Drying Out Cold Relief

I just spent the evening processing eucalyptus leaves to dry with the rest of my dried herb collection - wildcrafted, or gifts from other gardeners. Some of them are ready to be put to use. Rosemary, two kinds of mint, spearmint, oregano, alder bark, pineapple sage, calendula, and savory.

Not too sure what I'm going to do with each of them. I previously made a tea of rosemary and nettle to settle allergies. That combined with mint could make a great tea. The rosemary (there's a ton of it), oregano and sage will be great for culinary purposes of course. Also oregano, an antioxidant and antimicrobial is said to make a good cold remedy, so will have to be added to that tea.

I'm excited about the alder bark. I harvested it from Enchanted Valley recently. The tree can be found all over Seattle - a sweet native tree. Indigenous use treated poison oak, insect bites, and skin irritations. I've also read it's good for treating colds (and here we are in cold season). Alder contains lupeol, a compound that is antimicrobial, antinflammatory and, apparently, antitumor. I could use the bark to make a tincture. Or a salve.

I've never used savory before, but looking it up now I see it's in the mint family and is typically used as a digestive aid - like mint. A friend recently requested a digestive tea. So perhaps I will combine all the lamiaceae's into a tea (rosemary, oregano, mint, spearmint, pineapple sage, savory). That could be fun. An antimicrobial, cold relief digestive tea. Just perfect to last the winter.

Tisane Time

I'm writing this little blog entry as I sip the Stash brand green/white tea blend. Even though I have these herbal tea concoctions sitting right here. Guess I'm feeling lazy today.

In my inbox arrived a few articles on growing "tea herbs" - just in time as I'm planning garden beds for the BCC garden and Swansons Nursery has a perennial/herb sale August 17-Sep 3. The mint planted next to the house is doing alright (of course it is) but I'm moving out of here in 20 days. Once the tomatoes and corn get harvested in the community garden there's going to be a lot of space to work with. We currently have oregano, sage, curry and rosemary in the garden. There are also four round containers filled with strawberries that would perhaps be better suited to herbs.



But the question is what herbs can be planted now that will be hardy to overwinter? I won't be growing anything indoors. Don't really have space for that, or don't want to bother, or something. Tilth's Maritime Guide doesn't list anything except cilantro. An article from 2006 in Seattle Times recommends bay, rosemary and parsley. Swanson's recommends veggies, cilantro and garlic. Perhaps I should focus on the "Top Ten Herb" list designed by Herb Society of America. If the plant is a perennial, it's worth a try, I guess. Not that I would drink those regularly for tea.

Perhaps each container can have a theme... Hmm... Tisane's gonna be one of them.

What To Do - About Powdery Mildew

Inevitably more complicated diseases arise. Some of the herbs are demonstrating powdery mildew problem, which I'm to understand should be expected in this climate.

Peppermint

Borage

I don't know too much about dealing with this stuff so am researching online. Meanwhile the fungus is progressing. I could have recognized this problem sooner, although the reason I can't ignore it right now is because it loves moderate humidity, and proliferates under clouds (thanks a lot Seattle summer)

I guess my job as gardener is to figure out how to help the herbs develop stronger resilience to infection. So crowded planting does not help (but there's not enough space!) Also I'm supposed to avoid overhead watering (no drip irrigation plan in the works yet) and remove the plants in the fall to avoid the fungus overwintering. It seems there's little I can do now, since the infection is rampant. Except to ride out the season, and I guess, sing to the plants that are in the most pain.

This website discusses organic fungicide methods like cornmeal and baking soda (I haven't decided yet if I'm going to go that far): http://gardening.about.com/od/gardenproblems/a/PowderyMildew.htm

Garden Tea

Went to this workshop today facilitated by permaculture enthusiast Jordan Fink http://jordanfink.com/ about soil health and creating compost tea. Some of the soil around my U District home contains a happy abundance of earthworms. Why make compost tea? My roommates wanted to know when I got home. Why bother?

Just like in my gut, good bacteria pits against the bad. Left as is, the powdery mildew on our mint will just persist. But I want to be able to harvest that stuff, so what will happen if I treat it with compost tea medicine? Perhaps together we may:

Compost Tea . Com - Crowd out the disease-causing microbes & provide nutrients. Maybe there will be no affect this season but over time the health of these plants can improve.

I think this compost medicine tea is worth the time and effort, and the 12-hour power aerator. A fun little activity to do with the kids at work, in the very least.

Fine Gardening - Missed the workshop? This article tells you how to make it (and below is the handout that was provided)

Towards Toothpaste

So I am running out of toothpaste again. But before I hurry out and go find some at the co-op, I'm researching online whether it's cost-effective or just purely worth making some for the heck of it. Check out these links:

OraMedia Site for Dental Self-Sufficiency - 7 ways to please yourself, and therefore please your dentist
Make your toothpaste flouride-free - in a balance of coconut oil and baking soda
Listen to Your Mother - the essential oils are what will make your blend special

Why make your own?

*You can say you make your own toothpaste
*You can design a paste to perfectly fit your mouth's needs
*Experimentation is fun

Of course the most important aspect to dental health is good diet. I have occasionally been drinking spearmint/spilanthes tea to supplement a happy, refreshed mouth. Though coconut and essential oils are not cheap, I'm going for it anyway. Since I already have tea tree oil, I will purchase peppermint and coconut oil, and blend in clove spice - combining a little of all of Mother's suggestions.