The Importance of Experimentation in Gardening + DIY Lemon Balm Cleaner

I'm admittedly picky at times. I'm not always a try-er of the newest things. However, I think experimenting, testing, and "giving things a try" is really important to continued success in the garden.

Our gardens are affected by so many factors- pests, weather, water and soil conditons.. as gardeners we have to be ready and willing to adapt, change our plans, and accept the results that nature gives us.



I've been reading Founding Gardeners (which is a great book, btw) and thinking about experimentation and observation. Jefferson, Washington, Adams, Madison and Franklin all had very high regard for the role of trials and experiments in the garden, and devoted whole sections of their land and gardens to that very purpose. This has gotten me thinking about all the little ways I've experimented in my garden over the few years of its life.



Lemon balm in my garden

 Almost every "experiement" I've done in the garden or in the kitchen has probably been done before many different ways, but I still think there's merit in trying things for oneself. Most of my awesome projects; concrete block raised beds, my DIY 5 gallon bucket Root Cellars, homemade Vanilla Extract- those were all "experiments" or trials that I got an idea to do, and did!

Sometimes the idea occured to me first, sometimes I was looking for a solution for a problem and found ideas that I figured I could try out. Either way, because of the room I've given myself to try these things, I now have products and advantages I wouldn't have otherwise; an awesome urban garden with extra space for herbs, a successful way to store carrots and potatoes right up until late spring, and high-quality, low-cost vanilla extract!

An experiment I just stumbled upon recently is this Lemon balm drying project that I wanted to try out.

DIY Lemon balm Cleaner

I planted Lemon balm this year, with no real thoughts on how I would actually use in, whether in cooking, medicial or other useage. I was googling how to dry Lemon balm at home, and I saw a few methods- oven drying, a electric dehydator, but one method stuck out in the reading- laying the Lemon balm out on a towel in front of the dehumidifyer- what a creative idea! We already run a dehumidifyer nearly 24/7 in the summer, so why not use the hot air that is getting sucked in to the machine to dry the herbs? Yesterday night I picked some Lemon balm from the garden and laid it out on a kitchen towel. I spread out the towel on top of the ottoman in the basement, and scooted it up in front of the dehuminidifer, as pictured.

When I came down this afternoon to check, less that 24 hours later, look what I found:

Perfect, right?

I thought the leaves would take at least 2 days to dry out! It's taking a lot of restraint not to fling out into my garden and just start harvesting all my herbs to run the same experiment! I do think I'll try drying some Lavendar this way, as well as some bundles of Thyme, as our nice weather draws to a close in late Fall.

Because the Lemon balm dried so nicely, I was already able to start an infusion to make a Lemon balm scented cleaner this evening!

I crushed up the leaves a bit and add them into a bottle of white vinegar (1 cup) in a spray bottle. Supposedly, the leaves can be left in the bottle for few days to infuse, and then I can strain them out and I'll have a great, fresh Lemon balmy scented vinegar. I'll add 2 cups of water to that, and have a great homemade cleaner! As someone who regularly ulses a just vinegar + water mix, I am definitely looking forward to a more pleasant scent- maybe Lavendar or Rosemary scented cleaner will be next on the list?

I'll definitley report out on my facebook page about the results- I have a feeling I might have to try a different preportion of vinegar to water in order to get that lemony-fresh scent I want.

Keep trying things, even if they don't always work out- Our Founding Fathers would applaud your efforts :)

Book Review- Landscaping with Fruit by Lee Reich

I was recently searching at my local library for books on backyard fruit, cultivating fruiting plants, and small-scale fruit growing and I found a keeper- Landscaping with Fruit by Lee Reich!

For anyone looking to incorporate some (or more) fruit into their landscape, this is a great resource. Lee is thoughtful and creative about the ways to use fruit in your yard, in both an attractive and functional way.

Landscaping with Fruit also has a nice section on home landscaping plans, as well as a 'Guide to Fruiting Landscape plants' section. In the guide section, each plant that Reich lists is rated on a scale he has created- beauty, taste, and ease of care are each factored into the ratings. The factor that makes this book stand out from other books on landscaping that I've picked up is that this isn't a book of crazy, fantasy fruit gardens. There is careful thought put into what you might want to grow, how much work each plant takes to grow successfully, and considerations you'll want to think about.

Raspberries trellised along the fence in my backyard

I honestly hadn't heard of at least 5 of the plants that Reich suggestes- the new ideas were appreciated! This is definitely a practical guide to adding more fruiting plants to your landscape. If you're one of those gardeners who has always dreamed of an arbor covered in grapevines or a trellis with (hardy) kiwi fruits, pick up Landscaping with Fruit and turn those dreams into reality!

Happy Reading!

Book Review- The Widsom of the Radish by Lynda Hopkins

I recently picked up a copy of The Wisdom of the Radish from my local library. I just happened upon it- I was browsing through the gardening books and just as Mike asked haven't you read them all already?, I found it. I've been really enjoying these small farm non-fiction books since I've stumbled upon several of them.

I really appreciate that:
a) the authors are my age
b) a lot of them are coming from a similar background to myself aka no farming experience
c) the narratives are a lot of fun to read- It's nice to feel like you're experencing the story right along with the authors.

The Wisdom of the Radish was well written, well organized, and thoughtfully constructed. Lynda, who is the author, writes of the experiences she and her boyfriend  (now husband) Emmett go through starting their own farm, selling at markets, trying their hand at animal husbandry, and other farm-based activites. Lynda and Emmett go through a lot of trials and mistakes during the first year on their farm, and if you're a gardener or  have ever taken on a project that you didn't fully understand the scope of, you'll identify a lot with the author as you read this book. It has a nice blend of humor, serious and heart-wrenching stories, and farm lessons learned along the way.

If you're looking for a fairly easy farm read, pick up a copy of The Wisdom of the Radish- it'll do the trick!

Book Review- Edible Front Yard by Ivette Soler

Totally recommended!

For the holidays, I had a lot of books on my list. One of the ones that I got and really loved is, Edible Front Yard by Ivette Soler. The Edible Front Yard is the (and I quote), "Mow-less, Grow-more plan for a Beautiful, Bountiful Garden". 

The book starts out in Chapter 1 with "Inspired Curb Appeal"- basically a whole chapter devoted to your inspirations for gardening, and motivating you to think about your house features, your dream garden, etc. Really a fun chapter! Chapter 2 is probably my favorite and the most useful, in my opinion- it goes through Edible Ornamentals- basically the nicest-looking varieties of a lot of your favorite fruits and veggies. Bronze fennel, espalier apple trees, African Blue basil, lavender, borage- all things you can either eat or consume in one way or another, but they are also just damn good-looking 

plants!

I was so inspired that my roommate and I put in an order for lotsa Herb seeds to start and keep indoors! Here's our order: Globe Bail, Mrs. Burn's Lemon Basil, Thai Basil, Cilantro, Cumin, Bronze Fennel, Green Culinary Sage, and Spearmint! Hopefully these will be attractive, product plants that will be a breath of fresh air indoors and a pretty addition out in the front yard when it comes time!

I love Saturdays!

Happy Saturday!!!

In my opinion, Saturdays are much better than Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, or Sundays. I do like Friday evenings also. But Saturdays are so nice- a whole day to do what I want to do!

So thanks for celebrating this Saturday with me :) Here's the Homesteading things I've achieved so far today:

• Master Gardener class in Monroe on House Pests. The Monroe County office was just great.. Jenny who is the Extension Agent there was so full of information and willing to share it- I love that!
• Went out to lunch w/ Jen and Jess in downtown A2
• Picked up a roaster chicken, 2 dozen eggs, and a smoked turkey breast from Karl Baer, my meat guy (doesn't sound too good..). I will be referencing Di's (from Life in the Prairie Box) wonderful tips on whole-chicken roasting, since I am inexperienced at this kind of thing. Thanks Di! :)
• Stopped at Downtown Home and Garden in A2- look at the spoils of my trip! :

Got a thermometer for outside, since I don't have one. Thought it would come in handy. Also got some Burpee Sunflower seeds. Sunflowers are my favorite flower of all time. Even though they can get pretty huge and tall, it seems terrible to think about not having some in my yard. I'm thinking maybe they can kind of be a back border to the section of my garden that will have my raised-beds?

My last exciting buy was The Backyard Homestead! I usually don't buy books- I borrow a lot from the library, etc., but I've seen it's bright, warm, inviting cover for nearly a year, and I've lusted after it! I even picked it up in the bookstore, but didn't have money for it at the time. So today I did, and it came home with me! I've read the first chapter so far, and I really enjoy it. It seems like a nice overview for those looking to pursue Urban Homesteading, whether that might be just having 2 chickens in your backyard, growing some tomatoes and canning your own tomato sauce, or trying to achieve some kind of self-sufficiency!

Here's what it looks like if you're interested:













Now I am off to read, reflect, eat some dinner, and maybe to roast a chicken! Ahh!!

A word on the Store --------->

As you might have noticed, my 8 followers, and un-counted lurkers (I appreciate you too, even if you won't "out" yourself haha) I have added a little Amazon store thing to my blog profile. I just wanted to explain what is was, and put it out there in the open, because I don't want to you feel pressured to to buy things from it (unless you'd like to!).

My store is a list of products that I own, have used, or come highly recommended.
What might you find in my store?

• Gardening books
• Cookbooks
• Urban Homesteading books
• Food System/Agriculture books
• Canning supplies
• Food DVDs
• Other books that are un-related to gardening that I just like

*Disclaimer- I will not list anything in my store that I have not personally come in contact with, in one way or another.* I am going to add reviews to the products as well, so you can have my 2 cents on them. The way this whole thing works is that you are able to buy stuff from my store, just like you normally might on Amazon, except I get a bit of the profit. The bottom line is, if you are interested in buying any of the products I list on my store, and you were going to buy them from Amazon any way, they are the same price but some money is going to me (4%). Woo hoo!

I also thought it would be a nice way to track down some of the resources that I mention in blog. As I mention books or movies or tools that I have read/seen/used and found helpful, if they are available for purchase on Amazon, I will include a link like so in my post:

If you are not interested in buying from my store, no problem. I created it just as a little sidebar on my blog so you can essentially ignore it if you'd like.

Thanks for reading! I value the thoughts, feedback and comments you have given me, and I want you to feel comfortable and un-solicited here :)

--------Weather Update- It is still Winter. :(