and continuing through the season.

Our spring open house will be April 23 & 21~ from 9 to 5. Open house specials, refreshments and prize drawings.

We recently sent out our spring newsletter. If you would like to receive one and didn't, give us your name and address or e—mail address when you visit.

Mark your calendar for the Landis Valley Herb Faire Friday and Saturday May 7 & 8, 9-5. We'll be in our usual location across from the millstones in the Brothers Courtyard.

Lots and lots of growth in the garden now! Wormwood, valerian, coneflower, hyssop, chamomile, tarragon, chives, burnet - everywhere I look, something's growing - weeds, too!

Blog posts will be sporadic for the next two months, while we concentrate on plants and customers. Please bear with me - I shall return.

Garden Notes

Dill is the 2010 herb of the year. All parts of the plant are useful. The ferny, blue-green foliage or dillweed can be chopped and added to carrots, green beans, fish, potato soup or macaroni salad. A sunny yellow flower adds just the right flavoring to a jar of pickles. Dill seed can be added to brine for pickling in the absence of foliage or flowers. Dill is a reseeding annual. Let seeds fall and your crop should come back reliably each year.

Garden updates—Brazilian button flower was new for us last year and lived up to its catalog description. The flowers are like those of fuzzy purple ageratum, but bigger and showier. Very nice for the back of the garden or a large container. Also, we’ll again carry several scented geranium varieties that had become unavailable. Back on the list are chocolate mint, ginger, lime and rose along with the new bitter lemon.

And - DON'T FORGET-

Spring Open House – April 23 & 24, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Greenhouse and shop specials.

Also, Landis Valley Herb & Garden Faire, May 7 & 8

Don't forget to check out our classes, listed in this older post.

Texture in the Garden

Gardening is an evolving process. Tastes, sensibilities and interests change over time as you work with plants and expand your garden. Appreciation of color and flowers can lead to an interest in fragrance. More subtle differences in form, foliage and texture can develop from other gardening interests. Herbs add so much in terms of foliage and texture to nearly every garden setting.

Texture generally relates to a plant’s leaves, although it can include flowers. Fine textured foliage is generally narrow, needlelike, finely cut or ferny. The needlelike foliage of rosemary, narrow leaves of thyme or the ferny foliage of dill and fennel are examples. Coarse foliage is larger and often more complete. Hollyhock, sage, coneflower and lady’s mantle have coarse foliage.

In garden design, you strive for sameness to provide continuity, but also differences to provide interest. Alternating textures can provide subtle differences in a garden design tied together by repetition of like plants or colors. Among drifts of similar flowers or colors, a few interesting foliage plants can provide contrasting texture in any planting. In a shady spot, finely cut sweet cicely foliage would contrast nicely against broad foxglove and lady’s mantle leaves. In our sunny beds, narrow-leaved hyssop complements coarser coneflower and perennial salvia. Also, broad-leaved hollyhock, echinacea and joe-pye weed stand in contrast to finely cut Russian sage, hyssop and dianthus.

Herbs, whether they flower or not, can provide interesting textural notes with their foliage. Look at plants—flower and foliage—and begin to categorize them by texture.

Grass-like - Includes Chives, Lemon Grass and Blackberry Lily

Ferny - Includes Bleeding heart, Love-in-a-mist, Chervil and Feverfew

Finely cut - Includes Dill, Blue flax, Chamomile and Cosmos

Narrow/needlelike - Includes Rosemary, Curry plant, Lady’s bedstraw and Lavender

Broad - Includes Sage, Cleome, Comfrey, Many basils. Borage and Valerian

Look around your beds. If you have basil, borage and lovage growing together, add a contrasting foliage, like feverfew, love-in-a-mist, blue flax or parsley for textural variation.

Scented geraniums are great for adding textural interest. Although related, the differences in texture and foliage within the group are amazing. Peppermint and chocolate mint produce broad, fuzzy leaves. Foliage of concolor lace and lemon is small and crinkled. Nutmeg, lime and coconut have smooth, rounded leaves. Rose, apricot and lemon rose have coarse texture with deeply cut leaves. A collection of scented geraniums provides a bounty of contrast in terms of texture, foliage and fragrance.

Garden Question

Q & A “Can I grow culinary herbs in containers?”

Yes! Nearly all culinary herbs have a form or variety that will grow and produce well in pots. Look for compact varieties of basil and sage. Creeping rosemary and savory look pretty trailing over the front of a container. Parsley, oregano, marjoram, chives, burnet and thyme varieties do well planted together in a large pot or singly in individual containers in a sunny location. You can add calendula, nasturtium or another edible flower for color and variety. Just make sure all the plants in one pot prefer either sun or shade. Containers also let you confine invasive mints to their own pots. Always choose containers with drainage holes to shed excess water and use only potting soil. Potted herbs should be fertilized regularly with either a water soluble or time release fertilizer.

NEW plants for 2010

Kent Beauty oregano –
Origanum rotundifolium ‘Kent Beauty’
Like oregano ‘Herrenhausen’, this plant is ornamental rather than culinary and is grown particularly for its attractive flowers. The blooms resemble hops strobiles, and ripen from green to pinky-purple. Replaces dittany of crete, with similar flowers, but ‘Kent Beauty’ is perennial in Zone 6. (18” P)

Paris rosemary –Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Paris’
It’s not often that I try a plant based on one line in a catalog, but here’s an example. The supplier claims ‘Paris’ is the most frost hardy variety yet. I’ve had many conversations about rosemary’s hardiness and I believe it depends primarily on weather. Extended winter cold will kill off even the hardier varieties. However, here’s another choice (along with ‘Arp’ and ‘Hill Hardy’)—if you want to try maintaining a rosemary outside for more than one season. (up to 48” TP)

Bitter Lemon scented geranium – Pelargonium x citronellum ‘Bitter Lemon’
This fragrant variety is a descendent of the cultivar ‘Mabel Grey’ with an upright habit, large toothed leaf and pinkish-purple blooms. Popular fragrance in a form different from most lemon geraniums. (24”+ TP)

Cosmos ‘Rose Bonbon’ –
Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Rose Bonbon’
A very showy variety of an old garden favorite. Cosmos are tall, easy to grow and bloom abundantly. This double form produces rose pink flowers that more closely resemble an English rose or peony. Great cut flowers and attracts butterflies, too. (24”-36” A)

Dianthus – Dianthus superbus ‘Crimsonia’
Many of you know of my passion for the old-fashioned perennial dianthus or clove pinks. Their spicy-sweet fragrance is heavenly. Here’s a new color which is reported to be equally fragrant. Rich crimson color with deeply cut, fringed petals. (15”-20” P)

PLANT PROFILE: LEMON GRASS

Lemon grass is an attractive and useful plant native to southeast Asia. It’s often paired with meat and fish in Thai cooking. It forms a large, grassy clump that’s an attractive addition to the garden. The blades have sharp edges and should be used only for tea. As the season progresses, the base of the stalks become bulbous. Break off a stalk at ground level and slice the rounded base for use in cooking.

Lemon grass is not winter hardy in temperate areas, but is easy to overwinter in a pot. Plant in a 10”-12” diameter pot with lightweight potting soil. Maintain throughout the summer. Before frost, cut back foliage in a fan shape. The plant goes dormant for the winter. It requires little light and just enough water to keep the roots alive. (water every 3-4 weeks.)

THINK SPRING!!

THINK SPRING!!

There’s an old song with the lyrics “Some days are diamonds, some days are stones.” The same could be said about winter seasons. Some slide by quickly, without much inclement weather and produce occasional spring-like days. Others are a cold, hard, snowy slog toward spring. This winter was definitely the latter. Luckily starting seeds helps me maintain my sanity throughout the winter. Seeding flats, waiting for them to germinate and watching them grow under lights is proof positive that spring is approaching. Tending the seedlings as the inventory grows eases me into the spring routine. Before I know it, the greenhouses are full and another spring season is underway. Won’t we be thankful for that this year!

Each spring sees the arrival of some new varieties and this year happily, the return of some favorites that were temporarily out of stock.

Our spring open house will be held Friday and Saturday, April 23 & 24 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nearly all plant varieties are available by then and we’ll have open house specials in both the shop and greenhouse. Don’t forget to mark May 7 & 8 on your calendar for the Landis Valley Herb Faire.

Also, check out our spring class schedule. I bet there’s at least one topic that interests you. Bring a friend and spend an enjoyable, informative evening with us.

Class Schedule

AROMATHERAPY: Thursday, April 15, 7 p.m. $20.00
Learn about the therapeutic properties of essential oils; for example, oils to energize, relax or to balance your mood. Easy ways to incorporate essential oils in your life. Includes samples of 2 oils.

WILDLIFE IN YOUR GARDEN: Thursday, May 13, 7 p.m. $15.00
In times of shrinking habitat, your garden can support butterflies, honeybees and hummingbirds. Learn about host and nectar plants, butterfly life cycles and garden maintenance that encourages pollinators to visit. Free plant included.

COOKING WITH DILL, BASIL AND THYME: Thursday, June 3, 7 p.m. $20.00
Learn to grow, maintain and use the herb of the year and two more culinary favorites. Growing and cooking tips, lots of recipes plus make an herb butter to enjoy at home. Choose one of the highlighted plants for your garden.

LEAF PRINTING: Thursday, June 17, 7 p.m. $20.00
Use simple materials—a variety of leaves and acrylic paints to create a unique printed treasure. Print a small bag and a notecard—all materials provided. Bring an additional prewashed 50% cotton item to print if you like.

Classes are limited in size, so please register early. Your payment is your reservation and is due in full when registering. If you’re unable to attend, you may send a substitute in your place. Complete the attached registration form.

Make checks payable and mail to: Cloverleaf Herb Farm, 1532 Cloverleaf Road, Mount Joy, PA 17552

Lavenders

LAVENDER VARIETIES

Lavender is almost universally loved. What’s not to like—it has wonderful fragrance, aromatherapy and medicinal uses, and is an attractive plant in the garden. We carry nine varieties of lavender. All are fragrant and most are winter hardy here. The main differences will be the size of the plant and flower color. Here’s a guide to help you choose the right variety for your garden.

Compact forms are about 12”-15” tall (foliage) with flower stems standing above that. All plants are proportional, so compact varieties are shorter, not as wide and have shorter flower stalks than taller cultivars. ‘Hidcote’ and ‘Lady’ are very similar with attractive dark purple flowers. ‘Hidcote Pink’ has flowers that are pink in bud.

Mid-sized varieties run 18”-20” tall and are wider with slightly longer stems than compact types. ‘Munstead’ is extremely hardy, has lavender blooms and is the most common cultivar sold. ‘Twickel Purple’ has a slightly darker flower. Taller forms include ‘Grosso’ and ‘Alba’. They reach about 24” tall, with long stems reaching up an additional foot. ‘Grosso’ has purple flowers and blooms slightly later, which is nice for extending your season of bloom in the garden. ‘Alba’ has white flowers which are just as fragrant as purple blossoms.

We carry two cultivars that aren’t winter hardy here. Both have larger, showier flowers than perennial lavenders. French lavender has purple blooms and very fragrant, fringed foliage. ‘Kew Red’ has big, showy flowers in a purple-red shade that’s most unusual. These lavenders are generally treated as annuals and are very effective in mixed container plantings.

All lavenders love sun and well drained soil. Plant in as much sun as possible. You’ll need a minimum of 4-6 hours of sun per day for best blooming. Lavender doesn’t need particularly fertile soil, but it must drain quickly. Add compost or even sand to loosen clay soil and improve drainage. Planting in a raised bed or sunny slope promotes better drainage. Lavender likes soil on the alkaline side, so mix in some lime when planting.

“Gardeners are generous because nature is generous to them.”
… Elizabeth Lawrence

Sweet Potato & Carrot Bake - Recipe

Try this healthier sweet potato dish with your holiday meal or serve with ham,
pork or chicken.

SWEET POTATO AND CARROT BAKE

1 cup carrots, sliced
¼ cup golden raisins
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
½ cup ginger ale
¼ tsp. each salt & pepper
3 Tbsp. oil
3 Tbsp. orange juice
½ cup dried apricots, cut into strips
Scant 1 tsp. fresh thyme or ½ tsp. dried thyme
Scant ¼ cup brown sugar

Toss carrots and potatoes with oil in a baking dish. Add apricots, raisins,
brown sugar, salt, pepper & thyme and mix well. Add liquids. Cover
and bake 1 hour 15 minutes at 350 degrees, stirring after 45 minutes.
Remove lid after 75 minutes; cook additional 10-15 minutes until
vegetables are tender and juices are thickened.

Herbal Tea

How do I make herbal tea?

An herbal tea or infusion is made by steeping fresh or dried herbs in hot water. Use 1 Tablespoon fresh or 1 teaspoon dried herb per cup of water. Heat water to just below boiling. Add herbs directly to teapot or use a tea ball; add water. Wrap in towel or tea cozy and steep—generally 5 minutes, a little longer for milder herbs. Remove tea ball or strain liquid through fine mesh strainer. Add milk, lemon, honey, sugar to taste. You can make a simple tea using one herb—like mint—or blend several herbs together. Try other culinary herbs for tea like lemon balm or verbena, scented geraniums, anise hyssop, chamomile (use flowers), cinnamon basil or bee balm. A blend of savory herbs like rosemary, marjoram, savory and thyme also makes a delicious tea.

Santolina

PLANT PROFILE: SANTOLINA

People notice santolina—it’s a pretty plant (it's the gray plant in this knot garden at Cloverleaf.) The strong camphor aroma indicates its use as an insect repellent, alongside other herbs like wormwood, rue and pennyroyal. But it’s an equally attractive garden plant. Both forms—gray and green—have attractive foliage and small yellow button flowers in the spring. Gray santolina has sparkly, textural foliage and green has narrow needlelike leaves.

Green is taller and faster growing, while gray is a broader plant. Both develop woody stems, do not die back in winter and love hot, dry weather. Plant in full sun (6-8 hours) and really well-drained soil—raised beds, sunny slopes or soil amended with compost and sand. After spring flowering, the foliage is attractive throughout the season. I particularly like gray santolina with deep toned flowers of late spring and summer.

Holiday Open House

I’m happy to report another successful spring season—our twelfth! Thinking back to the beginning, and seeing how far we’ve progressed is very satisfying. Doing what I love and producing a popular product feels great. Many people asked about our spring season, concerned for us due to the slow economy. We had a great season, slightly surpassing our tenth anniversary year. Thanks to all who visited and told their friends, or dragged their friends along!

Join us for our Holiday Open House
Friday and Saturday, December 4 & 5 from 9 to 5.
Shop specials, potted herbs, refreshments, prize drawings.

Because the wet summer kept us busy with outside chores, it’s hard to believe it’s time to plan for the holidays. If you’re looking for a unique, handcrafted gift, dried herbs and spices for baking or some herbal relaxation after holiday preparations, please stop by. We have loads of herbal gift ideas. And do-it-yourselfers can stock up on supplies for creating their own herbal goodies.

During our open house, Friday & Saturday, December 4 & 5, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., we’ll feature specials on some popular items, like handmade soaps and herbal tea blends. The greenhouse holds basic culinary potted herbs and live topiaries. Also enjoy herbal refreshments and register for prize drawings.

GREAT GIFT IDEAS

MYSTIQUE SOAP – Dramatic color, fragrant tropical flower scent. Dominant scent notes seem to vary, making the fragrance changeable, but always yummy.

SPA SALT BARS - Big bars of soap loaded with salt, which acts like a water softener in the bath or shower. Lathers slowly, but produces rich, lotiony lather. Three fragrant scents.

ARNICA RUB - Easy to apply solid healing lotion contains natural ingredients and healing arnica. Arnica has a long history of treating minor muscle strains and sprains and also to treat discoloration and swelling from bruises.

SUPPLIES - For do-it-yourselfers eager to make your own natural gifts, we carry a great selection of base oils, butters and essential oils along with containers for packaging. Also, soap-making books and a DVD for those who say, “I always wanted to try that.”

GIFT BASKETS - Makes gift giving simple! A variety of fragrant herbal products in attractive baskets or holiday tins. Different sized gift baskets cover all price ranges.

LIP BALMS – Made with natural, moisturizing ingredients that are great for your lips all winter. From the richest blend—extra essential through orange creamsicle, strawberry, mocha, chocolate mint and other yummy flavors.

HERBAL NOTECARDS - We have boxed card sets based on garden themed watercolors and also herbal leaf print cards in sets. Leaf print cards are similar to stamping, but printed using actual herbal leaves.

GOAT’S MILK LOTION - Fragrant and moisturizing lotion good for dry and even sensitive skin. Customers with eczema report good results using goat’s milk lotion. Floral scents like lavender, lilac and gardenia through herbal fragrances—almond vanilla, citrus basil, etc.

Many people assume we close after the spring season. We’re actually open five days a week April – December. We close between Christmas and New Year’s and the shop is open three days a week January – March. By February, I’m working hard on spring preparations and before you know it, the greenhouses are full again. Think Spring !!

And now...

If you are interested in drying any of your culinary herbs for winter use, this is prime time. Annuals and vigorously growing perennials like mint and oregano can be cut back by 1/3 to 1/2. Woody stemmed perennials, like sage, thyme, and rosemary should be cut back, no more than 1/3 at a time, since they grow more slowly. Hang in bushes to dry, or on screened racks, in a dehydrator or on very low heat in an oven. For oven drying, I usually just turn on the light and close the oven door - no heat on at all. It takes a while, but it is low, slow heat.

I'm also harvesting flowers for drying. I've done lavender, bright yellow yarrow and nigella (love in a mist) seed pods. Right now, it's annual statice among others. The plant is rather plain, just lobed leaves before the flower stems shoot up. But the colors are great - dark blue, white, lavender and rose, and statice holds its color longer than almost any other flower. Since it's not a very attractive garden plant, I grow it in rows in the vegetable garden. It's a good nectar plant for butterflies.

Plants that I'm admiring right now-

*Snapdragons - I plant dark, crimson and light pink together and the combo is beautiful. They bloom so nicely for so long - even longer than mums in the fall.

*Zinnia - I never have luck with the big, old-fashioned kinds due to mildew. But the little profusion zinnias make rounded mounds 12-15" tall, just covered with blooms. No mildew and very little deadheading.

*Euphorbia - Although it has small white flowers, the overall look is of a foliage plant. Fairly tall and nicely branched, it has pretty variegated green and white foliage. Great as
filler with cut flowers or dried for use in wreaths and arrangements.

We're in the process of updating our mailing list and will offer an e-version of our newsletter soon. If you would prefer this to your paper copy, please send your e-mail address to
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Lucy has recovered from her bee sting. She is enjoying chasing rabbits in the yard. She loves when they go in the high grass and she goes in and sniffs every square inch that they covered. She's so pleased with herself - I guess she thinks she's hunting.

August, and ...

Well, at least it's not my imagination. You have to wonder sometimes when you get to my age. I read an article recently about the lack of butterflies this year. According to those who do butterfly counts, both numbers of species seen and total numbers of butterflies are down this year. Most experts seem to agree it has much to do with our cool, wet spring and early summer. The cool, wet spring led to fewer caterpillars hatching and the increase in fungal diseases which may have affected those that did hatch. Adult butterflies prefer hot, sunny days so the few that were around probably weren't too active. I have seen several monarchs, black swallowtails and finally, a couple of tiger swallowtails. Small butterflies are more numerous, but usually the gardens are full of them by now, and that's not the case. Also, I haven't seen any monarch caterpillars and just a few swallowtails. Can't have butterflies without caterpillars first. We can't do anything about the weather, but we can provide host plants which are a food source for caterpillars and nectar plants which feed butterflies.

The E-town fair is coming up-August 24-20,. It's great family fun with rides, great fair food and a strong emphasis on agriculture with judging of animals, plants and preserved and baked foods. It's held on the fairgrounds on E. High St. with the competitive exhibits displayed in the BIC social hall next door.

With adequate moisture throughout the summer, some of my plants are HUGE. I have a cinnamon basil plant that looks like a small shrub. It's about four feet tall and perfectly round and of course, smells divine. I planted two next to each other, and the second never thrived. People often ask why, when you plant two or gore plants together, one will survive and the second won't. Cultural conditions are the same, the soil cant, be vastly different. I always say plants are like people, some are stronger than others. Cinnamon basil is great chopped over fresh fruit, or infused in milk and used in baked goods.

The Herbal Harvest

Midsummer and the herbal harvest continues. I'm constantly harvesting mints since they recover so fast. By now, annuals are well established so I've been harvesting all basils. Cutting back also removes flowers and encourages the plant to branch out and produce more foliage. Chamomile flowers are winding down, but plenty have been dried for tea. Bright, cheery calendula petals are useful in all sorts of skin preparations. Annual statice, probably the best dried flower for holding color, is at its peak. If you grow catnip for your cats, dry some to have for winter use.

I knew it was just a matter of time before Lucy had a nasty run-in with a bee. Well, she tried to eat one and got stung on the tip of her tongue-ouch! Of course, it was after office hours for the vet, so it was an emergency call. But the dr. did get the stinger out plus gave her benedryl which put her to sleep for awhile. About two days later, I was yelling "No bees" again, so I guess she'll never learn. We have a bumper crop of rabbits this year, so she has fun chasing them, usually early in the morning. She's very fast, so we don't let her chase the small ones. I had to capture one little bunny that hopped into greenhouse 2 and settled in between stacks of empty flats. I put him out at the fence line and hope he doesn't find his way back.

Several people have asked me about drying hydrangeas. I do dry a lot lot from our bushes out front. Unfortunately, I've never found a way to dry them at the peak of color and - have them hold both the color and form you want. I wait till later in the season- late August into September. The flowers begin to dry on the stalk. You can feel the getting papery. Then I cut them, stand them in a vase - no water - and put them in a closet away from the light. The color is often darker or more muted than the brilliant summer color. Right now, I'm cutting off blooms that have turned really brown. This will encourage some reblooming and these later flowers will hold a better blue color.