Beneficial Insects in The Garden - you can't ring the dinner bell if there is no food on the table!

Learn who are the good guys and the bad guys — and sometimes they are both! AND, if you are gardening with edibles — no chemicals! The final point of growing your own produce and herbs for the table (besides their beauty, general safety and non-toxicity for family and pets) is to control contaminants, so no chemicals.

First, if you can, leave some of the pests alone, so they will attract the beneficial insects. In a typical natural (no chemical) garden there may be a little damage to plants before the beneficial bugs arrive (you can't ring the dinner bell if there is no food on the table!).

When discussing beneficial insects, it is important to note that predatory beneficial insects can bite you. The larvae especially have jaws designed for catching prey and can look downright scary. Leave them alone to do their job. While photographing our gardens we have been delighted with opportunities to get portraits of many of these critters, plus other of the non- human "neighbors" who either inhabit our gardens or are merely passing through. We encourage some to stay and others to continue passing on through!

Caterpillars / Grubs — the larvae stage of many beloved garden visitors, can also chomp their way through some of your garden. Before you reach for the shovel to knock them on the head, consider that all the butterfly caterpillars need something to eat when they first hatch out of their egg and before they cocoon to butterfly adulthood.

The caterpillar of the remarkable sphinx moth is the tomato hornworm, so dreaded by many gardeners. In the desert the sphinx moth is a pollinator of the night blooming cactus. Learn the difference between truly destructive larvae (grape leaf skeletonizers) and the caterpillars of the swallowtail and other much-loved butterflies. Consider setting aside a small part of the garden for these critters, moving caterpillars to that location, and save your pest control energy for the really problematic ones.

A great site for identifying insects in the garden is one started by a couple of professors — this site is a labor of love for them, so be especially courteous in emailing them with questions, and be appreciative.

http://www.whatsthatbug.com/index.html


-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

It's a 110 degrees outside, the ground is 180 degrees in the afternoon sun, and I want you to Garden?!?

Pictured: Sweet Alyssum

Dear Folks,

August in the desert - by alternates it is either 110, raining torrents or humid enough to steam the veggies right in the ground - and I want you to start gardening!

No I have not lost my mind - many of our family's children are starting or have started back to school, folks are turning their minds to thoughts of fall and winter's cooler temperatures and gardeners need to think cool too -- cool-weather plants.

PLANNING TIP: Think snowsuits in July and swimsuits in December. The wholesalers have to do this for everything from clothes to outdoor equipment.

Consider that in order to have pumpkins for Halloween and Thanksgiving you need to have the seeds in the ground 90-120 days before harvest (depending on the variety). So it is with many of the cool weather herbs and the "cole" (broccoli) family, and winter squash (pumpkin is just one). So, we start 'sowing' in August, specifically August 1st or earlier (again depending on variety of winter squash for instance).

With much loved herbs like dill, cilantro, anise, fennel, parsley, caroway, etc., seed these in every 2-4 weeks through November and you will have a continuous crop until March or April next spring.

AUGUST SOWING:
Anise; Beans, Snap; Bok Choy; Broccoli; Brussels Sprouts; Cabbage; Caraway; Carrots; Cauliflower; Chervil; Cilantro; Corn; Cucumbers; Dill; Fennel; Onions, Green; Greens, all; Kale; Kohlrabi; Lettuce; Marigold; Mustard; Nasturtium; Parsley; Pumpkin; Purslane; Squash, Winter; Sweet Alyssum; TOMATOES? (Plant seed under the edges of existing basil, if you did not get plants in the ground in late winter.)

Use "nurse" plants: Seeding just under the tips of growing plants allows the leaves to act as ‘nurses' to shield the seeded area from intense, moisture robbing sun. Example: If you have zucchini already growing, sow the winter squash under the edges of the growing plants.

Use the concept of "Three Sisters" planting: Three Sisters is the name given to a type of companion planting used by Native Peoples to maximize both space and moisture. The original Three Sisters was corn, with beans planted beside the corn, and squash planted around the corn. The corn grows tall, the beans grow up the corn, and the squash covers the ground around both, providing a soil canopy and moisture retention. The beans put nitrogen back into the soil at the end of harvest.

Seeds germinate at different temperatures and moisture levels. Warm weather seeds like tomato and basil germinate in the warming soil; cool weather seeds like cabbage or dill germinate in cooling soil.

Watering: In an existing garden where you already water on a schedule (not xeriscape), such watering in conjunction with the soil temperatures will cause the seeds to germinate at their genetic time. If you are starting with a new garden bed, sprinkle the ground lightly (if you water too heavy the seeds will wash out) every other evening until you see some seeds germinating, then, apply a light mulch of no more than half inch to keep the soil cool and moist. As the plants grow, additional shallow layers of mulch can be applied to a depth of 1 inch or so. Start backing off watering to eventually match your regular watering schedule for gardens.

Summer Sowing - dreams of fall in the garden start with summer sowing!

(See side bar for link to Richters - a great source for herb seeds.)

-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

Tools & Tips: Moisture Meter

Dear Folks,

Here is the low desert when summer temps can be in the 108+ range and the monsoon season (a change in winds which affects humidity--not necessarily a lot of rain) is in full swing, it is actually possible to over water the garden.

One of my all-time favorite garden tools is a moisture meter (I sometimes refer to it as a water meter) which instantly reads the moisture of the soil 6-8 inches down.

You can't always go by the way a plant looks unless you are observing it first thing in the morning. Drooping in the afternoon is the way many plants conserve moisture.

For most herbs, using the meter as a guide, water when the indicator is between 2-3 on the dry side. Water mint when it is 4-5 on the scale. Veggies and fruit plants should be watered at about the same range as mint. Trees should be watered less frequently once established.

The purpose of watering 'after' the surface soil dries is to encourage deep root growth. In the desert the soil surface temps, asphalt, concrete, and the sides of containers can be approximately 180 degrees F on a typical hot summer afternoon.

This year we are in a record-breaking string of 110+ degree days, and once the humidity rises the temps will fall back down, BUT, that is where the possibility of over watering is going to occur.

Meters come in simple -- just the moisture reader -- and more 'bells-and-whistles" -- adding a light and pH indicator. They cost from $7 to $12 bucks, can be found at most nursery stores and departments or on the Internet, and are worth their weight in gold and plants.

Use a meter and it will become one of your favorite garden tools, too!

Happy gardening!

-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

Bringing My Blog Back Up

Dear Folks,

When I first put the blog up several years ago I thought I would be able to keep it going on a regular basis. But with life being what it is and was, I found some of the things I wanted to do with the Blog too time consuming versus putting out some internet newsletters and writing for local papers.

Now that posting to the blog is easier (for me anyway) and I have re-structured some of my writing I want to use this blog for my frequent thoughts, concepts and opinions on all things edible from the garden to the table, and greening up your life suggestions with an emphasis on helping you become a locavore.

A little bit about being a locavore and bringing buying decisions nearer to your home -- makes even more sense now that so many folks are having to adjust to a less-far-ranging errand running and lifestyle use of vehicles.

A locavore is both a person and a life-choice option. Being a locavore in essence means buying choices which are not only physically closer to you, but which also focus on where the 'thing' is made or grown.

If family and community are important parts of your life, then supporting local farmers, crafters, and the good old fashioned (now in again) mom-and-pop (M&Ps-for reference) stores -- you know, the ones owned and operated by your friends and neighbors -- is now more important than ever.

Does shopping locally guarantee you will always be happy with what you have? No, of course not.

But, for example, if you purchase locally grown, "seasonally available" fruits and vegetables, you are purchasing food which is picked at its prime, the most nutritious it will ever be, minimizing use of fuels, and supporting a local farmer.

If you shop at a M&P store, more money goes back into the local (your community) economy.

This is not about putting chain retailer or chain grocers out of business. This is about taking back control over not only your buying options, but also making choices which will result in benefits to you, your family and your community.

If your city or town prefers to deal with chain retailers and not the the M&Ps, think about whether your city or town is a cookie-cutter-found-anywhere type of town or does it stand out as a place to call "home town."

You know who has the power to support M&Ps and make chain stores really competitive? YOU!

If you always choose price over quality, are you producing your own self-inflicted injury, i.e., if all the chains take over all the cities and towns, where will your buying choices be?

There will always be a need for chain retailers and grocers, unless you want to create your own mini-self-sustaining life in your own back yard.

But like customers of mine at the farmers market who buy my fresh herbs -- many of them do not have the skills, time, or space to grow what I do. Likewise, I have not decided to grow my own cotton and weave my own cloth, etc. so I buy clothing from some chain stores and some M&Ps.

Here's a short to-do suggestion for you: Use the internet and find suppliers in your neighborhood. Go to http://www.localharvest.org to find food producers near you (all the USA and many countries). In Arizona you can find M&P stores offering many types of goods at http://www.localfirstaz.com.

Find a local farmers market by zip code or state at the USDA site at: http://apps.ams.usda.gov/FarmersMarkets/

And finally an important 'greening' tip for you and the health of your family. Do whatever it takes to ditch any food product containing 'high fructose corn syrup' HFCS from your and your family's meals including school food programs. The science about the health consequences and addictive nature of HFCS is still rolling in and overwhelming. It is about how our bodies react to this artificially manipulated sugar product. You and your family are far better off using cane sugar, honey, molasses and agave nectar.

And if the kids are addicted to sodas and you have a challenge getting them off the commercial sodas - make homemade sodas using unsweetened concentrated frozen juices (they are naturally sweet). Easy, they will like them and you get to control the ingredients: 1/4 cup of thawed juice concentrate to 3/4 sparkling water, seltzer or club soda (check the sodium contents of those 'fizzies' for choosing the right ones for your family). It is easy to teach even small children to make their own orange, pineapple, cranberry or raspberry soda using a marked measuring cup handy. Fill the cup to the 2 ounce level (1/4 cup) and add chilled fizzy water to near the top, transfer to a drinking glass, add ice if desired and enjoy.

Commercial options are out there - check out Hansens Natural Sodas, now available in most stores.

Have a wonderful day,

-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

The Herb Lady w/Basil and Lavender 

Spanish Thyme 

Spanish Thyme (plectranthus amboinicus)

Spanish Thyme is one of my favorite 'exotic' herbs. A relative of the much-loved Creeping Charlie, this beautiful and fragrant herb is known by many names:
Mexican mint, Indian borage, Spanish thyme, French thyme, soup mint, Indian mint, country borage, Jamaica thyme, broadleaf thyme aka syn Coleus amboinicus.

A tender-perennial it is one of the few herbs that will tolerate some shade (most herbs require 4-6 hours of direct sun to maintain health and essential oils so necessary for the flavor and perfume we expect of herbs).

A slightly-fuzzy, succulent leaf with a scent that is a cross between oregano, thyme and savory probably originated in India native, and is a member of the wide herb family Labiatae (the mint family).

The one I prefer to grow is a variegated one with lovely markings and the more sun it gets the pinker the edges become.

Cooking: I like to use this herb in mixed herb crusts for roasts (chicken or pork) and makes an excellent addition to salad dressings. Some chefs suggest batter dipping and then deep frying for a garnish (Hint: make batters with some pureed pumpkin for extra flavor).