I love KUOW.org

Have I mentioned that I love our local NPR station, KUOW has the best show called 
Weekday  with Steve Scherr? He is my favorite- Steve is the best interviewer, and has such varied and interesting guests on his program. But, he also really dives deep into the local scene, and has a panel of local gardening consultants to answer questions about their home gardens. My friend Willi Galloway is one of the panelists usually, but today she was away, and they invited Heidi Bohan who teaches at Bastyr University and hosts a camp about native plant medicines and foods.  It was such a thoughtful conversation and great relevance. I have been admiring some shoots and roots myself- I plan to get her book, too! Thanks Steve, Katy & Sage at KUOW!!!!

Nettles Tea Recipe

Nettles Tea-

You can use dried or fresh nettles for this refreshing tea! I like to have it infuse overnight to get lots of iron from it, but it is nice as a green tea as well.

Take nettles (1 oz or so) and put it in a mason jar (1/2 gal) with some boiling water. The hot water breaks the cell membranes and allows the plant to give up it's good qualities. (Beginners: You can drink it at this point, or process it more.)


Let that sit until cool 4 hrs or overnight, strain and refrigerate.  (You can put in fridge as soon as it cools, then strain in the AM if it is too warm in the kitchen.)


The mixture becomes extremely dark and rich. Nettles infusion contains lots of protein as well, so it can spoil if left out too long. If it goes "off", you can give it to your houseplants for a nutritious boost! Compost the herb, or if you are drinking it hot without infusing, eat the herb with butter and garlic! Yum

Need Labels? This is a good place to find them

 I use onlinelabels.com for my labels. They come with downloadable templates which really help with do it yourself projects. When I get the format down, I can save the product label in a file made just for that product, and "save as" a new product and copy and paste the new words... They always send the labels quickly, and will send samples if you are not sure what product you want, or if you want to see a side by side comparison.
When I started my business, I thought of selling fresh herbs so I wouldn't need to worry about packaging. But, as I learned about the value of the plants as medicines, I started experimenting and creating formulas that worked! I realized that i had to at least give away the products, and that led to packaging them for sale. I worked with Evan, from Mightymoss.com to make my logo and website using his designs and  Joanna's original logo design for my business cards. He made a template design that I customize and print myself for any product I create!

Taking Stock and Spring Cleaning

I have been getting organized in my loft where I store the bags, jars and baskets of dried herbs I have harvested through the season, and I have quite a store. I am going to process some of the dried herbs into their respective formulas, package some for teas, bath herbs, and into catnip toys for the kitties, and compost the rest.  Once all the bags are taken out, I can re-use them for compost and for mulching. I have to make room for the harvest that is coming now (Nettles mostly).
Since it is becoming allergy season again, I am trying to cut down on any dust that can fly around and irritate our noses. The impending cottonwood "snow" that usually knocks Marc out for the Spring is another reason for the Nettles harvest to continue! We have been making & drinking about a half gallon every day or two for a couple of weeks, stocking up on Tumeric root to help with inflammation of the sinus', etc.  I hope the effects are less this year, if not, that is what hiking in the mountains is for!

Farm is coming alive

I am excited about this year's growing season after being out in the field all day yesterday. There is so much healing potential from the earth that I am excited about. I have been transplanting and dividing plants at home and the farm into nursery beds to use for my client's landscapes. I divided the Stachys (wood betony) last fall, and they are doing well, the Valerian bed is going to be amazing, the Echinacea is coming up, although I wish I had planted more...
I had a vision of the Echinacea, Lavender and Calendula all in the same row for a beautiful effect; and this season I will see it all in action. The sorrel is doing amazingly well again, the Burdock is back in full force,  chickweed is of course doing well, and even a few violets are flowering!

Did I say Yay Spring? I mean it!

Nettles Nettles Everywhere!

Oh my gosh, I could collect Nettles everyday for a while from just this small creek side park that I frequent! I could not believe how many there were- last week there were more than the week before, but Wednesday when I was there I saw them all throughout the area! I have been making infusions every other day, and drying them as fast as I can. Last night I put some steamed Nettles into the sauteed kale tops with butter and lemon and they were terrific.

They are an amazing anti histamine for anyone who dreads the allergy season that is rapidly approaching, and full of protein, minerals,  vitamins and that means energy. I plan on packaging them up for our camping trips to give us some good energy on the trail. All you do is add them to the pot of boiling water at the end of the night, and let them sit overnight. In the morning you can strain them (leave the spent leaves to nourish the forest) and put them in your extra water bottle for a great drink!

I need to bring my bigger drying racks home from the farm so I can dry them more efficiently than I am right now!  It is time to make tinctures, vinegars and glycerin infused with the fresh Nettles I can't dry!
Let me know if you want to come with me sometime to harvest. They are best harvested in the spring, before they stretch out and start to sprout.

Spring Sprouts

Last weeks' sunny warm weather and this week's rain is really helping the plants to thrive! All the roots are stretching their necks out for a peek into Spring.  The roots love the rain, and are plumping up and using all that energy they gained from the earth all Winter. I have a few more divisions to make and have been noticing plants that I can transplant into rows for better growing conditions.

The Valerian is really coming up now, and my friend has a bunch in his yard that I told him I would remove. The bees love the extremely fragrant flowers, and I guess my friend never cut it back because it has spread in the area he had it "contained". You would not believe that the same flowers are attached to the root that smells like dirty socks or worse! It does work well to  relax the mind and help some people to sleep - it is non addictive and safe to use (I wouldn't use it for children). I am going to try to make some of the next batch of tinctures with some glycerine to see if it is more palatable.

My Arnica seeds have also sprouted! I will plant more, but I am excited to see that the seeds I harvested myself are viable. I usually let some of the plants go to seed at the end of the year, but the area has gotten overgrown with quackgrass.  I was worried I would disturb the area too much while weeding for them to come back, so I planted some in cushy container soil, and they seem to love it.

Catnip is also coming back, and it is obvious that I dropped a few seeds in my patio since there are plants coming up in the corners of the brick patio. I am working on harvesting those plants for my own tea, and if any of the plants come up with roots, I will try to transplant those to the farm or community garden.

Even the motherwort is showing it's color!
Yay Spring!
peace-
Jayne

Great plant sale!

Hurray, It’s Spring!!!!!

Backyard Greenhouse 

7939 28th Ave. SW

(between Holden & Thistle in West Seattle / zip 98126)

Cool Weather Veggies  /  Perennials  /  Herbs

Organically Grown

Sat., March 27, 9:00-4:00   /   Sun., March 28, 10:00-3:00

Bring neighbors, friends and family!—Come rain or shine!!

My friend Karen has this great business of starting plants from seed and selling them to local nurseries and to the Seattle Tilth for their plant sales. She started more than she needed for the Tilth Sale, and is having a sale in her backyard (in West Seattle). I helped her transplant last month and went over yesterday to pick out some plants for my garden. We got 4 flats of plants! That is quite a lot!!! I am really glad we had already prepared our beds. We mostly got lettuces, lots of different types of chinese greens, some cabbages and kales, and soooo many onions! We got most of the greens planted already, but only the Blue Leeks- Marc was amazed that each leek (about the size of a toothpick) had to be separated and put into the trench about 1 inch apart. We will thin them and eat the baby leeks and leave the rest to mature. I am not sure where I will put the red onions or the Walla Walla Sweets! We have one new bed this year already mapped out, but the soil needs to be turned again, and it probably needs to be amended before planting the hot weather plants like tomatoes, peppers and eggplants! There is a little room left in the back, and there is always space to squeeze them into the front among the herbs... Too much food, what a problem, huh?

What are you eating for dinner?

I was at one of my clients' house yesterday, and noticed she had not eaten the beautiful broccoli  that was in her front yard, yet.  If you don't eat it while it is perfect, it will sprout! Actually, there was a lot to eat if you know what to harvest (and now she does).  I always leave the scraggly dinosaur kale in the garden to sprout anew in the spring and the sprouts taste great in a stir fry, but not as good if they flower (although if they were battered and fried they might). She has some purple cauliflower that looks like it might sprout, too. I told her to make cream of broccoli soup! Yum. The  the cilantro is a bit tough, but tasty. The lettuce patch is actually looking good, and will be ready to eat from in a few weeks- there is some lettuce that overwintered, but it is pretty bitter to eat alone. So, there is food that is ready to eat, in some gardens in the maritime Northwest at this time of year! That is one thing I love about gardening here.

I am going to work on getting my potatoes in the ground this coming weekend. We are going to use some cinder blocks we have around to make a potato skyrise (a variation on the potato condo's we tried to make last year at the community garden). We will be attempting those again at Longfellow Creek Community Garden as well. Last year I forgot to hill the row on the farm, but got quite a few (probably not quite what I paid for the seed potatoes though. Some of those are now sprouting, and I know people say not to replant your own seed potatoes, but I am going to try to do it in the condo's rather than buy more. We will see how it goes- I am sure I will keep you posted.
I came across this article at the new Kitchen Gardeners website about the springtime dearth of food and the relation to Lent- read it here.

I loved this article  written by Jennifer Jeffrey's blog on the slow local organic food movement when I read it!  It is so cool that so many people are interested in local food, and it is nice to see some respect given to women, who are the pioneers of this effort- and don't forget the farm to school movement that is largely going on steam from  women and men who understand that it does take time, but it is fun and worth the time put in. Putting my hands in the soil gives me instant grounding, and I love to share that with other people.  In another post, she reviews Barbara Kingsolver's book,  Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and gives her viewpoint as someone who grew up in a family that grew and processed their own food for the whole year. I remember when I was in college I worked at a kitchenware store with two amazing women. One inspired me to start a catering company as my second job. I met a family from Michigan who turned their whole yard into a vegetable patch. They were so cool! Even the teenagers were into it. They were looking for a huge stockpot, and I remember them talking proudly of all the food they grew and processed in the summer for the whole year. I am sure that family influenced this business as well as the goodfoodgardens project.
To that family wherever you are: I give you gratitude and wish you well!

Grow your own food this year!

I have been developing my edible landscaping business for the past few years, and I am currently looking for more clients for this program. I have applied for a grant to plant food gardens in 4 new private yards to share with other neighbors. I hope I get the grant, but in the mean time, I have been planting seeds for the client I do have. check it out at www.goodfoodgardens.com. email jaynesistersageherbs.com or goodfoodgardens@gmail.com

peace-
Jayne

Divide Your Plants and Spread the Goodness!

As I look at my garden, I am finding many plants that have drifted or spread their way from their original locations. I have lemon balm galore (and the original plants are huge, anyway). The feverfew is coming up, the catnip has lodged itself into the cracks of my brick patio, and the valerian is showing it's leaves. These plants are kind of in the way of my other plans for my garden this year. I plan to harvest most of these plants this year, but their is only so much one person (even a business) needs to have on hand!
This is the time to divide plants like this (and Fall, too) and give them to a friend. You can help neighbors and friends who can't afford to purchase the plants at a nursery, and you can help them grow and use the plants that you would otherwise compost. Also, these plants that sprout early will bloom early and attract bees and other pollinators to the garden about the time your peas and other vegetable plants are flowering. So they are good all around to have in the garden!
I have been digging up lemon balm and catnip to give away to my students this year. The k-5th graders learned about starting a new plant from plant divisions. All the students got the chance to bring home the plants or grow them at school.  It is a fun activity for them since they love to get their hands dirty and love to go home with stuff. Now they know that they can eat lemon balm, or put it in their tea or in their bath water to help them if they are feeling down.
My naturopath has told me that it is being used to treat virus' such as herpes and HIV. I have been drying the herb and infusing olive oil for him, and I make it into a lip balm as a fever blister remedy. I am not sure how many clinical trials have been done but it is very interesting to note and since it tastes and feels good, why not?

Time to Make & Package Products

It is time for me to decide how much of the infused oils will be made into salves, and how much will be packaged as individual and bulk oils and sold that way. My storage area looks like something you would see in a hidden area at Hogwart's School... The tinctures and Glycerites are not as big of a deal because I can keep those longer as they are.  Sometimes special formulations are requested so it is nice to have some options to work with, and also to store the products in gallon jars is much easier and less expensive than the small bottles- not to mention the label printing and sticking... I have a big day of Lavender Calendula Salve making ahead of me- I infused the oil with both herbs right off the bat, and I am excited to work with it. I also have lots of Arnica infused oil to work with- although I am going to try to sell some 4 & 8oz bottles of this to massage therapists, and my naturopath likes to make his own lotions when people sprain their ankles, etc.

Herbs on the Radio

I Love listening to the Herbal Highways Radio Show! Karyn Sanders always is insightful, informative and she always has cool people to talk to. She carries on a conversation instead of an interview per se. I usually can not put down my pen from taking notes through the whole thing. Her discussions are always relevant to the season, and I always learn something I didn't know- Check it out- weekly, Thursdays at 1-2PM on KPFA.org.

Nettles Harvest- hands still tingling!

I have found a great little "pocket park" in Seattle that has a small stream running through it. I have been picking nettles there for the past few weeks. We have dried some, but mostly I have been drinking them up and feeding the plants and worms the plant material. I brought gloves today, but forgot to use them...I got stung a little bit, but I don't mind because it reminds me later to drink them up! I usually cut them at the base  leaving a few leaves so they can grow back. Then I use the clippers to push them into a bag. If you have "too many" you can take up the roots pretty easily but use gloves for this, and remember that the stingers are getting stuck into the gloves and may sting you later. Rub the gloves together afterward to brush off the stingers that remain. 
I am going to make some lasagna with my next batch. I  blanch the leaves and mix them in with spinach, pesto and the ricotta cheese. I will use the tomato sauce I made with last year's harvest. I leave the nettle stems and leaves in the cooking pot (or transfer it to a mason jar) and let it sit overnight before straining and drinking. You can also just drink the water you blanched it in if you don't have extra. The tea that is left to stand overnight becomes such a cool color of emerald green- in a coffee cup it looks black.  Yum!
For more recipes and a coll place to visit - Whidbey Institute- My friend Julie Charette Nunn is teaching a class on Nettles there March 21 from 1-4pm. Her website is www.crowsdaughter.com.

Seedlings in Frosty Weather

I started some seeds on a heat mat inside the house a couple of weeks ago. I was keeping them under lights, but off the heat mat once started.   I went out of town last weekend (to snowboard at Crystal Mountain!) andI didn't have anyone to watch them. I could not get the automatic timer to work correctly, so I decided to put them on the porch for the weekend. They are doing much better than I expected. The lettuce in the original pot is hanging on, but not thriving- the ones I transplanted into the garden bed are gone (either to the birds or slugs). The herb seeds, however, seem to be doing fine in this cool weather. They like to come up naturally, I think.  The beets, onions, and pre-sprouted peas, that I planted outside are not even poking up out of the ground yet. I keep reminding myself that they know what they are doing. We will see how they do as they grow through the season. I will start more seeds next week when this crazy night time frost is over. I like to check Cliff Mass' blog, Cliff is a UW professor and meteorologist and he always has something interesting to say relating to weather and lately he is on a crusade for better math books and teaching in Washington Schools.

Herb vinaigrette - YUM!

In our after school program today we made herb vinaigrette with the infused vinegar we made last month. I brought in salad greens, and the kids loved it. It was great to hear "give me 5ths!" For the Vinegar we put Rosemary, Thyme, and Bay leaves in a half gallon jar and filled it up with Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar. You can use fresh or dried herbs and any kind of light vinegar you like. We all took turns shaking it up and then I took it home and shook it every few days. I left it in the jar for about 4-5 weeks.  It is easy to make, and you can make a small amount by reusing an old salad dressing bottle. Make sure you use a plastic lid or a bottle with a rubber gasket (some beer bottles have those).  We made ours in a mason jar, so we put a piece of waxed paper between the lid and jar. The kids labeled their own vinegar bottles, and I gave them each a recipe that we made in class. Here is the recipe...enjoy!

Herb Salad Dressing:

1/4 Cup Herb Infused Vinegar (strained)
1 Teaspoon of Dijon Mustard
Salt and Pepper to taste
3/4 - 1 Cup of Olive Oil (strained if infused)

Whisk everything together in the same bowl. Transfer to a container with a non metallic lid and store in the fridge for about 2-3 weeks

You can also infuse the olive oil, but it is best to use dried herbs in these preparations, and use the fresh ones with the vinegar. Fresh herbs contain water, so if you are using them, dry or at least wilt them first,  then heat the oil a little bit (105*) to evaporate any water in them.

Wild Herb Salad with Oil & Vinegar for Lunch!

Soil Nutrition Equals Food Nutrition

I came across a great article about the loss of food nutrition from food grown using conventional practices.  This is a great reason to build your soil's fertility and regenerate the nutrition lost from overworking the area! So get your worms growing by eating all your food leftovers, and add all that great compost back to the soil to complete the circle.  Cover cropping with clover in the fall,and tilling/turning  them 2-3 weeks before planting allows them to bring up the nutrients from below the topsoil. Leave a few clover plants in the ground to harvest from. After you harvest the flowers, you can chop in the leaves back into the soil for more plant available nutrition. You can get a few batches of clover flowers through the season, and just adding 3 or 4 of the flowere (fresh or dried) makes a delicious, vitamin enriched, sweet tea without sugar. The article is at Kitchen Gardeners International, check out their other great resources while you are there.

Gardening with Chickens

Chickens are fun to garden with. They help you dig, although they love to find the worms and eat them, they also add nutrition to the soil with their poop. One of my chickens- the red one named Ms, loved to take a ride on my shovel as I dug. She could get the first worms. All the chickens loved to dig in the chip pile that we had on the side of our house to spread in the pathways. I was never able to keep them all cooped up, so I would let them out- you have to keep either your food or your chickens cooped up. I learned that the hard way- they would sit on the edge of the food bed and eat all the kale leaves and totally ate all the basil- it was really funny to see them jump up to the tops of the kale to get every bite! In the end, they mowed down most of the garden! I was growing food at the farm and at our community garden, so I didn't mind so much, but now we are ready to grow tons in our own yard now, thanks to them!

We started out with chickens a couple of years ago and they did a great job keeping weeds down and eating all of our food scraps. A friend ordered them (25 to share among 3 friends), and her kids raised them from fluffy balls of chirps to pullets (about 6 weeks). We kept the chickens in the garage for the first few weeks, keeping them outside in a small chicken tractor during the days, and back into the garage for the evenings. We let them out in the afternoon to watch their antics. I knew it was time to put them away when they all flew on my lap...  When it was warm enough and the coop and their yard were finished we moved them into their new space. We started out with three, but realized it would be awhile until they started laying, so we got three more slightly older ones who were already laying. We were worried about them figuring out their pecking order, but they figured it out right away- the ones we had first, even though they were younger, were on top! They each laid 1 egg per day with one day off per week, and after they all started laying we had 1/2 dozen every day! being able to give away extra eggs was an amazing plus! Our friends' loved it, and brunches were easy to host- We just had our friends bring the fillings and kept making omelets all morning.

We always called the black one the crow chicken because she was small and wiley- she would get up on the fence and hold watch- she always had to be the highest one. On the first or second day, two crows came down in the backyard (which they usually never do) and looked into the chicken tractor, and then flew away- satisfied I guess that it wasn't one of theirs. They all had many names, but that one had the most - Lips, Crow chicken, po-po (because the was like the police -settling squables), and blackie. Ms or Miz  or Holly or Red was another from my first batch, she is the red one in the picture above- she got her name Ms because Marc was exclaiming "what are we going to do when they stop laying? Just say "see you later mister?" Immediately we said "Ms!" We were not sure which one was going to be named Ms until we saw her...  She just fit the bill... and the other one we named from the beginning was Clucky Star- later a friend renamed her Heady, but we always called her Clucky-her colorings were black and white herringbone pattern (or starburst depending on your view) so that was that! The other three we got later were from an heirloom chicken breeder who sells eggs at the U-District Farmers' Market- he said they are a breed called Isa Warren- They were such good layers! The eggs were huge! Jumbo Jumbo you can't even shut the box jumbo! We named them Dottie (she had a spot on her and maybe on her eggs) and Lottie (the biggest eggs)

I wish I had had a better system for moving them around the yard. I think if I were to do it again, I would measure out 3 zones that were the same area, and have a portable fence to house their yard. I never had a top for mine, but I would add one because of the raccoon threat (We have an apartment building near us with an always open dumpster which I think helped keep them away) . The chicken house could move around the zones and work the soil before cover crop goes in for the winter. I always thought we should share the chickens with our neighbors because their kids loved the chicks, and who has time to weed... We did share eggs, and when we were out of town, they always checked in on them and let them in on the nights we were out too late.

After awhile, they had eaten up all the grass, and turned the whole yard up looking for worms and grubs. By then, they were just sitting around most of the day on our deck watching us eat and pooping on the deck! We ended up taking them to Vashon, and a couple of my friends have them at their houses! The black one that laid white eggs, Lips Chicken is still an oddball- but I guess with a name like that, your gonna be weird. She roosts up over the screen door in her new coop and looks out over the others. She was always one to fly the coop, so that is why she is in the enclosed area now. All in all, it was a great experience, but it was also a lot of work the way I did it. I would still like to help other folks raise chickens/eggs in their own backyard, so if you are interested in my consultation or my services (I will even clean out the coop weekly or monthly for the right price!) email me at jayne@sistersageherbs.com.

Herbal Landscaping Class at South Seattle Community College!

Herbal Landscaping
6pm to 8pm Tuesdays - 3 sessions starting April 13, 2010, ending April 27, 2010

I will be teaching an herbal landscaping class at South Seattle Community College starting Tuesday, April 13 through April 27th. I will give info about some useful & decorative herb plants that grow well here, as well as some of the benefits of leaving your "weeds" in place so you can harvest them. We will draw out a plan of your garden and make a unique design that fits into your space and your lifestyle using herbs you can harvest and make home remedies from in the future. We will make plant divisions and start seeds for you to take home and plant in your garden. Hope to see you there, or if you are interested in a private consultation, please call me, and we can work together to make your yard a beautiful healing space.
Valerian:

Save the Bees!

Along with soil nutrition, Bees are the most important part of gardening of any type. We can have extremely fertile soil, but without them, we would be out there in the garden with a paintbrush (or a pigtail) moving pollen around on our own! Lots of work on top of tending plants and amending the soil. This is a great blog The Honey Phamplet about urban beekeeping from a guy who does it in the city of Seattle. I am going to get a beehive for my gardens as soon as I can, and sign up all my friends and clients who love honey for his services! He will take care of the hives, and they taste like your flowers- it is amazing. I tasted Lavender and Mint from one hive he has in a friend's yard. He has reviewed a book: A World Without Bees, Benjamin, A. and McCallum, B., Pegasus Books, New York, NY, 2009
It is now on my list to read, but I am afraid of what I will find out! I may have to stock up on those paintbrushes after all.... Another great source for all things about honey and bees is this blog from The Daily Green Beekeeper.

Cottonwood Bud & Twig Salve

I was jogging on Longfellow Creek trail the other day on my way to do the stairs with Marc and I found a Cottonwood tree top and the buds were coming on! Those things are persistent! So I snapped the buds and little sappy twig off and I am bringing it to my Herbal Potions class. We are going to make a healing herbal salve and learn when to use it! I teach for the amazing Powerful Schools Program. They are having a fundraiser breakfast on March 4th. check it out if you can.