There was a brief period of small pea-sized hail, but no strong winds here. Bad news is that I won’t bother going outside to tie up the remaining tomatoes because everything is soaked.
Other than the storms, I don’t have much to add for today. However, I didn’t get around to posting last weeks entry, so it will follow below:
Last Sunday, July 20th around 12:30 PM, I simply gave up working outside in the gardens. It was 85 degrees outside with the humidity at 60%.
I managed to roto-till the eastern-most garden to get the weeds down for the pumpkins, squash & cucumbers –which are beginning to run their vines. The less weeds the better.
I should have listened to the Cicada bugs first… they were busy making noise in the treetops all the while I was outside. After all, you only hear Cicadas when the weather is hot & humid. If you want to learn more about this LOUD summer bug, there’s a good bit of info on this site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada
The oregano is ready for harvesting. I say this because it’s nearly 3 feet tall and starting to bud. I swear these barely-developed buds have the most intense flavor. I’ll strip the stalks and place them on a few of the screens in my home-made seed/herb dryer.
This seed/herb dryer was built out of necessity last September. I was saving seeds from cucumbers out in the garage when they got completely devoured by mice! Hence the armor made of wire mesh which surrounds 3 shelves of drying screens, complete with a door and a latch to secure the contents! I plan on adding more shelves soon because 3 simply isn’t enough anymore.
This 2008 gardening season truly is the year of the tomato. I’ve never seen so many volunteer tomatoes in all of the gardens. It will be interesting to watch them and see who they are… I only grew a few varieties in 2007, so my bet is that they’ll be either Striped Cavern, Great White or Debaro.
My first and favorite herb to tincture is Wild St. John’s Wort. I’ve got it growing all around the house, in the gardens and select spots not mowed in the lawn. I’ve personally found that this herb works for me as a mood (happiness) enhancer. If taken in small doses over time (6 to 8 weeks), I’m convinced that it does wonders for the winter blues.More information can be found here:
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/stjohns-wort-000276.htm
*** Disclaimer ***
Know your plants - DO NOT GUESS! If you’re not sure what St. John’s Wort looks like, don’t try to harvest it. One of the best ways to identify herbs is to buy a field guide such as this:
http://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Medicinal-Plants-Herbs/dp/0395988144
A good tip for identifying St. John’s Wort is to pick a green leaf from the plant and hold it to the sky. If you see a bunch of tiny holes (perforations) in the leaf, chances are it’s Common St. John’s Wort hence its botanical name - Hypericum perforatum.
Let the tincturing begin!
Step 1
Harvest the plants with a pair of garden scissors about 10 to 12 inches above the ground – you only want the greenest leaves and flower tops, so cut above any faded yellow leaves. Plants will vary in size and some will be reddish & discolored. I avoid the discolored plants. Only do 5 to 10 plants at a time because step 2 takes a while…
Step 2
The toughest part about tincturing is preparing the fresh herb. St. John’s Wort is a bit of work because both the flowers and the leaves are useful. So I first pluck the flowers, then remove all of the leaves from the many branches. By the time I’ve got a large bowl full of flowers & leaves my fingers are covered in a sticky-green mess – the price to pay for a mid-winter smile.
Step 3
Now all that’s needed is some 80 proof vodka, a blender, and some clean storage jars. Add one cup of vodka to blender then add the prepared St. John’s Wort only as high as halfway of the blender. Start the blender at lowest speed and add speed gradually. You will have to add vodka slowly and once the right amount is there, the whole mixture will begin to spin. Keep adding speed and work your way up to top speed to thoroughly mix the herb with the vodka.
This process usually takes 3 to 5 minutes. It’s important to break up the herb as much as possible because it makes it easier for the vodka to absorb as much of useful properties found in St. John’s Wort – therefore, a stronger tincture -also known as an extract.
Once the St. John’s Wort has been completely pulverized and mixed with the vodka it can be added to storage jars (I save my old spaghetti sauce jars for this.)
Step 4
Fill each jar about ¾ full and let sit for about 10 minutes. After mixture has settled, there must be at least one inch of lighter colored (alcohol) mixture on top, if not, more vodka should be added because the mixture won’t be properly preserved in the following weeks.
Step 5
Make some cubboard space and store jars in a cool, dark space or you may leave the jars on the counter and cover with a thick towel to keep light out. * Impotant – be sure these jars are very convienient to access every day!
Step 6
It’s important to shake each jar once a day for the first week. Nothing too crazy, just shake for a few seconds and replace jar to its spot. The reason for this is to keep the contents of the jar from settling too much and constantly extracting. After one week of daily shakes, you can skip afew days between shaking the jars. Let sit for 4 to 6 weeks.
Step 7
It’s time to open the jars and strain the contents into new jars. I use two strainers for this, one has holes, the other is of a finer screen. But once you are left with the wet glob of stuff the strainers catch, always scoop it up and use a towel or cheese cloth to squeeze as much liquid as possible into your new jars!
Step 8
Now you have the completed extract in the 2nd round of jars. Further straining is up to you. I like to put the mixture into dropper bottles for easier dispensing.
How to use:
I like to put 2 or 3 dropper-fulls (about 2 teaspoons) into a glass of seltzer water as a standard dose per day starting in December. Storage isn’t an issue because it will keep for many years – however, you’ll probably have run out of it before St. John’s Wort is in bloom next year!
:)
