Alpine Lookout on a Late Summer Day

Alpine Overlook. Exit 2, off of Palisades. The perfect beginning of a fall foliage hike. Flat surface for those that need it, more vertical trails for others.

Butterflies (Monarchs on their way south).


Hawks, black vultures (a swarm, or a vulture flight, more than 7, soaring above with their widespread finger tip wings), Long Island Sound visible across the Yonkers rise, Tappan Zee bridge being constructed north

---and a very good cheeseburger inside an overlook restaurant reminiscent of the Red Apple in the 1950s.


Need I mention: FREE!

See it on a Sunny Day.

Woe Be The Wily Woodchuck!

Woe Be the Wily Woodchuck!


Thoreau was angry, very angry,  at woodchucks on his land. One ate 1/4 an acre of his bean crop.


"As I came home through the woods with my string of fish, trailing my pole, it being now quite dark, I caught a glimpse of a woodchuck stealing across my path, and felt a strange thrill of savage delight, and was strongly tempted to seize and devour him raw; not that I was hungry then, except for that wildness which he represented." ---Henry David Thoreau, Walden.


The woodchuck is just as much of a target in the 21st century as in the 19th, the wrath of current  gardeners comes across  Master Gardeners Helplines in  Bergen Agricultural Extension office..

This posting is a quick review of the methods most often used to curb the woodchuck’s enthusiasm for garden areas.The easiest of course, is if there are some plants that would be a natural chuckicide. There are essays on this venue to woodchuck control, none seem definitive or easy, including this one on the use of epsom salts. 

Herbs or other plants with noxious odors? My theory here is if the woodchuck got so far as to get into my garden with Rosemary, Santolina, Thyme, Wormwood, etc. in it, it would not deter it unless it was interplanted with the vegetables. Another anecdote way is that growing many marigolds will stop woodchucks. There is very limited evidence on the effectiveness, and the woodchuck can dig under them. I will go back to my aromatic herbs and line them with marigolds, which by sheer luck and superstition, has repelled woodchucks. Squirrels and rabbits, however, act as If I wrote a sign: "I have built it, you can come."


Shooting? 'There is a $99 fine for shooting the woodchuck out of season---but there is very little time that is out of season! And not in town, anyway. The woodchuck hunting season is  in the latest NJ Small Game Hunting regulations from the NJ Fish and Wildlife site. Permitted hunting by a licensed hunter with bow and arrow is from March 2 to Sept. 30, 2015, with no limit. Using a shotgun, the season is: 

Sept. 27–Dec. 6; Dec. 15, 16, 18–31, 2014; Jan. 1–Feb. 16, 2015 (It's not much different in 2016.)

Live Traps? Advice from many sources includes the observation that live-trapping chucks and letting them go causes their premature death. Their habits are inflicted on new people. It’s also illegal to release a wild animal in NJ.Look at the latest relocation regs in NJ (Fish and Wildlife)

Woodchucks do not appear to be scared by motion devices, nor much by a scarecrow. Sprays and hot sauces appear to affect them little---and the home gardener much. The amount of time for reapplication and concern about the chemicals on produce were key considerations here. 

Finally, the use of an electrified fence was seen as effective---as is a fence dug very deep under the ground. The fence needs to be bent outwards-and hung in a wobbly way so the critter cannot parade on top of the fence in front of you,taunting you with your own vegetables.

If the effort becomes too much, The New York Times featured a Thoreaurean way of dealing with the woodchuck: a recipe for Woodchuck au Vin , as well as a recipe for Peppery Woodchuck in Wine and Olives (June 05, 2008. ) It should be taken into consideration :

If that is not appealing, Food Republic offers Braised Groundhog .Or you can look at a Berkshire farmer's borrowed poetry ( Apologies to  Lewis Carrol:)

The time has come

The gardener said

To speak of unpleasant things

Of does and bucks 

And slugs and flies

And ravenous woodchucks.

Andrea Chesman then provides her recipe for Woodchuck Stew.

The gardener who created this dish notes that the herbs and vegetables in this recipe are available fresh from the garden because they have not been eaten by the dish’s main ingredient." NYT, June 2008

Take your pick-be a vegetarian by removing what the animal would eat, or try a fancy stew. If you have fencing solutions, write me---I will put them in Urban Herban.

Good for What Ails You: Herbal Teas

Good for What Ails You: Herbal Teas

Are you suffering from a cold in February, 2015? And that means runny nose, sore throat, sneezing, and coughing. You know it is 7-10 days to a normal life no matter what. You can be more comfortable: use herbal teas to sooth the symptoms. Scientists have found that hot liquids radically relieve cold symptoms better than warm or cold liquids. 

So drink one of many herbal teas to feel better:…

 

Mint Tea: Relief plus: this tastes good. It could be Spearmint (sweeter, milder), or Peppermint (bracing, enervating.) Some 50 plus chemicals are defined in Mint  that affect you. Catnip is also a  herb  of note.

Echinacea:  Tea is made from the roots---and the juice is used for prevention. The tea is called, as are all of these herbal concoctions, a tisane (pronounced (ti-SAYN), meaning  tea made of material other than black tea, usually without caffeine. Echinacea has been tested for efficacy by the NIH and found to be “moderately effective. What does that mean? It is better than “not effective.”

Try another root tea: ginger. Slice and pour hot water over it and steep. It has a hot, sharp taste, and is good with honey. You can try teas made from many culinary herbs that were once considered medicine: Rosemary, Sage, even Basil are held to have medicinal properties for colds. “Officinalis” in their botanical names means “used as medicine or in herbalism”.

If using Native American herbs is your interest, try You might also try Elderberry, Rose hips, or Goldenseal. Sample Mountain mint---and be prepared for a very strong taste, hopefully, so strong that you will forget about your cold. You will find it in the Midwest and Virginia, as well as in Anna Kurz's garden. Mountain mint is not of the Mentha family, as are Spearmint and Peppermint, but one can swear by its similar scent.

Ask me what that means another time.

Three Lemony Herbs

Lemon Verbena

Three lemony herbs come forth with March, all citrus aroma’d tender perennials. Lemon balm and Lemon grass haven’t been seen since fall; Lemon verbena has graced several benches in our greenhouse---and tables in my house.

 Lemon Balm (Mellisa officinalis) has many uses: as a cooling tea, bringing down a fever, in salads and drinks. The sweet aroma is useful in making potpourris; Victorians used lemon balm to signify “pleasant company of friends.” 

Lemongrass (Cymbopogon spp.).This herb is used in Thai cooking and thought to have health benefits. It has flavors of lemon and a bit of rose, is used in headache treatment, as 3 well as in perfume production. The grass can be suspended by string above steaming rice to with lemon; Tom Yum Soup made with the bulbs is a treat.

Lemon verbena (Aloysia citrodora) is used as flavoring in medicinal teas, pastries, candies, and fragrance in fingerbowls. Use this in a green bean dish à la Pat Fromm. 

Lemon Balm Sauce 

¾ cup sugar. 
4 Tbs. water, 
1 Tbs. fresh Lemon balm or Lemon verbena leaves,
2 Tbs. butter, 
Juice of 1 Lemon, 
Dash of Salt 

In a small pan, boil sugar and water several minutes until syrupy, Add leaves and cook for 5 minutes. Remove leaves. Add butter and salt Continue cooking over low heat until syrup is of desired thickness. (From Old Fashioned Herb Recipes, Bear Wallow Books, p.26) Fun & Learning Opportunities Comin

TOMATOES!!! A description of all kinds for next year's planting

We are all waiting for the beginning of the yearly flood of tomatoes-for sauces, salads, even jams and jellies. It won't be long now, we are near the peak of August.

 
We plant in late May-early June. Then we wait and water --- aiming for the taste of the year, that luscious moment.

Tomatoes are the most popular vegetable grown ( but--isn’t it a fruit? Yes, but U.S. courts ruled it as a vegetable , for commercial reasons.) Click on the links below and see the story behind each tomato variety. I assembled a lot of different sites, each offering you a special knowledge about tomatoes.

Rutgers University has been confirming the favorites by holding Tomato

Tasting Festivals in August for the last few years, inspired by the re-introduction of the Ramapo Tomato.

The most popular Heirloom Tomatoes were in three categories. The Largest favorites were

Cherokee Purple, Mortgage Lifter, Hawaiian Pineapple, and Prudent’s Purple.

Medium-sized favorites were Eva Purple Ball, Arkansas Traveler, Box Car Willie, Lemon Boy, Costoluto, Ramapo, Brandywine Red, and Green Zebra. And the Cherry Size Small Heirloom Favorites were Snow White, Isis Candy, and Yellow Pear.

Do you have any of them in your garden? Bring them to Tomato Fest---we can all try them.

As the growing season continues, you might want to check this site You will find a major collection of articles on the tomato, including members of the Agricultural School’s considered opinion on growing the tomatoes upside down. There are pluses(no weeds!) and minuses (gravity) that should be considered---find out! It might lead to the Best Taste of the Season.

Easy Italian sauce.
Ingredients
2 cans of plum tomatoes, with sauce, chopped.
Olive oil, 1/2 cup
1 Onion. Bermuda, minced finely
cloves of garlic, peeled, minced
3 ice cubes of basil and oregano mix (or 1 tbsp of each herb, minced, if fresh; 1 tsp of each herb, if dried.)
1 tspn. Sugar

Preparation
1.Warm the olive oil in a Dutch oven
2.Add the onion, and sauté until translucent, Add garlic, mix with onion, and cook until alliums are translucent (alliums=onion and garlic)
3.Add tomatoes, stir. Let simmer, not boil, covered, 1/2 hour.
4. Add sugar, then Basil-Oregano cubes, and continue to simmer for 15 minutes.
If you do not have cubes (it is the middle of the winter, for instance), use
1 tsp of each herb. If you want a more "herby" taste, increase the proportion to 1 1/2 tspn of each.
5.Serve over piping hot pasta.

A variant on this recipe that does change an Italian sauce into a French one:
- Add one tsp TARRAGON (dried, or 2 tsp (fresh) when you add the herbs.

Another variant from Jekka's cookbook, an English sauce:
- Saute the onions and garlic in BUTTER. Do not use oil.

 ---Pat L

HARVESTING: Plan NOW!

It is fast approaching---the height of the harvest season. Mid-Summer to fall)

As fall comes, plants have less sunlight, even though it is still warm outside.

 The herbs themselves have less volatile oil: that ingredient that contains the flavor and smell. So you need to harvest NOW!

It's part of the plant cycle: as less sunlight is part of the equation, the fruit and seeds and flowers march towards winter.

This is time to plan for the late herbs such as thyme, and get what you can from  those past their prime.

Basil was probably at its prime in late July. But use it for pesto and you can have the early autumn fruits of the field. Just remember that you don't have much time; basil will go fast. When the  leaves are largely yellow, you might as well grind or chop them very fine---- use them for stews or sauces, and even then, with not as much flavor. But in the winter it will be very welcome.

Other herbs, such as thyme, can be deferred in harvesting, till early fall. Although wonderful when fresh (what isn't?), it can be dried and used in delicious meat glazes, such as  Honey Thyme Meat Glaze.

Take a look around the garden---see the lemon verbena? It's a great time to snip a twig or two and start them for next year. Bring the whole plant indoors, and leave  a bit of room---over time, it will grow to 5 feet tall. 

Here are my (condensed ) notes for harvesting when there is little time:

Methods to Use in Harvesting Herbs

Herbs are best when fresh---or so it is said. But given today’s budget crunch (winter time fresh herbs cost about $3.00 for a small amount), putting aside some for yourself is wise.

When do you harvest?
Generally, that is “ in the morning, before the flower emerges, and prior to the loss of flavor oils.” A number of herbs differ---check a harvesting chart (see Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs, Teaneck Library)

What do you do with the herbs?
First, think of the herbs you use the most and what you do with them Then you can decide on a preservation method. Know which herbs can be preserved---and which cannot. Shiso and Salad Burnet cannot be preserved---use while in your garden!

Decide how much space you can allocate to storage and what method you will use per herb.

What Methods Fit Your Situation?

-"Dry" can involve drying racks (a laundry rack will serve) and  paper bags (to catch seeds).
---Use rubber bands to take into account  the drying herb to tie and hang the herbs (water drying makes for a smaller stem). Use screens to ensure all sections of small herbs are dry so mold does not set in.

--- Crumbling the herbs is the next step. Then, store them in amber bottles and place in a dark, dry place.

--Freezing herbs can involve freezing the whole herb in plastic bags, or chopped herbs in ice cube trays with oil or water. How much can your fridge---or freezer----hold? They may be mushy on defrosting, but will be perfect for a sauce or stew.

--Microwave: Put herbs on a paper towel after washing the herbs and dry them  thoroughly .Use a low setting. Good for any dish that has dried herbs as an ingredient, and they are “fresher” than those you buy!

--Preserve in vinegar or oil with a freshly washed and thoroughly dried herb. This method is best for salad dressings, marinades, vegetables in a vinaigrette, or cooking with a flavored oil.

Be very careful to refrigerate oil with herbs---and remove the herb from the oil shortly thereafter. Do not let the herb stick up from the oil, avoid food poisoning. Herbs in vinegar are different--the vinegar will pickle the herb,

However, letting the herb stick up from the vinegar is not good practice---food poisoning is possible. Watch it!

Check the chart below for harvesting for popular herbs:

COOKING WITH HERBS: How To

Tips for Cooking with Herbs

Given today’s budget crunch (winter time fresh herbs cost about $3.00 for a small amount), it is wise to use ALL of the plant: leaves in salads, sauces, stems in slow cooking, flowers in salads, plant as a whole vegetable. Cook them at their best.

--Use with a light hand—the aromatic oils are strong.

--Blend judiciously for different purposes. Have a leading flavor and combine two to four less pronounced flavors with it.

---Never emphasize more than one of the very strong herbs in a blend.

---Blend or heat with butter, margarine, or other cooking fats as the best way to draw out and extend the flavor of the aromatic oils.

---Fresh (unsalted) "sweet" butter gives more satisfactory results than salted butter or margarine.

---Have salad oil tepid, not chilled, when using herbs in French salad dressing.

---Cut or chop the leaves of fresh herbs very fine.
For some purposes they should be ground in a mortar.

---The more of the cut surface that is exposed, the more completely the aromatic oil can be absorbed.

---Keep in mind that dried herbs are three or four times stronger than fresh herbs.

--The delicate aroma and flavor of savory herbs may easily be lost by extended cooking.

(Excerpt  from Savory Herbs: Culture & Use , Farmers' Bulletin No. 1977, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1946) This s a complete guide ot growing and using herbs from the mid forties. It is well worth readin, and proves the old adage: "Nothing new under the sun."