How to Fry Zucchini Blossoms

For a taste of the subtle pleasures of a spring garden, try fried zucchini blossoms. You won't find these in the grocery store. They're a special reward for the vegetable gardener. So enjoy one of those unique payoffs for all your hard work.

Fried Zucchini Flower Recipe

6 Zucchini blossoms
1/2 C flour
Pinch Salt
Pinch Pepper
1/4 C Olive oil
2 Pats butter
1 Egg
1 Tbsp Water

Directions for

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How To Make Rose Wine

Making your own rose wine can be a hoot. It takes a while, but like making beer, especially if you like to experiment with the recipe like I do, you never know quite what you're going to end up with.The nice thing about rose and dandelion wines, as well as other seasonal wines and liqueurs, is that they distill a season. In winter, when you're shivering your way to the mailbox, you can think

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Dandelion Tea Recipes

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is good for you, and even if you hate it in the yard, its bitter taste can be addictive. Remember, when you drank your first beer or glass of wine, you probably thought that was bitter too.Dandelion Flower Tea Recipe8 Dandelion flowers12 oz. Boiling waterHoney or sugar to tasteInstructions for brewing Dandelion TeaPour boiling water over flowers and let steep for

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How to Make Dandelion Wine

I was delighted by an article I read yesterday on The New York Times website feed. It's entitled: The Joy of Less. If you have a second, take a look.

It seems that many of my gardening adventures, and even the projects that result from my gardening, are a search for beauty in simple things, an alliance with nature, and a celebration of the natural world. Sometimes, close to evening, the

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Pepper Growing Tips and Tricks

Peppers don't take up much space in the garden, but provide a good per-plant harvest and can be used in lots of different ways. You can also employ some creative preservation methods that will offer tantalizing options for using peppers in winter dishes.The Old Farmer's Almanac has some good advice today for growing large bell peppers. This is also good advice for growing most garden peppers:

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Iced Green Tea with Mint and Ginger

If you've ever limped through a hot, humid day lusting for a cool and really refreshing drink, this is the one. Green tea is full of antioxidants and ginger is a great restorative. Both mint and ginger are good for an unsettled stomach too. This is my tea of choice from the beginning of July through the end of August.When you make it, be prepared to fight for what's left in the pitcher. It's

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Herbed Chicken Saltimbocca

One great advantage to keeping sage in the garden is being able to use fresh, young sage leaves in saltimbocca, an Italian favorite. Although my recipe doesn't use veal, it's still delicious, with an earthy and herby flavor that will sing the praises of your garden without you saying a single word.Herbed Chicken Saltimbocca Recipe6 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts (pounded to 1/2 inch thick)6

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Herb Pots

I paid a visit to Junk Market Style this morning for a look at all of Janice Gurney's wonderful makeshift planters. I have to admit that I think just about anything can make a wonderful pot or decorative cachepot.When I was a kid, we had plant pots on every windowsill, on our porches, crowding the sides of the stone steps leading up to the front door, and even sharing some of the steppingstones

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Lavender Ice Tea Recipe

In spring, there's nothing better than a refreshing herbal ice tea in the afternoon. My favorite way to brew ice tea is with fresh herbs, but if you only have dried, that works too.Lavender Ice Tea2 Tbsp. Lavender flowers (1 tablespoon dry)1 Tbsp. Lemon balm (1 teaspoon dry, or one lemon slice)1 Tbsp. Mint (1 teaspoon dry, applemint is best, but spearmint works well too)3 Tbsp. HoneyDirections

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Catnip Tea Recipe

Catnip is known by a number of names, including catswort, catmint, and even field balm. It's a perennial in the mint family that's best known for its ability to drive cats wild, but before you use all your catnip on kitty, consider the medicinal uses for catnip that you might be able to take advantage of.Catnip contains nepetalactone, a natural sedative that can help you relax and get to sleep at

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Get Rid of Japanese Beetles With a Homemade Repellent

Just a gentle reminder that you should be on the lookout for Japanese beetles in your garden around this time. Once you spot a couple, act quickly. These first visitors are scouts that can make all the difference in how many beetles will be snacking on your plants this summer. The picture says it all.

Advance scout beetles mark territories as good feeding grounds for others to follow. Once

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Healthy Herb Pizza

The idea of a healthy pizza may seem like an oxymoron, but it doesn't have to be. Make your own pizza and create a pie that's better for you.The New York Times has a timely, no pun intended, piece on pizza making that you should hang on your refrigerator this spring and summer. Pizza is a dish that can be easy to make and it also makes a great meal on the go.For a healthier offering, try a thin

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Growing Rosemary in Cold Climates

Rosemary is a big favorite at my house. From keeping a dwarf rosemary Christmas tree to having creeping rosemary as a companion in my flowerbeds, this old gal is a friend who defines the herb keeping hobby for me. I made my first herb wreath using rosemary as a base.I got my stock from a local strip mall where the cobbler in residence in one of the storefronts had a big rosemary bush just

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Cilantro Salsa Recipe

Pico de Gallo is the queen of fresh salsa, but this easy recipe runs a close second. Some cooks will tell you that the lime juice is optional, but I think it works perfectly with the cilantro to create a unique flavor combo. Cilantro Salsa Recipe5 *Roma (plum) tomatoes, peeled and seeded,3 Tbsp. Cilantro4 Tbsp. Scallions2 Garlic cloves2 Jalapeno peppers, chopped½ Tbsp. Lemon juice1 Tbsp. Lime

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Herb Mayonnaise Recipes

This is a basic do-it-yourself mayonnaise recipe, and the results are better than anything you can get in the store. It's delicious. Really. Spice it up with the herb additions that follow the recipe.

Basic Mayonnaise Recipe

1 1/2 Cups Canola or olive oil (You can blend the two together)
2 Pasteurized Egg yolks
1/8 tsp. Powdered mustard
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Lemon juice

Blend eggs, salt and

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Easy Cilantro Soup Recipe

Make a wholesome cilantro soup with you first herb patch harvest. This creamy soup is great with a classic BLT.After you start the roux (flour and butter mixture), stir constantly until all the liquid has been added to the pan. Add the broth slowly to avoid lumps.Fresh Cilantro Soup Recipe1 1/2 C Fresh cilantro3 12-oz. Cans beef broth2 Tbsp. Flour2 Tbsp. Butter2 Minced garlic cloves2 Tbsp.

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Herbal Treatment for a Bee Sting

So, you've planted all those herbs designed to attract butterflies and provide you with spicy food and wonderful fragrances all summer. Suddenly, you discover a small problem. The plants you're worrying over and nurturing - literally on bended knee, are also attracting bees and all manner of stinging pests.If you rile up a bee, wasp, or yellow jacket . . . sometimes they can be pretty

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Roses in Literature

The next time you think your roses may not be worth the effort you expend on them, read some of these inspiring lines about the queen of flowers:"Our highest assurance of the goodness of Providence seems to me to rest in the flowers. All other things, our powers, our desires, our food, are all really necessary for our existence in the first instance. But this rose is an extra. Its smell and its

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Unusual Herb Garden Design

If you've had daydreams of creating your own decorative herb garden design layout but don't have the space or inclination for a decorative wheel or other more complex pattern, there may be an easy way to create a startling effect with less space and work.Making a permaculture herb spiral will make great use of those bricks you have lying around, and the effects can be attractive, eye catching,

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Bring Butterflies to Your Garden

Encouraging butterflies and hummingbirds to share in your herb bounty will add dimension to your gardening efforts, give your flying garden friends a welcome place to rest or a meal, and embrace the unexpected in the garden. A frisky hummingbird will tease your cat, which might seem dangerous, but I've never seen a cat catch one of these fast fliers. As for butterflies, watching them take

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