Tag: lemon balm

Plants – Herbal Teas

On By TimelessladyIn Plants19 Comments

I’ve lost count of how many years I’ve grown the herb lemon balm. I use it mainly for tea. The butterflies and bees love it for the delicious nectar in its tiny white flowers. I have near two dozen plants growing in several gardens surrounding my home. Why do I grow so many? Well they self-seed, make excellent tea, are linked to longevity, will grow where other plants would succumb to bad conditions, new sprouts are easily transplanted to a new location, and most important, I find the plants pretty.

The batch above is growing strong around my Square Foot Garden boundaries. In some areas it has inter-mingled with spearmint that has also run rampant and multiplied from one plant.

These two herbs, steeped in just-boiled water make a lovely, invigorating, yet calming tea. If you find these plants in a garden nursery and have room to grow them, give them a try.

Plant Tips – Bountiful Herb Harvest

On By TimelessladyIn Plant TipsLeave a comment

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Autumn has arrived, winter approaches, I have been purchasing potted herbs to grow on my windowsill through the colder months. I will still take cuttings for rooting from my outdoor herbs, but they will not reach harvest size until Spring of 2015. In the meantime, when I need fresh herbs through the winter, I will “pinch” them from my lovely windowsill garden. Another plus in growing herbs indoors is the scent they “whisper” into the air when you run your hands over them…heavenly!

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Photo collage courtesy of Picmonkey.com

Our area of the country experienced a very cool summer, but my herbs didn’t seem to mind and have thrived. I don’t want to waste the bounty of my gardens so over the next few days I will be harvesting everything I have room to store. I will hang aromatic herbs such as lavender, catnip, and a portion of my mints, in dark closets to dry. Those I use in cooking I will freeze in ice cube trays.

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Step 1

Soak herbs in a bowl of water for a few minutes. Remove the herbs from the water, check for debris, refill and repeat process at least three times.  There is no need for scrubbing or agitation, the water floats the dirt away leaving the essential oils intact. (Organic potted herbs grown inside do not need to be washed.)

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Step 2

There is no need to dry sprigs when they are finished soaking. Break leaves away from the stem, place inside empty ice cube trays, add water and freeze.

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Step 3

Remove frozen cubes from tray.

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Step 4

Place inside a labeled zip-lock freezer bag and store in the freezer. Your “fresh” herbs are now available anytime you are ready to cook a good meal.  The cubes are terrific for making soups and stocks. I also freeze onion, scallions, peppers and other produce for quick stocks.

Plants and Pleasures – Harvesting and Storing “Tea” Herbs

On By TimelessladyIn Plants, Pleasures1 Comment

Hopefully, this will be the start of a daily cup of tea this winter. I’ve been picking my spearmint and lemon balm and freezing it in ice-cube trays. I had a test run last week, and found that if I left the herbal ice cubes in a cup for an hour or two they thawed out. I then strained away the water, fired up the tea kettle, and within ten minutes was drinking a cup of spearmint/lemon balm tea that tasted as if it was picked fresh out of the garden. I’m thrilled to know I’ll be able to continue drinking the tea throughout the winter.

Pleasures and Plants – First Square Foot Garden Harvest

On By TimelessladyIn Plants, PleasuresLeave a comment

This gorgeous array of salad greens and herbs is a sample of my first Square Foot Garden harvest. The Black-Seeded Simpson and Flame Lettuce leaves were winter sown and grew quickly after they were transplanted into their garden square. The arugula, also winter sown, was planted out yesterday, and had already grown large enough in its milk carton mini-greenhouse to harvest a few of its leaves. The chives have grown in my garden for years, and yesterday I transplanted the clump to a new herb garden, gathering a few spears along the way for my dinner salad. The deep green leaves on the side of the plate are lemon balm. I combine these with slices of ginger root for a delicious and healthy tea. Lemon Balm is said to increase longevity and alleviate anxiety. Ginger is an anti-inflammatory and stomach soother.

To read more about my adventures in Winter Sowing check out this post: Winter Sowing